Moonlight was like frost, and the cold air from the Ice Lake condensed into a thick white mist.
Levy-chan stumbled and propped herself up from a snowdrift, the blood on her lips particularly stark against her pale face.
She raised a hand to wipe away the bloodstain, and for the first time, a cold flame ignited in her eyes behind her round-rimmed glasses.
"Levy-chan!" Lucy tried to go forward and support her, but the blue-haired girl stopped her with a raised hand.
Levy-chan's fingertip traced through the air, and a string of silver Solid Script Magic, "Guard · ש מ י ר ה", instantly enveloped Lucy, forming a silver barrier that gently pushed her behind the rock wall at the edge of the Ice Lake.
"Stay here," her voice was terrifyingly calm, and as she turned, a colorful storybook floated in her palm, its pages turning without a breeze.
Shadow Ghost's gaze fell on Lucy, a hint of mockery in his tone: "I didn't expect the Heartfilia family's eldest miss to come for the keys herself. It saves us a lot of trouble."
Kuang Gui, on the other hand, licked his lips, eyeing the three golden keys at Lucy's waist, his eyes full of greed: "Every Celestial Spirit Key is valuable, and Zodiac Keys start at tens of millions. This trip is truly a huge profit."
Jet and Droy guarded Levy-chan's sides, one on the left and one on the right, their expressions serious, "Levy-chan..."
The blue-haired girl stared intently at Shadow Ghost, who had just injured her, her gaze gradually sharpening, as if a waking lion was hidden in her eyes.
"Leave him to me."
Hearing this, Jet and Droy were startled and instinctively looked back at Levy-chan, but when they noticed Levy-chan's serious expression, there was actually a hint of Erza about her.
The two exchanged glances, then instructed, "We understand. Be careful yourself then."
As their words fell, the two rushed towards Kuang Gui, one from the left and one from the right, while Levy-chan remained in place.
Shadow Ghost's black robe flapped in the cold wind, and a hoarse chuckle came from beneath his mask: "What a courageous girl. I almost can't bear to kill you!"
He suddenly clasped his hands together, and over a dozen dark energy tentacles burst from the ground, coiling like venomous pythons towards Levy-chan's slender neck.
"Thorn Corridor!"
Levy-chan swung her arm, tracing a complex trajectory in the air, and ice-blue Solid Script Magic, "Vegetation with Thorns · צ מ ח י י ה ק ו צ נ י ת", fell like shooting stars.
The ground exploded, and countless thorny vines burst through the ice, intertwining and clashing with the shadow tentacles.
Amidst the grating sound of metal, the vines actually tore the black shadows apart piece by piece!
Shadow Ghost took half a step back, a fine crack appearing on his mask.
He clearly hadn't expected this seemingly delicate girl to be able to directly defeat his killing move.
Levy-chan, however, was already charging forward, treading on the cracked ice. The magic book rapidly flipped to a certain page, and golden light burst from her fingertips: "Restrain · כ ב י ל ה!"
Golden chains erupted from the void, but just as they were about to entangle Shadow Ghost, he raised his hand and released a ball of black mist, dissipating them.
"Petty tricks!" Shadow Ghost sneered.
The ice beneath Levy-chan's feet exploded into a spiderweb of cracks, and the girl rapidly moved sideways, leaving afterimages, empowered by the "Speed · מ ה י ר ו ת" Solid Script Magic.
Three pitch-black energy spheres brushed past her hair, blasting the ice pillars behind her into a shower of ice crystals.
Levy-chan spun in mid-air, her fingertips tracing a golden trajectory: "Light Arrow · ח ץ א ו ר!"
Twelve Light Magic arrows pierced through the ice mist, but were swallowed by the writhing shadow energy the moment they touched Shadow Ghost's black robe.
A hoarse laugh came from beneath the mask: "Using Light Magic against a Shadow Mage when your total magic power is lower than your opponent's? Little girl, you didn't pay attention in class, did you?"
Shadow Ghost raised his hand and made a grasping motion, and the shadow beneath Levy-chan's feet suddenly transformed into ghostly claws that wrapped around her ankles.
"Knight · א ב י ר!" Levy-chan waved her hand, writing in the air, rapidly inscribing ancient Solid Script Magic that glowed with silver light.
The phantom of a silver-armored knight suddenly appeared, and the moment its holy sword severed the shadow claws, the enemy's true killing blow arrived!
Shadow Ghost appeared in front of her at some unknown point, his five fingers like hooks, wrapped in pitch-black energy, crushing the silver-armored knight's phantom in one go, then lunging towards the girl's heart!
"Bang!"
