Nirvana Activated!

From afar, Natsu's roar soared into the sky, a pillar of orange-red flame standing out conspicuously in the night, illuminating half the sky and even casting a warm orange hue on the distant treetops.

Riyao gestured with his chin toward the firelight, speaking casually as if instructing Happy to buy a fish.

"Happy, go help Natsu, that snake can fly."

Happy spread his wings, his small blue figure tracing an arc in the night sky as he flew towards Natsu.

"Aye!"

Riyao continued to take Wendy to Lucy's place.

Before they even arrived, Xiang rushed over and became the human form of the jade slip for transmitting skills.

"This ability is very useful."

Riyao sensed the magical fluctuations from afar; the kind of magic that could be directly injected into someone's brain to decompress it was a godsend for academic underachievers.

His lips twitched slightly, his tone carrying a complex emotion that was hard to define—a mixture of admiration and helplessness.

"The fortune of the Lucy family for hundreds of years must have all fallen on her shoulders."

Wendy tilted her head, looking at Riyao with a blank expression.

What is Mr. Riyao saying?

Riyao patted Wendy's head without stopping.

"Someone helped Lucy defeat Angel."

Wendy covered her head, looking unhappy.

When Riyao arrived at the scene, he first helped Xiang, who was lying on the ground, to his feet.

The handsome man on the Blue Pegasus was in a terrible state. His clothes were torn in several places, his face was still pale from the magic overload, and he looked limp and listless, as if all his energy had been drained away.

"You're so weak, you need to replenish your energy, bro."

Riyao raised his hand, and a jade-green magic circle appeared, enveloping Xiang's body in the light of Healing Magic.

Ah~

Xiang let out a deep, pleasurable groan, a long, lingering, and ambiguous sound that echoed through the silent forest and carried far away.

▼_▼

Riyao's expression froze instantly.

He slowly withdrew his hand, looking at Hibiki with an expression as if he were looking at a pervert.

"Stop making those suggestive noises. What about your professional ethics as a gigolo?"

Xiang coughed awkwardly, straightened his collar, and tried to regain his dignity as the top performer of the Blue Pegasus, but the slight redness at the tips of his ears betrayed him.

"I'm sorry, Riyao."

Riyao turned his head and looked at Lucy and Angel lying on the ground. Good heavens, they didn't aim for fatal wounds, they were all after their clothes.

Both of their clothes were tattered beyond recognition.

Lucy's Celestial Spirit World -themed outfit was torn to a state that would almost be disapproved of.

Angel's situation was similar; her already revealing clothing had been transformed into battle-damaged gear, with large patches of skin exposed to the air.

Riyao kicked the Leo key on the ground, transferring a bit of magic into it.

This obviously won't open Leo's Celestial Spirit Gate; it will only remind Leo to come out.

After all, only Leo can get out on his own right now.

Leo came out quickly.

He carried a coat in his hand, took a few quick steps to Lucy's side, and draped the coat over her shoulders with gentle and natural movements, like a Gentleman taking care of his princess.

His gaze lingered on Lucy for a second, and only after confirming that she was alright did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Riyao sent Wendy to retrieve Angel's Celestial Spirit Key.

Wendy carefully walked over, squatted down next to Angel, and took the Celestial Spirit Keys from the keychain at her waist.

Angel was already dressed provocatively, and now she was in battle-damaged gear. If I went over to see her, and Mirajane found out, I'd be sleeping at the door for a month.

Riyao tilted his head and asked in a tone of inquiry, as if exploring something new.

"I wonder if collecting all twelve golden keys will allow us to combine and evolve. Leo, can you evolve?"

Leo stood with his hands in his pockets, his chin slightly raised, looking very confident.

"Evolution is probably impossible, but if we were to fight in the Celestial Spirit World, I dare say I'd be invincible."

A meaningful smile appeared on Riyao's lips as his gaze swept over Leo's face twice.

"Oh, are you sure?"

Leo's smile froze on his face.

"Uh... I still have water boiling at home, I'll go back first..."

He recalled the Celestial Spirit King and the scene from a while ago when he was completely suppressed by the Riyao in his palace, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He chuckled twice, then his body transformed into a golden light, disappearing back into the Celestial Spirit World at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Lucy and Hibiki recovered as well.

Lucy, wrapped in the coat Leo had left behind, got up from the ground, rubbed her sore back, her face still showing the fatigue of the battle, but her eyes sparkled with the excitement of victory.

