POV: Elior
The valley erupted.
Light, Lightning and darkness collided in the center of the battlefield as Deliora charged straight toward us.
I moved first.
Light swallowed my body.
Laxus became Lightning.
For a moment, the three of us became nothing more than streaks of light and darkness tearing across the ruined valley.
Deliora's fist came toward me.
I slipped past it.
Laxus appeared from the opposite side.
"Lightning Dragon's Iron Fist!"
BOOM!
His fist slammed into Deliora's jaw.
The monster staggered.
I appeared above it.
"Light Sword!"
A blade of Light formed in my hand.
I swung.
SLASH!
The blade cut across Deliora's shoulder.
Holy Light burned through the wound.
Deliora roared and swung upward.
I dissolved into Light before the claws reached me.
The Light Sword in my hand broke apart into glowing particles.
A new one immediately formed in my palm.
I didn't even slow down.
I attacked again.
SLASH!
Another wound.
The sword dissolved.
Another appeared.
Deliora's eyes narrowed.
"You can create those endlessly?"
"Not endlessly."
I smiled.
"Just faster than you can break them."
Laxus appeared beside me.
"Less talking."
He launched himself forward.
Lightning exploded around his body.
"Lightning Dragon's Claw!"
His kick slammed into Deliora's ribs.
The monster stumbled.
I appeared behind it.
SLASH!
Holy Light burned through another wound.
Deliora roared and swung backward.
I disappeared.
Its fist missed.
But the shockwave still tore through the trees behind me.
I looked at the destruction.
My expression hardened.
I could feel it.
Not just Deliora's magic.
Something else.
The moment I had entered this valley, my magical perception had sensed traces of something I couldn't completely explain.
At first, I thought they were remnants of magic.
But they weren't.
They were impressions.
Fragments.
Echoes left behind by the people who had died here.
The more I fought Deliora, the clearer they became.
A mother calling for her child.
A man screaming for help.
Someone begging for mercy.
Children crying.
Voices fading into silence.
They weren't truly speaking to me.
They were remnants of emotions embedded into the land.
But I could feel them.
And I knew what had caused them.
Deliora.
My grip tightened around my Light Sword.
The anger inside me grew.
"Elior!"
Laxus's voice snapped me back.
Deliora's fist was already coming toward me.
I moved.
The fist passed inches from my face.
I appeared above Deliora and drove my sword downward.
SLASH!
The blade cut through its chest.
Holy Light erupted from the wound.
Deliora screamed.
I didn't stop.
I created another sword.
SLASH!
Another.
SLASH!
Another.
Every wound remained open.
Every cut burned.
Every strike was for the people whose lives this monster had destroyed.
Deliora roared and released a massive burst of dark magic.
I transformed into Light.
Laxus transformed into Lightning.
We escaped the explosion.
The valley shook.
Deliora stood in the middle of the destruction.
Its body was covered in glowing wounds.
Blood ran down its chest.
Its injured hand still hung damaged at its side.
It was breathing heavily.
But it was still standing.
"Why won't you die?!" Deliora roared.
I stared at it.
Because I could still hear them.
The dead.
The grieving.
The people whose lives had been ripped away.
The anger inside me became almost unbearable.
I wanted to destroy it.
Not defeat it.
Not stop it.
Destroy it.
Laxus appeared beside me.
"You okay?"
I didn't answer immediately.
Then I looked at him.
"Yeah."
He studied my face.
"You don't look okay."
"I am."
Deliora charged again.
Laxus intercepted it.
Lightning exploded around his body.
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!"
The attack slammed into Deliora's chest.
The monster's muscles locked.
Its body spasmed.
Laxus kept going.
Punch.
Kick.
Roar.
Lightning continued tearing through Deliora's body.
The paralysis became stronger.
For several seconds, Deliora could barely move.
"Elior!"
I understood.
I raised my hand.
"Enkidu."
Light Chains erupted from the ground.
One wrapped around Deliora's leg.
Another around its arm.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The chains wrapped around its torso and neck.
Deliora roared.
"What is this?!"
I pulled my hand downward.
