Episode 228

Wizards vs. Hunters is the 228th episode of the Fairy Tail anime, and the 53rd episode of the 2014 series.
As the Fairy Tail Mages arrive at the mysterious Sun Village, completely frozen, they get into a fight with the Hunters of Sylph Labyrinth. Meanwhile, a new threat, Succubus Eye, is also approaching the village, with Minerva as the new recruit.
==Summary==
The group of Fairy Tail Mages arrives near the Sun Village, with Natsu still being motion sick soon upon landing on the ground. The group sees that the rocks are frozen, meaning that the village must be close to them. Soon after, the Mages arrive at the Sun Village, everything being completely frozen, including a group of giants who terrify the group in the process. Looking at the frozen giant, Gray recollects when Ur sacrificed herself to freeze Deliora and when Ultear saved his life by casting Last Ages. Lucy wonders about Gray, who tells her that he can't forget about Deliora upon seeing someone gigantic frozen in ice. Erza, however, is surprised that the giants actually exist, with Wendy also being surprised by the existence of a giant frozen dog. Thinking he can melt the ice, Natsu uses his Magic in an attempt to do so, only to fail, disappointed. Gray then points out to him that Warrod told them that the ice isn't ordinary. Now he being the one touching the ice, Gray starts feeling the presence of Magic and after an unsuccessful attempt to melt it, Gray mentions that this Magic is similar to someone else's. 
 
Suddenly, three shadowy figures appear who turn out to be Hunters of Sylph Labyrinth, a treasure hunting guild. While the Mages are surprised that such guilds exist, Drake, one of the Hunters, tells the group that they are looking for the buried treasure, specifically Eternal Flame. Not looking for such a thing, the Mages state that their objective is to melt the ice and save the residents, shocking the Hunters, who don't want that to happen. They then state their reason, that being to easily take the Eternal Flame while the residents are frozen. Even though Wendy warns them about the Flame's importance to the village, the Hunters rather blame the giants as residents for letting it be taken away. Before the Hunters rush to steal the frozen Eternal Flame, they show the Mages a liquefied version of Moon Drip in a bottle, with Lucy remembering it being used back in the Galuna Island and describing its dispelling properties. As the Hunters run away, the Mages follow, thinking they can melt the entire village with it.
 
Meanwhile, there is another threat approaching, that being a Dark Guild, Succubus Eye, with Minerva revealed to be one of its new recruits. At the same time, the Hunters express their disagreement with the Mages' help request due to the difficulty to obtain the Moon Drip if the village is unfrozen. While running, Lucy wonders where Erza is, with Wendy telling her she stayed behind to look for clues. After a while of running, the Hunters finally decide to fight against the persistent Mages. Rala initiates by using his Stronger on Natsu, with the latter dodging the attack and then using his Fire Dragon's Iron Fist as a counterattack, but the fire gets extinguished easily by the good physical properties of Stronger. Rala then uses his weapon to throw Natsu in the ice and Gray is next to attack with his Ice-Make: Freeze Lancer. Standing against Hiroshi, Wendy and Lucy dodge the attack of his Chain Blade, which cuts a frozen tree instead. Concurrently, Drake, hiding from the sight of his enemies, uses his sniper to shoot Happy and Carla, who evade the initial shot. Finding out where Drake is hiding, Lucy summons Sagittarius, who uses his arrow to shoot the gunner but the latter breaks it with a precise bullet shot, impressing Lucy. Having a tough time beating them, Natsu concludes that their opponents are much tougher than they look. 
Concurrently, back at the Sun Village, Erza inspects the place, soon figuring out that all the giants are facing the same direction with their drawn weapons. Such observation leads her to believe they were in battle in order to protect something important, that being the Eternal Flame so she figures out that the location of the Eternal Flame is in the opposite direction of the one the giants are facing. Meanwhile, Natsu continues his assault on Rala but to no effect, while Gray uses his Ice-Make but stands no chance against Hiroshi's Chain Blade, all the while Drake starts shooting with his sniper, with Sagittarius counterattacking with his arrows. At the same time Erza sees her reflection in the ice and is confused when she sees herself younger in the reflection. Suddenly, Erza starts becoming younger, with most of her armor falling off, as if she is under an influence of Magic of some sort.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
==Battles & Events==
*Save the Frozen Village (started)
*Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster & Lucy Heartfilia vs. Drake, Hiroshi & Rala (started)
==Magic, Spells, and Abilities used==
===Magic used===
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***Summoned the Archer, Sagittarius
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===Spells used===
*Flowing Giant Tree
*Ice-Make: Leg
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===Abilities used===
*Hand-to-Hand Combat
*Marksmanship
*Swordsmanship
===Armors used===
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===Weapons used===
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*Bow and Arrows
===Items used===
*Liquefied Moon Drip bottle
*Celestial Spirit Gate Keys
**Gate of the Archer Key
==Manga & Anime Differences==
*The following happen exclusively in the anime:
**Sylph Labyrinth escaping prior to Natsu realizing they can use the liquefied Moon Drip.
**Some scenes meant to extend the battle against Sylph Labyrinth.
**An extended version of Gray's flashback against Deliora.
**Happy and Natsu's conversation about acting more surprised.
**An additional flashback for the explanation of Moon Drip.
*When they arrive, Natsu has already gained motion sickness in the manga, while it takes some time for him to react in the anime.
*Gray's shirt is buttoned from the top in the manga, this was omitted in the anime.
*As they arrive and throughout their search through Sun Village, Happy and Carla are already using Aera in the anime.
*Sylph Labyrinth repeating themselves is omitted in the anime.
==Navigation==
Category:Episodes