On the northwest side of the Chaos Mountains, at the third giant leg's support point.
The massive rock leg, like a heaven-piercing pillar, was deeply embedded in the shattered mountain, its surface riddled with honeycomb-like holes, now shimmering with an ominous yellowish-brown energy flow, like the foul blood surging through a giant beast's veins.
The air was filled with the scorching scent of concentrated telluric magic being forcibly extracted, and the low hum of rock friction, making one's eardrums throb.
Lucy and Yukino moved swiftly through the jagged rubble, both on high alert.
Lucy clutched her Celestial Spirit Mage key ring, her golden hair fluttering in the strong wind.
Yukino's gaze was calm, her fingertips holding several faintly glowing silver keys, while Libra's golden key was particularly conspicuous at her waist.
Their objective was clear—to destroy the gigantic magic crystal core buried deep within the base of this giant leg!
"It's right ahead!" Lucy pointed to the mountain-like bulge of the giant leg's base, several hundred meters in front, her voice tinged with tension and determination, "Yukino, get ready!"
"Mm!" Yukino nodded, her eyes sharp as blades.
However, just as they were about to emerge from the last pile of rubble—
"Swoosh! Swoosh!"
Two figures, like phantoms, appeared silently on a large protruding rock on their inevitable path, directly blocking the way to the giant leg's base.
One was tall, wearing tight white leather clothes that accentuated her fiery curves, with a waterfall of silver-white hair flying freely in the wind. Her face held an expression combining laziness and coldness. She was one of the Ten Demon Generals, a Celestial Spirit Mage—Angel.
The other was lean, dressed in practical grey combat attire, with spiky dark green short hair. His face bore a frivolous, cynical smile, but his eyes were sharp as an eagle's. He was the Ten Demon Generals known for his speed—Lissanna!
"Well, well, well, look who it is?" Lissanna said, hands in his pockets, head tilted, his tone flippant, but his gaze was fixed on Lucy and Yukino, "Two lost kittens? Trying to touch our 'leg'? That won't do."
Angel said nothing; the moment the duo appeared, her gaze fell firmly on Yukino, carrying a hint of imperceptible scrutiny and extremely complex emotions.
Snow-white hair, identical to her own.
The delicate contours of those eyebrows and eyes held a strange sense of familiarity, as if she had seen them countless times in a mirror, yet separated by the dust of years.
A tremor from deep within her bloodline surged unbidden, causing Angel's fingers, holding her Celestial Spirit Mage keys, to curl slightly, and an indescribable ripple passed through the depths of her eyes.
Yukino's heart likewise jolted!
She looked at the silver-haired woman on the rock; the other's gaze fell on her like a tangible weight, carrying a scrutiny, a… strange sense of familiarity?
She could even feel the Celestial Spirit Mage magic fluctuations emanating from the other, which were of the same origin as her own, but those fluctuations were mixed with an indescribable coldness and aloofness.
"Ten Demon Generals…" Lucy's expression instantly became incredibly serious, and she subconsciously took half a step back, adopting a combat stance, "Yukino, be careful!"
"Hmph, not a bad reaction." Lissanna grinned, revealing sharp canines, "Too bad, this is as far as you beautiful maidens go!"
Before he finished speaking, a blue magic circle several meters in diameter exploded beneath his feet!
"Speed Magic · Godspeed!"
Whoosh—!
Lissanna's figure instantly transformed into a blue stream of light, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, accompanied by a shriek that tore through the air, appearing before Yukino as if teleporting!
The speed was incredibly fast!
"So fast!" Lucy exclaimed, unable to react in time!
Yukino's pupils constricted, but she didn't panic.
Ezreal's intelligence was already deeply ingrained in her mind! Almost the instant Lissanna activated his magic, her right index and middle fingers had already clamped onto a shimmering silver key!
"Open! Gate of Libra—Libra!"
Buzz!
A brilliant golden magic circle blossomed before Yukino! A tall female figure, wearing an exotic black gauze dress, with her face covered by a thin veil, revealing only a pair of deep purple eyes, elegantly emerged.
She held a large, mysterious glowing golden scale in her hands—it was the Celestial Spirit Mage, Libra!
"Gravity Field · Imbalance!"
Libra's ethereal voice rang out, and the golden scales in her hands tilted slightly!
Buzz—!
An invisible, incredibly powerful gravitational field instantly spread out with Libra at its center!
The air within a ten-meter radius seemed to solidify into viscous glue!
Lissanna, who had just advanced to within three meters of Yukino and was about to unleash a fatal kick, suddenly froze!
His terrifying speed, which he prided himself on and which could break the sound barrier, was like being trapped in an invisible quagmire under the sudden tenfold gravity suppression!
His movements instantly became sluggish and incredibly heavy!
His raised leg felt like it was filled with lead, and its descent was agonizingly slow!
"What?!" Lissanna's flippant smile instantly froze, replaced by an expression of incredible shock!
He felt as if he was carrying a mountain, every movement becoming extremely difficult!
Even more terrifying, he felt that his "Slow Field," which could invisibly affect the flow of time in the surrounding area, was being forcibly interfered with and suppressed by this more overbearing, purer gravitational field!
"Now! Open! Gate of Aries—Aries!"
Yukino didn't hesitate; another silver key, already prepared in her left hand, instantly plunged into the void!
A silver light flashed!
A slender arrow, nearly a meter long, shimmering with cold metallic luster, appeared out of thin air, its arrowhead pointing directly at Lissanna, who was bound by gravity!
The arrow's tail was enveloped in a faint silver stream of light, emitting an incredibly sharp locking aura!
"Tracking Arrow · Pierce the Sky!"
Whoosh—!!!
The silver arrow, as if alive, transformed into a silver lightning bolt that tore through space, ignoring the effects of gravity, and, with a piercing shriek, shot with incredible precision towards Lissanna's heart!
Its speed was astonishing, and its angle was so tricky that it completely sealed off all possible evasion routes!
"Damn it!" Lissanna's face changed dramatically! Under the terrifying suppression of tenfold gravity, his proud speed advantage was completely gone!
Facing this lightning-fast, self-tracking, fatal arrow, he could only barely twist his body, attempting to withstand it with the least possible cost!
Rip!
Lissanna's left shoulder was instantly pierced by the silver arrow!
A spray of blood erupted!
The intense pain made him grunt, and his body staggered backward under the gravity suppression!
"Bastard!" Lissanna's eyes blazed with fury; being wounded in a single encounter made him feel an unprecedented humiliation!
The blue magic light around him surged, attempting to forcibly break free from the gravitational bonds and launch a more ferocious counterattack!
"Lucy!" Yukino suddenly turned her head and shouted to Lucy, who was standing by in full readiness behind her, her voice decisive and resolute, "Leave this to me! You go quickly and destroy the magic crystal core! We absolutely cannot let them succeed!"
Lucy looked at Yukino's clear eyes, burning with firm fighting spirit, then at Lissanna, temporarily suppressed by the gravitational field and tracking arrow, and finally at the silver-haired woman on the rock, whose aura was unfathomable and whose eyes held complex emotions.
She instantly understood Yukino's intention—she wanted to single-handedly hold off these two powerful enemies to buy herself time!
"Yukino! You…" A flicker of worry crossed Lucy's eyes, but more than that, there was trust in her companion.
She understood Yukino's character; beneath her gentle exterior was an unyielding tenacity that would never back down.
Hesitation now would only waste the precious time Yukino had gained!
"Be careful!" Lucy said no more, a thousand words condensed into the briefest of admonitions. She looked deeply at Yukino, as if to imprint that concern and trust in the other's eyes, "Hold on! I'll be back soon!"
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