The exceptionally long heavy rain finally ceased, but the dark, oppressive sky still refused to let through even a sliver of sunlight.
Amid the chaotic battles on the bustling Tenrou Island, powerful Magic Power fluctuations emanated from three separate battlefields.
Outside the island, the Alvarez Empire fleet encircled Tenrou Island in multiple, impenetrable layers.
A solitary black figure gazed at the island, quietly awaiting the final moment.
Zeref looked into the distance with a distant gaze and murmured softly:
"The time is almost here."
...
On the battlefield near the airship, Jellal had successfully reunited with the members of the Fairy Tail guild and withstood Ajeel's sandstorm assault.
Ur engaged in fierce combat with the Winter General, Invel, successfully rescuing Gray and keeping Invel too occupied to deal with the others.
Before long, Makarov and Gildarts arrived.
With the assistance of these two powerful combatants, Invel and Ajeel could no longer prevent the airship from taking off and could only watch helplessly as it flew away.
In the distance, within the blockade encounter battlefield, Racer and Midnight relied on the powerful mechanics of their Magic to entangle with the assassin Jacob, temporarily holding their ground without falling into a complete disadvantage.
Elsewhere, Natsu and Lucy faced off against Brandish.
Both sides were fueled by anger, fighting without holding anything back.
However, these situations began to change with a sudden, deafening roar of thunder.
Laxus, who was originally heading to support Ankh, passed by this area.
Though he hadn't yet identified the enemy, upon seeing his comrades locked in a difficult battle, he unhesitatingly joined the fray.
With Laxus's forceful intervention, the four Fairy Tail members were able to break free from the relentless pursuit of these two elite fighters of the Alvarez Empire.
Now, all that remained was to wait for the airship to pick them up...
Finally, there was the battle between the two Mages possessing god-like power.
Moreover, Erza, Mirajane, and Ultear had inexplicably found their way here and simultaneously joined the battle.
Incidentally, they caused a minor complication...
Ankh looked around at the scene, which had come to a complete standstill as if trapped in a mysteriously tinted space, and remarked.
"So this is the secret behind your time-stop ability."
Previously, what had troubled Ankh the most about Dimaria was her ability to literally stop time.
As long as that ability was active, the initiative to attack would always remain strictly in Dimaria's hands.
This ability was called Age Seal, and this dimension was the time-stop field created by the magic.
Once this Age Seal dimension was activated, only Dimaria could move normally within this space, while all other beings remained frozen in time.
Unfortunately for Dimaria, she was facing Ankh—an anomaly.
In the battle, Dimaria had slashed Ankh hundreds of times, but that monster instantly regenerated his wounds using his Life God Power.
Meanwhile, Ankh had merely thrown a single punch based on pure instinct during one of her attacks, striking Dimaria squarely in the abdomen and nearly causing her to foam at the mouth and lose consciousness on the spot.
'I can afford to make countless mistakes, but you might not be so fortunate...'
"Get out of my Age Seal! This is my world!"
A frenzied Dimaria charged forward with her broadsword, roaring as she swung it furiously at Ankh.
Ankh swiftly dodged and countered with a Devouring Fist.
Dimaria gathered golden light in her hand and met the attack head-on.
"Trace of Time!"
Their fists collided.
Ankh's Devouring Fist instantly consumed the formidable Magic Power, causing the armor on Dimaria's arm to shatter piece by piece.
Her arm deformed slightly, and she was sent flying from the massive impact.
Simultaneously, the Trace of Time mark was applied directly to his fist, and Ankh also experienced unprecedented pain.
The mark could simultaneously inflict all the physical pain an enemy had suffered in their past, tormenting them relentlessly.
It had to be said that even after breaking through the time-stop magic, Dimaria remained a highly formidable opponent.
Bearing the accumulated pain of past near-fatal injuries, even Ankh couldn't help but gasp sharply, clutching his arm.
The sent-flying Dimaria refused to relent.
She extended her hand to release magic power as golden temporal light violently erupted throughout the frozen space.
"Age Scratch!!"
The golden magic power detonated with tremendous force, the shockwave-like attack forcing Ankh several steps backward.
Ankh furrowed his brow, glancing at the large rock behind him before asking helplessly.
"You three, are you ready yet?"
Ultear's urgent voice came from behind the rock.
"Almost, just a moment longer..."
This was followed by Mirajane's somewhat uncomfortable muffled groan: "Erza, your clothes seem a bit tight here."
Erza immediately retorted in dissatisfaction: "Nonsense."
Earlier, when Ultear and the other two had found the battling pair, Dimaria had suddenly conceived a wicked idea.
Within the Alvarez Empire, Dimaria was truly a problem child through and through, with a twisted personality that bordered on perverse.
Not only was she a sadist who enjoyed torturing enemies, she particularly delighted in stripping and tormenting beautiful women.
And clothing destruction was Dimaria's absolute specialty when humiliating them.
Upon seeing the three women coming to Ankh's rescue, Dimaria used her Age Seal and her exquisite sword skills to shred their garments into pieces.
Thus... Ankh was unexpectedly treated to quite a spectacle.
What followed was the predictable screaming reaction.
Erza and Mirajane handled it relatively well, but the utterly defenseless Ultear crouched down covering herself while emitting shame-filled screams.
Then, for some unknown reason, Ultear's emotionally charged Arc of Time magic successfully transported all three of them directly into Dimaria's Age Seal dimension.
This led to Dimaria's defenses being broken, allowing Ankh to turn the tables and suppress her.
After a while, the three women reappeared wearing clothes retrieved from Erza's Requip pocket space.
Ultear had changed into loose miko robes, her face still flushed with deep embarrassment as she glared at Ankh with clenched teeth.
Meeting those emotionally charged, teary eyes, Ankh, unsure of how to respond, gave an awkward thumbs-up and forced a smile:
"Looks great."
However, the currently hypersensitive Ultear immediately erupted, wrapping around Ankh's neck like an octopus while shaking him violently and roaring.
"Who asked for your commentary, you bastard?!"
"No... that... I meant the clothes..."
Amid the noisy pair, Mirajane showed no particular embarrassment, merely tugging uncomfortably at her chest area and murmuring.
"It really is too tight after all."
Erza turned her head away, pretending not to hear her.
Erza had even fewer reservations about such matters—if not for Ankh's sleepwalking sword attacks, this brother-complex girl would still be bathing and sleeping with him to this day.
Watching these shameless men and women, Dimaria felt her lungs about to explode with rage.
If she'd known earlier, she wouldn't have provoked that black-haired woman.
Now that her Age Seal dimension had been invaded and they couldn't be driven out, her initial advantage was completely lost, while the opposing side had gained several new allies.
Dimaria's eyes were bloodshot as she gritted her teeth, gathering immense Magic Power within her body. She screamed hoarsely.
"You forced me to do this! Witness the true Divine Power!"
"Take Over... God Soul!"
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