The temple ruins were filled with dust and jagged rubble.
In the center,
the massive ice crystal pillar that imprisoned Lord Deliora was covered in spiderweb-like cracks! An ominous dark purple light seeped through the fissures! A terrifying pressure, like a giant, tangible hand, clutched everyone's throats! Roars made the loose stones on the ground jump!
"ROAR—!!!!"
An unprecedented, furious roar! Like the shriek of a billion vengeful souls! The massive ice crystal pillar exploded with a crash! Countless fragments transformed into purple meteors, shooting in all directions!
In the dust, a terrifying figure, reaching the heavens and standing on earth, slowly rose!
Hideous! Twisted! Covered in a dark purple chitinous shell! Its head was dragon-like, yet not a dragon! Fangs protruded, dripping corrosive Slime! Gigantic bat wings spread, covering the sky and obscuring the sun! Its single crimson eye was like a hellish furnace! Merely its standing posture caused space to warp and the earth to collapse!
The world-destroying demon, Deliora, was fully awakened!
"Ants... thank... your... foolishness... for helping... me... break free..." A voice as deep as thunder, filled with the joy of destruction, echoed across the entire island! "In return... I grant... you... eternal... stasis... and... despair!"
Lord Deliora raised his giant claw and casually swiped it!
Whoosh—!
It wasn't an energy attack! Merely the violent airflow stirred by the giant claw, infused with extreme chilling aura and a will to destroy! Like a world-ending storm, it instantly swept across the entire ruins!
"Get back!" Erza roared! Her Adamantine Armor instantly equipped! She plunged her greatsword into the ground, holding on for dear life!
Boom!!!
As the storm passed, Natsu was blown away! Only by igniting his body with flames did he manage to stabilize himself! Lucy and Happy screamed as they were flung away! Ice spread from beneath Gray's feet, rooting him to the ground, unmoving! But the Cold Air/Chilling Aura was bone-chilling! Erza's greatsword dragged along the ground, carving a deep furrow! Sparks flew wildly from her armor!
At the center of the storm, a deep blue barrier stubbornly lit up, shielding Lucy!
Bang! Poof!
The barrier shattered with a sound! The shrunken Christian was hit as if by a heavy hammer! He flew backward, crashing into Lucy's arms! The cracks on his gelatinous surface deepened, and the light from his core dimmed sharply!
"Christian!" Lucy hugged him tightly, terrified!
"Analysis: Target Deliora... basic physical actions... trigger... rule-level destruction... threat... unquantifiable..." Christian's voice was extremely weak. "Recommendation... extreme evasion... cannot be resisted directly..."
"Aye! That guy is too much!" Happy's feathers stood on end in fright.
"Hmph!" Natsu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, the flames in his eyes burning brighter! "I don't care what he is! I'll just punch him away! Fire Dragon's—"
"Wait!" Gray's cold voice interrupted Natsu. He stepped forward, directly facing the heaven-reaching demon. The Cold Air/Chilling Aura centered around him, no longer violently expanding, but condensing and settling, emanating a silence that could freeze all things. "Deliora... your opponent... is me."
"Oh?" Lord Deliora's single crimson eye looked down at the tiny human at his feet. "Ice... a familiar... yet... detestable... aura... Ur's... bug..."
"Shut up!" Gray roared! He spread his arms! His magic power erupted without reservation! "My master's will! I inherit it! Your sins! I will end them! Ice-Make—"
The Cold Air/Chilling Aura shot into the sky! Behind him, a gigantic, blurry phantom of an Ice Goddess slowly condensed! It emanated an absolute chilling aura that could freeze time and space, originating from the same source as Ur's ice monument!
—Absolute Zero Stasis!!!"
Gray clapped his palms together forcefully, striking the ground!
Buzz!!!
Centered on his palms, an extremely pure ice-blue halo instantly spread!
Wherever it passed,
space froze! Time stagnated! Rubble! Dust! Even the scattered magic power! Instantly transformed into crystalline ice sculptures! The halo, like a frozen tide, rapidly surged towards Lord Deliora's massive ankle!
"Insignificant... trick!" Lord Deliora raised his giant claw and stomped it down heavily!
Rumble!!!
The ice halo collided with the giant claw! Ice crystals spread wildly, instantly freezing Lord Deliora's lower leg! But the spreading speed sharply decreased! The demon's terrifying magic power and massive size stubbornly resisted the freezing rule!
