The Demons of the Past always catch Us

The worst of being under the exceptional medical care of Porlyusica, the old healer of Fairy Tail, is that most of the time she is grumbling about how all humans are idiots, stupid, that she hated them, so on, and so forth. At some point, I simply disconnected and stop paying attention to her words, something that has earned me more than one broom to the head.

It didn't take me much to hate that broom with a passion, but breaking it would have broken the heart of the old lady, and I respected her too much to do that.

Considering that I fainted at the end of the battle with the snake-man, when I wake up in the healing quarters of Porlyusica, I was confused as hell. The first person I see was Porlyusica, scolding me about how I was a bloody idiot and how close I have been to kick the bucket.

My deadpan told Porlyusica that I did not buy it.

First of all, I knew myself perfectly well; between the "demon form" and the god-seed within me, my body was leagues above even the common mages. I was; slowly; turning into something new, something with devil and god characteristics. So, Nay, once I was treated and prevent for direct causes like the stabbing in the sides and the bleeding, torn muscles, and poison, was not something that scared me much.

Second of all, if I am seriously banged up and with a case of magical depletion; like Erza and the rest have been; it was just a matter of tossing me into a freezer and let me feed on the surrounding ice. Ice was my source of strength and magical power, unfortunately, its a very uncommon thing in the mild weather of Fiore.

Skoll and Hati were back with me, as soon as I wake up, the rings reacted and my pack welcomes me back to the land of the living.

They were the ones that told me that Natsu protected them until they reached the town and barely with any treatment run back to where I was. The pack went back to me as soon as they delivered their valuable cargo, but I was already out cold, and their magical energies were depleted as well. Natsu found us before Skoll and Hati could manifest back. Once I was out of danger and with the job done, Skoll and Hati carried us all to Magnolia and into Porlyusica´s healing rooms. I have been here for about three days. That was saying something, the damages that I suffered must have been big if I had needed three days to be conscious.

There was still soreness in my body, but I chalked it to the fact that I have been lying and healing for three days straight. As soon as I wake up, I pick out some clothes out of my [Re-equip], with my stripping habit I always kept several on my at all times, and dress up before Porlyusica found me. Sadly, the old lady saw me up and walking, and put the broom to use. I pass two more days in the tender care of the woman.

My team came to visit, worried about me, but Porlyusica was adamant in that only one person at a time. She was not in the mood for shenanigans and Natsu´s destructive nature was well known. She always had the broom on her hand and glaring daggers at the Dragon Slayer whenever he came around that was not because of medical reasons.

Erza was the one that visited me the most; not only because of our romantic relationship but because she really cared, and falling right into that trap has hurt her pride a lot. To be honest, they were professionals, and they knew about Erza. They prepared a trap. There was nothing Erza could have done without knowing that the trap was there.

She ranted and apologized for several minutes, even asking to hit her for not being strong enough, sighing, when she asked me to hit her, I grabbed her by the neck of the armor and kissed her senseless. That turned her switch on and when I left her lips, she blinked, licked her lips, and jumped at me.

Good thing I had the bed just behind me, otherwise she would have tossed us to the floor, not that, that would have stopped me from making out with my redhead lover. We make out until Porlyusica and her broom of doom entered into the room and start screeching that this was not a love motel.

Once the funny business was out of the way, Erza waited until Porlyusica was out of the room and started again berating me for taking such risks.

"Erza, they were after you, love". I cut short her ranting. "Those were professionals, assassins, with an S-class I would dare to say, and prepared to kill us, but more importantly, prepared to deal with you".

"What do you mean?", she asked frowning, not liking what I was implying.

"Look, I know that it may sound a bit paranoid, but think about the job for a second", I started my reasoning and why I think that the job was a cover for an assassination.

"We were carrying a prototype of domestic lacryma, something expensive, but hardly revolutionary", that was the first point that did not add up. "Do you really think that such an item deserved hiring a complete hit squad?. A hit squad of mages that in less than an hour since we took the prototype, they knew our route, move there, and prepared a trap designed to, if not directly to take you down, at least, stun you enough for the killing strike?".

Erza frown grew deeper, she was starting to see that something fishy was going on here.

"I know that you are famous as the Titania of Fairy Tail", I admitted. "And that you are part of Team Natsu, but again, we reached the town in less than half a day. Once you appeared and we took the item, in the less than an hour that it took us to reach the ambushing point, they had that complex and powerful trap ready".

"True enough, I know rumors", and I have killed already several of their members, but this was not the moment for that, "about a Dark Guild that specialized in this kind of job. Death´s Head Caucus. But none of our attackers had any Guild marks. Not non-Fiore Guild marks, I mean no Guild marks at all".

"And in the case that they were fast and good enough to set that accursed traps, those traps were designed to take down someone like you", I pointed out to her. "Your wear metallic armor, a very good and well designed Heart Kreuze armor, just the perfect thing to channel the shit ton of electricity that they thrown at us, right after stunning you a draining magical array".

"Your magic depends on your reserve of magical power, on being able to summon and unsummon your weapons and armors in a flash, and in controlling them with [Telekinesis Magic], they drained you of your magic, so you could not summon your most powerful armors".

"That trap was almost custom made for you", I sighed. I know that perhaps it was my paranoia speaking, but with all that has been going on with our Guild and the tensions with Phantom Lord, I was fearing more than the usual assholery of the Phantom Lord mages, fearing that someone has crossed the line.

Erza frown was deep, she could see the logic behind my arguments, and even if she could completely argue that it was nothing but a conspiracy theory based on circumstantial evidence at best, considering the risk, it was something that it was worth investigating.

Then she looked at me and with her serious tone, she said three words that made me curse to the heavens.

"Gray, your shirt".

Oh, fuck heavens, I am never going to get rid of my freaking stripping habit?!.

On the next day, the day when I was finally free to go, despite Porlyusica not really entirely convinced that I was as sane as I appeared to be. She must be baffled by the cocktail that I had in my body. But it was uncharted territory for all Fiore, so I let it took its natural curse. On that day Erza came to see me and to speak with me about how my suspicions, that she spoke Master Makarov about it, and that my suspicions had made the Guild Master frown as well. If I was correct, that means that all Fairy Tail mages were under danger. Heck, even Gildarts, as much as the old badass was an S-class, if someone had the money to toss at the problem as they have done with Erza, he was in danger too.

