At the top of the ruins, Lucy and Happy stared in amazement as the massive purple magic circle gradually dissipated.
They had just completed the Moon Drop ritual, gathering the final wave of moonlight energy.
"It disappeared? So that means Deliora's Absolute Freeze has been lifted?" Lucy stood up and carefully felt the now-stable ground beneath her feet.
"Hey, Lucy… do you think Chase's plan to restore Gray's master can actually work?" Happy asked worriedly, his gaze on the ground. "Demons and stuff… sounds really scary."
"If it's Brother Chess, then there's no problem!" Lucy replied firmly, full of trust.
Even though what Chase had said sounded unbelievable, she had complete confidence in him.
"Since the ceremony is done, we should be able to leave now. Want to go down and take a look?"
"Okay. Then, Lucy, you go first. I'm kind of scared."
Happy skillfully maneuvered to stand behind Lucy.
"You dead cat! Can you be a little more manly and responsible?!"
…
At the bottom of the ruins, the cold mist and light gradually faded.
Uru took slightly stiff steps forward and approached Gray and Leon standing at the front. Having just been resurrected, she still wasn't used to the state of Absolute Freeze. She held her head slightly, feeling a bit of a headache.
Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings ahead, Uru smiled politely and asked, "Hey, you two handsome guys where are we right now?"
Gray and Leon stood frozen in place.
That familiar face, that familiar voice, that familiar smile…
The dreamlike scene in front of them left their minds blank. They couldn't tell if it was reality or just a dream.
Was Uru… really resurrected?
ROAR!!!
A deafening demon's roar interrupted the strange silence.
A deep red light flickered in Deliora's eyes as it locked onto Uru, who stood on the ice.
Clearly, Deliora recognized the human who had sealed it in ice for so long. The hatred and murderous intent in its eyes surged to a terrifying peak.
"Deliora?!"
Uru was startled. "Get out of here, quickly! This monster's power is too dangerous!"
The moment she turned and saw Deliora, she instinctively stepped in front of Gray and Leon. Her palms came together, ice beginning to gather in her hands just like it had all those years ago.
But she had just returned from death, and her magic power was still unstable. The moment her shaping magic took form, it shattered apart and scattered like fragments of broken glass.
"How could this be..."
Just as despair flickered in her eyes, Deliora suddenly let out a pained roar.
A loud crack echoed as it tried to swing its massive arm, only for its body to start breaking apart uncontrollably.
The fractures spread rapidly across its body, and within seconds, the demon collapsed into a pile of lifeless rubble.
"Strange... could it be that after being frozen for so many years, Deliora's life force had already reached its limit?"
"Uru... defeated Deliora?"
Leon stared in disbelief as the demon he had pursued for years crumbled into dust. He couldn't accept the ending.
While Leon stood shattered, Gray still bearing heavy wounds stumbled toward Uru, each step unsteady.
"Uru... it's really you…"
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…"
"It was my recklessness… my ignorance that hurt you. Because of me, you had to pay with your life."
Gray couldn't bring himself to stand before her. His knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground. His entire body trembled as he covered his face, tears falling uncontrollably.
Uru stood stunned.
The figure sobbing in front of her began to overlap with the little boy who had once stood under falling snow, until the two became one.
"You are... Gray?"
Her pupils trembled slightly. The name escaped her lips in a tentative, uncertain whisper. A guess she could barely believe.
"I don't know what's happening, but I couldn't ask for a better chance!"
Leon's crazed voice interrupted them.
"Uru! I'm going to defeat you! Surpass you! I'll prove that my molding magic is the strongest!"
He roared, pouring magic power into his hands. A massive ice ape took shape, and Leon charged at Uru without hesitation.
"If he's Gray… then you…"
Uru stood still, unmoving. Instead of defending herself, she opened her arms and smiled gently.
Crash.
At the moment of impact, the massive ice ape shattered into thousands of glimmering shards that rained down like snowflakes.
"It must be Leon, right?"
Amid the falling fragments of ice, Uru softly wrapped her arms around him and whispered, "I didn't expect... both of you have grown into such fine wizards."
"Damn it... damn it… damn it!"
"I was supposed to surpass you! So why... why am I feeling so happy and grateful instead?"
Leon's voice cracked as his resistance finally broke down. He remembered what Chase had said earlier, and in that moment, he came to terms with the truth buried deep in his heart.
His strength drained all at once. He collapsed into Uru's embrace, burying his face against her shoulder and weeping like a child like the boy who never truly stopped waiting for his mother.
And just like that, after years of regret, longing, and misguided pain, the reunion of teacher and disciples ended in quiet redemption.
Meanwhile, hidden behind a jagged rock near the cavern wall...
"Restored form…? Did he really turn Uru, who had been frozen into ice, back into a living person?"
"How is this possible? Even my Arc of Time couldn't achieve something like that!"
Urrutia leaned heavily against the rock face, her chest tight, her thoughts in disarray. The cool detachment she always wore like armor shattered the moment she saw Uru again alive and real.
Her feelings toward her mother were a tangled mess of love and hate.
She loved the Uru who once held her in her arms, who comforted her, cared for her, and smiled at her like no one else ever had.
But she hated the Uru who, in her mind, had abandoned her left her behind in pursuit of strangers.
There were painful misunderstandings in that hatred, but the love buried underneath was too deep, too stubborn to die.
She had joined the dark guild Grimoire Heart not only to chase Zeref and the "Great World of Magic" promised by Hades, but also to rewrite time itself. To go back back to those happier days before the bitterness took root. Back to the child she once was, before she had ever hated her mother.
So now, faced with the real Uru restored, breathing, standing just meters away Urrutia didn't know what to feel.
And in that moment, just as she wrestled with the storm in her heart, Lucy and Happy crept cautiously into the cavern.
Seeing the scene before them, they were confused. Lucy immediately pulled Natsu aside and whispered urgently, trying to make sense of what was going on.
Meanwhile, Chase's voice rang out across the chamber.
"Sorry to interrupt your heartwarming reunion," he said, glancing toward the jagged stone where Urrutia was hidden. He took a deliberate step forward, his voice lifting several tones louder than usual.
"Uru, I wanted to ask aside from Gray and Leon, do you have any other family members?"
"I recall seeing someone once at a Council meeting... someone who looked very much like you, with a name that also sounded eerily familiar."
He turned his head slightly, his tone calm but meaningful.
"Her name was... Urrutia."
...
"Keep supporting me with you comments and reviews if you like the story please drop a power stone and your support is very much appreciated.
Want to read chapters ahead , share your fandom thoughts, or just fuel my translation caffeine habit? Join me on Patreon here! :
patreon.com/Keep_ItUp"