SailorStar9: We now continue with Chapter 120 of this fic. (Sighs) Guys and girls, is it too hard for you to leave a review, instead of just putting this fic up on your favorited list and story alerts?

Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny and my OCs.

Chapter 120: Gray vs. Doriate

"What are you talking about?" Doriate mocked. "Do you understand the situation you've been placed in? The Law of Retrogression ain't magic that grants youth. Strength, speed, endurance, magic power, it reduces all that. In other words, you're like a hunted rabbit. So, just give up. What's this?" he looked down at his feet to see a sleet of ice.

"You stepped back before, right?" Gray grinned. "So I created a scaffolding for you. But you don't need it anymore." the ice sleet then cracked under Doriate's feet and sent him pummeling back down the cliff.

"When did you..." Doriate glared.

"It's not like all my abilities have decreased." Gray pointed to his head. "My operations room up here is sharper than before. By definition, Mold Magic turns what the mind imagines into a weapon. Thanks to that, it seems my old state of mind is coming back, and I'm grateful for it."

"That's a load of crap." Doriate scoffed and started climbing up the cliff. "You're telling me your imagination materialized that magic just now? Where are you hiding?" he looked around once he reached the top.

"You fell for it again." Gray mocked, hiding underneath a sheet of ice he had conjured while Doriate was climbing. "I created that surface layer." opening up a hole beneath Doriate, he let the artificially created Demon fall through the hole.

"Son of a..." Doriate cursed, after he bounced off the iced-over bushes.

"Ice Make: Hammer!" Gray molded a miniature hammer on top of Doriate's head. "It's little!" he gaped.

"Like that'll do anything." Doriate mocked as the hammer knocked on his head.

"Oh, well." Gray shrugged. "I'll turn that tiny tool into something else. Ice Make..." he shattered the hammer.

"No matter what you come up with, with your power right now, it won't even tickle." Doriate was confident.

"Shaved Ice!" Gray let the pile of ice fall onto his opponent's head. "That shaved ice looks pretty unappetizing. But any ice mage worth his salt wouldn't get the shivers from a little ice like that." he reasoned, seeing Doriate shiver from the cold. "The jug's up. You're not the one who froze this village. You're not powerful enough to do that. In fact, you only fight after weakening your opponents. You're nothing but a punk. I have my real body back." he realized, when he reverted back to his older self. "What's with him?" he dodged Doriate's enraged swipes. "Did his spell break when he lost control of himself? Dumbass!" after being knocked down by Doriate's punch despite him blocking off the fist, Gray watched in horror as Doriate morphed into his Demon form. "A demon?" he recognized the form. "Is it magic like Mirajane's Satan Soul? No..." he corrected. "It feels like... it can't be..." he recalled Deliora. "A demon from the Books of Zeref. A human?" he got to his feet. "No, that can't be. What is this thing? So powerful!" he winced, rolling back and landing on his feet when the demon Doriate took a punch at him. "I'd better take it down fast."

With a roar, the demon Doriate activated his Law of Retrogression, the energy waves sending the magic across the village.

"I"m a kid again?" the regressed Gray exclaimed.

"Hey!" Lucy gasped, finding herself shrunken. "What is this?"

"We're suddenly little..." Flare supplied, having been shrunken as well.

"Thanks for stating the obvious." the mini-sized Ulyo deathpanned.

"Is it someone's magic?" Wendy wondered.

"Blondie, you're cute." Flare teased.

"You too." Lucy fired back.

"This isn't the time to trade compliments." Wendy reminded.

"Happy, Carla!" Gray looked at the two miniature Exceeds that had crashed landed on the ice.

"I suddenly couldn't fly well." Happy muttered.

"You shrunk!" Carla exclaimed. "And Gray, what happened to you?" she turned to the ice mage.

"That thing released magic on the whole village?" Gray realized.

"What the heck is it?" Happy panicked when he saw the demon Doriate behind him.