Running my usual rounds around town; with Erza at my side; we reached the Guild and I was back at the usual routine, meaning, right into the afternoon brawl of the Guild, punching Natsu and kicking Warren into a wall, before Makarov shouted at us from the counter of the bar and slipped into oblivion with a hand the size of Fiore.

It was good to be at home.

Natsu made me promise that I would never try to pull such bullshit again, and I answered him that he would have done the same if the roles were reversed. That shut him up and left him thinking, something that Happy lost no time in tease and be hunted around the Guild by an irate Natsu.

Happy tried to hide under Lucy´s tight shirt and Natsu burned the clothes just to be punched by and enraged, and topless, Lucy, who proceed to beat the shit out of two perverts, with a hand trying to cover her bountiful breasts.

Taking my usual seat at the corner of the bar, I was drinking with Cana, and gossiping around with Mirajane. The girls were happy to see that I was alive and fine, When Team Natsu came battered and bruised like that, they feared the worst, especially when Natsu and Erza were furious about how I had taken the martyr route and stood my ground against the six mages.

"Shit, Gray", Cana took a long gulp from her barrel after I related to her and Mirajane a resumed version of what transpired against the assassins. "I can not even imagine what would have happened if Levy and his fanboys were the ones that took the job". She grimaced; Mira did the same and drank another big gulp of her barrel.

"I...", I doubted about sharing my paranoia with them. Mira and Cana noticed my doubts and that put them into alert. I never doubted, unless what I was going to say was some serious shit.

"Out with it, stud", Cana smiled at me, "you never talk out of your gorgeous ass".

Mira chuckled at the crude and flirting language that Cana was using. She knew that Cana and I had already knocked boots regularly, but right now I was Erza´s boy-toy. Or that was Cana was telling around town.

Sighing, I smiled at Cana, sometimes I believe that she knows me better than I would like.

"The ambush, the mages, the timing, the job", I quickly enumerated my suspicions. "Something buggers me about all of them. Those assholes were after Erza or after our entire Team, I am not sure".

"Uh, don't think you are a little paranoid?", raised an eyebrow Cana. "Remember, nine out of ten jobs, you are going to fight a Dark mage".

"And the tenth the job is a scam", followed Mira reciting by the heart.

"Maybe", I conceded the point. Makarov already know of my suspicions, it was not needed for me to fan the flames of paranoia among the Guild´s mages. "It could be my paranoia speaking, with all that bullshit that Phantom Lord is pulling out of their asses, I am a bit on edge".

"Ha, I could drink to that", chuckled Cana and continue drinking from her barrel.

"Ey, Gray, you free?", the voice of Miki called to me.

"Oh, hello Miki, aye, I am free now, need something?", I saluted to the Guild´s favorite "Demon Princess" and rock star, Miki Chickentiger.

"All my team is busy and I was looking for a sparring partner, you game?", she told me and the magical bird that she always kept around chirped in an echo of her question.

"Sure, I will be delighted, I will be with you in the training yard in a minute", I accepted her offering.

"Sweet, see you there", she smiled at my answer and turned to walk into the training yard.

Damn, dat ass. Thanks to her training, Miki was very fit.

"Damn, dat ass", echoed Cana my thoughts and I turned my eyes to her.

Mira has left to attend Macao and Wakaba at the other side of the counter, so she has missed the last conversation between me and Miki. Cana drunk from her barrel and noticed my stare, she shrugged.

"What? She is a bit petite, but since she started to train with you she has grown into quite the fit beauty". Cana commented focused on her task of emptying the barrel. "Do not dare to deny it, you have checked her ass as much as I do, and you are the one whipped by our local redhead knight".

"I am on a diet, doesn't mean I can not lick the dish, sweetheart", reply back to Cana who laughed.

"Oh, how am going to miss our little rendezvous", sighed Cana and drunk from the barrel again.

"Sorry about that", I smiled sheepishly, "but now I am with Erza, I would never betray her".

"And if she pimps you out?", Cana joked with a predatory smile.

"Ha, good one Cana", I laughed and waved her goodbye.

The thing that irked me is that Cana just waved me back, but she never lost her predatory smile.

For the rest of the afternoon, I sparred and trained with Miki and others that came later to the training yard. Mira had called me once professor Gray, but it was the truth that I can offer advice here and there thanks to my travels and deep knowledge of a lot of magic.

Tools in the toolbox, you never had enough and you will always found yourself needing another one.

In the evening, Erza and I had dinner together at my home. I noticed how interested she was in my home, and how she eyed the magical workshop that I crafted in the towers of the manor. Maybe my plan of living together was not all that far in the future as I was expecting. Thanks to Cana and Mira, perhaps, Erza was a bit more open when the two of us were together.

I loved her all the more from that.

It was too early for sex, even if Erza had an entire library of raunchy books to put to the test, to experience all of the erotica scenes of the books. Erza was confident enough to walk around in her mundane clothes, with a shirt and shorts, or in her training clothes, that hugged her body in a manner that sent mighty throbs to my loins, but I never went beyond some petting and slow and tender foreplay. Erza's body was as sweet as her lips, and I am half convinced that one of her fetishes is having her breasts ravished adequately.

In such a relaxed manner, several days passed, the only downsides would be that Erza had to take and S-class; not allowed to take any of Team Natsu with her; and the return of Laxus to the Guild. For what I understood, Laxus and his Thunder God Tribe; the name of his Team, a bit ostentatious, but with Laxus arrogance, it was not surprising; had taken a job to eradicate a Dark Guild, Ghoul something, I believe it was under the Ballam Alliance umbrella.

It was hard as hell to kept track of all the Dark Guilds around, they appeared like freaking mushrooms.

In order of keeping the Guildhall in one piece, Laxus and I ignored each other as much as we could. Laxus feel that I was not the weakling that he was convinced that I was, and I was not in the mood for a pissing contest with an S-class mage, much less the grandson of Makarov. Laxus and I tearing each other apart would break the old man's heart and he was already pushing his eighties.

It was one of those slow days, when the devils of my past came knocking and with an ax to grind with my sorry ass.

