Fairy Tail - Twilight Empire

Chapter 141 - Fairy Tail vs Zeref

Exhausted as Gray was, he felt rejuvenated by the radiant magic that First Master Mavis provided them. He hung back as Mirajane, Lisanna, Juvia, and Romeo charged in toward Zeref. He quickly got a lay of the land—most of the throne room had been destroyed, with the front-facing side still standing.

Gray swiped his hand, and small ice mines appeared throughout the place. He closed his hand, and a bow appeared, glowing with the purple magic of an Ice Demon Slayer.

Mirajane collided with the barrier Zeref created, sending a shockwave that knocked Romeo to the ground. He was beyond outclassed in this fight. Heck, Mirajane was probably way in over her head. They all were. But they had to fight. As such, Romeo got up and cast two differently colored fireballs at Zeref, both of which fizzled before they even reached the Emperor.

Zeref bounded away from Mirajane, vanishing and then reappearing in front of Lisanna. Gray took his shot, freezing his arm. He was more annoyed than shocked. He tried to shatter the ice with an expansion of magic, but couldn't.

"Not gonna be that easy," Gray said.

Zeref was no demon, nor did he have any Demonic blood in him as Natsu did. But this ice was meant to trap demons and powerful beings. It could not be simply melted—even Natsu knew this.

Zeref didn't have time to think about how to break Gray's ice as Lily at last made his attack on Zeref, a makeshift sword from one of the fallen Oni in his hand. Zeref easily battled Lily away.

"Hardly wizards," Zeref said. "How you've survived all this time shows more the failings of my comrades than anything else!"

Juvia wrapped Zeref in a ball of water that Gray quickly froze, immobilizing Zeref just long enough for Mirajane to crash down on him with all the force of hell in her wake. Zeref stood clear through it all, not yet winded, and was able to bounce Mirajane away. He, with ease and a few mere flicks of his finger, blasted through Juvia and sent her crashing into the wall, and then, with even more ease, having to not even make a gesture, sent Romeo flying away, too.

"Stay out of this, son of Macao, you'll only embarrass your father's proud legacy," Zeref said before he turned his head, avoiding a bullet to the face.

Zeref stopped the next several that would've hit him straight in the face. Gray listened to Warren as he hollered out ideas, not commands—trying to position people where Zeref should've had a blindspot.

Of course, with a being of seemingly infinite power, it was hard to find any real weakness or blindspot, but Warren had to give them the best chance he could. Bisca stood by him while Levy had thrown up several walls or shields—seriously straining herself in the process—to protect them from stray blasts or direct damage from Zeref, and give Bisca cover.

Lisanna soared around toward Zeref as Lily charged toward him. It was too easy for him until Gray once again froze his hand with an arrow. Gray slid his foot out and slammed his fist into his hand.

"Ice-Make: Ice Geyser!"

The geyser should've erupted beneath Zeref, but the wizard instead fanned it out and caught Lily and Lisanna in it, instantly freezing them.

And that's when, over the ice, came Lucy, sprinting as hard as she could in her Leo Star Dress, a fist already on the way. She slammed it into Zeref's open hand.

"There you are," Zeref said. "You know, you look just like your ancestor."

Lucy stepped back, fists still glowing golden. Zeref settled down.

Gray prepared his next slew of spells. Bisca hurriedly moved into a new position while Levy and Warren continued to fortify. Gray relinquished the ice, holding Lily and Lisanna. Juvia and Mirajane managed to get back up.