Gray's Senior Fellow Disciples

Jiang Bai looked at the powerless woman on the ground and slowly said, "Tell me, what should I do with you, member of the Dark Guild?"

Ultear stiffened, but still stubbornly asked, "Wh... what Dark Guild?"

Jiang Bai smiled.

"I know,"

He crouched down, looked directly into Ultear's eyes, and said, word by word,

"'The Grimoire Heart,' the chief of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."

Upon hearing this name, Ultear completely gave up resistance.

She stopped arguing and simply looked coldly at Jiang Bai: "Then what do you want?"

Jiang Bai looked at her, but for a moment he didn't know what to do.

This girl has suffered since childhood, and because of a huge misunderstanding, she has ended up where she is today.

She was also Gray's senior.

Jiang Bai even remembered that at some point in the future, in order to atone for her sins, she sacrificed all her life force, causing time to flow backward in the entire world, and she herself transformed from a young girl into an old woman with white hair.

Although that's something she'll do in the future.

Now that I have myself, that kind of future may not necessarily happen.

But isn't the point of living to have a clear conscience?

"You can leave now."

Jiang Bai stood up and said calmly.

Ultear couldn't believe her ears. "You... you really want to let me go?"

"This will be the only time."

Jiang Bai's voice was very calm.

"If I ever hear or see you continue to harm innocent lives, I will personally take your life. Or, you have another choice."

"Abandon evil and embrace good."

These four words seemed to touch the deepest thorn in Ultear's heart.

She realized that the reason she joined the Dark Guild was entirely because of her mother who had abandoned her.

"Abandon evil and embrace good?"

She shouted angrily, as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"What do you think you know?"

"I actually know."

Jiang Bai looked at her,

"Sometimes, you might as well ask the person involved. The result might be different from what you expected."

After saying that, Jiang Bai's figure transformed into a streak of light and disappeared from the spot.

Ultear was left alone, lying blankly on the cold ground, repeatedly pondering Jiang Bai's last words.

Jiang Bai spared Ultear not just because he was temporarily soft-hearted.

The "Grimoire Heart" guild spends most of its time on a giant airship, flying around in the sky with unpredictable movements, making them extremely difficult to eliminate completely.

If they turn their anger towards Fairy Tail because of Ultear's death, that would be a significant problem.

Not everyone in the guild is as strong as me. When they go out to do missions, I can't watch over them every single moment.

Now, give Ultear a chance; perhaps one day in the future, it will have unexpected and wonderful effects.

As for Ultear's past sins, Jiang Bai can only say that he is not a saint.

Jiang Bai sighed inwardly.

Ah, people really do have more to consider once they have ties to them.

When he returned to the ground, Natsu and Lucy's battle was already over.

Only Gray was still engaged in a fierce battle with Lyon.

The two Ice-Make Magic collided repeatedly in the air, and the shattered ice crystals shimmered with a cold light under the moonlight.

"Gray, are you done yet?"

Natsu watched with growing impatience.

Do you want me to help you?

"Unnecessary!"

While fending off Lyon's attacks, Gray roared without turning his head.

"You stand right there!"

As Lyon watched his men fall one by one, leaving him alone to fight, his defenses began to crumble.

"Why?"

He yelled at Gray,

"Gray! Why are you stopping me?"

"Give up, Lyon."

Gray was panting.

"If you choose to give up now, I can pretend nothing happened."

"Give up?"

Lyon seemed to have heard something ridiculous.

"I've worked tirelessly towards this goal for ten years! Now you want me to give up with just a few words?"

"Gray, I will not give up! I will use everything I have to defeat Deliora!"

"Lyon, you..."

Gray was about to say something when Lyon interrupted him.

"Shut up!"

Lyon's expression turned ferocious.

"Gray! You're saying we should pretend nothing happened? Don't be ridiculous! Have you forgotten that Ur was killed because of you?!"

These words, like a sharp knife, pierced Gray's heart.

"If you hadn't insisted on challenging Deliora in the first place, Ur wouldn't have died!"

"You killed Ur! I'm going to avenge Ur now! Go live your own life and don't bother me!"

Lyon's words were like a cold awl, piercing deep into Gray's heart.

He couldn't refute it.

Because what Lyon said was true.

It was a fact he couldn't escape, no matter what.

He was the culprit behind Ur's death.

The floodgates of memory opened with a bang, and that past he least wanted to recall once again clearly surfaced before his eyes.

He would never forget that in the last moment before his master turned into ice, he still had that gentle smile on his face, constantly comforting him and telling him that it wasn't his fault.

But he himself has never forgiven himself.

He hated his impulsiveness back then, hated his weakness and incompetence.

This deep-seated self-blame and remorse had long since transformed into a heavy shackle, trapping him firmly in a cage called "the past."

So every time he saw Natsu acting recklessly and idiotically in the guild, it was as if he was seeing his younger self.

That nameless anger just kept rising within him, and he couldn't help but want to go up and teach the other person a lesson.

That wasn't just a lesson for Natsu; it was more like punishing his past self.

A sharp pain shot through Gray's chest. He took a deep breath and forced down the surging bitterness and sorrow in his heart.

Now is not the time to dwell on the past.

"Lyon,"

He raised his head, looked directly at the figure that was both familiar and unfamiliar, and asked, word by word,

"Since you hate Deliora so much, why did you unseal him?"

Lyon's lips curled into a smile, "You've forgotten? Then I'll make sure you remember."

Before he finished speaking, he waved his hand forward, and icy magic surged forth instantly.

"ICE MAKE! Ice Eagle!"

Dozens of eagles made of ice appeared out of thin air, flapping their crystal wings and emitting sharp cries. They transformed into streaks of white light, attacking Gray from all directions at tricky angles.

Gray didn't dare to be negligent and quickly formed a hand seal in front of his chest.

"ICE MAKE! Ice Shield!"

A thick Ice Shield instantly formed in front of him, attempting to block all attacks.

However, some of the Ice Eagles skillfully bypassed the shield's frontal defense and slammed into Gray from the side.

"Ugh!"

The biting cold instantly seeped into his body, and Gray let out a muffled groan, staggering uncontrollably a few steps, leaving several deep bloody gashes on his arms.

"I excel at creating dynamic Molding Magic, while you excel at creating static ones."

Lyon's voice was filled with undisguised contempt.

"And you're still using clumsy hand seals, Gray."

Gray gritted his teeth, enduring the pain, and retorted, "Ur said that magic formed with one hand is unstable; two hands are the most stable!"

"Shut up!"

The name "Ur" seemed to have touched a nerve with Lyon, and he instantly flew into a rage.

You are not worthy to Ur's name!

Lyon raised his hand again, and even more violent magic gathered in his palm.

This time, he didn't use any Molding Magic. Instead, he directly transformed the icy torrent of magic into several Roar ice wolves, which pounced towards Gray.

Faced with this even fiercer attack, Gray's eyes became incredibly determined.

He also formed hand seals, but his speed was more than twice as fast as before.

"ICE MAKE! Ice Lance Rain!"

Countless sharp ice spears appeared before him, like a dense rainstorm, precisely aimed at the ice wolves.

It collided violently with them in mid-air, shattering them and ultimately perfectly neutralizing Lyon's attack.