Thanks to the money that Team Natsu has made with the botched up job of the prototype, I had a lot of cash to put into my research and I have finally put my hands into some books of runes that I have been searching for a long time. Nay, we did not botch the job. not in that sense, the prototype was delivered, but there were bounties for all of the assassins. The entire loot earned me quite a pretty penny, close to the reward for the war of Iceberg, now that I thought about it.

After the afternoon brawl, Mystogun made his entrance in the Guild. I have been able to resist his [Sleep Magic] for a while now; something that very few in the Guild could, as even Mira, who also knew that particular branch of magic was also affected. The Guild was sleeping peacefully, and I managed to catch Cana and her barrel before she fell backward and with the barrel smashing her face. Feeling a bit of a prankster, I motioned Alzack and Bisca in a way that they would awake in each other arms. It was about time that the bloody lovebirds stopped beating around the bush. Their crush on each other was so obvious that even Natsu and Happy had seen it.

Makarov smiled widely and approved wholeheartedly at my prank.

The mage, one of the S-class of Fairy Tail, was always covered in head to toe. Bandages, face masks, the all nine yards with a ragged cape. Mystogun also carried several magical staff on his person. I have never seen him in action, as he always goes on solo missions, but seeing the arsenal of magic staffs that he carries around, I was convinced that he was akin to Erza, Alvis or Bisca; a magic weapon user.

The usual, walk to the job board, pick up a job, give it to Makarov, a polite nod to me, and be on his merry way to finish the job. Ten minutes later; more or less; the rest of the Guild awake from the sleeping magic and protested and groaned about Mystogun´s antics. Well, Cana almost ended with a face full of a barrel, so this time I will agree with them.

Natsu and Happy were saying that Natsu wanted to fight him, and see how Mystogun looks under all that clothes, and Laxus opened his bloody mouth and provoked Natsu; and the rest of the Guild in the process; by saying that he knew how Mystogun´s face was, and that a bloody bunch of weaklings had no business in the S-class jobs.

Natsu got shocked and the rest of the Guild was pretty much glaring daggers at Laxus; I kept drinking my drink and reading my book completely ignoring him.

In truth, I wanted nothing but smash Laxus smug grin out of his face, but the lad was powerful and a battle between us would only destroy the Guild, and cause a lot of damage all over Magnolia. Not to mention that Makarov would he heartbroken and I respected the old man way too much for that.

On the next day, I was busy helping Laki with a woodcraft project, and talking about the possibility of expanding my manor with a big new area. Erza´s armors need a place to stay, if I ever convince her to move in with me. The extra wing of the manor would need to be very big, as Erza had about seven rooms in Fairy Hills dedicated to store her armor and weapons collection.

Considering her monthly rent went on about seven hundred thousand jewels, it only reinforced my idea that the S-class jobs were always very lucrative. And exponentially dangerous. A single misstep and even powerful S-class mages had kicked the bucket. It sounded like my kind of job. Unfortunately, the universe seemed to be determined to keep me out of the fabled S-class category. I had to confess that it was also my own fault, every time that the trials came around, I was in a far corner of Earth Land, neck-deep in a dangerous situation.

Makarov saw me talking with Laki, and called me to have a word with him at the bar. That was unusual, but I said Laki goodbye and thanks for the advice, and walked to the bar, asking Mira for a beer to match the tankard that the old man was having. It was midday so it was a good moment for a cold one.

"What can I do for you Guild Master?", I asked, drinking the cold beer that Mira has served to me. After all the talking with Laki, it was refreshing.

"Natsu, Lucy, and Happy had taken an S-Class job", Makarov grumbled and I raised an eyebrow.

"Erza has taken them on her job and let me behind?. I feel abandoned", I chuckled. Erza must have her reasons for that, she was not one to do anything rash.

"Natsu, Happy and Lucy, alone", specified Makarov and I felt my blood run colder than usual.

"Fuck", was my very eloquent response.

I turned my gaze to the upper floor. Laxus. I can already guess that after the little spectacle yesterday, due to how the asshole provoked Natsu, this came to be. If any of the three dies during that S-class, I was going to tear Laxus a new one, Makarov´s grandson be dammed.

"Laxus saw Happy taking one of the requests", please Makarov, do not give me more reasons to strangle Laxus. "It an S-class request to Galuna Island".

"The Demon isle?", the demons on that island are actually quite friendly and live happily on that island without any interference from the outside, so I do not know what could have made them ask for an S-class job.

"The same", nodded Makarov, "I need you to go and intercept them, before they chew more than they can swallow".

"I will be on my way", I grunted and emptied the tankard.

It did not take me much to be ready for chasing after those idiots. I could understand why Natsu had done it. Over the paper, Natsu is an S-class candidate, but the kid lacked several key traits to be an S-class. Chief among them, knowing when to retreat, knowing when to fold and wait for a better opportunity. Natsu was powerful but incredibly reckless and feared nothing. That would lead him to a reckless charge into his own tomb.

From Magnolia to Hargeon port there was not much distance, I can easily cover the distance with Skoll and Hati and after taking one of the pre-made job packs that I had always ready at home, I was on the road riding Skoll at a good speed, straight into Hargeon to prevent those idiots before they reached the island.

As it can not be otherwise, I was late. Makarov and I underestimated Natsu´s luck.

Hargeon port was about to close the pier, there was a storm coming and the ships were safely docked. They will renew the traffic as soon as the storm passed. That would be late afternoon the sooner, that's is, if it does not become even worse and they had to close the port for the entire day. Natsu and company had the devil´s luck and found someone that had a boat and sailed them to the island, just before the pier was closed for the rest of the morning, and possibly for the rest of the day.

Judging by the time, I would say that they would already be on the island. Riding Hati, the wolf ran over the waters at high speed, directly at the island beyond the horizon. Hati was faster than any boat, and in a fraction of the time that it would normally take, I was already walking through the beaches of the island.

I saw the storm in the distance, it will hit the port, that much was for sure. I understood the precautions, and I was lucky that Hati could run over water at the same speed as inland, quickly covering the long voyage between the port and the crescent-shaped island known as Galuna Island.

The place was the usual tropical island, with big jungles, warm climate, and the dense vegetation that one could expect from such a place. I knew that the island was "cursed", and that a tribe of friendly devils inhabited the place. Careful, I said friendly devils, do not confuse them with the Demons of Zeref that are nothing more than objects and negative emotion-fueled spells giving sentience by the Darkest wizard of all.

