Hey guys! Another chapter going up, and it's a doozy! You don't wanna miss this! Anyway, thank you, everyone who's been following so far. I really appreciate it. Not gonna detain you here much longer, I promise.
Chapter 24: Wrath of the Ice Mage
Gray finally understood what it was like to be Natsu.
Well, okay, maybe just a little bit.
Rage coursed throughout his veins. His blood sizzled and boiled; the ground froze and cracked wherever he stepped. The temperature of the room dropped twenty degrees, as if Gray's furnace-like body was sucking up all the heat in the room. Frost formed on the walls as he stormed towards Ezra.
An enemy charged him from the side. Gray couldn't see who it was, but he was insignificant. Gray punched him in the face and kicked him as hard as he could in the groin. That annoying pest wouldn't be getting up any time soon.
Gray focused his attention again on the killer, the one who had hurt Erza. He didn't even recognize the killer by name any more. They didn't deserve that.
Gray felt his own magic power and might surge the more he thought about how angry he was. The more his magic power surged, the angrier he became.
A dimensional portal opened in front of Gray, and another figure stepped out of it, roaring triumphantly. "KNEEL BEFORE ME! I AM MASUD OF HYDRA CLAW! I AM CONQUEROR OF MAKAROV, SLAYER OF GILDARTS! I AM INVINCIBLE! I-"
His rant was abruptly cut off. It's hard to talk when you're frozen inside a block of ice.
Gray drew to within ten feet of the killer. He unclenched his fists, which he realized had been frozen in little balls of ice. Most everywhere on his body was freezing; his head and heart had sucked up all the heat to fuel his anger. In his hands grew a four-foot-long, double-edged broadsword made of ice.
"You," he spat, "Are going to pay in kind for what you did to Erza. If I were you, I'd kill myself right now while you still can."
The killer threw back his head and laughed for a good five seconds. "You ignorant fool! Your anger only masks your lover's grief. You don't have the power to defeat me, nor did you ever possess the courage to confess your feelings to the great Titania." He gestured to Erza's body on the floor behind him.
Gray grit his teeth. "Don't you dare speak her name, you son of a bitch. You don't deserve the right."
"Oh, come on, my boy," the killer cackled. "What's the big fuss about her anyway? Her swordsmanship was shoddy. I defeated her easily. Now, using her body was quite pleasurable, but besides that, I don't see much use there-"
Gray's attacks came without warning, rhyme, or reason; he had lost any and all forms of self-control. He sliced off Ezra's hand with one quick blow, then moved in closer and began cutting up Ezra's body. He kicked Ezra to the ground, and began slashing at his chest, again and again and again. When Ezra stopped moving, he planted the sword right in his chest.
"Erza is the best goddamn swordswoman ever," he spat as he turned around. "And don't you forget it."
"Oh, believe me, I won't. Now, I hope you're paying attention, because I wouldn't want you to forget what I'm about to do to you."
Gray turned around, startled, to see Ezra pulling the sword out of his chest. His eyes and scars were glowing golden-brown. "H-how…"
"Did you really think a member of the Ten Wizard Saints would go down that easily, you fool? Did you really think your cheap ice-make replica could leave a dent on my body? You're even dumber than I thought." Ezra's severed hand transformed into a knife and reattached itself to Ezra's wrist.
Ezra's body once more began to undergo its signature transformation. Blades sprouted from all around his body, encasing him in a steel cage perfect for both offense and defense.
Ezra roared and launched into his Steel Whirlwind attack once more, circling around Gray with a barrage of strikes that ravaged his body. Gray put his arms up to shield, but where all his anger had been, there was now only sorrow. Ezra's words had finally sunk in. You never had the courage to confess your feelings.
It was true. Gray never did get to tell Erza how he felt. He wasn't sure whether that made him sad because she was gone forever, or angry at himself for never being able to do it. Maybe it was just plain painful. Or maybe that was just the barrage of blades cutting him to pieces.
Right. The blades. Remember, the last thing you can do for Erza is to avenge her, he thought. I must beat this guy.
He recalled what had happened when Erza had faced this technique during their first duel. She had tried to escape the ring and then attack from the outside, the most logical and direct course of action. But Ezra had expected that, and was ready to block and then counterattack. This should be no different. Therefore, Gray needed another plan of attack.
What if Gray just attacked from the inside? Would that be possible? Would it even be possible to muster up enough concentration to cast even a single spell? It was worth a try.
Worth several tries, actually. It was several minutes before Gray was actually able to muster up the concentration to cast even a simple ice-make spell. By the end of it, he was sure his body was going to be completely diced soon enough. Better to act quickly.
"Ice-make floor!" Gray froze the ground into one big skating rink. His hunch had turned out to be right. As soon as the ground turned slippery, Ezra immediately lost the ability to run circles around Gray and tumbled to the floor on his back. Gray didn't waste any time taking advantage of the situation.
"Ice-make hammer!" The large hammer Gray brought down on Ezra's face not only shattered some of his blades, but also stunned him. "Ice-make lance! Ice-make saucer! Super freezing arrow!"
Gray found himself getting carried away with the barrage of attacks. His anger was building up again, but at the same time, his remaining magic power was dwindling. With his final attack, he left Ezra frozen to the wall.
Unfortunately, Ezra broke free of the ice easily. Grimacing, he appeared to at least be annoyed, if not severely wounded. "You little maggot," he spat. "It's about time I get around to squashing you."
Now Ezra hovered above the floor using some kind of rocket boots. The ice floor wasn't going to protect Gray against another whirlwind attack. He needed a plan, and so he hatched one.
When Ezra charged, Gray didn't wait to intercept. He charged back head-on.
Right before Ezra struck, Gray formed an ice-make replica of his body and dodged his real body to the side; while Ezra ravaged the statue, Gray prepared his trump spell.
Ezra didn't realize he'd been duped until he felt Gray's hand pressed to his back. "A little spell I learned from my old master, Ur," Gray explained. "It's called Super Cold Condenser. It can cause the atoms to be crunched so close together that it makes any substance extremely brittle, to the point of instant collapse. For instance… your body blades!"
This was it. Gray had beaten Ezra. He'd finally avenged what he'd done to Erza. Maybe she could rest in peace, and forgive him for not being there sooner.
All he had to do was cast the spell and Ezra would be defeated. This whole nightmare would be over. The guild would be safe.
Something wasn't right. Ezra wasn't saying anything. His hand was missing again.
Gray lost focus on the spell. It's kind of hard to keep it when a knife goes into your back unexpectedly.
Ezra turned around and waved his handless wrist at Gray. "I suppose I should thank you for mobilizing my hand," he boasted. "So many useful tricks I haven't thought of yet! At least you're good for something." He kicked Gray to the ground.
Gray gasped. That was it. He was out of magic power. He was going to die, here and now, and the guild would be destroyed. Everybody was going to die, and it was all his fault.
"I'm so sorry, Erza," he whispered. "I love you."
"Goodbye, scum," Ezra condemned him as he lowered his blade.
Gray could've sworn he heard Erza scream.
Fairy Tail's brawl with the hydra was interrupted as Romeo's young eyes noticed something streaking toward the warship.
"No, way. Is that-"
The ceiling of the throne room split open, and the entire ship was rocked with a dazzling golden light.
DUN-DUN-DUN
Anyway, thanks so much for reading. Hope you all have a great day!