I-it's… over?
Watching Deliora's riddled, massive body, Lucy's voice trembled; she hugged Happy tight, as if that were the only way to feel something real again.
"Hop, you were amazing!"
Natsu was first to react, excitedly waving toward Hop atop the Buddha statue. "How'd you make that huge thing appear? Can it turn into a dragon?"
Happy poked his head from Lucy's arms, blinking. "Aye! Hop's incredible!"
Erza sheathed her sword, relief on her face—though she regretted not getting to cross blades with the great demon Deliora.
Compared to lullaby, Deliora was unquestionably the stronger foe.
Gray and Lyon still stood frozen, staring at Deliora's remains, unable to speak; the nightmare that had haunted them for years had been ended in an instant.
Lyon came to first. Recalling how he'd meant to use Absolute Zero to perish with Deliora, he gave a bitter smile and shook his head.
"Did you see that, Ur…? It's over…"
Gray finally found his voice, muttering as tears blurred his sight; images of family, friends, and his master—all killed by Deliora—filled his mind.
Seeing Hop still maintaining the Buddha form, Erza climbed to its head and asked with concern, "That spell must cost a fortune in magic. Are you all right?"
Hop's face was pale; channeling so much earth-magic while sustaining the construct placed an enormous strain on his body.
His mana pool had never been large; he was enduring purely through stubborn stamina.
Still, he smiled at Erza. "I'm fine—just a bit drained."
The moment he spoke, the thousand-armed Buddha began to fade, scattering as motes of green light that sank back into Karna Island, returning the borrowed power to the land.
Erza stepped forward to steady the swaying Hop. "Quite the tough talker—can't even stand on your own."
"Just overexerted; a short rest and I'll be okay," Hop answered weakly, though he felt utterly hollow inside.
Gray dragged Lyon over, pressing Lyon's head down as both bowed deeply. "Hop, without you Lyon and I would have—"
"Thank you for destroying Deliora."
Hop waved it off. "Don't mention it; comrades help each other. Besides… I wasn't the one who killed Deliora."
Everyone shot him puzzled looks.
Hop merely pointed at Deliora's motionless body. "Go take a closer look—you'll understand."
The group quickly descended to the demon's corpse.
Natsu, in the lead, noticed something wrong at once: the body riddled with hundreds of holes had not bled a single drop.
Supported by Erza, Hop approached. He tapped the corpse with a limp fist. "Watch closely."
Under the soft blow, cracks spread across Deliora's skin; faint fracturing sounds grew louder until the entire form burst into countless shards that clattered to the ground.
Like shattering ice.
"What's going on?" Lucy gasped, covering her mouth; the rookie in her had seen too much lately.
Erza studied the frost-rimed fragments, then glanced at Gray and Lyon, understanding dawning on her.
"Hop, you said you weren't the one who slew Deliora."
Then could it… could it be Ur?"
Hop nodded. "The instant Deliora broke the seal, it was already dead—only it hadn't realized."
During the ten years of Absolute Zero's imprisonment, Ur, turned to living ice, had ground away every trace of its life."
"We never needed to fight; once Deliora moved, its long-dead body simply collapsed."
"Your master was truly incredible."
Lyon stood frozen, struggling to accept the truth.
The demon he'd spent three years planning to free and defeat was nothing but an icy corpse… Gray burst into laughter that soon turned to tears as he sank to his knees. "Ur, did you hear? You'd already won… long ago…"
Lyon tilted his head back, letting the tears fall. "We were… such fools…"
The Fairy Tail members watched in silence; even noisy Natsu stayed quiet, respecting the brothers' moment of release.
Ur's death had been a thorn buried deep in each of them.
Now, at last, they had forgiven themselves.
After a while Lyon wiped his eyes and turned to Gray. "I'm sorry. My obsession with surpassing Ur drove me down the wrong path…"
Gray gave a genuine smile. "I understand. You still carry the Hopes of those who suffered."
He stepped up and offered his fist. "Senior, it's all over."
Lyon hesitated, then bumped his fist against Gray's. "Yeah, junior… it's finished."
A cool breeze stirred, carrying a hint of frost. Gray and Lyon sensed a familiar magic signature and looked in the same direction.
Upon Deliora's remains stood a faint figure only the two could see: a smiling, short-haired woman, pride and contentment shining in her eyes as she gazed at them.
"Ur…" they whispered in unison.
The next instant the vision vanished, as though it had never been—yet that smile would stay with them forever.
What Teacher Ur had left them wasn't merely a spell to die with a demon, but the courage to keep living.
On a distant ridge, the white-clad femme fatale who had dueled Hop watched everything unfold.
Seeing the reconciled brothers, she clenched her fists so hard her nails drew blood, feeling nothing.
Why?
Why could you give your life for your pupils yet abandon me without a second thought?
Mother… With that sorrow and resentment, she disappeared.
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