บท 238: Absolute Zero

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Worth Woodsea.

November, x784.

With Zero's defeat, the entirety of the Oración Seis had been defeated. Not only that, Jellal had been captured and ready to turn over to the authorities. The only down side was the fact that Nirvana had not stopped operations.

Even with no one controlling it, the Nirvana eventually broke free of Jura and Richard's trap. And after that, nothing they did stopped it for long. So, with the exception of Natsu, whose motion sickness would not allow it, and Sherry, who was still heavily injured, all the wizards in the alliance, minus Hibiki and Karen, who were trying to fix Hibiki's alignment change after being effected by Nirvana's first stage, were gathered in the palace atop Nirvana's back.

"So, does anyone know why Sherry's alignment switched back to normal?" Jura asked, looking at Ichiya with a bit of worry. "If so, maybe changing Hibiki back to normal will be easier."

Most of the wizards present shook their heads in confusion. Meanwhile, Wendy lowered her head while a blush crept onto her cheeks. Naturally, the female wizards present all noticed her abnormality.

"Oh~, it looks like Wendy knows something." Ultear said in a teasing tone as she smiled in Wendy's direction. "Why don't you tell big sister what you know?"

Ultear's comment drew everyone's attention onto the young, petite Dragon Slayer, causing her face to redden even more.

"Stop teasing her, Tear." Ur said in a reprimanding tone as she swatted at her daughter's arm. Then, she turned her focus onto Wendy and continued in a soothing tone. "Don't pay her any mind, Wendy. But we really need to know how we can help Hibiki. So, anything you can tell us would be really helpful."

Hearing Ur's kind and gentle tone, most of the wizards present nodded in agreement, with Sorano knocking Ichiya on the head when he tried to add to Ur's statement with his "gentlemanly" charm. The only exceptions were Gray and Carla.

'What the hell is going on?' Gray thought while looking at Ur in confusion. 'Who the hell is that? And what did she dow with Master? I mean, seriously, can Master even use a tone that gentle? Did the sun rise from the west today?'

While Gray could not believe what he was hearing out of Ur's mouth, Carla looked at both Ur and Ultear suspiciously.

'Are they trying to do the good knight, bad knight routine to make Wendy Lower her guard?' Carla wondered to herself. 'If they are trying to manipulate her, I'll..'

Unfortunately, Carla realized there was nothing she could do to two of the strongest wizards in this alliance. So, she started poutting with her eyes closed instead. Still, she would do all she could to keep Wendy from agreeing to something that would endanger her.

Meanwhile, Wendy was still standing there with her head lowered. However, after hearing Ur's tone, she clenched her fists and gathered her resolve.

"I think Sherry fell in love…" Wendy said in a small voice.

Luckily, everyone present had been enhanced by the magic power in their bodies. Otherwise, if they were built like normal civilians, they would have missed what it was that Wendy had to say.

"With who?" Sorano asked, leaning forward like someone who had picked up the scent of some juicy gossip.

"It was… um… Mr. ren…" Wendy replied nervously. "From what Mr. Eve told me, she was unstable due to her unrequited love. But Mr. Ren somehow convinced her to calm down when she was rampaging."

Hearing that, both Ur and Ultear sighed in exasperation. Then, they both glared at Lyon. Meanwhile, Lyon, after feeling his master and her daughter's glares, tilted his head in confusion while a bead of cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

'I don't know why they're looking at me like that.' Lyon thought to himself as he subconsciously took a step away from the two angry women. 'But I get the feeling I'm not gonna like what they have to say.'

"So basically, she went off the deep end because Lyon wouldn't be direct with her about how he felt, right?" Ultear asked in a scathing tone.

"*Sigh* It looks like both of my disciples will end up alone." Ur said in a disappointed tone. "Neither one of them can appreciate just how blessed they are when someone is so devoted to them."

"Hey, don't drag me into this." Gray said, raising his voice in protest. "Maybe if Juvia wasn't such a stocker, I wouldn't avoid her like that."

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

*Sneeze!*

At the same time, a certain blue-haired water mage sneezed in her sleep.

