Deliora...

Chapter 16 - Deliora...

{Remnants of the Village, The Next Day…}

Gray walked out of the hut that he found himself in to see that the sun had already risen. The first thing he took note of was that the wizards that had tried to destroy it the previous day were nowhere to be seen, which was a good indicator that the others had held them off.

'Which reminds me… I'm gonna kick Natsu's ass for doing that!' Gray thought, recalling what had previously happened. A scowl marked his features at the simple recollection of being taken down by the dragon slayer, and needless to say he was very much so unhappy about it.

Still, the fact that the village was safe, or at least the villagers themselves, gave him a bit of comfort. Even if he hadn't been the one defending it, he was relieved to know this was the case.

"Oh good, your awake." A female villager stated as she walked up to the raven-haired teen.

"Huh?" Gray muttered, confused as to why this woman was currently addressing him.

"Your friends have asked me to get you. They are in a bit tent just over there and desire to speak with you. I remember them saying it was urgent…" She said.

"Alright. Thanks for telling me. Which tent was it again?" Gray asked.

{Outside the Tent, A moment Later…}

"Okay you guys, what'd you…" Gray began, only to freeze as he saw who in particular was inside the tent.

Currently, Lucy and Happy sat in place, being tied up rather harshly in plain brown ropes, while Erza sat atop a nearby barrel with a very angered look marking her features. The ice make user began to slightly sweat, mostly out of fear. Scratch that, it was entirely out of fear and he had good reason to feel such a thing.

"You made me wait. Not a wise decision." Erza said in an annoyed tone.

"Erza? Wait, why are Lucy and Happy tied up?" Gray asked confusedly, though in retrospect it was a stupid question.

"Lucy's brought me up to speed… I was under the impression that you were sent here to stop them from going through with this. Needless to say I'm disappointed." Erza replied.

"Where are Natsu and Ichigo anyway?" Gray asked.

"That's something we'd all like to know. I happen to need to speak to those two in particular." Erza stated, an angry look coming onto her features.

'Okay, so Natsu's a dead man and somehow Ichigo managed to piss her off. At least she doesn't seem that upset at me.' Gray thought out of mild relief.

"The last I saw them was when they were up against the Cold Emperor's lackeys… but when we went back, there wasn't any sign of them." Lucy said.

"That means we're going to search for Natsu and Ichigo and then we're going back to the guild." Erza said in a tone of finality as she headed towards the exit of the tent.

"We can't leave the island just yet. If Lucy filled you in then you know exactly what these villagers are going through right now." Gray countered.

"And what would be your point?" Erza asked harshly.

The black-haired ice wizard stood in place with an expression of disbelief. It seemed that the redheaded requip user was either so pissed off she didn't care about anything else, or her heart was as cold as a glacier. Needless to say he chose to believe the former given that she was a very caring person at heart, but that didn't excuse her from being so callous.

"Unbelievable… what the hell is wrong with you?!" Gray shouted, much to the surprise of everyone else present.

"Who do you think you're speaking to?" Erza asked dangerously.

"I don't give a damn who I'm speaking to! If you're going to let these villagers die and a demon be resurrected because we broke the rules then you're underserving of calling yourself a Fairy Tail wizard!" Gray replied angrily.

'Now he's done it…' Happy thought.

It didn't take more than half a second before the scarlet-haired woman summoned a magical sword and pointed it directly at her comrade's throat. There were very few things you could say to her that would make her truly angry, and the ice make user had just crossed that line.

"Say that again, I dare you." Erza challenged.

"I'd say it a hundred more times if you refuse to listen to reason." Gray replied with a heavy scowl on his face.

"Don't push her Gray!" Lucy exclaimed worriedly.

"Gray… I am willing to overlook your attitude and choice of words because we are friends, but only if you cooperate. We are getting the others and leaving this island. My decision is final." Erza said slowly and seriously.

"Wanna know something Erza? Ichigo actually didn't want to come to this island in the first place when he found out how serious of a breach in the rules it was, and trust me when I say he could have stopped Natsu all on his own and probably even me if he wanted to… but he didn't. He wanted to come to this island, and do you know why?" Gray said.

The redheaded knight looked curiously at her friend for a moment, not choosing to say anything and most certainly not withdrawing her sword. Her interest, however, was piqued given that she knew Gray both had a point and believed it would somehow alter her current decision.

On top of that, she already knew that Ichigo hadn't initially known they were breaking the rules. Lucy had informed her of that much, but the blonde had left out the reason as to why he did end up going along with Natsu's idiotic ploy. Surely he had a good reason and she just refused to believe he didn't after getting to know him only a little bit.

No matter what the ice wizard chose to say, however, she would still be outrageously angry with what the group had done, and under the mental reassurance that she would beat the living daylight out of Natsu and give Ichigo an earful she allowed her companion to continue.

"Enlighten me." Erza requested calmly.

"He went along with it because on the docks someone told us about what was happening. He never cared about the reward at all, he never cared about S-Class or moving up in the guilds standings… all he wanted was to help these people out. He knows that saving lives comes before rules and knew that we had to this, so why can't you see it too?!" Gray said.

Erza adopted an expression of thought in the wake of the black-haired teen's words. She knew very well that this was something Ichigo would say, and in all honesty it was what she expected. Then again, the primary target of her anger had always been Natsu since he should have known better.

