Chapter 349

The Demon Doriate is the 349th chapter of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail.
Facing off against Doriate in his child form, Gray manages to attack the man with a few childish tricks, though fails to harm him due to his reduced Magic Power. However, he proceeds to insult the man, which in turn causes Doriate to cancel his Law of Retrogression to attack. As a result, Erza returns to her normal form, and continues her fight with Minerva on a fair playing field, whilst Gray watches in shock as Doriate transforms into one of the Demons from the Books of Zeref.
==Summary==
Seeing Gray prepare to defend himself in his child form, Doriate quickly explains that his Magic is not simply granting him a smaller body, rather also reducing his strength, speed, endurance and Magic Power. However, as he speaks, the ground beneath his feet begins to crumble, and the dark Mage realizes that he has been standing on a block of ice jutting out over the cliff side. As it breaks away completely and Doriate falls, Gray comments that he made it a while ago, and that though his overall abilities have been reduced, his mind is still functioning perfectly: Ice-Make Magic itself partially revolves around its user being able to turn their imagination into reality, and as such Gray can still conjure and use a variety of Ice-Make spells.
 
Annoyed by his words, Doriate hastily scales the rocky ledge once more, though when he arrives at the top notices that Gray is nowhere in sight. As he calls out to him, Gray's voice echoes out from below, and Doriate realizes that he is standing on an artificial ice floor, with Gray looking up at him from beneath. Before Doriate can react, Gray moves the ice from under his feet, causing him to fall into a thorn bush; whilst the Succubus Eye Mage struggles to free himself, Gray casts Ice-Make: Hammer, though his reduced Magic Power means that the spell is nowhere near its usual size. Annoyed, Gray simply recreates the hammer into a mound of shaved ice, which he dumps on Doriate's head. As Doriate complains about the coldness, Gray suddenly realizes the man's earlier bluff, and comments that there is no way that someone so against the cold could ever have Ice Magic powerful enough to freeze the Sun Village. Seeing Doriate's angry expression at his words, Gray continues, stating that the man himself is also weak, as he needs to shrink his opponents to take them on. Hearing this, Doriate becomes furious. 
Meanwhile, in another section on the Sun Village, Minerva stands above a fallen Erza with her sword pointed towards the Fairy Tail Mage's neck, commenting that before she slits her throat she would like to hear Erza beg for mercy. Looking up from the ground, Erza tells Minerva that she can still regain her pride and dignity as a Mage if she stops her actions and thinks about those who used to support, though this angers Minerva, who demands that Erza not preach her. Swinging her sword, Minerva moves to end Erza once and for all, though as she does Erza suddenly notices that her body is reverting back to its proper form, and manages to move just in time to dodge the blade and kick Minerva in the face. Pushed back, Minerva questions why Doriate's Magic has failed, though comments that she doesn't care anyway, as she would prefer to defeat Erza at her best. Mentally stating that she has a counter to Erza's Nakagami Armor, Minerva gloats over her assumed victory, before commenting on Erza's appearance, as, after having turned back, her clothes have shrunk and no longer conceal her. Smiling, Erza replies that Minerva too needs to watch what she is wearing, before revealing that she accidentally pulled off Minerva's skirt as they clashed earlier. 
Concurrently, both Natsu and Gray notice their bodies returning to their original sizes too, though Gray barely has a moment to think before Doriate cries out and throws himself in for an attack. Blocking and throwing Doriate off to the side, Gray laughs at the man's lack of self control, though suddenly notices that Doriate's body is deforming and enlarging rapidly. Dodging another attack, Gray looks up to see that Doriate is no longer in a human form, rather, he has grown into a humongous beast. Questioning if Doriate possesses a Magic similar to Mirajane, Gray disregards this when he notices that he gets a familiar feeling from Doriate as he did from Deliora. Shocked, Gray realizes Doriate has turned into a Demon from the Books of Zeref. 
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
#Doriate
#Gray Fullbuster
#Erza Scarlet
#Minerva Orland
#Natsu Dragneel
#Deliora (flashback)
==Battles & Events==
*Erza Scarlet vs. Minerva Orland: Rematch
*Gray Fullbuster vs. Doriate
==Magic, Spells, and Abilities used==
===Magic used===
*
**
*
===Spells used===
*
*Snow Cone
===Abilities used===
*None
===Weapons used===
*Sword
==Navigation==