Crack!
The sound of shattering echoed; it was the sound of Kyoka breaking free from the ice.
She retreated abruptly, landing on the frost-covered ground ten meters away, her eyes filled with wariness toward Uru; this human's power made her feel uneasy.
Kyoka was right to think so.
Ten years of dedicated study had given the now-corporeal Uru unfathomable strength.
However, Kyoka was no pushover either.
"A mere human..."
"I am... a Demon from the Books of Zeref—!"
With a loud shout, Kyoka released all of her Curse Power, instantly transforming into a harpy-like figure covered in snow-white feathers, her strength skyrocketing.
This was Kyoka's true form as a Demon of the Books of Zeref.
"This person... she actually didn't use her true strength in our previous fight?" Ultear looked at Kyoka in disbelief, who was now radiating a terrifying aura.
But what shocked her even more was Uru's next move.
Uru crossed her arms in front of her, and her magic power erupted suddenly. Four ice Magic Circles, engraved with complex patterns, instantly appeared around Kyoka.
Kyoka's expression turned to horror as she was enveloped by the biting frost; despite her massive power boost after releasing her true form, she was suppressed to the point where she couldn't move.
Although Kyoka didn't like learning about human magic, having lived for hundreds of years, she had more or less come to know of some terrifying spells, whether voluntarily or not.
The magic Uru was casting at this moment happened to be one she knew, because ten years ago, one of her powerful kin had been destroyed by this very move.
The Forbidden Magic of ice—'Absolute Zero'!
Seeing his teacher use this mutually destructive spell once again, Gray was anxious. "There are other people on Tenrou Island, and our guild comrades are very strong! It's not worth dying along with this demon!"
"Mother! Stop!"
Ultear hugged her mother from behind, her eyes turning red. She had only just managed to see her again and didn't want to experience the feeling of losing her mother a second time.
However, Uru did not respond to them.
The moisture in the air condensed instantly, and the temperature dropped sharply.
With Uru as the center, a vast amount of magic power erupted. A world of pure white spread in all directions—trees, Stones, soil... everything was dyed frost-white.
Kyoka's Enhancement Curse began to fail in the face of Absolute Zero. Her transformed demon body became incredibly stiff due to the low temperature, her magic power stagnated, and even her blood stopped flowing.
The cold light swallowed Kyoka, and she was frozen once again.
Only this time, what weighed upon her was the eternal, unmeltable Absolute Zero.
But strangely, Uru, who should have lost her body, paid no price. She stood there perfectly intact before her stunned daughter and disciple, smiling slightly.
"Sorry for making you worry."
"After staying within the ice of 'Absolute Zero' for ten years, I have long since completely assimilated with it. Using this magic requires no price other than magic power."
The current Uru could be said to be a living 'Absolute Zero.' As long as she had enough magic power, she could use this deadly ice-type Forbidden Magic as if it were a minor skill without any problem.
Uru walked toward the frozen Kyoka and gently tapped her forehead with a finger. "You shouldn't have hurt my daughter, nor should you have hurt my disciple."
In the next second, cracks spread across Kyoka's entire body.
"Shatter."
Without any flashy special effects or earth-shattering noise, Kyoka's body shattered like a broken glass sculpture, disintegrating into countless tiny ice crystals and dust that drifted away.
Warm sunlight fell once more, reflecting a mesmerizing glow off the smooth surrounding ice.
Uru's figure swayed, and her body suddenly took on a translucent, ice-crystal texture.
Ultear rushed over, grabbing Uru's arm, and asked worriedly, "Mother! Your body..."
"It's just a temporary body."
"The magic power in this temporary body is almost exhausted. If I had known, I wouldn't have used 'Absolute Zero' just to look cool; that way I could have stayed with you a bit longer."
Uru looked at her daughter tenderly. "Don't worry, Mother will never leave you again."
As soon as she finished speaking, Uru's figure completely dissipated into the air. A blooming ice rose pattern quietly appeared on the back of Ultear's hand, emitting a cool, soft light.
A body condensed by Materialization Magic was, after all, only temporary.
Uru's soul was inside the ice rose. When Hope was researching this thing, he had set an automatic function to gather magic particles from the air; in three days at most, Uru would be able to see them again.
Gray walked forward silently and supported the somewhat weak Ultear. "Let's go back to the camp and tell everyone everything."
Ultear shook her head, however. "I know you're worried that the Black Wizard will bring danger to your comrades, but his current state is far from that point, and Zeref said he doesn't want to kill..."
Ultear looked up toward the center of Tenrou Island, at that towering giant tree that had lived for an unknown number of years. "The one you should really be worried about is it—the tenrou tree."
Gray didn't understand. Although the tenrou tree was very ancient, what did that have to do with his comrades' safety?
"It seems you really don't understand your own sacred land."
Ultear withdrew her gaze and explained, "The tenrou tree was enchanted with a special halo magic by your First and Second Guild Masters. As long as Fairy Tail members are within the range of Tenrou Island, their magic power will be slightly increased."
"There's actually such a thing?"
Gray carefully felt the magic power within his body. "There does seem to be a slight increase. It might be because after opening my second magic source, I have so much magic power that I didn't feel it at all."
Ultear: I forgot about that... She coughed lightly and continued, "The problem isn't that small magic boost; it's that if the tenrou tree is damaged, the original boost will turn into an even worse negative effect."
"In other words, if something goes wrong with the tenrou tree, the magic power of your guild members on the island will be heavily suppressed, leaving them with less than ten percent of their strength."
"And the primary goal of Demon Heart and Tartaros's actions is to destroy the tenrou tree and sever your power to fight back."
Upon hearing this, Gray couldn't stay still and immediately started walking toward the tenrou tree.
However, after only a few steps, Gray stopped.
His expression changed drastically as he felt thirty percent of the magic power in his body suddenly being suppressed.
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