"Come out! Or should I drag you out?" Ian coldly called toward the distant woods.
"Could there be an enemy over there?" Ur, quickly realizing something was wrong, clenched her right hand into a fist and prepared her Ice-Make magic, staying alert for any movement around them.
"Impressive. As expected of a Fairy Tail wizard, you noticed my presence," came a sinister voice.
As Ur tensed up, a tall figure emerged from the woods. Wielding a monk's staff and dressed in a tattered robe, the grotesque figure radiated an aura of fear and malice. This fearsome figure approached Ian and Ur.
"Who… who are you?" Ur's eyes widened in shock.
"Humans, it's our first meeting. Allow me to introduce myself…" the figure said in a deep, gravelly voice. "I am Keyes, the Dark Monk, one of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros. Though you may not have heard of me, all you need to know is that we are demons from the Book of Zeref."
"The Book of Zeref's demons?!" Ur exclaimed. "What's your connection to Deliora?"
"Ha! Deliora was once one of our esteemed members, one of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros. But unfortunately, you humans destroyed Deliora completely, leaving not even a body behind." Keyes sighed regretfully.
"What is your true plan?" Ur pressed, hoping to extract more information about Tartaros from him.
"Plan? You speak of plans? Ha!" Keyes sneered, his eyes flashing with mockery. "Our very existence is the greatest…"
"Boom!"
Before Keyes could finish, a massive force of gravity pressed him to the ground.
"Ugh…" Keyes, caught off guard, was instantly pinned by Ian's gravity magic.
"Why waste time talking? Just send him to meet Deliora," Ian said, raising his finger slightly, increasing the pressure on Keyes.
"Humans! Tartaros will not forgive you! Master Mard Geer will avenge me!" Keyes screamed as he struggled under the immense weight.
"Dark Paradise: Confinement Space!!" Ian conjured, creating a massive gravitational vortex before him. The gravity was so intense that it distorted light and shadow, pulling everything into its crushing center.
"Not good!" Ur quickly erected an ice wall to shield Gray and the others from the aftershock of Ian's magic.
"Ahh! Nooo…" Keyes, whose curse magic was ill-suited for direct combat, could do nothing against Ian's overwhelming power. His body was sucked into the dark vortex and disappeared without a trace, as though he had never existed.
"So strong!" Ur muttered, lowering her ice wall. "Even now, I can't come close to such power." She turned to Ian. "But you killed him so quickly! We hadn't even learned why he was here."
"He's not completely dead," Ian replied calmly. "I merely destroyed his physical form. His demon soul is now imprisoned in my Dark Paradise along with Deliora. So don't worry, it's handled."
Ian was always one to be resourceful—how could he waste such valuable demon souls? After all, Zeref had worked hard to create them.
These high-quality demon souls would be the perfect nourishment for Mirajane when she eventually joined the guild!
"Gray, Leon," Ian continued, turning to the two boys. "This is your first lesson: never show mercy to demons. Mercy will only get you hurt."
"Demons don't feel pain, "Ian explained. "They won't show fear or weakness when attacked. They are relentless, unlike other creatures that react when wounded".
With both Keyes and Deliora now out of the picture, the incident surrounding Gray was finally resolved.
However, Ian noticed that his simulation hadn't yet ended. After bidding farewell to Silver and Mika, he decided to follow Ur, Gray, and Leon on their journey.
"Stop following us!" Ur sighed, exasperated.
"I'm Gray's guardian now," Ian shrugged. "His parents entrusted that responsibility to me."
And so, under the guise of being Gray's guardian, Ian tagged along to Ur's house, shamelessly enjoying the free meals.
"Let's go on a trip of our own, Mika," Silver said softly, watching his son walk away.
"Anything you say, dear," Mika replied, snuggling into Silver's arms.
Gray's presence was just a small hiccup. Silver and Mika's love was the real story here.
Looking in the direction Gray had gone, Silver silently vowed, Gray, as your father, I won't place all the burden on you. Go, live your life. I'll protect both Mika and you.
Meanwhile, in the dark guild Tartaros, known as Zeref's Library…
"Keyes and Deliora have both been destroyed?"
"Was it a powerful human who did this?"
"It seems I'll have to remind these humans who really rules this continent…"
In the shadowy depths of the guild, a young man with long black hair, clutching a magic tome, sat quietly on his throne, seemingly asleep. Suddenly, as if sensing something, he opened his sharp eyes.
Just as the young man was about to act, he noticed his magic tome heating up.
"No! Wait…"
"These humans are trying to lure me out."
"After all these years, their goal hasn't changed! They still want to steal the book of END."
"Ha, good thing I realized in time…"
"You filthy, cunning humans, I won't let you succeed."
"I, Mard Geer, will guard the Book of END with my life!"
The young man muttered to himself, gripping the book tightly in his arms, his eyes filled with a cold intelligence as if he had already seen through everything.
If Ian were there, he would have pointed right at Mard Geer's nose and laughed, saying, "Mard Geer, did you know? Your guild master END (E.N.D, a.k.a. Natsu Dragneel) calls me Big Brother Ian all the time at the guild!"