Just as Loki resigned himself to fate, Lucy suddenly rushed forward and grabbed his arm.
"Loki! Don't give up!"
"I'll definitely send you back to the Spirit World!"
Loki shook his head weakly. "It's useless, Lucy. The Spirit World refuses any spirit that harms its contract holder. It's impossible..."
"But blaming everything on you is totally unfair! You didn't kill Karen—her death was an accident!"
Lucy clutched Loki's arms with both hands, channeling all her magic into Celestial Spirit Magic. "Open! Gate of the Lion! Let Loki return to the Spirit World!"
Loki paled at her actions—she was trying to open his personal star gate without the matching key, forcibly contacting the Spirit World!
How could a puny Celestial Spirit Mage shake laws unchanged for millennia?
"Stop! Lucy!"
Seeing the starlight rising from her body, Loki shouted, "If you keep going, you'll be assimilated by the Spirit World's power and disappear just like me!"
"No!"
Lucy refused. Communicating with the Spirit World without a key already strained her; worse, she was trying to open the gate of a convicted Leo.
It was sheer fantasy.
But Lucy couldn't watch a comrade vanish before her eyes.
Before Loki could speak, Natsu and Happy dived in and grabbed him. "Don't joke around, Loki—we're Fairy Tail Mages! We never abandon a comrade!"
"Aye!"
Erza stepped forward, but Hope put a hand on her shoulder. "Loki's right. This won't work; you'll only lose your lives along with his."
Hearing Hope's calm voice, the anxious Loki finally relaxed—at least someone here was sane. If anyone could stop Lucy and Natsu from doing something stupid, it was Hope.
But Hope's next words left Loki dumbstruck.
Hope pulled Lucy aside, glanced at Natsu and Happy who were burning with determination, and said flatly, "Where are your brains? Burning magic like this is pointless."
Erza and Happy pinned the indignant Natsu on either side. "Hope, you were the first to notice something wrong with Loki—have you figured out a way to save him?"
Everyone's gaze focused on Hope.
Hope nodded. "Earlier Loki said he forcibly replaced the Aries Karen had summoned. That means a spirit gate might be usable by another spirit."
Lucy understood immediately. She whipped out her key ring, strode to Loki, and drew the Taurus key.
"Loki, we'll definitely send you back to the Spirit World!"
"Open! Gate of Taurus—Taurus!"
With a chime, the golden gate of Taurus appeared. The cow-colored minotaur stepped halfway through, only to be shoved back by the quick-eyed Hope.
Once a spirit enters the human world, its gate normally vanishes.
By blocking Taurus inside the starlight corridor, Hope kept the Taurus gate open until Lucy's magic ran out.
Taurus poked his head out, glanced at Hope, then called to Lucy, "Miss Lucy, your figure's as gorgeous as ever. Could you ask your friend to stop blocking this old bull's gate?"
Lucy face-palmed—she'd almost forgotten Taurus was a lecher. "Taurus, I want to borrow your gate to send Loki—uh, to send Leo back to the Spirit World."
Following her finger, Taurus saw the candle-thin Loki and his bovine eyes bulged. "Isn't that Leo? Haven't seen you in two weeks—how'd you end up like this?"
Erza caught the oddity. "Wait, two weeks? But Loki's been in the human world for three years."
"Time flows differently between worlds: one day in the Spirit World equals three months here."
While explaining, Taurus's eyes turned to hearts as he looked at Erza. "Moo~ Another pretty lady—could you do a little jump..."
Before he could finish, Hope blocked his view. "Taurus, do you know what happened to Leo?"
Taurus fell silent.
A fellow Zodiac, and Leo the mightiest of the Golden Spirits—how could he not know? He'd only tried to change the subject.
After all, the law barring any spirit who harms its contract holder was decreed by the supreme Celestial Spirit King... Hope spotted Taurus's hesitation and winked. "What are you mulling over? Using your gate to return Leo is an order from your contract holder, Lucy."
"What? Planning to copy Leo and rebel against your previous contract holder?"
Taurus may be a pervert, but he's no fool; he understood at once. Spirits can't disobey their contract holder—an unfair rule, yet the perfect excuse to send Leo back.
He was simply carrying out Miss Lucy's command.
Spirit World rules don't apply to a contract holder, so what was there to fear?
Still, would this offend the Celestial Spirit King? Rules are dead, but the king who made them is very much alive.
Seeing Taurus waver, Hope smiled and played his trump card. "Taurus, success or not, I'll send you the most awesome gravure book..."
"Moo~ Then let's get started!"
Enthusiasm is the best fuel; instantly energized, Taurus rubbed his hands, ready to go.
Erza and Natsu quickly helped push Loki toward the Taurus gate, shoving from outside while Taurus pulled from within the starlight corridor.
Though the gate felt like an invisible wall, their combined brute force actually wedged Loki partway in.
The push-and-pull friction hurt so much that tears streamed down Loki's face. He looked utterly defeated; had he known, he'd have hidden away to die in peace... But now, for Lucy and for his comrades who'd risk everything, he wanted to live!
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