"Are you sure it's this way?"
"No doubt about it!"
Lucy was enjoying the same treatment Wendy had earlier—being carried by Rhode while flying in the sky.
After dealing with the Hua Courtyard and a group of Demon Heart soldiers over there, Rhode intended to quickly bring them and Gajeel back to the camp.
But Lucy suddenly said she felt that Loki was in danger.
Sensing something like that is quite mysterious, but Rhode believed her.
Perhaps there really is a wonderful connection between Lucy and the Star Spirits?
So he left Xiaohong, Xiaolan, and a bunch of other wild creatures to guard Wendy and Gajeel, and flew here with Lucy.
Lucy had some complaints about being carried like a sack, but the situation was urgent, and she had no choice.
When the two flew over the destination, Rastillos had already left, a Hunter was aiming an arrow at Loki, and five fully-armored warriors were surrounding from behind.
Kaburico stretched out his hands, ready to cast a spell.
Only then did Loki understand the true nature of the enemy: "You... you're not Kaburico, but a human who fused with Kaburico?!"
"You realized it too late, Leo!" Kaburico laughed, "Now, your body is mine!"
Loki clenched his fist, golden light emerging from his hand, planning a desperate struggle—not for himself, but for Kaburico and the fallen comrades.
If he escaped back to the Star Spirit Realm now, then the companions... would likely be enslaved by the enemy's magic, so he absolutely couldn't run away.
But in his current state, being completely surrounded, trying to help Kaburico recover was indeed a big challenge.
At this critical moment, Kaburico suddenly heard a rushing sound from above and a sharp female voice.
Kaburico looked up, only to see a blonde girl falling from the sky, with a fist rapidly expanding in his field of vision.
"Ahhh!!!"
"Lucy?!" Loki naturally recognized the girl falling from the sky in an instant.
Bam!
Rhode punched through Kaburico's sunglasses, flipping him onto the ground.
The feel was not quite right.
Rhode found it strange but didn't have time to think more, immediately going to catch Lucy to ease her fall.
Seeing his master being beaten, Samagui shot three consecutive arrows at Rhode.
Rhode opened his mouth, spewing out Wind Blades, splitting the arrows in half and sending Samagui away at the same time.
After that, he spun around in the air, throwing Lucy out.
"Ah, ah, ah!" Lucy screamed a few times but still cooperated, attacking, "Lucy Flying Kick!"
She kicked away a fully armored warrior and, upon landing, drew out a whip: "River of Stars!"
The golden-blue long whip crackled, knocking down the other warriors. Lucy, facing Kaburico while with her back to Loki, asked, "Loki, how are you?"
Loki had to admit he was impressed by Lucy's recent moves, but with no time for compliments, he immediately said, "Why did you come here? Run! That guy's magic..."
Rhode interrupted Loki: "Was this all his doing?"
Loki froze for a moment before realizing Rhode was referring to Elfman and Gray.
"No, he has a partner..." Loki quickly summarized the enemy's information.
If it weren't for Kaburico's human enslavement magic suppressing everyone, even if that guy called Rastillos was strong, there's no way they could have lost so pathetically.
"So it's like that..." Rhode's face darkened, questioning, "I remember, even if a Star Spirit suffers a fatal injury in the Human Realm, they won't die, right?"
"Yes, that's right." Loki had already stood up with Lucy's assistance, "But his kind of magic is the nemesis of human mages, fighting him like this puts you at a disadvantage, so let me..."
Before finishing, Kaburico got up as Rhode released the Receiving Magic to return to his original state.
Then, a red Giant Dragon emanating terrifying heat suddenly appeared.
The already hot island seemed to rise several degrees in temperature.
Human enslavement magic was indeed formidable. Rhode clearly felt that summoning the Purgatory Sub-Dragon this time was very strenuous and couldn't be maintained for long.
But, it was enough.
"Why... why is there..." Kaburico was dumbfounded.
The Purgatory Sub-Dragon seemed well aware of the current situation, wasting no time in unleashing a Dragon Breath at Kaburico.
Whoosh—boom boom boom—
The tall, skinny goat man was merely a speck in front of the dragon and was swiftly engulfed in the torrent of flames and lava.
The ensuing explosion drowned out his screams.
A vast forest turned into a Sea of Fire, and Rhode felt his Magic Power swiftly restored to normal levels.
"What astonishing destructive power... Kaburico..." Loki gazed towards the Sea of Fire, seeing a person emerging from Kaburico's body.
Amidst the raging flames, Kaburico's body seemed to reach its limit and was forcibly sent back to the Star Spirit Realm.
"Ahhh!!!"
The person separating from his body could only scream in agony within the Sea of Fire, then vanished like foam.
—It wasn't the fire that melted him, but he disappeared of his own accord.
This must be the consequence of touching the forbidden.
"Fairy Tail Strategist!"
Rhode was about to inquire about Loki's condition when he suddenly heard someone call his nickname.
Rastillos clutched his forehead with his right hand, slightly leaning back, laughing almost maniacally:
"Finally, I've found you! I've waited so long for this day, haha, hahaha... the demon's revenge against the fairies begins now!"
"Come forth, my Guardian Divine Beasts! And the Demon Vanguard that once haunted my nightmares!"
Four Guardian Holy Beasts of Rastillos' imagination appeared in front of him, followed by a Giant Monster highly resembling the Canyon Vanguard.
Lucy trembled, clearly mistaking Rastillos for a Summoning Mage, and like Rhode, capable of summoning multiple monsters at will.
The Purgatory Sub-Dragon turned its head to look at Rastillos, then at Rhode: "Bro, what is that thing? It looks so familiar?"
Rhode curiously examined the 'Demon Vanguard' too, replying, "A knockoff, why don't you take care of it?"
"Alright."
The Purgatory Sub-Dragon didn't even spread its wings, but like a sparrow hopping on the ground, it 'hopped' over the heads of the Fairy Tail crowd, directly crushing the fake Canyon Vanguard.
Then, with a swipe of its tail, it instantly killed all four of Rastillos' Guardian Holy Beasts.
Rastillos stood dumbfounded, gazing at the majestic creature before him, at a loss for words.
In truth, his prosthetic limb was a piece of Magic Tools, allowing him to cast a powerful Defense Magic.
But... his mind was in chaos now, almost forgetting how to activate it.
"Roar!!!"
The Purgatory Sub-Dragon opened its mouth, roaring angrily at the dazed young man before it, the heat and stench waking Rastillos from his stupor.
"Right! I haven't lost yet; I still have the Arc of Manifestation!" Rastillos jumped back a step, "Imagine... I must imagine something stronger than a dragon to defeat it! Think of something..."
Rastillos' expression shifted from fear to anticipation, then to disorientation.
He couldn't imagine anything.
He felt his brain was blank, his imagination, creativity, even basic thinking capabilities seemed to have deserted him entirely.
His eyes rolled back, and he collapsed to the ground.