Lucy sucked in a deep breath and slapped both cheeks hard, forcing her scrambled thoughts back into line.
"Loki's right. Even if we asked the enemy, he'd probably just lie."
"Right now the mission is simple: take this guy down."
She lifted her head, flashed a big smile, and yelled, "Everyone, let's do this!!"
"Yes, Princess/Lucy-sama!"
Ballad slammed both palms onto the ground. A huge earthy-yellow magic circle exploded outward beneath her feet!
[Virgo's Chains – Earth Lock]
Far away, Caprico was mid-backflip trying to dodge Loki's glowing fist when his feet suddenly sank.
He glanced down—just in time to see the dirt come alive, turning into rock-hard stone chains that wrapped around his ankles and calves, racing upward and hardening fast!
"How the hell is a Virgo Celestial Spirit using earth magic?!" Caprico freaked internally.
Loki's golden fist was already in his face. Using insane core strength, Caprico bent backward almost ninety degrees and barely dodged.
"Tch, annoying!" He raised a fist to smash the stone chains, but then came a low shout from behind—"Lucy" again.
[Bajiquan – Collapse]
(Useless. Human attacks can't touch me. Perfect—this'll let me use Human Subordination and turn her into my puppet.)
Caprico started channeling his spell.
"!!!"
An unimaginable force slammed into his back like a battering ram.
His eyes practically bulged out of his sunglasses; his whole body locked up for a split second.
"Impossible?! Human attacks aren't supposed to hurt me directly!!"
Before he could process it—BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
A storm of follow-up strikes hammered the exact same spot. Pain shot through him like lightning.
His feet were still locked in stone, so he couldn't even get knocked away—he just stood there shaking like he'd grabbed a live wire.
From a distance, Sagittarius drew his longbow. Cold light flashed on the arrowhead as white light flared in his eyes.
[Lock-On]
A complicated crimson-gold magic circle formed in front of the arrow. He pulled the string to full draw.
[Flame-Thunder Soul-Chasing Arrow]
WHOOSH—!
The arrow screamed through the circle, instantly igniting with roaring flames and crackling golden lightning. It tore through the air like a raging elemental beast straight at the immobilized Caprico.
Feeling the incoming annihilation, Caprico clenched his teeth, ignored the tearing pain all over his body, and poured magic into his fist—then smashed the stone chains.
CRACK—BOOM!
The chains finally shattered under the double impact.
He kicked off hard, shot upward, trying to escape both the homing arrow and the ground that was starting to shift again.
Only mid-air did he finally get a clear look at his attacker.
Two identical "Lucys"—one close, one far.
"The one that hit me was… Gemini?! No wonder it actually landed!"
"I remember—these spirits can perfectly copy their master's power… meaning that woman herself has that kind of insane close-combat skill?!"
Realizing the danger, Caprico stopped holding back.
He pressed index and middle finger together and rapidly traced a creepy black-purple sigil in the air.
[Hunter of Belparaso – Samakun]
Purple light flashed. A fur-clad, sharp-eyed hunter wielding a longbow materialized in front of him.
"Shoot the blonde girl in the distance."
The hunter nocked an arrow and took aim at Lucy—then suddenly felt killing intent behind him.
Both he and Caprico whipped around. Reflected in their pupils was the same flame-and-lightning arrow that had looped back!
"The Sagittarius arrow has homing?!"
Caprico tried to dodge again, but his feet suddenly sank—the ground below had turned into a swampy bog. His upward leap only buried him waist-deep.
"What kind of magic is this?! Why do Celestial Spirits have so many weird moves?!"
He poured magic into escaping the swamp. From afar, Lucy slid all ten fingers like she was pulling invisible strings and shouted:
[Puppet Attack – Marionette]
Caprico's body jerked stiff; his movements lagged for a split second.
"Heh heh." Lucy smirked. "Direct attack spells might not work great on you, but puppet control that works on non-humans is super effective against a Celestial Spirit like you!"
"Guh—this guy's resistance is insane! He's almost breaking free!!" Lucy felt the pull on her "strings" getting heavier.
