Natsu looked at the spot where the guy disappeared and got angry!
Damn it!
He actually got away!
He was about to take another step to chase after him when his body suddenly froze.
Wait... Lyon just said... Erza?
A face with crimson hair and stern eyes instantly appeared in Natsu's mind.
Gulp!
He subconsciously swallowed.
What if... what if he ran into Erza while chasing that masked guy... The mere thought of that scene made Natsu's hair stand on end.
Forget it, forget it!
His life was more important.
He would have plenty of other opportunities to beat that masked bastard later!
The tilting of the ruins caused the magic circle at the top, which gathered moonlight, to completely lose its target.
It seemed the "moon drip" ritual was completely over.
Natsu abandoned the idea of pursuing and instead focused all his attention on Lorne.
He walked around Lorne twice, scrutinizing him from top to bottom, his eyes filled with surprise and confusion.
"Hey, Lorne."
Natsu leaned in and asked curiously, "When did you get so powerful, you guy?"
He had clearly felt that terrifying magic power just now.
The previous Lorne definitely didn't have such immense power!
Lorne glanced at him, calmly reining in the surging magic power around him, and the chilling cold in the air dissipated with it.
"Oh, that!"
Lorne's tone was very casual.
"How should I put it! Just now!"
"..."
Natsu's face instantly fell, and he grunted in dissatisfaction.
"If you don't want to say it, fine, it's not like anyone cares."
This guy still loved to keep people in suspense!
Just then!
An inexplicable chill, without warning, shot from the base of Natsu's spine straight to his crown!
It wasn't cold magic, but a primal fear stemming from biological instinct!
It was as if he had been targeted by the apex predator!
Na-Natsu's body instantly stiffened, his neck making a "creak, creak" sound like a rusty gear as he slowly, little by little, turned backward.
Then, he saw her.
Not far behind him, a figure in shining armor stood silently.
Her crimson hair was still conspicuous in the dim light, and her sharp, sword-like eyes were fixed on him without moving.
It was... it was Erza!
Boom!
Natsu's mind instantly went blank!
All thoughts, all notions, were at this moment completely swallowed by fear!
Run!
This was the only instinctive reaction left in his mind!
Natsu suddenly turned, his legs bursting with unprecedented power, and he shot out like an arrow from a bow!
However, he had only run two steps.
A hand wearing a steel gauntlet accurately grabbed the scarf on the back of his neck.
A huge force pulled him, and Natsu's escape came to an abrupt halt, his entire body being forcibly dragged back, his feet leaving two long trails on the ground.
"Er... Erza..."
Natsu wanted to cry but couldn't, forcing a smile that was uglier than crying, and two large tears involuntarily squeezed from the corners of his eyes.
"I... I..."
"What?"
Erza's voice showed no emotion, but just those two words were enough to make Natsu's body tremble like a sieve.
Behind Erza, Gray, Lucy, and Happy also emerged.
"Natsu, you're done for, meow~" Happy flew beside him, gloating.
Erza no longer paid attention to the nearly fainting Natsu; her gaze swept across the scene, finally landing on the huge ice block sealing Deliora.
"Is that... Deliora?"
She looked at the grotesque demonic outline in the ice block, her expression becoming solemn.
"It seems we made it," Erza sighed in relief, "It didn't truly revive."
Gray's gaze also fell on the massive ice block.
When he saw that the ice block formed by "Absolute Zero" was still intact, his entire mental defense collapsed at that moment.
"Ur..."
His legs gave out, and he suddenly fell to his knees, tears uncontrollably gushing out and streaming down his cheeks.
It's great... we made it... The seal my master sacrificed her life for... is saved!
A large part of his efforts and persistence until now was to stop the ritual.
This was not only to prevent the demon's revival but also to protect the seal that his master Ur had created with her life!
"Absolute Zero" was a forbidden magic that transformed the caster's body into eternal, unmelting ice at the cost of their own life.
In a sense, Ur hadn't truly died.
Her life and will had all transformed into this ice, forever suppressing Deliora.
In Gray's heart, even his master, Ur, a Mage as powerful as her, could only use her life to seal such a terrifying existence.
Once this ice melted, once Deliora broke free... Besides casting "Absolute Zero" again, he couldn't think of any other way to stop this catastrophe!
"Deliora... it's practically dead."
Just then, a calm voice suddenly echoed in the cavern.
This sudden statement startled everyone.
Erza, Lucy, and Gray, who was kneeling on the ground in tears, all simultaneously turned their gaze to the source of the voice—Lorne.
"Dea... dead?"
Lucy's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.
"Lorne, how do you know? That's Deliora!"
The calamitous demon rumored to have destroyed countless towns!
Is it really dead just like that?
Lorne's gaze passed through the others and landed on the huge ice block, explaining in a calm tone:
"This magic power still seems cold and terrifying, but the life force contained within is pitifully weak."
"Even without the moon drip, even if no one came to stop it, Deliora would completely die soon."
"Shut up!"
A weak but persistent roar of anger came.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound, only to see Lyon, who had been defeated by Gray and severely injured, struggling to crawl over from the other side of the cave, dragging his injured body.
His face was full of unwillingness, and his eyes were fixed on Lorne.
"Stop spouting nonsense!"
"As long as the seal is broken! As long as the seal is broken, I can defeat it with my own hands!"
"I have already... surpassed Ur!"
He couldn't accept it!
He had spent ten years, plotted for ten years, just to break the seal and then accomplish with his own hands the great feat that his master Ur could not complete—defeating Deliora!
This was to prove that he had surpassed his master Ur!
But now, this guy who appeared out of nowhere was telling him that the goal he had fought for ten years was already dead?
How could he accept that!
Lorne looked at Lyon, who was acting like a madman, and gently sighed.
He was really stubborn!
He had already completely failed, yet he was unwilling to accept reality.
His gaze shifted from Lyon and fell on Gray, who stood beside him with a similarly complex expression.
Lorne slowly spoke, his voice not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
"Do you... truly understand the magic of Absolute Zero?"
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