"Three, two, one!"
At the command of the pumpkin head, Lucy and Ilina swung their hands to the right.
The lamp-shaped magical device began to spin under internal force.
"Choice!"
The device's rotation gradually slowed—Water... Fire... Wood... It finally stopped on the Wood field.
"The selection result is out. The battle stage is the Wood field, kabo!"
"Next, the entire arena will transform into a forest to serve as your battlefield. The time limit is thirty minutes," Chapati Lola announced.
Raizel rubbed his chin as he looked at the result.
"The Wood field... Feels more advantageous for Ilina's archery and mobility. Lucy might be more suited to the Water field if she has Aquarius."
"As long as one side loses the ability to fight within the time limit, they win, kabo. Then, the first match... begin!"
Dong!
As the bell rang, a flash of white light enveloped the arena, and Lucy and Ilina found themselves transported from the barren colosseum ground into a vast, dense forest.
The Magic Crystal screens meticulously recorded and broadcasted the images of Lucy and Ilina to the stadium.
"Here I go! Open, Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!"
"Moooo!" Taurus swung his giant axe, bringing it down on Ilina with immense force.
"It's Celestial Spirit Magic!!! And it's Taurus, one of the Zodiacs!!!" Chapati Lola yelled.
"Open, Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!"
"Moshi moshi! Piercing Shot!" Sagittarius appeared, saluted, and immediately fired an arrow at the retreating knight.
"Another!!! Another Zodiac Celestial Spirit!!! Amazing!" Chapati Lola cheered.
"Double gate openings, and so quickly at that! She can already be considered a very skilled Celestial Spirit Mage." Yajima nodded, quite impressed with Lucy's performance.
The arrow sliced through the air, heading straight for Ilina in the canopy.
"Lucy's been holding back. When did she learn to open two gates?" Raizel was surprised.
Lucy hadn't even unlocked her Second Origin yet, meaning she had increased her raw magical capacity entirely on her own.
"This is the result of Lucy's training!" Natsu grinned proudly.
"But it was Mr. Goat Capricorn who did all the work, Natsu," Happy munched on his fish while complaining.
Ilina, mid-air, reacted swiftly, drawing the bow from her back and firing an arrow in response.
The magical power-formed arrow collided with the Piercing Shot mid-air.
Boom!
The explosion and smoke obscured the view.
Only Lucy and Taurus, who was guarding her, remained on the field.
Sagittarius had already returned to the Celestial Spirit World. Lucy could open two gates now, but she couldn't maintain them for very long without draining herself.
"Where did she go?" Lucy covered her nose with her arm, scanning her surroundings.
Taurus raised his axe, remaining vigilant. During the explosion, Ilina had taken advantage of the chaos to hide in a tree with dense foliage.
A super ice arrow shot diagonally downward toward Lucy.
"Miss Lucy, dodge!" Taurus noticed in time and shoved Lucy out of the way. He blocked the arrow with his axe, but the power behind the ice arrow was immense.
Taurus was knocked to the ground by the impact, plowing a trench as wide as his back into the dirt.
"Taurus!"
"I'm fine, Miss Lucy!" Taurus felt a dull pain in his arms and back but gritted his teeth and rose to protect her.
"It's alright, you should return first!" Lucy commanded.
"Open, Gate of the Goat! Capricorn!"
"Again!!! Another Celestial Spirit from the Zodiac!!!" Chapati Lola's jaw dropped.
There were only twelve Zodiac keys in total, and Lucy had already revealed three of them in quick succession!
"Leave it to me, Miss Lucy." Capricorn emerged and leaped toward the tree where Ilina was perched.
As a master of martial arts, even the slightest movement could not escape his eyes and ears.
Ilina, of course, was not defenseless.
She charged a shot and fired another magical power arrow. Capricorn deflected it with one hand and closed in rapidly.
Ilina reacted swiftly, using her bow's limb to sweep horizontally, attempting to block the approaching Capricorn.
Unyielding in her offense, Ilina drew a short dagger from her boot and slashed at Capricorn's centerline with a forehand strike.
Capricorn reacted quickly, leaning back slightly and slapping her arm to neutralize the attack.
The two engaged in fierce close-quarters combat on the thick branch.
In the midst of the melee, Capricorn seized an opportunity, executing a spinning tiger-tail kick to the abdomen, sending Ilina tumbling from the tree.
Ilina hadn't expected Capricorn to dare spin on such a slender branch and was caught off guard.
Upon landing, Ilina rolled several times on the ground, using her short dagger to slow her momentum.
She knelt on one knee, her other hand gripping her black bow tightly.
Even with the panther-formed armor she wore, she could feel a dull ache in her abdomen.
Without the armor, Capricorn's kick might have robbed her of most of her combat ability instantly.
Capricorn showed no mercy, dropping down and closing in once again.
Ilina seemed trained in close combat with her bow and dagger, exchanging rapid blows with Capricorn for a short time.
As Ilina dodged, she turned to counterattack, but Capricorn's speed was overwhelming, forcing her to retreat hastily.
A backhand stab from Ilina instead gave Capricorn the chance to disarm her, and he even began twirling the dagger between his hoof-like fingers right in front of her—a blatant provocation.
As a Zodiac Celestial Spirit, Capricorn possessed no flashy elemental magic, relying instead on his exceptional martial arts and mastery of eighteen weapons.
Even twin daggers were no challenge for him.
After unsettling Ilina's focus, Capricorn advanced again. He used a rear hand to deflect her arm, breached her flank, spun close, and stabbed with a backhand strike to the chest.
The strike landed, but Capricorn's attack proved ineffective—the panther armor was remarkably sturdy.
Failing with the backhand, he swiftly switched to a forehand reverse thrust, twisted the hilt to change grips, and delivered another backhand direct stab.
Spinning the blade once more, he alternated grips and stabbed sideways with a backhand.
In less than two seconds, Capricorn had executed four grip changes and strikes, truly showcasing his mastery of the dagger.
The crystal screen had to slow the footage multiple times just to capture Capricorn's movements.
A front kick initiated momentum, followed by a spinning back kick to the jaw—his footwork was incredibly fluid.
Once again, he demonstrated his flair for martial arts, excelling in both armed and unarmed combat techniques.
Without a helmet to block the impact, Ilina's chin took Capricorn's kick head-on, sending her flying backward before she crashed to the ground.
"So incredible!!!" Chapati Lola couldn't find words to describe what he had witnessed.
His eyes couldn't even keep up with Capricorn's movements, forcing him to rely on the slow-motion replay on the crystal screen to explain the exchange to the audience.
Struggling to her feet after the fall, Ilina swept her leg back, drew her bow, and assumed a defensive stance.
Three different magical power arrows spiraled together, layered over one another as they shot toward Capricorn.
...