Natsu's lightning was decreasing in both length and power.
Even without shadow body, Gajeel should be able to just break out of Gray's ice like Ajeel or Kyria. Unless Gajeel is significantly weaker than them, which I doubt.
That's because Natsu had Laxus's power when he used it on Tenrou Island, and he was using it with his own power against Max. There's no reason he can't use lightning with his own power, which is now more powerful than Laxus.Natsu's lightning was decreasing in both length and power.
Compare his LFD against Precht, against Max, against Jiemma and Mars.It's power was decreasing.
Natsu even accepts it.
Also Gajeel didn't show it against Bloodman.So I think it disappeared.
That will be a headcanon without proof in the manga.Lightning isn't his inherent ability,it's like Natsu can use any DS element. If he could use it he would have surely used it against Hitoria God Serena to bypass the water barrier.
How is it headcanon? Natsu used up all the power that Laxus gave him after he roared at Hades. Every time he used lightning after that, it would have been with his own magical power.
True but if he really imbibed that ability he would have used it in Alvarez,at least it should have been stronger than his base where he fought in Base he could used this.And even if i agree with your theory then it means Natsu doesn't have that ability anymore.How is it headcanon? Natsu used up all the power that Laxus gave him after he roared at Hades. Every time he used lightning after that, it would have been with his own magical power.
Lightning would be stronger than his base, but weaker than his Dragon King spells. If Natsu really wanted to hit hard, he would just use a dragon king spell instead. FDK made LFD obsolete, but that doesn't mean Natsu has somehow forgotten how to use lightning. For Gajeel, his ISD is still very much relevant as the black iron form he used against Bloodman is really only useful in specific situations.
Um how? Kyria has better showings then Gajeel and Gray's ice is near Invel's which froze Natsu. Gajeels is getting frozen. Also Gray never went serious on her either.
Gajeel doesn't need to be outright better than Kyria, he just needs to be within the same ballpark. It's not just Kyria either. Ajeel broke out of Ice-Make: Silver. Natsu broke out of Invel's ice, and more importantly he also broke out of Gray's ice when they later fought. Gajeel broke out of Acnologia's crystal prison. I see no reason why he wouldn't be able to break out of Gray's ice. Gajeel would have to be significantly weaker than Ajeel to be unable to replicate something like this.
How? He can't scale to any of Kyria's feats unless he's as strong as her.Gajeel doesn't need to be outright better than Kyria, he just needs to be within the same ballpark. It's not just Kyria either. Ajeel broke out of Ice-Make: Silver. Natsu broke out of Invel's ice, and more importantly he also broke out of Gray's ice when they later fought. Gajeel broke out of Acnologia's crystal prison. I see no reason why he wouldn't be able to break out of Gray's ice. Gajeel would have to be significantly weaker than Ajeel to be unable to replicate something like this.
Gajeel would have a harder time breaking out of the ice than Kyria if he's weaker, but Gajeel is close enough to Kyria's level that he would be able to do it.
Kyria's DS ability is to cut through anything tho so her abilities are more suited to bypass magic like that.
Kyria would have an easier time cutting Gray's ice than Gajeel would, but you don't need to have Kyria's hax to break Gray's ice. Ajeel wasn't drying it out, and he didn't use the same thing when Gray tried to freeze him later on. When Ajeel used "thirst" against Gray's ice, the ice basically turned to sand. The ice wasn't turned to sand when Ajeel broke out of ice-make: silver. None of the ice really disappeared. You can see the shards of ice flying off from where Ajeel broke out. The anime versions of these scenes make it pretty clear that 2 very different things are happening.
The point is, Kyria can use her cutting ability to break it but Gajeel has zero cutting ability to dice magic so he doesn't have the necessary capabilities to break it.Kyria would have an easier time cutting Gray's ice than Gajeel would, but you don't need to have Kyria's hax to break Gray's ice. Ajeel wasn't drying it out, and he didn't use the same thing when Gray tried to freeze him later on. When Ajeel used "thirst" against Gray's ice, the ice basically turned to sand. The ice wasn't turned to sand when Ajeel broke out of ice-make: silver. None of the ice really disappeared. You can see the shards of ice flying off from where Ajeel broke out. The anime versions of these scenes make it pretty clear that 2 very different things are happening.
They can still break the ice with physical force. Melting the ice is just one way to deal with it. Again, the dragon slayers managed to break out of Acnologia's crystals. That should be just as hard as breaking out of Invel's or Gray's ice, if not harder. Of all the targets that Gray has frozen (being Ajeel, Natsu, Kyria, and Skarion), none of them were immediately knocked out. All of them managed to eventually break free from the ice. Gajeel would have to be significantly weaker than everyone I just listed for Gray to be able to end the fight like this. We've seen Gajeel match Bloodman's Ice Devil magic, so I can't imagine him being this much of a pushover in this fight.
