He led the way, bringing Gray and Mirajane toward Hell's Core.
At this moment, after the initial shock had passed, Gray had become confused again.
What did this gift have to do with him?
This demon would indeed be a great help to Mirajane, but how did it count as a surprise for him?
Where was the surprise?
Surely Natsu's matter was not supposed to be his surprise, right?
That was more of a scare!
"Don't worry, Gray. Your surprise is here."
Marco smiled and led the two of them into Hell's Core.
"Huh? What's supposed to be he—"
Gray was still confused, but the moment he stepped into Hell's Core and saw the man standing inside, he froze.
His entire body could no longer make a sound.
And when Silver Fullbuster saw Gray, he also froze in place.
Of course he recognized Gray at a glance.
That.. was his son, the son he was so proud of.
Fairy Tail's brilliant rise had long since made Silver Fullbuster notice Gray, and he had confirmed long ago that Gray was his son.
"Uh..."
Seeing the scene before her, Mirajane blinked.
She had already realized the relationship between Gray and the man in front of them.
"You... you are...?" Gray spoke stiffly.
In truth, Gray had only felt his heart suddenly tremble, but he could not be one hundred percent certain that the person before him was his father.
After all, so many years had passed.
Many memories had gradually faded, and the man before him had changed greatly compared to the father he remembered. He had no way to confirm it completely at first glance.
Of course, those were all just excuses.
Gray simply did not dare acknowledge it.
After all, Marco's words, that so-called "surprise," had already practically told him the answer.
"Gray..."
Looking at Gray, Silver Fullbuster's expression gradually softened.
"That's right. It's me.... Your father."
Seeing Gray's disbelief and hesitation, Silver Fullbuster directly revealed the truth.
Gray's body trembled, unable to believe that all of this was real.
"But... why? Weren't you... killed by...?"
Looking at Silver Fullbuster, Gray was at a loss for a moment, to the point that he could not even speak clearly.
"It's a long story." Silver Fullbuster sighed.
He knew what Gray meant.
He had indeed died at Deliora's hands. He had known Gray would be deeply shocked to see him again.
"You two should go to the side and catch up."
Seeing Silver Fullbuster look toward him, Marco nodded, signaling for the father and son to find a room nearby and talk.
"Thank you, Lord Marco."
Silver Fullbuster thanked Marco.
He truly felt extremely grateful toward Marco.
Whether it was defeating Tartaros or bringing Gray here now, both filled him with immense gratitude toward Marco.
...
After Silver and Gray left, Marco and Mirajane's gazes turned toward the members of the Nine Demon Gates.
"Take a look. These guys are pretty good too."
Marco introduced the "gifts."
These were all rare goods.
"What happened to them?"
Looking at the demons inside the cultivation tanks, Mirajane asked curiously.
"I killed them, but they can rely on this device to condense their bodies again and revive. Logically speaking, they should all be in an extremely weakened state right now, so Taking them Over should be relatively easy for you."
Marco explained, only now realizing that Mirajane should not have too much difficulty Taking Over these demons in their current state.
"So that's it! No wonder I felt like their condition was strange."
Mirajane clapped her hands cutely, as though her confusion had finally been cleared up.
"You're right, Marco. Taking Over demons in this state should be very simple for me!"
Looking at those demons, Mirajane's eyes lit up at once, as though she were staring at steaming plates of delicious food.
The demons of the Nine Demon Gates also sensed danger. Seeing Mirajane's shining eyes, they became extremely wary.
"Who should I start with?"
Mirajane swept her gaze around before ultimately choosing Seilah, who looked the most harmless.
This "Command Demon" did indeed look like the easiest target among the members of the Nine Demon Gates.
When picking persimmons, start with the soft ones.
Mirajane decided to use Seilah of the Cool Moon to test the waters first and see how difficult it would be to Take Over these demons.
"What are you trying to do?!"
Seeing Mirajane approach her side while staring directly at her, Seilah's expression immediately became extremely ugly.
She had not expected herself to become the first target!
"Don't be afraid. I'm only borrowing your power."
Mirajane reached out with a smile and attempted to touch Seilah directly.
Meanwhile, Marco stood by the control platform and opened Seilah's cultivation tank in advance.
"Command! Do not come near me!"
Forced to condense her body and released from the cultivation tank ahead of time, Seilah had recovered some of her ability.
She immediately "commanded" Mirajane, preventing this woman from approaching her.
Buzz!
Seilah's Curse took effect on Mirajane, but it only made Mirajane pause for a moment before dissipating completely.
The facts proved that Seilah, who had only recovered a portion of her strength, could not "command" a mage of Mirajane's level at all.
"So that's what this ability is like." Mirajane's eyes brightened.
She had already gained some understanding of Seilah's ability.
This Command Curse was still very powerful!
Buzz!
Mirajane approached Seilah and grabbed her shoulder, immediately activating Take Over Magic and beginning to absorb the power that originally belonged to Seilah.
"Aaahhh!!!"
Seilah realized what Mirajane was doing and screamed in pain, trying to break free, but she could not do it at all.
Buzz!!!
Magic power surged.