After traveling through the jungle a bit, I managed to found a road that went deeper into the island and seeing that it was a paved road, I would say that there is a pier somewhere and the road would lead to the major village in the island. I have not yet listened to any explosions, or the screams of Lucy, so I was hoping to find them in the village, still not about to face whatever S-class job they had taken from the Guild without permission.

The jungle around me was something that I didn't like. I always preferred a snowy forest over this humid and suffocating jungle, but the island was of a tropical climate, so it had all the logic of the world that the island would have the dense jungle that I was watching. The local animals were curiously quiet. The birds, monkeys, the local predators, all of them seem unusually alert about something. The island was holding its breath, there was a tension in the air that I felt; so did my pack; and I could feel the Ethernano of the island different than in the mainland.

Something was doing something to the Ethernano on the island and the consequences are starting to show itself all over it. How curious.

The road was quite used, meaning that there was a steady trade going on, until whatever happened here cut the usual traffic. If the island has put an S-class job, that means that there is some serious shit going on and that is precisely why Natsu, Happy and Lucy should be out of here Asap. The humid jungle made me scratch the skin around my new scar on my abdomen. My stripping habit made me realize that I have lost my shirt, again. I had a very nice white shirt on, I swear to god, I must have lost it in the sea. Skoll and Hati were laughing from their rings, I could feel their wolfish laughs in the back of my mind.

Following the road, I reached the entrance of the village of demons that supposedly live here. The entrance door was in very bad shape, and the wall were not much better. That is odd, on this island there are several dangerous predators, those flimsy defenses will not hold back anything with a real intention of chewing devil flesh for dinner.

There were a couple of sentinels over the edges of the wall, they saw me and reacted at my presence, tensing and grabbing their weapons. Judging by the appearance, they were caught in their half-state, changing between humans and devils. The devils around employed that trick to trade with Fiore and do not provoke unrest, they take a human appearance and went on with their business without none being the wiser.

"Who goes there?", shouted one of the guards with his spear ready.

"I am Gray Fullbuster from Fairy Tail", I pointed out to the Guild mark in my chest. Walking around half-naked had the perk that my Guild mark over my chest, was perfectly visible. "It's about two morons from my Guild that had come here today".

"Ah, the other two mages", blinked the guard. "Yes, they are here".

"Thanks, can I pass?", I stood there patiently. "I would like to have words with them".

"Sure, give us a minute", said the guard lowering his spear and calling for the guards to open up the door.

"Thanks", I waved to the guard and walked into the village.

The village was pretty tribal, straw houses with several tools for farming and harvesting along the sides of the houses, and all over the village. The houses were of the tropical variety, with leaf roofs and brown walls, well built, but hardly a defensive option. The tropical rains that they must suffer constantly could easily be fought with the good sealing that they have done in their roofs.

The locals were all exhibiting their half forms, and all of them had a look of sadness in their faces. I saw several tombstones, and the kind of damages that a battle would have left in its wake. Who has attacked this village?. For years, this tribe of devils have actually been exceptionally good neighborhoods, never provoking the nearby ports, trading with them, who could have the interest in attacking them like that?. Economic reasons?. That would be absurd, these demons had nothing of interest, their lives are peaceful and attuned with nature.

Asking around a bit, and noticing that the people seem to be wary of me; hardly a surprise, they feel my Devil slayer magic, even if it was made to eradicate the demons of Zeref mostly, it was as efficient to end their lives as well; I finally found the tent where Natsu, Lucy, and Happy had set shop before doing whatever the heck they would be doing for their S-class quest.

Pushing the cloth covering the entrance of the tenth, I smiled with my best "I am going to screw you hard, long, and without lube" smile; all three of them petrified at my entrance of the tent; and took a seat in the carpet on the floor of the tent.

"So, have your ear about this one?", I asked in a very conversational manner, "three morons decided to take an S-class quest that they knew nothing about and botched up spectacularly, possibly ending up all dead".

"Ey!", protested Natsu in a second.

"Shut up Natsu; Makarov, Erza and I are seriously pissed off with you", my eyes stared at him and Natsu shut up. I was not calling him ashbrain, flamebutt or the dozen other nicknames that we used. I was deadly serious.

"What, in the name of sanity, were you thinking?", I asked directly at the three of them. "Taking an S-class and going after it without the approval of the Guild Master?. Do you have an idea of the kind of backlash that it could have against Fairy Tail?. Even worse, do you have an idea of the consequences for you?".

"We can totally do the job!", protested Natsu. Okay, I knew that Natsu was a powerful mage but this, this, right now, is the fucking reason why he was not an S-class yet.

"And what job is it?", well, I was going to let Natsu all the rope in the world and then let him hang himself with it.

"We are going to break the moon!". Point to Natsu and his happy smile, that was not an answer that I was expecting.

"Say what?", I eyed at him completely not amused and Lucy decided to speak sanish before I strangle the idiotic Dragon Slayer. Of all the times that Natsu should let his real brain shine, he does things like these.

"There are a bunch of people doing some kind of ritual on a nearby temple", started Lucy to speak, under all lights very uncomfortable under my stare. "Their ritual is doing something to the moon, they are solidifying a ray into the temple insides, but the moon turns of a different color during the night and the locals started to turn into devils under that moon and ended up attacking each other".

A ritual with the moon?. Solidifying moonlight into a ray?. The closest thing I could think off that had a similar characteristic would be something along the lines of Moondrip. That substance can dispel practically all magic, as long as enough magical power is accumulated. It can also be bottle up in liquid form, and it has been used to purify curses, dark magics, and such. Well, it seems that these three had managed to step into an illegal moon drip operation.

"And, right there, is the proof that you are not prepared to be S-class", I sighed massaging the bridge of my nose.

Natsu made an offending noise, but Lucy glared at him and turned her attention to me.

"What do you mean Gray?. What did we miss?", Lucy had her flaws, but she was not an idiot and knew me well enough to know that I never spoke out of my ass.

"Galuna island is called the Demon isle", I spoke in a very dry tone, "because it has been inhabited by a tribe of friendly devils for decades".

Lucy blinked and let her jaw fall to the floor, she turned her face to the entrance, then at me, she grabbed her head and started to muttered curses in a low breath.

