Chapter 25: Showdown in the Cavern! Tense Natsu vs. Zalty!

"Ice Make: Prison!" Gray created a cage made out of ice, entrapping the ice tiger.

"Gray!" Luffy shouted as the Fairy Tail wizard jumped on top of his cage.

"See Lyon, this is you!" Gray shouted. "A beast in a cage, lashing out at a world he doesn't know!"

"What nonsense!" Lyon said, commanding his tiger. "I'll make quick work of that spell of yours." The ice tiger tried to destroy the ice cage but couldn't. Lyon looked at the caged tiger confused.

"See? Single-handed spell casting is too unbalanced." Gray explained. "Your creations will let you down when you need them the most."

"Damn you!"

"Gum-Gum…" Luffy stretched both of his arms back and charged towards Lyon. "…BAZOOKA!" Luffy hit Lyon with a double open-hand strike, sending him crashing through a wall and knocking him out.

Lyon was defeated, but a new threat emerges…

Then a monstrous roar sounded off throughout the entire island.

"AHH…MY EARS!" Usopp yelled, holding his ears in pain like everyone excluding Zoro, Sanji, Robin, and Erza.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Nami yelled.

"MY EARS WEREN'T READY FOR THIS!" Happy yelled.

"That doesn't sound promising." Erza said.

"I guess they were too late." Zoro said, grabbing the hilts of his useable swords.

"IT'S SO LOUD!" Natsu yelled, covering his ears. He looked at the ice and saw red eyes glowing from the ice. The ice then broke, releasing the demon.

"OW, WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?!" Luffy shouted, holding his ears. "IT'S HURTING MY EARS!"

"That roar…" Gray said, remembering the one thing that what can cause that roar. "I can never forgive that sound."

The roar has woken Lyon up as well. "De…li…ora…" he said, knowing that monstrous roar.

Gray balled his fist in anger. 'They did it.' Gray thought. 'They actually revived him. There's only one thing I can do now. Ice Shell…'

Deliora let another monstrous roar that is heard throughout the entire island, causing everything on the island and around it to shake.

"Finally!" Zalty shouted. "The moment is here!"

Inside the temple, Erza, Lucy, Happy, and the Straw Hats stopped when they heard Deliora. They were looking to see where it was coming.

"What the heck was that noise?" Lucy asked scared. "It sounded of some sort of monster growling."

"It's probably just your stomach, Lucy." Happy said jokingly.

"You not half as funny as you think you are."

"So you think that sound might have been Deliora?" Erza asked.

"Oh no, you mean…they've brought it back to life!"

"If that's the case, I vote we leave now and let Luffy handle them!" Usopp shouted scared. Then he noticed a purple beam of light. "Hey what's that light?!" Everyone looked at the purple light and the Fairy Tail wizards widen their eyes, knowing what it is.

"See that purple light?!" Happy shouted. "That's the moon drip!" Then another monstrous roar was heard inside the temple.

"Could it be…" Erza said to herself.

"Hey, you need to eat something!" Happy shouted at Lucy.

"And you need to shut your trap before I hurt you!" Lucy barked back.

"It might've been the demon growling but someone is still performing the Moon Drip ceremony so they haven't fully revived it yet." Erza said, getting everyone's attention. "So we still have a chance to do something. Come on!" Erza started to run with Zoro and Sanji behind her.

"Hey wait, I have the don't-go-farther-inside-the-temple-disease." Usopp said, trying to sound sick but no one would listen. "Ever heard of it?"

"And Deliora is below us!" Lucy said, pointing to floor.

"Putting a stop to the ceremony is our only hope! We have to hurry!"

In the cavern below the temple, Zalty looked down at Natsu with a smirk on his face.

"Oh man, I'm wasting my time on you!" Natsu said. "Let's finish this right now!" Then a green orb appeared and hit Natsu in the face.

"Ready when you are." Zalty said, controlling the orb with his hand. "Go ahead and do your worst, Salamander."

"Why you!" Zalty fired the orb towards Natsu and Natsu easily destroyed it with his flaming fist. Zalty moved his hand and repaired the orb. The orb flew towards Natsu and hit him in the gut. "But I broke it, right?!"

"I have the ability to control an object's time." Zalty explained. "Meaning I can take the crystal in time to before it was broken."

Natsu jumped back and said, "What kind of magic gives you that power?"

"I've practiced one of the lost magics called arc of time. It's extremely rare and quite powerful. Would you like to see what happens when I throw this ball into the future?" The orb started to pick up speed and flew past Natsu. Then the orb returned and hit Natsu repeatedly at a high speed. Natsu engulfed his hands in flames and destroyed the orb but it was repaired. Then it hit Natsu in the back of the head.

"Your fire won't help you!" Zalty said as he fired his orb at Natsu again.

"Oh yeah?!" Natsu was about to destroy the orb again with his flaming fist but it stopped before it could him. "It stopped in mid-air?"

"Yes, I also have the ability to freeze an object in time." Zalty said as the orb returned to him.

"Nice trick. I'll be even more impressed if it works on people!"

"That's the rough. It's powerless on living things. Since Ur turned herself into the ice that encases Deliora, I simply cannot return the ice to its pre-frozen state. That's why we're using Moon Drip."

"Let me ask you something. Why are you guys doing this? It seems that you're working hard to revive this demon so Lyon can kill it to boost his ego. That's great for him and all but what do you get out of it?"

"I can't say." Zalty answered. "I only recently joined so I don't know enough to speak on the other's behalf."

"Ok, what about you then?" Natsu asked. "What's your goal in all of this?"

"You certainly know how to get straight to the point. The Cold Emperor, Lyon, is an arrogant twit! He doesn't stand a chance against Deliora! That's where I come in."

"If he can't kill, we're in major trouble unless you're going to defeat it yourself!"

"Don't be ridiculous! I want to control the demon." Natsu narrowed his eyes at what Zalty just said. "You see, there are spells that give the caster power over mortal monsters like this one here. With a single speel, I'll become the most powerful man in the world because I have a demon at my beckon call."

"Talk about a lame answer." Natsu said unimpressed. "I'm sorry that I even asked." Zalty looked at the dragon slayer confused. "That's what you're after? You think a monster is going to make you tough? No way!"

Zalty laughed and said, "I supposed that you're too young to understand right now. But one day, you'll realize how important it is to have power on your side."

Natsu balled his fist and engulfed it in flames. "Well I already got plenty of power on my side because all of my friends in Fairy Tail got my back!"

"If you let your cockiness get the best of you…" Zalty raised his hand to the air and a magic circle appeared. "…you'll fall exactly like the ceiling above you!" Then piece of the ceiling broke apart and started to fall.

"I had it with you and your buddies screwing things up for the people on this island!" Natsu's flame started to glow brighter. "It's time I put a stop to it!"

"You can't seriously believe you can stop my arc of time with your puny flames, do you?!" Zalty taunted as he fired multiple orbs at Natsu.

Natsu jumped towards the orb and to Zalty. "I don't give a crap about your magic!" he shouted at the masked wizard. "I just want you off this island!" Natsu used his flames and created an explosion, destroying the orbs. "I may be able to control time but I can see the future. And I see me kicking your ass and sending you flying!" Natsu hit Zalty with his flaming fist and send him crashing into a rock below.

To be continued…