CHAPTER 580: 580

Lucy was still thinking too simply.

When Taros raised his great axe and brought it down on Hikaru’s head, she believed victory was already in her grasp.

But to her shock, the seemingly timid and flustered Hikaru knocked Taros, axe and all, flying with a single, powerful shove.

His nervous demeanor vanished instantly. Hikaru advanced toward Lucy, his steps heavy and full of menace.

Taros sprang back up to intercept him but was blasted back into the Celestial Spirit World with a single open-palmed strike.

Now surrounded, Lucy had no place to run. Desperately, she drew the Star River whip and lashed it toward Hikaru with all her might.

But his body suddenly shimmered with a metallic sheen.

The whip, which could shatter rocks, struck his skin with a sharp crack but did nothing. It was as if she had hit solid steel.

Hikaru’s voice turned cold and menacing. "You will die here."

His pitch-black palm, gleaming like forged iron, swung down toward her.

Lucy’s pupils shrank in terror. She couldn’t dodge in time.

The gust from the attack hit her first, tossing her hair back in a golden wave. But the impact she expected never came.

A massive clawed hand had appeared between them, stopping Kain Hikaru’s strike. A dragon’s claw.

"Mr. Rhodes!" Lucy cried out in surprise.

"You okay?" Rhodes asked calmly, gripping Hikaru’s wrist without strain. "This guy’s strength is nearly on par with Elfman."

"I’m fine," Lucy replied, the sudden sense of safety overwhelming her. Her legs gave out, and she slumped to the ground in relief.

Rhodes didn’t let up. He drew back his right fist and drove it into Hikaru’s gut with a loud thud.

The metal-plated belly rippled from the impact. Hikaru staggered back a few steps, and several blade-like cracks opened across his stomach.

"His defense is pretty tough too," Rhodes muttered.

"Mr. Rhodes, be careful!" Lucy warned urgently. "He’s one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory. And those people over there..."

Before she could finish, a purple shimmer streaked toward them from the distance, like a sharp line cutting through the air.

"Don’t worry about the numbers," Rhodes said, watching Hikaru. "I’ve never lost sleep over that."

Lucy paused, then her expression lit up with sudden understanding. She nodded firmly. "Right!"

"Reinforcements?" Hikaru scowled. "Then I’ll end this game now."

With a serious expression, he pulled out a sinister-looking cursed doll. A single black hair was stuck to its head.

The doll appeared to be made of iron.

"This is my magic, Ushi no Koku Mairi," Hikaru announced proudly. "Listen well. The hair on this doll belongs to me. That means my body transforms according to the doll’s material."

Rhode’s expression darkened.

Curse-killing magic. He had heard of this type before. Almost all such spells required certain prerequisites to activate.

Sometimes blood. Sometimes hair. Sometimes they needed direct contact.

He recalled Lullaby, the enchanted flute that could kill anyone who heard its music. That was high-tier curse magic.

But as long as you understood the conditions and stayed alert, most of these could be avoided.

Which meant if someone dared to pull out a curse tool mid-battle, they had either already met the necessary condition...

Or they were an idiot.

Hikaru continued, holding the doll in his left hand while raising his right palm. "Now, if you just give me a lock of your hair, I can use my ultimate curse-killing spell to destroy you. So, who’s first?"

Lucy exploded. "Who in their right mind would give you that?!"

The Grimoire Heart soldiers shouted in unison, clearly exasperated.

"Lord Hikaru! Don’t tell the enemy how your magic works!"

"Ah!" Hikaru suddenly realized.

Rhodes sighed, confirming that this guy was stupid.

His blue-and-white wings flapped, and he vanished from his spot, punching Hikaru squarely on his chubby chin.

Hikaru’s head snapped back, and his feet left the ground.

Then Rhodes reappeared behind him, kicking him in the temple.

"Wah ah!" Hikaru was kicked flying horizontally, his head a bit dizzy.

"Take Over: Purgatory Dragon!"

Rhodes caught up to Hikaru, his dragon wings and scales changing from blue-white to black-red, and punched his lower back, sending him flying upward.

At this moment, the Voidmites were getting closer, and the Brambleback followed behind them, casting a buff on Rhodes from a distance.

Rhodes opened his mouth and fiercely spewed dragon breath upwards.

Lava and flames completely engulfed Hikaru, and screams came from the air.

This time, Hikaru’s screams were more intense than any previous time.

"Lord Hikaru!"

The Grimoire Heart soldiers watched in horror as the red trumpet flower bloomed in mid-air. How could this person suppress one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory so easily? Who exactly was he?

Rhode’s little dragon-human appearance differed slightly from his usual demeanor, so even though they had seen his photo, these people couldn’t recognize him.

But they quickly had more pressing matters to worry about.

Because a large swarm of blue-purple Worms was rushing towards them.

Those Worms originally seemed only knee-high, but as they approached Rhodes, a burst of purplish-gray light suddenly erupted from them.

Immediately after, the Worms’ size dramatically increased, nearly doubling, and they seemed to leave afterimages as they moved, their forms elusive.

"What kind of monsters?"

"So disgusting!"

"Ahhh, let go of me!"

The Voidmites swarmed the Grimoire Heart soldiers.

Voidmites that previously needed to be in groups of three to five to barely handle an ordinary Magician could now potentially win even in a one-on-one fight. This was the power of the Hecarim.

Most importantly, even if the Hecarim simultaneously covered hundreds of Worms, Rhode’s magic power consumption only increased by a tiny bit.

"So strong," Lucy stared blankly at the nearly one-sided battlefield. Even I was a summoning Magician, so why was the difference so great?

In a daze, a small doll fell in front of her.

The originally black iron doll had now turned into straw.

Hikaru dropped with a thud about 10 meters away from her, completely charred, speaking weakly.

He watched Lucy pick up the doll and struggled to crawl towards her. "My little curse, give it back to me."

"~" Lucy disdainfully threw the doll onto the ground.

Hikaru unexpectedly flew up from the ground without any visible effort, jumping a distance backward.

"Could it be..." Lucy blinked, then suddenly showed a mischievous smile.

"Brother Rhodes, Miss Lucy!"

Wendy, sitting on the shoulder of the Sentinel, rushed over.

Gajeel had completed preliminary treatment, wrapped in bandages from head to toe, and was lying in the Golem’s palm.

"Lucy, stop playing."

Rhodes noticed Lucy posing the doll in various ways, and Hikaru’s body involuntarily moved along with it. He probably understood the effect of this magic.

This made things easier. Who would insert their own hair into a curse-killing tool?

Even if it might have a strengthening effect.

Rhodes took the doll from Lucy, patted her back, and told her to go find Wendy for healing.

Lucy obediently went to find Wendy.

Rhode glanced at Gajeel’s miserable state, hardened his heart, and twisted the doll’s head a full turn.