"Erza? Are you alright?"
As the four of them ran through the forest, Mirajane looked at Erza's gloomy expression with concern.
Erza snapped out of her dark thoughts and forced a smile. "It is nothing. I was just overthinking. What is in front of us is what matters most right now."
Hearing their conversation, Ultear quietly asked Ankh, who had been silent beside her, "You definitely know something, don't you?"
Just by looking at the appearance and hair color of that suddenly appearing, incredibly powerful woman, Ultear was absolutely certain the two were related.
Moreover, both Erza and that mysterious woman had clearly been emotionally affected—there had to be a deep hidden story here.
After a moment of silence, Ankh finally explained, "Let's figure out the situation first. Saying anything right now would only make Erza think she was abandoned."
Abandoned?
So... that woman really was Erza's...
Ultear suddenly understood.
She gazed at Erza running ahead, biting her lower lip lightly as she fell into deep thought.
She, too, had once believed she was abandoned, so she knew exactly how painful that feeling could be.
But Ultear had eventually learned the truth, while Erza still hadn't.
Soon, Ultear's mood also grew somber, deeply affected by Erza's emotions.
Although Ankh had promised to revive Ur for her... she still didn't know how long it would take, or whether it was even possible...
Just as the oppressive mood began to spread, a loud rumbling suddenly echoed from the sky.
They quickly looked up and saw a medium-sized company airship flying over at low altitude.
A short figure at the bow was waving and shouting at them with all his might.
"Hey! Ankh, Erza, Mira, and... the young lady whose name I don't know, come up quickly!"
Ankh focused his gaze and immediately recognized the person calling out to them from the bow—it was Makarov, coming to pick them up.
"It's the Master. Let's go."
Ankh grinned, grabbed Erza, and activated his gravity control.
Meanwhile, Mirajane grabbed Ultear and spread her Satan Soul Demon Wings. Together, they flew up toward the airship.
The airship slowed down slightly.
Once Ankh and Mirajane landed safely on the deck, it instantly accelerated again, flying away from the island.
Laxus and Jellal were channeling their Magic Power into the ship's energy supply.
They greeted the group as soon as they saw them.
"You took your time, Ankh," Laxus teased with a small smile as he piloted the airship.
Ankh shook his head and sighed. "The mages from the Alvarez Empire are unusually tough to deal with."
Jellal, who was assisting Laxus in piloting the ship, laughed. "Same here. We ran into two Mages who were incredibly hard to handle. Good thing we escaped quickly."
Seeing Ankh and the others return safely, the others cheered and swarmed around them.
Natsu looked highly displeased and spoke to Ankh, "That girl... I really wanted to at least land a punch or two to her. What a shame..."
"What's there to regret? That kind of terrifying enemy..." Lucy couldn't help but complain, quietly suppressing her own lingering doubts.
Brandish, who had intercepted them and specifically targeted Lucy, clearly had deep ties to her mother, Layla.
Lucy had originally wanted to ask her about her mother, but the moment Brandish heard her name, she became absolutely furious, refusing to explain anything and single-mindedly trying to kill her.
Makarov looked at Ankh with concern and asked, "How did it go? Were your friends rescued?"
Ankh nodded, then took out two magical cards and released the two injured individuals.
Cobra and Sorano remained completely unconscious. Seeing this, Wendy hurried over to rapidly heal them.
Midnight sat worriedly by their side, while Racer also wore a highly anxious expression.
Ankh comforted them, saying, "Don't worry, I have already treated their worst injuries. With Wendy here too, they should recover soon."
Only then did the two men feel relieved.
At that moment, Makarov bowed solemnly to Jellal and the former Oracion seis members.
"I must also thank you all for being willing to help us through this difficulty at Ankh's request. I am deeply grateful!"
The socially anxious Midnight turned his face away, too embarrassed to speak.
Racer stammered for a while but couldn't get any coherent words out.
Jella smile and help Makarov up then said.
"It is no problem, Mr. Makarov. We work for Ankh's company, and this is exactly what we should be doing to properly atone for our sins."
Hearing this, Makarov showed a deeply relieved smile.
As an old man, Makarov particularly enjoyed seeing these lost children find their way back to the light, striving and working hard for their positive life goals.
Jellal, still piloting the airship, noticed Erza looking incredibly despondent at the other end of the deck and asked curiously.
"What's wrong with Erza?"
"Erza... seems to have found the mother who abandoned her, but the said mother didn't acknowledge her," Ankh sighed and explained.
Jellal frowned, finding it hard to understand.
"There are mothers like that?" he said.
When she abandoned her child back then, there might have been unspeakable difficulties. But now, Erza is a famous Mage in the kingdom, with both wealth and an impeccable reputation—what could there possibly still be to hesitate about?
Although, because Ankh appeared out of nowhere and defeated childhood-friend Jellal, becoming Erza's emotional support and pillar of strength, subsequent events passed peacefully and the two of them never developed any ambiguous romantic feelings.
But as close friends who had suffered horribly together in the Tower of Heaven, Jellal still deeply felt that Erza deserved better.
"So later, I want you to help me thoroughly investigate that person," Ankh whispered in Jellal's ear.
The atmosphere on the airship gradually became warmer as everyone entered a quiet period of rest and recovery.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the deck, an ill-fated mother and daughter finally met.
"M...Mom?"
Ultear looked at the woman standing before her, tears streaming uncontrollably.
Ur, who had always been carefree and steady with Gray, completely broke down now.
Weeping uncontrollably, she rushed forward and embraced Ultear tightly, sobbing, "Ultear... Mom missed you so, so much..."
That maternal embrace she had craved countless times when waking from terrible nightmares in the middle of the night—terrified and completely lonely—now completely enveloped Ultear.
Ultear finally felt what it was like to live in the real world.
Feeling her mother's warmth, she clung tightly to Ur, wailing loudly like a child.
The two women, one older and one younger, with incredibly similar faces, held each other and cried.
Meanwhile, the people hiding behind the door eavesdropping were also putting on quite a tearful show of their own.
Lucy and Wendy were deeply moved by the scene, secretly wiping away their tears.
Elfman was crying like a baboon.
Though Natsu was heavily puzzled about who these two people were, he still silently blessed the emotional reunion of mother and daughter...
Gray leaned against the doorframe, his gaze gentle as he watched his master embracing her daughter and weeping together.
His eyes gradually grew moist as well!
'That's wonderful, Ur... your family has finally returned to your side...'
Gray was deeply moved by Ur's hard-won reunion after enduring so much immense suffering.
Meanwhile, another petite figure was hiding deep in the shadows, watching the crying Ultear with a highly complicated expression.