Right as the tug-of-war peaked, the arrow arrived.
No way to dodge. A ruthless glint flashed in Caprico's eyes. He raised his right hand again.
[Five Champion Stars – Protect the Master]
Five warriors with wildly different looks instantly wove together into a solid barrier in front of him.
BOOOOOOM—!!!
The flame-thunder arrow collided with the shield. A blinding red sphere laced with lightning and fire ballooned outward, swallowing everything in deafening thunder.
When the light and smoke finally cleared…
Caprico was on one knee, suit torn to rags, white fur scorched black in patches, half his sunglasses shattered. He was panting like he'd just run a marathon.
"She… her magic reserves can actually sustain this many spirits in high-intensity combat for so long…"
"As expected of Lady Layla's daughter…"
"I have to… retreat, now…"
"Sorry, but that's not up to you," Loki's voice ghosted right next to his ear.
Then blinding golden light—warm like the sun yet packed with destructive power—engulfed him completely.
[Regulus Impact – Lion's Brilliance]
"ARRRRGH—!!!"
Caprico screamed as thick black smoke poured off his body, like something was being forcibly purified and torn away.
A few seconds later, the light faded.
A distorted, translucent figure was ripped screaming from Caprico's body, solidifying mid-air before crashing to the ground.
It was a man with stitches across his mouth and an explosive afro.
He stared dumbly at his now-furless hands, then his face exploded with insane joy. "I—I'm back! I'm finally free of that damn goat body!!"
His happiness lasted exactly one second.
As the words left his mouth, his feet started dissolving into purple-black particles.
"Wait—no! NO!!"
"I just got free! I don't wanna disappear! I don't wanna die!!"
He looked up in panic, eyes locking onto Lucy like she was his last lifeline, and screamed with everything he had: "Mistress Lucy! Save me! Please, I beg you—!"
He never finished the word "me." His body turned completely to ash and scattered on the wind.
[Ding – Gained 500,000 magic power. Acquired spell "Human Subordination"] (Roger & Lucy)
[Human Subordination: Weakens human targets' strength and magic, and allows summoning human puppets to fight the same way Celestial Spirits are summoned. Known as the "Ruler's Magic."]
Loki hurried over and helped the now-weak Caprico to his feet, looking guilty. "Sorry, Caprico. I had to weaken the possessor to the absolute limit before I could safely separate you two with light."
"It's fine, Lord Leo," Caprico said weakly, but smiled. "You were trying to free me from Lord Zoldeo's control. I should be the one thanking you."
"It really was Zoldeo!" Lucy cried, running over with Wendy. They knelt beside Caprico, blue healing light pouring from their hands onto his wounds.
"I remember—he used to be one of Mom's attendants, right?"
"Why did this happen? Why were you two fused?"
The wounds visibly closed under the warm glow; the pain faded fast.
Caprico gently pulled away from Loki's support, rolled his shoulders a bit, and slowly began:
"Years ago, Lady Layla trusted Lord Zoldeo enough to give him my key for safekeeping.
Unfortunately… he gradually fell to darkness, lost his mind, and eventually used the forbidden magic Human Subordination to forcibly fuse with me.
That's how we became the 'Caprico' you saw—one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
He turned to Lucy and bowed deeply. "I'm truly sorry for raising my hand against you earlier, Lady Lucy."
"It's okay!" Lucy waved both hands frantically, smiling in relief. "You were the victim here! You were being controlled—no need to apologize!"
Just then, a gentle golden glow spilled from the little pouch on Lucy's hip.
She blinked, opened it, and pulled out a brand-new golden key.
"Th-this is… the Capricorn key!!"
Lucy's voice shook with excitement as she stared at it.
"That's right," Caprico said softly, smiling like a proud uncle watching his niece grow up.
"Long ago, I made a promise with Lady Layla.
If her descendant ever walked the path of a Celestial Spirit Mage, I, Capricorn, would follow and protect her—become her strongest partner."
(Mom… you planned all this for me that far back?)
Lucy stood frozen, clutching the still-warm key. Her mother's gentle smile felt like it was from yesterday. Tears welled up.
