Seeing Aries still apologizing profusely, Lucy hurriedly shouted, "Stop apologizing and use your magic quickly!"
"Alright, I'll try."
"Wool Bomb!"
Aries was extremely nervous. With a push of her hands, a pink gas instantly enveloped Fried and Bickslow.
Fried's face flushed bright red. He lay on the soft, fluffy gas, holding a beautiful girl in his arms, momentarily at a complete loss.
Bickslow was still relatively normal. He dodged backward, and his four dolls fired lasers, instantly dispersing the wool and simultaneously shattering the beautiful girl beside Fried into paper scraps.
Fried immediately snapped out of it. He placed his hand on his sword hilt, his gaze sharp: "How despicable! I'm coming for you!"
"Dark Ecriture: Wing!"
Black wings unfolded behind Fried, and he shot forward like a streak of golden light. Seeing this, Cana sent several flying cards swirling from her hand, but they were sliced to pieces by a sword flash the next moment.
Immediately after, Fried kicked Cana in the abdomen, sending her flying instantly. She tumbled several times on the ground.
Cana flipped back to her feet, her gaze resolute: "How could I lose here!"
She shot out her card magic: "Prayer of the Child Fountain!"
A massive wave of water erupted from the cards, instantly flooding the area ahead. However, Fried merely swung his longsword and cleaved through the water flow.
This scene made Lucy and Cana widen their eyes in amazement: "So powerful!"
Fried blushed. It was a fight, yet they were praising him, making him feel embarrassed.
Seeing the water, Lucy's eyes lit up. She took out the Aquarius key and inserted it into the water: "Come forth, Aquarius!"
Soon, a mermaid appeared—a creature with a human torso and a fish tail, incredibly beautiful.
However, at this moment, her eyes were filled with rage, and her temper was exceptionally foul. The moment she appeared, she smashed her water jug onto Lucy's head.
"Ouch!"
Lucy clutched her head and yelled, "What are you doing?! The enemy is over there!"
Aquarius glanced at her and snorted coldly: "Disturbing my date? Hitting you once is letting you off lightly!"
After saying that, before Lucy could say anything, she transformed into a watery light and vanished.
Lucy's face instantly darkened. They were all so unreliable! She was the primary contractor, after all!
"No choice!"
Lucy took out the Gemini key again and waved it: "Come forth, Gemini!"
Bang!
Two blue cloth doll figures wearing little shorts appeared: "Pili pili!"
"Cana, lend me your magic power!"
"No problem!"
She had been present when Acnologia explained this technique back then.
Cana reached out and pressed her hand on Lucy's shoulder. Cards swirled around her as a huge magic circle expanded: "Magic Power Infusion!"
"Gemini, transform into Natsu!"
Lucy actually wanted to transform into Erza more, but Erza's magic power was probably higher than hers and Cana's combined. She had to settle for the next best option.
With a bang, Gemini transformed into a pink-haired Natsu. Flames erupted all over his body, the intense heat melting the ground into magma.
Lucy and Cana were overjoyed: "It really works!"
"Go quickly! Defeat Fried and Bickslow within five minutes!"
Celestial Spirit Natsu laughed heartily, his personality aligning with the real Natsu's. He clashed his fists together: "I'm fired up!"
Fried was shocked: "Natsu?!"
This was the monster who had defeated Laxus. He never thought they could actually transform into him.
Lucy said excitedly, "Gemini, use the big move, Crimson Lotus: Phoenix Blade!"
Celestial Spirit Natsu said confidently, "Don't worry, Lucy. I can defeat them even without using a Dragon Slaying Secret Art."
Cana's face darkened: "I have a bad feeling about this..."
That guy Natsu was unreliable. They should have summoned someone more steady.
"Here I go!"
Celestial Spirit Natsu leaped into the air, flames igniting on his fists: "Fire Dragons Iron Fist!"
Boom!
The punch was too fast and too fierce. It instantly struck the unprepared Fried in the chest, blasting him away and even burning half his clothes.
"Damn it! I won't be defeated so easily either!"
Fried's expression turned cold. Watching Celestial Spirit Natsu charge, he swiftly swung his sword, writing in the air: "Dark Ecriture: Rebound!"
Boom!
The flames spewed by Celestial Spirit Natsu instantly rebounded. The towering flames raised the temperature inside the cave, making everyone sweat from the heat.
"It's so hot!"
Lucy and Cana had already retreated far away to escape the heat. They should have transformed into Gray instead; at least they wouldn't have to suffer like this.
Fried's expression was grave. He drew back and continued swinging his sword: "Dark Ecriture: Light Bullet Impact."
Hundreds of black points of light condensed, then transformed into streaks of light that shot forth.
"Burn, flames!"
Celestial Spirit Natsu charged forward fearlessly, instantly breaking through all obstacles and arriving right in front of Bickslow, unleashing a Fire Dragon's Roar point-blank.
Bickslow preferred long-range attacks. Take him out first.
The terrifying magic power instantly incinerated the wooden barrel toy flying in the air. Unable to dodge in time, Bickslow was blasted away and knocked unconscious on the spot.
"Don't move!"
Fried had somehow appeared behind Lucy, his rapier pointed at her neck. He said calmly, "She's my hostage now."
Cana was furious: "You're too despicable, actually taking a hostage!"
Fried didn't care: "I learned it from you. Now I just have to wait until the Celestial Spirit's time runs out..."
Before he could finish, a burst of flame suddenly shot past his face, startling him: "What are you doing?! Stop! I have a hostage!"
"Are you stupid? You've captured Lucy. Why should I stop?"
Hearing this, Natsu sneered and unleashed another Roar, nearly roasting both Lucy and Fried.
Lucy hurriedly dropped to the ground, shouting in exasperation: "You jerk, take it easy! Are you trying to burn me to death too?!"
Fried was even more furious: "How can you, you bastard, not care about the hostage's safety?! She's your summoner! Shouldn't you love and cherish each other?!"
"Huh? Lucy's tough and thick-skinned, she'll definitely be fine!"
"You're the one who's thick-skinned!" Lucy roared in anger.
Celestial Spirit Natsu paid no heed. Taking advantage of Fried's momentary distraction, he launched a frenzied barrage of attacks. Defeating Fried now was the most important thing.
Under the relentless onslaught, Fried finally fell to the ground, filled with resentment.
Bang!
The timing was just right. Gemini returned to its original form and vanished in a flash of light.
"We won!!"
Cana's face was full of joy: "That was amazing! Celestial Spirit Natsu was so strong. He felt even more powerful than the real Natsu."
After all, Fried had strength infinitely close to, or even at, S-Class. Didn't that mean Natsu was also very strong among S-Class mages?
Lucy said confidently, "The Gemini Celestial Spirit combines the magic power of both of us. Defeating anyone would be a breeze."
However, she had already decided never to summon that bastard Natsu again.
"Let's go. On to the next stage."
"We're definitely going to be the first team to clear it!"
... After the two left, Bickslow and Fried got up, seemingly not badly injured.
"They're gone, Fried."
Bickslow said helplessly, "You actually pretended you couldn't bring yourself to fight women."
After all, Fried was incredibly loyal to Laxus. Some even suspected the guy was gay.
Fried chuckled lightly: "That's what I thought at first, but later I realized they really were formidable!"
"That Celestial Spirit Natsu is truly not to be underestimated."