Fairy Tail

[Robotech Master]

I wonder if E.N.D. just straight up ignored the time stop through sheer speed or if he's sheer power overwhelmed/nullified the time magic.

Hard to know for sure, but she mumbled that the monster could move in her world, and wondered if that meant he was stronger than the gods, which implies that he was walking in her time stop in defiance of Chronos.

He's only got a pretty badass flame aura right now. I'm expecting him to get some kind of dragon transformation soon enough.

Not necessarily Dragon, since his dragon magic and his identity as E.N.D are two separate things. If he has a transformation related to being E.N.D. it would be something closer to the Demon's Etherious forms.

Indeed, they're talking right now and I'm guessing that Natsu's immediate instinct isn't to destroy Gray. But he can probably tip over to the other side pretty quickly.

I'm actually curious as to who tips the scales in that direction first. Is Gray going to bind himself to his promise to his father in spite of what he's learned? He was pretty resolved to kill E.N.D., and now here he is before you, but he's also your friend and guildmate. Or is Natsu going to have to start things off by going berserk?

I thought we were supposed to get heads up before evil covers like this!!!

Evil? Blasphemy Dark Soul! Its a heavenly angel. A ray of light for a Monday morn otherwise plagued by the start of the work week. The hero we deserved, but perhaps not the one we needed right now.

[Reverse Happy]

I would appreciate the irony if Evergreen gets to petrify Dimaria later.

[Sacred Knight]

Definitely hope the black flames isn't all there is to it in regards to physical changes to E.N.D. I wanna see a form befitting of an Etherious. Maybe the book itself still has to be physically opened for that to happen. That the shot Zeref fired through it to prove he was telling the truth constituted a small tear in the binding, allowing a part of the demon to come forth but not a full awakening.

And dude, Happy I love ya, but you gotta spill already.

[Sacred Knight]

Huh, does E.N.D. perhaps have healing powers?
spoilers:

In the flashback in 504 of Natsu cradling Lucy, it almost looks as if Dimaria really did cut out her eyes and came close to killing her. She's limp and her face covered in blood. He cries her name, his eyes go white and E.N.D comes forth, and then the next thing Lucy knows from her vantage point in 503 she awakes just fine other than blood on her face. Her current state doesn't seem to match the state Natsu found her in if he was crying over her. I also like the juxtaposition of Juvia's "death" causing Gray to go bad, and Lucy's "death" causing Natsu to turn.

end of spoilers

[Reverse Happy]

Does nobody in this world know how to check for vital signs?

So I guess Gray and Natsu are both being unhinged by their respective demon elements, on top of thinking their girls died. Or maybe this is how they always get along.

[Dark Soul # 7]

E.N.D. vs Demon Slayer Gray is a go. They both refused to back down and unleashed everything on each other. This'll get ugly.

I wonder if Gray will gain the edge since he's got demon slaying abilities but it's turned around when Natsu dragon slaying abilities gets mixed up with his demon abilities.

Also, Mavis vs. Irene with giant illusions is a nice treat I wasn't expecting.

Huh, does E.N.D. perhaps have healing powers?

I'd say no to that. Lucy's just as bloodied in the face when Natsu cradling her as she was when the others found her. He just couldn't tell that she wasn't dead. And there's nothing that really indicates that he heals her.

I also like the juxtaposition of Juvia's "death" causing Gray to go bad, and Lucy's "death" causing Natsu to turn.

It's good. But I'm slightly less enthused by it as it can be taken as NaLu shipping material and I've always prefered them to be friends to the end.

[Sacred Knight]

Yeah, you're probably right, Lucy was probably just knocked out and since as said above, no one in Fairy Tail checks for vital signs he just freaked and turned, lol.

I do hope Erza gets to intervene at some point though. Obviously Lucy, Juvia, and Wendy/Charle will find them and be horrified onlookers as they're actively looking for them. But Erza needs to be there too as she's the other component of the main team, yet she's got other things to deal with right now. I don't want her obvious connection and battle with Eileen to suffer for it of course, but just maybe put on hold briefly.

[Robotech Master]

Huh, so that's why Makarov never spammed Fairy Law when it seemed appropriate to do...

spoilers:

The more people you take out with it at once, the more your lifespan is decreased. Eileen can enhance mooks to the point that one blow from them can send Erza rolling on the ground? It looks like Berserker is a separate enhancement from what Neinhart received, which reduces your thinking ability, so I guess they would have lost the Historia's if she had used that one on Neinhart. Still, imagine Berserker cast on a Spriggan. RIP Makarov. That was a rather good way to go out compared to your previous death flags. I know the young-uns had some false deaths, but I think Mashima has way less incentive to keep him alive than Gajeel and Juvia.

end of spoilers

[Sacred Knight]

Yeah, my feeling is that this one is for good.

I could be wrong, it wouldn't necessarily surprise me if I'm wrong, but all the same I think this one sticks as of now.

[Dark Soul # 7]

Mashima's meant to kill off Makarov at least once before, so yeah. I can see this one sticking.

It's a solid chapter overall. Makarov's sacrifice is well written and executed with the grand sense of sorrow his character deserves. It is reestablished that Fairy Law is stupid strong and we get an explanation for why Makarov hasn't spammed it during all the big fights.

So, does that take out all the mooks then so that there're only Spriggans left to fight?

[Sacred Knight]

The real feels will come more when Laxus comes on the scene.

[Reverse Happy]

Aw man, it finally happened... T_T *salute*

Yeah, that explains why Makarov didn't use Fairy Law sooner during the Eclipse or Tartaros. But with the whole giant army gathered, now was the best time to use it.

I was half-expecting Obra to pull the plug right before he fired it off. Alvarez doesn't have a necromancer to mass-raise the dead army, do they?

[Dark Soul # 7]

Huh, Laxus was a lot calmer about this than I expected him to be.

It was sad, in a nice way, to see how all these characters remembered Makarov and what he meant to them.

Meanwhile, Natsu and Gray tear it up and seem to be evenly matched in terms of raw power, Natsu has the ferocity and Gray the more technical skill.

Then it ends in a somewhat unexpected but awesome splash page way.

[Sacred Knight]

I dig that Laxus was collected in the moment, but I was still disappointed we got no moment of emotion from him. But he's definitely stepping up like a leader. Cool visual too that Makarov literally died standing up.

I think Erza will get through to Natsu and Gray briefly, and they'll share a moment with the rest of the guild to mourn Makarov, but the calm will be short-lived and E.N.D. will resume coming forth and Natsu will lose it again.

[Reverse Happy]

Ouch, that's (probably not) gonna leave a mark. Good thing Wendy should be on her way over.

spoilers:

Although with Erza's luck, there won't be time for heals. It would've been a better moment if I hadn't been semi-spoiled that she'd do something, which distracted me from fully appreciating the fight as it unfolded. Grrr.

end of spoilers

I liked the part where Natsu does a horizontal faceplant