Date: XX/XX/0784

Time Left: Approximately Seven Years Before Disaster

Location: Galuna Island

Gray pulled a cigarette from…god knows where, and gave a sigh as he placed it lazily into his mouth, "My teacher's name…was Ur…and she was the one who encased that demon in that block of ice."

Gray pulled a lighter from…still not clear, and struck it a few times to light his cigarette, only for sparks to sputter out of it. Natsu saw his fellow mages trouble and snapped his fingers to make a flame for the man to light it. The Dragon Slayer gave a sideways glance at the frozen monster and hummed in thought, "You said she 'is' the ice, right? What exactly did you mean by that?"

Gray gave another sigh as he took a drag from his cigarette, "The demon, Deliora, when I was little it…it terrorized the north with the pure level of destruction it caused. Towns, cities, even small countries were completely wiped off the map by its seemingly pointless rampage…my town was one of those targeted by it." Lucy stayed quiet as she listened, a small look of sadness appearing on her face as the ice mage continued, "That's when Ur found me. She took me in, housed me, fed me, trained me…" Gray paused to take another drag, "One day…I got a little too big for my britches, heard Deliora was terrorizing another town just a few miles from where we were and…" Gray trailed off as tears welled up in his eyes, the ice mage did his best to hide them from his comrades, "I was such an idiot. I didn't think straight, I just…I couldn't do a single thing to that monster." Gray's tears fell just a little bit harder, "But Ur…she saved me, she used a forbidden ice spell known as Iced Shell. She was able to encapsulate Deliora forever within a frozen prison, but the price…was her life."

There was quiet for a moment, Natsu, Happy, Lucy and Gray all silent as the story sunk in. Happy was the first to break the silence, a question forming in his mind, "But…if Deliora was frozen all the way up north, what's it doing on Galuna Island?"

Gray looked up at the iced demon, "I don't know. Last I heard, this thing was left where it was frozen. Everybody who could, was too scared to move it."

Natsu furrowed his brow in thought as his brain worked a thousand times its normal capabilities to form an idea, "Wait! Deliora is a demon, right!?"

Lucy looked at the monstrous behemoth in front of her before returning her gaze towards her friend, "Seems that way, why?"

Natsu rubbed his temples as he got the brain juices flowing, "And the people in the village are turning into demons too…which means Deliora must be the cause for the demonification of the people on the island!"

Happy flew up and pumped his fist in the air at that, "Aye sir! Natsu can always sniff out the root cause of any problem! Yessiree!"

Gray shrugged his shoulders as he blew a stream of smoke from his mouth, "That's the most logical conclusion we have. It can't be a coincidence that people turning into demons on this island isn't correlated to this beast."

Lucy nodded her head, before scratching her ear in confusion, "Alright…but how exactly? I mean there has to be a reason the moon turns purple, right? Does Deliora have the power to turn the moon purple?"

Gray pursed his lips at the question, "Not that I know of. Maybe it's an outside force or something."

Natsu plopped his behind onto the ground and crossed his arms, closely followed by Happy, "Well then, the only thing we can do now, is wait for something to happen. Then we'll know exactly what's going on here!"

Happy nodded his head in agreement, "Aye sir!"

Gray finished his cigarette before flicking it to the side, "Sure, besides." Gray sent a harsh glare at Deliora's roaring face, "I don't want this thing to leave my sight for a second."

Lucy sighed, "Guess we'll just-!"

Though the blonde wasn't able to finish her sentence before Natsu interrupted her with a harsh shush, "Everyone, quiet!" Natsu yelled/whispered as he held a hand to his ear and concentrated hard on what his Dragon Slayer senses told him were…talking, "Hide, someone's coming!"

Lucy, Natsu, Gray and Happy all scrambled to hide behind some rocks as the talking grew louder, and louder.

