"Yukino! Natsu! Erza! Gray!"
Lucy's frightened calls were the only sounds echoing across the deathly silent island.
There was no sign of her companions.
Even the members of Tartaros had vanished.
Most of the guild's lesser demons had already been wiped out during the earlier fighting, while the rest had been mercilessly consumed when Mard Geer activated Alegria.
Lucy's unease grew with every passing second.
After searching and calling out for a while, she finally spotted someone sealed inside the crimson substance.
"Yukino!"
Lucy rushed over when she saw Yukino trapped within the mass of bloody flesh and immediately tried to tear it open.
The strange substance, however, was part of Plutogrim's body. It was incredibly tough, refusing to split no matter how hard Lucy pulled.
"Damn it… What even is this stuff?"
Breathing heavily, Lucy stared at the red matter covering the island and whispered anxiously,
"I hope everyone's okay…"
"I'm afraid that's highly unlikely."
The sudden voice made every hair on Lucy's body stand on end.
She immediately pulled out a key and spun around.
The moment she saw her enemy, her heart sank.
Kyoka.
The leader of the Nine Demon Gates, the strongest of Tartaros's officers—and an enemy who had fought Erza to a standstill only moments earlier.
"What did you do to everyone? Let my friends out!"
Lucy was terrified, but she refused to retreat.
She planted herself in front of Yukino and shouted defiantly.
A mocking smile spread across Kyoka's beautiful face.
"They were swallowed by Alegria. There is no saving them now."
She paused and turned her gaze toward Lucy.
A twisted gleam entered her eyes as she licked her lips.
"And neither is there any saving you."
"Don't screw with me!"
Determined to rescue everyone, Lucy thrust out her key and shouted furiously,
"Open, Gate of the Lion! Leo!"
Golden light erupted as Loke flew through the Celestial Spirit Gate and drove a fist toward Kyoka.
The sacred brilliance of Regulus made the demon deeply uncomfortable.
She twisted aside to avoid his punch, then immediately snapped a kick toward him.
Loke crossed both arms over his chest and was forced back several steps by the impact.
He positioned himself in front of Lucy and stared gravely at their opponent.
"Lucy, run. This isn't an enemy you can defeat."
Kyoka raised an eyebrow.
"That's quite an impressive Celestial Spirit."
"Enhancement."
A sickly green light flared.
Loke's pupils contracted as agony suddenly tore through his clenched fist.
"GAAH!"
His hand sprang open on its own.
He staggered back several steps before barely managing to steady himself.
"Loke!"
Lucy hurried forward to support him.
Loke stared at his hand in disbelief.
"My hand… It suddenly hurt like hell."
"That's because I amplified your sense of pain tenfold," Kyoka said, sounding mildly impressed as she watched him struggle for breath.
"For a Celestial Spirit to endure that much suffering, you must be fairly strong."
"Unfortunately…"
Her mocking gaze shifted toward Lucy.
"Your master is holding back your true power."
Lucy's expression immediately fell.
Loke forced himself upright and sneered.
"Sorry, but Lucy's far stronger than you'll ever be, you old hag."
Old hag?
The smile froze on Kyoka's face.
Veins began bulging across her cheeks.
As a creation Zeref had made many years ago, Kyoka certainly was ancient compared with the young Lucy.
Was this Celestial Spirit truly mocking her for being inferior to some little girl?
Kyoka's expression darkened.
Green light flared around her demonic claw, and one of her fingers stretched into a tough, whip-like tendril that lashed violently toward Loke.
Loke caught it with his bare hand.
The pain tearing through his palm nearly forced a scream from his throat, but he endured it and gathered the light of Regulus for a counterattack.
Kyoka merely raised her other hand, her expression turning cold as she increased the intensity of his suffering.
"Pain amplification—one hundredfold."
Loke froze.
His entire body began convulsing beyond his control.
Kyoka smiled viciously, formed an enormous claw, and drove it straight into his stomach.
This time, Loke could not even scream.
The blow sent him crashing to the ground, where it felt as though the entire world had turned against him.
The wind brushing against his skin was agony.
Every breath sent chains of pain through his body. Even blinking brought a stabbing sensation to his eyes.
The terror of being ruled by unbearable pain was beyond anything an ordinary person could imagine.
Seeing Loke curled up on the ground, unable even to make a sound, Kyoka burst into laughter.
"What happened to all that arrogance, Celestial Spirit?"
Before the final word had left her mouth, Kyoka reached out without even turning her head and caught the whip snapping toward her from the side.
She held the Fleuve d'Étoiles in one hand and studied the anguish on Lucy's face with amusement.
"I nearly forgot about you."
Lucy immediately used Forced Gate Closure and sent Loke back to the Celestial Spirit World before he could be made to suffer any longer.
That only made Kyoka regard her with even greater contempt.
Lucy had no chance of defeating a demon alone.
"Showing unnecessary compassion toward a tool will only get you killed."
"Loke isn't a tool! He's my friend!"
Kyoka shook her head.
Her whip shot out and wrapped around Lucy, hoisting her upside down.
Kyoka amplified her pain as well, and Lucy's hand instantly lost its grip on the Fleuve d'Étoiles.
She had become Kyoka's prisoner.
"What a lovely body…"
Kyoka looked over the pale skin exposed by Lucy's torn and battle-damaged clothes.
She reached out, tilted Lucy's face upward, and smiled in satisfaction.
"Perhaps I'll remake you into one of my toys."
With Kyoka gripping her face, the amplified pain left Lucy unable to speak.
Her instincts still drove her to kick the demon who had leaned so close, but the attempt failed.
Instead, it enraged Kyoka.
She drew back her whip and struck Lucy across the body.
Kyoka was a sadistic demon who adored torture.
She also had a particular fondness for collecting women.
Seilah, for instance, was Kyoka's lover.
And now she had set her sights on Lucy.
"Consider yourself fortunate, human. Soon, you'll become one of us."
Having decided to transform Lucy, Kyoka's expression grew increasingly depraved.
Lucy's consciousness began to fade.
Even as an ocean of pain swallowed her mind, she desperately clung to the last fragments of reason she possessed and searched for a way out.
There was no chance she could defeat this demon alone.
But everyone else was trapped…
Wait.
There was still one other person.
And her ability might be perfect against Kyoka…
Under Kyoka's bewildered gaze, Lucy suddenly raised her head.
Enduring pain that felt as though her entire body was being crushed, she cried out with all the strength she had left.
"Please! Help me!"
"I want to save everyone!"