Lucy underestimated things.
When Taurus raised his big axe to strike at Hua Courtyard's head, she thought victory was assured.
Who would have thought, the seemingly uptight Hua Courtyard, who was almost at a loss for words, suddenly unleashed a powerful move that sent Taurus flying along with his axe.
Once she delivered the first move, Hua Courtyard's tension vanished immediately, and she sprinted toward Lucy.
Taurus got up to try and block her but was swiftly sent back to the Star Spirit Realm with a clean strike.
With enemies on all sides, Lucy had nowhere to run, so she picked up the River of Stars and swung it fiercely toward Hua Courtyard.
However, Hua Courtyard's body suddenly shimmered with a metallic luster.
The whip, which could normally crack rocks, had no effect on Hua Courtyard's body.
Like a changed person, Hua Courtyard, murderous intent radiating, declared, "You'll die here!"
The steel-like, pitch-black palm struck out at Lucy, her pupils contracted, she couldn't dodge!
Whoosh—
The force of the palm stirred the air on her face, making her golden hair sway backward, but the anticipated pain didn't come.
Because suddenly, a Dragon Claw appeared and gripped Hua Courtyard's thick wrist.
"Mr. Rhode!" Lucy exclaimed in delight.
"Are you okay?" Rhode asked, then evaluated, "This guy, his power rivals Elfman's."
"I-I'm okay." The sudden sense of safety relaxed Lucy, who was exhausted and low on Magic Power, and she plopped onto the ground.
Rhode clenched his right fist and struck Hua Courtyard's stomach with a thud.
The metallic-hued belly seemed to ripple, and Hua Courtyard staggered back a few steps, with several slash-like wounds appearing on her stomach.
Rhode continued, "Her Defense is also quite formidable."
Lucy hurriedly reminded, "Mr. Rhode, be careful, she's one of the Seven Dependents of the Demon! And those people... huh?"
Just as she was speaking, she saw a purple "line" advancing from afar.
"Rest assured, I'll deal with this one," Rhode said, "the numbers issue... has never been an issue."
Lucy seemed to remember what it was, nodding earnestly, "Mm!"
"Reinforcements? Then the game ends here!" Hua Courtyard, with a serious face, pulled out a Cursed Doll with a strand of black hair inserted on top.
But this doll seemed to be made of iron.
"This is my Magic, The Hour of Worship!" Hua Courtyard boasted, "Listen well, my hair is now inserted on this, so my body changes according to the material..."
Rhode immediately went on alert, suspecting this was Curse Killing Magic. From his understanding, activating this kind of Magic almost invariably required some condition.
It might require blood, or hair, or like any ordinary Magic, it needs to hit the target to be effective.
A Cursed Magic like Lalabai, which could kill just by hearing the sound, was considered top-tier Curse Killing Magic.
So, facing this kind of Mage, as long as one was cautious, there was no need to fear.
The issue was, someone who openly takes out curse-killing tools in front of an enemy was either ready with conditions, or... was foolish.
And Hua Courtyard, holding the doll in her left hand, extended her right hand, spread open: "Now if you give me your hair, I can use the ultimate Curse Killing Magic to end you! So, who's first?"
Lucy shouted, "Who would give you that!"
The soldiers shouted in unison, "Lord Hua Courtyard! Don't reveal your Magic to the enemy!"
"Ah!" Hua Courtyard snapped to realization.
Rhode sighed, confirming his suspicion that this one was indeed foolish.
His blue-and-white wings flapped behind him and he vanished from where he stood, landing a punch on Hua Courtyard's pudgy chin.
Hua Courtyard's head tilted back, her feet lifted off the ground.
Rhode appeared behind her again, kicking at her temple.
"Ouch!" Hua Courtyard was sent flying horizontally, her head spinning.
"Accept: Purgatory Sub-Dragon!"
Rhode pursued Hua Courtyard, as his Dragon Wings and Dragon Scale transformed from blue-and-white to black-and-red, striking her mid-spine, sending her soaring upward.
At this moment, the Void Worms drew closer, with the Crimson Marked Tree Monster following them, bestowing a Crown of Embers on Rhode from a distance.
Rhode opened his mouth wide, unleashing Dragon Breath upward.
The lava and flames engulfed Hua Courtyard completely, a scream echoing from above.
This time, Hua Courtyard's scream was more intense than any before.
"Lord Hua Courtyard!"
The soldiers of Demon Heart gazed in horror at the red trumpet flower blooming in mid-air. How was it so easy to suppress one of the Seven Dependents? Who exactly was this person?
Rhode's Little Dragon People form differed significantly from his usual demeanor, so even if they'd seen his pictures, this group didn't recognize him.
But soon, they couldn't worry about this any longer.
Because a horde of blue-purple worms lunged at them.
These worms had seemed only knee-high but suddenly glowed with a purple-gray light as they approached Rhode.
In an instant, the worms' bodies swelled, nearly doubling in size, and in their movements, they seemed to have afterimages, their forms hard to catch.
"Wha...what kind of monster is that?"
"So disgusting!"
"Ahh... let me go!"
The Void Worms flocked towards the Demon Heart soldiers.
Whereas it used to take three to five of them to barely handle a normal Mage, these worms now stood a chance even alone.
This was the power of the Broken Ghost Crown.
The most important part was, even though the Broken Ghost Crown affected hundreds of worms simultaneously, Rhode's Magic Power consumption only increased by a sliver.
"So strong..." Lucy stared in a daze at the nearly one-sided battlefield, wondering why there was such a vast difference when they were all Summoning Element Mages.
In her muddled state, a little doll fell before her.
The originally black iron doll had now changed to a straw-like material.
With a thud, Hua Courtyard fell about ten meters away from her, charred black and struggling to speak.
She watched as Lucy picked up the doll, trying to crawl toward her: "Little... curse... give it back..."
"Eww~" Lucy tossed the doll to the ground disdainfully.
Unexpectedly, with no sign of exertion, Hua Courtyard flew from the ground, "jumping" back a distance.
"Could it be..." Lucy blinked, suddenly revealing a mischievous smile.
"Brother Rhode, Miss Lucy!"
Wendy, sitting on the shoulder of the Cyan Engraved Golem, hurried over.
Gajeel's initial treatment was complete, his body wrapped in bandages, lying in the golem's palm.
"Lucy, stop fooling around."
Rhode noticed Lucy bending the doll into all sorts of positions, and Hua Courtyard's body involuntarily moving along, realizing the function of this Magic.
This made things easier; who would insert their hair into a curse tool?
Even if it did have enhancement effects.
Rhode took the doll, patted Lucy on the back, sending her off to find Wendy for healing.
Lucy obediently went to find Wendy.
Rhode glanced at Gajeel's miserable state, gritted his teeth, and twisted the doll's head a full circle.