Yuka folded his hands behind his back as he and Toby stalked down the cave tunnel. He usually went to check on Deliora in the evening with Sherry as well, just to make sure that the beast wasn't tampered with, and to measure just how much longer they had to spend breaking it out of its icy prison. Though…with what happened to Sherry's pet rat Angelica…he really couldn't blame her for taking a bit of a break.

"Why do we have to check on the thing every single night! It never moves, and nobody is ever there! I could be using this time to get my well deserved beauty rest…"

Yuka looked towards his colleague with a slight frown on his stoic features. Toby wasn't the brightest bulb on the shelf, so he had to forgive his friend for being so naive when it came to the Cold Emperor's grand plan, "Now, now Toby. If the day we suddenly decided not to do our due diligence and make sure everything is in order, and something just so happened to occur without our knowhow, wouldn't that look bad upon us?"

Toby grumbled to himself, his remarkably dog-like features morphing to resemble a saddened mutt as the two made their way into the giant open cavern where the Demon of Destruction, Deliora sat, silently roaring out in fury, "I guess, still a ball ache to walk all the way down here day after day…"

Yuka furrowed his very prominent eyebrows at that, "Perhaps, but it is our duty." Yuka continued to gaze at the behemoth in front of him with a mixture of hidden emotions, "With the power of the Moon Drip, even this frozen prison won't last forever." Yuka said before turning his eyes to his grouchy comrade with a small smirk. A good jest might bring his friend out of his funk, "What's with the dog ears Toby? You turning into a demon or something?"

Toby's grouchy mood instantly turned to intense anger at the comment, "Yuka I told you, they're decorative!"

Yuka let out a small laugh at his comrades reaction, "I'm joking, I'm joking. Seems like nothing has occurred since last night, let's get-!" Yuka stopped for a second as something caught his eye just as he was turning to leave. The man furrowed his prominent brows once more before moving over to pick it up, a used cigarette butt…

Toby hummed at the piece of trash, "Huh, didn't know you smoked Yuka."

Yuka felt a tick mark form on his forehead at the comment, "I don't, someone's been here Toby."

Toby's eyes instantly widened at the news, "What do we do!? If they saw Deliora…who do you think could have done this!?"

Yuka flicked the piece of trash away as he turned to leave, "If someone was here, we have to tell the Cold Emperor." Yuka left through the tunnel they came in through with far more purpose in his step, "I suspect one of the villagers got a little too curious with our goings on here in the temple. If that's the case, then we shouldn't have too much to worry about."

Toby looked at his comrade with a face of confusion, "But…what if it wasn't one of the villagers?"

Yuka furrowed his prominent brows once more, "Then we'll have a reason to worry."

Natsu poked his head out from behind his hiding spot with an exasperated sigh, "That was a close one!"

Lucy gave a nervous noise as her tired expression became visible from behind her hiding spot, "I'm not sure we should stay here, you heard what they said. We should probably get moving-!"

"No way!" Gray interjected, "They said that they could break the Iced Shell with something called Moon Drip, right!? Then let's stay here and wait to see what that is!"

Lucy quirked her eyebrow in utter confusion at the counterargument, "What are you talking about? We need to leave before they come back, they already know somebody's been here."

Happy hummed as he landed on Natsu's shoulder, "What do you think Natsu? Your brain is the biggest out of everyone here after all."

The Dragon Slayer stroked his chin and closed his eyes to think, "What do I think? I think I could really go for a ham sandwich and a jug of ale right about now, but…Gray's right."

Happy was quiet for a moment at that, his mouth agape in surprise, "Did you hit your head on the way down here Natsu? Because according to you whenever you go on one of your drunken rants: Fairies do have tails, the end is nigh, and Gray has never and will never be correct in anything."

Natsu made a face at his best friend's comment, "Fine, but just this once, Gray is correct. We don't know where any of these pathways lead first of all, and if they are really using something called the Moon Drip to set this thing free, then we need to be here to stop them from doing that."

Lucy threw up her hands in exasperation, "Fine, but don't complain when we inevitably get caught!"