The chains tightened.
Deliora tried to break them.
Several snapped.
More appeared.
I poured more magic into them.
"Stay."
The chains brightened.
Deliora pulled harder.
The ground beneath it cracked.
Laxus landed several meters away.
He was breathing heavily.
"It's slowing down."
I looked at Deliora.
"Not enough."
Laxus frowned.
"What?"
I stared at the monster.
"It's still too strong."
Deliora suddenly broke several chains at once.
It raised its fist.
Dark magic gathered around it.
"ENOUGH!"
The remaining chains shattered.
A massive wave of darkness exploded outward.
Laxus transformed into Lightning.
I transformed into Light.
Even then, the shockwave caught us.
Laxus crashed into the ground.
I was thrown through the air.
I stabilized myself.
And then I heard them again.
The voices.
The agony.
The crying.
The grief.
My eyes closed.
For a moment, I stopped thinking about the fight.
I stopped thinking about winning the examination.
I stopped thinking about proving myself.
I simply listened.
The voices faded in and out.
So many.
Too many.
People who would never return home.
People who had families waiting for them.
People whose final moments had been filled with fear.
My anger burned hotter.
Then suddenly…
It disappeared.
Not because I stopped caring.
Because I had reached the other side of anger.
My breathing slowed.
My heartbeat became steady.
The rage disappeared.
Everything became quiet.
Too quiet.
I opened my eyes.
Deliora was standing below me.
Laxus was slowly getting back up.
Gildarts and Ur were watching from a distance.
Everyone was looking at the battlefield.
But I wasn't looking at them.
I was looking at Deliora.
For the first time since the fight began, I felt completely calm.
I slowly rose higher into the sky.
Light surrounded my body.
Deliora looked up.
"What are you doing?"
I didn't answer.
I kept rising.
Higher.
Higher.
Until I was floating high above the battlefield.
My white hair moved gently in the magical wind.
My golden eyes looked down at Deliora.
The rage was gone.
There was no hatred in my expression.
Only certainty.
Deliora stared at me.
"What are you planning?"
I raised my left hand.
The air changed.
Light began gathering around me.
Gildarts looked up.
His expression slowly became serious.
"What is that?"
Ur's eyes widened.
"I don't know."
A strange pressure spread across the valley.
Not dark.
Not destructive.
Something purer.
Something overwhelming.
Even Gildarts felt the danger.
"This isn't ordinary Light Magic."
Ur looked at him.
"No."
She stared at Elior.
"It isn't."
The clouds above the battlefield began to move.
Slowly at first.
Then faster.
They parted.
Light poured through the opening.
Everyone looked upward.
The clouds split completely.
And there it was.
A gigantic sword of Light hanging in the heavens.
Its blade was enormous.
Far larger than anything Elior had ever created before.
It illuminated the entire valley.
The mountains.
The forest.
The battlefield.
Everything was bathed in white Light.
Gray stared upward.
"What… is that?"
Leon couldn't answer.
Ultear's eyes were wide.
Laxus looked up at the sword.
Then at Elior.
"El…"
Gildarts' expression became even more serious.
"That amount of magic…"
Ur stared at the sky.
"It's dangerous."
Even Deliora understood.
Its confidence disappeared.
"No."
It pulled against the remaining Light Chains.
The chains tightened around its body.
"No!"
Deliora's roar echoed through the valley.
It tried to break free.
The chains held.
Dark magic exploded from its body.
The Light Chains shook.
But they didn't break.
I remained floating above it.
Completely calm.
My left hand remained raised.
My right hand slowly lifted toward the enormous sword.
I looked down at Deliora.
Then I spoke.
"You have brought darkness upon this world."
My voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
Everyone heard it.
"Now… vanish beneath its Light."
Deliora's eyes widened.
The sword above me began glowing brighter.
I lowered my right hand.
"Divine Judgment."
The gigantic sword vanished from the sky.
There was no warning.
No sound.
No visible movement.
Within less than a millisecond—
WHAM!
The sword appeared inside Deliora's chest.
The enormous blade pierced straight through its body.
The valley fell silent.