"Ugh!" Gray's body shook violently! Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth! The backlash of Absolute Zero Stasis began to corrode him! Ice crystals climbed his arms!
"Gray!" Lucy exclaimed.
"Ice Block Man! Hold on!" Natsu yelled anxiously! Flames condensed in his palms, but he dared not attack rashly and interfere!
"Individual name: Gray Fullbuster... magic power output... peak... but... target mass... too large... energy level difference... vast..." Christian struggled to emit a faint glow in Lucy's arms.
"Initiating... auxiliary protocol... devour... overload mode! Objective: share... freezing backlash... and... analyze... demon defense structure!"
"Chris? No! You can't anymore..." Lucy cried out urgently.
"Execute!" Christian's voice was resolute! The gelatinous substance detached from Lucy's palm, transforming into a deep blue stream of light! It shot towards Gray's back, instantly merging into the ice crystals spreading on Gray's body!
Buzz!!!
Gray's body glowed intensely blue! The spreading speed of the ice crystals on him momentarily paused!
At the same time,
he felt a chilling power surge into his body, sharing the icy backlash that was almost tearing his soul apart! And a powerful analytical field, following his freezing magic power, frantically scanned the magic power structure of Lord Deliora's frozen parts!
[Alert! Linking Gray Fullbuster... sharing backlash... 40%... core load... sharply increasing!]
[Alert! Contacting demon magic power... structure analysis... 1%... 2%... 3%... information overload!!! Warning! Incomprehensible! Logic firewall... collapse risk!!!]
"Ugh ah ah ah—!" Gray let out a roar of pain and determination! Using the shared power, he exerted force with both palms again! Injecting all his life's magic power and will, along with Christian's analysis and sharing, into the freezing halo!
"Freeze... for me!!!"
The ice-blue halo's light surged! The freezing speed skyrocketed! Instantly, it covered Lord Deliora's knees! Waist! Chest!
"Wh-What?!" Lord Deliora's single crimson eye showed astonishment for the first time! "This ice... Ur... no... there's... something else..."
Crack! Crack!
The ice crystals spread wildly, covering the demon's hideous head! Its gigantic bat wings! Finally, they completely froze the world-destroying demon, who stood towering over everything, along with his astonished expression, into a majestic, colossal ice sculpture emanating an absolute chilling aura! It stood atop the temple ruins!
With the Absolute Zero Stasis complete, Gray was exhausted! His body fell backward! The ice crystals covering his upper body instantly shattered and dissipated, revealing his paper-white face and the blood continuously spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The deep blue stream of light that was Christian detached from his back, now smaller, its gelatinous substance a deathly Gray-blue. It fell powerlessly onto the rubble with a "plop," its core light... completely extinguished.
"Gray! Christian!" Lucy and Natsu rushed forward!
"It... succeeded..." Gray said weakly, looking at the gigantic demon ice sculpture, tears in his eyes. "Master..."
"Aye! The demon's frozen!" Happy cheered.
Erza's vigilance hadn't faded; her Holy Light magic power locked onto the ice sculpture. "Don't relax! A demon's vitality..."
Before she could finish her sentence,
"Cough... cough cough... What a... spectacular... performance..." A blood-stained figure, leaning on a broken rock wall, staggered out from the shadows of the ruins.
It was the heavily injured Yuka! Half his body was charred black, and his internal organs were damaged, yet he laughed even more wildly and twistedly! In his hand, he tightly clutched a magic power bomb core emitting an unstable purple light... clearly salvaged from the wreckage of Zero's magical device!
"Too bad... Lord Deliora... isn't so easily... defeated! And you all..." Yuka raised the bomb, aiming it at the fallen Gray and the Gray-blue Slime! "Along with this fragile ice sculpture... turn to ashes... together! Wave... final... afterglow!!!"
He used his last ounce of strength! He hurled the bomb fiercely! Target: Gray and Christian! At the same time, he activated his final Crushing Wave, injecting it into the bomb to accelerate it!
"No!" Erza's pupils constricted! Too close! No time to rescue!
"Gray! Chris!" Lucy screamed in despair!
Natsu's eyes were bloodshot! He unleashed flames, wanting to block it! But the bomb was already upon them!
Death! It had arrived!