Vali stood on top of the large balcony of the castle, which was the size of a football field. He was currently facing Lucy and Juvia, who were both glaring at him, though Lucy seemed more frightened than Juvia.

Juvia: I take it this is Vali?

Lucy: Yeah, that's him. (glares at him) Where the heck are our friends you creep?!

Vali: If you wish to know, you're just going to have to force the information out of me. That is, if you think you're up to it.

He lightly flicked open his katana. In less than a second, he sent multiple slashes towards the two girls. 

Lucy screamed as the impacts sent her rolling back, but the slashes seemed to pass through Juvia's water body that looked unaffected, to which Vali raised an eyebrow at.

Vali: Well, that's certainly interesting.

Juvia: My body is made entirely out of water. Drip, drip, drop. (Her hands became visible water) All physical attacks are useless against me. Water Lock!

A blue magic circle appeared under Vali and he found himself completely trapped in a sphere of water.

Juvia: Is that all you've got?

Lucy: Nice work Juvia, way to go!

Vali however didn't look in the least bit concerned. In fact, all he did was shake his head. A vertical slice was able to cut through the water sphere and it all fell apart, leaving Vali simply standing there, soaking wet, but unaffected; much to the two's shock.

Juvia: How is that... he cut through my Water Lock!?

Lucy: How the heck did he do that?!

Vali: Your attack is quite inventive, and would normally work against the average opponent, but not for myself.

Juvia: How were you able to cut through my Water Lock?!

Vali: Don't act so surprised. My Katana, Yamato, is a Devil Arm. A strong and powerful weapon that can cut through such defenses and seals that one could consider impenetrable or unbreakable.

Juvia: Water has no affect on him?

Lucy: That's not good.

Vali: Now then, if you have nothing else for me, than simply make it easier and come with me willingly. I will take you to your friends, resist and you will loose.

Juvia: That's not going to happen. Water Slicer!

Juvia sent a series of water blades towards Vali, which he was able to block by timing each strike and intercepting them all at rapid speeds with Yamato.

Vali: (sigh) I guess it can't be helped. Darkslayer!

Vali's katana glowed blood red as did a light aura around him. He quickly zoomed past Juvia. When he was past her with his blade in the open, an explosion erupted from Juvia's chest earning a scream from her, much to Lucy's horror.

Vali repeated the process multiple times, resulting in many dark explosions that sent Juvia scream into the air until he appeared above her and brought his boot down on her, sending her plummeting to the ground and falling unconscious.

Lucy: Juvia!

She saw Vali land as his aura vanished and she glared at him.

Lucy: What did you do to her?!

Vali: Normal attacks have no affect on her body of water. But my Darkslayer style allows me to give a light demonic aura to enhance my abilities, enough to cause even her pain. Do not worry, she's still alive. Now then, are you going to come willingly or resist?

Lucy: Here's your answer! (took out one of her golden keys)

Vali: Somehow, I'm not surprised.

Lucy: Open! Gate of the Golden Bull! Taurus!

The giant humanoid bull came out of the ground with a loud moo and brandishing his large axe.

Taurus: Don't worry Miss Lucy. I'll protect your sweet body!

Lucy: (sweat drop and sigh) Don't get pervy on me.

Vergil: How repulsive. Do you have him say these things to you of your own accord?

Lucy: ( multiple anger marks on her head) HEY!!! I don't WANT him to say this stuff! Oh why am I trying to explain this to you? Taurus! Take him down!

Taurus: Sure thing! 

Taurus leapt towards Vali as he ready his axe.

Taurus: Time's up pretty boy! 

Taurus brought his axe down, but looked to see Vali had vanished, as he was already multiple feet away. Taurus ran towards him again and swung his axe horizontally, but Vergil vanished in a flash again and appeared behind Taurus.

Taurus: Will you hold still so I can slash ya?!

Taurus jumped high with his massive axe.

Vali: (stood his ground) As you wish.

Taurus slammed the axe down on him and he smiled. However, his smile soon vanished when he saw Vali had blocked Taurus' axe with his katana using only one arm. Lucy found herself quite surprised.

Lucy's mind: He blocked Taurus with one arm?

Vali: You're strong, but strength alone can only get you so far. (forced Taurus off him) Summoned Swords!

Vali sent a stream of magic swords that all blew at Taurus, resulting in him yelling in pain as he was sent flying.

