The members of the Sabertooth guild were currently gathered. Their master, Jieman, sat high on the main seat, wearing a black hat and a string of black beads around his neck; his build was tall and burly.
Below him, Yukino stood with her head bowed, waiting to receive her judgment.
As a guild that aimed to be the strongest, their tolerance for members who failed was very low. Every failure required punishment.
"You are too useless. To be defeated so pathetically by a mere Kagura—as a member of Sabertooth, you aren't even qualified to make your enemy draw their sword!"
Jieman's gaze was ice-cold as he looked down at Yukino, saying indifferently, "Trash, you are no longer a member of Sabertooth."
Yukino's expression was dejected. "Yes, as you command."
She gently took off her coat, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, she stripped until she was left in nothing but her underwear.
The others couldn't bear it and slowly lowered their heads. Yukino was a guild member after all, and they hadn't expected her to face such treatment.
Jieman's expression remained cold. "Useless trash, get out!"
Yukino's body trembled as she lowered her head, tears streaming down. Under the silent gazes of everyone, she walked away quietly with her head down.
Jieman turned to look at Minerva. "I didn't expect you to be beaten so badly either. Go and accept your punishment yourself!"
Even if her loss wasn't as pathetic, a defeat was still a defeat, and his daughter was no exception!
Minerva, with half her body wrapped in bandages, had eyes full of resentment. "Yes! Father, I will continue to fight once my injuries have recovered. I must defeat Erza."
"Go!"
After Minerva left, the other members were also dismissed.
Sting and Rogue walked down the hallway, with the Exceeds Lector and Frosch at their feet.
Rogue said in a low voice, "The Master is so heartless."
Lector said indifferently, "There's no other way. This is the resolve needed to become the strongest guild!"
Rogue stopped in his tracks, looked at Frosch by his feet, and said softly, "Is this really what a guild is supposed to be?"
"Hmm?"
Sting looked back, appearing confused.
Rogue said, "Yukino was our comrade. To discard her over a single failure is a bit too much."
Sting smiled dismissively. "You should have understood long ago what kind of guild we are. We only gathered together because we're pursuing strength."
After saying that, he walked away with Lector.
Frosch looked up at Rogue with tears in his eyes. "Frosch is very weak too. Will Frosch have to disappear?"
Rogue's eyes turned determined. "You won't disappear. Absolutely not!"
...Acnologia and the others were walking back to their dorms, chatting and laughing along the way.
Natsu laughed and said, "Lucy and Juvia really stole the show today. The entire arena was cheering."
Happy agreed, "Lucy has become famous throughout the kingdom now."
"It's only natural for them to become famous after defeating experts from the Spriggan 12."
Irene hugged the two Lucys, one on each side; their figures were indeed identical.
Lucy had already grown used to it, while Future Lucy's face turned red with embarrassment. "Sister Irene, stop touching me!"
"I'm just comparing..."
Irene teased with a smile, "It seems Lucy's development is already set."
Lucy looked helpless. "I'm not exactly small right now."
She was perfect as she was; if she got any bigger, she felt like walking would become tiring.
Just then, the group saw a familiar girl standing ahead of them, pulling a suitcase.
Lucy was surprised. "Isn't that the member from Sabertooth? Why is she here alone?"
The group walked up to get a closer look.
Natsu said in surprise, "Aren't you the Celestial Spirit Mage who summoned the Giant Snake?"
Juvia asked curiously, "Your name is Yukino, right? Why are you here alone?"
Yukino said softly, "I was waiting for you!"
Acnologia suddenly thought of something and said, "Let's go back to our dorm first."
"Alright!"
Ten minutes later, the group returned to their lodging, threw down their bags, and changed into casual clothes.
Natsu crossed his arms and said coldly, "Just say whatever it is you have to say!"
Irene smiled. "You need to learn to be a bit gentler when talking to girls."
If even Lucy starts to dislike you, you'd better get used to being single.
Yukino was slightly surprised to see two Lucys, but she didn't ask any questions. She sat on a chair and placed two celestial spirit keys on the table.
"I hope the Pisces celestial spirit key and the Libra celestial spirit key can be entrusted to Lady Lucy's care."
Everyone was instantly surprised, wondering what she was trying to do.
Lucy refused. "Why would I want your celestial spirit keys? Aren't you a Celestial Spirit Mage yourself?"
Although her family had once gathered all the celestial spirit keys, that was a long time ago. Besides, when a Celestial Spirit Mage dies, the keys will seek out new masters anyway.
Yukino lowered her head and said, "I am simply too weak to bring out the true strength of the spirits. That's why I hope a powerful Celestial Spirit Mage like Lady Lucy can use these two keys. That would be true happiness for the spirits."
"While it's a tempting offer, I can't take them. You are the one who holds the contract with the spirits; even the spirits themselves wouldn't agree to this."
"You already have ten keys of the zodiac signs. You only need these last two to complete the set."
Yukino continued, "With them, you would be able to open the gate that changes the world."
Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked. A gate that changes the world? What was that?
Irene lightly nudged the contemplative Acnologia and asked, "Do you know anything?"
Wasn't this guy always saying he could see the future? Why wasn't he saying anything now?
Acnologia shook his head. "I have some guesses, but it doesn't matter much."
At most, it would be like the original story, where some shady character appears and opens the Eclipse Gate to release dragons.
If it really played out like the original, he was confident he could send them all to the afterlife.
Yukino didn't explain but continued to plead, "I hope Lady Lucy can accept them."
Lucy said very firmly, "Celestial Spirit Magic is a magic of bonds and trust. I absolutely will not take them!"
Yukino was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled. "I expected you might say that. Then let us look forward to the day the twelve keys are reunited in the future."
Lucy smiled and nodded. "Mhm, that's the spirit!"
"I hope we have the chance to meet again."
After seeing Yukino off, the group also began to undress, preparing to bathe and sleep.
Future Lucy and Lucy sat in the bath. Future Lucy looked back at her memories and said softly, "Actually, I encountered the same thing. For me, it was only a few days ago. If we go by this world's timeline, it should be the Grand Magic Games seven years from now."
Lucy was confused. "Did Yukino give you her keys too?"
Future Lucy nodded slightly. "I said more or less the same thing as you and didn't accept the keys. In my future world, Yukino was someone who had been abandoned by Sabertooth."
"She's a girl who has never been treated gently. I think what is happening now is exactly what happened in my world."
Lucy suddenly stood up, looking anxious. "Then doesn't that mean she's homeless right now?"
She had seen that Yukino was sad, but she hadn't realized the girl had been abandoned. How could a guild like that exist?
Future Lucy shook her head and said, "Natsu and Happy have already gone to find her. Let's just wait patiently."
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