The symbols of Aquarius and Gemini's Keys appeared on the back of Lucy's hand.
Her hair split into twin tails as she emerged in Aquarius's swimsuit, with one black and one white ribbon streaming from her neck.
With Lucy's current reserves of Magic Power, she could only maintain this Star Dress Mix for around a dozen seconds.
That meant she had to defeat Kiria before those seconds ran out.
Lucy spread her arms to either side.
The labyrinth had been completely dry moments ago, but water suddenly began spreading across the floor, rising past both women's ankles in an instant.
"What is this?!"
The water rose rapidly.
By the time Kiria reacted, it had already reached her waist.
'I call upon the heavens. Let the stars descend and grant us divine grace!'
A wave swept over Lucy.
One watery copy of her after another rose from the surface, surrounding Kiria, while Lucy's true body disappeared among them.
"Where's the real one?!"
Kiria slashed through the water clones with repeated knife-hand strikes while searching the chamber.
'Shine forth! Bathe this world and the earth beneath us in your radiance. Let sacred light fill all creation!'
The moment Lucy completed the incantation—
"There you are!!!"
Erza appeared first, clad in armor and wielding a magical sword.
"Erza?!"
Kiria cut her in half with one knife-hand strike, then immediately realized something was wrong.
"No—it's another fake made of water!"
Unlike the earlier Lucy clones, this copy of Erza was almost indistinguishable from the real person.
Natsu, Gray, Ultear, Raizel, Kagura, Mira...
One illusion after another appeared, only to be cut apart by Kiria.
"Nothing but empty imitations!"
Then three figures covered in water surrounded her from three directions.
Kiria suddenly felt a sense of danger.
"I'm surrounded..."
The three figures were Anna Heartfilia, Layla Heartfilia, and Lucy in her Aquarius-Gemini Star Dress Mix.
"My guild isn't the only source of my strength. The memories of everyone I've met will fight beside me!"
"Stars that cross the heavens and vanish in an instant, descend now and gather at our side!"
"The supreme trinity of Celestial Spirit Magic—Gottfried!!!"
Anna, Layla, and Lucy raised both hands toward the sky.
A vast torrent of golden light erupted beneath Kiria and launched her upward.
When the light finally faded, Kiria fell heavily to the ground.
Her body was scorched black, smoke drifting from her mouth as her eyes stared blankly ahead.
"This is the power of a guild... and the bonds we share..."
Lucy's strength gave out as well, and she collapsed onto the floor.
'You've gotten stronger, Lucy.'
Laxus smiled faintly.
Even through the wall, he already knew how Lucy and Kiria's battle had ended.
...
"There it is again—that feeling!"
The coffin Kirin swung on its chain seemed to possess some strange attraction toward Laxus.
No matter how often he dodged, the coffin would alter its course and crash into him on its own.
More importantly, every impact left Laxus with an oddly familiar sensation—one he could not quite remember.
"What the hell is that coffin?"
He clenched his teeth.
"Forget it. I'll just destroy it!"
"Lightning Dragon's Roar!!!"
Laxus inhaled deeply and unleashed a torrent of violent lightning toward Kirin.
Kirin mirrored his movements.
"Yellow Dragon's Roar!!!"
Two golden blasts of lightning collided head-on.
A crackling sphere of electricity formed between them, arcs dancing wildly across its surface.
After sensing Kirin's Dragon Slayer Magic, Laxus frowned.
"Lightning? Come to think of it, you're a Dragon Slayer too, aren't you?"
Kirin adjusted his hat.
"I am Kirin, the Yellow Dragon. We are both Dragon Slayers and Dragon Eaters."
"Dragon Eaters?"
Kirin held the brim of his hat and nodded.
"That's right. The dragon I devoured was Elexion, the Yellow Dragon—also known as the Lightning Dragon King."
Laxus once again felt that strange familiarity.
"The Lightning Dragon King...?"
"Perhaps our meeting was arranged by fate."
Kirin rested one hand upon the coffin and raised the other toward the ceiling.
Enormous Magic Power gathered around him.
Violent lightning flooded the entire corridor.
Lightning should have been ineffective against Laxus, yet the bolts still tore into his body.
"Impossible! Lightning Magic shouldn't work on me!"
"This is the lightning of a king."
Kirin smiled.
"Just as the flames of different Fire Dragons vary in strength, not all Lightning Dragons wield the same lightning."
"The Lightning Dragon King..."
Laxus looked toward the coffin.
"Is that his soul inside there?"
Kirin did not answer.
He swung the coffin toward Laxus again.
"Is it really all right to treat a soul that roughly?"
Laxus caught the coffin with both hands, and the two sides entered a deadlock.
"It is a privilege of Dragon Eaters," Kirin replied casually.
Laxus had no time to question that ridiculous answer.
"What is this feeling? It's like the coffin is pulling me toward it..."
The coffin seemed unusually fond of Laxus, constantly throwing itself at him.
Rather than Kirin suppressing Laxus, it almost felt as though the coffin itself were doing it.
'Could it be? No... Is something like that even possible?'
A possibility suddenly occurred to him.
What if the Dragon Slayer Lacrima inside his body had been made from the Lightning Dragon King Elexion?
Laxus had once met the soul of Atlas Flame, the Hellfire Dragon. Dragon souls retained their own awareness.
If Elexion's soul truly rested inside that coffin, then its attraction toward Laxus would make perfect sense.
"You've realized it, haven't you?"
Kirin spoke as though answering his own question.
"You have a Dragon Slayer Lacrima implanted inside your body. Those Lacrima are created from the processed hearts of dragons."
"You guessed correctly. The heart inside you belonged to Elexion, the Lightning Dragon King—the dragon I devoured."
"What did you say?"
Laxus could barely believe what he was hearing.
A human had eaten an entire dragon?
Kirin raised both hands toward the ceiling like some fanatical prophet.
"The soul and heart are resonating! That is why I called this a meeting ordained by fate!"
"Elexion is calling for you to return his heart!"
Laxus stared at him with utter disbelief.
"That's rich coming from the bastard who ate him."
"I became one with Elexion!" Kirin declared. "The only part I lacked was his heart!"
He rushed forward and threw a Lightning Dragon's Demolition Fist.
Laxus raised a bent arm and blocked the punch, leaving them locked against one another.
"Give it back!"
Kirin's expression twisted fiercely.
Laxus fixed him with a hawk-like stare and answered without yielding an inch.
"Ivan forced this thing into my body when I was a kid. At this point, I don't need it anymore."
"So instead of giving it to you, I'll set that soul free myself!"
The two sprang apart once more.
Kirin swung the coffin at Laxus with its chain.
Laxus waited for the perfect moment, leaped over it, and kicked off the wall. Using the rebound, he drove his foot toward Kirin.
Kirin blocked the kick with one hand and struck with the other.
His fist erupted with raging lightning.
The impact blasted Laxus across the corridor.
"You think you can defeat a king?!"