"Oh, my Gray, Juvia can feel… you thinking about her…" Juvia said in her sleep while tightly hugging a body pillow with images of Ur, Gray, and Ultear sewn into it and subconsciously grinding it between her legs.

Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Worth Woodsea.

An instant after making his statement about Juvia, Gray shivered. Then, he looked around warily. He even spread his [Magic Power Detection] instinctively.

While most people looked at Gray in confusion, Ur and Ultear smiled at him wryly, understanding exactly what was bothering Gray.

"Anyway, does that mean Hibiki was in love with someone who did not return his feelings?" Ichiya asked in confusion. "I know that he and Karen were a thing for a while, Men~, but they broke that off years ago."

"And considering what kind of major bitch she was back then, Karen was probably leading him on, anyway." Sorano added.

"Could your watch you language, please?" Carla said, her paws resting on her hips as she glared at Sorano. "Wendy does not need to be corrupted with language like that."

"Carla~~…" Wendy whined. "Stop treating me like a baby…"

Ignoring Wendy's protest, Carla continued to glare at Sorano. Instead of being intimidated or even apologizing, however, Sorano simply smiled at the adorable, little, white, talking cat.

"Anyway, how do we turn Hibiki back to normal?" Jura asked, putting an end to the little staring match. "I doubt he will fall in love with anyone present."

"That won't be necessary." Karen said as she, followed by Hibiki, strolled into the Nirvana control room.

While Karen wore her usual resting bitch face, Hibiki looked around awkwardly. Then, when he made eye contact with Sorano, he turned his head away in embarrassment.

In fact, he had already gotten over the issue with Sorano almost killing Karen nearly a year ago. But the unrequited love had been tearing at him for years. And Sorano was simply the nearest outlet when his alignment began to flip flop.

As for how Karen managed to talk Hibiki back onto the right path, for some reason, everyone in the control room felt as though it was better if they never found out after seeing the slightly fearful glint in Hibiki's eyes whenever they fell on Karen.

"Well, now that that issue is taken care of, we still need to do something about Nirvana." Jura said, changing the subject once again. "Even without a controller, it is still moving in a certain direction. Does anyone have an idea where it's going."

Once again, Wendy seemed to have the answer to the question. This time, however, she looked much more frightened when she responded.

"I think…" Wendy mumbled in a scared tone. "I think.. it's… it's… heading towards… Cait Shelter."

Hearing that, everyone was surprised. Unsurprisingly, however, Carla had the most explosive reaction.

Spreading her wings with her [Aera Magic], Carla quickly flew out one of the holes in the walls. Then, she flew high up into the sky and looked in the direction the Nirvana was walking. Recognizing the familiar part of the mountain range, Carla's eyes widened in horror. Then, she flew back into the control room even faster than when she left.

"Wendy is right!" Carla shouted in panic. "We have to stop it, otherwise, Our home and all our family will be destroyed."

Hearing Carla's confirmation of her thoughts, Wendy broke down into tears.

"The question is, how do we stop it?" Lyon asked, a serious expression on his face.

Not only Lyon, but everyone's expression turned into something much more solemn.

"Actually, there is a way." Hibiki said, his [Archive Magic] screens floating around him.

Upon hearing Hibiki's words, everyone's attention shifted to him instantly.

"On the base of each leg, there is a giant lacrima providing Nirvana with energy." Hibiki continued.

"So, we just have to destroy them then, right?" Gray asked.

"Although that's correct, it's not so straight forward." Hibiki replied. "From what I can tell, if one is destroyed, the other five will work together to repair the damaged one."

"Then, we just have to destroy them at the same time." Ichiya said, posing in a "handsome" way. "Men~! With Hibiki back on our side, that should not be an issue. AS long as we work together,---"

*Smack!* x 2

As Ichiya spoke, from his position between Ur and Sorano, Ichiya tried to grab the hands of the people on either side of him to show a sign of solidarity. Unfortunately for him, both Ur and Sorano slapped his hands away without hesitation.