It was definitely a noble reason, helping people, but the rules of the guild, she thought, came first. Perhaps, however, she could briefly overlook such things in this instance given that very clearly they all seemed to be doing this for the right reasons.

"Tch, do whatever you want. If you've got the guts to kill me, then kill me… but I'm going to stop this madness whether you like it or not." Gray stated firmly, after which he walked off without even a second of protest from the scarlet-haired teen.

'I'm going to beat the hell out of him for that…' Erza thought, glaring at the exit to the tent. Though the ice make user did have a legitimate point, his disrespect for her was completely unacceptable.

"Um… Erza?" Lucy called out worriedly.

"Hold still…" Erza ordered, gripping her magical sword tightly as she spoke.

"EEEEEP!" Lucy shrieked upon seeing the redhead prepare to swing her magical weapon.

An instant later the ropes were cut, much to the surprise of the blonde who was very much so fearful that blood would be spilled. Still, this told her that, as impossible as it seemed, the seemingly stubborn wizard had changed her mind.

"Stay close to me you two. If you run off I will not hesitate to tie you up again." Erza said in a serious voice.

"Wait, so why'd you change your mind?" Lucy asked confusedly.

"If I ignore the fact that your intentions are in the right place then I am no better than the people destroying the island. Keep in mind that once this mission is complete the reward will not be collected." Erza replied, scowling at the blonde as she finished.

"Aye!" Happy exclaimed fearfully.

{Outside the Temple of the Moon...}

"Damn, we thought of the perfect plan last night and it took us so damn long to get here." Natsu complained.

The previous night, after the enemy wizards had been dealt with and the villagers had been saved, both Ichigo and Natsu had opted to head towards the temple in an effort to stop the Cold Emperor dead in his tracks. However, the fact of the matter remained that the two had been extremely tired, one of them more so than the other.

"We would've gotten here sooner if you hadn't passed out in the forest last night." Ichigo stated with a tick mark popping out of his forehead.

"Well you coulda just woke me up. You didn't have to fall asleep too ya know!" Natsu countered defensively.

"Well you're the one who overslept!" Ichigo exclaimed.

"I was the one who woke you up! By the way, you never said you were sorry for throwing me into that tree!" Natsu shouted.

He really wished he had remembered the substitute's horrible habit of beating up anyone who woke him up with physical contact. Whoever his father was, the dragon slayer now wanted to meet and subsequently punch through a wall.

"Fine, I'm sorry." Ichigo said evenly.

"It still frickin' hurt!" Natsu replied.

"Never mind… anyway, do you remember what you have to do?" Ichigo asked, bringing the topic of discussion back on point.

"You bet. I'm just glad I get to destroy stuff." Natsu said happily.

"Alright, then let's go." Ichigo stated before the two ran towards the temple.

{Inside the Temple of the Moon...}

"How pathetic… you're the only one still standing Toby." Lyon stated evenly.

The proclaimed Cold Emperor no longer wore the helmet over his head due to the fact that it had been destroyed in his minor confrontation with Ur's other former pupil. His actual appearance was that of a young man with black eyes and spikey hair that took a bluish-silver color. His expression, however, was just as smug as one would expect.

Still, the news that was just delivered to him did worry him slightly. At the moment he had lost both Sherry and Yuka, and on top of that the Fairy Tail wizards were all still alive. This did pose a threat to his plans, but nevertheless he was able to maintain his look of satisfaction as he sat within the confines of the throne somewhere near the apex of the temple itself.

"Those Fairy Tail wizards, they're quite impressive." Lyon thought aloud.

"Can we keep the part where I got shocked a secret?" Toby asked hopefully.

"Despite how impressive they may be, we must keep them from preventing the resurrection of Deliora." A masked man commented as he walked up towards the throne.

He was a short man wearing a red tribal masked with yellow surrounding the eyes that had a large amount of faux-green hair extending out of its back. The man himself wore a simple cloak overtop a red shirt and dark pants.

"Zalty… you're stealthy as ever." Lyon said, looking down at the masked man.

"If all goes as planned, the demon shall awaken at some point tonight, but we have to keep an eye on those wizards. If they were to interrupt the Moon Drip ceremony then Deliora will forever remain encased in ice." Zalty stated.

"Are you that worried?" Lyon asked amusedly.

"Salamander and Titania are both quite powerful, and on top of that there is the orange-haired boy who has recently joined their guild. I am given to understand that his magic is powerful enough to destroy black magic completely, and his combat skills were enough to take down Erigor the Reaper." Zalty replied in his usual tone of voice.

"As always, you seem remarkably well-informed. No matter… those fools may be strong but they're no match for me." Lyon boasted in a calm voice, as if he truly believed such a thing.

"I was hoping you'd say that so it's very reassuring to hear. But still, allow me the honor of joining you in battle for old time's sake." Zalty offered.

"Wait, I didn't know you were a wizard too!" Toby exclaimed in a surprised tone.

"It's been a while since I've used it, but I've dabbled in a particular form of lost magic." Zalty replied.

"Sure, we could use another wizard." Lyon reasoned.

