Ankh and the Black Dragon hovered in the air.
Acnologia seemed to have noticed the gradually retreating airship, letting out a dissatisfied roar from his ferocious draconic maw.
A second later, Acnologia shot forward like a rocket, charging toward the airship—only to be immediately intercepted and knocked off course by Ankh, who rapidly positioned himself as a barrier.
Wreathed in Death Wave energy, Acnologia's destructive power was noticeably fiercer than before as he relentlessly assaulted Ankh.
Bolstered by the Death Wave, even the rebound magic of Ankh's Titan Gravity was gradually being shattered.
Under the endless barrage of brute physical force, Ankh inevitably fell into a disadvantage.
Ankh swung his Scythe of Death, but each strike against Acnologia only caused momentary pain, leaving mere white scratches on the dragon's incredibly dense scales.
In an instant, the Black Dragon twisted its head and clamped down on Ankh's black scythe.
With a grinding crunch of its steel-like jaw, it shattered and completely consumed the scythe formed from Death God Power.
Acnologia, having devoured the Death God Power, shuddered erratically, acting like a cat intoxicated by catnip.
Even with such chaotic attacks, Acnologia—a creature whose entire body was a lethal weapon—still exerted immense, terrifying pressure on Ankh.
Magic immunity, Death God Power, and a Dragon King physique—this monster, whose individual strength reached the absolute pinnacle of the world, could not be suppressed by Ankh alone.
The dark blue patterns across Acnologia's body glowed faintly.
His dragon eyes fixed on the distant airship as he snorted turbid air.
'The scent of dragons... they must be dealt with too!'
With a flap of his black wings, Acnologia attempted another fierce assault on the airship.
Fury surged through Ankh.
Death God Power converged across his body, erupting in an all-devouring black radiance as he roared.
"Fight me properly!"
"Death Calamity!"
Ankh's speed abruptly increased severalfold.
Wrapped in Death Wave energy, he slammed fiercely right into Acnologia's body.
"River Styx Surge!"
Transforming into a black meteor, he shot through the air with explosive speed barely visible to the naked eye, trailing a long black streak.
The impact sent Acnologia's massive body stumbling backward, rapidly hurtling away through the sky.
A black flowing light, like a soaring waterfall, violently hurled Acnologia toward the distant, solitary landmass.
BOOM!!
The colossal form crashed down from the horizon.
Acnologia's body swept through everything in its path, crushing and obliterating vast swathes of the dense forest.
After tumbling several times, he finally shook his head and rose to his feet.
Meanwhile, on the shore of Tenrou Island, Ankh stood up covered in dust, looking rather disheveled as he once again confronted Acnologia.
'By dragging the Black Dragon here, everyone else should be safe from pursuit...'
Ankh's chest heaved violently, but before he could properly catch his breath, a fierce gale swept over him like a tidal wave.
Acnologia assumed a drawn-bow stance, his heavy Dragon Claw imbued with Death God Power and dense Magic Power, descending like a collapsing sky.
Spreading his hands, Ankh gritted his teeth and channeled his Divine Power.
A circular black wheel formation glowed and rose before him.
"Death Calamity: Cycle of Disaster!"
This was the ultimate defensive technique of Ankh's self-developed strongest spell series, "Death Calamity."
Unlike the previous large-scale destruction, single-target penetration, or displacement impact techniques, this approach utilized the devouring and destructive nature of his Divine Power to create an absolute shield.
The massive reincarnation formation materialized before Ankh just as Acnologia's charged punch struck it, instantly producing a massive collision that reverberated across thousands of miles.
The Magic Power and Divine Power in the Dragon Claw were completely devoured, the Black Dragon's formidable physical strength seemingly dissolving into absolute nothingness.
As the defensive formation slightly cracked, Ankh swiftly reinforced it, exerting tremendous force to actually push Acnologia backward.
Acnologia initially froze in sheer disbelief at having his attack neutralized, then responded with even more ferocious and enraged assaults.
