Fairy Tail: This Healing Mage's hits hurt so much!

From afar, Natsu's roar soared into the sky, and a pillar of orange-red flames stood out conspicuously in the night, illuminating half the sky and even casting a warm orange hue on the distant treetops.

Sunlight gestured with his chin toward the firelight, speaking casually as if instructing Harpy to buy a fish.

"Happy, go help Natsu, that snake can fly."

Happy spread his wings, his small blue figure drawing an arc in the night sky as he flew toward Natsu.

"Yes!"

Sunlight continued to take Wendy to Lucy's place.

Before they even arrived, Xiang rushed over and became a human-shaped jade slip for transmitting skills.

"This ability is very useful."

Sunlight sensed the magical fluctuations from afar; the kind of magic that could be directly injected into someone's brain to decompress was a godsend for academic underachievers.

His lips twitched slightly, his tone carrying a complex emotion that was hard to define—whether it was admiration or helplessness.

"The fortune of the Lucy family for hundreds of years must have fallen on her shoulders."

Wendy tilted her head, looking at Riyao with a blank expression.

"What is Mr. Riyao saying?"

Sunshine patted Wendy's head without stopping.

"Someone helped Lucy defeat Angel."

Wendy covered her head, looking unhappy.

When Riyao arrived at the scene, he first helped Xiang, who was lying on the ground, to his feet.

The handsome man on the blue celestial horse was in a terrible state. His clothes were torn in several places, his face was still pale from the magic overload, and he looked limp and listless as if all his energy had been drained.

"You're so weak, you need to replenish your energy, bro."

Riyao raised his hand, and a jade-green magic circle appeared, enveloping Xiang's body in the light of healing magic.

"Ah~"

It let out a deep, pleasurable groan, a long, lingering, and ambiguous sound that echoed through the silent forest and carried far away.

▼_▼

Riyao's expression froze instantly.

He slowly withdrew his hand, looking at Hibiki with an expression as if he were looking at a pervert.

"Stop making those suggestive noises. What about your professional ethics as a gigolo?"

Xiang coughed awkwardly, straightened his collar, and tried to regain his dignity as the top performer of the Blue Pegasus, but the slight redness at the tips of his ears betrayed him.

"I'm sorry, Lord Riyou."

Riyao turned his head and looked at Lucy and Angel lying on the ground. Good heavens, they didn't aim for fatal wounds, they were all aiming for their clothes.

Both of their clothes were tattered beyond recognition.

Lucy's Celestial Spirit World-themed outfit was torn to a state that was almost unacceptable to censors.

Angel's situation was similar; her already revealing outfit had been transformed into battle-damaged gear, with large patches of skin exposed to the air.

Sunlight kicked the Leo key on the ground, transferring a bit of magic into it.

This obviously won't open Leo's Celestial Gate; it will only remind Leo to come out.

After all, only Leo can get out on his own right now.

Leo came out quickly.

He carried a coat in his hand, took a few quick steps to Lucy's side, and draped the coat over her shoulders with gentle and natural movements, like a gentleman taking care of his princess.

His gaze lingered on Lucy for a second, and only after confirming that she was alright did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Sunburst sent Wendy to retrieve Angel's Celestial Key.

Wendy carefully walked over, squatted down next to Angel, and took the Celestial Keys from the keychain on her waist.

Angel was already dressed provocatively, and now she was in battle-damaged gear. If I went over to see her, and Mirajane found out, I'd be sleeping at the door for a month.

Riyao tilted his head and asked in a tone of inquiry about something new.

"I wonder if collecting all twelve golden keys will allow us to combine and evolve. Leo, can you evolve?"

Leo stood with his hands in his pockets, his chin slightly raised, looking very confident.

"Evolution is probably impossible, but if we were to fight in the Protoss Realm, I dare say I would be invincible."

A meaningful smile appeared on Riyao's lips as he glanced at Leo's face twice.

"Oh ho, are you sure?"

Leo's smile froze on his face.

"Uh... I still have water boiling at home, I'll go back first..."

He thought of the Star Spirit King, and the scene a while ago when he was completely overwhelmed by the Sun Radiance in his palace. A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.

He chuckled twice, his body transforming into a golden light, and slipped back to the Celestial Spirit Realm at a speed almost imperceptible to the naked eye.

Lucy and Hibiki recovered as well.

Lucy, wrapped in the coat Leo had left behind, got up from the ground, rubbed her sore back, her face still showing the fatigue of the battle, but her eyes sparkled with the excitement of victory.

