Brain hadn't said anything yet, but the others were already in an uproar.
This was because Ultear's name was renowned in the current magic world.
Not only did she work with Jellal to toy with the Council, but she later even demolished the Council headquarters, essentially stomping on the Magic Council's face twice.
After the New Council was reorganized, the first thing they did was issue the highest-level wanted order for Ultear. The bounty was said to be so high that even many Dark Guilds couldn't sit still, wanting to capture Ultear to claim it... In fact, after Hope spoke the two names Ultear and Uru, everyone had already assumed their relationship.
The English for 'Tia' means tears; Ultear is Uru's tears.
The biggest wanted criminal in the magic world today turned out to be the daughter of Master Mage Uru, who died along with a demon 10 years ago. This was truly... unpredictable.
"Haha... Hahahaha—"
Brain's face twitched as he let out a harsh laugh. "Uru... I never thought that today, after so many years, I'd still hear the name of that incredibly stupid woman."
"You bastard!"
Hearing his master insulted, Gray's temper flared instantly. He grabbed Brain, ready to deliver a heavy punch, but was held back firmly by Lyon.
"Gray, listen to him finish!"
Gray's clenched fists finally slowly relaxed.
Brain sneered and looked provocatively at Gray. "With just a simple trick, I made Uru believe her daughter was dead. She left crying, holding a 'corpse' I had meticulously prepared."
"Don't you think that woman was stupid?"
"You—!"
Seeing Gray's anger stirred up again, Hope sighed helplessly in his heart. With this explosive temper, one might think Natsu's soul had possessed him.
But it made sense.
Uru was the person Gray respected most. While destroying his enemy Deliora, she also dispelled the 'darkness' buried in his heart.
With such a good master, anyone would find it unbearable to have her repeatedly belittled and insulted.
"Gray, he's deliberately provoking you to stall for time."
"Since this guy won't honestly confess what happened to Ultear later, leave it to me."
Hope's voice was soft, but it instantly calmed Gray down. He had almost forgotten that Hope could use 'Telepathy: Mind Reading' and 'Memory' magic.
Hope immediately used 'Telepathy' magic to connect everyone, then stepped in front of Brain, pressing a hand glowing with transparent, fluctuating magical light onto his head.
Brain's eyes widened. Knowledgeable as he was, he naturally recognized 'Memory' magic. "You actually want to forcibly read my memories! You can't do this! Aren't you a Mage from an orthodox guild?!"
"Tch, why talk about morality with a wicked person like you," Lucy muttered, immediately earning looks of agreement from everyone.
Hope didn't bother wasting words with Brain and directly began forcibly flipping through his memories.
Brain was an outstanding graduate of Mildian Magic Academy, and with his many achievements at the Fiore Magic Research Institute, he had an excellent reputation in the magic world.
Through this carefully crafted facade, Brain successfully met many powerful Mages, Uru being one of them.
Eleven years ago, Uru brought her daughter Ultear to seek help. Ultear's symptom was that her young body couldn't withstand the powerful magic inherited from her mother.
This condition was actually easy to treat; using a magic tool that could withstand large amounts of magic to help her share the burden would suffice. For example, a 'dragon-slaying crystal' would be a good choice.
Given Uru and Brain's status in the magic world at the time, if they wanted, someone would soon offer a dragon-slaying crystal for money or as a favor.
But Brain set his sights on the nine-year-old Ultear at first glance; he didn't want to miss such a perfect test subject.
So Brain wove a lie and meticulously crafted a 'corpse' sufficient to fool even the Ten Wizard Saints, falsely telling Uru that it was too late and her daughter hadn't made it, passing away unfortunately.
The bad news left Uru devastated.
When her daughter was born, she shed tears of joy, so she named the child 'Ultear.' But she never expected that the initial joy would ultimately turn into tears of sorrow.
Uru left in grief.
But the real Ultear was still alive.
Brain tried to deceive Ultear by saying 'Uru abandoned her,' but the clever Ultear didn't believe him, firmly believing her mother would come for her.
However, all that awaited her were Brain's cruel experiments.
Until a year later, when Brain's secret of colluding with the Dark Magic Cult and child trafficking was exposed, Ultear seized the chance to create chaos and successfully escaped.
At first, Brain worried Ultear would return with Uru to take revenge, but two months passed and Uru didn't come; instead, news of her death arrived.
Brain, in high spirits, thought he'd never see Ultear again, but who knew that a few years later she would appear as Jellal's subordinate.
At the time, Brain felt something was wrong. An undercover investigation revealed that Ultear was now a Grimoire Heart official and deeply trusted by the Grimoire Heart master, Hades.
Although Oración Seis appeared to be on equal footing with Grimoire Heart, in reality, the latter could wipe them out with very little effort.
Brain was relieved that he had hidden his real name when experimenting on Ultear; otherwise, she would have likely brought people to his door long ago.
As long as Ultear didn't disrupt Jellal's actions, Brain would turn a blind eye.
Hope wove this Memory into words and transmitted it through 'Telepathy' magic to the hearts of every companion present, including Richard, to let him see Brain's true face even more clearly.
"Despicable!"
"Bastard!"
"You beast!"
"..."
Thinking about how a beautiful single-parent family was torn apart like this, everyone was filled with righteous indignation, wishing they could go up and beat Brain again.
For Ultear to have reached this point today, this guy could be said to have played a major role.
Gray and Lyon's faces darkened.
The two secretly swore that whether their senior sister was forced to become a Dark Mage or had truly fallen, they would definitely 'rescue' her from the Dark Guild.
Just as Hope wanted to continue probing Brain's memories, a brilliant light suddenly erupted in the eastern part of the Vast Woods.
Everyone looked up at the black pillar of light shooting into the sky in the distance, finally remembering that while listening to the gossip, they had actually forgotten a major event.
The dark matter continuously overflowing from the east of the woods explained to everyone that one thing was happening.
Nirvana has been activated.
Light and darkness were about to begin their reversal.
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