The conversation the three had been having was cut short due to the very temple itself shaking uncontrollable. It gave off the impression that some kind of seismic activity was behind it, but the island had never experience such a thing in all the time that they had been there. On top of that, the shakes seemed to be happening in different intervals of time as opposed to a continuous upheaval of the earth.

"Is this an earthquake?" Toby wondered aloud.

"I don't think so." Lyon said.

Abruptly the temple stopped shaking, but even thought his was the case it was currently tilted on its side. The immediate problem, however, decided to rear its ugly head upon a large hole being chopped open in the floor of the room the three currently stood.

Shortly thereafter, out of the freshly created opening in the floor jumped a certain orange-haired teen clad in black with a sword raised at his side. He instantly glared at the silver-haired man who called himself the Cold Emperor, clearly ignoring the both Toby and the man he didn't recognize.

"I take it this the wizard you were referring to, Zalty?" Lyon asked dispassionately.

"Yes, indeed he is. It would appear that he has destroyed the support beams of the temple and tilted it so that the energy from the Moon Drip no longer shines on Deliora. It truly is an ingenious plan." Zalty said, somewhat excitedly.

"I can't really take all the credit. After all, I wasn't the one who destroyed the pillars." Ichigo replied.

A moment later Fairy Tail's Salamander himself jumped up through the opening in the room's floor, his fists already covered in fire and his glare held firmly on the Cold Emperor.

"Hahahaha… ya know I usually end up breaking stuff by accident, but it's kinda funny how hard it is when I'm tryin' to do it on purpose." Natsu stated.

"You mean to tell me this idiot managed to be of use to you?" Zalty asked amusedly.

"I'm not an idiot! Who the hell are you anyway?!" Natsu exclaimed angrily.

"Actually that's a good question. I don't remember seeing you here before." Ichigo said, resting his zanpakuto across his shoulders given that he didn't sense a fight was going to break out for the moment.

"My name isn't really all that important. Sir, would you mind if I take the taller one off of your hands? I'm sure Salamander will put up more than you thought for entertainment." Zalty said.

"No… I will deal with these interlopers myself." Lyon stated.

"Ya know, I let you get away with that cocky attitude when you were fighting Gray, but if you think you can easily take the both of us one by yourself, then you're even dumber than I thought you were." Ichigo taunted, after which he prepared Zangetsu for the coming fight.

"Just who do you think you are to challenge me in such a way?" Lyon asked, his voice having hints of anger in it.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, and I'm… well, I guess I'm a member of Fairy Tail right now." Ichigo replied.

"Yeah, and we're gonna kick your ass for messin' with the villagers!" Natsu exclaimed.

Unsurprisingly, the dragon slayer was the first to make a move. He charged the Cold Emperor with his fists coated in his flames in an effort to do instantaneous damage. Still, their opponent was far too skilled to allow such a standard attack to phase him.

Lyon leaped backwards into the air with the palm of his right hand directed towards the pink-haired teen, magic energy gathering within it as an indication that he was preparing a counterattack.

"Ice Make Eagle!" Lyon exclaimed.

A series of birds in the form of ice flew directly at Natsu clearly with the intent of hitting him so quickly and without warning that he would be left open to another attack even if this one didn't do him in.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu shouted, destroying the collection of ice-birds with a powerful ray of fire.

"Ice Make Shield." Lyon uttered, summoning a shield made of magically reinforced ice directly in front of himself.

The end result was for the Fairy Tail wizard's attack to do little more than dissipate upon coming into contact with the Cold Emperor's defensive spell. Even so, they were far from done.

"Not bad…" Lyon admitted.

He placed the palm of his hand on the ground an instant later, after which he sent forth a large amount of spiked ice shooting up from the ground that progressively moved closer and closer to the fire magic user.

Natsu, seeing this, jumped into the air in order to dodge the attack, which he did successfully accomplish. However, at the same time, he left himself unable to dodge any attack his opponent would use.

"Now you can't dodge my attack. Ice Make Eagle!" Lyon said, getting a bit more excited than he probably should have.

The iced birds once again flew towards the dragon slayer in an attempt to hit most every area of his body with a massive amount of force. Still, up until this point one of the Cold Emperors two opponents had yet to act.

Before his and everyone else's very eyes, Ichigo appeared out of seemingly thin air and swung his sword in the direction of the ice make user's attack. Each of the birds shattered into nothing but shards of ice shortly thereafter, effectively saving the dragon slayer and leaving the silver-haired man's stance wide open.

"Now I've got ya!" Natsu stated happily as his feet hit the ground.

He prepared to launch another offensive, but he was stopped by the feeling of the ground caving in beneath his feet. Well, it wasn't necessarily caving in, more along the lines of vaporizing.

It wasn't just Natsu, however. Ichigo as well fell victim to the pitfall, though this time he was more than ready to stop both his and Natsu's decent down towards the ground level of the temple.

The substitute grabbed his comrade's wrist almost immediately after seeing the ground crumble, after which he threw him onto solid ground and then took the same position himself, though obviously he stood next to the currently kneeling dragon slayer.

"Thanks for the save…" Natsu said, picking himself up as he did so.

"No problem. Still, I wasn't expecting the ground to randomly cave in like that." Ichigo replied, glaring heavily at the silver-haired wizard as he spoke.

