A magic merchant infiltrating Fairy Tail

Looking at the center of the inferno, the steel castle, several meters high, was directly hit by the pillar of fire and had now become a mountain of flames. The high temperature melted the metal of unknown composition into a liquid, and the molten iron dripped down the surface, shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.

When the flames subsided, a large crater appeared on the ground, with wisps of black and white smoke evaporating from the soil and molten iron. The mechanical nesting doll had become the size of an ordinary human.

"Did you succeed, Natsu?"

"No, its magic hasn't dissipated! It should still be working!"

Natsu has a strong sense and control over his flames, so he knows that his roar just now did not burn the enemy. The enemy must have changed again, but he doesn't know why this time the change was not an expansion, but a shrinking.

In fact, the mechanical nesting dolls designed by Silver and Wahl have an attack mechanism similar to what Natsu and the others guessed. After absorbing a certain amount of attacks, they will evolve. However, this evolution is divided into two parts: the first part is that they grow bigger and bigger with each attack, and the second part is that they become stronger and stronger with each attack.

Against weaker opponents, speed, strength, and sheer size are like adding wings to a tiger, allowing one to sweep away a large group of minions; however, when facing enemies of a certain strength, sheer size becomes a hindrance.

This means that, as Natsu said, "the bigger the size, the easier it is to get hit," so at this point, it must return to its normal size and fight not by size but by strength and speed.

Rocky and Lucy, who had returned, also noticed this. Looking at the mechanical nesting dolls that had shrunk but whose aura had not diminished but had become stronger, their expressions remained unchanged.

Fortunately, the battlefield has now moved outdoors. Compared to the cramped toy house, the open environment is clearly more advantageous for them. Moreover, the mechanical race that was originally nearby has all run away. They don't have to worry about the impact of the battle and can fight with peace of mind!

Suddenly, Lucy realized there was something wrong with her thinking, and she clutched her head in terror, wailing, "Oh my god!! To actually think about causing a big scene in town, I must be crazy!"

"Natsu and Happy definitely corrupted me!"

After decisively shifting the blame to the two of them, Lucy rallied and changed into her new outfit: "Celestial Spirit Robe - Aries Form!!"

Aries, the sign of the zodiac, can create a large amount of wool to neutralize the opponent's attacks, making her a defensive celestial spirit.

The Aries Star Spirit Robe gave Lucy two horns on her head, just like a succubus in legend, but without the succubus's deadly allure: a snow-white wool scarf, a jet-black ominous sign, black wool arm sleeves at the wrists, a black-on-top, white-on-bottom cotton skirt, and a pair of black and white striped stockings, making her look more innocent and harmless than a sixteen-year-old girl in the prime of her youth.

In this form, Lucy can use Aries's wool magic to neutralize the opponent's attacks. This is Lucy's solution for dealing with the mechanical nesting dolls.

As for attacks, with Natsu and Loki there, one more won't make a difference.

"Oh my gosh!! Lucy looks so cute in this outfit!!"

Needless to say, the costume change once again attracted the attention of that lecherous Rocky. His eyes turned into hearts again, and he almost couldn't control himself and pounced on Lucy. If there weren't enemies around, he would have wanted to make Lucy wear all the Celestial Spirit Cloths he was wearing so he could see them.

"Go ahead and attack, leave the defense to me!" Lucy waved her hand and puffed out her chest with confidence.

"Ahhh!!! Lucy is so reliable and cute!!!"

Loki and Aries are good friends, the two celestial siblings address each other as brother and sister. They took good care of her when they were with Kallen, so they are naturally very familiar with her and the power of the Aries celestial costume.

Compared to Loki's constant displays of affection, Natsu is now single-mindedly focused on his enemy. His fighting spirit rises, flames surge again, and Happy flaps his wings, carrying Natsu as they swoop down.

"I refuse to believe you can evolve an infinite number of times!!"

Faced with a formidable opponent, Natsu suddenly realized that he might also be able to evolve. He immediately channeled his magic power, raising the temperature to several hundred degrees Celsius: "Fire Mode!!"

The flames condensed, transforming into an orange-red garment that covered Hunaz's entire body, and materialized into scales, wings, claws, and a tail. As it swooped down from the sky, it resembled a genuine miniature fire dragon.

"The Fire Dragon King's... Iron Strike!!"

After a year of training, Natsu has not yet obtained the magic power left behind by Igneel, and therefore does not have the "Flame Dragon King" series of moves. However, he has independently developed the "Fire Dragon King" series of moves, and judging from the name, you can tell that the power is much stronger than the original "Fire Dragon" series.

However, just as Natsu's fist was about to hit the target, his vision suddenly blurred, and then the mechanical nesting doll disappeared from his sight!

"What?!"

"Disappeared?!"

Natsu, Happy, and Lucy, who was not far away, were all stunned.

The attack was now unstoppable. The moment the Flaming Fist collided with the ground, a shockwave, even more ferocious and intensely hot than the previous roar, spread outwards in all directions!

The Fire Dragon King's Crushing Fist has a smaller attack range than the original Fire Dragon Crushing Fist, but its destructive power is more concentrated. When a punch lands, the ground sinks several feet deep and cracks outwards.

boom!!!

Lucy's wool magic can block both physical and magical attacks. Its only weakness is fire and high temperatures. Once it comes into contact with these, it will spontaneously combust. It's a classic case of 'it can defend against enemies, but not against its own people'.

Fortunately, Rocky fulfilled his duty and stood in front of Lucy without hesitation, and then... his black suit was burned.

"Aaaaaah!! Rocky!! Your clothes!!"

Lucy screamed, her face flushed red as she covered her eyes with her hands, though her fingers were spread wide apart, and it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"Oh no! There's no other way, it seems I have no choice but to return to the Celestial Spirit Realm!"

