Hibiki of Blue Pegasus watched the unyielding Lucy and sighed, "During the allied guilds operation before, Lucy was nowhere near this strong..."
Eve nodded in agreement. "As expected of Miss Lucy. Among Celestial Spirit Mages, she must be the strongest, right?"
"Strong Parfum!" Ichiya and his mysterious teammate wrapped in a rabbit costume struck flamboyant poses together.
Flare, whose attack had proven ineffective, grew increasingly frustrated as she saw Lucy's undiminished fighting spirit.
She glanced subtly into the distance before whipping her hair, once again sending her crimson locks deep underground.
Lucy cautiously watched her feet, fearing another surprise attack. But after waiting for a long time, no red hair emerged.
Just as she looked at Flare in confusion, Flare smiled like a venomous witch, sinisterly pointing in a direction.
Following the pointed direction, Lucy's eyes filled with terror and rage.
Right behind Asuka—the youngest and most defenseless member of the spectator support group—a strand of red hair floated like the sickle of death!
"Watch out... mmph!"
Just as Lucy tried to shout, Flare's red hair sealed her mouth tightly and slammed her hard into the ground.
"No speaking, no using magic, and no surrendering..." Flare's hair bound Lucy tightly as her venomous voice pierced Lucy's ears like needles.
"Let me think about how to torture you..."
"You don't deserve to!!"
Before Flare could finish her cold words, a loud curse erupted from the spectator stands.
Alzack and Bisca held Asuka in their arms, while Macao, Romeo, Happy, and several other hot-tempered members stomped furiously on the strand of red hair that had emerged from the ground.
The Thunder God Tribe stood at the entrance, with Freed sheathing his sword used for writing Magic Formula as he coldly stated, "Daring to do something like this... what a disgusting guild..."
Fortunately, Laxus had earlier instructed the Thunder God Tribe to set up Magic Formulas around their guild's area, and Freed happened to detect the danger during his inspection.
Otherwise, both Lucy and Asuka would have been in peril.
Makarov stood angrily on the guardrail wall, pointing at Flare as he shouted to Lucy, "Lucy! Don't worry about this side! Take her down decisively!"
Lucy heard Makarov's shouts behind her, and the fear that had risen in her heart vanished, transforming into even stronger motivation!
"No... my hair!" Flare, seeing her plan fall apart, showed a look of terror.
Lucy, with her limbs bound, suddenly exerted strength, pulled out her Celestial Spirit Key, and her entire body radiated a golden light.
Then, two adorable little figures flew out from the golden light—one charged toward Flare, while the other shattered all the hair binding Lucy!
Regaining her freedom, Lucy looked at Gemini and said seriously, "Gemini, use that move."
"Piri piri..." Gemini's dual-layered echo sounded as they transformed into Lucy's appearance.
"Gemini turned into Lucy?" Romeo on the stage burned away the hair Flare had sent, watching in shock.
"Shouldn't they copy a stronger person, like Ankh-nii or Laxus-nii?"
Levy shook her head. "That would take too much time, and it would drain their Magic Power. If anything unexpected happened, they wouldn't be able to fight. Besides... Lucy-chan has developed her own new ultimate move these past three months!"
Lucy and Gemini exchanged a glance, then simultaneously raised their hands toward Flare in perfect unison, two golden Celestial Spirit Keys shining brilliantly!
"Double... no... triple gate opening?"
Yukino couldn't contain her emotions as she leaned forward, staring in astonishment.
She had practiced this technique for a long time without success—could it be that another Celestial Spirit Mage had already achieved it?
"Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!"
Golden light flashed as Virgo burrowed into the ground, then burst forth to firmly restrain Flare.
Loke gathered King's Brilliance and unleashed a furious barrage of attacks on Flare.
"This is... how is it possible..." Makarov watched the scene with some confusion.
A Celestial Spirit Mage capable of triple gate opening—even in history, there couldn't have been many, right?
