Laxus watched as his relentless barrages were effortlessly neutralized by Ryoma.
The frustration and anger at being belittled intertwined in his heart, almost incinerating his remaining sanity.
He unleashed a frantic, destructive assault, leaving everything around him in ruins, yet all his attacks failed to touch Ryoma in the slightest.
Raging lightning rampaged through the cathedral, but it could never break through the layers of ice walls and swords.
Ryoma took his first step forward, and the ground beneath his feet was instantly covered by a layer of ice as smooth as a mirror. This ice spread continuously with his advance, as if to drag the entire world into an eternal winter.
The temperature inside the cathedral plummeted, and the ice crystals condensing in the air became denser. Even the light seemed to be frozen by this extreme cold, twisting and refracting at eerie angles.
"Roar!"
Laxus let out a dragon-like roar, no longer engaging in those futile probing attacks.
He unleashed all his magic power without reservation, golden lightning gathering and compressing around him, emitting a deafening roar.
He raised both hands above his head, and between his palms, the wild lightning was forcibly condensed into a physical form. A massive lightning halberd, imbued with terrifying destructive power, gradually took shape.
"Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd!"
With an angry shout, the gigantic lightning halberd, carrying the might of a thousand bolts of thunder, tore through the air, charging with an aura of destruction towards the slowly approaching Ryoma.
Wherever the halberd passed, space visibly distorted, and the ground was plowed with charred, deep furrows by the stray electric arcs.
Facing this world-destroying strike, Ryoma did not construct any conventional defensive magic. He merely raised his right hand calmly, his slender index finger gently tapping the air. His movement was as soft as if he were plucking an invisible string.
The moment his fingertip tapped, countless tiny ice crystals in the air before him instantly responded to his summons, combining and condensing in a profound pattern.
Ice Butterfly Dance!
One butterfly, two butterflies...
In the blink of an eye, thousands of lifelike ice butterflies appeared out of thin air. They were entirely ice-blue, their wings as thin as cicada wings, yet they shimmered with a metallic luster.
The countless ice butterflies, with phosphorescent frost crystals on their wingtips, trailed meteor-like streaks as they soared and circled. Wherever they passed, tiny ice flowers condensed, sparkled, and then quietly melted in the air.
They formed a dazzling and deadly storm of butterflies, fearlessly confronting the giant Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd.
Each collision seemed to only spark a faint electric discharge, but each collision dissipated a portion of the lightning magic that made up the halberd.
Simultaneously, streaks of ice-blue frost spread rapidly along the halberd's chaotic lightning patterns from the point of contact, frantically devouring its energy.
After one second, the magnificent giant halberd was completely disintegrated in mid-air by the endless swarm of butterflies.
Bang!
With a soft sound, it transformed into a sky full of shimmering, lightning-infused ice shards, scattering down.
Throughout this process, countless ice butterflies shattered, casting tiny blue glows, only to reform as they danced, creating a beautiful tableau of flying blue starlight.
"Is this the power you pride yourself on, Laxus?"
Ryoma's calm voice echoed through the cathedral, clearly reaching Laxus's ears.
"Erratic and lacking control. You want to prove you're stronger than the old man? Yet your magic can't even touch his shadow."
These words were more hurtful than any attack, each syllable precisely striking Laxus's most fragile self-esteem.
Laxus stared blankly as his Lightning Dragon's Heavenward Halberd was so effortlessly broken, falling into a momentary stupor.
He couldn't comprehend or accept what was happening before his eyes. When Ryoma's mocking words reached him, his last shred of sanity snapped.
"Shut up!"
Laxus went mad, abandoning any pretense of skill or strategy.
All the lightning in his body erupted outwards without reservation, electric light forming a destructive lightning domain that completely enveloped him.
"Let me make you repent in this thunderous roar!"
Dragon Slayer's Secret Art: Roaring Thunder!
He intended to use his widest-ranging and most powerful Dragon Slayer Secret Art to erase this man and this obnoxious cathedral from the world.
Laxus spread his arms and leaned back, endless lightning gushing from his body, transforming into thick lightning serpents that wildly spread in all directions, ready to turn the entire cathedral into a lightning purgatory.
However, just as the world-destroying lightning was about to engulf everything and completely rip off the cathedral's dome, Ryoma gently snapped his fingers.
Snap.
A crisp sound, so insignificant yet so clear amidst the raging thunder.
Time itself seemed to be paused at this moment.
A nearly transparent layer of ice instantly covered the entire interior space of Kardia Cathedral at an imperceptible speed.
Whether it was the imminent world-destroying lightning, the rampaging lightning serpents, or even the dust flying in the air—everything was frozen in that instant.
The entire world transformed into a static amber.
Laxus remained in his spell-casting posture, enveloped in electric light, his mad expression frozen at that moment. His body was immobile, and the flow of magic power within him seemed to become sluggish.
Eternal Permafrost!
Ryoma ignored the horror and fear in Laxus's eyes, continuing to approach him with steady steps.
As he advanced, hundreds of ice butterflies quietly emerged from the cold air behind him. They gracefully danced around him, the edges of each butterfly's wings shimmering with a blade-like sharpness.
Ryoma stopped less than five meters from Laxus, extended his hand, and lifted the restraint on him.
"The playtime is over, Laxus."
The cold voice echoed through the cathedral like a final judgment.
The moment his words fell, the hundreds of ice butterflies circling Ryoma seemed to receive a command, transforming into a dazzling blue torrent that instantly rushed towards Laxus, who had just regained his ability to move.
They did not attack directly but instead spun and danced wildly around Laxus at extremely high speed, forming a magnificent cage made of countless sharp ice blades.
Laxus, at the center of the storm, was almost unable to open his eyes due to the chilling wind stirred up by the rapidly spinning swarm of butterflies. His skin felt a stinging pain, as if being cut by ice blades.
Ryoma slowly raised his hand, and an ice butterfly gracefully detached from the storm, quietly landing on his fingertip.
He gazed at the disheveled Laxus, trapped in the center of the butterfly storm, and declared, "Let me show you what Fairy Tail truly is, then it's punishment time."