"Come to think of it, that Celestial Spirit earlier transformed into Mr. Ichiya."
Jura looked at the two identical Lucys before him. Recalling Sorano's earlier words, he said gravely, "It seems to have the ability to copy a target's appearance, thoughts, and even their magic."
"How rude. Taking someone's likeness without permission like that."
Ichiya cupped his face with one hand and flicked his flowing hair back with force. "But... considering how good your taste is, I forgive you."
He was referring to being copied himself—not Lucy.
"Exactly. That's the Celestial Spirit I possess—Gemini of the Zodiac!" Sorano had regained her initial composure and was no longer in a rage.
After Gemini successfully analyzed and copied Lucy, she had obtained unexpected information. It turned out the blonde woman, who looked as weak as a grunt, possessed a full six Zodiac keys—including the most powerful, Aquarius and Leo!
Most importantly, there was Celestial Spirit Dress—an advanced Celestial Spirit magic even she didn't know about!
If she could take all those keys and master Celestial Spirit Dress, she wouldn't have to fear anyone—not Chase, not Jura!
Arrogant men... I'll make you pay dearly.
Sorano narrowed her eyes, thinking to herself. She completely dismissed the "grunt" Lucy, who was supposed to be her opponent.
"Copying my appearance... that really pisses me off!"
After a brief moment of shock, Lucy decisively pulled out a Gold Key. "Open! Gate of Taurus, Taurus! "
Through her recent training and growth, she had accumulated some combat experience. She wanted to test just how far the "copying" Jura mentioned could go.
Ding-dong. A golden magic circle lit up, and from it emerged Taurus, a double-edged ax in hand, shouting, "Lady Lucy's figure is amazing!"
"L-Lady Lucy... there are two?!"
Seeing the situation, the perverted bull was at a loss at first, then overjoyed. "This is amazing! Is this heaven?!"
"No! She's a fake created by Gemini!"
Lucy emphasized loudly, pointing past Fake Lucy to Sorano behind her. "Taurus! Take down that woman!"
Perverted as he was, as a Celestial Spirit, Taurus naturally understood the situation. He raised his ax and charged at Sorano.
Faced with the charging muscular bull, Sorano showed no sign of panic. A faint smile lingered on her lips.
"Stop, Taurus. That's an order," Gemini Lucy stepped forward.
Taurus's movement came to an abrupt halt. He actually stopped his charge, his large body frozen in place!
"Don't listen to her! She's a fake—a fake!" Lucy thought the perverted bull still couldn't tell who was real.
But in truth, no matter how hard Taurus struggled, he couldn't control his own body. "N-no good, Lady Lucy! Her commands... work on me too..."
"Even the contract effect on summoned Celestial Spirits can be copied?!" Lucy was stunned.
Though her main goal had been tested, this fact was still hard for her to accept.
While she was in shock, and since Celestial Spirits couldn't harm their contractor, Gemini Lucy on the opposite side continued giving orders. "Help me take out those three annoying guys over there~"
"Da-damn it... how could I listen to a fake like you!"
Taurus gritted his teeth, fighting against his uncontrolled body. Through sheer force of will, he turned his steps back toward Chase and the others.
"Is that so? Even then, you still think I'm a fake?"
Without any warning, Gemini Lucy—who knew the relationships and personalities of the Celestial Spirits—grabbed the hem of her shirt with both hands and lifted it in front of Taurus, giving him a little fanservice.
"OOOOOH!!!" Taurus's eyes turned into hearts. His strong willpower instantly crumbled, and he turned and charged at Chase and the others.
"Don't do such perverted things with my body aaaaaah!!"
Lucy, feeling it viscerally, was bright red as she held down her own clothes. She hadn't expected the enemy to resort to such a dirty trick to deal with Taurus.
"Is that some kind of special command for Celestial Spirit mages?" Jura, the upright man, showed no reaction, analyzing the reason for Taurus's sudden defection with a frown.
"Maybe it's... lifting up her clothes to make the scent stronger?" The not-so-upright Ichiya solemnly offered an answer that clearly wasn't correct.
Having passively received this benefit, Chase remained silent—only inwardly remarking how glad he was that he hadn't exposed Sorano in front of the entire allied force...
As for Taurus, who had charged up close, none of them paid him much mind. Not only because an opponent of this level posed no threat to them, but also for another reason.
"Taurus—Forced Closure!"
