Buzz!
Marco's figure vanished.
When he appeared again, he was already in front of the demons.
The Aries Gold Cloth had also appeared on his body.
The Aries Gold Cloth, which could attack and defend with equal ease, remained Marco's most favored Cloth.
"You demons came to Tenrou Island for sightseeing? Sorry, but creatures like demons aren't welcome here."
Looking at the strange and bizarre figures before him, Marco spoke bluntly.
"..."
The demons fell silent for a moment.
Perhaps they had truly never seen someone act so arrogant toward them, as though he did not take them seriously at all.
"You bastard! Do you even know who we are?! Standing before you are Tartaros's King of the Underworld and the Nine Demon Gates!"
Silver Fullbuster, with his black hair, armor, and a terrifying scar on his face, was the first to react.
He stepped forward and gave Marco a fierce introduction.
"?"
Marco was full of question marks.
He immediately sensed something.
This black-haired armored man did not seem to harbor any malice toward him.
The look in his eyes was completely different from the other demons.
That's right.
This black-haired armored man was not a demon.
He was more like a living corpse, a corpse revived and controlled by some kind of magic.
"So you're Tartaros? I really did just learn that."
Marco smiled.
That was the truth.
But now everything matched up.
'No wonder he had never heard of this group of demons gathered together.'
'So they were that extremely mysterious Tartaros guild.'
Moreover, the more Marco looked at this black-haired armored man, the more familiar he felt.
He kept feeling as though he had seen him somewhere before.
"Wait. What's your name?"
A flash of inspiration passed through his mind, and Marco suddenly understood why he found this man familiar.
This black-haired armored man gave off a feeling far too similar to Gray.
Could this guy be one of Gray's relatives?
"Unnecessary matters are not worth mentioning."
Absolute Zero Silver did not answer directly, but that response was almost no different from answering "yes."
Marco almost immediately confirmed the man's identity.
"Silver, why won't you answer? Don't tell me you two know each other?"
Behind Silver, a skeleton wearing a black-and-white checkered cloak, an Egyptian-style crown, and holding a magic staff spoke sinisterly.
This guy's appearance made his profession obvious at a glance. He was most likely a necromancer, and Silver had likely been revived by him.
This was Keyes, the Black Archbishop.
It was very obvious that Marco saw disgust and impatience on Silver's face.
This revived "dead body" did not seem very obedient.
He did not look controlled at all.
"What riddles are you people playing? Do you know this guy or not? Does he know anything about Lord Zeref?"
Nearby, Torafuzar, who looked like an upright shark, asked impatiently. His gaze toward Marco was extremely unfriendly.
These demons all hated humans, and Marco was naturally no exception.
"Yeah. You bastard, have you seen Lord Zeref or not?"
Beside Torafuzar, a round, fat, green-skinned creature wearing a helmet and armor also pressed him.
Aside from standing upright, this guy had almost nothing human about him. His round head had only one eye, and his mouth was exaggeratedly huge.
His name was Franmalth of the Armored Might.
"I have indeed seen Zeref. What, are you looking for him? Little demons looking for Daddy?"
Marco could tell that these demons became very excited whenever Zeref was mentioned.
He had seen this emotion on Natsu before.
That guy had looked exactly like this whenever he mentioned Igneel. These demons clearly hoped they could return to Zeref's side.
Of course, there were exceptions.
The King of the Underworld's attitude was somewhat different.
Whenever the other demons mentioned Zeref, they all looked as though they were thinking, 'I must return to Father's side.'
Only this King of the Underworld looked displeased. He seemed to want to replace Zeref's position instead.
This King of the Underworld was a demon with great ambition.
"Bastard!"
"Kill him!"
Although Marco's words accurately described their behavior and thoughts, the demons could also hear the heavy mockery in them.
For a time, the demons launched attacks at Marco one after another.
The shark-man Torafuzar charged straight at Marco.
He swung his arm, and the enormous fin-like blade on it slashed toward Marco's head.
Buzz!
Boom!
Torafuzar's fin blade struck beside Marco and was directly blocked by an "air wall."
Not only did he fail to touch Marco, he himself was sent flying back in a rather miserable state.
The green fatty Franmalth stretched out his arm to attack Marco, only for his extended fist to rebound and smash directly into his own body.
Boom!!!
Jackal was even worse.
This werewolf, who had yellow hair, wolf ears, and a tail, used Explosion Curses.
But instead of blowing up Marco, he blew himself away.
The sorry state of those few made the remaining demons stop moving.
Ezel, who had a blue-green body, four arms, and eight black octopus-like legs, with an extremely burly build, had just been annoyed that he had not rushed to attack first.
But after seeing what happened to the others, he hesitated instead.
Tempester, dressed in black with his chest exposed, also stopped moving.
His expression became serious, and alarms were already ringing in his heart.
That smiling man standing there without moving was wrong.
Absolutely wrong.
Mard Geer's face had completely chilled, and the faint smile that had lingered at the corners of his mouth had vanished.
Among the nine demons and one living corpse, the ten inhuman beings of Tartaros, the only one who could still smile right now was Silver Fullbuster.
He simply did not dare laugh out loud yet.
Although he was in Tartaros and had been revived by Keyes, Silver Fullbuster had actually broken free of Keyes's control long ago.
He had also been secretly eliminating demons the entire time.
The demons of Tartaros did not always act together.
Only when there was a major event, something all of them cared about, would the demons gather like they had now.
"Zeref's appearance" was naturally a major matter for the demons.
Silver Fullbuster knew that these demons all wanted to return to Zeref's side.
That "creator" held extraordinary meaning to demons.
Silver Fullbuster also wanted to meet Zeref.
If possible, if he had the chance, he wanted to kill Zeref even more.
That would count as revenge for all those who had died at the hands of demons, and also as revenge for his own family.
"What King of the Underworld? What Nine Demon Gates? Is this all you amount to? No wonder Zeref doesn't want you! The only reason he didn't directly destroy you is because his mind is already unclear."
Looking at the demons before him, Marco spoke with a smile.
But his words deeply pierced the demons' hearts.
"Marco Dreyar.. I kill you!"
Staring at Marco, Mard Geer gritted his teeth and cursed.
No one understood better than Mard Geer just how filthy Marco's insult was.
He tightened his grip on the Book of E.N.D., anger rising in his heart.
Buzz!!!
A wave of sinister energy surged.
Countless vines drilled out from underground and rushed toward Marco, trying to bind him.
Their speed was extremely fast.
These were not ordinary plants, but plants from the underworld.
Although they looked like normal vines, their hardness was actually as strong as steel!