"What's up with this guy?"
"I feel inexplicably annoyed just looking at him!"
Gray looked warily at the approaching Doriate.
Hearing Gray, Kenichi glanced at him out of the corner of his eye.
Gray's family and his master, Ur, were all killed by the demon, Deliora, so he had an instinctive aversion to demons.
Since Doriate was also a demon, it wasn't strange for Gray to have a psychological reaction to him.
While Kenichi was thinking, Doriate stopped and spread his arms.
"Return, return to the distant past!"
Doriate chanted incantations. At that moment, a strange black energy rose around him.
Seeing the change in Doriate, Gray's face changed abruptly. Without any hesitation, he immediately charged forward.
"I'll handle this guy!"
After saying this, Gray brought his fists and palms together.
"Ice-Make: Ice Hammer!"
As Gray activated his Ice-Make magic, a hammer formed of ice directly landed on Doriate's head.
But the expected scenario of Doriate being knocked out by the huge ice hammer did not happen.
The ice hammer that hit Doriate's head was as small as a child's toy.
"Huh?!"
"Why is it so small?"
Gray looked at the ice hammer on Doriate's head, speaking in astonishment.
At the same time, Natsu, Wendy, Erza, and Mirajane were also equally stunned.
However, Natsu and the others weren't stunned by the ice hammer Gray created… they were stunned by Gray himself.
"Gray, how did you turn into a kid?"
Natsu looked at Gray and shouted in amazement.
That's right, Gray had now become a child of about six or seven years old.
"Huh?"
Hearing Natsu, Gray immediately spread his hands and examined himself.
When he realized he had truly become a child, Gray was shocked.
"What in the world is going on?"
Minerva over there, seeing the astonished expressions on Erza and Mirajane's faces, looked quite pleased.
However, when Minerva saw that Kenichi's expression remained normal, the smile on her face turned into one of frustration.
How could Minerva know that Kenichi was already aware of Doriate's Curse, the Law of Retrogression, which could turn people into children.
Now, seeing Doriate turn Gray into a child, Kenichi naturally wasn't surprised at all.
"Turning into a child makes you easier to deal with!"
While Minerva was staring at Kenichi, Doriate looked at the child-sized Gray, said mockingly, then threw a punch with his muscular fist at the young Gray.
Seeing Doriate's huge fist rapidly enlarging in his vision, Gray's face changed abruptly.
He didn't hesitate, immediately bringing his palms together.
"Ice-Make: Ice Wall!"
But after Gray activated his magic, only a slight frost appeared at Doriate's feet.
It was far from being enough to freeze Doriate.
"Dammit, why is my magic power so much weaker?"
Seeing his magic pose no threat to Doriate, Gray clicked his tongue in displeasure.
And the smug look on Doriate's face grew even stronger.
"My curse doesn't just turn you into a child!"
Doriate said mockingly, his fist continuing its trajectory without pause.
But just as Doriate's fist was about to hit the young Gray, his fist suddenly stopped, as if someone had cast a paralysis spell on him.
"He stopped?"
Gray, who had been preparing to run, saw Doriate suddenly stop and was puzzled.
Doriate himself also said with shock: "My body... I can't move!"
Although Doriate struggled constantly, his body seemed not to belong to him. No matter how he struggled, it was useless.
"Kenichi, what did you do to that guy?"
Erza looked at Kenichi beside her, who had his palm stretched out towards Doriate, and asked in surprise.
Clearly, Doriate suddenly freezing in place was due to something Kenichi did to him.
Hearing Erza's question, Kenichi smiled and said: "Just ran an experiment!"
That's right, Kenichi had just used the Doll Attack on Doriate.
Originally, Kenichi just wanted to test whether this Doll Attack could actually control demons.
But the experimental result was clear.
It can control demons.
If he can control Doriate before him, then naturally, Kenichi can control all the demons of Tartaros.
Thinking about being able to control demons like Kyoka of the Nine Demon Gates, Kenichi felt a small sense of anticipation.
"Wendy, help Gray recover!"
After gaining control over Doriate's demon body, Kenichi called out to Wendy over there.
Hearing Kenichi, Wendy nodded and immediately activated her magic on Gray.
"Enchantment: Unselfish!"
Wendy moved her fair hand, and a beam of magical power landed on Gray.
In the next second, Gray's body began to recover at a visible rate.
"How is this possible? You actually countered my curse?"
Seeing Wendy restore Gray, Doriate said in disbelief.
"My magic can eliminate all abnormal status effects!"
Looking at Doriate's shocked expression, Wendy casually explained.
'These people... just who are they?'
Doriate scanned Kenichi, Erza, and Wendy, his heart filled with shock.
Soon, Doriate shouted to Minerva over there: "Rookie! My body can't move! Aren't you going to help?!"
"Hmph, I warned you these guys weren't simple!"
Hearing Doriate, Minerva, with one hand on her hip, snorted coldly.
"You, are you trying to betray the guild?"
"I just don't want to throw my life away for you!"
Minerva first said to Doriate, then addressed Kenichi, Erza, and the others: "Goodbye, everyone from Fairy Tail!"
With that, Minerva activated her Spatial Magic, preparing to retreat.
But after Minerva activated her Spatial Magic, it had no effect whatsoever.
"What's going on? Ineffective again?"
Back during the Grand Magic Games, when she fought Kenichi, her magic had failed once before.
And now, her magic had failed again.
Soon, Minerva looked at Kenichi and the others: "What did you do to me?"
"Since we've met, you might as well stay."
Kenichi looked at Minerva and said in a flat tone.