Date: XX/XX/0784

Time Left: Approximately Seven Years Before Disaster

Location: Galuna Island's Jungle

"Land ho!" Torafuzar awoke with a jolt as the faint whisper of a shout was carried on the wind directly into his ear.

The large demon stood on tired legs and looked with clear eyes at the pure level of destruction that surrounded him. Tropical trees were uprooted and splintered, corpses of various wildlife littered the surroundings, large black puddles of toxic water covered the ground, causing anything that touched it to wither and die. Torafuzar felt his head spin, "What, happened last night?" He took a step forward and growled a low vocation. What the actual hell was going on? This island…something was going on with this island. He had to contact Tartaros immediately.

The sky darkened as the sun set off in the distance, a pirate ship sailed close to the shore as a glint of something flew off it and towards the island. Torafuzar watched the glint with a curious eye, before it impacted the ground right next to him and sent dust and debris flying, the aquatic demon not even blinking at the act. A woman in black winged armor stood tall and pointed her sword directly at him, stern eyes glaring into his unamused ones, "You there! Where are the Fairy Tail mages that arrived here!?"

Torafuzar blinked at not just the question, but the sheer audacity of this woman. Last thing he remembered, he was about to turn that ice mage and the blonde he tried to protect into red paste. Then…darkness.

Torafuzar sneered at the scarlet-haired mage as his shark-like teeth formed a deep frown, "Lower your weapon, pitiful human! You speak to Torafuzar, the Deep Dark of the abyss! It would be beneficial to your long-term health if you didn't order me around with your weapon."

Erza's eyes widened slightly at the words, before immediately switching to her standard Heart Kreuz armor and giving a deep bow, "My apologies Torafuzar, I was…today has been a rather long day."

Torafuzar watched the mage with his beady eyes, and gave a sigh as a response, "You and me both, knight."

Erza stood straight and lifted her hand to her heart, "My name is Erza Scarlet, S-class mage of Fairy Tail. I'm here looking for a group of my colleagues who have gone rogue and who have taken a quest they are not qualified to. If you could, please tell me where I can find them."

Torafuzar looked off with an unreadable expression on his face, the night settling in as the moon began to rise in the sky. Should he just kill her? It'd be easy, she doesn't seem too much stronger than the pink-haired twat he smacked away…no. He didn't have time to get in a fight with a mage, he had to report back to Tartaros immediately, "I don't know where your guildmates are, Miss Scarlet." Torafuzar began stalking in a random direction, "And frankly, I don't care. I have much more important business to tend to."

"Turning the people of this island back into humans, correct?" Erza asked with certainty in her voice, the Requip mage following closely behind the large demon.

Torafuzar furrowed his eyes at the question, "What?"

Now it was Erza's turn to be confused, "The curse of Galuna Island. It's turning the residence into demons when the moon shines purple. Isn't that why you look so…"

Torafuzar blocked the rest of the mages' words from his mind as his train of thought raced with this newfound information. The moon turns people into demons? Utter madness, not even Tartaros has perfected such a transformation. Not to mention that the villagers were demons to begin with. But then…why would they consider themselves humans undergoing a transformation into a demon? Something was seriously not adding up here…

Erza continued to speak, completely unaware that Torafuzar had blocked her voice out of his head…until she said, "…by the way, for someone going through demonification you sure are taking it with a lot more dignity than I would have guessed."

Torafuzar reacted with a jolt at that statement, "Just because I may be a demon, that doesn't mean I am incapable of being dignified." The Etherious looked down as a whirlwind of emotions filled his mind, "Demons are violent, brutal, vicious, disgusting creatures born to kill or be killed. There is no fighting it, that's just who we are as a species." Erza gave a weird look to the demon, a strain of doubt creeping into her mind as she now questioned whether or not this man truly was a person undergoing transformation into a demon. Torafuzar continued, "Still! Even if I was created to be a brutal beast, I will at least be a beast, with a certain level of dignity."