It was perfectly obvious, given how specific the area of effect was, that the ground giving in was the result of one of the enemy wizard's spells. The prime suspect, currently, was Lyon himself given that if Natsu hadn't been destabilized just then an attack likely would have landed a near-direct hit.

"That was very fortunate, Cold Emperor. Luck is on your side." Zalty stated.

"What did you do?" Lyon snapped in an annoyed tone, turning to face the masked man as he did so.

"Whatever do you mean?" Zalty asked, feigning ignorance.

"Don't play dumb with me. Your magic had to have caused that hole in the floor." Lyon replied.

"Well now don't you have ever the watchful eye." Zalty thought aloud.

"So you're the one who did that? It's a nice trick, but don't think for a second that it will work again." Ichigo stated.

"Please allow me to explain myself sir. You see when Deliora is resurrected you're the only one capable of defeating him and therefore you must be kept safe at all costs." Zalty explained.

"Ridiculous… to think that I could be harmed by these two." Lyon sneered.

'I'm tempted to cut him in half right now.' Ichigo thought, being highly annoyed by the young man's attitude.

The only people that had ever gotten away with speaking to him like that for a prolonged period of time was Aizen, and even then it was due to the fact that for a majority of every instance the two had fought the former captain was always on a different level of skill.

Needless to say, hearing such insults to his strength from someone he knew for a fact was weaker than him was really starting to get to him.

His thoughts were interrupted, however, when Lyon seemed to activate his magic once more. He willed a large sheet of ice to cover every crevice of the room, which included closing up the hole that Zalty had just opened up.

"Leave me… I can take care of this myself." Lyon claimed.

"Very well, sir." Zalty replied before running off.

"Hey wait a minute!" Natsu exclaimed.

"Going after him is pointless now. Once I deal with you, I will move on to Deliora, and once I do that everyone will worship my name, Cold Emperor Lyon. I've worked too hard to let pathetic brats like you tarnish it." Lyon stated.

"So you're doing all of this for something as stupid as recognition? Don't you care at all about the villagers your harming?!" Ichigo shouted.

"I have spent my life trying to surpass my old master, and despite what you say I will finally prove I am better than her by slaying the demon she could not." Lyon replied.

"Wait… was your masters name Ur by any chance?" Ichigo questioned, momentarily holding off his assault. His pink-haired companion opted to do the same.

"Yes, she was. I assume that Gray told you of our connection then?" Lyon questioned.

"No… he didn't. What you said told me both how you know each other and also who it was that taught each of you you're magic." Ichigo replied.

"Hehe, well it still does you little good to know such things." Lyon said amusedly.

"Answer me this though, why would you go so far to try and surpass her? Why would you throw away the lives of so many for something as stupid as your own pride? Don't you care at all about your master's legacy?" Ichigo pressed.

"I won't stand here and be lectured by the likes of someone who is incapable of understanding why I am doing what I am. For the record, I cared for Ur very much, and I have shown great restraint in letting the man who caused her death to live for this long." Lyon replied.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Natsu asked confusedly.

"Didn't Gray tell you…? Of course not, why would that coward say anything. Ur gave her life to cast the Iced Shell, but she would still be alive if it wasn't for Gray." Lyon replied, frowning at the memory of his master's technical death.

"That's still makes what you're doing here now even stupider. I don't see the point in trying to prove you're better than her, and moreover I don't get why you would free a demon to try and prove yourself. Using your master's death to push yourself to something this foolish is exactly what she wouldn't want for you. In fact, I'd say what you're doing now makes her sacrifice pointless!" Ichigo shouted.

He understood perfectly well that using the death of a loved one was a great source of motivation to push yourself to a certain goal, but that goal could be easily be for the purposes of evil just as it could be for the forces of good. He himself had used the death of his mother to engrave in his being the undeniable will to protect those he cared about so that he would never have to experience something like that again.

The Cold Emperor, on the other hand, was on a quest to prove his own personal power. Not only that, he was also competing with someone who was currently deceased, which only went to tarnish the name of his master more so.

"Shut up!" Lyon shouted, after which he sent forth a flurry of Ice Make Eagles directly towards solely the orange-haired teen.

The attack didn't even make it half way towards the substitute before Natsu shot a large burst of flames directly at the magically reinforced ice. Each of the projectiles melted in the wake of the searing heat, leaving the battlefield just as it was before the Cold Emperor's outburst.

"You should listen to what he's saying! Your master wouldn't want something like that to be set free again!" Natsu exclaimed angrily, obviously being frustrated by the conflicting nature of the silver-haired man's objective.

"I've had about enough of you two… it's about time I get serious." Lyon said in an annoyed voice, a cold mist surrounding his body as he spoke.

A nearby section of wall was completely obliterated a second later, delaying the fight yet again and revealing another person to have arrived on the scene. With his body bandaged and still bruised, Gray came through the fresh hole he had created in the temple's wall. He looked as determined as ever, a glare firmly fixed on Ur's former 'star' pupil.

"Sorry I'm late." Gray apologized.

"Who said we were expecting you?" Natsu countered.

"Tch, shut it Natsu. As hard as it is to believe, Lyon's the only one I want to fight right now." Gray replied, somewhat to the surprised of the pink-haired friend.

"Glad to see you're alright. How'd the villagers and Lucy turn out?" Ichigo asked.

