Summer was running through the forest. Happy had taken Yang and had flown ahead. Ruby naturally had already outran all of them. They had felt multiple tremors. They didn't know what was happening but it had to be related to Deliora. Had the ice already melted? It didn't really make sense… They were suppose to have a day left! Ur…. Was Ur okay?! Thoughts about Ur, Deliora and Lyon filled her head. She shouldn't have let Ruby, Happy and Yang go ahead. There was no way they could survive Deliora's rage… To make matters worse Ruby already had a broken arm… There was still a chance that the beast wasn't free yet. For now the tremors had stopped. Things were going to be fine.
Lyon was running back to the temple. He had felt multiple tremors and was sure he had several roars. It was Deliora. Did they miscalculate? Did they not need an extra day? Lyon was incredibly nervous. This could be the moment. He's going to surpass Ur. He's going to surpass one of the strongest mages alive.
"LYON!" Lyon then heard a voice say with a big hint of venom in their voice.
Lyon turned and saw Gray hurdling through the air. Gray tackled him to the ground and started punching him in the face.
"YOU MONSTER!" Gray spat at his former companion. "MURDERER!"
Lyon shoved Gray off of him. Gray hit a tree.
"What are you talking about?!" Lyon asked angrily.
"YOU KILLED UR!" Gray started. "DELIORA IS FREE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!"
Lyon's eyes widened.
"He's free?!" Lyon asked surprised and slightly gleeful. "What are you holding me back for?! I need to fight him!"
Gray created an axe made out of ice and swung it at Lyon. Lyon barely managed to dodge.
"Because you're selfish!" Gray argued. "YOU KILLED UR JUST SO YOU COULD SURPASS HER!"
"You want to talk about being selfish?!" Lyon asked infuriated." You know how many people could die because of that monster?! Let me kill it!"
Gray swung the ice axe at Lyon again. Lyon duck and rolled towards Gray and followed this movement by uppercutting him right in the jaw. Lyon then created a pufferfish made out of ice. The pufferfish deflated and shoved Gray backwards. Gray hit a tree and was pinned between the tree and the pufferfish. Lyon ran away.
"How many people could die?!" Gray repeated Lyon with spite in his voice.
Lyon stopped in his tracks and turned to Gray.
"HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD DIE?!" Gray angrily repeated Lyon. "THANKS TO YOU IT'S ONE MORE PERSON BECAUSE YOU KILLED UR!"
These words seemed to strike a nerve within Lyon.
"Grow up, Gray." Lyon said coldly.
"ICE MAKE: GEYSER!" Gray shouted.
An ice pillar rose up from underneath him, sending both Gray and the ice pufferfish upwards.
"ICE MAKE: SWORD!" Gray exclaimed.
Gray created an ice sword and sliced the pufferfish vertically. The ice creature blew up into a bunch of snowflakes. An angry Gray looked down at Lyon from the top of the pillar. Lyon stared back and noticed the anger in Gray's piercing eyes.
"I am going to kill you." Gray said. "You killed Ur… and for that you have to pay."
"You're not going to let me go." Lyon concluded. "So be it. This will be a fight to the death then."
Gray only smiled at Lyon's words. Gray leaped off the ice geyser. He descended at a rapid pace and came closer and closer to the ground, his ice sword at the ready.
"Ice make: shield!" Lyon shouted.
Lyon extended one arm and a shield was created. Gray's sword came in contact with it and shattered on contact. Gray was on top of the shield however. Gray leaped upwards.
"ICE MAKE: HAMMER!" Gray exclaimed.
The ice mage placed his hands together. An giant ice hammer was formed and came down on the shield. Both the shield and the hammer shattered on impact. Lyon didn't expect it to work. Lyon gritted his teeth and charged at Gray.
"ICE MAKE: BLOCK!" The angry Gray shouted.
A huge block of ice fell down from a magic circle in the sky. It crash landed right in front of Gray, blocking Lyon. Lyon simply leaped on top of it. This time it was his turn to look down on Gray. Lyon leaped down at Gray. Gray jumped backwards causing Lyon to miss his punch and punch the ground instead. Cracks formed in the ground. Lyon charged at Gray, ready to punch him once more. Gray dodged the punch and punched Lyon across the face. Lyon then kicked him in the stomach sending Gray skidding backwards.
"You're not using your magic." Gray stated. "You're still trying to save your power for your fantasized battle with Deliora. I can't believe you."
"SHUT UP!" Lyon shouted.
Lyon extended his arm. Ice eagles were created and flew towards Gray. Gray simply stood there. Lyon questioned it. As the ice eagles neared Gray Lyon could feel the ground moving. The huge ice cube that Gray had created earlier rolled towards the ice eagles and crushed them underneath it.