Hibiki stood up, Riyao bowed slightly. Although his face still had the blush that had been smoothed out by the Healing Magic, his tone had returned to its usual calm.

"Mr. Riyao, I need to go find the Christina airship, so I'll take my leave now."

Riyao nodded, glanced into the depths of the forest, his tone calm, but a hint of seriousness flashed in his eyes.

"Yes, go ahead, Nirvana is about to be unsealed."

Xiang strode away in one direction, his steps much more determined than when he arrived.

Lucy chuckled to herself as she looked at the keys in her hand, her eyes crinkling into crescent shapes and her mouth stretching to her ears, radiating an air of smugness as if she had found a treasure.

Riyao slapped her on the back of the head, not hard, but the sound was crisp.

"What are you grinning about? If you had focused on increasing your magic power, you would have been rampaging through the Star Dress long ago. Instead, you're stuck being a useless tool for Celestial Spirit summoning."

His tone was one of disappointment and frustration, as if he were scolding a poor student who wasn't studying hard enough.

"Look at Wendy, she's only twelve, and she has more magic than you."

Lucy covered the back of her head, looking at Riyao with dissatisfaction, her lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle.

"Ouch, that hurts! I tried my best, okay!"

Riyao crossed his arms, a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

"You've been working hard on your novel, haven't you? Happy read it all to me."

Lucy's face flushed instantly, her hands clenched into fists, and she stomped her feet in anger.

"That little thief cat!"

Wendy spoke softly to Lucy, her hands clenched nervously in front of her, her gaze sincere and earnest.

"Miss Lucy is very strong; she was able to defeat the Oración Seis."

Riyao tossed a seed over, which traced an arc in the air before landing beside Angel. Instantly, it took root and sprouted, its vines growing and spreading at an astonishing speed.

Angel was bound from head to toe like a caterpillar, with only her head sticking out.

Angel's face turned bright red, and she made muffled protesting noises, but the vines were tied so tightly that she couldn't move a single finger.

Riyao dusted off his hands, speaking casually as if suggesting Lucy take an extracurricular class.

"When you get back, let my Mira train you a bit. Learning more fighting skills will be useful."

Fear filled Lucy's face. She trembled, her arms crossed over her chest, and the image of Mirajane smiling as she beat her to a pulp flashed through her mind.

"Oh no, I think Mira will make me cry."

Wendy tilted her head and blinked innocently.

"No way, I think Mira is really gentle."

"Wendy, don't be fooled by appearances."

Carla sighed, feeling that Wendy was too naive.

She perched on Riyao's shoulder, her fluffy tail swishing irritably, the cat radiating an aura of utter helplessness. "These people are hopeless."

Riyao suddenly paused for a moment.

It wasn't the content of their conversation, but rather his perception through the trees, that led him to discover that Brain and Midnight were not dead.

"They're incredibly lucky."

There was no surprise in Riyao's tone, only a faint sigh, as if he were commenting on a cockroach that was impossible to kill no matter how hard he tried.

"Who?"

Wendy looked at Riyao with a puzzled expression.

"Brain, the MLM leader, and Dark Circles in the Midnight."

Riyao casually gave the two nicknames, his tone dismissive as if he were talking about two insignificant little characters.

Lucy exclaimed in surprise, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"You went and took on two Oración Seis one-on-one, and almost killed them?"

"Why are you making such a fuss? I'm a veteran S-Class Mage in the guild, after all. If I weren't worried about the energy expenditure and potential unforeseen circumstances, I would have already activated my Azure Dragon Form."

Riyao had his hands in his pockets, speaking casually as if he were just talking about what he had for breakfast that day.

As the group chatted and made their way to support their teammates, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently.

A sudden earthquake shook the ground.

The entire forest seemed to be lifted up from the ground by an invisible giant hand. The trees were leaning to one side and to the other, and huge ravines were cracked in the ground, with gravel and soil being thrown into the air.

A terrifying surge of magical energy rose from the depths of the earth, like an ancient behemoth that Sleep for thousands of years finally awakening, letting out a deafening roar.

A colossal structure rose from the ground.

It was a massive, suffocating mobile fortress, shaped like a crawling giant spider, with six thick legs rising from the ground, each over a hundred meters long, carving deep furrows in the earth.

Nirvana has begun.