Besides being one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory of Grimoire Heart, Zoldeo had another identity.
He was Layla's servant.
He had once killed Brandish's mother in an attempt to steal Aquarius's key. (T/N: In the original work, Zoldeo killed Brandish's mother in anger because she was late in delivering Aquarius, which caused Layla's death.)
Loke knew that once Zoldeo recognized Lucy as Layla's daughter, he would definitely not let her go.
"Lucy, Levy, get away quickly! Leave this guy to me!"
"But..."
"His Human Subordination magic can weaken humans, but I'm a Celestial Spirit, so I won't be affected!"
In short, Loke wanted to send Lucy away before Zoldeo recognized her.
"I understand!"
After hesitating for a moment, Lucy prepared to leave with Levy.
But just as Lucy and Levy turned around, a figure emerged from a large tree not far away.
"…"
Seeing the person suddenly appear, both Levy and Lucy were startled.
The person appearing before Levy and Lucy was none other than the manifested Azuma.
"Damn it, another one?"
Loke also noticed the suddenly appearing Azuma.
Dealing with just Zoldeo was troublesome enough, but now, another enemy had appeared.
This made Loke and the others' situation even more difficult.
"Azuma, why are you here?"
Zoldeo saw the suddenly appearing Azuma and casually asked.
After all, he knew Hades had sent Azuma to Tenrou Island in advance to destroy the Tenrou Tree.
Logically, Azuma should be preparing to destroy the Tenrou Tree right now.
But Zoldeo didn't overthink it.
Seeing that Zoldeo and Azuma knew each other, the gravity on Lucy and Levy's pretty faces intensified.
However, just as Lucy and Levy prepared to confront Azuma, Azuma suddenly raised his arm and launched an attack against Zoldeo over there.
Bzzzt bzzzt bzzzt-
As Azuma raised his hand, numerous tiny points of light appeared around Zoldeo over there.
Immediately after, those points of light exploded like bombs.
Instantly, Zoldeo's figure was engulfed by the explosion's flames.
"Eh?"
Witnessing this sudden turn of events, Lucy, Levy, and the others were all stunned.
"What's going on?"
"Aren't they comrades?"
"Are they like Natsu and Gray?"
While Lucy and Levy were bewildered, Zoldeo, who had been engulfed by the flames, charged out from within them.
"What are you doing?!"
Zoldeo shouted at Azuma with anger and confusion.
But Azuma didn't respond to Zoldeo's question and continued his attack.
Azuma waved his hand fiercely.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh-
For a moment, a large number of branch-vines, like living creatures, coiled towards Zoldeo.
Zoldeo's figure shot backwards.
While dodging the coiling branch-vines, he immediately activated his magical power.
"San Jiao Shin!"
The next second, a person wielding a guandao was summoned by Zoldeo from a different dimension.
The person with the guandao swung his large blade, severing all the oncoming branch-vines.
But it wasn't over.
After Azuma's first attack failed, he launched another.
"Leaf Blade!"
With a wave of Azuma's hand, a large number of blade-like leaves all rushed towards Zoldeo and the guandao-wielder.
Slash slash slash-
Instantly, Zoldeo and the guandao-wielder suffered numerous attacks from the leaf blades.
Whoosh-
The guandao-wielder's figure turned into a bright light and then vanished.
Zoldeo, clutching his chest, shouted angrily: "Have you gone mad?!"
By now, Lucy, Levy, and the others could tell that Azuma wasn't just fooling around like Gray and Natsu… he genuinely wanted to kill Zoldeo.
At this point, Levy, Lucy, and the others were once again plunged into confusion.
"If that's how it is, then I won't hold back either!"
Zoldeo said in an angry voice, then directly used his Human Subordination magic on Azuma, intending to weaken Azuma's magical power and strength.
But soon, Zoldeo discovered…
"You're not human?!"
Zoldeo looked at Azuma before him with disbelief!
"Eh?"
Hearing Zoldeo's words, Lucy, Levy, and the others all turned their gazes onto Azuma.
"What does 'not human' mean?"
"He's mine!"
Just then, a sudden voice came through the air.
Hearing the voice, Lucy, Levy, and the others all looked towards the source.
When Levy and Lucy saw the newcomer's face, they were overjoyed.
"Kenichi!"
Looking at Kenichi, Lucy immediately thought of something: "Don't tell me this one was created by your magic?"
During the guild civil war, when Kenichi used Historia of the Dead to manifest Jellal, Ur, and the others, Lucy had been present.
She knew Kenichi possessed that kind of magic that could 'revive' the dead.
Just now, Zoldeo said Azuma wasn't human, and Kenichi suddenly appeared. Lucy immediately realized the Azuma before them was created by Kenichi's magic.
Kenichi didn't answer Lucy's question, he just smiled, then shifted his gaze from Lucy and Levy onto Zoldeo, who was fused with the Celestial Spirit Capricorn.
Kenichi knew Zoldeo's magic was the Lost Magic, Human Subordination.
This Human Subordination magic could not only weaken a human's magical power and strength but also turn humans into puppets, storing them in a different dimension for summoning.
'This magic seems pretty good too. Since I've encountered it, I might as well collect it.'
Kenichi looked at Zoldeo and thought to himself, then said to Azuma: "Attack!"
With Kenichi's command, Azuma immediately launched an attack against Zoldeo.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh-
Azuma waved his hand fiercely, and a large number of branch-vines swept towards Zoldeo.
Zoldeo moved his feet, and his figure shot out violently.
While leaping, Zoldeo looked at Azuma, Kenichi, and the others, his heart filled with confusion.
'He looked exactly like Azuma, and his magic was Azuma's magic.'
'But he wasn't human, and he obeyed that mage's commands!'
'What in the world was going on?'
After some fruitless thinking, Zoldeo gave up.
"Regardless, as long as I eliminate you, it should be fine!"
Zoldeo locked onto Kenichi and directly activated his magical power.
"Knights!"
Originally, Zoldeo intended to summon all Knights to eliminate Kenichi.
But after Zoldeo activated his magic, the Knights did not appear.
"What's going on? Why can't I summon them?"
Zoldeo stopped, his face full of confusion.
At this time, Lucy, seeing the expression on Zoldeo's face, began gloating.
She knew that Kenichi possessed Rules of the Area.
Any magic related to space was ineffective before Kenichi.
Zoldeo's summoning magic was similar to Celestial Spirit Magic.
Both summoned helpers from different dimensions.
The difference was that Celestial Spirit Magic summoned Celestial Spirits, while Zoldeo's magic summoned humans.