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The ice blade, infused with black light, cut through the animal-shaped ice with incredible hardness, and ice crystal fragments refracted eerie halos in the air, scattering into a sky full of ice crystals.
Lyon's pupils contracted sharply, and he stumbled back half a step.
Just a moment ago, they were evenly matched, neither able to overcome the other, so how did his Magic suddenly become as fragile as paper?
Could it be that the previous battle was truly as Gray said, just a warm-up for him, despite its intensity?
Damn it, I'm going to be a Mage who surpasses Ur!
Both of them had diligently practiced Ice-Make for many years, and both had the same insights and breakthroughs; there was no reason why he should be outdone by Gray!
Completely focused, Lyon now furiously channeled all his Magic, determined to have one final showdown with Gray.
"Ice-Make: Dragon!"
A majestic ice dragon ascended from the Magic circle, circling above the canyon, its size and oppressive presence not inferior to the Ophiuchus Celestial Spirit Lucy had summoned earlier.
Facing such a powerful spell, Gray's face not only showed no trace of solemnity, but a faint, almost imperceptible smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He saw it clearly; perhaps even Lyon himself hadn't realized that when he cast his spell, his right hand had unconsciously rested on his left.
Casting with both hands made Ice-Make more stable.
It seemed that deep down, Lyon also understood that his master Ur's teachings were correct, but his dream of surpassing Ur made him stubbornly believe that single-handed casting was stronger.
Gray clasped his hands together, and the blue and white Magic circle instantly reassembled the ice crystal fragments scattered in the air, shaping them into two rotating black ice dual-bladed swords.
"Senior, let me, your junior, truly awaken you."
"Awaken me? Then come, Gray!"
"Yeah!"
Without reservation or mercy, the two fellow disciples unleashed a furious barrage, and at their full power, the force of their final moves far exceeded any Magic they had used in their previous clashes.
Crisp explosions, rustling whispers.
The smell of blood, mixed with a biting chill, permeated the canyon filled with ice shards. As the firefly-like ice dust slowly settled, all sounds seemed to cease.
Natsu nervously watched the battlefield; though he had absolute confidence in his arch-rival, it didn't stop him from worrying a little about Gray.
And slowly emerging from the ice dust was a shattered frost giant dragon; the ultimate victor of this internal struggle... was him!
Lyon could no longer stand, collapsing to his knees. The ice dragon wailed and disintegrated, the black light on the ice sword faded, and its crystalline, icy blade reflected his pale face.
Gray stood with his sword, and apart from the injuries he had allowed Lyon to inflict earlier, there was not a single new wound on his body.
His victory was predetermined from the start, thanks to his rigorously trained, formidable physique combined with Ice-Make imbued with Armament Haki.
"I... lost..."
Lyon's gaze was vacant, as if this defeat meant he had lost his entire life. His morale plummeted, and his spirit visibly withered.
He aspired to surpass his master, yet now he couldn't even defeat a junior who joined later; how ridiculous he truly was... Gray hadn't expected Lyon to have such a mental breakdown just because he lost to him. It was just one loss, it shouldn't be that bad. Gray's record challenging Erza was still zero wins, and he wasn't acting like it was the end of the world.
But as a senior who had lived together, Gray still had to comfort him. "Lyon, actually, you didn't lose to me in Ice-Make. I won because I used methods beyond what Master taught."
"Don't comfort me. A loss is a loss. I'm not so fragile that I can't accept it."
Then why are you making such a gloomy face?
Gray pouted. The fact that Lyon was willing to talk meant he could work through it himself, so Gray let him be.
Returning to his companions, Wendy's Sky Dragon's Healing Magic fell upon Gray, rapidly healing his not-so-serious wounds. Seeing the worried glances from his friends, Gray uncharacteristically showed an embarrassed expression.
"Sorry, I made everyone worry."
Seeing that Gray was fine, Natsu reverted to his boisterous personality. "Who worried about you? If it were me, I would've knocked your senior out long ago. You're too slow."
Despite Natsu's hindsight, Gray resisted the urge to retort. Considering that the guy at least worried about him, he would let him gloat for a while today.
"Gray, what do you plan to do with that big ice chunk?"
Lucy pointed to Deliora in the ice mountain, glancing at the Magic circle slowly rotating above the giant ice. "Strange, there are no Mages maintaining the Magic circle anymore, so why hasn't Moon Drip been dispelled?"
Everyone suddenly looked up, only to realize that Moon Drip had not only not stopped, but was accelerating its collection of moon's power, converting it into Moon Drip.
Unable to understand, Gray immediately looked at the instigator, Lyon, but found that he too looked confused.
"No matter what, let's stop that Magic first."
Sorano tossed a 200,000-Jewel coin, using it as a medium to summon a muscular man with a large hammer on his shoulder and wings on his back from the Magic circle—the immensely strong Power Angel, Giselle.
The fastest way to stop the Magic circle was to destroy it.
The Power Angel raised his hammer, and a giant hammer phantom appeared above everyone's heads, smashing down heavily onto the Moon Drip Magic circle.
The Power Angel was not like Taurus, who only had brute strength; his power was not just physical strength, but also Magic.
However, just as the Moon Drip Magic circle was about to be destroyed, a burst of extremely fast dark Magic pierced through the Power Angel, its immense power directly shattering the angel.
At the same time, Magic of the same power locked onto everyone present, not even sparing the three Exceeds, Shirayuki, Happy, and Carla.
This sudden attack caught everyone off guard. Even seasoned Mages like Natsu and Sorano didn't have time to defend, let alone Lucy and Wendy.
But there was one figure, faster and stronger than the attacking Magic.
Mira's shadow flickered, almost instantly intercepting all the attacks.
Having done all this, Mira looked at the mercenary Mage "Mob A," who should have been defeated by Ophiuchus earlier, and sneered. "You played your part well. I thought you would keep pretending, but you couldn't hold back."
"Haha, so you discovered me from the beginning?"
Mob A grabbed his robe and yanked it, revealing the dark religious attire underneath. "I am a priest of the Black Magic Esoteric Cult, code-named Firebird Boss."
"I've long heard the name of Demon Mirajane, and seeing her today, she truly lives up to her reputation."
Automatically filtering out the flattery, Mira's attention was entirely on "Black Magic Esoteric Cult" in Boss's words. That should be the hidden force of the Black Magic Cult that Noah and Master Roubaul mentioned.
These guys truly are everywhere.
She just wondered why this person revealed his identity.
Seeing that Mira didn't respond, Boss politely spoke. "Miss Mira, are you interested in joining our Esoteric Cult?"