Leo's Gate Successfully Closed

Riyao raised his greatsword and leaped into the air.

The gravity around him shifted, and he flew toward the Celestial Globe. Starlight leaked through the gaps, shattering into a silvery shimmer on the sword.

Ophiuchus took out his ocarina, and a strange melody rang out. Riyao turned the greatsword in his hand around.

The flute's sound was shrill and distorted, making it unpleasant to listen to.

The sword veered Deflection its own, pulling Riyao in an arc as he plummeted straight toward the ground.

The sword strike was swift and heavy, so powerful that even the floating pebbles in the distance were shaken and fell.

"Hey! Riyao, watch out! You almost hit me!"

Gray rolled to the side, the greatsword grazing his nose as it struck the ground.

A deep groove was cleaved into the surface of the meteorite, and fragments and stardust splattered all over Gray. He got up and spat twice.

Riyao hoisted his greatsword, pointed it at Ophiuchus on the mechanical serpent's head, and looked utterly innocent.

He shrugged, the greatsword on his shoulder wobbled, and dust fell from its blade.

"I didn't do it, it was the snake's magic."

"That's Ophiuchus's Dance of Death; it can manipulate everything within her sight, it's an extremely powerful spell."

Hisui poked her head out and explained, then gave a thumbs-up.

"Come on!"

Riyao raised his head high, his face clearly saying "Look at this, look at this," and he was both self-righteous and arrogant.

→_→

Gray had a look on his face that said, "You guys all conspired to cheat me."

He snorted and turned his face away.

Riyao didn't care what Gray thought, shouldered his greatsword, and continued charging towards the Celestial Globe.

His boots left a small dent on the meteorite's surface as he moved through the floating debris, his sword tip always pointing at the crimson sphere suspended in the starry sky.

The flute music began again, this time carrying a chilling killing intent.

Ophiuchus played his ocarina, and music filled the air as Elfman was controlled to smash into the Riyao.

His body was like a puppet with its strings cut, his limbs stiffly outstretched, crashing straight into Riyao.

"Brother-in-law! Watch out!"

"Get out of here!"

Riyao kicked Elfman away, which stunned Ophiuchus, and the music even paused for a moment.

Elfman tumbled twice in mid-air before crashing headfirst into a pile of rubble in the distance, kicking up a cloud of stardust.

"Oh my, this is really unexpected!"

"Then you'll have to get used to it."

Riyao continued its attack on the Celestial Globe, but no matter how many times it attacked, it was always controlled and deflected by Ophiuchus's Dance of Death.

Riyao's attacks grew faster and faster, each sword strike sharper than the last, yet they always fell short by just a hair's breadth.

Each sword strike deviated from its intended direction, slashing straight at the Celestial Spirit Sanctuary beneath their feet, adding numerous cracks to the meteorite.

Besides the cracks caused by the giant sword, there are also many pits in the ground, all thanks to the hard work of the Fairy Tail crew.

Sword beams cleaved into the rocks one after another, stardust falling in a flurry; some cracks were so deep that the interior of the meteorite could be seen.

Natsu stomped on the ground, and stardust exploded in a circle beneath his feet.

He charged at Leo, his left fist blazing with blue flames, his right fist blazing with dragon flames, his punches moving at an astonishing speed.

Two-colored flames surged on his fist, one blue and one red, and the force of his punch stirred up pebbles from the ground.

Although this is the Celestial Spirit Sanctuary, where one can improve their strength just like in the Celestial Spirit World, Leo's stamina has been greatly reduced due to Natsu's relentless attacks, and he can no longer keep up with Natsu's offensive at full strength.

His golden armor was already tattered and broken, and the dark flames flickered on and off, like a lamp that was about to burn out.

He was forced to retreat, reaching out to grab Natsu's neck, intending to forcibly absorb magic power to replenish himself.

Leo's hand had barely extended halfway when Natsu's fist arrived, slamming into his arm until it went numb.

Natsu nimbly dodged to the side, then delivered a side kick to Leo's abdomen, causing Leo to bend over in pain.

Leo was forced to retreat repeatedly, crashing into a broken stone pillar from behind.

Dark flames erupted from his body, instantly exploding and spreading for over ten meters before Natsu swallowed them whole.

The three-colored flames churned within him, and Natsu grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth.

What side effects? With Riyao here, what does he have to fear!

He patted his stomach and let out a loud burp.

Natsu wanted to continue his one-on-one fight with Leo, but Erza and Mirajane held him down by the shoulders, and he felt a chill run down his spine.

"Um, I can handle Leo."

"Too slow. If we keep waiting, the Celestial Spirit World will have already perished."

Mirajane clenched her fist.

Now she can make a huge scene; with Riyao by her side, there's nothing to worry about.

A rapid humming sound rang out, and Mirajane instantly appeared in front of Leo, twisting her waist and accelerating her dark flames.

With a perfect volley, a black shockwave rose from the sole of her shoe, and she landed steadily on the ground.

Leo was flung into the air by the blow, shooting into the sky like a meteor, fragments of his golden armor scattering everywhere.

Erza held her Edgeless, but the moment Leo flew in front of her, he drew it.

A Z-shaped flash of light, Leo lost consciousness, falling to the ground with a conspicuous red mark on the back of his neck.

As the blade's light dissipated, the dark flames burning around Leo were extinguished as if severed by a single strike.

This entire sequence was executed flawlessly, from drawing the sword to removing it, all within a single breath.

Natsu watched this scene and subconsciously rubbed the back of his neck, as if his shared senses had been activated.

"Sss~"

"Stop flicking your tongue, bring the key and lock the door."

Erza glanced at Natsu.

Natsu patted his pockets but couldn't find his key. Erza and Mirajane's eyes grew increasingly dangerous.

Natsu was sweating profusely; he didn't want to end up on the ground like Leo.

"Wait, there's definitely one. Let me look. I remember... where did it go?"

He searched all his pockets, but couldn't find it.

He turned all his pockets inside out, but there wasn't even a key in sight.

Happy flew over, rummaged through the bag on its back, pulled out the key, and handed it to Mirajane, then shrugged and explained.

"Aye! Natsu was afraid of losing the key during a fight, so he put it in my bag."

Natsu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Haha, I knew it! What's this called? Uh... bathroom defoaming!"

"It's just being prepared, isn't it, you idiot Natsu?"

"As long as the meaning is roughly right, hehe."

Natsu grinned, showing his big teeth, completely oblivious to everything else.

"Stop grinning like that, there's still this snake and the Celestial Spirit Sanctuary to be demolished."

Gray shouted towards Natsu.

"Whoa! Here I come!"

Natsu swung his flaming fists and ran toward Ophiuchus, his shoes leaving two white marks on Ophiuchus meteorite's surface.

Mirajane stopped in front of Leo, the golden key spinning half a circle between her fingers.

Mirajane pressed the key onto Leo's head.

A flash of light.

A burst of golden light engulfed Leo, transforming him into a pillar of light that shot into the sky, disrupting the constellation projection above his head.

As the beam of light dissipated, the constellation projection overhead lit up again, and the symbol of Leo became clearly visible.

Leo successfully closed the door.