Hibiki stood up, and Asahi Yo bowed slightly. Although his face still had the blush that had been smoothed out by the healing magic, his tone had returned to its usual calmness.

"Mr. Sunshine, I need to go find the Christina airship, so I'll take my leave now."

Riyao nodded, glanced into the depths of the forest, his tone calm, but a hint of seriousness flashed in his eyes.

"Yes, go ahead, Nirvana is about to be unsealed."

Xiang strode away in one direction, his steps much more determined than when he arrived.

Lucy chuckled to herself as she looked at the key in her hand, her eyes crinkling into crescent shapes and her mouth stretching to her ears, radiating an air of naive delight at having found a treasure.

Riyao slapped her on the back of the head, not hard, but the sound was crisp.

"What are you grinning about? If you had focused on increasing your magic power, you would have been able to unleash your Celestial Cloak and wreak havoc long ago. Instead, you're stuck being a useless tool for Celestial summoning."

His tone was one of disappointment and frustration, as if he were scolding a poor student who wasn't studying hard enough.

"Look at Wendy, she's only twelve, and she has more magic than you."

Lucy covered the back of her head, looking at Riyao with dissatisfaction, her lips pouting so much they could hang an oil bottle.

"Ouch, that hurts! I tried my best, okay!"

Riyao crossed his arms and a mischievous smile played on his lips.

"You're working hard on writing novels, aren't you? Harby has read all of your writings to me."

Lucy's face flushed instantly, her hands clenched into fists, and she stomped her feet in anger.

"That little thief cat!"

Wendy spoke softly to Lucy, her hands clenched nervously in front of her, her gaze sincere and earnest.

"Miss Lucy is very strong; she was able to defeat Oración Seis."

Sunlight tossed a seed over, which traced an arc in the air before landing beside Angel. It instantly took root and sprouted, its vines growing and spreading at an astonishing speed.

Angel was bound from head to toe like a caterpillar, with only her head sticking out.

Angel's face turned bright red, and she made muffled protesting noises, but the vines were tied so tightly that she couldn't move a single finger.

Riyao dusted off his hands, speaking casually as if suggesting Lucy take an extracurricular class.

"When you get back, let my Mira train you a bit. It'll be useful to learn more fighting skills."

Fear filled Lucy's face. She trembled, her arms crossed over her chest, and the image of Mirajane smiling as she beat her to a pulp flashed through her mind.

"Oh no, I think Mira will beat me to tears."

Wendy tilted her head and blinked innocently.

"No way, I think Mira is quite gentle."

"Wendy, don't be fooled by appearances."

Xia Lulu sighed, feeling that Wendy was too naive.

She perched on Riyao's shoulder, her fluffy tail twitching irritably, radiating an aura of "this group of people is hopeless."

Riyao suddenly paused for a moment.

It wasn't because of the content of their conversation, but through the senses he gained from the trees, that he discovered Brian and Dark Night were not dead.

"They're incredibly lucky."

There was no surprise in Riyao's tone, only a faint sigh, as if he were commenting on a cockroach that could never be killed no matter how hard he tried.

"Who?"

Wendy looked at Sunrise with a puzzled expression.

"Brian, the MLM leader, and Dark Night with dark circles under his eyes."

Riyao casually gave the two nicknames, his tone dismissive as if he were talking about two insignificant little characters.

Lucy exclaimed in surprise, her eyes widening in astonishment.

"You went and took on two Oración Seis generals one-on-one, and almost killed them?"

"Why are you making such a fuss? I'm a veteran S-rank mage in the guild, after all. If I wasn't worried about the energy expenditure and potential unforeseen circumstances, I would have already activated my Azure Dragon form."

Riyao had his hands in his pockets, speaking casually as if he were just talking about what he had for breakfast that day.

As the group chatted and headed towards their teammates to provide support, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to shake violently.

A sudden earthquake shook the ground.

The entire forest seemed to be lifted up from the ground by an invisible giant hand. The trees were leaning to one side and the ground was cracked with huge ravines, with gravel and soil being thrown into the air.

A terrifying surge of magical energy rose from the depths of the earth, like an ancient behemoth that had been dormant for thousands of years finally awakening and letting out a deafening roar.

A colossal structure rose from the ground.

It was a massive, suffocating mobile fortress, shaped like a giant, crawling spider, with six thick legs rising from the ground, each over a hundred meters long, carving deep furrows in the earth.

Nirvana has begun.