Using the power of Seal of Time, Ankh reached the location of the Eclipse Gate before long.
It was a wide courtyard deep within the palace.
There, an ancient, heavy gate inlaid with golden images of the sun, moon, and stars already stood tall.
This was the source of the dragon invasion.
The Eclipse Gate, created by Zeref through research into Heavenly Body Magic and Celestial Spirit Magic.
The Eclipse Gate was four or five stories high, surrounded by ring after ring of troops.
Every soldier wore an emotionless expression, looking more like puppets than people.
The instant Ankh stepped into the courtyard, nearly all the soldiers turned their necks in unison.
Their dull, lifeless eyes fixed straight on the intruder.
Clearly, they were being controlled as well.
But this time, it was not Yusalk's kind of control that robbed people of reason.
This was manipulation precise enough to follow a single command.
The rigid soldiers lined up like tightly interlocking gears, moving to both sides in perfect order and revealing a path down the middle.
Ankh narrowed his eyes.
Then he saw a young man with black-and-white hair walking slowly toward him.
The young man had a smile on his face, and his entire body radiated confidence.
With his hands clasped behind his back, he said in a clear voice, "You arrived earlier than I expected, Mr. Ankh."
"Rogue."
The man before him was practically unrecognizable compared to the gloomy Rogue in Ankh's memory.
Ankh looked over his outfit and sneered.
"You're not running after seeing me. Has the future version of you become that confident?"
Future Rogue's right eye had already been ruined by scars. His only remaining left eye burned with deep hatred.
Hearing Ankh's words, he could not help clenching his fists, forcing a long, unpleasant laugh from his throat.
When the laughter stopped, Rogue's expression became hideously twisted.
He raised a finger toward Ankh and roared, "I'm not that weak version of myself anymore!"
"Now, I know the secret behind your strength. And…"
"I have that power too!"
A strange purple shadow emerged over Rogue's features, and purple light flowed in his palms like water.
"A god successor. A legendary candidate for a divine seat! Now I am one as well! Don't think you're the only one with divine power!"
Watching Rogue proudly show off his weapons, Ankh felt no fluctuation in his heart.
In the past, even Soda, the God of Souls himself, might not have dared to run his mouth like this.
What was a mere god successor worth?
However…
It seemed Soda had not let Rogue know that He was hiding inside him.
In that case, even if Rogue's plan succeeded, he probably would not have a good ending afterward.
Rogue raised his head and looked at the sky, which was gradually darkening.
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
"The time is almost here. This time, I will be the king of the world!"
The instant those words left his mouth, Ankh appeared before him in the form of the Time God Take Over, and a golden, clock-hand-like sword stabbed straight toward Rogue's heart.
"All of you, attack!"
Rogue screamed and staggered backward.
His face rapidly turned pale, and he hurriedly slapped the purple light into his own body.
A short while later, color returned to Rogue's face. The blood pouring from his heart also stopped.
"The version of you from that timeline failed. The version of you in this world will be no exception!"
Rogue knew how terrifying the power of time was, so he immediately activated his ability and surrounded himself with countless soldiers as human shields.
As long as he was not killed instantly, he was confident he could keep Ankh occupied.
Facing these innocent soldiers under control, Ankh naturally could not kill them.
He had no choice but to put away his sword and switch to using Gravity Magic to break through the formation.
Large groups of soldiers were thrown into the air by Ankh like fireworks.
The human wave tactic did not work at all.
Rogue watched Ankh draw closer with an icy expression.
'Almost there…'
'Almost…'
Over the years, although his personality had changed drastically, he had not lost the intelligence he should have.
Even after obtaining divine power, Rogue had never intended to stand out and provoke Ankh directly.
But only by doing this could he lure Ankh over.
This Future Rogue did not come from the same timeline as Future Lucy and Future Natsu's original world.
He came from the timeline created after Future Lucy traveled back to the past, joined her companions in exposing Yusalk's conspiracy, and changed the result.
However, they had also paid a price.
Ankh, who faced Yusalk directly, was for some unknown reason designed into being dragged into the spacetime chaos of the Eclipse Gate, where the two of them disappeared together.
Fairy Tail and the other guilds were devastated.
Yet in the end, seemingly because of something Ankh had instructed, they did not open the Eclipse Gate again to travel through time.
After that, however, the world did not become better.
Seven years later, almost like divine punishment, Acnologia returned, far stronger than before.
Under his command were many people possessed by different gods, creating numerous god successors.
They once again ruled the world!
They conquered the world and created a new humanity, while the old humans were gradually erased to extinction, walking once more toward an apocalyptic end.
And this time, there was no savior named Lucy.
It was during those end times, while barely surviving, that Rogue came to a realization.
Whether the Eclipse Gate was opened or not, if the world's destruction could not be changed, then he might as well rule the world himself and defeat Acnologia!
After that, he used the Eclipse Gate to return once more to the present seven years ago, intending to use his self-created "Dragon Control Magic" to control the ten thousand dragons that would rampage through the royal capital, all to achieve his ambition of becoming the "Dragon King."
Even more unexpectedly, after traveling back to the present, Rogue received guidance from a mysterious voice, along with divine power that could help him accomplish his grand goal.
The divine power to give and take, to create and manipulate the souls of all things.
That near-omnipotent power caused Rogue's ambition and desire to swell to the absolute limit.
At the same time, that voice had also told Rogue, in the depths of his mind, how to deal with the hardest person to overcome in this stage.
Ankh.
Returning to the present, Rogue gradually retreated toward the Eclipse Gate under the protection of countless puppet-like human shields.
In Rogue's sinister eye, Ankh was getting closer and closer.
When that murderous fist wind was only a few meters away from him, he finally could not suppress his wild laughter.
"Hahahaha! Now!"
"Lord Soda! Kill this crude bastard!"
Ankh used Titan Gravity Magic to keep closing in on Rogue, only to see Rogue's features suddenly twist.
Endless streams of purple light poured from his body, gradually condensing behind him into a massive divine phantom.
That majestic and terrifying divine shadow slowly opened its eyes, and the souls of nearly every living being present trembled.
"You fell into the trap, Ankhseram!"
Before Ankh could withdraw his power, the Eclipse Gate beside the divine shadow was suddenly corroded by purple light.
The gate, which should not have opened at this point in time, seemed to gain intelligence of its own and began moving its heavy doors by itself.
Beneath the gate, a powerful suction force appeared, almost impossible to resist.
Caught off guard, Ankh's entire body was pulled in as if being swallowed by a black hole.
Even light and time twisted around him.
This incredibly special Eclipse Gate naturally could not kill Ankh.
But under the circumstances of a sneak attack, it was fully capable of sealing and devouring him for several years.
More than enough time for Rogue to complete his great ambition.