Erza gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, her eyes growing steely as she gritted her teeth in preparation, "I see…and what of the people in the village? Can they be dignified even if the moon transforms them into demons?"

Torafuzar ran one of his huge hands across his face in exasperation, "They're not-!" Before his eyes suddenly went wide with realization…and then into fear. The moon, it wasn't transforming the villagers at all…it was messing with their minds, just like it did to him last night! Torafuzar snapped his head up towards the sky and watched as the moon slowly moved to its zenith, a look of dread on the aquatic demon's face as it slowly started to glow purple. Torafuzar looked towards the ground in defeat. He didn't have time to get away from the island, he wasn't fast enough. Torafuzar ran his massive hand over his face once more as his emotions soon melted away into an apathetic mood. Oh well…he guess he just had to ride it out until he woke up again tomorrow, "Hey, Erza."

The Fairy Tail mage kept her hardened gaze taped to the Etherious even as the moon grew brighter and brighter, "Yes, Torafuzar?"

The demon laughed before looking Erza directly in the eyes with a wide smile, "Those villagers, aren't what they seem."

Erza quirked a brow at that, "What? What do you mean by that?"

Torafuzar let out another laugh as his grin grew wider, the demon turning his hulking body fully towards the mage, "You'll figure it out, if you survive that is…" Torafuzar popped a few of his knuckles and loosened the muscles in his massive arms, "You said you were one of Fairy Tail's S-class mages, right? Then hopefully, you'll be able to make it through the night with only half of your lungs filled with water." Torafuzar gave a sigh as the moon reached its peak, causing his face to simply go slack, "Good…luck…"

Erza unsheathed her sword and readied herself for battle. She stood still as a statue as she waited for the giant demon to strike…only for the shark-like being to stare off unblinkingly while muttering nonsense under his breath. Erza steeled her gaze further, she couldn't sense any magic from this fiend, but she knew better than to underestimate an opponent like this. Erza let out a single breath, little more than a wisp of air, and then Torafuzar's fist was right over her chest. Erza's eyes widened instantly as she could sense the sheer force behind the punch, before her entire world went white.

"Damn! Why'd you have to go and play such depressing ass music!?" Natsu blubbered through tears as Happy clung to his best friend with a similar amount of tears.

Gray tried to hide the steady stream of water that poured from his eyes as he gazed longingly at the frozen beast in front of him, "Maybe summoning her wasn't the best idea Lucy, we might attract some unwanted attention."

Lucy rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment, "You're probably right Gray, sorry. Lyra, why don't you take the rest of the day off?"

The young spirit let out a whine as she clutched her harp close to her chest, "Ah, come on Lucy! You barely summon me anyways! Let me hang around just a little bit longer!"

Lucy felt a sweatdrop form on her forehead at the comment, "I rarely summon you because our contract says I can only call you three times a month."

Lyra blinked a few times at that, "Oh…right, well see yah!" Before disappearing in a flash.

Natsu folded his hands across his chest and gave a sigh, "Whelp…guess our entertainment is gone. Now wh-!"

Natsu couldn't finish his sentence before the ceiling of the cavern began to glow an ominous purple light, and a ray of a pure magical glow landed directly onto the ice prison of Deliora. It only took a few seconds before huge chunks of the once impenetrable ice began to slosh off into water, creating a large pool in the center of the cavern.

Gray shot up with a look of pure horror on his face at the sight, "W-what the hell!?"

Lucy and Happy also looked up in terror as the once huge block of ice slowly began to melt away around the demon. The Celestial Spirit mage was barely able to vocalize her disbelief, "I thought you said that the Iced Shell was an 'unbreakable' spell!"

Gray's brows furrowed, "It is, dammit!" Before he turned towards the tunnel that the two weirdos took, "We have to stop them! There, if we take that tunnel we'll no doubt meet up with the people responsible!" Gray charged towards the tunnel along with Lucy and Happy, only to stop when he noticed a lack of a certain Dragon Slayer following them. The Ice Make mage turned to see Natsu crouching over himself as he practically crushed the sides of his head in pain. Gray yelled out in annoyance at his comrade, "Natsu! Come on, if we don't hurry they'll completely thaw Deliora out!"

