When Tartaros was first introduced it seemed like an unstoppable force, mostly because of their ability to respawn after being defeated. Since Fairy Tail stormed their base though, the demons have had one loss after another, most significantly the loss of Face (thanks to Wendy kicking some serious ass in the previous chapter!) and the loss of Lummy’s laboratory in this chapter, robbing the demons of their respawn point.
I’m relieved the lab was destroyed, as having to fight the same enemies over and over again could become a real drag, but the interesting part is how the lab was destroyed. We know Mirajane’s powers come from demons she’s absorbed, but I believe this is the first time she’s been shown to be able to control demons that aren’t part of her. Kyouka, though initially shocked, seemed to shrug off the loss pretty quickly which makes me think either she’s confident she has no need to respawn… or there might be another respawn point elsewhere.
The first hypothesis is, of course, well backed up. Just when you think Mirajane will get the upper hand by transforming into her most powerful form, Kyouka transforms herself (into a form with incredibly impractical feet) and takes Mirajane out (and everyone else in the room) with a punch and some kind of energy blast from a creepy hand-eyeball. Yikes.
Finally we’re introduced to the “Underworld King” Mard Geer, sitting in a throne from a heavy metal album cover, who appears to be talking to… a book. I guess we have been told repeatedly that Zeref’s demons come from the Book of Zeref but I didn’t think it was quite that literal. Perhaps E.N.D. is trapped inside the book and Tartaros’ real goal is to free him/her/it? Does E.N.D. stand for “Evil Natsu Dragneel” as many readers speculate? How would that even work? So many questions, not enough pages… maybe we’ll find out in the next chapter!
Closing Thoughts
- The bare chest and tribal markings make Kyouka’s new form kind of look like a female Devil Jin.
- Also you have to wonder Kyouka’s new form will be censored in the anime…
- Why did Mira continue fighting when Kyouka threatened to harm Elfman remotely. Did I miss something?
- Uh-oh. What if all the demons can transform and this turns into Bleach?
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