Lucy naturally couldn't stand by and let Taurus hurt her teammates. Nor would she use the same method to control Taurus.
She felt her own specialty—seduction—was just too low-class.
"Sorry, Lady Lucy." Taurus turned into golden specks of light and gradually faded away.
"Now then... I won't give you the chance to control my Celestial Spirits to attack—"
Having learned the extent of Gemini's abilities, Lucy's expression grew serious. Just as she was about to use Celestial Spirit Dress and join the fight herself, a blue light suddenly appeared deep in her pupils.
BOOM!
A laser cannon shot out, exploding a pitch-black crater in the area where Lucy had been standing.
A machine floating cannon reminiscent of some ancient artifact hovered beside Sorano. That was the Silver Key—Caelum.
Seeing Lucy interrupt her magic and jump away just in time, Sorano let out a slight sound of surprise. "You dodged?"
Though Gemini Lucy could re-summon Taurus, who had returned to the Celestial Spirit World, there wasn't much point in doing so.
From beginning to end, her goal had been clear: strike first, defeat Lucy, take the keys, and break the current seemingly impossible situation.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Seeing her sneak attack fail, Sorano had Caelum start bombarding Lucy relentlessly.
With no time to use Celestial Spirit Dress, Lucy could only run around, trying to avoid the dangerous laser attacks.
"What's wrong? You spoke so arrogantly about defeating me, but is this all you've got?" Sorano tried to distract Lucy with words.
Lucy had no time to answer. Using the forest on the side of the path for cover, she fled with her head down.
Wherever the lasers hit, explosions rang out, kicking up smoke and fire.
"The situation's getting a bit problematic. It's only a matter of time before she gets hit."
Watching the lasers getting closer and closer to Lucy, Jura looked at Chase with a grave expression. "Aren't we going to act yet?"
The Oración Seis members were all extremely dangerous individuals. There was no need to talk about honor when dealing with such villains—just gang up on them.
He couldn't understand why Chase was so confident letting Lucy fight alone.
"Like I said before. I trust Lucy."
Chase's eyes narrowed. He noticed the pattern in Lucy's escape route.
At the end of it was a small pond mixed with mud and sand.
This little sister of mine... her observation and judgment have improved quite a bit too...
BOOM!
As the final laser cannon exploded, Lucy used the shockwave to launch herself toward the pond, simultaneously pulling out the Gold Key she had prepared earlier.
"Open! Gate of Aquarius, Aquarius! "
A magic circle expanded, and Aquarius—with her human torso and fish tail—appeared with a scowl.
Before Aquarius could even speak, Lucy was already shouting: "Do it, Aquarius! It doesn't matter if it washes me away too!"
With her Celestial Spirits being controlled and no time to use Celestial Spirit Dress, the best solution was clearly Aquarius—who attacked indiscriminately, even against her own "master."
If she could drive Gemini back to the Celestial Spirit World, she could go all out without worrying about her summoned spirits being dominated.
Figuring out how to exploit Aquarius's short temper during the escape was precisely what Chase was praising her for.
"My target is you in the first place!" Summoned from the dirty pond, Aquarius looked vicious as she raised her water urn.
In an instant, a raging tide surged up.
"I'm the primary target here?!" Lucy shouted.
"Open! Gate of Scorpius, Scorpio! "
A sudden flash of golden light interrupted Aquarius's water magic incantation.
"Scorpius? Another Zodiac spirit?" Lucy stared in disbelief at the uniquely designed male Celestial Spirit emerging from the magic circle.
Then, something even more unbelievable happened.
"Scor~pi~o~"
Aquarius abruptly lowered her water urn and literally pasted herself onto him, her demeanor as lovesick as Juvia's.
That gentle, well-behaved appearance made Lucy—who had suffered countless beatings from Aquarius—widen her eyes. Th-this... this is the brutal woman I know?!
"Ooh, long time no see, Aquarius-chan~"
"Mm~"
"I've been so lonely... I've missed you so much~"
After just a couple of exchanges, Lucy formed a suspicion. "Could it be... the 'boyfriend' you mentioned is—"
"Mm~ that's him. Such a man~"
"PFFFT!!!"
Under Aquarius's murderous glare that clearly said "say one more word and I'll drown you," Lucy just trembled in place, not daring to offend her.
And so, the two of them, reeking of love's sour stench, returned to the Celestial Spirit World right before Lucy's eyes.
