Vol2/Chapter11/Watch Your Step

Summary
Lyon is nervous about the ritual and he practices the runes obsessively until Gray and Silver intervene. They try to reassure him that he is ready for the ritual but Lyon is still afraid of what could happen if he makes a mistake.

Lyon begins to have second thoughts but ignores them attributing them to fear. He falls into a restless sleep.

In the morning Lyon, Gray and Silver arrive at the guild to find all the mages participating in the preparations for the ritual. Laxus has Freed create a protective barrier around the area where the ritual takes place to ensure the safety of the guild members that have come out to watch. Only Gray, Silver and Lyon will remain inside the protective barrier. Silver is upset when he finds out that Gray had promised Lyon to be by his side during the summoning. He has a bad feeling that something is going to go wrong and he doesn't want it to affect his son.

Lyon sets about creating the summoning circle but he is nervous and Gray comes over to settle him. He attempts to draw the circles for him and realizes that the chalk they are using is the wrong one. Silver relaxes thinking that they had found the mistake that he'd been worrying about.

Silver tells Lyon that there is still time to back out if being an is not what he wants but Lyon declares that he is ready, just nervous. Silver accepts his decision and warns him to remain in the summoning circle throughout the ritual. If he steps outside of its borders the devil will no longer be bound to the rules of the summoning.

Gray draws the circles for his brother with the correct chalk and hands it over to him so he can draw the runes.

Carla tells Lily that she is worried that Happy will not forgive her when he finds out that she could have stopped what is about to happen. Lily reassures her that Happy will come to forgive her when he realizes there was no other way. Lily mentions the fact that Lyon would have killed someone without a thought.

Carla curses her power but decides to go witness the events she has foreseen. They both head back towards the guild.

Back at the guild Freed finds one mistake in the runes but it is easily fixed. Lyon looks at Silver and Gray one last time and begins the summoning. The runes begin to glow and Bel travels through the ice portal that Lyon created and appears before the ice mage. He feigns an attack with his spear and Lyon startles accidentally stepping back and leaving the circle. Bel is overjoyed as he will no longer have to negotiate a contract, he is now free to possess the mage of his choosing.

Silver tries to attack using his Ice Devil Slayer magic but finds that it's not responding and is only able to attack with regular ice. Bel attempts to attack Silver but Gray interferes wanting to protect his father.

Once Bel realizes that Silver already has an Ice Devil he looks to Gray and senses his great magical power. He transforms his body into a thick smoke and forces himself into Gray through his nose, mouth and ears. Gray seems to be in incredible pain until he passes out.