The moment the magic power converged, Gray slapped his fists together and launched the first attack.
"Ice-Make: Lancers!"
Dense ice arrows shot from the modeling magic circle, leaving icy trails in the air as they targeted Natsu and Lucy.
Already well familiar with this move, Natsu and Lucy quickly dodged. The ice arrows constantly landed in their paths, exploding into crystalline ice shards.
Lucy leaped out of the attack range. As she landed gracefully, golden light flashed. She opened the Gate of Taurus.
"In return for that sneak attack earlier—"
Switching to her black-and-white cow-print Taurus Celestial Spirit Dress, she clenched her fist and slammed it into the ground. "Earth Wave!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The earth trembled. The impact of her monstrous strength shot straight toward Gray. Wherever it passed, rocks and soil shattered inch by inch, giant trees toppled, exposing the thick roots buried deep in the soil!
"For Lucy to be able to launch an attack of this level is pretty impressive. But—" The corner of Gray's mouth twitched up slightly. The moment before the Earth Wave reached him, he raised both palms and struck out an ice magic array. "—the trajectory is still too straightforward!"
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH.
The shattering ground instantly stopped, frozen solid by the ice.
"What are you looking around for, you bastard Gray!"
Almost simultaneously, blazing flames suddenly filled Gray's vision. Natsu's Fire Dragon's Iron Fist landed squarely, sending him flying.
"Haha! This year's S-Class mage is definitely going to be—"
Before his arrogant victory speech could finish, he was interrupted by a gale-force wind rushing in from the side.
"Taurus: Lucy Kick!"
Lucy flew in with a kick, distorting Natsu's face. The impact of her monstrous strength exploded.
Hit hard, Natsu flew backward, tracing an arc through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.
"Don't forget. You've got more than one opponent, Natsu~" Lucy landed safely, smiling smugly.
Then, the next second, her smile vanished.
"Ice-Make: Ice Geyser!"
Gray, having fought his way back, assumed the starting stance for his Ice-Make magic.
WHOOSH!
An ice geyser erupting from under her feet sent Lucy flying, tossed wildly into the air.
Before Gray could rejoice in his success, fire flickered from another direction.
Natsu leaped high, using the momentum of his run. Flames continued to compress and condensed around his fists.
"Merging the flames of my left hand and right hand... Fire Dragon's— "
"—Blazing Flame! "
"Don't think so! Ice-Make: Ice Shield! "
Having learned his lesson, Gray reacted very quickly. He created a solid ice giant shield in front of himself.
CRASH!!
The massive fireball slammed heavily into the ice shield. The two opposing magical forces collided head-on. The scattered fire pillars burned the surrounding trees to ashes. The spreading cold froze the other side.
Scalding steam continuously gushes, creating a violent alternating hot-and-cold air wave.
"Open, Gate of Scorpio! Celestial Spirit Dress!"
Scorpio Lucy, who had been sent flying into the air by the ice geyser, adjusted her posture. Magic power gathered in her palms as she aimed below at Natsu and Gray. "Sandstorm Dance!"
WHOOSH!
A devastating sandstorm descended from the sky, dispersing the flames and cold, enveloping Natsu and Gray, sweeping across the entire battlefield.
The tornado gives the sand terrifying acceleration, turning them into countless tiny blades that swept through everything in the area with irresistible force!
The all-out attack was too violent. The sky-wide yellow sand reduced visibility to a minimum. Even Natsu and Gray had to stir up their magic power to protect themselves to counter the sandstorm's energy.
However, while their vision and mobility were suppressed, Lucy in her Scorpio Celestial Spirit Dress was in her element. She could freely shuttle through the sandstorm, sometimes hitting Natsu with a Lucy Kick, sometimes pounding Gray with a Lucy Iron Fist.
In her Scorpio state, her attacks weren't as strong as in her Taurus state. They didn't hurt that much, but...
"Dammit! Zipping around like that is so annoying!"
After receiving several big kicks, the short-tempered Natsu was the first to lose it. He roared, releasing blazing flames comparable to a volcanic eruption.
The reverse flaming storm counteracted the sandstorm's energy, forcibly tearing apart the yellow sand.
"There you are, you bastard Lucy!"
The moment his vision cleared, Natsu gathered all his flames above his head. "Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!"
The ground shattered under the pressure. Natsu transformed into a flaming sword and shot upward, heading straight for Lucy!
Lucy naturally knew how powerful this move was. She had already switched to her Aquarius Celestial Spirit Dress in advance. The Aquarius constellation pattern appeared on her collarbone.
"Water Historia!"
A massive column of water gushed from the glowing Celestial Spirit array. To put out a fire, you use water, of course.
Unfortunately, Natsu's dragon flames weren't ordinary fire magic.
Amidst the massive billowing steam, the flaming sword broke through with overwhelming force, pushing up against the water column.
"Hehe. You've gotten really strong, Lucy. I'm so happy~!" Natsu emerged from the exploding water, a brilliant smile on his face.
"Just charging right through like that... you really are a monster, aren't you?!" Lucy was startled.
That said, having successfully closed in, Natsu showed no mercy. He flipped over and delivered a Fire Dragon's Talon, knocking her out of the sky and sending her crashing hard to the ground.
"Ice-Make: Ice Hammer!"
As Natsu's original partner, Gray naturally couldn't stand by and watch the two of them go at it so hot. He struck out an Ice-Make array.
Natsu couldn't react in time. A huge ice hammer formed and smashed him back to the ground with the same motion, kicking up clouds of dust.
"Ow, ow, ow. Close-quarters combat with these two monsters is really too much..." Lucy slowly got up from the crater. Her gaze intentionally or unintentionally glanced toward the direction of the first master's grave.
A cool sensation came from her ankle. Looking at the cut-off stream slowly seeping into the crater, she finally remembered she was a Celestial Spirit mage.
A golden key spun between her fingers. Then she inserted it into the muddy water mixed with dirt and weeds.
"Open, Gate of Aquarius, Aquarius!"
Ding dong.
The mermaid-tailed Aquarius appeared. After glaring at Lucy with an extremely displeased and vicious look, she, without a word, raised the water-spinning treasure bottle high above her head.
"W-wait, Aquarius! At least let me—" Lucy regretted it immediately.
Regret was useless. Aquarius's indiscriminate attack, or rather, one specifically aimed at her, had already been launched.
"Hydro Shot!!"
A tidal wave howled forth, instantly flooding the entire battlefield. Natsu, Gray, and a screaming Lucy were all swept away.
This chaotic move of injuring herself 800 to damage the enemy 1000 completely disrupted the already tenuous three-way standoff.
***
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