Chapter 427

Everything happened too suddenly, so suddenly that Lucy had no time to react before she was already trapped within.

"Let me go!"

Regaining her senses, Lucy immediately struggled, but no matter how hard she fought, she could not break through the barrier of light.

Ranryu said: "It's useless. What you're doing is nothing but futile struggle."

"Let Lucy go!"

Seeing Lucy captured, Wendy, the closest to the two, furiously moved to stop them, and a dragon's roar roared forth.

Yet before Ranryu, this great mountain, not even a pebble could be moved.

"Foolish, ignorant, weak—this is what I see in you. If this is all the strength you possess, you cannot survive in this era."

With a slight lift of his finger, a powerful spiritual pressure surged from Ranryu's center.

Faced with this spiritual pressure, Wendy, Happy, and Charle could not even block it—they were blasted straight through the treetops and fell downward.

"Wendy!"

Her small body plummeted downward; Erza instantly switched armor and shot into the sky, catching Lucy in her arms.

If the others had still clung to hope, believing all this was an illusion, Ranryu's actions at this moment shattered that delusion completely.

The admiration they had once held for Ranryu now burned only with rage.

"Ranryu!"

Fiery flames surged upward; on Natsu's face appeared a fury never seen before.

"Let Lucy go!"

Boom—!

Flames erupted from his legs; Natsu shot skyward like a rocket, his fists wreathed in fire, striking straight at Ranryu.

But…

Even Augustus, the 'Magic King,' could not overcome Ranryu—how much less could Natsu?

Boom—boom—boom!

The spiritual pressure erupted again; Natsu could not even close the hundred-meter distance before being struck down by Ranryu, crashing to the ground and kicking up layer by layer of thick dust.

"To attempt to shake an unclimbable mountain is merely to invite your own destruction."

"Natsu!"

Seeing this, Erza and the others cried out in shock, glaring furiously at Ranryu.

"Ranryu, you bastard—we trusted you so much, and this is how you repay us?"

"Trust?"

Hearing this, Ranryu, who had maintained his gentle smile, shook his head.

"Trust is merely the excuse of the weak—a reason to bind themselves to the strong."

"Besides, you are nothing but my tools."

"You bastard!"

As if pouring oil on fire, hearing Ranryu's words, the flames in the others' eyes flared again, burning even hotter.

If looks could kill, Ranryu would have died countless times under their gazes.

"Give Lucy back to us!"

At this moment, Natsu had already struggled to his feet from the dust, blood trickling from his temple, his bloodshot eyes locked on Ranryu, magic surging as he charged forward again.

And this time, it was not only Natsu—Erza, Gray, and Wendy followed close behind, 凝聚 their magic and launched a furious assault upon Ranryu.

"Still unwilling to give up?"

Seeing this, Ranryu shook his head.

"Enough. This game is over."

"Binding Spell Sixty-Three: Iron Shackles of Binding!"

Invisible chains materialized out of thin air; under Ranryu's control, they wrapped around Natsu and the others, binding them completely motionless.

"What is this!"

The sudden appearance of iron chains froze everyone in place, unable to advance a single step.

But this was not over; as Ranryu tightened his right hand slightly, all the chains snapped taut—screams of agony erupted instantly!

"Erza! Natsu!"

"Let go of my companions."

"Please, let my companions go!"

Watching her companions suffer, bound within the light barrier, Lucy screamed in fury—and at that moment, a seductive voice whispered sharply in her ear.

"It hurts, doesn't it?"

Ranryu slowly walked up to Lucy and said.

"If you agree to come with me, I will not harm them—and I will spare him…"

"I agree!"

Before Ranryu could finish speaking, Lucy answered without hesitation.

Though their time together had been short, after enduring so many events side by side, Lucy had long since regarded Erza and the others as family.

She could not bear to see Erza and the others suffer because of her.