As the smoke cleared, following Gildarts's gaze, the shattered ground, broken like tofu, was empty save for a conspicuously vertical hole in the center.
At the moment the spell hit, she used her Celestial Spirit power to subtly evade the damage?
Pretty good reflexes. No wonder that brat Chase dared to bet with me.
Just as Gildarts was thinking this, a golden light flashed ahead. The robust, suit-clad Capricorn shot out at high speed.
Realizing that mere trickery wouldn't win against Gildarts, Lucy had finally chosen the only option left: confronting him head-on!
BAM!
Gildarts raised his bent arm, steadily blocking Capricorn's powerful kick, propelled by the momentum of his charge.
"I remember you. The post-war meeting mentioned you. You're one of the Seven Kin, Cardo... something, right?"
"I am now Lucy-sama's Celestial Spirit. And my name is Capricorn!"
As he seriously corrected him, Capricorn was also shocked by the terrifying power transmitted through the man's arm.
It felt like kicking a steel plate—impossible to budge.
But he didn't retreat. He quickly changed his technique, chopping sideways with his hand as a blade.
In terms of pure close-quarters combat ability, he was in a league of his own among the twelve Zodiacs, and even the entire Celestial Spirit World!
Unfortunately, a Celestial Spirit's cap was constrained by the summoning mage's magic power. Even with his skills maxed out, he couldn't inflict any damage on Gildarts. Instead, he was completely suppressed.
"Give up. Your timing is precise, but your power is too weak."
"My orders are not to defeat you, though," Capricorn said with a slight smile. He took Gildarts's punch directly with his body, then used all his strength to tightly wrap his arms around the man's.
"Open! Gate of Taurus, Taurus!"
The next second, a berserk aura erupted. The humanoid bull Taurus leaped from behind Capricorn, rapidly spinning his extremely heavy battle axe.
"Ooh! Taste this all-out strike of mine, Lucy's examiner!!"
Taurus gripped his ax tightly and swung it down with tremendous force toward Gildarts's shoulder.
The cold glint of the ax blade reflected off Gildarts's face. He was completely unfazed. He released a magical storm, forcibly blowing Capricorn away, then raised his right hand to directly meet Taurus's axe.
WHOOSH!
The moment flesh met steel, the expected spray of blood didn't appear. Instead, the seemingly sturdy battle ax was disintegrated into fine dust!
After kicking Taurus away with one foot, Gildarts was about to press his advantage when he suddenly noticed that Taurus, along with Capricorn, had dissolved into specks of light and disappeared.
Were Celestial Spirits really that weak defensively?
A howling sandstorm interrupted Gildarts's confusion.
There, Lucy, now in her Scorpio Celestial Spirit Dress, stood amidst the swirling sand. Her high blonde ponytail swayed violently. The magical array in her raised palm had already accumulated a vast amount of energy.
Not just the goat man, but that cow too... were they both meant to distract me?
A double feint?
Gildarts instantly analyzed Lucy's entire attack plan. A rare look of appreciation appeared on his face.
But that was as far as it went.
As a Celestial Spirit mage, personally participating in a fight against a strong opponent was a very dangerous thing.
"Sandstorm: Laser Cannon!"
The charged laser beam shot from Scorpio Lucy's palm, heading straight for Gildarts.
The gale-force wind made his tattered cape flap loudly. Gildarts slowly raised his hand and casually flicked out a blinding white light.
The seemingly soft white light directly pierced through the laser beam, internally segmenting it into a dense grid visible to the naked eye, completely erasing all its energy.
But that wasn't all. The white light rapidly spread forward, directly hitting the caught-off-guard Lucy!
BAM!
The faint light exploded like a fleeting firework in the spacious underground space.
Lucy vanished into thin air!
"S-she disappeared?" Éclair's eyes widened in disbelief, her face pale.
"To go this far... even for a strict trial, killing someone is too much!" Momon shouted indignantly.
"Don't worry. That spell doesn't endanger life," Gildarts said with a smile, pointing upward.
Tiny, thumb-sized Lucys were raining down from above, so numerous that they quickly piled into several small hills at Éclair and Momon's feet.
"Ahhh! What just happened? Th-there are so many me!"
"Get up, me! You're crushing me!"
"Wait, you all have independent consciousness? That's somehow really gross!"
"Don't complain about yourself!"
A barrage of sharp complaints blended together, amplified by Lucy's unique loud voice. Éclair and Momon, who had been worried sick moments ago, felt like their heads were about to explode.
Even Gildarts silently covered his ears.
"Ahaha. The first thing you do in this state is complaining about yourself, huh?"
He laughed and shook his head. Then, his expression turned serious as he looked at the Lucys and spoke in a deep voice. "So, Lucy, what are you going to do?"
"Are you given up outright, or are you going to have me beat all of you up and then give up?"
No one had ever been able to fight back after being hit by this spell.
"Of course—" The tiny Lucys stopped bitching and simultaneously pulled out their Celestial Spirit keys. "—neither!"
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH.
Countless miniature magical arrays formed.
Gildarts was about to remind her that her magic power had been split into countless pieces, a condition that would also affect any summoned Celestial Spirits, when he noticed that the miniature arrays were only spewing out harmless pink wool mist.
His vision was soon completely obscured by the pink mist. Gildarts stood with his arms crossed, motionless.
He was suddenly curious about what Lucy was trying to do.
Ding dong!
The sound of Celestial Spirit magic suddenly rang from deep within the pink mist.
"Open! Gate of Sagittarius! Celestial Spirit Dress, take it!"
A gale-force wind swept through, dispersing the thick mist and revealing the scene within.
Gildarts's gaze sharpened. For the first time, an incredulous expression appeared on his face.
It wasn't because Lucy, now in her turquoise Celestial Spirit Dress, bow in hand, could pose any threat to him. It was because...
"My disintegration magic... failed?"
Standing before him now was a fully restored, intact Lucy!
Gildarts furrowed his brow.
Though it wasn't a particularly destructive spell, and he hadn't used even a tenth of his magic power...
Even so, in such a short time, without understanding the principle of disintegration magic, Lucy shouldn't have been able to crack it!
"Star Shot!"
It wasn't until several streaks of arrow light howled toward him that Gildarts snapped out of his daze. He silently cursed his carelessness.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The huge explosions from the light arrows completely engulfed him, unable to dodge in time.
"Hehe. Don't forget, Gildarts. I have super reliable partners by my side!"
The corner of Lucy's mouth turned up in a brilliant smile.
Beside her, Éclair was panting heavily. A faint glow flickered at the tip of the white staff in her hand.
That's right. The one who had nullified Gildarts's disintegration magic was her Silent Magic, learned from Silent Magician!
"Reliable partners, huh? I see."
A storm dispersed the smoke. Standing on the shattered ground, Gildarts was completely unharmed, only having stepped back two paces from his original position.
Though he still wore a smile, the magical aura radiating from him had qualitatively changed. He looked like an asura from hell.
"Please allow me to properly apologize. I did underestimate you a bit. So, from now on..."
"I'll get a little serious."
***
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