"Someone who can't even understand the relationships between Celestial Spirits can never defeat me."
Sorano walked forward, verbally mocking Lucy while keeping most of her attention on Chase in the distance.
Snapping out of the shock Aquarius had given her, Lucy noticed that Gemini had already vanished. Caelum floated midair, charging energy.
"You can't control my Celestial Spirits anymore, can you?" Lucy countered.
Guessing that Gemini's transformation probably had a time limit, she seized this perfect opening to open the Gate of Leo and switch into her Leo Celestial Spirit Dress, ready to end the fight quickly alongside Loke.
Celestial Spirit Dress... so it really is a
more advanced Celestial Spirit magic...
It was only upon seeing the Celestial Spirit power radiating from that black dress that Sorano finally narrowed her eyes and began to truly take Lucy seriously.
Even so, the sarcastic look on her face did not fade.
"So you really didn't hear me clearly, did you? Open! Gate of Aries, Aries! "
Pink mist swirled around as the adorable, soft Aries was summoned.
"Aries?!" Loke's pupils contracted.
"I'm sorry, Leo," Aries said.
"Aries... isn't that Karen's Celestial Spirit?!" Lucy was equally shocked.
When they had saved Loke before, she had learned that Aries belonged to Karen Lilica, the deceased Blue Pegasus mage.
"What's there to be shocked about? That stupid woman Karen insisted on keeping both gates open while fighting me, practically begging to die. This trophy naturally belongs to me now."
Sorano revealed the truth with an indifferent expression. "And soon, all of your Celestial Spirits will belong to me too!"
"So you were the one who..." Lucy was too shocked by this revelation to even think about attacking.
Knowing full well the history between Loke and Aries, she wanted to forcibly close Leo's gate and send Loke back. But Loke refused, saying, "Celestial Spirits exist to fight for their masters."
Thus, due to their differing positions, former close friends now turned their clenched fists against each other, engaged in a desperate battle.
Just as the kind-hearted Lucy was still thinking about how to stop them, Sorano seized the perfect moment and ruthlessly blasted through both of them mid-struggle.
"Trading away a useless piece of trash for the strongest Zodiac spirit... what a bargain." Sorano smiled expressionlessly.
As Loke vanished into countless specks of light, his face full of apology, Lucy's Celestial Spirit Dress faded away, returning her to her normal clothes.
Lucy didn't care about that at all. She looked at Sorano and shouted angrily, "How can you do that to your own Celestial Spirits? What kind of Celestial Spirit mage are you?!"
Having her appearance copied and using relationships between spirits were things she could accept.
But deliberately harming her own Celestial Spirits—this was something Lucy, who deeply loved her own spirits, could not tolerate!
"What are you getting so worked up about? It's not like Celestial Spirits can actually die." Sorano shrugged indifferently.
"Even so, they still have basic feelings and emotions!!"
"Feelings and emotions? Are you joking? They're nothing but tools to defeat enemies!"
WHOOSH!
That sentence enraged Lucy beyond measure. Golden magic power continuously erupted from within her.
A stream of light inscribed with Celestial Spirit runes enveloped her, from which emerged a blue-white combat outfit and twin red blades.
"Someone like you... is absolutely unforgivable!"
Lucy, now in her Cancer Celestial Spirit Dress, had sharp eyes. No longer afraid of the enemy's strength or her status as a member of Oración Seis, all she wanted was to beat her to a pulp!
"You're just a rookie..." Sorano's breath caught. Her face filled with gloom.
She could feel a distinctly ominous presence emanating from the golden-glowing woman before her!
It was hard to accept, given that she had dismissed Lucy from the very beginning. Just as she was about to have Caelum fire its fully charged attack, a flurry of sword slashes came flying at her.
Though her excellent combat instincts made Sorano dodge just in time, her feather coat didn't survive—it was sliced in two and scattered to the ground.
Finally, it was Oración Seis's turn to provide some fanservice.
Unfortunately, no one on the scene cared.
SWISH, SWISH, SWISH, SWISH!
The sharp blades sliced through the flurry of white feathers. Lucy, now up close, swung her twin blades in a fierce, extremely rapid assault.
At this moment, the weakness of a summoner-type mage became clear:
Even though her magic power was superior, Sorano—lacking any real combat ability of her own—retreated step by step, frantically dodging for her life!
***
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