"So you remembered…"
The yellow-haired man, who looked like some kind of jackal werewolf, silently wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
His voice was trembling, but there was still a clear note of provocation in it.
"My name is Jackal, one of the Nine Demon Gates of Tartaros. I've come to take your life."
Jackal had thick, slanted bangs that covered one of his eyes.
Black spots marked his body, and his muscles looked tightly coiled and full of springy strength. At a glance, he looked like the magic world's version of Sanji.
Specifically, the version of Sanji who had just been beaten half to death for peeking into the bath!
"If you're going to act tough, at least clean up that sorry look first…"
Ankh thought back to that mysterious girl and grew a little suspicious.
A demon had suddenly appeared.
If Ankh really was their target, Tartaros should have reacted back when Seilah died.
Why wait all these years and then suddenly choose now to take revenge?
"Watch out!"
Wendy's terrified voice rang out behind him. Ankh quickly turned back and caught the small fist flying toward him.
A fierce whirlwind spun and spread from her fist.
Wendy's face went pale as she stared at her own hand, gritting her teeth as she desperately tried to pull her power back.
"Wendy, what are you doing?!" Carla cried, startled.
Wendy had suddenly attacked Ankh, and even Carla had not reacted in time.
"I'm sorry, Ankh-san… I don't know why, but my body won't listen to me…"
Wendy fought desperately to regain control, but it did nothing. Her arm was still pushing forward with no sign of stopping.
Ankh took a step back with the force, caught Wendy by the forearm, then grabbed both her wrists in one large hand and lifted her up.
Only then did he manage to restrain her.
Her legs were still kicking wildly out of her control, making Wendy so embarrassed that her face turned red.
Ignoring Wendy's harmless attacks, Ankh glanced at Jackal, then turned his gaze toward the distance.
"Looks like an old acquaintance is here. So you really didn't die."
Jackal's lone visible eye shifted behind him.
Sure enough, a seductive figure appeared at his side.
It was Seilah, the demon who had fought Ankh and Mirajane many years ago.
Her beautiful face looked just as youthful as it had back then, and a graceful smile appeared on her lips.
"We meet again, Ankh-san. As always, my Curse has no effect on you."
After his battle with Seilah, Ankh had gone through many of the Council's confidential files and learned quite a bit about the demons of Tartaros.
The Curse Seilah spoke of was another system separate from magic.
It did not rely on Magic Power, yet it could produce destructive force equal to magic.
Seilah's Curse was Macro.
It allowed her to control humans and various objects, making it an extremely troublesome ability.
However, it seemed she could not control demons or beings with a higher level of life than her own.
As for Jackal's Curse, judging from what had just happened, it was probably related to explosions.
"Carla, take Wendy back to the hotel and warn everyone to stay alert."
Ankh took a rope from his Requip space, tied Wendy up securely, and handed her to Carla as he gave the order.
Carla lifted Wendy and flew into the sky.
Wendy looked back at Ankh in concern and quickly asked, "Do you need me to call Erza-san and the others for support?"
"With that female demon here, anyone who comes might just become negative combat power."
Ankh shook his head and waved for them to hurry away.
A strange light flashed through Seilah's eyes, but before she could do anything to the flying cat, a sharp blade of deathly energy swept past her neck.
Black death aura surged toward her.
Seilah hurriedly retreated, and countless stones and trees around her floated into the air before smashing toward Ankh.
Jackal had recovered as well.
A vicious look filled his eyes as he spread both arms, then swung them forward.
The force of the motion kicked up a gale, and everything touched by that wind was marked with symbols that began flashing with blinding golden light.
The stones and trees flying through the air all glowed dangerously, flashing brighter and brighter like bombs until they reached their limit.
Then orange-red flames and violent shockwaves swallowed the entire night market again.
"Gravity Devour!"
Ankh released Gravity Magic, drawing the endless heat, flames, and blast waves into a single point and isolating them there.
Then he burst out of the sea of fire, swinging his giant scythe toward the two explosion-crazed demons.
"What did you lure me here for?" Ankh shouted sharply at Seilah, who kept dodging and clearly had no intention of fighting seriously.
Seilah kept her mouth shut. Instead, Jackal burst into a sinister laugh.
"Obviously, to drag that thing into Tartaros!"
Ankh's eyes shifted.
Drag what into Tartaros?
Éclair?
If that was the case, did that mean someone from Tartaros was at the hotel too?
Ankh quickly calculated the odds of Natsu, Gray, and the others running into members of Tartaros and felt slightly relieved for the moment.
As long as no other demon with some ability that specifically countered humans appeared, their strength should be enough to handle it.
...
"Run, Éclair!"
Just as Ankh was planning to quickly deal with the demons and return, trouble had indeed broken out on Éclair's side, exactly as expected.
Lucy dragged Éclair through a long, narrow alley, gasping for breath as they ran.
Behind them, a black shadow was closing in at terrifying speed.
This pursuer was not a demon, but a human assassin hidden in the darkness.
A professional killer from the dark guild Carbuncle had broken into Éclair's room under cover of night, intending to forcibly take her away.
Luckily, Lucy had protected her at the last moment, and the two of them had been forced to escape into the maze-like alleys.
The bad news was that Lucy had just gotten out of the bath.
She was wrapped in nothing but a bath towel, and not a single key was on her, leaving her with no way to fight back.
The good news was that Natsu and Gray, whom Ankh had bailed out earlier, had returned and were now chasing the assassin like a pair of mad dogs.
"You bastard! Don't go after Lucy! If you've got guts, fight us!"
"Stop right there!"
The ice-fire brothers and the shadow assassin raced through the alleys in a frantic chase.
Seeing the assassin closing in on Lucy and Éclair, Gray suddenly had an idea.
He immediately created a long, extending ice spike and used it to launch himself into the air above the assassin.
"Lance!"
Gray dropped from above and blocked the assassin's path.
With no choice, the assassin leapt onto the wall beside him and fled over it.
"Protect them! I'll chase him!"
After shouting that, Gray created another ice spike and used it like a pole vault to leap onto the rooftops.
Only then did Natsu hurry over to Lucy and Éclair's side.
"You okay?"
Lucy shook her head, quickly patting her chest as she caught her breath.
Relaxing at last, she said, "I'm fine. Éclair just seems a little shaken."
A faint blush suddenly appeared on Éclair's face.
She coughed once and said, "I'm fine. But you…"
Lucy froze.
Under Natsu's blank, bead-like stare, she suddenly felt a little chilly.
So she looked down.
The next second, another familiar high-pitched scream rang out.
And with it came another very familiar reward time for the lucky idiot!