"Uh, what?", Happy observed the scene hiding behind Natsu. The small flying blue cat was terrified of me right now.

"These people are not humans turning into demons, they are all demons", explained Lucy in a defeated tone. "Their appearances are their normal ones, the ritual has only affected their minds and made them forget what they are, attacking each other, scared of the demons among them".

"The ritual, I have to see more to be sure, is most probably the Moondrip", I explained further. "It essentially turns moonlight into a powerful dispelling magic. It can even be liquefied and sold for its usage by everyone. Its a very, very, expensive alchemy item that is heavily regulated by the Magical Council".

"But why has it affected the people in the village?", frowned Lucy. "They said that the mages on the temple did not interact with them, so the ritual never affected the village".

"Wrong", I shook my head. "If the ritual is Moondrip, the remaining magical particles of the ritual would saturate the clouds over the island, creating a reflection of the moon changing".

"And that would affect the devils?", Lucy listened to my explanation.

"They are devils, they are a race way more magical in essence than us, humans", I told her. "With a substance that essentially dispels magic floating in the air, it would be as if all of them started to sniffing glue, or worse".

"Oh, Spirits", Lucy mumbled, paling at the thought. Even Natsu and Happy seemed a bit quieter, seeing that they have realized that they have zero ideas about what's going on and why.

"So, what now?", asked Natsu. "We can not left them as they are, that would be cruel".

"Now, all of you will be back at the Guild and apologize to Master Makarov for screwing it up big time", I told them in a serious tone. "I will stay here and wait for Erza, or any other S-class, that could take the job, to inform them and to provide support, meanwhile, I will try to eliminate the influence of the Moondrip on the locals".

"But we can do the job!", whined Natsu stubbornly. "We can beat up those guys in the temple and stop the moon thingy, then we can see how to clean up the moon and when the S-class comes they would see a job well done".

"Well, we are already here", weakly mumbled Lucy, her subconscious betrayed her and she rubbed the keys at her waist. Of course, that sounded that the adequate enough bait for the Celestial Spirit Summoner

"On the reward, there is a Key, isn't it?", I deadpanned at Lucy.

She flinched and lowered her head completely ashamed of her own greed. "Yes, it is". She confessed.

"Greedy", teased Happy and Lucy looked positively murderous and ready to skin a blue flying pussy.

"This is a fucking S-class mission", I growled at Natsu. "Those guys up there?. Those can be people like Erza, are you ready to fight to the death with several people at the level of Erza?", my straightforward question made even the hothead Natsu stop in his mental tracks.

"Aye, me neither", I nodded at the absence of response. "That´s why only S-class took these jobs".

"But we can not leave them like this", pointed out Natsu to the outside. "They are suffering, people died because of this, is not fair". Fuck, Natsu was right, but the magic world is nothing but fair.

"Aye, is not fair, is not fair at all", I completely agree with Natsu in the unfairness of it all, but I had other worries, the biggest among them was to prevent these three lovely morons doing something stupid and ending up dead.

Only I can do stupid things to protect them from the monsters of this world. Aye, I know what I said, and I stood by it, hypocrite as I may sound. Campiones have never been rational, and I was a Campione for ages before this new life. Old habits die really hard.

The bells of the alarm of the village made us stare at the entrance. The bells sounded with force, as if something was attacking them. Jumping from his seated position, Natsu; followed by the rest of us; exited the tent to see what´s going on.

After all this time, I was convinced that nothing will faze me much anymore, but I laughed at the peculiar image of a massive rat, dressed with a black and pink corset and a frilled hat, flying in the sky by using its tail as it was a helix. Then my smile dropped when a couple of splashes fall from the container that the rat was carrying and revealed itself to be a very potent acid.

The bloody flying beast was carrying a pot big enough to turn the entire village into a puddle of molten goo. If that thing hit the devils, they will be nothing but a smelly pond.

"Get the people in the middle of the village!", shouted Natsu, flying at top speeds at the container and the rat.

Oh, please do not tell me that, aye, he punched the falling liquid with his [Fire Dragon´s Iron Fist] and sent the liquid everywhere but the center of the village. Of course Natsu will do the most reckless, albeit impressive, thing.

I was already in my [Ice Make] stance, creating a thick umbrella that would have withstood the acid. After the battle that I had with the acid mage assassin, I trained myself to make sure that my ice was capable of enduring even the worst acids. At last for a while.

"I am going to beat up these guys!", roared Natsu in the sky and I cursed loudly. That idiot is going to have himself killed.

"Lucy", I called to the girl that had saved one of the demons from the acid splash. She had the heart in the right place. "Sorry love, but I need you to go after that ignoramus", I pointed up with my thumb at the flying Natsu, "and prevent him to do something even more moronic".

"Skoll, Hati", I called to my pack and the wolves materialized at my side. "Accompany Lucy and protect her", I ordered and I could see the immense relief in Lucy's expression, due to have the wolves at her side.

She rode Skoll and was about to ask what I was going to do when I pointed out to the entrance of the village where two figures were walking inside.

"I will deal with the rude guests", I joked with her and Lucy nodded before Skoll and Hati easily jumped over the walls of the village and run to track down Natsu.

I walked to the open center in the village, where we would have all the space in the world to fight, and far from the devils of the village that were evacuating the place, knowing of the battle between mages that is about to take place.

The two figures could not be more curious. One was a slim man with big eyebrows; squared even; dressed in a Chinese suit of sorts. His companion was a half-naked man of prominent canine traits. At this point in life, I was more than accustomed to Earth Land´s eccentric appearances and costumes.

"So, you are the bunch that is bottling Moondrip up in the temple?", I raised an eyebrow at the pair. Unless they were limiting themselves a lot, their magical power was not all that impressive.

"Bottling?", the Chinese looking man with big eyebrows seemed genially surprised about my comment.

"Yuka, are we bottling the moonlight?", the canine looking man asked to the other. Yuka was the name of the Chinese dressing man. "I thought that it was for revenge against the demon".

Wait, what?.

"Tobi, I often think that you are more dog than human", sighed Yuka.

Tobi?. For real?. The dogman was called Tobi?. I was torn between a laugh and give my condolences to the poor bastard, but that comment about the demon has sparked my interest. What they could want with Moondrip and a demon?. I was really hoping that they have been putting a Demon of Zeref under the Moondrip, that would fuck up the demon really nice.