Lucy: No Taurus!

Taurus fell back and vanished as Lucy was forced to close his gate. 

Lucy: You are so gonna get it now! (took out another key) Open! Gate of the Archer! Sagittarius!

With that, the horse-dressed archer materialized while saluting. 

Sagittarius: Howdy 'do milady?

Lucy: Take him down!

Sagittarius: As you wish.

Sagittarius strung a bow and shot an arrow towards Vergil, but he actually the arrow just before it made contact.

Vali: You'll have to do better than that.

Sagittarius: I intend to.

Sagittarius strung more arrows and fired them all at rapid paces, almost like a machine gun. Vali responded by spinning his sword in front of him like a helicopter blade, which blocked and sliced all the arrows that came near him. This kept up for quite some time until Sagittarius stopped.

Sagittarius: Incredible. Truly a great swordsman you must be, to have blocked all my arrows.

Lucy: Don't complement him!

Vali: My turn now.

Vali zoomed forward and appeared right in front of Sagittarius and gave a fast upward slice, that cut his bow in half and sent the spirit flying straight to the castle's walls, much to Lucy's shock.

Sagittarius' eyes were white as multiple stars circled his head. Lucy closed his gate before turning around with another key. 

Lucy: Third time's the charm. Open! Gate of the Maiden! Virgo!

Virgo came out of the ground just below Vali and gave him an uppercut to the jaw, sending him into the air. Virgo came in with a kick to his chest to send him to the ground. 

Lucy: Oh yeah!

Virgo: (came close to Lucy) Is it punishment time now, princess?

Lucy: Will you stop asking me that?!

Vali slowly stood up and didn't appear to have so much of a scratch on him.

Vergil: Impressive, this sprit has both strength and speed to her advantage. However, she is not the only one.

Lucy and Virgo both saw Vali stand.

Lucy: We're not done yet Virgo.

Virgo: I agree, this foe is going to be difficult to beat.

Vali: Beowulf!

Vali quipped his dark gauntlets and grieves and zoomed in with a punch to Virgo's gut that sent her flying to the wall. 

Vali then zoomed in again and grabbed her by the hair and brought her up before kicking her up into the air, he then zoomed above her and gave her a fierce axe-kick that sent her to the ground.

Lucy: Virgo! Not you too!

Virgo: I am sorry princess. I cannot continue.

Virgo vanished, realizing that Vali was just to powerful for her.

Vali: Any more spirits you wish to summon?

Lucy: (glared) You jerk! Quit hurting them!

Vali: You are the one who is summoning them to face an opponent who is clearly above you in terms of power. I do not understand Celestial Wizards. They claim to have power, yet it's merely the spirits they summon that do the fighting, not them. They are clearly weak.

Lucy: (anger) You don't know anything about Celestial Wizards!

Vali: I know that they summon their spirits to aid them in battle while they just stand back, which makes them not different from slaves.

Lucy: Shut up! They aren't slaves! They're my friends! I treat them like family, not unlike my friends in Fairy Tail. How can you be so cruel?!

Vali: That is how it works. In the end, only the strongest live. And if you treat them as your family, as you say, then you must not have the best terms with them. If your last family was any indication.

Those last words made Lucy look with wide-eyes. 

Lucy: (shocked) What did you say?

Vali: I know quite a bit about you, Lucy Heartfilia. You came from a family that was among the wealthiest in this country. Your mother died at an early age and you ran away from your father soon after that. Afterwards, he ordered the guild known as Phantom Lord to attack Fairy Tail, to which you recently joined, your father lost his fortune and is now living a mediocre life.

Lucy: Let me guess. You're gonna try and make me feel guilty? That what my dad did was all my fault?

Va:i No, I am well aware that guild war was solely your father's doing, not yours.

This surprised Lucy a bit.

Vali: However, what I do not understand is why you did not do something about it. True you confronted him, but a more affective solution would have been to end his life.

Lucy's face was plastered with shock.

Lucy: (shocked) Wh... why... why would I do that?!

Vali: You still hold feelings for him? Even after how he treated you?

Lucy: (glared) Why do you care?!

Vali: I don't. I am merely curious, nothing more. (shook his head) You must have inherited your mother's weakness. Why else would she have died at a relatively young age? It's because she was weak.

That really drove a dagger in her heart.

Lucy: SHUT UP!!!

