Fairy Tail’s version of talking an enemy down worked rather differently from the method used in a certain neighboring ninja series.
Over there, a heartfelt speech weakened the enemy’s will to fight and usually redeemed them in the process.
In Fairy Tail, inspirational speeches were primarily used to buff your own side—and if the enemy mocked, insulted, or outright rejected what you said, the boost became even stronger.
“Why?” Gray shouted, frustration and anger twisting together in his voice.
“What do you actually want? Lyon’s doing this because he wants to surpass Ur, but what about you? Why are you helping him? Did someone in your family die because of Deliora too? If that’s the case, then you should know better than anyone how terrifying that demon is!”
A short distance away, the handsome and composed Noah watched in silence.
Outwardly, he showed no reaction whatsoever.
Inside, he was nodding furiously.
‘Gray, you actually nailed it.
Someone in her family really did die because of Deliora.’
“My goal?” Ultear repeated.
After only two seconds of silence, she continued playing her role.
“Obviously, I want Deliora’s power for myself! Even a monster said to possess an undying body must have some way of being controlled. If I could make that kind of power mine, wouldn’t that be wonderfully entertaining?”
Gray’s rage increased.
His magic power recovered a little.
“That’s it?!” Gray snapped.
“You’re trying to revive Deliora just for something like that? Just because you want its power?”
He whirled toward Lyon.
“Lyon, what the hell is wrong with your companion? Aren’t you supposed to be trying to defeat Deliora? Why would you let someone like this join your plan?”
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Lyon replied.
“Once Deliora is revived, I’ll deal with it myself. I’m going to defeat it anyway, so even if Zalty intends to control it afterward, that won’t matter.”
Gray’s rage increased again.
His magic power recovered a little more.
“Ice-Make: Lance!”
Several spears of ice shot toward Ultear.
She merely raised one hand.
The Arc of Time activated, and the ice vanished before Gray’s eyes, accelerated through its future until it ceased to exist in its present form.
“What?!”
Gray had no idea how his spell had simply disappeared, but one thing was obvious: unless they stopped this person, Deliora really would be released.
Unfortunately…
The small amount of magic power and stamina Gray had managed to recover had just been spent on that attack.
With no other option left, he turned toward his companions.
“Damn it! Hey! You guys! How long are you planning to sit there watching?!”
“My, my…”
Noah was still sitting comfortably on the ground.
If anything, he looked as though he was considering lying down for a nap.
“Didn’t you specifically say you wanted to deal with the mastermind yourself?”
With Noah there, Cana and Loke were not particularly worried either.
They even had enough energy left to tease Gray.
“Exactly,” Cana added.
“Someone was acting very impressive a little while ago, charging in all by himself.”
She and Loke walked over and sat beside Noah.
Their battles might have ended quickly, but that did not mean they were in good condition.
Both had been using powerful spells with equally heavy magic costs, and Cana had effectively been fighting three opponents at once.
Gray flushed with embarrassment.
“All right, I get it! I was too impulsive earlier.”
He swallowed his pride.
“So please, help me. If Deliora is revived—”
“It’s fine if Deliora gets revived.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
Gray froze.
“!!!”
Loke stared at Noah.
“???”
Cana did the same.
“???”
Lyon’s expression practically said, ‘I’m allowed to have something this convenient happen?’
Ultear, meanwhile, had only one thought.
‘What the hell is wrong with this man?’
“I’m going to let the Moon Drip ritual finish,” Noah declared.
Everyone present was caught completely off guard.
Gray immediately shouted, “Noah, this isn’t the time for jokes! You—”
“I’m not joking.”
Noah’s expression became completely serious.
“I’m not going to stop the ritual. Let them release Deliora.”
Gray stared at him for two silent seconds before his anger exploded.
“You bastard! What the hell are you talking about?!”
Even Cana and Loke looked confused now.
“Yeah,” Cana said.
“Why would we deliberately revive Deliora?”
Noah sighed.
“Suppose I step in right now and defeat both of them. Then what?”
He gestured toward Lyon and Ultear.
“We can’t stay on this island forever guarding the seal and stopping anyone who tries the ritual again. Unless your plan is to take Deliora back with us and spend the rest of your life watching it?”
Then Noah pointed directly at Lyon.
“You’ve already seen how obsessed this guy is. Unless you crush that obsession completely, beating him once won’t accomplish anything. Beat him ten times and he’ll still come back for an eleventh.”
“So let them finish Moon Drip.”
Noah’s voice grew firmer.
“Then we deal with Deliora here, permanently.”
Gray lowered his head and fell silent.
Noah, Cana, and Loke had known him long enough to understand what that silence meant.
Gray’s emotions were churning violently beneath the surface.
He knew Noah’s reasoning made sense.
That did not make it easy to accept.
The ice trapping Deliora was Ur.
His master.
The person he respected more than anyone.
Gray clenched his teeth.
“If we brought Deliora back to the guild, Master Makarov could definitely deal with it.”
“And even if you could guarantee the seal remained intact for the rest of your life, what happens after you die?” Noah replied immediately.
“There’s no guarantee someone won’t eventually break the seal and use Deliora for their own purposes. Destroying it here and now is the cleanest solution.”
“Iced Shell can’t be broken…”
Gray’s voice faltered.
He stopped himself.
What was he saying?
Moon Drip was literally breaking Iced Shell at this very moment.
“But if Deliora really does revive, its power…” Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“Deliora isn’t going to revive.”
Noah’s certainty made Gray look up.
“If you don’t trust me, then at least trust Ur. Open your eyes and watch carefully.”
His voice carried absolute confidence.
“I’ll show you the true power of Iced Shell.”
Gray still wanted to argue, but his body had reached its limit.
He could do nothing except slump to the ground in frustration.
“The true power of Iced Shell…?”
He looked toward Noah.
“Just how much do you know?”
“There’s no such thing as an invincible magic,” Noah replied.
“The same goes for demons.”
Gray snorted.
“Ur couldn’t defeat Deliora. What makes you think you could?”
“You need to trust your own strength—and more importantly, trust your guildmates.”
Noah grinned.
“We’re Fairy Tail.”
Gray considered that.
“Oh. All right.”
“…”
Noah went silent.
Apparently, the Fairy Tail cheat-code phrase really was ridiculously effective.
He cleared his throat twice, then deliberately adopted something close to Makarov’s usual tone.
“You told us that Ur used Iced Shell to seal away the darkness in your heart, didn’t you?”
Gray looked at him.
“Then let that same magic melt away the obsession trapped inside Lyon’s heart.”
Noah’s expression softened slightly.
“I think if your master knew what was happening here, she would agree with this choice too.”
Gray said nothing.
Lyon, however, heard every word, and something stirred behind his hardened expression.
Since Noah had no intention of interfering with the ritual, Lyon no longer had any reason to keep fighting.
He leaned back against a nearby stone and used the opportunity to recover what little strength he could.
Cana shifted closer to Noah and lowered her voice.
“I don’t know why you’re so certain Deliora won’t revive, but if something goes wrong…”
Noah looked completely unimpressed.
“Relax. Even if the worst happens, I’m still here.”
He waved a hand dismissively.
“It’s just one demon. If I really have to, I can erase it myself.”
Cana gave him a skeptical look.
Noah realized ordinary confidence was not going to convince her, so he brought out the ultimate argument.
“We’re Fairy Tail.”
Cana nodded.
“All right.”
Noah stared at her.
“…”
Apparently, that really did work every time.
End of Chapter 16