"Keep your hands to yourself, you little gremlin." Ur said coldly.

"If you ever try to touch me again, Ichiya, I'll let my [Hammer Angel] help give you a prostate exam." Sorano said in a venomous tone.

While most of the men in the room involuntarily clenched their butt cheeks at Sorano's threat, Ichiya seemed to be completely unbothered.

"Ladies, there's no need to be so shy." Ichiya said, putting on what he considered to be his most charming smile. "Instead, we should sit down for a cup of tea and---"

"Shut up!" Ur and Sorano shouted simultaneously, interrupting Ichiya's usual antics.

"Either way, Ichiya is correct." Jura said, once again putting an end to an awkward conversation. "With Hibiki back on our side, we should have no issue coordinating our attacks to destroy the lacrima at the same time."

With that, most of the wizards in the control room nodded their heads. The only exception was Ur.

"Actually, that shouldn't be necessary." Ur said with a smile. "If you get everyone off this thing's back, I should be able to destroy it by myself."

Hearing that, everyone looked at Ur in astonishment.

"Ur, are you sure?" Jura asked, his expression growing solemn. "If you're unable---"

"If I'm unable to do it, we'll still have a shot to do it the way you suggested." Ur said, cutting off Jura's attempt at dissuading her. "But for that to work, you had better get moving quickly."

With Jura maintaining eye contact with Ur for a few seconds after her declaration, the tension in the air was palpable. However, Jura was eventually the first to break eye contact.

"Very well." Jura said as he started walking towards the control room's exit. "We'll hurry. At least we'll have more than one chance to get this right."

Nodding in response, Ur smiled.

"Though I seriously doubt you all will get a chance to act, having a backup plan is always a good thing." Ur said in a confident tone.

With that, the other wizards in the control room quickly left. Then, they relocated all the captured dark wizards on Nirvana to the ground and took some distance from the walking weapon of mass destruction.

Meanwhile, Ur monitored everyone's movements with her [Magic Power Detection]. Then, when she felt they were all far enough away, she spoke into the mental link with Hibiki.

"Alright, I'm starting." Ur said through the [Telepathic Link].

{"Good luck, Miss Ur."} Hibiki replied. {"Just in case it's necessary, I'm already directing Jura, Ichiya, Ultear, Sorano, Natsu, and Gray to positions where they can attack the six lacrima from."}

"Understood." Ur said with a nod. "Just make sure they don't get too close."

{"Will do."} Hibiki replied.

With all the conversation out of the way, Ur flared her magic power to its limit. As a result, the air around the Nirvana began shaking due to the pressure Ur's magic power put on her surroundings.

Feeling the incredible amount of magic power at Ur's disposal, everyone in the area was astonished.

"Did she even need our help on this quest?" Jura asked in amazement. "I would have never imagined she was so far ahead of me in terms of power. She's at least on par with Master Makarov. She might even be comparable to the Gods of Ishgar."

Meanwhile, back in the control room, Ur was weighing her options regarding which spell to use.

"I was thinking of using the spell Tear and Gray seem to favor, [Ice Age]." Ur muttered to herself. "But I don't think that will be enough. *Sigh* I'll have to use my version, then. Though, it will probably take a few years for this part of the Worth Woodsea to thaw out again."

A moment later, everyone watching Nirvana make its way towards the Cait Shelter guild, was dumbfounded when it stopped in its tracks. Then, their eyes and mouths opened as wide as they could when Ur's voice drifted into their ears along the wind.

"[Absolute Zero]."

A moment later, a loud cracking sound could be heard echoing over the area. Then, Nirvana's surface area was covered in what seemed to be hairline fractures from the distance where everyone was watching. However, those cracks quickly spread to the surrounding trees and ground.

*Shatter!*

Before a few more moments could pass, everything affected by Ur's spell broke down into ice dust. On top of that, the entire area was radiating a level of cold that would be instantly lethal to anyone weaker than an S-Class wizard in strength.

And for the first time in his life, Ichiya felt that agitating a woman with his "gentlemanly" behavior was not worth the backlash.