"The last one, Loke, has been defeated too!"
After eating the black flames, Natsu seemed to be suffering from indigestion.
He staggered back to the group, swaying a little as he moved.
Erza looked up at Ophiuchus and speak seriously, "In that case, only Ophiuchus is left."
"The Celestial Globe is ready too!"
Hisui lifted the Celestial Globe high with her magic.
Everyone poured their Magic Power into it, and a black vortex suddenly appeared in the starry sky above them, greedily absorbing the power of the Sanctuary.
"You won't get away with this!"
Ophiuchus's voice was filled with rage and unwillingness.
She swung her enormous body, trying to break out of their encirclement.
Ankh's eyes turned cold.
The giant scythe in his hand vanished, and the black wings behind him, formed from deathly aura and Gravity Magic, suddenly expanded several times over.
His speed shot up as he flew beneath Ophiuchus's serpent head and thrust both arms out.
A violent shockwave burst outward.
Ophiuchus's consciousness blanked out for a brief instant, and her entire body was sent flying upward by the force of Ankh's palms.
That massive serpent body was thrown uncontrollably toward the vortex in the sky.
"No!"
Ophiuchus's struggling roar echoed through the heavens, but Ankh ignored it completely.
Gritting his teeth, he hurled the giant serpent straight into the vortex.
"Go! Into the Celestial Spirit World!"
At Erza's command, Lucy hurriedly waved her silver key and changed everyone into outfits that would allow them to survive in the Celestial Spirit World.
Then, together, they flew toward the vortex.
...
Celestial Spirit World.
After the rampage caused by the Eclipse Gate, all the Golden Zodiac Spirits had been corrupted by darkness, turning the Celestial Spirit World into a complete mess.
The last time Ankh and the others had visited as guests, the Celestial Spirit World had been like a hidden paradise.
Brilliant starlight shone everywhere, the Milky Way flowed through the starry sky like a winding river, and all kinds of adorable Celestial Spirits lived together in peace.
But now, all of that seemed to have vanished.
The little planets of the Celestial Spirit World were broken and ruined.
The rivers once made of starlight had become foul, polluted streams.
Ancient and majestic buildings had collapsed into rubble, and the Celestial Spirits themselves were nowhere to be seen.
At that moment, a black vortex suddenly appeared in the dim starry sky, and a gigantic figure came flying out of it.
Boom!
Ophiuchus's body smashed into a small planet, and her pained shriek rang out without end.
Following closely behind her was a large group of Fairy Tail mobsters, all dressed in Celestial Spirit World attire.
"The Celestial Spirit World… How did it end up like this?"
Lucy stared in shock at the Celestial Spirit World, which looked nothing like the place she remembered, and sadness rose in her chest.
Natsu frowned and asked in confusion, "This place has gotten this bad, and the Celestial Spirit King isn't doing anything about it?"
"No! You can't do this!"
At that moment, Ophiuchus returned to her human nurse form.
Her face twisted as she clutched it and screamed, "It's all your fault! I had already escaped!"
"Escaped?"
Erza immediately caught the key word. Beside her, Elysia frowned and pointed into the distance.
"What is that?"
Everyone followed the direction of her finger and saw a huge beast with a semi-transparent body that looked like a chaotic universe.
It was holding a planet in its arms, seemingly preparing to devour it.
"What kind of monster is that…?"
"The Celestial Spirit King…"
Yukino was still murmuring in shock when Lucy sorrowfully gave the answer.
She had met that bearded Celestial Spirit several times before, but now he had become such a monstrous creature that even Lucy, who shared a bond with him, could barely recognize him.
"Let's complete the mission first."
Elysia turned and gave Anmi an order.
The five youngsters immediately got to work.
Because the youth squad had crossed over in separate batches, each of them carried a fragment of the future gate.
Those fragments would help the future guild pinpoint the Celestial Spirit World's location and enter it again.
But just as they finished burying the fragments, Ophiuchus, whose emotions had already been on the verge of collapse, suddenly let out a cry of agony.
Ankh couldn't help looking toward her.
Ophiuchus's entire body had begun to emit an unnatural fluorescent green mist.
Her form twisted, and broken cries of pain kept forcing themselves from her throat.
"Ankh… seram…"
For one fleeting moment, Ankh seemed to see Ophiuchus's expression return to the gentle, peaceful look she had once had.
But very quickly, it changed back into that sick, warped appearance, and it only grew worse.
Hearing the words Ophiuchus was murmuring, Elysia seemed to realize a possibility.
Her expression changed, and she spoke in a low voice, "Could it be because of the fragments? Did the future Frimorh, who possessed Ophiuchus, leak his power into the present too?"
According to Elysia and the others, Frimorh was the God of Plague and Disease, a divine inheritance extremely compatible with Ophiuchus.
Seeing Ophiuchus's increasingly abnormal expression and the eerie green light in her eyes, Ankh made a decisive call.
"You deal with the Celestial Spirit King. I'll handle Ophiuchus."
"Understood!"
Erza and the others naturally followed his arrangement.
They surrounded the "Celestial Spirit Beast" and launched a concentrated attack.
Around the Celestial Spirit Beast floated many black spheres of different sizes.
Inside each sphere lay a Golden Zodiac Spirit in silence, while the Celestial Spirit Beast stared at them with greedy hunger.
To save both the Celestial Spirits and the Celestial Spirit King, no one held back this time.
But when everyone's magic pierced through the Celestial Spirit Beast's semi-transparent body, the Magic Power was instantly absorbed clean.
"Damn it! Magic doesn't work on him?!"
Their attacks seemed to anger the Celestial Spirit King.
He raised his head, and a black hole suddenly split open in that indescribable, blurry face.
A terrifying suction force filled the entire area.
Planets were swallowed by him one after another, yet none of their group disappeared.
Everyone clung tightly to the ground, afraid of being devoured by the Celestial Spirit Beast as food.
Natsu stared thoughtfully at the Beast's wide-open mouth.
That was the only opening in its entire body…
A flash of inspiration struck Natsu.
He suddenly let go, and his entire body was instantly sucked toward the Celestial Spirit Beast by the enormous force.
"Natsu!"
Happy shouted anxiously and quickly flew up, grabbing onto Natsu.
Lucy hurriedly reached out and shouted, "Grab me! Don't let the Celestial Spirit King eat you!"
"Don't worry!"
Natsu showed his kind, toothy grin and laughed with complete confidence. "If there's no weakness on the outside, then I'll go inside and find one!"
"You guys back me up from out here. I'm gonna smash my way out from inside this guy's stomach!"
"That's reckless even for you…"
Lucy was speechless and had no idea what to say to stop him.
Natsu answered her with a warm smile, then turned around with a serious expression.
"Let's go, Happy. We're charging in!"
"Aye!"
Happy was a loyal cat through and through.
Without another word, he pushed his speed to the limit and pulled Natsu straight into the Celestial Spirit Beast's body without hesitation.
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator