One week after Natsu returned—
Gray sent a message to Ur through the portable communication device issued by the Magic Council.
There was a lot of information, but to summarize it simply:
'Requesting the organization to close the net!'
...
Avatar cult branch—
Priest Arlock wore a metal mask and spoke in a bewitching tone.
"Our faith is the world of the Black Wizard Zeref! The time has come. Purify all Mages who oppose Zeref!"
"Everything for Zeref."
Several of Avatar's core members spoke one after another.
Gray, whose right cheek and the right side of his body were covered in strange markings, with his hair slicked back in a style he usually never wore, slowly said,
"Everything for Zeref..."
Jerome interrupted Arlock's prayer to Zeref.
"Priest-sama, do you still intend to continue the purification ritual? The Magic Council has likely already discovered our operation."
Briar, who liked giving people nicknames, also appeared in Arlock's quiet chamber. With her hands on her hips, she said,
"Suggestion: remove dangerous elements. That's what this fluffy-head means."
Arlock sighed.
"I am still praying. All of you, leave."
The core members of Avatar gathered together, faintly surrounding Gray, who was leaning against the wall.
Jerome was the first to attack.
"The problem is not the Magic Council itself. The problem is why the operation was exposed."
Gray leaned against the wall with his arms folded, looking perfectly calm.
"There's a Magic Council spy among us, and you suspect that person is me, right?"
"I investigated you, Gray Fullbuster. Because of demons from the Book of Zeref, both your parents died, and your town was destroyed."
"You have absolutely no motive to believe in Zeref."
Facing Jerome's pressure, Gray narrowed his eyes.
He pointed at Jerome with one finger and speak in a low voice, "Then your investigation was incomplete, Mr. Jerome of the Dark Between. Since we have this chance, let me make it clear. My goal is the Book of E.N.D. That is why I am here."
This time, Gray's emotions carried no trace of acting.
He gritted his teeth and murmured in a low voice,
"As long as I have that book... As long as I can obtain that book, nothing else matters!"
"I live to defeat E.N.D."
Gray's hatred for demons, and for E.N.D., carried not the slightest trace of performance.
Briar could feel the darkness in him.
'Black to the bone.'
Briar gave Gray that label.
'His heart for revenge has dyed both his body and soul pitch-black...'
"How could someone with that kind of dark Magic Power possibly be a Magic Council spy? Though he is kind of handsome."
In truth, they were still too young.
Jose before, Precht now—which one of them had not been covered in dark Magic Power? Did that stop them from becoming Wizard Saints?
Jose had never truly fallen into darkness.
It was purely the feud between hundred-year guilds and jealousy causing trouble.
In the end, no matter what kind of power it was, what truly mattered was the user.
...
At the same time, the Magic Council also sent a new request to Fairy Tail—eliminate the Avatar cult!
The Magic Council itself would also dispatch its army.
The one leading them would be the captain of the second Custody Enforcement Unit—
Cobra.
The captain of the first unit was Richard.
As for Midnight, he operated alone.
According to the known intelligence, Avatar's members numbered more than two thousand.
Mira organized the information Gray had sent back over the past half year, using a magic pen to write and draw in the air as she summarized it.
"According to Gray's messages, Avatar's goal is to carry out a purification ritual, sacrificing souls so Zeref can stand at the summit of the great world of Magic and grant this filthy world destruction and rebirth."
"According to Priest Arlock, the Day of Purification is almost here."
"And once the Purification Operation begins, many innocent people will die..."
"So we absolutely must stop the Purification Operation."
"As for their headquarters, it is located in the Phantom Forest."
Natsu punched his fist into his palm, looking extremely excited.
"Simple. We just charge in and beat them all up, right?"
Erza gave Natsu a chop to the head.
"No. We still don't know where the purification will take place. Avatar has many branches, and even the headquarters and branch locations do not know one another's positions. What we need to do is make them gather together, then wipe them all out at once."
Ultear also added, "That is also why Gray stayed undercover there for so long. If it were only a matter of defeating the people at headquarters, it would just take Gray a little more time."
What they cared about were the civilians deceived by Avatar, as well as the future danger of failing to catch them all in one net.
They were not worried about the so-called core members.
After all, Gray, who had obtained Ice Devil Slayer Magic and then trained in the northern region for three months, had received an epic-level upgrade.
Mira also raised one finger.
"That's right. Things involving faith are the most difficult to deal with. It's very hard to force them to acknowledge anything through violence. You can defeat them, but eventually, they will come back."
"So Gray wants us to cooperate with him. We need to send someone to fight him, preferably cause a big disturbance, and see what further action Arlock takes."
Raizel heavily patted Natsu on the shoulder, speaking in a grave and earnest tone.
"Before this, choosing the right person would have been difficult. But since you've returned, the organization has decided to entrust this heavy responsibility to you."
"???"
Natsu stared blankly at Raizel.
He felt like something was not quite right, but he could not explain what.
"But wouldn't that instead alert the enemy?" Lucy raised a different opinion.
"There's no helping it. We didn't expect the infiltration operation to last this long. It's already been half a year."
Ur also explained, "Because the situation changed. At first, the Magic Council only intended to investigate Avatar's core members and the number of internal members. But then Arlock suddenly brought up this Purification Operation."
"In other words, Avatar intends to sacrifice an entire town in order to summon Zeref. That is why we cannot keep waiting."
"They blindly believe that Zeref will appear in places where many dead souls gather."
Raizel teleported the group outside the Phantom Forest.
"Only Natsu and Happy need to go in. Remember, what you need to do at the end is pretend to lose to Gray."
"What?! I refuse! I don't want to lose to that bastard!"
"Natsu, it's not like you've never lost before," Happy mercilessly exposed the truth from the side.
Happy flipped through his little backpack.
"Let me find my notebook. I wrote down your battle record against Gray in it."
The two of them had fought no fewer than a thousand times, and their records could basically be called even.
"But if I lose one more time, won't my win rate drop a little again?"
"Go right now!"
Erza narrowed her eyes, her face serious.
"Aye!"
Natsu saluted, then ran toward Avatar's stronghold.
Natsu did indeed complete the mission honestly.
After entering, he defeated several core members in a row, then fought Gray while arguing with him. Finally, he pretended to be ambushed and was put in Magic-sealing shackles.
And then... Arlock truly became tempted.
He led the core members toward the town they had already chosen.
Raizel pulled Natsu out of prison.
"The location has been confirmed."