Lucy took out her whip and flung at Vali with all her might and some tears flowed from her eyes. However, Vergil grabbed the end of the whip, and with his superior strength, pulled Lucy in.

He circled his arm and made several loops in the whip circle around Lucy and he pulled them tight, effectively tying her up in her own whip. She then fell before his feet. She looked up at his face with a mix of anger and grief.

Lucy: You don't know anything about me, or either of my parents!

Vali: I know that they were both weak, much like you.

Lucy: She's not weak! She's the furthest thing from weak! (pulls out her Taurus key) Star Dress: Taurus Mode!

Lucy's dress has changed into an outfit consisting of a bra and sleeves with a cow pattern and pants that leave her right leg entirely revealed. She also dones a pair of gloves and boots as well as a belt where Taurus Zodiac sign is located and a bag around her waist. While sporting this dress she uses her hair in two buns, one at each side of her head abut also leaving some hair hanging. 

Vali's mind: Was that Requip magic? 

Lucy: Earth Wave!

She hit her whip on the ground and creating a shockwave that caused Vali to jump over it. He did a downward slash, but Lucy dodged as she punched him in the gut, causing him to spit. 

Vali's mind: What?! Her physical strength has been increased?!  

Lucy: I'm not done yet! Cancer Mode!

Her outfit changed into a qipao, albeit with long, wide sleeves and an obi, both present in kimono, suggesting it to be a combination of the two mentioned attires. Below the waist are pieces of cloth hanging in form of vertical stripes. As legwear, she wears knee-high socks, as well as flip-flops. In addition, Lucy's hair is tied up in two high pigtails, secured by a round, pincer-shaped clips.

Lucy strikes at Vali with twin blades that reminiscent of a pair of scissors, the eldest son of Sparda blocks the strikes with Yamato. 

Vali: (thoughts) Her speed has been enhanced as well! What's going on? (speaking) Osiris!

Vali summons a large scythe with a light blue hue to it, which represents its angelic nature. The blade is long and curved, coming off the tip of the snaith at its heel. The snaith itself looks to be made out of wood, and it has two grips protruding from opposite ends that resemble whittled branches.

Vali lunged forward at Lucy and was about to land a sweeping spin at her, but Lucy sudden dug herself onto the ground. 

Vali: (surprised) What? 

Just then, after diving into the ground, Lucy positions herself underneath Vali and gave him an uppercut from below. 

She was wearing a dress very similar to Virgo's own, however due to its lacking the entire shoulder and most of the upper arms, the apron is now a pattern on the front of the dress; Lucy also receives a more frilly version of Virgo's headpiece, and still has Virgo's collar, albeit with the strings that are on Virgo's headpiece tied in a bow knot around it. She also bare Virgo's Zodiac sign on her right shoulder.

Vali's mind: What's going on? How is she doing this?

Vali looks above and saw Lucy took on an appearance based on Aquarius' own, having acquired a bikini top that sports a zigzag design and a miniskirt. Aquarius' zodiac sign is located between Lucy's collarbone whilst in this state. 

Lucy: Aqua Metria!

Lucy utilizes this spell which makes the water from Juvia's spells flow in waves and attacks Vali. 

Vali: Darkslayer!

Vali's sword glowed blood red, as did a light aura around him. He flashed his katana forward and sliced the water which surprised Lucy. 

Lucy's mind: He even cut the water I'm using from Aquarius?!

Vali backs away before unleashing his Judgement Cut technique as Lucy got hit by multiple slashes. 

Lucy's mind: (surprised) What happened? I didn't see him move!

Lucy fell to her knees as Vali walks towards her. 

Vali: I see now. Your clothes changed because you're capable of using the power of spirits as well. No Celestial wizard has ever done that before, I take you must be the first to acquired it. 

Vali stops as he looked behind him to see a certain celestial spirit materialize directly behind him.

Lucy: Loke!

Vali: Leo, the lion.

Loke jumped in front of the blue-clad half demon, separating him from the blonde Celestial Wizard.

Loke: I won't let you hurt Lucy.

Vali: I don't recall her summoning you.

Loke: She didn't. I passed through the gate myself.

Lucy: Careful, Loke. This guy's super strong!

Loke: I know. I don't expect anything less from the oldest son of Sparda.

Vali wasn't to surprise.

Vali: You knew my father, I'm not particularly shocked, he was quite famous in his life.

Loke: (scold) You are a disgrace to his bloodline and his legacy. Threatening and killing innocents.