"What?!" Lyon asked angrily. "Is that... Dynamic ice make?!"
Gray smirked. The cube started rolling towards Lyon. Lyon barely managed to duck and roll out of the way in time. The cube kept chasing him however forcing Lyon to stay on the move.
"This is it, Lyon." Gray spat. "ICE MAKE: ICE CANNON!"
A magic circle appeared underneath Gray. He placed his hands together and a huge ice bazooka was created. Gray pressed the trigger and an ice cannonball was fired at Lyon. Lyon couldn't dodge both the cube and the cannonball at the same time and was thus hit with the ice cannonball. Lyon was sent flying backwards and hit a tree before falling to his knees. Gray walked towards Lyon's shaking body. Lyon was angry, upset, furious. He still had a lot of energy left in him but he didn't want to waste it to Gray.
Gray generated two ice swords and said: "I told you I would beat you, Lyon. You deserve to suffer after what you have done. It isn't I that killed Ur… IT'S YOU!"
Gray charged at Lyon with his two ice swords. Lyon cried out a battle cry and extended his arm once more. A giant magic circle opened up underneath him.
"PREHISTORIC ICE MAKE!" Lyon shouted.
Three ice creatures were created. An ice pterodactyl, an ice tyrannosaurus rex and an ice triceratops. Gray reacted too late and was tackled by the ice pterodactyl. Gray slid on the ground and lost his ice swords. The ice triceratops then charged at him. Before the triceratops could attack Gray it got hit by the cube from before. Both ice sculptures were about the same size and stood their ground. The pterodactyl flew towards at Gray. Gray summoned his ice cannon and fired another cannonball. The pterodactyl dodged the cannonball with ease. Gray started continuously firing but the pterodactyl was too agile. Gray was picked up by the pterodactyl. Gray could feel the cold wind on his face and looked down. Lyon was nowhere to be found. It was just him and the dinosaurs.
"That bastard!" Gray said angrily.
Gray then noticed where the pterodactyl was flying to. It was towards the T-rex's mouth. Gray went wide eyed and started punching the pterodactyl but the ice creature wouldn't let him go.
"DAMMIT!" Gray exclaimed angrily.
Lyon had outsmarted him once more. Lyon was simply better. He was an S-class mage and Gray wasn't. The pterodactyl carried Gray closer and closer to the tyrannosaurus' gaping mouth. Gray then got an idea.
"ICE MAKE: HAMMER!" Gray shouted.
Seconds before Gray could be crushed inside the tyrannosaurus' mouth he created an ice hammer and bobbed the ice creature on the nose with all his might. It didn't destroy it but the impact was powerful enough to both completely destroy its nose and also to blow Gray and the pterodactyl away. The ice pterodactyl lost its grip on Gray. Gray fell down and landed on his feet in the jungle. Before Gray could make his next move he was hit by the tyrannosaurus' ice tail, sending him flying and completely knocking the wind out of him. Gray hit a tree and could hear multiples cracking noises. He slumped to the ground. The Fairy Tail mage could barely moved and assessed the situation in front of him. The tyrannosaurus was slowly walking towards him, the triceratops was still facing off with the ice cube and the pterodactyl was circling the area. Gray tried to move but he couldn't. His bones were broken.
"This is what death feels like then, huh?" Gray said out loud.
Tears burned behind his eyes but they soon enough came out. They streamed down his face dripped onto the dirt.
"I failed Ur… I failed to avenge her…" He said. "She's dead. Summer's dead. I will soon be dead and that bastard Lyon will be the only thing left related to her. That is if Deliora doesn't murder him."
Gray continued to Gray. The tyrannosaurus came closer and closer.
"WHY?!" Gray shouted.
Gray silently weeped. This was the end. If only he was stronger than Lyon. Why was he so weak? Why couldn't he do anything?!
"Take this!" Gray then heard.
He looked up and saw Happy carrying Yang flying straight at the pterodactyl. Yang's fist was engulfed in flames. The girl punched the pterodactyl and an explosion occurred. Yang smiled triumphantly. The tyrannosaurus looked up in confusion. Multiple magic circles appeared around the ice tyrannosaurus and ice thorned roses sprouted from them, trapping the dinosaur within them. The ice sculpture tried to desperately move.
"LITTLE DRAGON FIRE!" Yang shouted.
The blonde girl placed her hands together. A red magic circle appeared and fire spew from it, incinerating the trapped tyrannosaurus. At first the ice beast didn't seem to be affected at all. It's ice was too cold for Yang's flames.
"Yang!" Gray then heard.