"I-I'm…I can't…" Natsu felt a stream of drool flow from his deep grimace as every beat of his heart sank the nail in his head just a little deeper, deeper, deeper…then he heard a voice.

"Come play with us Natsu!"

Natsu turned his throbbing head to glance down one of the many tunnels that lined the cave walls, sound dampened within his ears as he could barely make out the fuzzy visage of a blue-haired girl running down the tunnel before disappearing. Even though Natsu felt like his head was being ripped apart by a hammer, he couldn't help but let out a small smile at the sight, "Hey Wendy, wait up!" Natsu laughed as he dashed down that same tunnel.

"Natsu! What the-!" Gray gave a frustrated growl before turning to leave, "Guess I've gotta do everything myself!"

Happy swooped in with a worried look, clearly concerned for his friend, "Wait! What about Natsu!?"

Gray gave a deep frown before shaking his head in frustration, "That idiot can take care of himself! Right now we need to deal with whatever's melting that ice!"

Happy gave an uncertain look as he looked back to where Natsu fled, before flying after Gray and Lucy, "Aye sir…"

"Come on Natsu, keep up!"

"Hey! Slow down Wendy!" Natsu laughed as the rocky walls of the tunnel soon began to fizzle in and out, replaced with a scene of a lush forest and blurry figures that seemed to be playing with each other in the distance.

"Natsu! Come over here so we can fight! Metalicana just taught me a new technique!"

Natsu gave a smile towards the small blurry form of Gajeel as he passed him by, "Maybe later Gajeel! Can't you see I'm playing with Wendy right now!?"

"Natsu! Sting hit me!"

"What!? No I didn't!"

Natsu pursed his lips at the two blurs in his vision, "Sting! Rogue! Stop fighting you two! I swear, I can't leave you guys alone for even a second…"

"Natsu! This way! Hurry!"

Natsu turned his attention back towards Wendy with a smile, "I'm coming, just slow down a second!"

"Hurry!"

Natsu began to take deeper breaths as the exhaustion from running started to show, "I'm…I'm hurrying…"

"Hurry Natsu…"

"Wendy…I-I…I'm…" Natsu came to a stop in the middle of the long tunnel, soft pants leaving his mouth as the lush forest and blurry figures disappeared from his vision. Natsu slowly moved his head to look around him, only to see the claustrophobic stone walls of the cave all around him, "W-who's Wendy?" Like a lightning strike, Natsu's head exploded in pain, causing the young man to fall to the ground in anguish. Flashes of that familiar hellscape appeared in his mind's eye as he yelled out into the tight confines of the cave, "N-no! Stop! I-I don't want to feel this anymore! I don't want to see that anymore! Stop hurting me! Please stop hurting me!"

Little did he know, as Natsu screamed in pain in the depths of the cave tunnel, an old man wearing a weird red tiki mask hummed to himself, watching from the shadows, "Now what are you doing down here, Natsu Dragneel? Here to stop my plans perhaps?" The old man wondered to himself, before a cruel smile crossed his features, "Fine then, I suppose it doesn't matter in the long run anyway. Do your best, Dragon Slayer."

Natsu scrambled his way onto his feet, head still pounding in pain as his eyes drifted to where he thought he heard something, "H-hello?" The young mage looked around for a few seconds, searching for the person he thought he heard, only to find himself completely alone.

"What the fuck are they doing?" Lucy asked, completely perplexed by the sight in front of her. Happy, Gray, and her having hidden behind a broken pillar to get a proper view.

Gray narrowed his gaze as over a dozen people dressed in cult robes began bowing and chanting over and over in a perfect circle, seemingly funneling the purple light of the moon directly into a magic circle on the top of the temple, "I don't know, but how much you wanna bet that it's the cause of the Iced Shell melting?"