Mavis blinked her eyes and smiled. "It's because of that Gemini spirit... With triple gate opening, each additional spirit requires the Mage to expend Magic Power to maintain the gates. Actually, stronger spirits can use Magic and maintain the gates with their own power, while weaker ones need assistance from the Mage's Magic Power."
"Among the three spirits currently on the field, two are summoned using Lucy's Magic Power, while one is summoned through the combined Magic Power of both Lucy and Gemini. This significantly reduces the cost of triple gate opening."
Makarov mumbled, "Ah... I see..."
Mavis smiled but didn't elaborate further.
Even though this could only be considered a pseudo-triple gate opening with the limitation requiring Gemini's presence on the field, the ability to execute it itself proved Lucy's talent.
And...
Watching Lucy and Gemini press their palms together, a pleased smile appeared in Mavis's eyes.
"Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens..."
Lucy and Gemini's voices blended together as Flare, being pummeled by Loke and Virgo, revealed a look of despair in her eyes.
She seemed to see herself in the vast, boundless universe, where countless brilliant stars radiating dazzling light were continuously approaching her, as insignificant as an ant...
Lucy abruptly opened her eyes, as if the entire cosmos had poured into her pupils.
A magic circle woven with golden starlight ignited within her gaze, and a divine voice exploded beside Flare's ears:
"All the stars, far and wide... Show me thy appearance... With such shine. Oh Tetrabiblos... I am the ruler of the stars... Aspect become complete... Open thy malevolent gate. O 88 Stars of the heaven... Shine! Urano Metria!"
Flare's despairing eyes widened, her mouth agape yet unable to utter a single sound.
She watched helplessly as countless stars from the universe came crashing down upon her alone.
The explosive power of the stars resembled divine light, instantly plunging the entire arena into dead silence.
Everyone was utterly stunned by that sacred force.
The venue fell mute once more, sinking into profound stillness.
Only when the golden radiance of the stars gradually faded did the awe-struck audience finally glimpse the situation within the arena.
The Celestial Spirits had vanished. Lucy rose to her feet, slightly breathless, staring at Flare lying unconscious on the ground, taking a long moment to collect herself.
She... she won!
After a pause, a relieved smile finally spread across Lucy's face.
Then... she raised her fist engraved with an emblem high, like a proud fairy.
It was this very gesture that ignited the entire arena into a volcanic eruption of frenzied cheers, as if the brief silence moments before had been nothing but a dream.
Watching the crowd around her driven wild by Lucy's performance, Erza murmured with emotion.
"You did it, Lucy."
Natsu stood excitedly on a wall, raising his arms and shouting at the top of his lungs.
Gray and Cana, overjoyed, locked arms and broke into a lively tap dance.
The support team erupted like a boiling pot, setting off celebratory fireworks, embracing each other and weeping with joy.
...
"You did wonderfully, Lucy."
In a dimly lit room, Ankh watched the enthusiastic audience outside who had been captivated by Lucy, speaking with a tone of satisfaction.
"Ankh-sama... shouldn't you be leaving now..."
A voice, shadowed and barely containing suppressed anger, suddenly rang in his ears.
This was Raven Tail's viewing platform.
At that moment, Ankh sat imposingly in his seat, his left arm around Alexei and his right around Obra, striking the pose of a boss flanked by his underlings.
Hearing Alexei's question, Ankh smiled faintly and said, "Of course, I must return to celebrate Lucy's victory... Oh, my apologies. I thought you might resort to underhanded tactics to interfere with the match. My mistake~"
Watching Ankh wave regretfully as he walked out of the room, Alexei gritted his teeth so hard they nearly shattered, barely managing to squeeze out a response after a long pause.
"No... why would we ever do such a thing..."
Ankh had already walked away without replying.
In the gloomy room, the atmosphere seemed to grow even more chilling and eerie.
And Guild Master Ivan's face beneath his mask appeared increasingly contorted...
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