"The villagers are fine, but Lucy came with me. Oh, and I should mention that Erza's here…" Gray began.

"She's here on the island?!" Natsu exclaimed fearfully.

"Yeah… and she might actually kill you this time Natsu. Ichigo, she also seemed pretty pissed at you for some reason." Gray added.

"Great, now I've got to deal with that… still, the fact that your here means that she at least doesn't intend to drag us back before we finish up." Ichigo reasoned.

"Would it surprise you if I said she tried?" Gray asked rhetorically.

"Not really, but I think she's…" Ichigo began.

The temple then began to shake a great deal once more, which caused him to stop midsentence. Much to his surprise, it began to shift the opposite direction of what it currently was, essentially reversing the tilt that Natsu had worked so hard to accomplish.

'Wait, how the hell is that possible?' Ichigo wondered. It was as if someone was using Orihime's powers on the base of the temple, but he knew for a fact that no such thing should have been present in this world. In fact, it was a stretch for something like that to exist at all in any dimension.

"The temple's realigning…" Gray thought aloud.

"Dammit! I worked hard on that!" Natsu exclaimed, angrily slamming his foot against the ground as he did so.

"More importantly that means the moon will shine on Deliora when nighttime comes." Ichigo stated, glaring at the thought.

"The moons almost out… this is bad, real bad." Gray said.

"Pardon the interruption…" Zalty called out, entering through the hole that Gray had created in the wall.

'What the hell?' Most everyone thought similarly.

"I should've known… I take it you did this?" Lyon inquired.

"Indeed I did, sir. The moon will be out soon so I took the liberty of fixing the temple for you." Zalty replied.

"That weirdo fixed the temple all by himself?" Gray wondered aloud.

"And after all the trouble I went to destroy it too…" Natsu griped, crossing his arms in an angry fashion.

"Just what the hell did you do to fix the temple anyway?" Ichigo asked, directing his traditional scowl and glare at the masked man.

Much to his annoyance, and slight confusion, the short wizard just laughed rather heartily at his question, not even bothering to give him a direct answer.

"Since it's about time I suppose I should commence the Moon Drip ceremony." Zalty mused before running off again.

"That guy is starting to piss me off…" Natsu growled out.

"I'll go after him since he's being such a damn problem. You two stay here and take care of the Cold Emperor." Ichigo ordered.

"I don't need his help to win!" Both exclaimed simultaneously.

"Just shut up and win you two." Ichigo said in an annoyed tone before vanishing in the blur of flash step.

"Tch, he's starting to sound like Erza the way he told us to work together." Gray scoffed.

"Ichigo's way nicer than Erza!" Natsu said defensively.

"…agreed…" Gray conceded.

"Are you two nitwits done talking amongst yourselves?" Lyon asked, taking off his cape as he did so.

"Natsu… if at all possible, let me get the last hit in. I might be forced into fighting with you, but that doesn't mean I don't have a score to settle with Lyon." Gray stated.

"I don't mind… just make sure ya hit him extra hard for me." Natsu replied, smirking widely.

"Sure thing." Gray replied, an equally large smirk coming onto his own features.

{Beneath the Temple of the Moon, Some Time Later…}

'This guy's really damn annoying…' Ichigo thought.

Even using flash step proved to be difficult in pursuit of the odd-looking wizard given that he didn't know where exactly he was going. In fact, he was more following the traces of the masked man's energy in order to track him, which thanks to the island was far more difficult than it needed to be.

The two finally came to a stop within the resting place of Deliora, all the while the purple energy poured down from the ceiling as a sign that the Moon Drip had commenced. Zatly himself was standing atop a nearby rock formation, a smirk etched on his face as he gazed down at the substitute.

Incidentally, however, the enemy wizard's presence wasn't the most concerning thing at the moment. Deliora's body was almost completely freed from the ice, which meant it was only a matter of time before it was completely resurrected.

"Well now this is a pleasant surprise. I really was looking forward to having a bit of fun with you." Zalty stated.

"Then why bring me here of all places? You were moving too specifically for not having a plan with where you were leading me." Ichigo said.

"Aren't you the observant one? If you must know why I brought you here, it's because of that attack you are capable of firing. I can't very well allow you to release it anywhere else. Otherwise the temple itself might be destroyed." Zalty explained.

"And what makes you think I won't use it here?" Ichigo asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Simple… that attack of yours was potent enough to destroy the Lullaby flute. It stands to reason that if this is the case then perhaps you are capable of breaking the Iced Shell with such a power. Now you wouldn't go and risk that happening, would you?" Zalty countered, his smirk increasing in size.

"You seem to know a lot about me and I don't really like that." Ichigo stated matter-of-factly, prompting the masked man to chuckle in response.

"Let's just say I like to do research, and you are a fascinating subject indeed." Zalty replied.

"You're really creepy, you know that?" Ichigo asked rhetorically.

"Now that hurts…" Zalty said in a tone of fake sadness.

Without any warning, a crystal sphere shot at Ichigo from across the cavern, forcing him to jump up into the air in order to avoid it. The projectile was initially dodged however it then turned and began to fly after the substitute as he floated in the air, fresh off of his previous evasion.

The orange-haired teen then brought his sword across the object and sliced it in half, but that proved to be useless a second later. In an instant after it had been presumably destroyed, the sphere returned to its former undestroyed form and continued to rush at its target.

'What the hell?' Ichigo wondered.

He opted to use flash step a moment later, choosing to appear atop a rock formation opposite of Zalty in order to gain a better perspective of the battlefield. Thus far he concluded that it was either the magic of his opponent or a special property of the crystal spheres themselves, however given what he already knew to have resulted from the man's magic he knew for a fact that it was the former.

"Just what the hell kind of magic are you capable of using?" Ichigo asked, as if demanding to know.

"You see I practice a form of lost magic that allows me to control an object's time. You see just now I caused the crystal to return to a time when it wasn't broken, which allows me to continuously use it. The magic is called the Arc of Time." Zalty explained.

"So that's how you fixed the temple so quickly and also how you caused the floor to cave in… still, I've seen better powers than that before." Ichigo said, sounding unimpressed.

"Oh, care to explain?" Zalty asked, a slight frown marking his features as opposed to a cocky smirk.

"Very clearly you can't use your powers on living objects. Otherwise you'd of just used it to kill me or any of the others by now. Moreover, you wouldn't need the Moon Drip in the first place to free Deliora, you could just use your magic to destroy the ice. However since the ice is living because of its caster's sacrifice, your unable to do it." Ichigo replied.

For a moment the cocky look on the masked man's face completely disappeared. Not only had the orange-haired teen figured out how why he couldn't just destroy the Iced Shell, he also figured it out without him saying so. It wasn't very likely that Ur's other former pupil had said anything, mostly because it was somewhat of a closely guarded secret of the spell itself. He stood in awe at the rather impressive deduction of someone who was really quite new to all of this. His ability to comprehend a given situation was rather phenomenal, but 'he' still had an act to keep up and therefore shook off his surprise for the time being.

"My, my, you are an observant one. Tell me if you saw this one coming." Zalty said, his smirk returning in full force.

A total of three separate crystal spheres quickly revealed themselves and began to charge directly at the orange-haired teen from all directions. Clearly they were meant to be a surprise attack, and they were moving significantly faster than the initial projectile. Still, that wasn't fast enough to land a direct hit.

Ichigo used flash step to evade the attacks, after which he appeared directly above the rock formation above which Zalty currently stood, his zanpakuto raised high and prepared to crash onto his opponent in an attempt to end the fight right here and now.

The time magic user, however, leaped backwards in the air with time to spare, which surprised Ichigo a great deal given that he had been the first person to be able to read his movements. Perhaps he hadn't faced any particularly powerful opponents, but even so it was a surprise.

His sword smashed into the rock formation and completely destroyed it, revealing to Zalty that obviously evasion was the proper decision given that if he had stayed for just a few more seconds he may very well have lost half of his body or perhaps at best a limb or two.

"Now that was very impressive. I expected as much from such a worthy adversary. Had that last attack hit me, I may very well be dead." Zalty commented in an upbeat tone, which was surprising given that the topic of his sentence was his own demise.

"You know something… you're the first person I've fought here so far that has been able to even remotely read my movements. Since that's the case, I want to know something. Why the hell are you helping Lyon?" Ichigo asked forcefully.

"Hahahahaha! Nothing gets past you, does it? I was right to think that you really are a splendid warrior. Intelligence, agility, speed, strength, you just seem to have it all don't you?" Zalty said, sounding rather excited for some reason.

"Answer my damn question before I land an attack that doesn't miss." Ichigo said, scowling full force at the masked man.

"The Cold Emperor Lyon is an arrogant twit. He doesn't stand a chance against Deliora." Zalty began.

"Tell me something I don't know." Ichigo requested, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm.

"Well you see when he fails, that's where I come in. There are certain spells that allow the caster power over immortal monsters like this one here. With this demon under my control, I'd become the most powerful man in the world." Zalty stated proudly.

"You really think that this demon is going to make you that strong… please…" Ichigo began.

An instant later he appeared directly in front of the masked wizard with his fist cocked back and prepared to do some heavy damage. Zalty could do nothing but gasp as a result of being played so easily.

His opponent had quite literally caused him to blurt out his 'plan' and become distracted by the thoughts of actually accomplishing such a goal. It was extremely clever, and a very obvious strategy that he had, unfortunately, fallen for.

"…you can't even get past me." Ichigo finished.

A moment later the substitute's fist connected with his opponent's midsection, effectively launching the time magic user into a nearby series of rock formations with such force that the ground itself seemed to shake. The rubble seemed to surround his body, and at the very least he presumed he was out cold. That left very few things to be attended to, one of which actually decided to enter almost immediately after Zalty had been taken care of.

"Now all that's left is you…" Ichigo trailed off, looking up at the demon that was nearly out of its prison.

However, now more than ever he knew that what he said wasn't very true. Deliora, for how massive and demonic he appeared to be, was as harmless as a speck of dust. He had initially been worried that the energy he felt coming off of the demon had been Deliora itself, but the creature was already as good as dead.

Ichigo walked up to the remainder of the ice, feeling the presence of what was unmistakably spiritual energy coming off of it. He had a feeling the ice was special the second that he sensed it, but it wasn't until after he learned exactly what the Iced Shell was that he realized why he felt that specific type of aura emanating from the demon's prison.

