"How dare you do that to Aries!"
Loke came charging back furiously, but was stopped by an outstretched arm.
"Leave this to me, Loke. You go back first." Lucy spoke slowly.
To avoid another situation like Aries, facing Future Minerva alone was the safest option.
"But."
Loke was about to say more when he suddenly paused, noticing the rare serious expression on Lucy's face.
After a few seconds of silence, he chose to trust her and dispersed into motes of light. "Understood."
"Celestial Spirits don't die, you know. Why make that kind of face?" Future Minerva said dismissively.
In her view, Celestial Spirits were nothing more than tools for Celestial Spirit Mages to use. Only by exploiting them to the fullest could they achieve maximum effectiveness.
Naive Yukino had failed to understand this, which was why she had been expelled from Sabertooth as a "weakling"!
"In Horologium's Celestial Spirit Dress, I have a partially independent space."
Lucy first answered the earlier question, then pulled out Virgo's key from Horologium's clock space.
"And someone like you could never understand the relationship between a Celestial Spirit Mage and her spirits."
DING DONG!
A Celestial Spirit magic circle spun to life, starlight gathering into a torrent of magical power that illuminated the entire water sphere.
Talking to someone like Minerva, who believed only in the strong, was useless. It was far more effective to just beat some sense into her!
"Second Origin Release! Open, Gate of Virgo, Virgo! And then."
"Triple Celestial Spirit Dress Form!"
With Leo and Horologium already active, two gold gates and one silver gate appeared behind Lucy.
The overlapping triple magic circles burst forth with dazzling light, enveloping her entirely.
Three pairs of fairy wings formed in the flowing light. Her black ribbon swayed with the turbulent water.
When she reappeared on the live broadcast screen, not only had her outfit drastically changed, but her tangible golden magic power had become surging and turbulent, stirring ripples throughout the water sphere!
The entire arena was stunned. Cheers rang out without pause.
"That's impressive. After unlocking Second Origin, she's able to balance the combined power of multiple Celestial Spirit Dresses now?" Mirajane rested her chin on her hand, impressed.
During the battle against the wounded Black Dragon on Tenrou Island, Lucy had used a combined Celestial Spirit Dress of Capricorn and Taurus, but that had been forced out by crisis, far less stable and powerful than this.
And she'd added Horologium, a Silver Key Spirit, to the mix!
"Interesting. Maybe I'll fight her after the Grand Magic Games."
Future Laxus curled his lips into a smile, clenching his fist with keen interest.
Inside the card, Lucy thought: I've been targeted by someone really dangerous?!
"Even so, it doesn't look like she can maintain it for long," Erza observed, spotting the flaw.
"That's more than enough!" Chase laughed heartily, absolutely confident in his idiot sister.
Behind him, Natsu, Gray, and the others wore equally bright, matter-of-fact smiles.
Inside the water sphere.
"This is the most powerful magic I can use right now, Minerva!"
Triple Dress Lucy crossed her arms. Starlight continuously gathered at the magic circle beneath her feet, with countless stars floating around her.
Under the influence of this magic power, the entire massive water sphere seemed to transform into a small planet made of condensed golden light!
The radiance was blindingly bright, but the excited audience couldn't bear to close their eyes. There was a crazed sense that it would be worth going blind just to witness this scene.
"So this is a one-shot, all-or-nothing move? On that point, we're in agreement."
Future Minerva faced the blinding golden light head-on. She slowly raised her arms into a strange pose and began chanting an ancient, obscure incantation.
"Iragudo... Ne... Vir... Bion... Dels..."
HUM HUM HUM!
Deep green spatial vortexes formed one after another, mixing with the countless stars like black holes, densely filling the entire water sphere and continuously devouring the golden light.
Thanks to this, the audience's eyes were saved, but their primal instincts kicked in. Their bodies trembled involuntarily from fear.
The energy waves from the collision between Celestial Spirit Magic and the Eighteen Demon Gods Magic pierced through the massive water sphere and spread in all directions.
