That night, while everyone was asleep, Gray woke up. As he tiptoed outside, suddenly, a hand landed on his shoulder.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
He didn't seem to expect me and almost shouted as he turned back.
"Hey, don't scare me like that," he said.
"So, you were scared?" I asked in a taunting manner.
"No, I'm not," he replied with a straightforward denial. Kids these days.
"So, what are you doing?" I asked, trying to avoid a fight at this time of the night. A growing boy like me needs his sleep.
He was silent for a few moments before replying, "I need to kill Deliora." He said it slowly, and man, his eyes looked serious.
"Even I can't beat Deliora alone. What do you think you can do?"
He clenched his fists hard and bit his lip. Man, kids in this world are hardcore. The expression in his eyes looked like Sasuke about to kill Itachi.
"Deliora killed my family. I will avenge them," he said while looking at me.
Guess it's time to pull out some talk-no-jutsu.
"Do you remember how your parents died?" I asked.
He nodded and answered, "They died trying to save me."
"Then you're the biggest idiot in the world," I bluntly replied.
"What do you mean, you bastard?" he asked angrily.
"What do you think you're going to say when you die this young? 'Mom, Dad, I killed myself after you gave your life to save me'? Think about it," I said, looking straight into his eyes. It may have been harsh, but the kid needed tough love.
"But... I... but—"
Huh, looks like he's got nothing to say now.
"We're going to hunt the demons tomorrow. You can either go now and get yourself killed or stay back and protect Ultear with Lyon so your teacher can fight with a peaceful mind."
He looked down.
"Well, I gotta go sleep. Goodnight," I said, heading back to my room. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.
"Nice work, kid," Gildarts said.
The next morning, I woke up to find that Gray was still here. Huh, guess my pep talk worked. I sat down to eat, and Cana brought me food before sitting next to me.
"Here," she said.
"Thanks."
"So, are you worried about going without me?" she asked with a smile.
"Nah, I'll be alright," I replied while eating.
"Uhh," she pouted. Huh, guess she's cute.
Suddenly, I felt like Gildarts had a few nerves about to blow, and Ur looked like she was holding back laughter.
After breakfast, we began planning.
"So," Ur started, "If the info we got is correct, the two demons on opposite sides of the town are performing a ritual that could wipe out every magic-devoid human. That's a lot."
"Our plan," Gildarts began, "is for two-member teams to have two objectives. Ur and I will distract the demons long enough, while Cana and Karna will destroy the ritual sites at both locations."
"The chances of Zeref cult followers being there are very high, but we haven't heard of any notable figures nearby, so they're most likely grunts," Ur added.
"Lyon and Gray will take care of Ultear. If any problems arise, you should run as fast as possible."
Both Gray and Lyon nodded.
"But I don't want you to leave, Mom!" Ultear suddenly cried out.
Well, she only got her mother back yesterday, so that's understandable. Ur picked her up in her arms.
"Ultear, I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most, but right now, we need to stop those demons if we want to live our lives, okay?"
"Will you come back?"
"Yes, I promise."
After leaving the house, we began walking toward the eastern side, where Deliora was conducting the ritual. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that the quest only mentioned stopping the demons, not saving Ur. I hope it's not a bad omen.
Ur and I walked the entire way, talking to each other. She's a cool woman but also has a scary side. We hit it off well and discussed a lot of things, including some juicy information about Gildarts I can use later.
Finally, we reached the end of the road, where I sensed two large sources of power. One seemed like a cluster of magic energy, and the other felt like a mass of dark energy. Looks like I don't have to search far.
Ur decided to head toward Deliora while I went to deal with the cultists. When I arrived, I found the ritual was happening inside a church. Convenient for me to hide in a high place and shoot.
I climbed the church from the outside and looked inside at the ritual.
...
...!!!!
Oh my god, these people are madmen. There were dead bodies—clearly not from natural causes—in the center of a magic circle, while an old man stood on a podium giving some fanatical speech.
And every idiot there looked like they agreed with him, laughing about killing more "lesser beings" or something.
All right, guess I'm killing everyone.
I materialized my armor and bow, taking aim with a dark smoke arrow—a hollow arrow with darkness and air cores combined.
The result? A peculiar darkness that blinds everyone except me. Quite a handy tool for hunting and surprises.
Notching another arrow, I smirked.
"Let's begin the hunt."
A/N- hope you like the rewrite and every 100 powerstone gets extra chapter of Jason.