Seven Magicians, two cats, one mermaid, and three wounded travelers, all of them crowded onto the Ocean Dragon's back.
If it had been a Mountain Dragon, there would've been a few loud complaints about carrying so many strangers, even if the weight meant nothing.
But the Ocean Dragon only turned her great head with a playful grin. "Cats and fish, all packed together!" she teased.
Happy froze for a second, then his eyes sparkled with wonder. His gaze locked onto Aquarius's shimmering blue tail, and he started drooling before he even realized it.
Carla promptly smacked him on the back of the head. "Have some manners!"
"I'm a mermaid!" Aquarius snapped, clearly irritated. "Not food!"
If she weren't so busy, she might've spent a few minutes arguing just to vent her frustration.
Rhodes, worried the Ocean Dragon might start telling bad jokes again, quickly cut in. "What's the situation in the Celestial Spirit Realm? What are they planning to do?"
Aquarius's tone softened slightly as she looked at him. "First, emergency rescue. The priority is to get every Magician out of this region, including the bodies of those who've fallen."
Those who came here were either Celestial Spirit Mages or their companions. Through the resonance of the Celestial Spirit Keys, it wasn't difficult to pinpoint the location of each Magician's team.
The real problem lay with those who had already been killed and robbed of their keys.
Still, the Star Spirit Realm had mobilized swiftly in response to the sudden crisis, and for once, its forces were abundant.
Rhodes had wondered earlier when the bodies of the victims would be transported out, but since the Star Spirit Realm itself was handling it, he decided not to interfere. Even so…
"It's not going to be that easy, is it?" he asked.
"Of course not," Aquarius replied. "They'll definitely try to stop us. And when that happens, there's only one thing left to do, fight."
She raised her head, eyes gleaming. "Things have reached the final stage. The enemy is prepared for a decisive battle."
Yukino, who had dismissed her Celestial Spirits after the earlier fight, hesitated. "Will Lady Aquarius be in charge of getting us out of here?"
"The Celestial Spirit King's command is for you all to withdraw safely," Aquarius answered, her gaze shifting toward Natsu and Gray, who were both cracking their knuckles and flexing their arms. "But judging by your faces, you're not planning to leave, are you?"
Gray scowled. "Of course not! After being hit by something this big, how could we just run away without even seeing who's behind it?"
"If we don't knock down whoever's on that mountain," Natsu added, his fists blazing faintly, "Lucy will never be safe again. This is our fight too!"
"Natsu…" Lucy's voice trembled; she was touched before she even realized it.
The Ocean Dragon's deep, calm voice interrupted the moment. "A reminder, the water level is rising. You'll be underwater soon."
Though Aquarius was still drawing the mountain floods into her amphora, the water around them was inexplicably continuing to rise.
Rhodes sighed and patted the Dragon's neck. "Move, big sister, before we start swimming."
The Dragon chuckled. "But it's so comfortable in the water." Even so, she finally activated her magic.
The water surrounding her body was pushed away, forming an invisible barrier. Even as the level climbed higher than her back, the surface parted around them, unable to touch the passengers.
"This water level… something's off," Rhodes muttered. "Can you tell what kind of magic this is?"
The Ocean Dragon frowned thoughtfully, sensing the currents. "The floods from both sides of the mountains feel like entire rivers have been redirected here. The rising water beneath us isn't being created out of nothing, it's more like someone's directly manipulating the level of the water itself."
Erza narrowed her eyes. "Are there any Celestial Spirits tied to rivers?"
"Jordania and Tigris," Lucy answered immediately. "They were named after the ancient rivers. If those two were involved, what we're seeing now is probably only the beginning."
Aquarius glanced at Lucy, slightly impressed. "Not bad. Your celestial knowledge has improved. So then, who do you think is behind this?"
Lucy thought for a moment. "Other water-related constellations… Carina, Dorado… no, it has to be Hydrus!"
She snapped her fingers in realization. "The Quadrantids had spatial magic, so Hydrus could have inherited a similar ability, one that lets them manipulate the water level directly!"
It should've been impossible for that kind of magic to affect such a vast area, but right now, logic didn't seem to apply.
Lucy's brow furrowed as another idea came to her. "Then the one who controlled the mist earlier with Time Magic… that might have been Horologium!"
Natsu tilted his head. "Why does it feel like anything can be a constellation?"
"Hey," Natsu suddenly asked, scratching his cheek, "do you think there's a Happy constellation?"
Only Carla answered him seriously. "There is a zodiac cat."
Happy blinked, eyes wide. "Really?!"
Ignoring him, Carla turned to Aquarius. "Can't you push the water back? I have a bad feeling about this if it keeps rising."
Aquarius frowned, the strain in her voice clear. "The elevation difference is too great. These mountains are enormous…"
If it had been Layla summoning her, Aquarius could have reversed the water flow halfway up the mountain without losing an ounce of power. But Lucy's magical strength, though vastly improved, wasn't quite there yet.
Rhodes looked up at the Ocean Dragon. "It's your turn, Sister Ocean."
The Dragon huffed, a low, musical rumble echoing in her chest. "I already told you, I'm not much of a fighter."
Rhodes smirked. "That was a joke."
The Dragon's eyes twinkled. "I'll do my best!"
She rose to her full height, green wings spreading wide. The water around her rippled violently, then receded in a sweeping circle, widening the dry space beneath them severalfold.
Drawing in a deep breath, she lifted her head and unleashed her power.
What erupted from her maw was no ordinary Dragon's Breath, it was a river.
A massive, spiraling torrent blasted forward, roaring up the mountainside. It wasn't fire, nor lightning, nor poison, it was pure, crushing water.
Even those used to witnessing great magic, Juvia's storms, Aquarius's ocean waves, the twin rivers summoned by Celestial Spirits, could only gape in awe.
This wasn't a simple attack. It was a living waterspout, large enough to pierce the clouds and shake the very air.
The fog that clung to the mountainside evaporated in an instant. The twin floods pouring down from the peaks were cut off, scattered apart like ribbons before a gale.
The spiraling torrent struck the slope with the force of a hammer from the heavens, burrowing diagonally upward like a drill.
Where water met stone, spray exploded outward. Grass, flowers, and entire trees were ripped from the mountainside, carried away in seconds.
By the time it ended, an enormous swath of bare, gleaming rock had been carved open. The Dragon's Breath had sculpted a perfect channel into the heart of the mountain, the walls smooth and glistening, as if crafted by the finest royal engineers.
Even the mountain itself seemed startled, the torrents that had been cascading down from above abruptly ceased.
The Ocean Dragon lowered her head, looking a little embarrassed. "Hmm… it seems the mountain was taller than I thought."
Rhodes sighed, rubbing his temple. "So why didn't you just fly up and attack from the sky?"
The Dragon gave him an aggrieved look. "I told you already… I'm not good at fighting."
...
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