"Is this what you call not good at fighting?" Aquarius muttered, staring at the Ocean Dragon in disbelief, her amphora still in hand.
A Dragon was a Dragon, after all.
But wait, Lucy had said this one was summoned by that handsome man, right?
By common summoning logic, a creature's power should be limited by its summoner's magical strength.
So, it was indeed this little girl without a boyfriend who held her back.
Aquarius narrowed her eyes. 'She really needs to change contractors. Or at least get stricter training supervision.'
Then, remembering her own plans for an upcoming date with Scorpio, Aquarius reconsidered. No, I'll have Capricorn handle her training instead.
Her thought pretty much reflected what everyone else was thinking.
A Dragon who "isn't good at fighting" had just drilled a hole straight through a mountain.
Of course, Natsu wasn't as shocked as the others. He'd seen Igneel's flames reduce a mountain to ash when he was a child. This one wasn't as tall, and Igneel had been stronger, so to him, the Ocean Dragon really wasn't that impressive.
Still, she listened when Rhodes told her to fly.
The Dragon flapped her wings and rose higher into the air.
"Watch out below!" Carla shouted suddenly.
The warning came just in time.
From the churning waters beneath them, a gigantic turtle, nearly matching the Dragon in size, emerged and lunged upward, snapping its jaws toward the Ocean Dragon's foot.
On the other side, more than a dozen enormous marlins burst from the surface, each over five meters long. Their blade-like snouts gleamed as they lunged forward, aiming to pierce the Dragon's flank.
This time, Lucy didn't even need to think. Aquarius shouted first, "Turtle and Marlin!"
"Requip! Heaven's Wheel Armor!"
In an instant, Erza transformed, her body flashing with light as her Heaven's Wheel Armor replaced her previous gear. A storm of swords appeared around her, dozens of blades streaking through the air toward the attacking marlins.
Each fish was struck by five blades, two piercing the eyes, three driving through the mouth.
"Happy!"
"Aye, sir!"
Natsu leapt from the Dragon's back, grabbed by Happy midair, and unleashed a roaring inferno at the giant turtle below.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The torrent of flames crashed into the turtle's head, exploding with a blinding flash.
Erza's barrage cut down most of the marlins, though a few managed to deflect her swords, the largest one even parried them with its spear-like snout and charged straight at her.
Erza's eyes narrowed. She drew two blades and met it head-on.
"Heaven's Wheel, Pentagram Sword!"
Her twin swords became streaks of silver, crossing five times in rapid succession. To Yukino, it was almost too fast to see, five intersecting flashes forming a perfect pentagram.
The lead marlin's snout shattered into three pieces, and its massive body split cleanly in half before dissolving into light.
Erza landed on its head for a heartbeat, then kicked off, returning to the Ocean Dragon's back as the rest of the marlins burst into starlight and vanished.
Meanwhile, the Turtle was still thrashing violently.
Natsu's flames filled its mouth, the heat so intense that the creature screamed and pulled its head back into its shell.
Happy banked upward, carrying Natsu high.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Idiot!" Lucy yelled. "Why would you punch the shell? That's the hardest part, wait, the shell's cracking?!"
When Natsu's fist connected, a brilliant flash erupted. A sphere of fire engulfed both him and the Turtle in a blinding explosion.
The sound of cracking echoed through the valley as deep fissures spread across the Turtle's shell before it shattered completely.
The monster's body erupted in flames. It bellowed in agony as the water around it boiled away, leaving nothing but steam and fire.
Natsu landed lightly on a chunk of shell, and Happy swooped in just in time to grab him, lifting him clear of the inferno.
Below, the massive Turtle disintegrated into motes of golden starlight, scattering over the waves.
But the victory was short-lived.
The water suddenly rippled, and a massive yellow frog leapt out of the depths, rising so fast it almost matched Happy's flight speed.
The giant frog croaked sharply, its throat swelling before it shot out its long, slimy tongue, aiming to swallow both Natsu and Happy in a single gulp.
"Ice Make, Ice Impact Hammer!" Gray shouted.
A massive hammer of ice, larger and more intricate than any he'd conjured before, formed above the frog's head and came crashing down.
