At the center of Tenrou Island, a pillar of golden lightning shot skyward, instantly piercing the dark clouds and illuminating the entire sky.
The vast Magic Power returned to the Tenrou Tree, once again began channeling an endless stream of energy into the island.
All members bearing the Fairy Tail emblem felt their Magic Power restored.
Mirajane arrived at the base of the Tenrou Tree, shielding her eyes with the back of her hand against the lingering afterglow of lightning, squinting as she peered ahead.
A massive crater had been blasted beneath the tree, where a man in miserable condition lay collapsed.
His body was gradually transforming into wood, taking root and sprouting leaves.
Laxus sat cross-legged before him, watching expressionlessly as Azuma slowly turned into a great tree due to the lethal backlash of his Lost Magic.
Gazing at the steadily growing tree, Laxus sighed and said, "Back then, someone pulled me back. Unfortunately, you didn't have that."
With these words, Laxus brushed off his trousers and stood up.
"How's it going on Ankh's side?" Laxus looked at the arriving Mirajane and asked.
Mirajane let out a sigh of relief and said, "I don't know. We were worried something might happen to you, so we came here first."
Laxus curled the corner of his mouth and said, "He's been hiding in the trees all this time, so it took a bit longer to deal with him. Let's go meet up with Ankh."
Mirajane nodded.
Just then, a bold voice suddenly rang out from the forest.
"Laxus! I'm here to help you!"
The two of them were startled and turned to look at the source of the voice.
They saw a female knight with crimson long hair waving her sword, riding on the back of a beautiful woman, charging toward them.
Ultear roared furiously at her, "Don't treat me like a horse, you idiot!"
"And haven't you noticed your Magic Power has already recovered?!"
Erza froze for a moment, then exclaimed happily, "It really has!"
"Thank you, Ultear."
Mirajane frowned as she looked at Erza, who had come to support them, and asked, "Erza, who is she?"
Erza patted Ultear's shoulder quite amiably and said, "Her name is Ultear. She is one of the Seven Kin of Purgatory, but she's not an enemy. She seems to be my brother's friend."
Hearing this, Mirajane relaxed her guard slightly.
Although Erza could be excessively airheaded at times, she was quite reliable when it came to judging friend from foe.
But when Mirajane heard the latter part of Erza's words, she immediately became alert again.
'Ankh's friend?'
'Why hasn't he mentioned her before?'
Mirajane scrutinized the beautiful woman in combat attire with alluring curves before her, and alarm bells started ringing loudly in her head.
'One Erza was already annoying enough, and now there was another...'
Mirajane smiled gently, but sinister thoughts were bubbling up inside her.
Laxus, failing to read the awkward atmosphere, stroked his chin thoughtfully and said:
"Now that you mention it, I think Ankh did bring this up to me. Ultear... is she Gray's senpai?"
Ultear nodded and said with a smile, "Yes. Back when you were fighting Phantom Lord, Ankh asked me to protect Levy and the others."
Erza suddenly understood. "So you're that Ice-Make Mage! What a coincidence. No wonder my brother thinks so highly of you!"
Ultear's face flushed inexplicably, while Mirajane's expression instantly darkened.
Laxus finally sensed something was off and silently shut his mouth.
"Not at all. Ankh often tells me about his adorable little sister and the girl he likes very much."
Erza, in this situation, was like a green recruit, scratching her head and grinning foolishly.
Mirajane's expression also turned rosy, and her mood unwittingly lightened.
The three women chatted animatedly as they hurried along, while Laxus was entirely forgotten at the back of the group.
Even though they had all come to support him in the first place...
Laxus sighed, gazing at the overcast sky, silently sympathizing with his good friend.
'It's not easy, Ankh...'
...
"Achoo!!!"
Ankh suddenly sneezed violently, simultaneously kicking Precht away.
Gildarts walked over to Ankh and took out a magical card flashing with Cana's portrait and said.
"Cana says they have already taken care of all the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
Ankh gazed at the cards in Gildarts's hand, then at Bluenote who had been defeated by Gildarts in the distance, and chuckled softly, "It seems I am the only one left now."
Just minutes after his Magic Power recovered, Gildarts had finally lost his temper after being repeatedly kicked and punched by the smug Bluenote.
Bluenote unleashed his ultimate technique—a miniature black hole capable of absorbing and crushing everything in its path.
Yet Gildarts responded with the only named skill of his Crash Magic:
"Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean."
Bluenote was sent flying high into the air like a kite, his body covered in agonizing cracks as he fell completely unconscious on the spot.
By this point in the battle, excluding the insignificant foot soldiers, only the Master of Grimoire Heart remained struggling before them.
"Damn it... My carefully built guild, and I haven't even captured Zeref to usher in the Ultimate Magic World!"
In an extremely short time, the Seven Kin of Purgatory were each completely defeated.
Precht, looking utterly deranged, raised his hand and tore off his eyepatch.
A crimson eye was exposed, and the Magic Power around him surged violently once more, thickening the air with a viscous, evil aura as pure terror spread outward.
With his Demon's Eye unveiled and his evil Magic Power fully unleashed, Precht's hair and beard began floating as if stirred by an unfelt wind.
He placed his hands over his chest, forming a strange gesture.
A dark black magic circle merged into the air as Precht's gloomy voice rang out:
"Nemesis!"
The next moment, countless purple-black shadows resembling demons emerged as if from hell itself, slowly crawling out from the surrounding rocks, trees, and seawater.
This was the Forbidden Magic from the Book of Zeref, using resonance between one's own Magic Power and the surrounding magical energy to create virtual life from magic-infused objects.
Each created demon was a powerful aggregate of Magic Power, possessing independent and relatively complete destructive capabilities.
"Fall into the darkness, Ankh!!"
Precht's aura was terrifying, and the surrounding ferocious demons simultaneously turned their heads, fixing their deadly gaze on Ankh.
Ankh let out a long exhale.
Death Waves slowly gathered between his hands as he softly uttered the words.
"Death Calamity..."
A dark, decaying aura began condensing around Ankh.
The power of death poured into the earth from Ankh as the epicenter, dyeing it pitch black before gradually transforming the entire space into a void-like dark realm.
The summoned demon legion seemed to sense something, beginning to hesitate uneasily in place.
Precht gritted his teeth, his eyes fierce as he roared, "Crush him, demons! Black Magic is the ultimate destination of the magical path!!"
The demons regained their courage, charging toward Ankh with terrifying momentum.
Meanwhile, Ankh pressed his palms together, slowly forming one ferocious figure after another within the dark space, shouting sharply.
"Night Parade of One Hundred Demons!"
Countless even more terrifying specters, bearing fearsome auras that seemed ready to devour anyone in their path, swept across the sky as they charged toward the demon legion.