"Ankhseram?"
Natsu scratched his head, confused. "I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."
Mirajane also rubbed her head and said, "I think I heard the Master mention it before. It seemed to be some ancient god people used to worship?"
Because of the special nature of a god's name, ordinary humans could not connect that name with its true owner without divine permission.
Ankh had discovered that long ago, which was why, when he first joined the guild, he had not been worried at all about giving his real name directly.
Compared to the thick-headed Fairy Tail members, Yukino quietly looked at Ankh with uncertainty and surprise.
'Just now… had that masked person been looking at Ankh when they shouted that name?'
Ankh looked around first, confirming that the soldiers and Toma, who was gazing at him like a man seeing salvation, were unharmed. Only then did he speak.
"Looks like you were deliberately waiting for me?"
"Hisui" hopped happily off the seesaw, nearly sending Toma on the other end sprawling.
Then she jogged over to Ankh and leaned in close, studying his face.
That demon-masked face swayed back and forth right in front of him.
Ankh stepped back impatiently and asked, "What are you trying to do?"
"Nothing much. I just wanted to see what you look like now."
"Hisui" patted her chest and gave an exaggerated sigh.
"Ah… I thought you paid such a huge price because you were pursuing something grand. But in the end, you became this weak little thing?"
"And why did Velti give you her power too? You two really did have something going on~"
Listening to "Hisui's" bizarre rambling, Ankh fully confirmed the other party's identity.
This was not a god successor.
This was a genuine god!
"What exactly are you trying to do? Why do you want to open the Eclipse Gate?!"
"Eh? You used to call me Yusa~"
Yusalk, the god of chaos and disorder mentioned by Zeref, appeared before Ankh.
Yet there was no killing intent at all.
Instead, he sounded relaxed, as if he were chatting with an old friend.
Hearing Ankh's question, Yusalk answered honestly, "Of course, I want to turn this place into a land of chaos. Once the Eclipse Gate opens, won't there be plenty of fun to watch?"
Ankh stared at him sharply.
Yusalk pretended to be frightened and covered his face with one hand, laughing as he said, "Don't look at me like that. The mess you caused back then was much bigger than this."
"Enough nonsense!"
Ankh did not care about the past right now.
Without Seram, he had effectively lost those memories.
All he cared about was the disaster about to arrive.
"Where are my people? Where is the Eclipse Gate?"
Yusalk turned into a perfectly obedient question-answering machine. He pointed toward the door behind him with a grin.
"Follow the road straight ahead, and you'll find that broken gate."
"As for those humans… I tossed them underground, in some place called the Hell Palace. I left a lot of soldiers there to fight them~"
"It's already been all night. They probably haven't died from exhaustion, right?"
Ankh's eyes suddenly turned vicious.
Without warning, he threw a punch straight at Yusalk's hateful face.
But Yusalk's entire body turned into some strange, pixelated chaotic substance, and Ankh's fist passed through him without resistance.
Yusalk's face became like a messy graffiti drawing, then returned to normal in the blink of an eye.
Laughing, he raised a hand and chopped toward Ankh.
"That's more like it! It'd be strange if we met and didn't fight!"
Yusalk's hand chop was slow, but from Ankh's perspective, he somehow could not see the movement at all.
'My vision is being thrown into chaos?!'
The hand blade passed through Ankh's chest.
But what sprayed out was not blood. It was a beautiful scattering of flower petals.
Yusalk said in surprise, "Power of illusion. I really hate abilities like that."
"Same to you!"
Using Velti's powerful authority to alter illusion and reality, Ankh swung another whip-like kick at Yusalk.
Yusalk, meanwhile, threw a completely messy flurry of punches with no technique at all, yet somehow happened to catch every one of Ankh's attacks perfectly.
"Human martial arts are pretty interesting too. As expected of something Atush created."
Yusalk struck a fake opening stance, while Ankh frowned at this showy bastard.
He was different from every opponent Ankh had encountered so far.
Even Acnologia could not compare to him in terms of Magic Power quality.
But…
No matter how troublesome he was, in terms of raw strength, he should not surpass the Black Dragon.
At most, it would take some time.
After all, he was only fighting through Hisui's fragile body, while Ankh possessed the combat styles of multiple gods.
Ankh said to Mirajane and Ultear behind him, "Go rescue Jellal and the others first. Then gather at the Eclipse Gate."
"What about you?" Mirajane looked at the incredibly troublesome Yusalk and asked worriedly.
"I'll handle him. Trust me."
Future Natsu remembered it clearly.
It had been this demon-masked person who confronted Ankh during the battle that day.
After that, Ankh had disappeared without a trace.
He struggled to speak, but swallowed his words again and again.
Natsu trusted Ankh almost without limit, but that one failure had frightened him.
He was afraid of facing that ending again.
"Trust me, Natsu."
Ankh seemed to see the suffering in Natsu's heart.
He smiled and waved at him.
"This time, I have all of you. I won't disappear again."
Future Natsu's brows slowly relaxed.
Mirajane was the first to steady herself and shouted, "Then we'll go ahead! Do your best and finish him quickly!"
"Don't worry."
Listening to the footsteps behind him gradually fade away, Ankh could not help letting out a breath.
Yusalk did not seem to have any intention of stopping them either.
Instead, he asked with interest, "You went so far as to become human because of them?"
"I don't know what I was thinking back then."
Ankh took a deep breath.
The fighting spirit that had not truly burned in him for years due to the lack of a powerful opponent began to rise again.
He looked at Yusalk before him and said in a low voice, "But the current me is really pissed off…"
Yusalk's vision suddenly blurred.
Ankh's furious eyes were already right in front of him, along with a fist wrapped in divine power that was rapidly closing in on his face.
"You turned the future into that! You made my little siblings become like that!"
In Ankh's mind appeared the first time he had seen Future Lucy and Future Natsu, the endless sorrow and resentment in their eyes, and the clear exhaustion and misery on their faces.
Lucy, who should have been energetic and bright, had lost the arm that carried her faith and the carefree smile that belonged to her.
She had become fragile and sorrowful.
Natsu, who should have been cheerful and impatient, believed he had failed to protect everyone.
He had lost that sunlight and confidence, becoming silent and withdrawn.
And there were so many more companions whose appearances Ankh had not even been able to see…
Originally, they had not been like this!
"It's all because of you!!"
The Death God's power in Ankh's hand had never been compressed to such a terrifying degree.
He roared, as if venting all the anger that had built up over these days, and threw a completely unrestrained punch at Yusalk.
Divine light flashed.
Air currents surged.
The palace walls began to peel away, and the ceiling trembled on the verge of collapse.
Yusalk looked at that fist, whose power had somehow multiplied, and although he was a little startled, he still activated the power of chaos in time.
He spoke smugly, still trying to joke.
"Aw~ You can't hi—"
Bang!!
Divine power twisted reality in an instant.
Ankh's fist smashed directly into Yusalk's face.
A muffled groan rang out, and his entire body shot away like a sandbag, crashing headfirst into the wall.
The whole palace began collapsing toward the side Yusalk had been thrown into.
Ankh coldly stared at the place where Yusalk had been buried and said.
"Can't what?"
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