However, when he had learned that, there was the distinct fact of the matter that the soul of the caster couldn't be freed unless the ice itself were to disappear, which would ultimately free Deliora. Now, though, he knew that wasn't an issue. All that was left to do was to free the spirit within the spell before the ice melted completely.

"Okay… now how the hell am I supposed to do this?" Ichigo wondered aloud.

He placed a hand on a section of the ice that still remained, closing his eyes and trying to feel just how 'human' the soul within it was. While nothing could be heard in terms of a voice calling out to him, he did feel the presence of someone within.

"Then… maybe this will work after all." Ichigo said.

A moment later he readied his zanpakuto and aimed the bottom of the grip directly at the section of ice immediately in front of him. Shortly thereafter, he gently placed said section of his sword against the technical soul of Gray's teacher and began to will his spiritual energy to flow into the magically created sold.

'Come on… this should work.' Ichigo thought.

An ethereal glow started to coat the form of the Iced Shell, or what was left of it, effectively making Ichigo's eyes widen out of surprise. That, however, also came as a great sense of relief given that the ice itself was now vanishing into miniscule but incredibly numerous particles of light blue spiritual energy.

Ichigo smiled at the sight, knowing full well that he had somehow helped a soul pass on to the next world. He didn't quite know what would happen if he hadn't done this, but in the end he wasn't willing to take a chance and simply allow the ice to melt. After all, even in his world it was possible for a soul to simply be destroyed, never to rear its head again in any world.

The particles of spiritual energy, though, didn't dissipate into the air as he had expected. They began to coalesce, taking a new form directly beneath the dead front of the immobile demonic creature.

'What the hell?' Ichigo wondered confusedly.

Before his very eyes the shape of a human began to take shape, having the outline of a woman if the chest area was anything to go by. Little by little, the glowing blue pieces of energy began to give off the appearance of a living being.

Very clearly it was a spirit as an ethereal glow still surrounded its body, however Ichigo wasn't paying attention to the fact that it was in fact a spirit. He knew exactly who this was, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

The woman was fairly tall, had a slim but curvaceous figure, short dark-purple hair and a pair of black eyes. She wore a tan jacket with a black collar, a pair of jeans and a red tank top.

"You're… are you… Ur?" Ichigo asked. He didn't know why, but he could swear that he had seen this person before, or at the very least someone who looked similar to her. On top of that, now that this woman was directly in front of her, the feel of her life force and magical power that still manifested itself within her soul felt very familiar.

"Huh… you know, I pictured this place bein' a bit dimmer.' Ur thought aloud, observing her surroundings as her spirit continued to hover into the air.

"Uh…" Ichigo uttered, not entirely sure of what to say.

"Hey… what's your name?' Ur questioned, looking back at the orange-haired teen that she seemed to just have noticed.

"You mind answering my question first?" Ichigo asked in a slightly annoyed manner.

"Hehe, sorry about that. Yes, my name is Ur… now, please answer mine.' Ur said.

"My name is Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper." Ichigo replied.

"I see… and what exactly did you just do to me?' Ur inquired, sounding rather confused.

Ichigo looked at her with a curious expression, not entirely being sure as to whether or not this woman knew what was going on at this current point in time. The way she was now looking at her body made it seem as if she didn't have a clue, but then again that was perhaps a normal reaction to what had happened.

"Do you know what was going on?" Ichigo inquired, deciding to at least find out that much first.

"I… yes, unfortunately I was aware of what was happening. Though I didn't really care, all that matters is that this pathetic excuse for a monster is dead." Ur stated, glaring up at the form of the now free demon of destruction.

"However, I haven't the slightest clue as to how you undid the Iced Shell. What are you, some kind of magical genius or somethin'?" Ur questioned.

"I don't think we have time for me to tell you exactly who I am, and even if we did, I don't think you'd believe me." Ichigo thought aloud, chuckling slightly at his own words.

"At this point I'd believe anything… just give me the short version, handsome.' Ur said, directing a small but playful smirk at the orange-haired teen.

Ichigo paused briefly and blushed, though he didn't really pay any mind to that fact. He was just set on the belief that he had seen that look before on a woman, one that he had definitely met before and one that definitely wasn't Yoruichi. Still, he had time to think on that later so he didn't dwell on it too much.

"Your soul was trapped in the Iced Shell, I just let it out." Ichigo replied.

"D-Did you really? So am I actually free to move?!" Ur asked in a hopeful manner.

The substitute frowned at the question, dreading the fact that he knew the answer would disappoint her. However, he didn't find it necessary to do so as a moment alter Ur's body began to glow more so than before, her human form dissipating by each passing second.

"Well… that answers that." Ur said in a disappointed manner.

"Sorry… but, if it helps, you're at least going to a better place." Ichigo stated. In truth, though, he wasn't entirely sure where this woman would go. The fact that Konso worked on her in this dimension was baffling enough, but given that Soul Reapers didn't exist here he had no idea whatsoever about what would end up happening.

"Huh… well, that's a bit of a letdown. I kind of wanted to visit someone one last time beforehand." Ur stated with a sad smile.

"Are you talking about Gray and Lyon?" Ichigo inquired with a quirked brow.

The woman smiled at the mention of her two pupils, despite the fact that she knew very well what Lyon had tried to do. She, in truth, didn't hold a grudge against him, and Gray was like the son she never had, but even so they were not who she had been referring to.