"It's the Moon Drip ritual…" Lucy and Gray blinked a little at the new voice, before turning to see Lyra hiding right next to them.

"Lyra!? What are you doing here? I thought I sent you back to the Celestial Spirit realm." Lucy asked in shock, trying her best to keep her voice down despite her surprise.

Lyra, completely ignoring the words of her master, continued explaining, "That ritual…it's an ultra-powerful dispeller known as Moon Drip. Capable of breaking even the strongest of spells…" The spirit turned towards her master and gave a dismal stare, "If they're using that to release that thing in the caverns, I don't wanna be anywhere near here. Seeya Lucy, please don't die or anything." Before Lyra disappeared in a puff of magic sparkles.

"Fuck." Gray stated plainly, before rising to his feet with a look of pure anger on his face, "I won't let them destroy my teacher's legacy!"

"Get down you madman!" Happy pulled his guildmate down, just as a cloaked man with a cold demeanor strutted proudly in front of the ritual's purple glow.

Yuka and Toby flanked the man as if they were royal bearers following a monarch. The shorter man spoke with a slight edge to his tone, "It seems that a few of the villagers have gotten a bit nosy, my lord. We found evidence that they've located Deliora's imprisoned form."

"So?" The man asked, his tone just as frigid as his body language, "We are too close to have our plans ruined. If there is an issue with those accursed people below…make sure that issue is dealt with."

Toby gave a weird noise at the order, "You mean…kill them, my lord?"

The cloaked man frowned before turning his masked face to glare at the dog-man, "Toby use your brain for once! If the Magic Council finds out that we are trying to resurrect a demon of Zeref, this entire island will be nuked from orbit! We cannot allow even the faintest whiff of our dealings here to leave, so take care of the villagers before that becomes our problem! Kill them, imprison them, whatever." The man then froze in his tracks before an annoyed sneer crossed his features, "And where the hell is Sherry!?"

Yuka grew a somber look, "Angelica has been…killed, sir. Sherry's currently grieving her loss in her room…"

The masked man's demeanor instantly shifted at the information, "I see…give her my condolences the next time you see her."

"A grand idea, my lord!" The enthused words erupted as a man wearing a red tiki mask suddenly appeared next to the group, "Though there really isn't a need for the young lass' assistance! By my calculations, I'd say we only have around another night or two before the Iced Shell crumbles. By then? You'll get your wish."

The masked man grinned wide at those words, "A good evening to you too, Zalty. It's appreciative that you'd take time from fondling the hunk of ice in the caves to actually report our progress for once."

Zalty gave an unnerving laugh, "As despondent and cold as ever I see…very well, I won't take up much more of your time. I also just wanted to let you know about the Fairy Ta-!"

"You bastards! Stop melting that ice! Ice Make: Arrow Storm!" Out of nowhere, a rain of super sharp arrows made of ice fell onto the group of spellcasters as a half-naked man with a rage-filled face descended from out of nowhere.

Yuka, Toby, and Zalty were almost impaled by the light blue frozen projectiles…until a turtle shell made of turquoise ice protected the trio at the last second. The Cold Emperor almost laughed at the sight of the Fairy Tail mage, "Well well well…out of all the mages I thought they'd send to stop me, what a coincidence it would be you?"

Gray, however, was in no fucking mood to talk, "Unless the useless prattle coming out of your sorry chops is an apology to the village and an unconditional surrender, I don't wanna fucking hear it! Ice Make: Saw!"

The masked leader frowned slightly as a saw blade ripped through the floor and hurtled towards him at staggering speeds, "Ice Make: Armadillo!" Only for the man to send his own spinning ice construct to intercept the attack. The Cold Emperor smiled, "As brash and as hotheaded as ever. At least you haven't slacked off on your training, that's good…"

Zalty snickered within the icy turtle shell before giving a peace sign with his fingers, "Well then, why don't the three of us give you and your old buddy-buddy some space to catch up?" And with little warning, the ground underneath the three lackeys decayed into nothing and formed a hole that they fell into, before the hole was reformed into the floor of the ruin, as if time itself had reversed to repair it.

