"Thank you for your help!"
"We will definitely repay you with all our might in the future!"
After being saved, Gray's family didn't leave immediately. Instead, they shouted loudly to the young man who had rescued them, expressing their gratitude.
"Alright, hurry up and evacuate."
"Go hide in the mountains behind the town for now."
"I'll handle this guy."
The young man turned to look at them, memorizing the faces of Gray's family, and said with a smile.
"Mmh."
Having received the young man's response, Gray's family immediately ran toward the back mountain without looking back. They knew clearly in their hearts that staying here would only cause trouble for the young man.
"Alright."
"Now it's just you and me, Deliora. Let me see exactly why the Council rated you as a '10-Year' level subjugation mission."
The young man, Ide, said coldly to Deliora beneath him.
CRACK~
CRACK~ CRACK~
The moment Ide finished speaking, the surface of Deliora, who was frozen into an ice sculpture beneath his feet, became covered in fine cracks!
"ROAR!!"
If one listened carefully, Ide could faintly hear hoarse roars coming from Deliora's mouth.
BOOM!
Deliora's entire body glowed with a ghostly blue light once again, and with all his might, he shattered the ice wall imprisoning him.
"Interesting."
"No wonder the Magic Council ERA couldn't subjugate you."
"Even an ordinary Ten Wizard Saint might not necessarily win against you! It would take a powerhouse on Old Man Makarov's level acting personally to completely seal or destroy you."
watching this scene, a flash of interest appeared in Ide's eyes. Ideally, his figure remained motionless atop Deliora's head. He let the ice shards and air currents blasted open by Deliora hit his clothes, completely unconcerned.
BOOM!
Deliora naturally noticed the human standing on his head. A look of hatred and disgust flashed in his eyes. He swung his claws violently toward his own head, attempting to mash the opponent into a pulp.
Unfortunately, Deliora was too clumsy. His desperate strike was deftly dodged by the human.
This strike, gathering all of Deliora's strength, smashed directly onto his own head.
"Ugh!"
In an instant, Deliora saw stars. His body involuntarily fell backward, smashing a deep pit into the ground and kicking up clouds of dust.
"Get up."
seeing Deliora actually knock himself out, a look of dissatisfaction flashed in Ide's eyes. He hadn't had enough fun yet; how could Deliora fall down already?!
Thinking this, Ide raised his hand and created a massive block of ice over five meters in diameter, smashing it onto Deliora's head to help him wake up.
"Hah."
Deliora, who had fainted, gradually came to his senses under the stinging pain of the ice. However, he didn't attack Ide immediately. He had already sensed the massive gap between himself and this human.
Therefore, Deliora first pretended not to be fully awake, continuing to lie prostrate before Ide. Just as Ide condensed another block of ice, intending to smash it on his head again, Deliora suddenly raised his head.
At point-blank range, he fired an energy cannon he had been charging for a long time—one powerful enough to blast half the town into the sky—directly at Ide.
BOOM!!
In an instant, scorching flames swept across the land. As the massive firelight swallowed Ide, it shot thousands of meters into the sky, like a lamp lit in the dark night, illuminating the entire town and even the back mountain where the townsfolk were taking refuge.
Back Mountain.
"Ah————"
Tens of thousands of townsfolk, illuminated by the firelight soaring into the sky, wore expressions of extreme shock. They couldn't imagine what kind of battle was taking place in that small town.
"You're kidding, right?"
"Is this level of magic really something a living creature can use?"
"It's already surpassed large-scale magic items, hasn't it?"
Among them, even the members of the professional subjugation squad sent by the Magic Council ERA specifically to deal with Deliora were scared witless by the soaring firelight. The power of this thing exceeded that of large-scale magic convergence cannons—siege weapons used during wars between nations!
"Can a human really defeat that monster?"
Some people even wore looks of despair, speaking unwillingly.
"He definitely can."
While everyone else felt panic and unease, Gray clenched his fists. Although he didn't know why, he just felt it. That young man could definitely defeat Deliora. He definitely could.
In the town.
"Heh."
Deliora looked at Ide, who was gradually being swallowed by the firelight, with a glint of pleasure in his eyes. He grinned and laughed wildly.
The victor of this battle would ultimately be him, the Immortal Demon created by Lord Zeref—Deliora.
How could a lowly human possibly defeat a noble demon?
BOOM!
Just as Deliora was thinking this, a bolt of pitch-black lightning suddenly erupted from the place swallowed by firelight.
"Hm?"
seeing this, Deliora showed a look of disbelief. His pupils trembled violently, and a flash of panic crossed his eyes.
Inside the firelight and smoke, a young man wrapped in Haki and magic power, grinning ferociously, stood there completely unscathed.
Yes, this strike, which gathered all of Deliora's Curse Power, couldn't harm Ide in the slightest.
"You like bullying the weak, don't you?"
"Relax, I won't use magic on you. I'm going to use my fists to smash you to pieces, punch by punch."
Ide cracked his knuckles as he spoke.
If he used Dragon Slayer Magic to one-shot Deliora, it would be too easy on him. Ideally, he wanted to kill this inhumane beast in the most brutal way possible.
"You————"
Deliora froze for a moment, then spoke in human language for the first time. As a demon from the Books of Zeref, he naturally could use human language; he had remained silent before simply because he disdained communicating with humans.
"Are you a human or a demon?"
As for the reason Deliora spoke up, it was simple: he was now confused about who was the real demon between himself and this human.
BOOM!
Just as Deliora was pondering, Ide's fist landed on his face. With just one punch, Deliora was blasted out of the town, crashing into the distant mountains.
BOOM!
Ide moved, following the flying Deliora and landing in the mountains. His gaze locked onto the fallen demon.
His fists rained down on Deliora's face like a dense storm, mashing the demon's head into pulp. He waited for Deliora to regenerate his body, then continued to pummel him, over and over again, until he was thoroughly smashed to the point where he could no longer recover.