Again, Gray used Ice-Make: Silver against Skarion after his zero longsword failed. It was his attempt at freezing over Skarion's attack that was turning the sea into ash, and the last attack he got off before he was defeated. I would argue that given it's sheer AoE and the fact that it does require Gray to be in his devil form to use, that it's Gray's best freezing attack.
On the contrary. I thought with how the fight between Natsu and Gajeel has went in the latest chapter, it seems clear that Mashima does not view the both of them as equals. There is a considerable difference between their fight, and the one between Gray and Natsu.
FDK Purgatory was one of the reasons Skullion decided to retreat. In round two of their fights with Diabolos, both Erza and Natsu manage to turn the tables on Kyria and Madmorl respectively. Just as Gray gets back to the ship and is set to join in, Skullion decides it's time to cut and run before fighting Gray again. He knew he was outmatched with his teammates weakened and Wendy neutralizing his offensive magic.
If he does resort to them, it would depend on which FDK spell Natsu employs to defeat Gajeel. There is an evident difference in the strength of the FDK techniques in Natsu's arsenal. FDK Demolition Fist failed to cause Madmorl to flinch, while Purgatory could at least put him down for a few seconds, only for Madmorl to quickly get back to his feet again with superficial burns.
Of course. Gray's insta-freezing feats are lacklustre, and I have rarely seen him pull that off on any decently strong character. He most commonly succeeds insta-freezing fodders like the grunts and foot soldiers on the enemies' side, but the strongest named character that I can recall him freezing were Tempester. However, that was an Etherious with a devil slayer attack. So the obvious slayer advantage has to be taken into consideration. Apart from that, it was probably Goumon from Avatar, whom he rescued Lucy from in the dungeon.
I see the main reason Skullion decided to retreat was seeing what Natsu and Erza did to Madmole and Kyria. Skullion really only made the comment about how Fairy Tail were actually strong after that. Up until that point, he considered FT to be pushovers. Natsu really only lost because of motion sickness and Erza lost because she was gimmicked by Kyria's mind control, so they never got a chance to see how powerful they really were. Gray on the other hand got to show pretty much all of his best abilities, and Skullion beat him.FDK Purgatory was one of the reasons Skullion decided to retreat. In round two of their fights with Diabolos, both Erza and Natsu manage to turn the tables on Kyria and Madmorl respectively. Just as Gray gets back to the ship and is set to join in, Skullion decides it's time to cut and run before fighting Gray again. He knew he was outmatched with his teammates weakened and Wendy neutralizing his offensive magic.
Those factors contributed to Skullion making a calculated decision to retreat as the odds were against his favour.
If he does resort to them, it would depend on which FDK spell Natsu employs to defeat Gajeel. There is an evident difference in the strength of the FDK techniques in Natsu's arsenal. FDK Demolition Fist failed to cause Madmorl to flinch, while Purgatory could at least put him down for a few seconds, only for Madmorl to quickly get back to his feet again with superficial burns.
I guess, technically, we can count that as a loss for Madmorl, similar to how Gray, Erza and Natsu lost to Skullion, Kyria and Madmorl respectively in their first fights. However, if Gray did fight Skullion a second time, he could very well turn the tables like how both Erza and Natsu did. Therefore, if Gajeel were to fall to an attack short of being as powerful as FDK Purgatory, but rather the level of a Demolition Fist, I would hesistate to put him Gray's level. If Mashima decides to let Natsu bust out a new FDK tech which he has not shown before, which is another possibility, I would be even more unsure.
Of course. Gray's insta-freezing feats are lacklustre, and I have rarely seen him pull that off on any decently strong character. He most commonly succeeds insta-freezing fodders like the grunts and foot soldiers on the enemies' side, but the strongest named character that I can recall him freezing were Tempester. However, that was an Etherious with a devil slayer attack. So the obvious slayer advantage has to be taken into consideration. Apart from that, it was probably Goumon from Avatar, whom he rescued Lucy from in the dungeon.
Gray, however, did froze a half-powered Mercuphobia's laser beam.
And I highly doubt any of Gajeel's ranged attacks possess the same potency as a laser beam from Mercuphobia, even when he was at half of his full power. So I think Gray can and should freeze some of Gajeel's spells, probably the roar and other projectile attacks that he expels from his body, but not really the physical ones. And most certainly not Gajeel's entire body.