Gray, now alone on top of the temple with the Cold Emperor, furrowed his brows as a look of familiarity sparkling in his steely eyes, "Ice Make: Lance!" The frozen projectiles were slower and less intense than they should have been, almost as if the Fairy Tail mage was testing to see the reaction to the spell rather than do any real damage with the attack.

The masked man sidestepped the icicle barrage before shooting out his own hand, "Ice Make: Ram!" And in a burst of frost and ice, summoned an icy goat to charge towards Gray.

The raven-haired mage prepared to cast another spell…but was interrupted by a flurry of scissor slashes cutting the animate ice into small chunks, "Lucy asked for me to assist you in giving this dark mage a close shave."

Lucy pumped her fist behind the cover of the rock as Happy and she knew better than to get in the middle of a fight between two powerful mages, "That's it Cancer! Give Gray all the help you can!"

Gray gave the weird crab barber a side-eye before turning his now emotionless eyes back towards the other ice mage, "You…Lyon, is that you under there?"

The other man couldn't help but chuckle, before removing his helmet and allowing his spiky white hair and eagle-esque eyes to be seen by the world, "Took you long enough Gray. And here I was beginning to wonder if you'd lost a few key brain cells since last we spoke."

Gray gritted his teeth in rage…as Lucy and Happy looked at each other in total confusion, "You…motherfucker! What the hell are you doing!? Do you have any idea what that ritual is doing to the Iced Shell!?"

Lyon's gaze grew deathly serious, "Do you think I'm an idiot Gray? Of course I know what Moon Drip is doing. And soon…Deliora will be free once again…"

"Mistress Lucy has ordered for that to 'not' happen. En garde-!" Cancer charged with a flash…only to be intercepted by a giant icy crab claw that formed almost instantly from Lyon's back, grasping tightly around his throat.

Lyon didn't even look at the spirit as he spoke, "You're ruining my happy little reunion with Gray…get lost." Cancer could do nothing but squirm as the Celestial Spirit was engulfed in a frigid block of ice, before haphazardly thrown off to the side unceremoniously.

Lucy looked on in horror as one of her strongest spirits was dealt with so quickly, a sense of helplessness spreading through her body as a chill shot up her spine. It was really only now that she realized she was on an S-class mission…and just how out of her league she really was in all this.

Gray couldn't help the thin specks of frost that wafted off his skin as his anger started to grow out of his control, "Dammit! How can someone so smart do something so fucking stupid, huh!? You know just as well as I do just how horrible Deliora is! Why the hell would you try and free it!?"

Lyon shook his head with a scoff, "Oh please, you know exactly why…but enough talk! You've grown a lot since we last saw one another…" Lyon grew a thick aura of freezing air around himself as various animals formed out of ice, "…let's see if you're finally able to beat me this time, shall we?"

Even though his mind was racing a million miles a second, and his senses were half gone through sheer indignant anger, Gray didn't hesitate, "Ice Make: Sword!"

"Ice Make: Great Ape!"

"Ice Make: Bow!"

"Tch. Ice Make: Eagles!

"Ice Make: Shiel-! Ah!"

"Ice Make: Great White!"

"Gah…fuck! Ice Make: Geyser!"

"Ice Make: Snow Dragon!"

"D-dammit…ugh! Ice M-Make: Cannon!"

"Hmph, good try Gary…but not nearly good enough! Ice Make: Tiger!"

Gray was sent spiraling off the side of the temple with a slash from the ice tigers claws. The Ice Make mage, bloody and battered, tumbled all the way to the ground with tears welling in his swollen eyes, as the last thing he saw before finally losing consciousness, was the icy glare of the man he once considered his brother. Then, Gray Fullbuster's world went dark.