Buzz!!!
A surge of magic power stirred.
Keyes the Black Archbishop's figure gradually turned illusory, and Silver Fullbuster's heart suddenly trembled.
That invisible connection in the dark was slowly disappearing.
Once that connection vanished, the support keeping him in this world would vanish as well.
His life and death were tightly bound to Keyes.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not sever it.
Buzz!!!
Magic light flashed.
Keyes figure transformed into a Demon Book, then was quickly absorbed into Mirajane's body.
Under Marco and Gray's watch, after Keyes disappeared, Silver Fullbuster's body rapidly began to change.
Silver who had originally looked almost no different from a normal person, quickly began showing the state a corpse should have—a corpse that had been dead for many years.
"Looks like it still won't work..."
Silver smiled freely as he spoke.
Looking at Gray, whose eyes shimmered with tears, Silver patted his head.
"Don't be sad for me, Gray. Being able to see you again, having the chance to kill demons, and being able to pass Ice Devil Slayer Magic on to you... I'm truly already very satisfied."
Silver's sincere smile eventually reached Gray.
After experiencing all of this in such a short time, Gray forced out a smile.
He wanted to send his father off with a smile.
The light in Marco's eyes faded, and his expression became confident.
He had dragged the "progress bar" backward and seen Silver Fullbuster's ending, so he could finally relax.
Buzz!
Just as Silver's body gradually stiffened, Mirajane finally opened her eyes.
She had already taken on Keyes's form, transforming into something like an Egyptian queen since Keyes's original attire had a similar Egyptian style.
Mirajane directly used Necromancy Curse on Silver's body.
Silver, who had almost lost the ability to move, immediately found the power supporting his existence again.
Mirajane had taken over his right of control!
"All right, it worked!" Mirajane clenched her fist and celebrated.
She also let out a heavy breath of relief.
She had finally managed to save Gray's father!
"Fantastic."
Marco smiled and raised his hand, giving the delighted Mirajane a high-five, looking as though he had possessed absolute confidence in her all along.
Of course he had confidence after checking the answer in advance.
Silver felt his mind go hazy.
For a brief instant just now, he had truly thought he was about to disappear.
After being placed under new control, his mind also felt heavy and dull, as though he had returned to those days when his body was no longer his own.
But Mirajane had no intention of forcibly controlling him.
She directly granted him the ability to move freely, without even requiring him to fight for it himself.
"Gray..."
Silver's consciousness gradually cleared.
He looked at Gray, who stood before him in an emotional state, and the two hugged each other once again.
"That's great... That's really great..."
Holding his father, Gray kept repeating those words.
Marco and Mirajane exchanged a glance, then left together with perfect tacit understanding, heading to the hall where Mard Geer, the King of the Underworld, was located.
"Now he's the only one left."
Looking at the Demon Book that belonged to Mard Geer, Marco could not help looking forward to the next Gold Cloth.
Eight of the Nine Demon Gates had already been Taken Over by Mirajane, and Silver had become a living corpse controlled by Mirajane's Necromancy Curse.
Those should all count as successfully eliminated.
Only Mard Geer, the King of the Underworld, remained.
As for E.N.D., the nominal Guild Master, he definitely did not count as a member of Tartaros.
After all, the mission requirement was to protect Natsu.
"You... What did you do?!"
Under Marco and Mirajane's gazes, Mard Geer, who had been sealed inside Crystal Wall, finally stopped pretending to be dead.
He condensed his human form again, and the way he looked at Mirajane now carried traces of fear, because he sensed eight familiar auras from her!
Those were the auras of the Nine Demon Gates.
The auras of the Nine Demon Gates, the auras of eight demons, were all gathered inside Mirajane.
No, aside from the Nine Demon Gates, Mirajane also had the auras of other demons hidden inside her body, even demons more powerful than the Nine Demon Gates!
"Speaking of which, I should thank you, Mr. King of the Underworld. Your subordinates are all my power now. But you don't need to feel sad! Very soon, you'll become my power too, just like them."
Mirajane wore a smile as she spoke polite and friendly-sounding words.
In reality, every word stabbed straight into the heart, making Mard Geer's expression change dramatically.
The way he looked at her was filled with disbelief.
"To think there's someone like you in this world..." Mard Geer murmured to himself, finding it hard to accept.
He had always regarded demons as higher beings, far above humans.
Yet Mirajane could use Take Over Magic to seize the power of demons like them and use it for herself...
Mirajane's existence was simply the nemesis of demons.
An ordinary person's Take Over Magic could not take over demons at all.
Mirajane's magic seemed as though it had been born specifically to deal with demons.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
Before Mirajane even knew what Take Over Magic was, she had already been able to Take Over demons through instinct.
She truly was a natural demon killer!
"Damn youuu!!!"
Mard Geer roared loudly, then directly activated his ability and began controlling the massive Underworld Island.
The ground began to change, as though turning into soft mud and rotting flesh.
The square Crystal Wall imprisoning Mard Geer began to sink, while Marco and Mirajane both flew into the air.
The Sagittarius Gold Cloth covered Marco's body, granting him a pair of wings, while Mirajane directly spread her demonic wings.
"I knew this Underworld Island definitely had a problem."
Marco was not surprised.
The buildings on Underworld Island had actually already fused deeply with Plutogrim, as though they had become part of its body.
When Mard Geer's power began recovering and he could provide Plutogrim with Curse Power again, Plutogrim could finally offer assistance to Mard Geer.
"But it's still useless." Marco shook his head.
This was nothing more than the struggle of a trapped beast.