"I am human, thank you", angrily barked the dog man.

"Excuse me", I was already warming up my magic for the combat, but a bit more of information could be good. "What was that about a demon?".

"We are melting a demon popsicle", smiled Tobi like a dog.

Melting a demon popsicle?. Are they high?. Oh?.

Ooooooh. Nay.

Nay, no, uhuh, hell no. Nope. They can't be that freaking stupid.

My blood ran cold, my heart rate went over the moon, and I growled in a manner than made Tobi give a step back and take cover behind Yuka, that observed the interaction amused, but still in alert, as the growl that I have emitted was something that no human should be able of emitting.

"Are you trying to liberate Deliora?", my question froze the air around me, making the village´s temperature drop several degrees.

"You know Deliora?", now Yuka was a bit more focused on me. Tobi kept covering behind Yuka, his eyes fixated on me with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

"That demon exterminated my home village, and razed it to the ground", I said between clenched teeth. I was trying to stay calm, to be reasonable, and to gain as much information as I could before I tore a new one to this cretins. "The last thing I knew was that the Ice sorcerer Ur sealed the demon forever".

"Yes, that is correct", nodded Yuka. "We are survivors of Deliora too, we are going to free the demon, and then our leader will kill it, taking revenge for all of us".

"Is your leader a Devil-Slayer?". Why I had the suspicion that is not going to be the case?.

"Those exist?", asked Tobi over Yuka´s shoulder, answering my question.

"So, you are going to unseal a powerful demon, and then your leader is going to slain it", I resumed the "amazing" plan that these individuals had. "And your leader is not a Devil Slayer, but I take that he is a powerful magician of some kind, I mean, maybe a holy warrior, or had a powerful magical item that would grant him victory over the demon, nay?".

"He is the best [Ice Make] mage in Fiore!", nodded Tobi with pride.

After such an answer, I swear that I felt part of my soul dying at the sheer stupidity of what I was listening. Enough was enough.

"You don't have the slightest idea of what the heck are you doing, don't you?", my voice was cold, devoid of anything that could be attached to a human, living, being.

Giving a step ahead, I started to walk right at them, my tattoo was already growing, covering my arm in the darkness of the Devil Slayers. My voice, my tattoo, my eyes, all of it made the two newcomers very, very, nervous. Specially the canine one, his instincts were telling him to run the fuck out of there. But it was already too late.

Yuka was the first in attacking me and I actually had to dodge it. I recognized that spell, it was [Wave Magic], and anti-magic spell that distorts and dispels the magic of other mages. I was also a [Dispel] mage, but I have never reached the levels that this mage was showing.

Running after the scythes that Yuka has shot at me, Tobi jumped at me with speed and agility; his nails become claws that he used to try to slash me. I jumped backwards, and proceed to dodge and deflect all of the claw attacks that Tobi was tossing at me. I moved in a way that Yuka always had Tobi in his line of sight, so he could not toss another wave attack without hitting the canine man.

Deflecting the claws with my right hand, my left hand punched the sternum of the dog man, and he whined by the cracking of his sternum; sadly for him, I was far from done. The sudden pain has slowed Tobi enough for me to toss him to the ground with a brutal judo throw. Once he hit the ground, and was trying to recover his breath, I turned the bottom of my shoes into ice spikes and stomped his left knee.

The whined and pained scream of Tobi, not that different from a dog, covered the village. I was about to do the same with his right leg but the wave magic of Yuka came for me from all directions and I was forced to dodge out of the way.

My replica to the [Wave Magic] of Yuka was a rain of ice spikes, followed by a mallet over his head. The man with the long eyebrows surrounded himself with a sphere of anti-magic. From the inside, he gloated about how no mage was rival for him, and how he was going to make me pay for what I have done to Tobi. The canine lad was whimpering on the edge of the battlefield, having crawled there with a messed up leg.

That sphere trick was actually pretty nice, I will have to look into it later, that was a very nice ace to have under the sleeves.

Grunting, I took my [Ice make] position, and put my hands as if I had launched something; in this case, several hooked chains that pierced the wooden walls of the village. With a powerful pull; reinforced by my [Giant Magic], I pulled the several meters long wood logs that formed the wall, into a series of projectiles that made Yuka pale inside his [Wave Magic] sphere.

If he got out, I was ready to crush him, and if he stood inside, the wood logs will crush him. Yuka made the gesture of getting out but he miscalculated the speed of the logs and they fall upon him, burying him under their combined weight.

And that makes two of them.

Walking to the pained canine looking man, the whimpering and the way on how he tried to curl into himself; only the messed up leg preventing that to happen; told me that he feared me more than the Grimm Reaper, and that suited me just fine.

"Now, I need you to tell me everything", I knelt at the side of Toby and look him in the eyes.

The pained whine was almost satisfying.

Not much later, I was walking up the stairs in the temple, cursing to the high heavens, and feeling an incredible desire to rip and tear. I could understand the desire of vengeance, it was the thing that started this whole mess in the first place, I could understand the pain, the sadness, the frustration, all of that I could understand, heck, even the hate and the disgust. All of them had a reason and a source.

What I could not tolerate, by any stretch of the imagination, are stupidity and hubris.

The metaphorical twist of the dagger on my heart, came from the knowledge that I was, in part, responsible for all this, and due to the knowledge that the one leading these idiots knew perfectly well the consequences of what he was doing, and yet, his hubris has blinded him to anything else.

The temple was ancient, I could recognize some symbols here and there from other locations all over Earth Land, but the place has been abandoned thousands of years. Still, I had to admit that it was the perfect spot for the Moondrip ritual. The stone structure had a reminiscent style to the Mayan and Aztec temples that I meet in my original life.

The structure of the temple was designed for the moon ray that came from the Moondrip ritual to hit a big chamber inside of the bowels of the temple. In his day, this place had room for dozens of acolytes running around, doing all kinds of chores. The former gods of the temple were no longer remembered but I could make an educated guess and say that the moon would be the theme.

Traversing the inside of the temple, I listened to echos of a fight down there; not in the same direction as I was walking forward but loud enough to reach the upper floor. The roar of Natsu was impossible to miss. He was fighting someone down there, but Natsu was roaring in anger, not in pain, so for the moment, I would assume that he is winning.

