Ryoma slowly reined in the immense magic power within him, and the towering pillar of light dissipated, as the terrifying pressure that enveloped the entire Galuna Island receded like a tide.
He looked down at himself. His clothes were intact, but every cell in his body was filled with an unprecedented sense of power.
The Ten Wizard Saints... this was almost the pinnacle of power for Mages on the Ishgar continent.
Indeed... very strong.
Ryoma clenched his fist, feeling the power that seemed capable of easily crushing mountains, yet his heart remained exceptionally calm.
The surge in power did not make him lose himself. On the contrary, his mind was clearer than ever.
"Space-Time Magic..."
Ryoma closed his eyes, and his consciousness once again sank into his second magic source. The mysterious mark formed by the silver-white grimoire was quietly suspended at the core of the magic source, emitting a faint silver glow.
Space-Time Corridor.
Twisting the space-time of a specific target...
The effect of this magic was far more potent than Ultear's Arc of Time in the Fairy Tail world.
Arc of Time, a lost ancient magic, could only be used on non-living objects, returning their state to the past or pushing it into the future.
However, according to the information pouring into his mind, as long as the caster could pay the price, Space-Time Corridor could twist things, plants, and even living people to a certain extent. Of course, the price was enormous.
Twisting the space-time of an object or living person, or even different people, involved completely different concepts of magic power consumption.
What did this mean?
It meant that for things that would happen in the future, he might have the possibility of correcting everything.
Ryoma quickly forced himself to calm down.
"However, manipulating a living person's time to restore their body, and making a dead person resurrect... the difference is like heaven and earth."
The former might still have hope, but the latter... he estimated that even if he drained himself dry, he couldn't do it.
The most pressing task was to perfectly control this surging power, and then... solve the immediate trouble.
He absolutely could not allow Deliora's seal to be broken. Once that demon was unsealed by the moon drip ritual, it would be troublesome to deal with.
"I need to hurry."
Ryoma opened his eyes and looked sharply in the direction of the ruins on the island. He could feel several familiar magic powers colliding over there.
Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy... they had all engaged with Lyon's people.
He took a deep breath, no longer hesitating.
The next second, the ground beneath his feet cracked, and a crystalline ice flower quietly bloomed.
This ice was different from any ice he had used before, it seemed to contain a hint of spatial rhythm within.
'Is this the application of Space-Time Magic?' Ryoma thought.
Buzz!
His figure instantly vanished from where he stood, as if he had never appeared.
The next moment, several hundred meters away in another dense forest, an ice flower condensed out of thin air, and Ryoma's figure emerged from it.
The entire process had no magic power leakage whatsoever and was incredibly fast.
A teleportation upgrade using a special ice as a medium...
Ryoma felt this new way of moving, and the corners of his lips curved slightly upwards.
This was more convenient and faster than any flying magic.
The only drawback was that it could only teleport within a precise sensory range and could not perform ultra-long-distance teleportation.
However, for him now, it wasn't a big problem. His precise sensory range was quite large.
He did not stop, one ice flower after another bloomed beneath his feet, and his figure continuously flickered through the forest, rapidly approaching the core of the ruins at an astonishing speed.
—
On the other side, in the forest outside the ruins.
Erza and Lucy were being desperately held back by Lyon's subordinates.
"Damn it! What's wrong with these guys!"
Lucy panted as she swung her whip, forcing back one enemy after another who lunged at her.
Those guys had clearly been scared by the magic power just unleashed and wanted to escape. But now, they were attacking them like crazy, completely preventing them from getting a step closer to the ruins.
"Their goal is to stall us."
Erza calmly parried attacks with her longsword, her expression very serious.
Although the terrifying magic power beyond S-class had disappeared, the shock it brought her had not diminished in the slightest.
She had a premonition that something extraordinary must have happened on the island.
They had to break through here quickly and rendezvous with Natsu and the others.
Meanwhile, inside the ruins.
"Get out of my way, Natsu! This guy is my opponent!" Gray, shirtless, roared at Natsu.
"Huh? What nonsense are you spouting! I found this guy first!" Natsu retorted, unwilling to be outdone, his nose almost touching Gray's.
The two of them argued in front of Lyon as if no one else was there.
Lyon, standing opposite them, had veins throbbing on his forehead.
These two guys... completely disregarded him.
"You two... that's enough!"
Lyon's voice was extremely cold, and powerful magic power began to gather around him.
However, just as he was about to teach these two clueless guys a lesson—
Rumble!!!
A strong tremor suddenly came from deep within the entire ruins.
"Hmm?!"
Natsu and Gray, who were arguing, stopped simultaneously, looking around in surprise.
"An earthquake?"
"No!"
Lyon suddenly noticed that the ruins, which had been severely tilted after Natsu destroyed one of its load-bearing pillars, were now slowly returning to their original state at a visible speed.
The collapsed stones and the broken beams seemed to be controlled by an invisible pair of large hands, automatically returning to their original positions.
"This... this is..." Gray watched, dumbfounded.
"The ruins... moving on their own?" Natsu also had a look of disbelief.
Just then, a short figure wearing a comical mask ran in from the outer passage and went straight to Lyon.
"Lyon-sama! The moon is about to come out!"
The newcomer was Zalty (Ultear).
She glanced at the ruins, which were returning to their original state, and said, "Excellent. This way, the ritual can begin on time."
So it was this person's doing!
This person used their magic to restore the ruins to their original state.
"So it was you, you bastard!"
Natsu reacted instantly, glaring fiercely at Zalty.
"I went through hell and back to tilt the ruins!"
Zalty completely ignored Natsu's words, let out a strange laugh, and turned to run deeper into the ruins.
"Don't run!"
Natsu roared, chasing after 'him' without a second thought.
Flames of magic power erupted beneath his feet, and he charged into the passage like a cannonball.
In a blink of an eye, only Gray and Lyon remained in the vast space.
"..."
Gray looked at Natsu's disappearing back, his lips twitching.
That idiot...
But this was good too.
He slowly turned around, his gaze cold as he looked at Lyon. "Now, no one will disturb us."