Levy-chan's expression was grim as she quickly completed the "Shield · מ ג ן" Solid Script Magic, and a golden barrier solidified at the last moment.
Shadow Ghost's palm struck the energy shield, easily shattering it, sending golden energy particles flying in all directions. Levy-chan, using the recoil from the energy shield's explosion, was sent flying ten meters backward.
A burning pain shot through her chest. Levy-chan looked down, and three bloodstains ran through her sweater. Even though she wasn't hit squarely, the dark energy on Shadow Ghost's hand had still scratched her.
She gasped for breath, writing in the air. As the light green "Heal · ר י פ ו י" Solid Script Magic just formed, Shadow Ghost's pursuit was already upon her.
"Too slow." A giant black palm condensed from shadow energy struck the petite girl head-on. Levy-chan was thrown into an ice pile like a broken kite.
The moment the ice shards pierced her back, she endured the sharp pain to complete her writing, her jade-like fingers tracing through the air: "Earth Spikes · ק ו צ י ם!"
Thirty-seven stone spikes burst from the ice, forcing back the pursuing Shadow Ghost.
Levy-chan seized the opportunity to flip over and leap up. The colorful storybook floated in front of her, pages flipping frantically, as she unleashed the Solid Script Magic she had pre-written in it.
"Lightning Strike · ב ר ק!"
"Ice Rain · ג ש ם ק ר ח!"
"Gale · ר ו ח!"
Three elemental spells erupted simultaneously. A blue lightning bolt descended from the sky, tearing apart the white clouds that had suddenly appeared above the Ice Lake.
The scattered clouds transformed into hundreds of tiny, pale white ice cones, entwined with blue electrical arcs, falling down.
A pale green hurricane, carrying shattered ice, formed a tornado. Blue electrical arcs intertwined between the hurricane and the ice cones, instantly engulfing Shadow Ghost.
The entire Ice Lake trembled, and Shadow Ghost's muffled groan came from within the elemental maelstrom.
Levy-chan knelt on one knee, coughing violently, blood spattering on the ice like red plum blossoms.
A long spear condensed from shadow suddenly extended from the dust cloud.
Levy-chan's pupils contracted. She barely managed to turn her head, avoiding a vital spot.
The moment the spear pierced her left shoulder, the intense pain instead made Levy-chan's focus sharpen. She gripped the solidified shadow with her backhand.
With her other hand, she flipped open a page of the colorful storybook, and two ancient Solid Script Magic, one black and one gray, flew out from the page.
"Weakness · ח ו ל ש ה! Slow · ה א ט ה!"
The double curse Solid Script Magic twisted and danced across the ice like ghosts, then exploded into a diffuse black and gray light. Shadow Ghost's movements, a hundred meters away, immediately became sluggish.
An opportunity!
Levy-chan staggered to her feet, her blood-stained right hand drawing burning Solid Script Magic in the air: "Holy Flame · א ש ק ד ו ש ה!"
Pure white flames transformed into a spear, and the night instantly brightened. In a flash, it traversed a hundred meters and pierced Shadow Ghost's abdomen.
Shadow Ghost finally let out a painful roar, as white flames ignited his entire body.
The holy fire, with its dual attributes of light and fire, burned fiercely. The intense heat and pain twisted Shadow Ghost's limbs.
But the light of victory was fleeting.
The burning Shadow Ghost suddenly let out a shrill howl, his body exploding into hundreds of black bats, which were then incinerated by the holy fire.
Seeing this, Levy-chan's face showed no joy; instead, her expression became grim, "Shadow Clone?"
"Correct! You win a prize!" A wild laugh echoed from above Levy-chan's head.
Levy-chan instinctively looked up at the sky. Shadow Ghost's true body was hidden a hundred meters up, black energy erupting from his hands, condensing into a dark energy sphere nearly five meters in diameter!
"Dark Wave Cannon!"
The dark energy sphere, accompanied by Shadow Ghost's shout, released a massive black energy cannon that descended from the sky.
Levy-chan looked up at the darkness that blotted out the sky, her pupils reflecting the rapidly enlarging beam of destruction.
The moment the black light approached her body, Levy-chan swiftly waved her finger, writing "Refraction · ש ב י ר ה" across her chest.
A square barrier, shaped like a multifaceted prism, appeared.
The dark energy cannon was forcibly deflected, but the violent shockwave still blasted her away.
The girl's delicate body, like a broken doll, slid across the ice for thirty meters, leaving a trail of blood, finally crashing into a crevice in the ice rock.
"Levy-chan!!!" Lucy's scream pierced the night sky.
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