So what if Plutogrim swallowed Mard Geer into its belly? He still could not escape the restraint of Crystal Wall!
"Command."
Moreover, Mard Geer seemed not to have understood the situation.
In his current state, Plutogrim would no longer be controlled by him.
Instead, it would be controlled by Mirajane's Command Curse.
After Mirajane gave the command, Plutogrim's movements stopped.
Then it quickly reacted.
The power Mard Geer provided could not help it resist Mirajane's Command Curse at all.
Its body directly switched sides.
Mard Geer, who had just been swallowed by Plutogrim, was spat back out and appeared in the room again.
The floor and walls, which had been writhing like rotting flesh moments ago, also returned to normal.
"..."
For a moment, the scene became somewhat awkward.
Mard Geer closed his eyes as his final struggle had turned into a joke!
"Lord Zeref... will not let you go."
Perhaps his mind was too chaotic, because Mard Geer somehow squeezed out that sentence, apparently trying to scare Marco and Mirajane with Zeref's name.
That made both of their expressions turn strange.
"You're wrong. We're the ones who won't let Zeref go."
Marco could not help but laugh.
This Mard Geer dude acted as though he did not care about Zeref, but when he was staring death in the face, the one still in his mind was Zeref.
It really was... hard to know what to say.
"You? Don't make me laugh."
Mard Geer did not take Marco's answer seriously.
Although Marco had easily defeated Tartaros, that did not mean Marco had the qualifications to challenge Zeref, because they were merely Zeref's creations.
However, Mard Geer's mind suddenly flashed back to Marco's punch from earlier, making him shudder involuntarily.
This man... perhaps he really could fight Zeref?
The demons actually did not know Zeref's true strength very clearly.
But he was their creator, after all, so of course they would deify him as much as possible.
In the hearts of some demons, Zeref was an absolutely unbeatable existence.
Buzz!!!
Marco could not be bothered to continue dealing with Mard Geer's powerless rage.
He removed Crystal Wall and threw a punch, scattering Mard Geer's newly condensed body and forcing him back into the state of a Demon Book.
This was the state where demons were most fragile.
Once the book was damaged, it would be extremely fatal to them.
"Let me try. After absorbing those demons, I feel stronger than ever. Although this so called King of the Underworld is powerful, it doesn't mean I can't Take him Over. I'm already in the zone!"
Looking at the Demon Book, Mirajane's eyes shone brightly.
She was already impatient!
Mard Geer was indeed stronger than the other demons, and he would bring her quite a large improvement.
"Then give it a try." Marco nodded.
He could also tell that Mirajane's condition was especially good right now.
Demons were like nourishment for her.
Absorbing the eight demons of the Nine Demon Gates had made her even stronger.
Buzz!!!
Mirajane walked over, stretched out both hands, and directly began Taking Over the Demon Book.
This time, it indeed took longer than the previous attempts.
However, Mirajane's condition remained stable.
One look was enough to tell that she was carefully Taking him Over step by step, not that she had encountered any trouble.
Marco stayed beside Mirajane and guarded her. His expression was calm, and he was not worried at all, because he had already checked the result in advance again.
Mirajane successfully Took Over Mard Geer, the King of the Underworld.
Sure enough, before long, the Demon Book disappeared, and Mirajane let out a long breath as her expression relaxed.
"Success?"
Marco knowingly asked.
"Mm! It worked! This time really was a huge harvest. Not just these demons, but even Plutogrim. Now this belongs to Fairy Tail too! A mobile monster island!"
After adjusting her condition, Mirajane answered Marco with great excitement.
Now Plutogrim had completely become Fairy Tail's property.
Not only could it be controlled through the Command Curse, but Mirajane could now control Plutogrim just like Mard Geer had.
She had become the one providing Curse Power to Plutogrim, so naturally, she could make Plutogrim obey her!
"Pretty nice. Now we have two secret bases!"
Marco smiled and replied to Mirajane.
Or rather, Underworld Island had now become their new secret base
Tenrou Island was no longer a secret base outsiders could not approach!
"Then we need to hide Underworld Island properly."
Mirajane looked serious, as though she were already thinking about where they should move Underworld Island.
Marco did not answer since his mind had already turned to the system.
The moment Mard Geer had been successfully Taken Over, the mission completion notification had appeared.
[Ding! Mission complete.]
[Mission Name: Tartaros and the Strongest Demon!]
[Mission Progress:]
[Mission One: Eliminate Tartaros — Complete.]
[Mission Two: Protect the Book of E.N.D., which is connected to Natsu's life, from destruction — Complete.]
[Mission Rewards:]
[Mission One: Random Gold Cloth.]
[Mission Two: Blood of God.]
[Do you wish to claim the mission rewards? Rewards may be claimed separately.]
Looking at the mission panel, Marco's heart finally settled.
Since the mission was complete, that meant the demons could no longer cause any waves, and Mirajane would not suffer any backlash.
This was the best result.
If there had been some trouble with the demons Mirajane Took Over retaliating against her, then that would have been truly annoying.
"Let's go."
Marco did not rush to claim the mission rewards and he planned to return to the guild first.
Of course, before that, they had to find a place for Underworld Island.
Marco and Mirajane returned to Hell's Core, called Silver and Gray over, and informed them of the current situation.
"I'm fairly familiar with Underworld Island. I can stay behind."
When the topic of settling Underworld Island came up, Silver Fullbuster immediately volunteered.
He could stay on Underworld Island, guard this place, and command Plutogrim to find a place to settle.
"That would be perfect."
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