Vali: I couldn't care less for his legacy. The only thing I care for is power, nothing else. Did you come all this way just to tell me that? 

Loke: No. I came to stop you! Regulas!

His rings glowed gold, as did his knuckles and he quickly punched Vergil, sending him back a bit of distance. Loke came in with a golden punch, which Vergil blocked with his sword.

Vali: Hmm. You're much stronger than I anticipated.

Loke: I'm the leader of the Celestial Zodiacs, you'll find I'm more of a challenge than the rest!

Loke forced Vergil back. Loke came in with multiple quick, punches, but Vali was able to block them all with his blade. At the same time, Vali tried to strike Loke, but his golden fists acted as a shield that could block the devil arm. 

As they fought, it looked like they were both moving at fast speeds as Vali zoomed back and Loke zoomed forward after him.

Lucy: (took her Leo key) Star Dress: Leo Mode!

Now Lucy becomes cloaked in an elegant, frilled, black ball gown that is slit up her left leg and tied with gold sash that sits around her hips. A black, frilled choker sits around her neck, and a ribbon with the mark of the Leo zodiac emblazoned upon it falls between her breasts. The accompanying sleeves of the dress are detached, sitting on Lucy's upper arm and falling to her forearm, where they flare outward. Around the bodice of her dress is more golden trim, curving inward under her bust. Additionally, Lucy sports black heels and her hair is now tied up in a quaint bun that is decorated with a black flower. Due to having taken on some of Loke's power, Loke's zodiac sign appears upon Lucy's right breast.

Lucy: Regulas Lucy Kick!

Lucy surronds her feet with the light of Regulus as she was able to get a successful kick to Vali's face, causing him to stager back. This gave Loke an opening that he wasn't about to waste. He brought both his hands together.

Loke: Regulas Impact!

Loke sent a massive beam of golden light that took the form of a lion, which then roared as it slammed into Vali, resulting in a large explosion.

Loke smiled as he turned to Lucy, who smiled back. But her smile vanished as she saw a figure in the smoke behind him.

Lucy: Loke BEHIND YOU!!!

Loke turned around just to have Vali stab him through the chest with Yamato, which pierced out of his back with Lucy looking with horror.

Lucy: LOKE!!!

Loke wasn't able to talk, as all he could do was look at Vali.

Vali: You're right. You are indeed strong, just not strong enough.

Vali twisted the blade as Loke moaned more in pain.

Vali: Since you past through the gate of your own accord, you are unable to return to the spirit world unless you wish, correct?

Loke's eyes closed as he fell to the ground.

Vali: I thought so.

Lucy ran towards Loke as she bends down next to him.

Lucy: You... You... you monster...

Vali: Why are you upset? As a Celestial Spirit, physical wounds are unable to kill him.

Lucy scolds at him while tears were about to flow down her eyes

Lucy: (teary) But he did feel pain! You have no idea what he's been through!

Vali: You seem particularly attached to him, perhaps some form of attraction? I find it quite repulsive how a powerful spirit can be paired with such a weak human.

Lucy: Shut up! You're one to talk! Your dad may be a powerful demon, but your mom was human! You're half human, remember?!

Vali gave a look that made Lucy shriek.

Vali: I may indeed be half human, physically. But it is something that I disgust.

Before anything else could be said, a large explosion erupted from the castle walls and many large demons were sent flying, a familiar battle cry was heard as a certain armored wizard slid out of the smoke and onto the balcony, with her swords in hand.

Lucy: Erza!

Vali turned to see the armored wizard stand up.

Erza: Lucy, are you alright?

Lucy: I'm fine.

Erza looked around and noticed Juvia's and Loke's unconscious bodies. She couldn't help but glare at the man responsible for that.

Vali: Erza Scarlet. I must say, you surprise me by arriving here, however, it does save me the trouble of looking for you.

Erza: Tell me, do you find this much joy in toying with the lives of others?

Vali: I have no joy to it, nor do I show grief or remorse. But you didn't come all this way to talk to me, did you?

Erza: No. (readied her swords) I came to face you. You desire a strong challenge Vali, than I shall be your opponent.

Vali actually gave an amused grin.

Vali: I do acknowledge your strength. Let us see it in use, shall we?

He readied his blade as the two glared at each other.

Vali: Come at me, Erza Scarlet.

Chapter 24 ended.