The news brought by Gemi and Mini allowed everyone to feel a bit more at ease. With the map and the location of the resurrection device in hand, they could go and destroy it, completely dismantling Tartaros from its very roots!
"The resurrection device absolutely cannot remain!"
"Next, we will split into two paths. One group will go destroy the resurrection device, and the other will lead the magic soldiers to sweep through the base, finally meeting up at the main hall!!"
"If you run into the troops that charged in earlier, let them know as well."
"Understood!!"
With the plan set, Descartes and the others broke through the caves, entered the interior of the guild known as "Alegria," and began to act individually.
Meanwhile.
At the deepest part of the Tartaros stronghold.
Several rooms, along with the corridors connecting them, had been completely broken through, forming an extremely open battlefield. In one corner of the battlefield:
Franmalth of the "Hard Armor," one of the Nine Demon Gates, had been blasted into dregs, unable to even activate his "Reverse Reception" in his dying moments. The charred patch on the ground emitted a visible aura of "dying peacefully."
Near this pile of scorched blackness, Seilah of the "Chill Moon," also of the Nine Demon Gates, was lying on the ground with a pale face. Her clothes were neat and tidy, but a large hole had been torn open at her waist and abdomen, with blood trickling out—she looked incredibly miserable. Clearly, she too had been killed in a single move, and the fatal wound was caused by the most heartless and cruel method of attack—the "kidney harvest."
At this moment, Seilah had only one last breath left, her unfocused eyes gazing at another figure not far away. That was the leader of the Nine Demon Gates whom she admired most: Kyôka of the "Chilling Moon."
Kyôka's condition was also poor. She had already entered her most frenzied and powerful state, yet she was still beaten beyond recognition. On her body were piercing wounds caused by lightning, burns from fire, cutting wounds from wind blades, blunt trauma from being struck by rocks, and even a bite-like wound resembling the fangs of a wild beast, with black energy faintly lingering around the injuries.
These scars came from Serena's eight types of Dragon Slayer Magic: Lightning, Fire, Wind, Earth, and Darkness. The first four were elemental attacks, while the last carried a mental assault. The Shadow Dragon's attack could sense the enemy's sins, then bite down hard on the enemy during combat, dealing varying degrees of damage based on the severity of the crimes committed.
The more evil the enemy, the heavier the damage!
It just so happened that Kyôka had spent centuries taking pleasure in torturing humans; she was one of the demons in Tartaros with the worst personality and the heaviest sins, which maximized the damage from the Shadow Dragon's magic. At this moment, Kyôka's life was entering its final countdown.
Opposite her, Serena was completely unscathed! The "gold standard" of having eight types of Dragon Slayer Magic gathered in one body was truly the greatest in history. Even though he was outnumbered three to one, facing three demons of the Nine Demon Gates simultaneously, it had taken him less than fifteen minutes to end the fight!
Not far away, on another battlefield where the curtains had already closed, the scene was similar. The ground here was littered with broken thorns, wood chips, and stones. Mard Geer, the "Underworld King," had been sliced in half at the waist and lay amidst the ruins. His face was filled with disbelief, his eyes dim and lifeless, staring fixedly at the ceiling, unable to make a single sound.
Gildarts stood nearby, his face filled with melancholy, silent and wordless, with only his palms trembling slightly.
"Do not feel sad for them!"
Darwin walked over from not far away, softly comforting Gildarts.
"They are demons who plotted to subvert the magic world. If they do not die today, thousands upon thousands of humans will die in the future!"
"Therefore, you should be proud of yourselves for saving the world!"
Gildarts nodded. "I understand."
"It's just that I've never struck so heavily before; for a moment, I'm finding it hard to adjust..."
The wizards of Fairy Tail had always respected every form of life. Most of the time, even when facing the most despicable and poisonous enemies, they would only defeat them and hand them over to the Council for processing, rarely killing them directly.
But the situation this time was different. The enemies were not ordinary evil wizards, but demons who wanted to destroy humanity and the magic world—demons who even possessed the power of resurrection! Therefore, they were not permitted to hold back in the slightest.
In fact, among all members of the "Seven Kin of the Holy Knights," Gildarts was likely the only one who would feel downcast for "killing a demon." Even Layla, who was still a child and had the most gentle and kind personality, was much more decisive than him in this regard.
"The thing in your hand... it seems to be the book that guy was holding at the beginning, right?"
After a long while, Gildarts adjusted his emotions. He finally noticed that Darwin was holding a book with an orange cover that looked quite heavy.
"This is the 'Book of END'!"
"The demon rumored to have founded 'Tartaros'."
Gildarts was stunned. "But didn't the Council's intelligence say that the leader of 'Tartaros' was this guy called the 'Underworld King'?"
"Yes!"
"According to the records, 'END' does indeed exist, but has never interfered in the affairs of 'Tartaros'."
"I think this must be a deceptive array he intentionally laid out!"
The demons of Tartaros were essentially magic books in their original form. The so-called "one demon corresponds to one book" didn't mean that the demons had a book existing outside their bodies; rather, the demon was the book. In other words, the book was another form of the demon, and the two could not exist simultaneously.
Following normal logic, since 'END' had remained in its book form for hundreds of years, it was impossible for it to appear in its demon form! This was the primary reason Darwin believed that Tartaros' actions had little to do with 'END'.
"Now that 'Tartaros' has been wiped out, what is to be done with this 'Book of END'?"
Darwin thought for a moment and said, "I will take it back to the Council and seal it away completely."
"Sealed away? That's for the best..."
"Speaking of which, the fact that this operation went so smoothly is thanks to the intelligence provided by the Council. But I still have a question in my heart: how on earth did you get so much information?"
Tartaros had been hidden in the dark corners of Ishgar for hundreds of years without being discovered, relying on their secretive movements. Yet in this operation, the Council was able to clearly ascertain the appearance, personality, and abilities of all the high-ranking members, and even things like the resurrection device. It was truly too incredible.
One must realize that everyone in this guild was a demon; ordinary undercover agents simply couldn't infiltrate them!
"Well..."
"It's fine to tell you. Actually, the intelligence regarding 'Tartaros' was not obtained through the Council's channels, but from someone else."
Gildarts was stunned and instinctively asked, "Someone else? Who?"
"My father!"
"Weston!"