A figure ran past him at an incredible speed. If it wasn't for the wind he wouldn't have even noticed. Of course it was Ruby. Ruby started circling the tyrannosaurus at an incredible speed. A lot of wind kicked up. Yang's fire grew in size. The oxygen that Ruby gathered by circling the ice sculpture caused the fire to increase. Clever. Yang's fire was hot enough to melt the tyrannosaurus now. Eventually nothing was left of it but it cost Yang a great amount of magic too.
Gray's eyes averted to the triceratops and who was still in a battle of strength against his dynamic ice make cube. A huge ice rose then came out of nowhere and started pushing the cube, giving it an extra boost. The ice triceratops was being pushed back slowly. More ice roses came to help push the ice cube. Eventually the triceratops was backed into a wall.
"Happy, let's do this." The airborne Yang said.
"Aye sir!" Happy said.
Happy started descending at an incredible speed. Yang's fist was engulfed in fire once more. The fire extended to her arm, her shoulder and soon enough her whole body was engulfed in flames. As Happy descended closer and closer to the triceratops he eventually was forced to let her go. Like a meteorite Yang descended and eventually crashed straight into the triceratops. A huge explosion was the consequence of this impact. A huge fiery shell was created and steam and dust went up. Went it all cleared Yang was seen standing exhausted. She still pumped a fist into the air however. Lyon's creations had been defeated.
"Gray!" Happy said happily as he landed next to Gray. "Are you okay?!"
"I'm pretty sure all my bones are broken." Gray replied.
"Did Lyon…" Happy trailed off.
"Yes." Gray said. "And it's not over. Deliora is free."
Happy went wide eyed and so did Ruby and Yang who were standing further away.
"So he really is free, huh?" Gray heard an unfamiliar voice ask.
"Who-" Gray cut himself off.
A woman in a white cloak stepped in front of him. Ur… no, it wasn't Ur. She had silver eyes. Gray realized who it was.
"Summer?" Gray asked confused.
"Yes." Summer answered. "It's me. I'll explain everything."
Sherry Blendy was still in shock. She was staring at the pit where the temple used to stand. Her bright pink hair moved with the wind. She was still in the hands of her giant pet rat Angelica.
A few feet away Virgo popped out of the ground. Lucy, Jaune, Taiyang and Natsu followed after her. The celestial spirit vanished without a word. Jaune was confused at this but just then realized how exhausted Lucy was. She had been using Celestial Spirits non stop this entire night.
"We did it…" Lucy said relieved.
"We did." Natsu said with a smile.
"And it only cost me a few broken ribs." Taiyang chuckled.
The four started laughing. This snapped Sherry out of her shock. She turned to them.
"Hey you!" She shouted.
The group's tender moment was disrupted by Sherry.
"You did this, didn't you?!" Sherry asked angrily, referring to the death of Deliora.
"Yes we did!" Natsu replied happily.
"Lyon's going to be furious!" Sherry said. "And that makes me angry as well."
A devious smile spread across her face. Jaune then noticed the countless tree and rock monsters surrounding them.
"Uh, guys." Jaune said worried.
"I have no magic energy left in me." Lucy said helplessly.
"Lucy," Natsu said straight faced. "Grab Taiyang and get out of here."
"I'm going to fight too!" Taiyang protested.
"Not with those broken bones." Jaune said.
"You guys can't fight that many monsters." Lucy said.
"We will find a way." Natsu said.
"I don't care!" Taiyang protested.
"... I trust you two." Lucy suddenly said.
Jaune was surprised but smiled at Lucy. Lucy returned the smile. The ground then started shaking. Another tremor and this was a big one.
"What's happening?!" Natsu questioned.
Natsu then started feeling nauseous.
"Are you serious?!" Lucy asked.
Trees started toppling over. Taiyang grunted as the shaking didn't help him feel less pain in his chest at all. Lucy helped support Natsu while Jaune cast a dome surrounding them all in case any trees were going to fall on them.
Angelica held Sherry tightly. Sherry's army just stood there in confusion. Sherry went eye wide as she saw something within the pit moving. An arm exited the pit and grabbed the edge. Another armed followed and after that came the head of Deliora. Fear filled Sherry. The demon really was undefeatable.
The Fairy Tail and Flameshard wizards watched in absolute terror as the demon climbed out of the pit. The demon they had crushed seemed absolutely unfazed. The tremors stopped.
It was then that Lyon arrived. The ice mage huffed and puffed as exhaustion kicked in. He used a tree to support himself. As Lyon gasped for air he stared at the image he had been imagining in his mind for the past three years. After a long night the sun was finally coming up. The sky was clear and Deliora stood proudly on Galuna Island. The final battle was going to finally begin.