Under the influence of Mirajane's Take Over Magic, Seilah's body gradually began to dissipate. She was slowly turning back into a book, slowly being absorbed into Mirajane's body.
In truth, even if Mirajane did not completely Take Over Seilah into her body, she could still grasp the ability that belonged to Seilah.
However, the power gained that way would be far weaker than from a full Take Over.
Since the conditions allowed it now, Mirajane naturally chose to Take her Over completely.
Buzz!!!
Seilah's body transformed into a Demon Book, then quickly merged into Mirajane's body, becoming one of the many demons Mirajane had Taken Over.
Another demon from the Books of Zeref vanished from the world, with no possibility of resurrection left.
The weakened Seilah failed to cause any waves at all.
Her will was erased directly by Mirajane, and she completely became one more book in Mirajane's "transformation slots."
'No! We can't just sit here and wait to die!'
Seeing what had happened before their eyes, the other members of the Nine Demon Gates went mad.
As time passed, their power inside the cultivation tanks was slowly recovering.
At this point, they could no longer worry about anything else.
Escaping first was what mattered!
Damaged memories, damaged foundations—those could wait. First, they had to survive!
Boom!!!
As the leader of the Nine Demon Gates, Kyôka of the Star Chains Heaven directly shattered her cultivation tank.
Although the cultivation tank was sturdy, once the members of the Nine Demon Gates recovered some strength, breaking it was not difficult.
Kyôka was the first to recover to the point where she could break her tank open.
"Command: stop."
Just as Kyôka tried to rush toward the exit, Mirajane had already changed forms.
She had changed into Seilah's outfit, and horns like Seilah's had grown on her head.
The Command Curse Mirajane used was clearly much stronger than the one Seilah had used just now.
At the very least, controlling the currently weakened Kyôka was not a problem.
Buzz!
Kyôka stopped in place, her body completely motionless.
No matter how much she urged herself to move, her body would not take even a single step.
"This one really is useful!"
Mirajane smiled and sighed.
Against powerful opponents, this Command Curse might not have too strong an effect. For example, Marco definitely would not fall for this.
But when used against those significantly weaker than herself, the Command Curse was simply too strong.
"A skill for bullying weaker enemies."
Marco commented.
This Command Curse was a dimensional strike against weaker opponents, and as Mirajane's strength increased, the range of people who counted as "weaker" would only grow larger.
Buzz!!!
Mirajane grabbed Kyôka and directly repeated the same method, beginning to absorb the power belonging to her.
"Enhancement Curse and Weapon Curse."
Kyôka possessed two Curses.
One was the Enhancement Curse, which could strengthen herself, amplify an enemy's sense of pain, and deprive them of their senses.
The other was the Weapon Curse, which allowed her to transform both hands into various weapons.
She leaned more toward close combat, very different from Seilah, who specialized mainly in control.
Kyôka quickly turned back into a Demon Book, then was absorbed into Mirajane's body.
Another demon from the Books of Zeref was completely erased from the world!
Mirajane switched forms again.
This time, she transformed into Kyôka's form.
Kyôka resembled some kind of bird demon. When demonized, her body even possessed feather-like features.
"This demon enhancement can even turn people into demons!"
After understanding her new ability, Mirajane spoke in surprise.
This Enhancement ability was honestly a little abnormal.
It could directly transform ordinary people into demons by causing Demon Factors to form inside the enemy's body.
The Demon Factors inside demons were the source of their power and also the reason demons were demons.
This move was truly sinister, directly turning the enemy into a demon too.
"Too bad we won't use it."
After hearing about this ability, Marco could not help clicking his tongue. But they definitely would not create demons. They wanted to eliminate them.
Boom!!!
Before Mirajane could familiarize herself with the ability any further, the other cultivation tanks shattered one after another.
The Nine Demon Gates had burned their boats behind them, gambling everything to fight for their last chance at survival.
Boom!
Franmalth slammed directly into the door, only to be immediately bounced back. Marco had already sealed the door with Crystal Wall.
"Damn it! This again!"
Torafuzar gritted his teeth and charged toward a nearby wall instead.
If the door was blocked, then he would smash straight through the wall!
Boom!
This time, there was no Crystal Wall blocking him, but Torafuzar still failed to break through.
The walls of Hell's Core were too sturdy.
Torafuzar, who had barely recovered any strength, could not break them open at all.
The shark demon's face filled with despair.
Did this count as being betrayed by his own side?
Actually, they had already been betrayed by their own side plenty of times.
Some arrangements that might not have seemed like much before now looked absurd in a life-or-death situation, such as letting Lamy be responsible for regeneration and revival...
"Command: stop!"
Before the Nine Demon Gates could act again, Mirajane had already issued another command.
Taking Over Seilah's ability first had indeed been extremely useful. It saved a great deal of trouble all at once.
"Now they're all behaving. One at a time, then."
Marco smiled as he watched this scene.
Mirajane then began Taking them Over one by one at an unhurried pace.
The demons of the Nine Demon Gates could do nothing about it.
They could only stand there and wait to be Taken Over by Mirajane.
Marco left Hell's Core and went outside.