The sky roared. Stones tumbled. The entire arena shook violently!
"Th-That water sphere is a magical construct. It should, shouldn't it..." the Pumpkin Head stammered.
Even as he said that, he had a bad feeling, one that was uncomfortably familiar. He instinctively stepped backward.
At the edge of the arena, he bumped into the Quartet Cerberus mages who had retreated there ahead of him.
"Leo's light shines across the sky! Virgo's power pulls the stars! Release all magic power as the clock turns!"
Triple Dress Lucy's eyes snapped open, blazing with golden light. "All-Sky Eighty-Eight Stars, Modified."
At the same time, Future Minerva completed her final incantation.
"TRIPLE URANO METRIA!!!"
"EL CONTINENTIAS!!!"
Countless pillars of light shot skyward from the stars. Deep within the spatial vortex, a ferocious battle god's phantom took form.
Before these two Ultra-Magics, the massive water sphere seemed utterly insignificant, shattering like foam in an instant!
BOOOOOOM!!!
The high-temperature energy that followed evaporated the flying water droplets. The earth-shattering explosion echoed through all of Crocus!
No one knew how long passed before the terrifying tremors finally subsided.
Looking out, the entire arena was thick with smoke. Remnants of energy occasionally leaked out, refusing to disperse.
Three massive light swords hovered at different positions, their dark golden barrier separating the arena from the audience stands into two completely isolated zones.
"The previous days' battles taught them nothing. The organizers really love causing trouble for others."
After that complaint, Chase raised his hand and snapped his fingers, dispelling Lightforce Sword. He used a card to send a proposal to Makarov in the guild seats. "Old man, we should charge them for this!"
Makarov, who had unleashed the Three Pillar Gods protective magic on the first day, lit up. That's right! Why didn't I think of blackmail, ahem, reasonably requesting compensation?!
Natsu and Gray: Damn it! This destruction maniac is showing off again!!
"Blocking a magical clash of that level so casually, you really are a complete monster," Future Laxus sighed heavily.
If it were him, he was confident he could contain the energy leakage from Lucy and Minerva's ultimate moves too, but not as effortlessly as Chase.
"So what was the result?" Juvia and the others were more concerned about what was happening on the field.
Without the light swords blocking the way, the thick smoke over the arena quickly dispersed.
On the scarred ground, two figures gradually came into view. One remained standing. The other lay prone on the ground.
A gentle breeze swept away the last dust obscuring their view.
"Oh my! The one standing is, the one standing is."
Chapati, who had lost his wig somewhere, gripped his microphone and shouted with tremendous excitement. "MINERVA!!"
Thunderous cheers erupted from the audience. Sabertooth's camp was ecstatic.
Future Minerva had lost all the elegance of her initial appearance. Her aura was depleted, her hair disheveled, her tight swimsuit tattered, revealing bloodied skin.
Even so, her expression remained proud and arrogant. "Heh, heheh. In the end, I win!"
"No way..." Mirajane covered her mouth, her face pale.
Natsu, Gray, and the others were frozen in disbelief.
Chase remained calm. He pulled a Nutrient Z from his cards and patted the dazed Wendy. "Don't just stand there. Get ready to heal Lucy."
"Wait, 'get ready' means...?" Erza noticed the smile at the corner of his mouth.
That was definitely not the reaction of someone whose side had lost!
"Of course, waiting for the referee to announce the result."
Chase looked toward the spot opposite Future Minerva, where Lucy lay on the ground in Aquarius's Celestial Spirit Dress. "Announcing our victory."
Everyone was astonished and confused.
"This is a competition event, not a battle event. That idiot sister of mine remembered that very clearly," Chase said with a satisfied smile.
Sure enough, just as the Pumpkin Head referee was about to declare Minerva the winner.
SPLASH!
Water made from special magic overflowed from the gap between Lucy and the ground. Not too much, not too little, just enough to completely envelop her!
That's right. She hadn't touched the "out of bounds" area. She had used Aquarius's power to protect a portion of the.
"TERRAIN"!
***
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