With a sickening crack, the frog's skull caved in from the center, its bulging eyes rolled upward, and its long tongue drooped uselessly. Its body twitched once, then dissolved into fading motes of starlight.
Aquarius sighed softly, half in awe, half in reflection. "One can slice apart Marlin's prideful snout… another can shatter Turtle's defense… and this one keeps up with Frog's speed using Modeling Magic."
None of that ragtag group could be called ordinary.
Compared to these companions who moved in perfect sync under pressure, the other Magicians scattered across the mountains were in far greater peril.
The thick fog had left many disoriented. Those who failed to react quickly to sudden ambushes by magical beasts were soon injured, or worse, killed.
Horologium was working tirelessly to save as many as possible, his time-stopping power reducing some casualties, but as a noncombatant Star Spirit, he could do nothing to halt the relentless waves of attacks.
And then, the mountain floods began.
A few Magicians who possessed water-aligned Celestial Spirits, like Swordfish, Carina, and Dolphin, managed to adapt, but most were caught unprepared.
Some tried to swim, but the water that seemed calm on the surface hid unspeakable danger beneath. Those who ventured in found themselves seized by monstrous leeches, dragged down screaming into the murky depths.
It was a massacre.
The situation grew desperate, until reinforcements from the Celestial Spirit Realm finally arrived.
Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Perseus, Hercules, Aquila, and Grus descended in streaks of starlight.
Some rushed to pull drowning Magicians from the floodwaters; others took to the air to fight the rebellious Celestial Spirits that had turned against them.
The moment the traitorous Spirits saw the official ones, their eyes glowed blood-red with fury. They charged like beasts unleashed, Leech and Goose in the waters below, Vulture, Hornet, and Solitary Thrush circling in the skies, Tiger and Camel prowling the slopes, and countless magical beasts under the control of Comet Hunter and Constellation rampaging alongside them.
From above, Light Balloon and Montgolfier Balloon Spirits rained down attacks, their explosions rippling across the flooded mountainsides.
The loyal Star Spirits fought to cover the retreating Magicians, clashing with the crazed rebels in every direction.
The battlefield stretched across heaven and earth, blades, light, and magic colliding amid fire, ice, and thunder.
The mountain quaked. The rivers boiled. The fog churned violently.
Once, Saint Topia had been a quiet and sacred range. Now, it was a warzone. The air was thick with roars, shouts, and the metallic ring of magic and steel.
And far above it all, within the temple at the mountain's peak, the giant known as Emperor Phatret slowly lifted his head.
His gaze seemed to pierce the walls, cut through the swirling mist, and reach across realms, straight into the Star Spirit Realm, where the armored figure of the Celestial Spirit King stood, greatsword in hand.
"You must be growing restless too, Celestial Spirit King," he rumbled.
As if sensing the King's agitation, Phatre rose from his throne. Adjusting his jeweled crown, he grasped his golden scepter and began striding toward the temple doors.
"It seems," he said with a slow, amused smile, "that before the true feast begins, I must first welcome a few… interesting guests."
Antinous bowed slightly, his lips curling. "That depends, Your Majesty, on whether they're worthy of being your guests."
The two departed together, their footsteps echoing down the marble hall, followed by the temple guards behind them.
Outside, at the mountain's gate, the Mace Bearer and Ophiuchus stood ready, their bodies tense as they stared upward.
A massive green Dragon hovered just above the summit, wings spread wide, her emerald scales shimmering faintly through the fog.
Her enormous eyes gleamed mischievously, as though she were suppressing laughter, but the young man standing on her back gently patted her neck, and she forced herself to hold it in.
Then the Ocean Dragon opened her mouth wide and exhaled.
A torrent of water descended from the heavens like a living river, roaring with unstoppable force.
The two guards at the gate drew upon every ounce of their strength, channeling their magic to form a barrier, determined to protect their King, even at the cost of their lives.
But Emperor Phatre had already stepped forward.
Raising his scepter, he pointed toward the falling torrent.
The Dragon's mighty flood met an invisible wall. The raging water split around him like a tide parting before a cliff, flowing harmlessly past the Emperor and his guards, even curving around the great hall behind them to pour down the mountainside.
Aquarius's face paled. Her hands trembled slightly as she whispered in disbelief.
"Phatre the Honorable…"
...
Stones Plzzz
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