Dark Magic Power nearly enveloped the entirety of Tenrou Island as Acnologia put full force into every attack, brutally hammering the continuously evading Ankh into the ground.
Ankh's agile figure darted across the island.
While dodging attacks, he seized opportunities to deliver sharp counterattacks against Acnologia.
Ankh had previously believed his Divine Power quality drastically surpassed the Black Dragon's, thinking the battle wouldn't be too one-sided.
But after exchanging several moves with the Black Dragon, he realized something was horribly wrong.
The Death God Power within Acnologia indeed lacked genuine purity, though its terrifying presence proved it had been accumulated from city-destroying, world-ending carnage.
Yet the Black Dragon fought with remarkable adaptability.
Upon realizing the Death Waves couldn't fundamentally harm Ankh and would instead become nourishment for his opponent, he immediately switched combat approaches.
Utilizing his magic-resistant physique combined with Dragon King supreme Magic Power attacks, while simultaneously employing all of his Death Wave energy to strictly defend against Ankh's Death God Power, the situation instantly turned overwhelmingly one-sided.
Meanwhile, Ankh found his Titan Gravity ignored by Acnologia's magic-resistant body.
And while the Life God Power massively enhanced his physical form, he simply couldn't match the Black Dragon in direct physical confrontation.
The Death God Power remained highly effective, but this cunning Black Dragon repurposed all of his destructive Death Wave energy specifically to block Ankh's Death God Power, essentially becoming an indestructible steamroller.
Ankh moved constantly across the island, his Magic barely ceasing for a single moment, cycling through all variations of his ultimate technique Death Calamity in relentless succession.
No matter what kind of attack was launched, Acnologia either tanked it directly or dodged it effortlessly, rendering Ankh's spells almost completely useless.
Ankh gritted his teeth, watching as the Black Dragon's assault grew increasingly ferocious, his heart filled with rising anxiety.
'Being toyed with like this is bad—if I lose, the dragon will still go after everyone...'
There was only one option left: to use his ultimate trump card!
"Seram! I want to use that move!"
Seram's voice quickly echoed in his mind, tinged with heavy hesitation:
[That is a technique we haven't fully researched yet. Moreover, after using it, you will likely fall into that dangerous imbalance between Life and Death Power again...]
Ankh stared straight at the towering, terrifying form of Acnologia.
Instead of evading, he rose to his feet and faced the Black Dragon head-on.
"We can worry about that after we have overcome this crisis."
After a long silence, Seram's voice resounded once more:
[Who knows where this troublesome dragon came from...]
[Very well. Let him witness a true Divine Power, Ankhseram!]
Ankh nodded silently, then ignored the Black Dragon charging toward him and slowly closed his eyes.
Completely abandoning his Death God Power, Ankh pushed his Life God Power to the absolute limit.
Milky streams of light burst forth across the sky, merging into his body and transforming his flesh into a jade-like, pearlescent white.
At the exact same time, a shadowy figure of similar stature materialized right behind him, back-to-back, channeling Death God Power with an intensity far greater and more potent than Ankh could ever muster on his own!
Acnologia abruptly halted, watching the magnificent spectacle before him with a mix of deep wariness and violent exhilaration.
Beneath the sky, the world seemed physically split into mirrored halves.
One side gleamed in platinum white, resembling a paradise where all life flourished—gentle, serene, and deeply compassionate.
The other was dyed in crimson and pitch black, evoking a hellish apocalypse where existence was mercilessly reaped, steeped in pure slaughter and bloodshed.
As he gathered his power, Ankh murmured inwardly, "Come, let this damned dragon witness the force of unity!"
A moment later, the black-and-white mirrored reality abruptly converged.
The shadow behind Ankh began frantically merging and overlapping perfectly with his own physical form!
"Divine Soul, Receive! Seram!"
"Fusion—!!"
"God Ankhseram!"
The aura of the Black Dragon that had completely dominated Tenrou Island was instantly supplanted.
As if a subject bowing before an emperor, Acnologia's presence was replaced by an inviolable supreme force.