Everyone now understood what the Ocean Dragon meant when she said she "wasn't good at fighting."
Because after her attack was effortlessly blocked, she didn't even try to counter, defend, or dodge, she simply turned her head and looked back at Rhodes.
Her wide, innocent eyes seemed to say: 'See? I told you, I'm really not good at fighting.'
Rhodes could only press a hand to his forehead. Before, when the Ocean Dragon had refused to spar with him, he'd assumed she was just being modest… or maybe she simply disliked battle. He'd never imagined she was genuinely bad at it.
When the Ancient Dragons had been fighting Purgatory and the others, had none of them thought to deal with her at the same time? Or had they realized there was no saving her combat instincts at all?
Still, her raw power was undeniable. The fact that someone could block that attack so easily meant their opponent was no ordinary being.
Natsu's eyes narrowed as he stared at the top of Phatret's scepter. "That looks kinda like Levy's magic."
"How could that be?" Lucy immediately objected. "Levy couldn't block the Ocean Dragon's breath, no one could!"
But when she looked closer, she noticed a faint pattern glowing on the scepter's head. The markings really did look like magical text… only she couldn't recognize the letters at all.
"If that's Text Magic," she murmured, "I can't even tell what character that is."
"It's the character for 'Shield'!" Natsu declared proudly.
Rhodes, Gray, and Happy all gave him the same look of total disbelief.
"That's not the 'Shield' character I know," Gray said flatly.
Aquarius's eyes flicked toward the scepter. "He's right about the meaning. That's an ancient form of the word, used several centuries ago."
Wendy timidly raised a hand. "I… I think I recognize it too."
Everyone turned to her with surprise, then turned back to Natsu, completely stunned.
Gray clutched his head like he was losing his mind. "Wait, Natsu knows ancient texts?! Impossible! You're Levy in disguise, change back!"
"Who's Levy?" Natsu shot back indignantly. "I told you already, Igneel taught me how to read!"
Erza blinked, remembering. When Natsu had first joined the guild, he'd said the exact same thing while she was forcing him to study modern script. Everyone had thought he was just bragging like a kid.
But if he'd really been taught by a Dragon, who'd lived for centuries, then it actually made sense.
Erza smiled faintly, laid a hand on his shoulder, and said softly, "My apologies, Natsu."
Natsu stiffened instantly, looking at her nervously. "H-Huh? What'd I do?"
While they bantered, Rhodes's gaze stayed fixed on their opponent. His estimation of the Emperor rose sharply. To use ordinary Text Magic with such overwhelming power, it wasn't just about knowing old letters. It required immense magical control and affinity.
He turned slightly toward Aquarius. "This person… is he the one Loke mentioned, the one who can stand equal to the Celestial Spirit King?"
Aquarius's expression hardened. "That's him."
Phatre, the so-called Honorable, also seemed to recognize her. His deep, commanding voice resonated like thunder:
"Little girl, who gave you permission to look down upon me?"
The immense pressure that followed made Aquarius's forehead bead with sweat.
Even in the Celestial Spirit Realm, this was an opponent she could not face head-on. His strength was legendary, unyielding, ruthless, and absolute.
Lucy stepped forward without hesitation, shielding Aquarius with both arms spread.
Her voice trembled, but she shouted anyway, "So what if I look down on you?! You're just a tyrant, and a loser who was defeated by the Celestial Spirit King! What right do you have to talk to Aquarius like that?!"
"Lucy!" Aquarius gasped, caught between anger and awe. She didn't know whether to scold the girl or cry.
Enraging that man was one of the most dangerous things anyone could do.
Yet Phatre did not grow angry at Lucy's defiance. Instead, he chuckled softly, the sound low and composed, and turned his attention back to Aquarius.
"I will give you one final chance," he said calmly. "Surrender to me. Abandon your so-called bonds with the Star Spirit Realm and these frail humans. In return, I will grant you true freedom."
Behind him, the five attendants smiled in unison, expressions filled with reverence. Their King was magnanimous, their King's vision absolute. Surely, his will would come to pass.
Aquarius lifted her gaze, the defiant gleam in her blue eyes hardening. Perhaps Lucy's courage had emboldened her, or perhaps, more simply, she could not stand the ideology before her. Straightening her back, she met Phatre's cold gaze without flinching.
"You're wrong," she said, her voice sharp but proud. "I have always been free. The Star Spirit Realm has never bound me. And humans."
She reached out and placed a gentle hand atop Lucy's head. The golden strands ran through her fingers like sunlight on water.
"Humans have never bound me either," she said with a faint smile. "We are friends. But someone like you, someone who believes control is strength, could never understand what that word truly means."
Phatre's expression did not change. His tone remained calm, almost bored.
"Weaklings like you cannot comprehend that a King's purpose is to command all things. Whatever cannot be controlled… has no right to exist."
There was no incantation. No warning. No visible shift in aura.
He simply lifted his scepter and pointed it toward her.
Aquarius gasped. Her heart convulsed violently, once, twice, then froze.
"Ugh...ah...ahh..." She clutched her chest in agony. A purplish-black radiance burst from within her, creeping across her scales and skin like a spreading shadow.
"Aquarius!" Lucy screamed, catching her as the mermaid's body began to blur. Her shimmering tail and upper form were fading, dissolving into motes of violet light.
"Miss Aquarius!" Wendy's small hands trembled as she cast one spell after another, curse purification, poison cleansing, healing magic, but none took effect.
"Little mermaid?" The Ocean Dragon's great eyes widened in concern as she summoned a healing current of her own, enveloping Aquarius in a soft emerald glow. "Strange… her life is leaking away."
Lucy's voice cracked with panic. "Aquarius! What did you do to her?!"
A deep, resonant voice answered, not from any direction, but from the very air itself.
"My old friend," it said gently, "there is no need for panic."
Lucy's eyes widened. "Old man?! Please, please save Aquarius!"
The Celestial Spirit King's voice remained calm, ancient, and warm:
"The light of the stars," he said, "represents infinite hope."
The world changed at once.
The sky dimmed into night, yet the mountain fog that had cloaked everything was suddenly gone.
Above them, countless stars shimmered in a tapestry of brilliance, as though every star in the heavens had gathered to this single patch of sky. The starlight poured down like liquid silver, washing over the battlefield and illuminating every blade of grass, every trembling breath.
A soft, golden radiance, gentle and pure, flared from within Aquarius's chest, driving back the encroaching darkness. The purplish-black light shrank, withered, and vanished entirely.
Her pallor eased. Her breathing steadied.
And then, in a ripple of light, he appeared.
The Celestial Spirit King descended before the Ocean Dragon, vast and luminous, his towering form radiating a quiet majesty that stilled even the winds. His presence did not disturb the world, it belonged here, as if he had simply stepped out of the starlight itself.
With one slow motion, he drew his greatsword and raised it.
The blade shimmered with cosmic light as he swung it once through the air. The sword's tip aligned perfectly with the head of Phatre's scepter.
There was no sound, only the trembling of reality itself.
Space split. Light and shadow interwove. The rift of their clashing powers tore across the heavens, slicing a distant mountain in two.
A deafening boom followed. The peak exploded apart, boulders tumbling and crashing down in a rain of shattered stone.
Erza stared, eyes wide. The enormous blade in the King's hand still glowed faintly from the strike.
"That… that was a casual swing?" she whispered, awe flooding her voice.