"Rhodes!"
"Brother Rhodes!"
Natsu and Wendy called out one after another, concern flashing across their faces.
The tremors in the ground quickly subsided, and the thick dust cloud was dispersed by a gentle, unnatural breeze.
Rhodes stood exactly where he had been, completely unharmed. His right hand had already transformed into a dragon claw, earthy-yellow, stone-like scales covering it. Fine, shallow marks were etched across the surface, evidence of the impact he had just endured.
"Do what you need to do," Rhodes said calmly. "I'm fine."
He slightly turned his head, gazing at the massive fissure stretching behind him, cracked earth running straight past the Royal Palace and continuing all the way to the horizon.
From this alone, he could already judge the Dragon's nature.
'Either it possesses innate strength… or its magic attribute is earth.'
The soldiers stood frozen in shock.
First, they were stunned that Rhodes had directly withstood a Dragon's attack.
Then, they noticed the fissure.
The grayish-white Dragon had struck the ground only once, yet the earth had split open, the crack tearing straight through the palace grounds and extending far beyond.
Looking into the distance, a plume of dust could be seen rising from within the city itself.
That meant the single blow had carved a massive fissure across nearly half the capital.
It wasn't particularly deep, but its sheer scale was horrifying.
And then;
Their gazes returned to Rhodes, filled with even greater disbelief.
'How could someone casually endure an attack like that?'
"Don't just stand there!"
Gajeel's voice snapped everyone out of it. "Another one's coming out!"
From the Eclipse Gate emerged a second Dragon.
This one was blue-green in color, its body covered in dark speckles. Fins grew from its head, back, and cheeks, its claws were webbed, and even its wings resembled massive fins rather than membranes.
While Rhodes had been blocking the first Dragon's strike, this one had already slipped through the gate.
It immediately took to the air.
Right behind it came a surge of flames, accompanied by a wave of blistering heat, as though a walking inferno itself was stepping out of the gate.
The two Lucys didn't hesitate any longer.
They faced one another, their hands tightly clasped, three hands intertwined.
"Celestial Spirits of the Zodiac..."
"Watch out!"
Before they could finish the first line of the incantation, Natsu slammed into them from the side, tackling both Lucys and sending them flying several meters across the ground.
At the same time, Laxus kicked Gajeel away and grabbed Wendy by the back of her collar, vanishing in a flash of lightning.
A blinding beam of light tore through the night sky.
It struck the exact spot where the two Lucys had been standing, detonating in a violent explosion.
Natsu and the two Lucys had barely hit the ground when the shockwave blasted them airborne again, sending them tumbling through dust and debris. Celestial Spirit keys scattered across the ground.
Fortunately, none of them were seriously injured.
"Miss Lucy!"
Princess Hisui and the Knight Commander cried out at the same time.
If anything happened to those two, closing the gate would become impossible.
Knights immediately rushed forward, forming a defensive perimeter.
"We're fine!" Lucy shouted as she scrambled to her feet, hurriedly gathering the scattered keys. "We need to close the gate now!"
Gajeel wiped dust from his face, scowling.
"Damn it… who fired that?"
"It came from the side," Laxus said, setting Wendy down as he looked toward the western side of the Royal Palace. "At least one kilometer away. It looks like a Magic Beam Cannon, but that range.."
"This is!"
Danton's face turned pale with shock. "It's Dragons Treasure!"
Everyone looked at him.
"They're positioned in that direction!" Danton continued urgently.
"That was their specialized long-range Magic Beam Cannon, Saturn! A modified version of Jupiter, focused entirely on range and precision!"
"Dragons Treasure…?"
The King frowned deeply. "Why would they do something like this?"
Since this cannon is a specialized version focusing on accuracy, they can rule out the possibility of a missed shot.
"They don't want the gate closed this quickly," Rhodes said coldly.
"Are they working with that mysterious person from the future?!"
Arcadios reacted instantly.
