Chapter 498

Gray vs. Invel is the 498th chapter of Hiro Mashima's Fairy Tail.
The battle between Ice Mages ensues, with Invel foretelling Gray that he possesses the darkness that in turn can make him become their comrade, when it eventually consumes his body. With Gray denying this, Invel goes to place an Ice Lock on both Gray and Juvia, inciting a battle to death between the two in order to break the Magic.
==Summary==
Gray and Invel begin their battle by parrying each others' respective attacks; Invel ends up freezing Gray's own creation and shattering it (while recognizing that Gray's immunity to cold stems from his Ice-Make), much to the latter's surprise, revealing that he is a pure Ice Mage: one who only freezes, rather than create objects. In response, Gray makes use of Silver's Devil Slayer Magic to wound Invel, who is shocked that Gray would use a Magic that eats away at the user's sanity. Fascinated, Invel negates Gray's second swing with the Ice Devil's Zeroth Long Sword and creates an overwhelming blizzard. The Winter General goes on to tell Gray that he has the potential to stand among the Spriggan 12, as he has darkness in his heart: darkness that is the root of Zeref's power and Black Magic itself. Gray questions whether Invel knows that the 12 are evil, but Invel responds that darkness is neither good or evil, and that it is only power, one that he says Gray is close to awakening.
Gray, however, says that he was never a good person to begin with, and that he'd become evil if it meant protecting his guild. Natsu, who unfreezes himself and the other three, agrees with Gray's sentiment; his freedom leaves Gray happy, whilst Invel smiles at the fact that Natsu was the one to melt his ice. Lucy begins to call out for a team-oriented counteroffensive, but a giant Brandish then appears and snatches up her, Natsu and Happy, and drags them away from the battlefield against their will. Gray calls out to her to stop, but Invel uses Gray's lack of attention to his advantage, affixing a chain-linked collar to both him and Juvia. Revealing that this is his Ice Lock, Invel explains that it seals the minds of those affected and makes them his puppets, and that the collar only comes off when one of them dies. In an attempt to awaken Gray's darkness by forcing him to kill his friend, Invel smiles as the two Fairy Tail Mages turn on each other, citing that it will be Gray, not Zeref, who kills E.N.D. Juvia, however, still manages to hold onto enough of her thoughts to declare that she would rather kill herself than hurt her beloved.
==Characters in Order of Appearance==
#Invel Yura
#Gray Fullbuster
#Happy
#Natsu Dragneel
#Lucy Heartfilia
#Juvia Lockser
#Zeref Dragneel
#Brandish μ
==Battles & Events==
*Gray Fullbuster vs. Invel Yura
==Magic, Spells, and Abilities used==
===Magic used===
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===Spells used===
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===Abilities used===
*None
==Arc Navigation==