Natsu suddenly grabbed Gray's arm, throwing him back towards Lucy and Happy. Natsu took a deep breath in and roared, a large amount of black flames shooting from his mouth.
Gray took a deep breath in and did the same, letting out a blizzard of purple ice.
"Ice Devil Rage!"
The two attacks collided, with Gray, Lucy, and Happy being blown back from the explosion. Natsu wiped his mouth and turned around, continuing to walk away.
"Dammit…even as a devil slayer, that's too much power…" Gray said as he stood back up. "That idiot really lost his mind…"
"No…I don't think he completely lost it." Lucy added. "We saw his power against those airships. This was nowhere near that. I think Natsu is subconsciously holding back against us."
"Then Natsu can still be snapped out of it!" Happy cheered.
"Happy, you said Gildarts knocked Natsu out to get him out of it. Then we just have to do that too!" Lucy said resolutely.
"Easier said than done. But we'll make it happen." Gray said. "I have a resistance to his heat so I'll get his attention. Lucy, support me from long range."
Lucy nodded.
"Right!"
Gray ran towards Natsu, with Natsu still ignoring them and walking mindlessly in one direction. He jumped in front of Natsu, and raised a hand up, causing Natsu to become encased in ice.
In the next moment, the ice shattered. Gray was blown back and looked at Natsu with surprise. Natsu gave Gray a look filled with feral rage and took a deep breath again.
Natsu let out another roar, this time shooting a ray of black flames at Gray. Gray charged up his own, but immediately realized what was going to happen and ducked to the ground in time. The beam shot just above his head and Gray rolled to the side, with Natsu moving his head along with the beam.
Gray prepared a counterattack but was set off balance by the shockwave from the huge dome-like explosions set behind him. Gray watched in complete awe as the mountains in the distance melted down.
"Uhhh Lucy?! I don't think he was holding back that time!" Gray exclaimed with noticeable panic in his voice. Natsu suddenly leaped at Gray with blinding speed. Gray jumped to the side as Natsu punched the ground with his fist covered in black flames. The ground suddenly erupted into a massive pillar of black flames that engulfed Gray.
Gray jumped from the pillar with nasty burns all across his body and landed on the ground.
"That wasn't even a direct attack and it did this much…If I wasn't a devil slayer, that would have killed me just now!"
Natsu began walking towards Gray, his fists ignited once again.
"Star Dress! Aquarius!"
Lucy's clothes began to glow and she changed her appearance. She was now wearing a zigzag design bikini top and miniskirt with Aquarius' zodiac sign on her collarbone.
A wave of water formed from beneath her feet, lifting her off the ground. Riding the wave, she sent the surging torrent towards Natsu and jumped to Gray's side.
The wave collided with Natsu, causing a huge cloud of steam to shoot up into the air. The two of them could see Natsu's shadow in the waves as he continued to walk towards them. Gray put his hand on the water, freezing it solid and encasing Natsu.
Lucy and Gray jumped back as Natsu broke free from the ice, this time ignoring them and continuing to walk away.
"How the hell did Gildarts knock him out in the first place?!" Gray questioned.
"Well, Natsu wasn't this strong back then." Happy pointed out.
"So we just have to knock out someone who is way stronger than Gildarts…okay. Although that might be possible. He's a lot faster than me but all of his attacks are linear. He's not thinking like the fighter Natsu is. He's more like a raging beast if anything."
"And we'll just exploit that opening!" Lucy added.
Gray took a deep breath in and ice began to form on his body, freezing his burns.
"Okay, time for round two."
Lucy nodded and her clothes began to glow again.
"Star Dress: Sagittarius!"
Lucy's outfit changed into a twin tailed green coat with sleeves that leave her upper chest and shoulders bare along with thigh high green boots with a golden trim. A golden, ornate bow appeared in her left hand.
Gray jumped into the air and took a deep breath in.
"Ice Devil Rage!"
Gray let loose a large purple blizzard from his mouth at Natsu. Natsu turned around as the blizzard collided with him.
"Gray…" Natsu said, standing firmly in the blizzard.
Gray landed on the ground and leaped at Natsu with a fist covered in a purple ice gauntlet.
"Ice Devil Zeroth Destruction Fist!"
Gray punched Natsu directly in the face. Natsu remained still, unfazed by the punch as Gray tried to push forward with it even more.
"Gggrraahh!" Gray shouted, causing Natsu to slide back slightly.
Natsu clenched both his fists and let out a massive shout, releasing a wave of black flames from his body that formed into a dome. Gray's body was sent flying from the blast, burying him halfway into the ground.
Gray winced in pain as his body was burned even more, but he quickly jumped out of the ground as Natsu charged at him. Natsu punched the spot on the ground where Gray was standing, with Gray barely able to move out of the way.
Three projectiles of light hit Natsu in the back. Gray watched as the projectiles didn't actually hit Natsu, but immediately burned away before reaching his skin. 'Wait…regular magic attacks don't work on him because they get burned away immediately?! Only my Ice Devil Magic has been able to touch him but that still wasn't enough!'
Natsu suddenly jumped up into the air and turned towards Lucy, taking a deep breath in.
"Lucy, get out of there!" Gray shouted. Suddenly a blue blur appeared next to Lucy, scooping her up off the ground as Natsu let out a roar, a black ray of flames coming from his mouth, narrowly missing Lucy as it carved the landscape behind them, seemingly splitting the land in half.
"Thanks for the save, Happy!" Lucy said as she dropped down next to Gray.
"Lucy, your attacks don't work because they burn away from Natsu's magic. Only my attacks are able to hit him because of my Devil Slayer property." Gray commented.
"Yeah, I figured as much." Lucy sighed.
"But even if my attacks land, I don't have enough firepower on my own to do any damage to him." Gray said.
"Then let's combine attacks!" Lucy drew her bow again and aimed it at Natsu. Gray nodded and formed a purple bow of ice in his hand.
"Ice Devil's Zeroth Destruction Bow!"
"Star Shot!"
One large arrow of ice with dozens of smaller arrows of light shot straight towards Natsu. The two attacks converged into one at a single point, creating a new attack entirely.
[Ice Devil's Zeroth Shooting Star]
The new attack collided with Natsu, creating an explosion of both light and ice. Natsu was blown back by the attack, his body launched into the air and falling far away from them.
Both Gray and Lucy stood back to back with the bows in hand, each with a smile on their face.
"We did it!" Lucy exclaimed.
Gray continued to look at Natsu who wasn't moving as he lay on the ground.
"Yeah…I think we did."
"G-guys…" Happy pointed towards Natsu who was now getting up from the ground. He hunched over, looking at both Gray and Lucy.
The smiles on Gray and Lucy's faces immediately vanished and they watched in horror as Natsu glared right at them.
His fist set ablaze, Natsu instantly closed the gap between them. He threw a punch at Gray, with Gray barely being able to block it with his arm covered in ice. The ice shattered, and he winced in pain as the bones in his arm shattered and he was sent flying, spinning uncontrollably until he landed face first into the ground.
Lucy jumped back as her body began to burn from being in close proximity to Natsu. Parts of her star dress were already turning into ash and her bow had long since melted.
Natsu reached towards Lucy aiming for her neck, only for his arm to be stopped as a figure landed right between them, grabbing Natsu's wrist.
"Well, well, well. It looks like I made it back on time."