All the way up, so I can take the stairs down the main chamber of the temple and found myself staring at the frozen form of Deliora. The massive, daemonic, form of the ice devil was entrapped in a solid shell of ice that surrounded him completely and kept him locked in an eternal prison of ice. A good chunk of the upper portion of the ice was melted, and a liquid puddle of silvery tones layered at the base of the crevice where the frozen demon stood, waiting for the Moondrip light.

There was someone down there, a figure, dressed in ornate armor and with a lion helmet, looking as if he was the bad guy of some cheap theater play. Pretty sure the children back at Magnolia would have loved the cool get up, but I believed that it was bloody too much. The entire thing was very unnecessary.

"Its been a while", I calmly said to the figure under Deliora, reaching the same floor as him. "I take this is your doing?".

"Hello, Gray", the hate, the poison in my name was something that I was already expecting. But it hurts like hell when comes from someone that you have called brother in the past. "Have you come to see my moment of triumph?".

"Nay, I have come to save your life, Ur´s, and the poor sods at the devil village", I denied with a sad shook of my head. "Your actions had some serious consequences, a lesson that Ur paid for me, much to my eternal guilt and shame".

"You killed Ur", it was true. Gray was a stupid child and in his death, I inherited his sins and life. You can not have one without the others. But there was an addendum to that phrase that must be pointed out.

"Ur is alive, Lyon", it was the first time that I spoke his name since that accursed day. "The [Ice Shell] that covers Deliora is the body and soul of Ur, that is the price of the [Ice Shell]".

Lyon spoke, devoid of emotions, devoid of the person that I hoped was still there, under the stupid lion helmet.

"I know", he confessed and my heart clenched in pain and disbelief. "I know about [Ice Shell] and how it works".

"Then why are you doing this?", the words came out of my mouth in a very ragged manner as the words of Lyon had left me speechless. "Ur is there, the woman that we loved as she was our mother is trapped there, and you wanted to slain her?".

"I will melt the ice and then I will slay Deliora", said Lyon with the overconfidence of zealots, "then I will have surpassed Ur!", the wicked smile under the shadow of the lion helmet spoke volumes of how delusional the poor fucker was.

"Oh, you poor idiot", I sighed, swallowing down the pain of seeing my first real friend turned into a second class villain of a morning cartoon. "That´s how you are going to surpass Ur?. By killing her and then unleashing a demon over Earth Land?. Lyon, do you realize how insane it sounds?".

"Silence!", he eyed me with rage. "I have already surpassed Ur, and I will demonstrate it to you". Lyon raised one hand and a giant ice tiger jumped at me, fangs and claws ready to tear me apart.

My hand, already covered in the black taint of the Devil Slayer and in the form of an inhumane and demonic claw of black ice, grabbed the ice creation of Lyon with easiness. A clench, and the neck and head of the tiger was crushed to pieces. I inhaled deeply, devouring the ice magic, as all the Slayers can do with their element.

Lyon´s jaw was already on the floor.

"That´s it?", I was frankly baffled, that was ridiculous. "That is your ace, being able to use [Ice Make] with one hand?. Ur already taught us that [Molding Magic] with one hand was weaker and more unstable. What the hell were you thinking Lyon?".

"What are you?", he screamed back at me.

"A slayer", I shrugged, "more concretely, the [Ice Devil Slayer]". I left my God-Slayer status out of the conversation, it was wise to kept some aces under one sleeve.

Enraged and confused, especially after how easily I have destroyed his creations, Lyon raised his hands and created a big gorilla made of ice, the beast jumped at me and I sidestep the double punch, and bisected the creation with my claws. Lyon´s magic was actually tasty, now I start to understand why Natsu is always devouring flames left and right, it's always a new taste.

After the gorilla, Lyon screamed in disbelief, and managed to create a long serpentine dragon-like creature.

Back in the day, Lyon was far better than me at [Ice Make] because most of my creations were static. Lyon was able to summon birds, plants, animals, of all kind, even constructs of his imagination made of ice. The stronger the imagination and the visual, the better.

The dragon was a marvel, so much I can tell, Lyon must have trained hard to be able to cast a beasts like these, and make it move as if it was alive. It is a testament of how much has Lyon grow and it only made it even sadder, how low has he fell.

The dragon opened his maw and tried to rip me apart with his fangs. Icebreaker responded to the salute of the dragon, by shattering its head, and about a meter or two of the rest of his body, in pieces of ice. The hammer was back to my soul before Lyon could make head or tails about what happened.

"I am a slayer", I reiterated. "We can be like this all day, ice does nothing to me, and I can devour your ice to made myself stronger, and to recover my magic". I pointed at the massive demon behind his back. "Just like he did".

Lyon observed me with confusion, hate, and disbelief in his eyes.

"Have you ever wondered why Ur decided to use the [Ice Shell]?", I wondered aloud. "She was the greatest [Ice Make] mage of the north, yet, she lost a leg, and was tossed around like a ragdoll by the fucking demon, Why is that?".

I did not give Lyon time to answer.

"Because Deliora feeds on destruction, unless your ice had a holy element of some kind, you are screwed", I told him and realization and horror started to dawn in his eyes. "Tossing ice at Deliora would be useless, using [Ice Make], no matter how much you have perfected the magic, would be like tossing daisies at Deliora".

"Due to your hubris, you would have freed an empowered Deliora, that would have killed everyone on this island, and who knows how many more, once he reached any surrounding mainlands". That would be a resume of the consequences of his actions.

With an enraged scream, Lyon recreated the dragon and sent it at me. I have essentially explained and demonstrated to him that his plan was the worst plan ever, and that due to his actions, hundreds of Lyons and Grays were about to be created, but this time, there will not be any Ur to save them.

To be honest, my rage was substituted by sadness and guilt. I was the one that forced Ur´s hand, I was the one that cut all ties with Lyon when it was clear that boy was suffering as much as I do. Now, years later, the sins of our past come to slap us in the face. I hated to be the one destroying Lyon´s work for the last years, but the consequences of his actions are something that I can not allow.

Taking the stance that Ur taught us, a blue magical circle surged from my feet and covered several meters of the floor, materializing one of my most brutal spells.