Caprico gave a graceful bow and extended his right hand. "From today onward, I am at your service, Lady Lucy."
The formal address snapped her out of it.
She wiped her eyes, nodded hard, and grabbed his steady hand with the biggest grin.
"Same here! Looking forward to fighting together, Caprico!"
Her gaze swept across everyone—Loki, Ballad, Sagittarius, and the now-gone Gemini—etching each of them deep into her heart.
(Thank you, Mom, for giving me so many precious friends and reliable partners.)
(I really love this life. I love everyone in Fairy Tail—even when it's exhausting, even when it's a total pain, even when it's dangerous…)
(I'm just… so, so happy!)
"Lucy-sama, that was incredible!" Wendy's eyes sparkled with pure admiration as she grabbed Lucy's hands. "You took down someone that strong all by yourself!"
"He couldn't even react! Celestial Spirit Magic is amazing!"
"Hehe…" Being looked at like that for the first time made Lucy blush. "It's mostly thanks to the huge magic boost from my contract with Roger, plus all that hellish training from Erza and the others. That's why I improved so fast."
"If I'd just trained slowly on my own, who knows when I would've mastered double summoning—let alone beat one of the Seven Kin basically unscathed."
Then her shoulders slumped and she whined, "But man, the magic drain is terrifying. If I hadn't just gotten that 500k top-up, I'd be running on fumes right now…"
Wendy secretly glanced at Lucy's chest rising and falling from heavy breathing, clenched her little fists, and made a silent vow:
(I have to train way harder from now on!)
KABOOOOOOOM!!!!!
A thunderclap louder than any before—loud enough to feel like the sky itself cracked—exploded out of nowhere!
The shockwave actually rattled the ground.
"KYAAA!!" Lucy and Wendy both screamed and hugged each other on reflex.
A few seconds later Lucy recovered first, clutching her ringing ears and looking up at the roiling black clouds. "…That thunder… is Laxus fighting someone?"
"So… scary…" Wendy whimpered, then suddenly pointed above Lucy's head in shock.
"Lucy-sama! Y-your hair!!"
"?!" Lucy reached up—every single strand of her blonde hair was standing straight up, defying gravity like a golden hedgehog.
"Wh-what the heck?!"
"I spent forever styling it this morning!!" Lucy wailed.
"Laxus is way too strong! We're this far away and the static still did this?!"
She was practically in tears. Then she noticed Wendy's situation.
"Wait—Wendy, yours is sticking up too!"
"Ah—really?!" Wendy frantically tried to pat down her now-fluffy, electrified blue hair, face full of despair.
Meanwhile, on another part of Tenrou Island…
Ul ran as fast as she could, footsteps crunching through fallen leaves.
Worry and urgency were written all over her face; her eyes scanned every shadow for the person she'd missed every single day.
"Ultear—I'm coming for you!"
"This time, Mommy won't let you suffer alone anymore!"
"No matter what, I'm finding you!"
There were no clues, no signs—yet deep in her blood a voice kept screaming: This way!
Pure motherly instinct drove her forward without hesitation.
She rounded a massive tree that would take several people to wrap their arms around—and the second her view opened up, her feet froze.
A short distance away stood a woman in distinctive black-and-white clothes, looking around warily.
Time stopped.
Ul stared at that back—so unfamiliar yet achingly familiar. Her breath caught. Tears instantly filled her eyes, blurring everything.
Her voice came out tiny, trembling, barely more than a whisper: "Ul… tear…?"
The figure jolted like she'd been shocked, body going completely rigid.
She turned—slowly, stiffly.
The instant her eyes met Ul's face, her pupils shrank to pinpricks.
"Mom…?" The word almost escaped, but she forcibly swallowed it, choking on silent sobs.
Then, faster than ice can form, her gaze turned freezing cold—distant, guarded, overflowing with deep, deep resentment.
"What a pathetic illusion."
She laughed, voice like shards of ice. "Roger—this your doing? Cut the crap."
Her tone left no room for argument, pure obsessive denial:
"Ul—my great mother—died ten years ago! She turned herself into an eternal ice statue to save her two precious disciples!!"