Fairy Tail continues with the solid build up of the Tartaros guild but gets into a minor speedbump with the fanservice in the chapter which kinda distracts from the plot.
The chapter starts with a cover of Sherry from the Lamia Scale, yeah the girl who... uh who is she again ? Oh the girl who fought Lucy back in Galuna Island, geez how come i have no problems remembering Lyon and Toby but difficulty remembering Yuka and Sherry ? I guess there character didn't leave much of an impression on me, it's not like there bad characters , it's just that they didn't really impress me that much. You know it's sad when your younger cousin who just debuted within the timeskip is more memorable than you. Cheila completely outclasses Sherry in every way possible that it's not even funny.
We then start with the focus of the 9 demons gathering at the castle with no word of the fate of Minerva,seriously Mashima, is she alive or dead. Shortly after Jackal's attack on the council , the demons talk about the success of their mission and we get a bit of knowledge about their abilities going by their names.
Franmalth seems to be be Turtle like demon who's known for his armored shell and likely specializes in defense,Torafusa seems to specialize within darkness powers, Ezel seems to be a brute who likes fighting and killing going by his Natsu like temperament, Ki-Su seems to be a black magic monk who seems very religious, Royugetsuten seems to be very hot but i have no idea what her powers are suppose to be given she doesn't have a title like the rest and we already know what Kyouka can do and Silver needs no introduction.
Anyways it's revealed that the Tartaros guild is unsurprisingly connected to Zeref and worship him as a god, not surprising considering they're all demons that work under E.N.D . Is it me or does Silver really not come off that evil ? Silver doesn't seem much like a demon, he seems more human than demon but then again, looks can be deceiving. Just ask anyone who was dumb enough to mess with Lucy or Erza. For all we know, he can be the strongest and most evil member of the dark guild but the fact he could've killed everyone within the Sun Village but didn't makes me wonder about Silver.
Meanwhile we cut into the 8 Island restaurant that Yamji runs when they get the bad news of the council being bombed and learning about the fate of the Magic Council. Bickslow makes a off color joke while cooking in the kitchen about Yamji retiring the council only to be rightfully scolded by Yamji and we cut to Evergreen dressing sexy, okay Mashima this is a bit out of tone .
I'm not one who usually complains about fanservice but it really was badly timed to have Evergreen trying to outdo Erza with the waitress outfit when 119 people just died and 9 council members were just killed off. Not a very good time for T&A is it ? I don't have any problems with fanservice as long as it's within an appropriate moment like within chapter 355, not here after a major terrorist attack, also Evergreen can NEVER be as hot as Erza, she's not even as hot as Lucy, then again no one is hotter than Erza.
Still it was pretty funny for Bickslow and Freed to point out that Evergreen can't pull out waitress outfit as well as Erza which causes Evergreen to get pissed off. Also Freed can really cook, who knew ? Also Bickslow is also pretty good with the arrangements , far better than Natsu eating the food and while Evergreen can't pull of sex appeal anywhere close to Erza or even Mirajane, she still is pretty hot. Still this should've been within the last two chapters prior to the whole Magic Council bombing, not after it .
Also on a sidenote, it's implied that Laxus has poor direction skills going by conversations with Freed, Yamji and Bickslow with Freed hinting that he can't even run an errand without getting lost. It makes me wonder if Laxus is as bad as Kenpachi or Zoro when it comes to directions, what's with badass men having the worst directions ?Eitherway no one can beat Gildarts in terms of horrible direction skill, Gildarts gets lost within his own hometown to the point the whole town needs to aid him in directions.
Anyways just when when things seem calm, the restaurant is suddenly attacked by the last demon, Tempesta who easily obliterates the entire building with a twister. The demon then goes directly after Yamji only for Bickslow and Freed to intercept the demon and protect the former Magic Councilmen. Tempesta being one of Zeref's strongest demons, easily one shots Freed and Bickslow and speedblitzes Evergreen with ease.
The fact this guy beat the Raijinshuu isn't that impressive considering Silver beat Altas Flames with apparently no effort but it's still quite notable of this guys strength.Thunder Tribe are hardly fodders as seen with them within Teneroujima when they took down Rustyrose and Fantasia arc where they nearly defeated the entire Fairy Tail Guild and they all got notably strong in the timeskip, especially considering Cana, Lucy and Elfman's power increases who are all below Thunder Tribe. Let's put it this way, if Elfman can defeat Bacchus, so can Evergreen currently, if anything she can do it easier given her stone eyes hax and ranged attacks and Freed can outdo even Cana's Fairy Glitter feat .
What this proves is that Tartaros are easily leagues beyond Gilmore Heart in power when one guy effortlessly defeated 3 of the best A Rank mages. Let's keep in mind Freed Pre timeskip was such a big threat that only a S class mage was strong enough to defeat him in battle and Lucy needed her strongest spirit to beat Bickslow and Evergreen was actually able to strach Erza whereas Natsu without Dragon Force was curbstomped. Rustyrose was strong enough to beat Evergreen with low difficulty and needed Bickslow,Freed, Lisanna and Elfman be beaten. Considering the power up of characters in the Grand Magic Games, Evergreen is at least PTS Erza level currently, Bickslow is at least PTS Jellal/Mystogan level currently and Freed is at least PTS level currently and can likely beat even Azuma singlehandedly, Erza's strongest opponent prior to the timeskip and second strongest member of Seven Kin of Purgatory.
It also seems that Tempesta can not only turn parts of his body into a tornado similar to Logia's turning themselves into their elements in One Piece or Juvia within the series turning herself into water within this series but can render movements useless if one is hit by the tornado's he produces. Question remains if can Wendy eat his attacks or is Devil Slayer Magic similar to God Slayer Magic?
Tempesta then tells Yamji that the Gates of Hell have been opened and that judgement has begun and they seem to be targeting Council members directly, even former members of the council which seems to suit my theory that Tartaros are out to stop the council because the council might have a spell which can potentially stop the opening of the Gates of Hades.
Just as Yamji is about to meet the fate of the council,Laxus makes an epic appearance and shocks Tempesta with his lightning bolt saving the elderly former councilman from his untimely demise with Laxus looking like a boss as always and the chapter ends with Laxus preparing to kick ass.
Now the real fight begins, Laxus is a perfect benchmark to test the power of the Nine Demon Gate considering he's not far off from Erza and other High Tiers within the series. I personally hope we see a fight to see how much stronger the dark guild is to someone of Laxus caliber.
Still considering how easily he defeated Post Skip Thunder Tribe, Tempesta has at least proven to be as strong as Hades himself, question remains whether because the demons were always this powerful or did they also benefit from the 7 year timeskip in terms of how much stronger the verse seemed to have become.
Overall the chapter was pretty good the build up is good but the fanservice kinda takes from the more tragic moment of the previous chapter but i can forgive it easily if the payoff to Tartaros is as good as it's been and even more so if we see some badassery from Laxus.
Overall: A-