Sorano now truly wanted to drag Kabe out of bed and stomp him a few times with her high heels.
After learning that Kabe possessed the golden Aries key of the Zodiac, she had gone through considerable effort, pleading repeatedly and persistently, before finally managing to obtain it from him.
Yet of the same class of golden keys, that bastard had actually given Lucy two.
One of them was even Leo, the leader of the Zodiac Twelve.
At that moment, Sorano's jealousy was so intense it felt like her very being was splitting apart.
Because of that, even Lucy, at just seventeen years old, successfully performing a dual gate summon, a high-difficulty and high-consumption technique, no longer felt like the main shock.
As the incantation completed, two figures stepped through the Celestial Spirit Gate and landed in front of Lucy.
On the left stood Leo, a brown-haired man wearing frameless light-blue sunglasses and a stylish black suit. He calmly adjusted his glasses with a cool expression.
"Aries? So the rumors are true. Karen has abandoned the path of Celestial Spirits."
He gave a slight nod toward Aries, acknowledging his former partner from Karen's time.
To be fair, Leo was still quite composed, unlike the version who once forcibly remained in the human world, caused Karen's death, and fell into deep self-destructive despair.
On the other side, Sagittarius, Sagittariius, stood in stark contrast.
Both in appearance and attire, he looked extremely rough and careless.
From the outside, he resembled a horse-faced man wearing a bizarre equestrian outfit. Compared to the handsome Leo, he carried none of the dignified aura expected from a Zodiac Spirit.
"Moshi moshi. A rare dual gate summon. Looks like the opponent is quite troublesome this time."
Having consecutively summoned three spirits, including a dual gate, Lucy was already showing signs of strain despite her improved strength.
She wiped away the fine sweat trailing down her cheek and pointed at Sorano, whose expression had turned dark and unsettled.
"Leo, Sagittarius. The opponent is from my guild senior generation. Let's end this quickly."
"Understood. I'll restrain Aries. The Celestial Mage will be handled by you, Sagittarius."
Leo immediately formulated the battle plan and shot forward toward Aries.
At the same time, Sagittarius pulled an arrow from his quiver.
"Moshi moshi, leave it to me."
The arrow flew straight toward Sorano, who was still consumed by jealousy.
Years of combat instinct triggered Sorano's sense of danger.
Without hesitation, she quickly summoned another silver key.
"Stop him, Caelum. Aries, return. It's your turn, Scorpio."
In a very short span of time, Sorano completed multiple summons and adjustments. She brought out Caelum to interfere with Sagittarius, recalled Aries, and replaced her with Scorpio, adapting her formation on the fly.
"So fast. And compared to me, whose magic power is already mostly depleted, Sorano still looks completely composed."
Lucy could not help but feel genuine admiration.
Sorano's refined summoning technique made her acutely aware of the gap in experience.
Then the summoned spirits showed their true combat capability.
Against the Zodiac spirit Sagittarius, Caelum, a silver-class spirit, managed to constantly harass and restrict movement through agile positioning.
Meanwhile Scorpio raised a storm of sand, dragging Leo into an unfavorable battlefield and suppressing his mobility.
"This… how is this possible? Leo is the strongest among the Zodiac Twelve!"
Lucy's shocked voice was met with a cold smile from Sorano.
"You're still too inexperienced, kid. With your thin magic power, even forcing a dual gate summon cannot bring out the true strength of your spirits."
"I suggest you stop relying on these impractical tricks and focus on single gate summoning instead. That is the proper path for someone at your level."
After speaking in a tone like a senior instructor, Sorano exhaled slowly, regaining her composure.
"If this is all you can do, then this spar is already over."
"Finish him, Caelum."
At her command, Caelum, shaped like a spherical mechanical construct, opened a compartment and fired a high-energy cannon blast filled with sci-fi intensity.
The shot pierced straight through Sagittarius.
"Moshi… moshi… I will take my leave…"
Though not fatal, the spirit could no longer remain in the human world and slowly returned to the Celestial Spirit Realm.
But Sorano did not stop there.
She recalled Caelum and immediately summoned Gemini, a spirit capable of copying and transformation.
As one of her most frequently used spirits, Gemini appeared instantly and transformed into Leo's form.
Together with Scorpio, they moved in from both sides, forming a pincer formation around him.