Constellations Hung in the Starry Sky
The Celestial Spirit World was deathly silent, the stars were dim, and there was no trace of a dazzling galaxy.
The starlight seemed to have lost its warmth, and distant planets hung in the void, gray and indistinct. Even the wind was eerily still.
The desolate planet's surface was barren (it never was), with impact craters piled one on top of another, and the entire starry sky was lifeless.
This was everyone's first impression upon entering the Celestial Spirit World.
Who could have imagined that the once-glorious Celestial Spirit World would become so desolate?
"How did the Celestial Spirit World become like this? Where are Aquarius and the others?"
Lucy stared wide-eyed at the dilapidated Celestial Spirit World, her heart filled with worry for Aquarius and the others.
A tremendous roar resounded.
The sound waves whipped everyone's hair and clothes backward, and even the planet beneath their feet trembled.
The voice carried an inexplicable sense of oppression, sending chills down one's spine.
A colossal figure came into view, its body formed from countless nebulae, with stars visible flowing across its surface, and its entire body being a mixture of fluid and solid.
It took a step, and the swirling stardust made everyone squint.
The stars on his body flickered with his movements, like an inverted galaxy breathing.
It was surrounded by fourteen orbs of light, and Aquarius and the others were inside each orb. One of the orbs was empty.
Everyone was stunned.
That big? It's several times larger than the surrounding stars! How are we supposed to fight it?
They all looked at Riyao.
"That's the Celestial Spirit King! Look, it's starting to devour Leo and the others."
The Celestial Spirit King had no head at the very top, only a pointed, neck-like part with a crack at the top, into which the fourteen orbs of light were swallowed.
One after another, the orbs of light disappeared into the crack, like a string of beads being swallowed.
With each one it swallowed, the nebula on its body churned.
Everyone was stunned, their eyes filled with incomprehension as they looked at Riyao, while Lucy's urge to make sarcastic remarks exploded.
"Are you describing animal feeding here? It ate Aquarius and the others!"
"Hehe."
"Hey, you're kidding me."
Lucy grabbed Riyao by the collar and shook him violently.
Riyao was so shaken that his helmet almost fell off. He reached out and held the helmet down, then pushed Lucy away.
"What's the rush? I haven't even gone in yet. It'll always be stuck at the last step. Aquarius and the others won't be completely digested and excreted like poop."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the Celestial Spirit King walked towards them, smashing through numerous planets in his path.
Those planets, hundreds of meters in size, were like marbles beneath its feet, smashed into pieces, the fragments tumbling and drifting in all directions.
"Alright, Happy, take Natsu and fly!"
Happy and Natsu didn't understand, but they did as instructed, floating in front of the Riyao.
Riyao gripped the sword hilt with both hands, assumed a standard baseball batting stance, and unleashed his power!
Bang!
Happy and Natsu flew out together at incredible speed; Happy couldn't even adjust his direction.
The sonic boom echoed as they raced after each other.
"Ah..."
They landed precisely in the Celestial Spirit King's mouth, while the others slowly turned their heads, staring at the Riyao in disbelief.
The Celestial Spirit King closed his mouth, as if swallowing a tiny pebble.
"Alright, stop looking. Natsu needs to cause a ruckus inside, so you guys hurry up and deal damage! Don't look at me, do you think I have the answer on my face? Look over there!"
Riyao pulled Mirajane aside, and everyone reacted immediately, moving away from the planet they had landed on.
Boom!
A beam of eerie green energy pierced directly through the planet, shattering it into dust and sending rocks flying everywhere.
Where they had just stood, only a ring of floating wreckage remained.
The ground beneath their feet cracked open, shattering into countless fragments. Stepping on the flying debris, everyone bounced to nearby intact planets.
"Wow, how are we supposed to fight this? The Celestial Spirit King could wipe us out with a wave of his hand."
Lucy, holding Cana, was terrified by the attack, her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.
"Don't hug me so tight, you're going to strangle me!"
"Oh, oh, oh."
Cana rubbed her lower back and gave Lucy a light tap on the head, which Lucy chuckled awkwardly.
Mirajane, carrying Erza, charged towards the Celestial Spirit King.
"Let's begin, everyone!"
The two dodged an energy beam, and Mirajane swung her away, Erza flying. Erza then slashed at the Celestial Spirit King's shoulder with her sword.
The results were minimal.
The blade embedded itself into the nebula-like body, like cutting into a flowing mist, without even a drop of blood splattering out.
The Celestial Spirit King shrugged, Erza slid down. The Edgeless pierced the Celestial Spirit King's body, slowing his descent.
She slid down close to the Celestial Spirit King's body, leaving an Edgeless, deep gash on its skin.
Mirajane raised her hand and released the Ink Flame. The Ink Flame scattered like a meteor onto the Celestial Spirit King, and exploded the moment it touched him.
A series of black mushroom clouds exploded on the Celestial Spirit King, sending stardust and debris flying high into the air.
The Celestial Spirit King staggered, taking a step back to steady himself.
Gray and Juvia stood back to back, and light blue and ice blue magic circles lit up.
[Torrent Flying Blades]
[Ice-Make Greatsword]
He froze the water blades released by Juvia together, solidifying them into a gigantic slashing blade a hundred meters long, and slowly slashed towards the Celestial Spirit King.
[The Sky Dragon's Roar]
Wendy puffed out her cheeks, unleashing a white spiral storm that propelled the giant ice blade forward.
The giant blade traced a semicircle across the starry sky, carrying the momentum to crush everything in its path.
The Celestial Spirit King was now nothing more than a mindless beast, offering no defense whatsoever. The massive ice blade slashed at it, leaving a huge gash from its shoulder to its waist.
As the ice blade slashed down, white frost erupted from the crack, and the Celestial Spirit King's massive body froze for a moment.
It let out a deafening roar, venting its wounded rage.
The Celestial Spirit King writhed, his injuries were completely healed, and his body underwent a transformation. Many enormous crystals emerged from his back, containing the power of stars.
The crystal refracts starlight, like prismatic mountains growing out of its spine.
Roar!
At this moment, it would be more accurate to call the Celestial Spirit King a Celestial Spirit Beast, as he was on all fours like a wild beast, roaring.
Its body cracked open with many holes, shooting out beams of eerie green energy that blasted towards everyone.
The beams of light jumped and refracted between the planets, illuminating patches of the starry sky before extinguishing them.
Princess Hisui and Arcadios were unable to dodge and were struck by the eerie green energy beam, transforming into the constellations 'Hisui' and 'Knight', suspended in the starry sky.
Elfman was stunned by what he saw, and was also struck by the eerie green energy beam, transforming into the constellation 'Beast' and hanging in the Milky Way.
The beam of light grazed past Riyao's shoulder armor, leaving several burn marks.
With a single sword strike, Riyao cleaved through a beam of eerie green energy, then grabbed Mirajane and dodged to the side.
The sword light sliced through the beam of light, and the eerie green energy exploded on the blade, scattering into countless stardust fragments.
"Stop spacing out. Once we deal with the Celestial Spirit King, everything will return to normal."
As he spoke, the tip of his sword traced a half-circle along his side, silvery starlight flowing along the blade.