Lyon was desperately fleeing into the distance, his coat flapping as he ran.
Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his back.
"Thud!"
Racer caught up instantly and delivered a fierce flying kick to Lyon's back.
The impact was so intense Lyon nearly blacked out on the spot.
Lyon tumbled several times on the rocky ground, scraping his skin.
But ignoring the searing pain, he scrambled to his feet and continued his frantic escape.
"Let's see if my speed can kill you, you bastard!"
Enraged and provoked by the earlier taunts, Racer roared at Lyon, his composure gone.
Lyon secretly smirked, wiping blood from his lip.
He was surprised at how effective his taunting had been.
Just a few words had struck a nerve...
Sensing Racer preparing for another high-speed flying kick, Lyon clenched his fist and struck his palm.
"Ice-Make: Hedgehog!"
Assuming a Creation Magic stance, an icy aura erupted around him.
Sharp icicles sprouted from Lyon's body, covering him from head to toe, making him resemble a spiky ice hedgehog.
Racer halted abruptly mid-charge, scoffing at Lyon's transformed appearance.
"You think turning into this will stop me from attacking? It's just a shell!"
Lyon remained silent, focused solely on putting distance between them.
Racer crouched low.
The light green magic circle beneath his feet deepened to crimson as he activated his Red Zone gear.
His speed multiplied several times over.
"Shift! Red Alert Zone!"
ZOOOM!
A blur materialized in the air as Racer deftly avoided the icy spikes covering Lyon.
He moved faster than the eye could track and aimed a crushing stomp at Lyon's exposed face.
Bam!
Lyon was sent sprawling once more. The icicles on his body shattered uselessly against the hard ground.
"You said my speed can't kill? Don't make me laugh," Racer sneered, standing over him. "With absolute control over speed, anything can become a lethal weapon. Even a pebble!"
Racer triumphantly pinned Lyon down with his boot.
He plucked a sharp icicle shard from the nearby shattered ice armor.
"Die, kid. I'll use your own ice to pierce your throat, then do the same to your companions!"
Racer raised the ice shard and drove it forcefully toward Lyon's neck.
But suddenly...
Crack-crackle.
The icicle in Racer's hand morphed.
It transformed into a small ice ape that clung tightly to his shoulder and arm like a vice.
"What?!" Racer gasped.
His upper body was immobilized.
Unnoticed, the ground beneath his feet had frozen solid.
The cold crept up his legs, locking them in place.
"Gotcha."
Lyon seized the opportunity. Using Racer's shoulder for leverage, he stood up, a confident smile on his bloody face.
"Do you know the essence of Creation Magic?" Lyon asked coolly.
"Imagination, you fool!"
After a brief moment of panic, Racer regained his composure and snorted.
"So what if you've caught me? With my speed, I'll break free in no time—"
"That's your second weakness, idiot."
Lyon circled behind Racer.
He grabbed Racer's neck with one hand while frigid air continuously emanated from his palm, stiffening Racer's limbs further.
"I figured it out when we were outside—your Magic definitely isn't some kind of speed-based Magic."
"While fighting you earlier, I accidentally glanced at Ankh chasing your leader..."
"You know what, buddy? At that moment, their speed seemed like teleportation to my eyes! It was impossibly fast!"
"That's when I realized..." Lyon tightened his grip. "You aren't speeding yourself up to infinity. You are slowing down our perception of time within a certain range!"
"I know this ice won't hold you for long, but it's enough time for that guy to deliver the finishing blow from outside your range!!"
Behind his windproof goggles, Racer's eyes widened in terror. With his secret exposed, his heart pounded like a war drum.
Outside my range?!
Could it be... that guy?!
Far away, atop a rising ice watchtower Lyon had built earlier.
Gray Fullbuster stood with his shirt off while aiming.
"He's probably bad-mouthing me again, Lyon..." Gray muttered, seeing the signal.
Gray formed a massive ice bow with both hands.
A huge ice arrow was nocked and ready, while a frost-blue Magic circle rotated slowly in front of him.
"Time to end this, you speed freak!"
"Ice-Make: Super Freeze Arrow!!"
TWANG!
The ice arrow shot forth
. It carried earth-freezing cold with the force of a meteor, crashing down from the distance upon Racer with devastating weight!
"So... fast..." Racer whispered, unable to dodge because he couldn't slow down the arrow fired from outside his magic's influence.
BOOM!
The blinding white light of the ice arrow illuminated the area like daylight.
Racer's goggles shattered.
His body was once again consumed by boundless cold and excruciating pain...
"All I ever wished for... was to be faster than anyone..." Racer thought as he froze. "...but in the end... I still got caught..."
Amid the piercing screech of freezing and shattering ice, Lyon—who had been pinning Racer down—watched as Racer gradually went limp in the ice block.
He couldn't help but exhale deeply before collapsing to sit on the ground.
"Hah... hah..."
After a moment, Gray ran back from the distance.
He gazed at the motionless Racer encased in ice.
"There are still five more like him," Gray sighed, wiping sweat. "The Dark Guilds of the Balam Alliance are truly formidable."
Lyon panted heavily, weakly adding, "If anything, it's more shocking that Erza from your guild managed to solo Midnight in such a short time. She's a monster..."
"We're used to it..." Gray shrugged.
Lyon stared at the unconscious Racer and couldn't resist grumbling, "If you want speed, just improve yourself properly. Thinking 'slowing others down equals speeding yourself up'—what a ridiculous notion. Cheater."
After recovering some stamina and Magic Power, Lyon looked up at the sky of the cavern.
The two Dragon Slayer Mages were still battling fiercely above.
"Should we help him?" Lyon asked.
Gray shrugged, then cupped his hands and shouted toward Natsu in the air:
"Hey—Natsu! Not done yet?! Just say the word! We can lend a hand!!"
Crouched on a high rooftop, scales and flames wreathing his body, Natsu twitched at Gray's yell.
He immediately sprang up roaring.
"SHUT UP! Go save Lucy and Wendy already! I'll finish this guy off in a sec!"
Seeing this, Gray spread his hands and told Lyon, "See? This guy never wants help in his fights. Let's go—there aren't many Oración Seis members left anyway. We need to find the girls."
Lyon stared speechlessly at Gray, then glanced upward.
Watching Natsu vigorously overpowering Cobra alone, he decided it likely wouldn't be a problem and said.
"Let's go then."
They began running toward the center.
"By the way..." Lyon asked as they ran. "When did that flame-breather get so strong?"
"It seems Ankh put Natsu through hellish training to unlock a new power," Gray explained.
"Oh... Doesn't that mean you've fallen behind?" Lyon smirked. "Have you considered begging your senior for help?"
"Shut up..."
Their voices and figures faded into the distance.
The poisoned Happy anxiously called out to Natsu from below, "Natsu! Should I help you? I can still fly!"
"Just rest if you're injured! Go with Gray and catch up to Wendy for treatment!" Natsu yelled back.
"How could I abandon you!" Happy cried.
Natsu bared his elongated fangs at Cobra, who stood battered atop his giant serpent, Cubellios.
Natsu's draconic vertical pupils gleamed with ferocity.
"Then let's finish this quickly," Natsu growled.
Cobra glared furiously at Natsu, venomous purple energy erupting around him.
His scaled arms coiled before his chest as he roared.
"Don't get cocky, brat! This final move will poison every organ in your body!!"
Natsu rolled his shoulders.
Explosive flames obediently shaped into massive dragon wings behind him.
"Ah... I'm getting used to this power now. Next move, I'll finish you."
"Dragon Secret Art!" x2
Their identical declarations thundered through the colossal cavern.