"If I don't stop it, everyone will be in danger." Gray stepped forward. "No effect." he hissed when his icicle rain battered uselessly against Doriate's body. "Then, I'll keep him from moving by freezing the ground at its feet. No good?" he frowned when Doriate shattered the barely formed prison. "What is this?" he winced, Doriate sending him rolling back with just a kick. "Just one hit... and on top of that..." he remembered what Doriate had said about his magic. "His power is increasing. This is bad. One more punch, and..." I can't dodge! His eyes widened when he saw Doriate jump at him. Is there anything in this ice-coated village that can turn the tables on him? Ice? He recalled Doriate's reaction to the ice-coated bushed from before. What is this? He mused as Doriate's fist closed in. something feels off.

"Gray!" both Happy and Carla swooped in and grabbed Gray's arms, pulling him to safety.

I see. Gray realized. So that's what it is. The ice produced from my child state didn't faze him, but he got hurt when he crashed into the frozen grass. Normally, his body weight would crush frozen grass to pieces. But maybe the special magic in this frozen grass is what hurt him. I don't know why, but the ice that covers this village is his weakness. So if the magic in the ice here slams into him... he got to his feet. But... how? He wondered after Doriate swatted him and the two Exceeds away. If I could manipulate the ice in this village, he never would've gotten this far. No, wait. He stood firm. I can do it! I may not be able to melt it, but I should be able to channel the magic. He flipped and landed on his feet. The magic of the creepy ice... "I just didn't try!" he declared, rushing forward to Doriate. "I'll lend you my body." he slammed a palm on the ice. "Work through it." he channeled the ice from his palm and sent a charged-up fist on Doriate's chest, the effect reverting him back to his original form and sending Doriate flying backwards. Upon landing on the ice, the unconscious Doriate reverted back to his human form.

"Gray, are you okay?" Happy asked, the two Exceeds having, too, reverted back.

"What did you do?" Carla inquired.

"What the hell is this ice?" Gray wondered. "It's definitely creepy magic, but it... and I'm curious about his identity." he looked at the defeated Doriate.

"You fools opened it." Doriate chuckled. "The gates of Hell... there's no turning back now. And..." he was cut off when the Cyclops Monster landed behind him and devoured him.

"There it is!" Happy and Carla screamed in horror.

"Natsu." Lucy called out, seeing the Fire Dragon Slayer walk out of the forest; with Doriate defeated, his magic was canceled and resulting in everyone else caught in his magic wave returning back to normal.

"Thank goodness." Wendy was relieved. "We finally found you."

"Don't run off on your own again like that." Lucy chided.

"Sakura Hair..." Flare muttered, hiding behind Lucy.

"You!" Natsu glared.

"It's all right." Lucy assured. "She's not the enemy. Flare says she's from this village."

"Then, this village's situation," Natsu started. "Has gotta be hard on you. I the name of our Guild, I swear we'll return it to normal."

"The Eternal Flame might be able to defrost the village." Wendy supplied.

"Flare was taking us to it." Lucy explained.

"I think that voice I heard came from this mountain." Natsu turned to the frozen flames.

"It's not a mountain." Flare corrected. "It's the village's guardian deity, the Eternal Flame. This is the Eternal Flame."

"It ain't a mountain?" Natsu gawked.

"The giant flame froze." Lucy mused. "It only looks like a mountain. I'd hoped the Eternal Flame could get the village back to normal, but even that flame is frozen."

"Something's coming." Natsu alerted. "Gray!" he spotted his fleeing rival.

"Happy!" Lucy blinked.

"Carla!" Wendy gasped.

"Run, you guys!" Gray yelled.

"What is that?" Lucy gaped at the giant Cyclops Monster chasing the trio.

"And why is a Cyclops Monster after the three of you?" Ulyo shouted.

"I dunno, but it wants to eat us!" Happy wailed.

"It's the enemy!" Carla cried out.

"Just beat it, Gray!" Natsu snapped.

"This is no time for me to be wasting magic!" Gray retorted. "I may be able to melt this ice. From Raven?" he spotted Flare. "What's she doing here?"

"Never mind that." Natsu fired back. "You can melt this ice, right?"

"Not for sure." Gray replied. "But yeah, I'll do it."

"All right, then I'll take care of this bird." Natsu decided, running to meet his new opponent. "This mountain is the Eternal Flame. Melt it, can you?"

"All right." Gray sped up and the two rivals high-fived, each running towards their targets.

SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.