"No… I love them both, but I dearly want to see the light of my life, or what was once its light anyway. Perhaps I will see her on the other side, but I believe she is still alive. You see, I wanted to see if…" Ur began.

The dark-haired woman, however, couldn't finish her sentence as within an instant her entire being flashed with a brilliant eruption of bright blue light, subsequently after which her body vanished into thin air.

Not a sound echoed in the cavern for some time with the substitute just standing in place, smiling slightly due to the fact that he had helped his friend's master avoid an unknown fate. He may not have known where she would go, but wherever she was, he knew it was some form of an afterlife.

The ensuing silence was short lived as a moment later the unpleasant sound of cracking stones sounded off from a nearby section of the cavern, effectively breaking Ichigo out of his thoughts and redirecting his attention.

"What the hell?" Ichigo uttered, looking off to the sides of the cavern to see a body fly through the wall.

He saw the beaten and battered from of the Cold Emperor, Lyon, facing the floor of the temple's underground area in a defeated manner. The silver-haired man was still conscious, but he currently wasn't standing, which was quite the opposite of the other two that happened to enter the area shortly thereafter.

'So… they managed to beat him.' Ichigo thought contentedly, allowing a smile to form on his lips at the sight of a victorious Gray and Natsu.

"Dammit, we're too late!" Gray exclaimed worriedly.

Each present looked on to see the intimidating form of Deliora completely devoid of ice covering his body. At this, Lyon began to crawl forward, a driven look on his face, though it possessed signs of underlying obsession.

Ichigo, however, inwardly sighed out of pure relief. He couldn't sense a damn thing from the so-called immortal creature even now after he had freed Ur's soul. Not even a trace of life could be detected. Moreover it didn't even so much as growl, it just stood in place, not moving a muscle, in total silence. He just hoped no one did anything stupid before he explained that.

"Stand back… none of you… are strong enough… I… I will be the one to defeat it…" Lyon said as he continued to inch forward, his body still being in contact with the ground.

"Lyon…" Gray said in a saddened tone.

"Graaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" Deliora roared, giving off some sings of clear life.

'Wait… but that's not possible… it's dead…' Ichigo thought. It didn't make any sense that it was capable of making any noise, and even right now he knew for a fact that its life had passed. Literally nothing was coming off of it, and that last roar was perhaps the only remaining thing it was capable of doing.

"Stand back… Gray… I will surpass Ur by defeating that thing!" Lyon proclaimed.

"No you're not…" Gray stated in a tone of finality.

The raven-haired teen then walked directly in front of the creature and took on a stance in order to perform a specific spell. At this, Ur's other former pupil went wide-eyed out of both surprise and concern.

"No you fool! Don't you dare do it! That creature is mine to destroy and I will not allow you to seal it again!" Lyon shouted.

"What?!" Ichigo and Natsu exclaimed simultaneously, looking as their comrade continued to build up his magical energy.

"This is the only way… I have to seal Deliora!" Gray stated.

"Gray… you don't need to do this!" Ichigo shouted.

"You can't stop me, I…" Gray began, his eyes never leaving the form of the demon.

"Listen to me you idiot, that thing is clearly dead! It hasn't moved the entire time it's been free!" Ichigo exclaimed urgently.

"W-What?" Gray uttered, giving pause to his current action as a result of his surprise.

"Wait a minute… this thing's dead?" Natsu asked confusedly, staring at the still immobile demon.

"Yeah, it is. Here, I'll prove it…" Ichigo stated.

The substitute cocked back his sword a moment later, after which he swung at full force, sending a large concentrated blast of wind shooting towards the currently deceased demon's body. When the attack made contact, the practical corpse shattered into many different limbs, falling to the ground and giving off slight amounts of dust and ash.

"I-Impossible…" Lyon uttered out of sheer disbelief.

"It must've just died all those years in that ice." Natsu reasoned.

"So then what we've just witnessed was its dying breath… my dream… my dream is dead… I will never surpass Ur now…" Lyon said with a heavy voice, tears falling to his eyes and his hands balling into fists.

Ichigo looked down on the form of the silver-haired teen with a slight amount of pity. In actuality Ur hadn't just sealed away Deliora, she had ended up killing it outright over the years. Lyon, despite all he had done, was just chasing after something that simply wasn't there. In fact, all that had happened only went to show just how strong Ur herself actually was.

"Man, your teacher must've been pretty awesome." Natsu said with a cheerful smile, looking back at his black-haired friend.

"Yeah… she was…" Gray said, unable to keep the stream of tears from falling down his cheeks.

When the tears stopped falling he walked over to the silver-haired man who still lay on the ground, defeated both mentally and physically for the time being, and helped him up. Despite Gray's own state, which was worse for wear, he threw his former comrade's arm over his shoulders and turned to face the group.

Both Ichigo and Natsu looked at one another and smile genuinely. Their work here was currently done, or at least part of it anyway. The Moon Drip was stopped and Deliora was dealt with, and that was in all honesty the biggest problem they had faced since coming to the island, though perhaps an even bigger mountain to climb still existed.

'Crap… I just remembered that Erza's here.' Ichigo thought, fighting the urge to release a tired groan.