Episode 246

Tartaros Arc: Underworld King is the 246th episode of the Fairy Tail anime, and the 71st episode of the 2014 series.
With the conclusion of their battle against one another, Jellal, Meredy and the members of the Oración Seis convene in a deserted village for recuperation, even though the Dark Mages haven't completely settled their grievances with the former, debating whether they should pursue his offer or not. However, when Rustyrose, as the only known member left of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, appears before them, he recalls of an unspeakable terror lying beneath the chambers of Tartaros, while also later engaging Meredy with an ultimatum.
==Summary==
As Erik, Sorano, Sawyer, and Macbeth are idle from afar, Richard stays inside an abandoned building with Meredy, who is assisting a wounded Jellal. As Meredy worries about the latter, Richard informs her that his eyes are to heal soon, but the problem is that he's also suffering from the damage to his body as a whole due to having stood against the entire Oración Seis by himself.
Meanwhile, the other Oración Seis members discuss about their next motives as well as Jellal's proposal. Sawyer then questions why they should follow him, bringing to the light that they have finally obtained their freedom after all their hardships from the Tower of Heaven to the Magic Council penitentiary. As he asks the others why they should waste their time with Jellal's ambitions, Erik dissuades from the question while Sorano willingly says that she is going to follow Jellal, all the while Macbeth doesn't respond, recalling his own thoughts on the battle against Jellal. Annoyed, Sawyer goes on about choosing his own path, but Macbeth abruptly tells him that he is done with serving people. Erik then chuckles as he hears a familiar voice in the distance, turning out to be none other than Rustyrose, a member of the disbanded Grimoire Heart.
Meredy rushes out to encounter him, with him wondering why she is with Oración Seis in the first place. She asks him what happened to him, to which he replies he has no longer any business with her, subsequently starting to depart. Meredy then brings up their comradeship when they were in the same guild together, something which he scoffs at as well. Interested in what Rustyrose has to say, Erik tells him to wait as he and the others then surround him. Expressing his terror, Rustyrose declines to tell them at first, but eventually concedes, recalling his visit to Tartaros after hearing that they have been killing off members of the sub-guilds underneath Grimoire Heart. As he, Azuma, and Zancrow then stormed Cube, they encountered Kyôka, annoyed by their rude arrival. 
After introducing themselves as a part of the Balam Alliance, Kyôka commented that Tartaros is the only remaining guild from the alliance, after which Rustyrose stated that they were alive and had arrived because of the misdeeds Tartaros had been committing. Later in an underground chamber, Kyôka asked the Dark Mages what they want, to which they replied that they wanted Tartaros to repay half the guilds they had either captured or destroyed, saying they had been violating the non-aggression pact created between the alliance. Kyôka, annoyed at their demands, used her Curse on Rustyrose, seemingly toying with the latter as she attacked him, exposing his use of Arc of Embodiment in order to create the images of Azuma and Zancrow. As he then tried to retaliate, Kyôka repelled his attack, which caused intense pain to the former. Beaten down, Rustyrose caught a glimpse of a shadow of a mysterious terrifying figure in the hallway, who prompted Kyôka to admonish him, which she did, saying that she had no further business with him, subsequently telling him to leave at once. Back to the present and before departing, Rustyrose lastly mentions that Tartaros doesn't consist of only the Nine Demon Gates, but also something even more terrifying within.
Shortly after, Jellal makes his way to the group, telling them that they are going to travel to Tartaros to prevent the Demons from obtaining their goal of returning to Zeref. Macbeth declines, stating that, regardless of what happened between the Dark Guilds, they still have their pride and are not going to violate the Balam Alliance, prompting Jellal to go to Tartaros regardless, promising the Mages that he will definitely find them again one day.
Later in a damp forest, Meredy helps guide Jellal while asking him why he is so concerned with helping the Oración Seis members, with the latter explaining to her about their similar upbringings, as they are tied together by being prisoners of the Tower of Heaven and contaminated by the evil that is Zeref. Erik happens to overhear this conversation and as the two then continue to travel, they end up being attacked by an unknown wave of Magic. Meredy pushes Jellal out of harm's way before being entrapped in Tower of Dingir, with Rustyrose showing up once again. He then gives Meredy the ultimatum of helping him rebuild their guild, creating images of the past members, which invokes Meredy to criticize him, telling him to stop living in the past and move towards the future. As Rustyrose is angered while attacking, Jellal tries to impede him from killing her, after which Rustyrose assaults him before being saved by the Oración Seis members. As Jellal's eyes are healed, Macbeth states that, if they are going to obtain true freedom, they will do it without having it handed to them. Afterwards, Jellal offers Rustyrose redemption by welcoming him to join Crime Sorcière before the Mages depart.
In the meantime, Happy searches for Makarov while Natsu and Lucy continue to search for Mirajane, who is currently in battle with Seilah. In the underground chamber, though, a voice speaks of the Demons of Tartaros while cradling E.N.D., turning out to be Mard Geer, who speaks about the upcoming doom.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
==Battles & Events ==
*None
==Magic, Curses, Spells, and Abilities used==
===Magic used===
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*Angel Magic
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===Curses used===
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===Spells used===
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*Pain Amplification
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===Abilities used===
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*Whip Talons (鞭爪 Muchizume)
**Whip
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==Manga & Anime Differences==
*With the exception of Mard Geer appearing towards the end of the episode, all the scenes taken place in the episode were anime-only.
==Navigation==
Category:Episodes