[Ice Make Auto-cannons] was a spell that I designed to deal with hordes of enemies, and to pummel big objectives with a strong and consecutive series of impacts at high velocity. Four cannons appeared over my shoulders and my sides, each cannon easily the size of my head, and with a hissing sound, the cannons started to shot ice projectiles.

Each projectile was a cylinder; I wanted Lyon alive but pummeled; of about four kilos, and about six inches of diameter, traveling at two hundred meters per second. The initial barrage was enough to broke his dragon, and the second barrage gave Lyon the beating of his life.

The only drawback of the spell was that I had to stay close and focus on creating the ammo, and maintain the firing rhythm, I was working on forms to create a permanent, and self-sustaining ,turret version of it, but it was a very complex magical array. For the moment, it worked as an artillery station, tearing apart anything that dared to come close to it, via pure kinetic and cold force.

Quickly checking that Lyon was out cold, and the gaudy armor torn to shreds, I sighed and moved him to the shadow of the stairs, just in case.

Now, it was time to address the elephant in the room.

I walked in front of the ice pond at the feet of the frozen prison and put my fingers inside of it. Cold, but I can feel it, a faint, weakening, echo of powerful magic and a warm sensation. Tears fall down my cheek into the pond. That was Ur, her soul, still there after all these years.

I sobbed like a child, with my right hand inside of the cold waters, crying by the touch of the soul of Ur. She was alive, she was bloody alive, I knew it, I knew that she was still there, still living, that her soul has not extinguished, not yet.

I had a chance to save her.

My old but reliable dagger for rune carvings rested heavily in my right hand. What I was about to do will have consequences, some of them were beyond my control, others will affect me and those that I love, others will bring changes to the magical word, that I feared none of us was prepared to face.

Yet, I will do it.

Slow, painfully, I etched a series of runes over my two arms, my blood fell into the pond adding solidity to my [Futhark runes] spell, combined with a parting gift from a monster. Each rune had a name and I whispered it, the sacred names of the runes of forgotten gods of Iceberg. Words of power that bounded the world to my will.

With a grunt of pain, I rested my bloodied hands into the ice that imprisoned Deliora, and ended up my chant. Energy started to conglomerate in the room, all the Ethernano in the air was being forced through my runes and into the ice. The first pulse made several of my veins in my arms almost burst through my flesh; several purple spots appeared in my arms, bruises from the burst veins and muscles; the pulse shackled the entire temple and the ice of Deliora compressed, cracking in several places.

Grunting in pain I kept accumulating power, more and more. Blood started to pour out of my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth, my arms trembled, and I almost let the ice go, but I forced them to stay in touch, the spell demanded contact between the runes and the subject.

The second pulse came, and the temple shocked as if an earthquake had hit it. My arm's muscles suffered spams, and several muscles and ligaments were torn apart, but the transfusion has been done. Falling to my knees with my messed up arms at my sides I observed how the magic filtered inside of the [Ice Shell] and transfigured it. Several cracking and snapping sounds echoed on the temple, when the ice was torn apart and reconfigured. After a blinding explosion of light, and a wave of Ethernano that swept several miles into the jungle, a foot-long black piece of enchanted ice fell into my lap.

Smiling, I took it into my [Re-equip] and kept it safe there. What I have done could be considered the darker of the dark arts, I have managed to safely store a living soul, I had stored a human soul. But more importantly, I had transferred a living soul, meaning that I can do it again.

There is little need to say that my bloodied smile would have given demons nightmares.

On my knees, exhausted, and with two broken arms, I observed how Deliora started to move, how he twitched and agitated, roaring in discomfort and pain, the ice started to creep all over the room, but I was already beyond that point.

Fixing my red eyes into Deliora, the sudden accumulation of magical power called the attention of the demon, and when the demon lowered his gaze to stare at my red eyes, an "Oh, Shit" expression mutated his features.

"[Ice Devil´s Rage]", was the last thing that Deliora listened, before I roared my spell with enough force to shatter my vocal cords, several meters of the ground and walls around me, and carve a half a mile long path through the temple, and into the jungle at the other side of the wall.

Spitting a piece of something fleshy that I seriously hope would regrow back, or it was not all that important, I stood in front of the hole that I had screamed into existence. My arms were two bloody pieces of battered meat and I felt as if my body has been tenderized by a jackhammer. But through the pain and mental exhaustion, I felt triumphant.

Deliora was no more, and I had Ur's soul with me. This S-class has turned to be quite a profitable business; alas, my body seemed to disagree vehemently with that idea, judging from the pain camping in the middle of my brain.

I don't know how much time did I pass there, staring at the horizon through the hole that I have shouted through the walls, smiling like a bloody idiot, and bleeding into the floor. My mind was a blank, the effort and the [Ice Devil´s Rage] has taken a toll on me. I may have humongous magical reserves, but I have done, by myself, what entire cabal of mages should take years. I feel that I deserved a bit of a break.

A humid sensation and a whine at my side made me look, the tongue of a worried Hati was licking my arm, meanwhile, Skoll was resting his snout over my shoulder, whining at my disastrous state. I would have loved to speak, but with my vocal cords in such a state, I was barely able to emit a groan, and rub my head against the fur of the wolves.

Lucy came running from behind the wolves and I faintly listened to her strangled and shocked gasp. She ran in front of me calling my name, but I just smile like an idiot; surely that only scared her more and tried to raise an arm with little success. I stared at the traitorous appendage. Lucy screamed to Happy to go after help, that I was seriously wounded.

Ha, true that love.

Seeing Lucy so distressed about how fucked up I was, I felt like an asshole for worrying her like that; it was the second time in about a month, that she saw me in such a pitiful state. Although, this one has been by my own hands, pain does not care about origins.

Skoll and Hati were cleaning my wounds with their tongues and leaving cold trails behind, plugging the exploded veins with a cape of frostbite that sealed the wound and the broken vein, helping may inhumane body fix the disaster. Lucy had her own medical kit for emergencies; Erza and I had insisted on her always carrying around a small one, and I can see her trying to apply the healing salves over the worse wounds of my body. I really should remember this, and later, thank her.

Suddenly the pained howl of Skoll followed by the scream of Lucy, made me turn my head and stare in disbelief at what I was seeing.

Why was Ur stabbing me on the heart?.