"BOOM!"
Natsu violently burned through his magic power, breaking free from the Ice Fishing Net's restraints.
Without hesitation, Natsu opened his mouth and unleashed a "Fire Dragon's Roar" straight at Gray.
"Ice Make: Grappling Hook!"
Gray still refused to engage Natsu head-on.
Clapping his hands together, he shot out a pair of grappling hooks that latched onto a nearby wall.
"Whoosh!"
Pulled by the hooks, Gray swung away, narrowly dodging the blast of Natsu's "Fire Dragon's Roar."
"Hum!"
Natsu spun around, continuing to spew flames as he relentlessly pursued the swinging Gray.
Confidence gleamed in Gray's eyes as he repeatedly threw out grappling hooks, swinging around the battlefield like a spider.
Natsu kept firing "Fire Dragon's Roar," but the dragon flames couldn't keep up with Gray's movements.
Frustrated, Natsu had no choice but to stop.
There was no way around it—using "Fire Dragon's Roar" drained far more magic power than Gray's simple Ice Make: Grappling Hook.
Natsu reacted quickly, realizing Gray was deliberately trying to exhaust him.
"You're a bit smarter than I expected."
Gray slyrely commented on Natsu's reaction, but his goal had already been achieved.
Every little bit of exhaustion counted.
The gap between them would widen bit by bit.
"Damn you, Gray! Fight me properly!"
Watching Gray keep his distance, Natsu felt powerless, unable to unleash his full strength.
"Ice Make: Hammer"
However, Gray's response was a massive hammer crashing down from above.
"Damn it!"
Enraged, Natsu's fists burst into flames as he leaped up and punched the hammer head-on.
"BOOM!"
The massive hammer shattered under Natsu's punch, giving him a satisfying release of frustration.
"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!"
Hovering mid-air, Natsu swung his arms and charged at Gray once more, flames trailing behind his limbs.
This time, Natsu was too fast—Gray had no time to swing away with his grappling hooks.
"Ice Make: Ice Geyser!"
Gray slammed his hands onto the ground, unleashing a surge of ice magic.
Like a gushing spring, ice erupted in front of Gray, surging toward the charging Natsu.
"BOOM!"
Fire and ice collided once more, filling the arena with a thick cloud of steam.
"Ice Make: Ice Snow Cannon!"
From within the steam, Gray pulled his hands back like drawing a bow, forming a massive cannon encased in solid ice.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The cannon fired rapidly, launching a barrage of snow bullets like an avalanche, relentlessly surging forward.
Natsu took the full brunt of the snowstorm, but the flames surrounding him protected him from serious harm.
"Ice Make: Bombardment!" Gray's assault didn't stop.
Clapping his hands together, he conjured several cannons—no, they were more like ice cannons.
"Fire!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The ice cannons roared like real artillery, launching massive ice projectiles.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Natsu charged straight through the barrage, kicking and punching away the incoming ice shots.
Attacks of this level were nothing to him—he could bulldoze through them without a second thought.
The only thing to watch out for was not slipping—Gray was still continuously laying sheets of solid ice on the ground to create obstacles.
Compared to Gray, who moved effortlessly and even faster on this ice, Natsu indeed had to be more cautious with his movements.
He could only keep melting the ice with his flames, even vaporizing it directly.
Every step he took sizzled underfoot, sending up plumes of steam.
"Boom!"
Natsu lunged at Gray like a fireball, his face alight with excitement at the prospect of finally catching him.
"Ice Make: Ice Shield!"
Gray clapped his hands together, summoning an ice shield that blocked Natsu's charge.
Though the shield shattered within moments, Gray used the brief opening to slide away, putting distance between them once more.
As he retreated, Gray also pulled out a cannon, bombarding Natsu with an avalanche-like barrage of snow cannon fire.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Several ice cannons joined the assault, their combined firepower overwhelming in both scale and intensity.
Natsu felt like he wasn't fighting just one person, but an entire squad—this damn Gray...
"Stop running!"
Natsu unleashed another burst of magic power, charging furiously toward the ice and snow cannon fire.
"All these flashy tricks are useless—I'll smash every last one with my fists!"
With a flurry of punches and kicks, Natsu shattered Gray's bombardment once again, the triumphant "Fire Dragon" grinning as he taunted his opponent.
But Gray remained unfazed, sticking methodically to his own battle rhythm, confident that victory would soon return to his grasp.
...
"These two..."
Up in the stands, the watching Mages looked on in astonishment.
Neither side's supporters had expected the fight to escalate like this.
The mages of Fairy Tail were especially surprised—Gray had never fought Natsu like this before.
They had assumed this battle would be the same as always: a straightforward, brutal clash of fists, a simple contest of raw magic and physical strength.
But clearly, having lost once already, Gray had reflected deeply and completely changed his tactics—and so far, the results were promising.
"This Ice Make Mage is incredible!"
Many praised Gray, impressed by his mastery of magic.
Ice-Make Magic was a relatively common type of magic, which made it easier for people to judge how skilled or powerful a user was.
It was a freeform magic, one that best reflected a mage's individuality—its strength depended entirely on the user's own abilities.
If nothing else, Gray's shaping speed was astonishingly fast, and his success rate was practically flawless.
He hadn't made a single mistake in the entire fight.
His application of Ice-Make Magic was also eye-opening—just look at how increasingly frantic Natsu was becoming.
"That Fire Dragon is no slouch either. Anyone else would've been defeated by now."
Though Natsu had been "played with" the whole time, restrained and limited by Gray, making him seem slightly ridiculous...
Everyone could tell this "little Fire Dragon" was no ordinary opponent.
His strength was actually much more obvious.
Judging Gray's Ice-Make Magic required watching his techniques, but the sheer power of Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic was plain for all to see.
Why is Gray showing off his moves here?
After witnessing the immense destructive power of this "fire dragon," no one would have such doubts anymore.
...
"About time!"
After leading Natsu around for a while and thoroughly draining his magic and stamina, Gray felt the decisive moment of the battle had arrived.
Seeing Natsu panting slightly, seemingly running out of steam, Gray stopped his hit-and-run tactics and finally came to a halt.
In truth, he could have continued dragging it out, but deep down, Gray still didn't want to defeat Natsu using such a "cheap" method.