"Communications officer!" he barked. "Order the D-Sector Guard Unit to arrest all members of Dragons Treasure immediately! C-Sector and F-Sector Guard Units are to provide backup!"
"Yes, sir!"
However, in that brief moment of delay, the situation worsened dramatically.
Not only did the Dragon that resembled a living fireball emerge from the Eclipse Gate, but two more Dragons forced their way out side by side.
One had a crude, blocky appearance, its body seemingly assembled from massive slabs of stone.
The other possessed a grotesque head structure, one horn curving downward from its skull and another jutting upward from its jaw, forming a shape like a gigantic clamp.
All three newly emerged Dragons spread their wings and ascended into the sky.
At last, the two Lucys were ready.
"Celestial Spirits of the Zodiac!" they cried in unison.
"Please lend us your power to seal the evil, Open, Gate of the Zodiac!"
Twelve golden keys floated into the air, rotating in a perfect circle like the face of a clock, radiating brilliant golden light.
The echo of a colossal door opening rang out through the void.
One by one, all twelve Celestial Spirits of the Zodiac manifested in the sky.
As Lucy's voice faded, the spirits split into two groups like shooting stars, streaking toward the backs of the massive gate panels. Golden trails followed behind them as they pushed with all their strength.
A deep, rumbling sound filled the square as the Eclipse Gate began to close, slowly, heavily.
During that interval, two more Dragons squeezed through the narrowing gap.
One unfurled pitch-black wings, while the other was entirely emerald green, its scales gleaming ominously.
Just as the gate was about to shut, an eighth Dragon thrust its head through, its skull shaped like a saber-toothed tiger's, fangs bared as it tried to force its wings between the closing panels.
But before it could succeed;
An earthy-yellow giant Dragon slammed into it from the side.
With a brutal impact, it crushed the intruding Dragon's snout and shoved it violently back into the gate.
Clang!
The Eclipse Gate slammed shut.
The time passage to four hundred years ago was severed.
"We did it!"
The two Lucys cheered, exhaustion written clearly on their faces.
The Celestial Spirits of the Zodiac dissolved into light and vanished.
Under normal circumstances, this should have been a moment of celebration. The soldiers had even started to cheer.
But the sight before them robbed everyone of their voices.
"D-Dragons… so many Dragons…"
"Weren't there seven? W-why did the number suddenly jump to thirteen?!"
"That one just now… it helped us. Could it be..."
Slowly, everyone turned to look at Rhodes.
"Void Sentinel," Rhodes said evenly, exhaling deeply.
Summoning six Dragons simultaneously was still taxing, even for him.
Without the buff, he wouldn't be able to maintain them.
After recovering slightly, Rhodes patted Sentinel's massive foot and gestured toward Lucy and the others.
Blue Sentinel immediately understood.
Golden light descended as the blue buff manifested again, this time equipping both Lucys.
Since evolving into a Void Sentinel, it was capable of applying buffs to five people at once.
The King stepped forward, forcing himself to remain composed.
"Mr. Rhodes, this...."
"Don't worry," Rhodes said calmly, waving a hand. "We can handle it."
High above the Royal Palace, the Mountain Dragon, Cloud Dragon, Chemtech Dragon, and Hextech Dragon soared into the sky, each selecting a target and engaging a Dragon in aerial combat.
The Purgtory Dragon didn't even wait for an order, it lunged straight at the blazing Dragon with a furious roar.
Only one remained unmoving.
The Ocean Dragon stayed exactly where she was.
Rhodes looked at her helplessly. She looked back at him, equally awkward.
"You should go, Sister Ocean," Rhodes said.
She scratched her cheek sheepishly.
"I already told you. I'm not good at fighting."
As she spoke, arcs of gentle green light flowed from her body, landing precisely on the wounded soldiers scattered across the square.
The soldiers flinched at first, then froze in shock as the pain in their bodies rapidly faded.
"Forget it," Rhodes muttered, shaking his head. "Do what you're good at."