Although Loki didn't think it mattered if Lucy saw him naked, he had to take his image seriously. Losing face in front of the princess would be a disgrace to a knight. Besides, he felt that Natsu's attacks were much stronger than his own, and having him around was enough.

"What?! Wait a minute..."

Boom! A puff of smoke cleared, and Rocky's figure vanished from the spot!

Lucy was stunned, standing there blankly, her eyes filled with astonishment. Her outstretched hand, which had been halfway outstretched but failed to stop, froze in mid-air, stinging from the hot wind.

She now has only one question in her mind: Have I been too nice to these Protoss lately?

Chapter 552 Lucy, Don't Be Like Erza!

Even with one less teammate, the enemy will still fight!

The mechanical doll's figure suddenly disappeared because it instantly teleported into the air, thus dodging Natsu's Crushing Fist.

And as Natsu's fist landed, its attack followed.

Boom! !

The heavy metal doll, combined with the kinetic energy converted from potential energy as it fell from a height, and the explosive speed, created a powerful blow that crashed towards Natsu's cherry-colored head.

"Um?!"

Natsu's ears twitched slightly as he sensed the change in the airflow behind him. He reacted quickly, using his hands to lightly brace himself on the ground, and flipped over to dodge, landing steadily with Happy in mid-air after several somersaults.

Bang!Bang!Bang!

With a few soft sounds, the matryoshka doll moved again, but this time it was different from the instantaneous flash that tore through space. After each movement, the original position was still left with an afterimage.

In an instant, dozens of mechanical nesting dolls surrounded Natsu, and his two glass-like 'eyes' became sinister and terrifying.

"What is this? Is it a clone ninjutsu?" Natsu looked around curiously.

Compared to this slow-witted fellow, the clever little Happy had a guess, his eyes gleaming with 'wisdom': "Could it be... that by moving at extremely high speed while making intermittent pauses, he created the illusion of this clone?!"

"Oh, I see! Happy, you're so smart!!"

"Hahaha...Isn't that obvious?"

Happy looked smug, not telling Natsu that he had seen the method in Killer's book...

"Leave this to me!"

Lucy confidently stepped forward, even mimicking Erza's shout, "Changing outfit! Celestial Spirit Robe - Sagittarius Form!"

The Sagittarius Celestial, Sachdarius, possesses exceptional archery skills!

Her blonde hair was tied into a long ponytail with a rabbit hair ornament, and she wore a green battle dress with gold trim that partially exposed her chest. She had sleeve armor on her arms and a pair of over-the-knee boots on her legs. She held a half-person-high, brown longbow with the Protoss emblem.

This is Lucy's Sagittarius form.

Natsu and Happy both turned around and looked at Lucy with a →_→ look.

Lucy frowned and asked, "What are you two doing?! Why are you looking at me like that?!"

"Why is Aries called 'Aries Form' and Sachidarius called 'Sagittarius Form'... is it because the names are too hard to remember?"

Lucy: "..."

Can I say it's just because the 'Sachdarius Form' is too long?

"And another thing!! Why did you switch battle modes after only a couple of moves? Are you putting on a costume change show? You even imitated Erza shouting 'Costume Change,' but it doesn't look like her at all..."

What's wrong with me imitating Erza?! Is that not allowed?!

"Exactly!! One teammate who can use the outfit-changing feature is enough... Doesn't this make your character too numerous?"

The more Lucy listened to their banter, the angrier she got. She couldn't help but yell into their ears, "Stop talking nonsense!! Celestial Spirit Cloth is just one of the uses of Celestial Spirit Magic!! Although... although I did try to learn from Erza (whispering)... Besides, battles are all about adjusting your strategy based on your opponent's situation!!"

However, Lucy knew that saying such things was like talking to a brick wall, so she changed the subject and said with a smile, "Guys like you who only know how to be straightforward might fail the S-rank assessment again this year!"

"No way! We're different now than we were last year!"

"That's right... Natsu is already very strong!!"

"What a pity! The assessment requires brains, you know~" Lucy's face showed undisguised pride. She had made a lot of progress in the past year, and her magic power had also increased significantly. She was on track to become an S-rank!

"Then let's knock all our opponents away!!" Natsu said excitedly, waving his fists a few times.

Lucy: "..."

Forget it, I won't argue with an idiot.

"Come out, Sachidarius!"

"Moshi moshi~"

With a clang, a man wearing a horse-head hood appeared, saluting. Sachdarius's first words were...

"So, Miss Lucy, is my name really that hard to remember?"

"No way!!!"

"Haha... I was just joking." Sachdarius smiled gently.

"Seriously...why is everyone so tiring?" Lucy sighed helplessly, then rallied her spirits. "Now, I'll have to trouble you to help me find the enemy!"

Sachidarius glanced at the sky, his expression returning to seriousness: "Don't worry, Miss Lucy! Leave the archery to me, the one who never misses!"

The two stood back to back, simultaneously drawing their bows and nocking arrows: "Star Shot!!"

The next moment, both bowstrings emitted a dazzling golden light, and dozens of star arrows shot out, heading towards the afterimages of the dozens of mechanical nesting dolls in mid-air!

The magic arrows were indeed unerring, hitting every afterimage precisely, but none of them felt like they had hit their target. Instead, they passed right through the afterimages and exploded in mid-air.

"No way?!" Lucy and Sachidarius exclaimed simultaneously. "Does that mean there's no physical entity inside?!"

Natsu chuckled and retorted, "You really are a crack shot..."

Happy subtly hinted to Natsu, "Natsu, what you're saying is really hurtful..."

Sachidarius looked ashamed: "I'm so sorry, Miss Lucy! It seems that the enemy was moving at an extremely high speed, so I couldn't hit them..."

"No...this is not your problem..."