Although Lucy remained frozen for 2-3 seconds, shocked that someone had been able to sneak up so close to her despite her constant use of ocular powers to scan the area up to a distance of over 300 meters, she quickly regained her composure, as she realized that the greatest danger had already passed, because the opponent had not eliminated her when she was unaware of their presence, and, at that moment, she could easily evade using either the Steps of Light or Phantom Body skills.

   "I wouldn't rely on that if I were you. Take a careful look at what's at my feet...", Lucy said, releasing over 20 explosive papers from her storage space, which immediately upon contact with the ground began to explode, engulfing the place where she and Yara stood in a ball of fire that destroyed everything within a distance of over 5 meters.

   "You're truly skilled...", Lucy said, who had activated the Phantom Body skill to make her body untouchable and had made no effort to avoid the explosion, watching as Yara emerged from the shadow of the knife, which Yara had thrown towards a tree just a fraction of a second before the explosion occurred.

   "Lucy, are you okay?", Rina shouted as she rushed to Lucy's location, her fists already enveloped in flames, ready for battle.

   "Yes, I'm fine. The explosion was caused by me...", Lucy replied, still facing away from her as she continued to carefully watch Yara, fearing that if she were to let the young dark elf woman slip out of her sight even for a moment, she would once again slip into a shadow, becoming almost impossible to locate.

   "It seems you were right. Someone did come to save the dark elf man...", Rina said as she reached Lucy's side and also saw the young dark elf woman, who was looking at them and didn't seem to have any intention of attacking first.

   "Tell me, catgirl. Why did you warn me before the explosion?", Yara asked, finding Lucy's gesture very strange, as it wasn't characteristic of someone under the threat of death.

   "Hmmm, I'm not sure. Maybe I wanted us to be even for not eliminating me when I wasn't aware of your presence...", Lucy replied, her voice becoming clearer as she put her white cat mask in her storage space. "No, I don't think that's it...", she continued after a short pause, her tone thoughtful. "I think I was influenced by the desire to have a fight with an opponent whose fighting style is so similar to mine. Yes, I've longed for a chance to confront another ninja, and, from what I've seen so far, you meet all the criteria to be classified as one..."

   Seeing her wide smile and the excitement in her eyes, both Rina and Yara couldn't say that Lucy was joking, even though her reason seemed totally absurd because, for them, the purpose of a fight had always been only to win, not to see what the opponent was capable of. However, Rina had a suspicion that the reason Lucy was excited wasn't entirely because she had found an opponent with a fighting style similar to hers, but that she had the opportunity to say a few words that Lucy probably thought would make her sound cool.

   "Your face... Yes, it's identical to the face of the one who was interrogating Silas. No wonder the other catgirls didn't intervene. They were just illusions created by you...", Yara said after a few moments. Until then, she had found it strange that the other three catgirls, whom she believed were the biggest threat to her, hadn't intervened, and they stood in the same positions they were found in when she arrived, completely unaffected by what was happening.

   "Uh, I thought you figured that out before attacking me... Wait a minute, if you didn't know I was the one who set up the trap for you and the other comrades of the dark elf man we were interrogating, why did you decide to capture me?", Lucy asked, unable to understand why her apparently successful plan had such a result.

   "Heh, let's just say you're an unlucky kitty. Anyway, now that I know it's just you two, I think everything will be much simpler..., Yara said, and from the shadows of Lucy and Rina emerged several black chains that began to bind the two before she even finished her words.

   Thanks to the magic necklace she wore, Rina managed to escape Yara's attack, all the chains attempting to touch her body being annihilated, but after almost 10 seconds in which it continuously absorbed her mana to protect her, Rina felt she could barely stand.

   Seeing the tangled mess of chains forming around Lucy, with only the tip of her tail visible, Rina had no idea how to proceed, as she didn't know if Lucy had actually been captured and if she should try to free her, or if what was in the middle of the chain cluster was just a substitute left by Lucy to deceive the young dark elf woman.

   "Rina, this won't be the kind of battle you're accustomed to, so it's best for you to withdraw to a safe distance when I attack the dark elf. Don't worry about me, I'll handle it..." Lucy suddenly whispered into Rina's right ear. Feeling Lucy's sweet breath, Rina deduced that she was probably close by and using the skill that allowed her to become invisible to deceive their opponent.

   Aware that she couldn't really help Lucy fight against such an unpredictable opponent as the young dark elf woman and that she would only distract Lucy during the fight, Rina nodded very discreetly to let Lucy know she understood and then began to shout and pull on the chains, wanting to help Lucy deceive Yara, who was approaching them without a care, thinking victory was already in her hands.

   "It's pointless, lionkin... It's impossible for anyone to escape after being captured by the Chains of the Moon's Eclipse, as they can immobilize not only the body of the captured person but also their mind...", Yara said as she arrived just a few meters from where Lucy and Rina were, taking out from her storage ring a slave collar with the intention to put it around Rina's neck to force her to obey her orders, as it was too much of a hassle to threaten her all the way to where her companions had remained.

   However, before Yara could start implementing her plan, she suddenly felt a sharp object pressing against her throat: a black steel kunai wielded by Lucy, who had appeared behind her without warning.

   "It seems you've made a habit of underestimating me...", she heard the voice of the catgirl she thought she had managed to capture. "Initially, I had intended to eliminate you as soon as I had the chance, but what can I do if I have a weakness for very attractive and dangerous girls? So, I thought I'd give you a choice: either surrender peacefully now, allowing me to be gentle with you, or persist in resistance, which will force me to employ drastic measures to secure your surrender...", Lucy continued, trying to mimic the tone with which Yara had spoken to her when their roles were reversed.