"Thanks for your hard work, Virgo…"
Lucy looked at the defeated Virgo sprawled on the ground in a miserable state, and a relieved smile finally appeared on her face.
She took out the forced gate-closing key and at last sent Virgo back to the Celestial Spirit World.
Beside her, Naciel stuck out her tongue and panted heavily. "What a pain. Eclipse Virgo was seriously hard to deal with."
Lucy smiled faintly and was just about to say something when she suddenly felt the ground beneath her feet shake violently.
Before either of them could react, the earth shattered and collapsed. Lucy and Naciel instantly fell into a bottomless abyss.
As Lucy screamed through the air, she vaguely saw the spaces where the others were fighting.
For a moment, those spaces seemed to overlap with one another.
At the same time, the others who had also finished their battles felt the same strange earthquake and were swept up by the sudden collapse of heaven and earth.
Because Ophiuchus had withdrawn her massive body, which had served as the foundation, the twelve spaces began collapsing and merging together.
Everyone inside was inevitably dragged into the chaos.
Fortunately, Hisui had been guarding the entrance to the Celestial Spirit Sanctuary the entire time.
Hisui, who was in the main space, was not caught up in the collapse.
Seeing everyone gradually being pulled toward different chaotic spaces, she hurriedly cried out, "Yusalk, help me!"
Inside Hisui's body, Yusalk, who had been treating the place like a vacation spot, watched the scene and quietly clicked his tongue.
"What is Ankh doing? Is he too soft-hearted to strike properly?"
While complaining, Yusalk still used Hisui's body to save them.
A strange emerald-green light shone from Hisui's pupils.
She slowly raised her hand toward the sky, and an obscure, incomprehensible magic circle appeared in an instant.
Everyone had originally been dragged around by the chaotic spatial turbulence, but under Yusalk's power, they suddenly felt their bodies grow light.
Then the feeling of being pulled apart by rampaging space vanished completely, and more than a dozen people fell together toward the main space where Hisui stood.
Splat—
A chain of bodies hit the ground one after another.
Apart from Erza, Gray, and a few others with better reflexes, most of them were left dazed and dizzy from the fall.
"We're saved…"
Lucy rubbed her head, stars spinning in her eyes as she gave thanks.
Elysia patted the dust off her clothes and asked in confusion, "Why did it suddenly collapse? I still wanted to see what other questions that crappy host had in his question bank."
Cana asked curiously, "You guys had a quiz too? On my side, I had to play a board game against Scorpio. It was a huge pain…"
Levy remembered the gossip she had heard inside that space and suddenly found herself unable to look directly at Cana.
This was not an ordinary older-woman-younger-man situation anymore…
After everyone briefly exchanged information, Wendy looked around at the environment and asked in confusion, "Strange. I remember this place didn't look like this at first."
The green light in Hisui's eyes faded slightly as she explained, "After the spaces you were in collapsed, this place changed too."
In the hall of the Celestial Spirit Sanctuary, the eleven Celestial Spirit Gates that had once stood there had all shattered and collapsed.
Only the Leo Gate that Natsu had entered remained intact.
"Looks like Natsu still hasn't settled things."
Gray, who had previously gone through a humiliating dance battle with Cancer, selectively forgot that memory and began mocking Natsu with great energy.
Erza stared at the gate and said with solemn authority, "No matter what, the final enemy should be in there. Let's go support Brother and Natsu!"
Everyone quickly reached an agreement, and the whole group rushed into Leo's space together.
The moment they entered, everyone was stunned by the scene before them.
A crimson serpent large enough to blot out the sky stood towering there, while Ankh faced it with a scythe resting on his shoulder.
Just looking at the size difference, the scene perfectly fit the phrase "an ant trying to shake a tree."
Erza and Mirajane quickly led everyone over to support Ankh, then asked in perfect unison, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
Ankh sighed and looked at the giant serpent before him with complicated eyes. "But without a forced gate-closing key for Ophiuchus, it's not like I can really hit Ophi too hard."
The moment everyone heard that, they all turned to look at Princess Hisui in perfect sync.
Hisui's face turned red, and she hurriedly explained, "Ophiuchus is the most special Celestial Spirit. Her entry and exit from the Celestial Spirit World are different from the other Spirits. She places much higher requirements on the mage and depends very little on her key. I… really couldn't make a gate-closing key for her."
Hearing this, Elysia thought for a moment and said, "Then we can only use the Celestial Globe here to open a gate to the Celestial Spirit World, then physically shove Ophiuchus back in?"
"That seems to be our only option."
Erza and the others began setting up the Celestial Globe, while Ankh glanced at Natsu, who was still locked in a fierce fight with Loke, and said, "Before that, we'd better help Natsu first. He seems to be having a hard time."
"No! Don't!"
Gray, Naciel, and the others were just about to help when Natsu suddenly shouted to stop them.
Gray curled his lips and teased, "Don't force yourself. If you need help, say so early."
"Who said I needed help?!"
Fire flashed in Natsu's eyes, and angry steam puffed from both his nostrils.
Even if it was not for pride, he still had to settle this grudge!
Back at Star Hill, Natsu had been sucker-punched by Loke several times.
Natsu, who could be extremely petty about things like this, had not forgotten his revenge at all.
In Dragon Force mode, the dragon markings and scales on Natsu's body had become increasingly obvious.
Ankh estimated that Natsu was probably not far from truly mastering the next stage, Dragon King Mode.
Black flames surged from Loke's body and scorched the earth.
Natsu's gaze turned sharp, and he suddenly opened his mouth wide, swallowing those flames in great gulps.
Ever since receiving the magic crystal from Ankh, Natsu had rarely absorbed magic that did not match his attribute in the middle of battle.
But now!
His opponent was Loke!
Natsu wanted a clean, satisfying win!
Natsu rotated his arms, and the two blazing flames, black and red, swirled with his movements like a storm. His face also showed the discomfort of swallowing a conflicting attribute.
"Black Flame Dragon Mode!"
Loke furiously gathered the black star flames and charged toward Natsu, roaring at the top of his lungs, "Human! What gives you the right to use my flames?!"
"Because I'm a dragon!"
Natsu roared back without backing down.
Facing Loke head-on, the black and red flames began to merge and spin, becoming sharp enough to melt stone.
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
"Pitch-Black—Exploding Flame Blade!"
With both of them roaring, the clash between two extreme flames finally reached its conclusion.
Dragon Force, combined with the newly fused flames, shattered Loke's black fire on contact.
The armor on Loke's body broke apart, and he flew backward in agony.
Loke crashed to the ground, his body covered in scorched black smoke.
Even then, he kept muttering unwillingly, "How is this possible… I lost to a human…"
Natsu's face was dark, as if he had eaten something that disagreed with his stomach.
Step by step, he walked to Loke's side, took out the forced gate-closing key, and placed it on his head.
"Go sleep it off," Natsu said slowly. "Once you wake up, you won't be stuck worrying about this crap anymore… dumbass!"