The tense atmosphere seemed to split open all at once, and everyone present felt their hearts jolt.
Wolfheim was startled as he watched Ankh turn and head straight for the door.
For a second, he really did admire him.
'A man of action. I like that.'
But he quickly remembered his own position and hurriedly called out to stop him. "Ankh, don't be hasty. This is a righteous battle for the sake of the people. There's no need for violence."
After saying that, he quickly turned to Serena and advised, "Chairman, this isn't a major issue. Why not let Ankh go and take a look? It would settle the matter."
Serena did not answer.
The murderous light in his eyes was already impossible to hide.
In the heart of Ishgar's strongest mage, the urge to remove Ankh grew more and more intense.
'Ankh of Fairy Tail… The Empire's plan for the Phoenix hasn't been completed yet. Who gave you the right to interfere?'
After a brief thought, Serena's powerful Magic Power rapidly condensed around him.
Blazing fire gathered around his fist, then surged wildly toward the doorway.
Makarov's pupils shrank, and rage instantly erupted across his face.
"You bastard!"
A Three Pillar Gods defensive magic circle formed in an instant, but Serena's Magic Power was far stronger than the aging Makarov's.
The sturdy barrier shattered at once.
Sensing the attack behind him, Ankh turned without hesitation.
A furious bellow burst from his mouth, immediately dissolving the impact of Serena's purgatory flames.
The clash between the two powerful Magic Powers produced a thick cloud of black smoke. Riding the shockwave, Ankh quickly retreated to the plaza outside the hall, while Serena also took the chance to leap out and land in front of him.
The frog workers who had been leisurely passing through the hall saw what was happening and fled in terror.
Every time that calamity showed up, nothing good ever happened!
But this time, it was the chairman himself making a move—the strongest mage in Ishgar. Let's see how arrogant Ankh could act now!
The Council staff who had suffered under Ankh's "bullying" in the past cursed him with no small amount of malice in their hearts.
The Council's guard force was at least competent. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded the area around the hall so tightly that not even water could pass through.
Hyberion and the others rushed out from the hall and immediately shouted for the soldiers to retreat.
Mainly because they were afraid those soldiers would be wiped out like common mobs.
Makarov had completely lost his composure.
Burning with anger, he roared at Serena, "Chairman! You launched a sneak attack on a member of our guild. Are you trying to start a war?!"
Makarov, who had lost his temper, clearly no longer cared that this was the Magic Council.
He was ready to fight without another word. As for whether he could win…
That could be considered after throwing the first punch.
He truly was the source of that honey-badger attitude.
Serena's gaze remained fixed on Ankh as he deliberately spoke in a casual tone.
"Please don't misunderstand, Master Makarov. This is only a spar. Ankh and I disagree, so we'll decide right and wrong through magic."
Hyberion looked troubled.
Was there really any need to go this far?
He had already felt that Serena's attitude had been strange earlier, and now the situation had escalated from an argument into an outright fight.
The sudden change left him baffled.
Ankh was easier to understand. After all, his temper was famous across Fiore.
But the chairman… that was harder to grasp.
Why was he so determined to obstruct a request that wasn't even excessive?
Seeing that the two people involved clearly wanted to fight, the Council members and Makarov no longer dared to keep persuading them, even though the whole situation felt strange.
They were afraid that if they kept talking, these two emotionally unstable men would end up truly trying to kill each other.
Of course they were worried.
A clash between two top Wizard Saints could turn a whole crowd of frog staff into dead frogs with nothing more than the aftermath.
Serena was already calculating whether he could use this chance to cripple Ankh and remove a major enemy who might stand against the Empire.
Ankh, meanwhile, also wanted to test the strength of this man known as the strongest on the continent while achieving his own goal in the process.
"Purgatory Dragon's Blazing Hell!"
Serena moved first.
Scorching flames of hell erupted in his hand, continuously condensing into fireballs in front of him before shooting forward.
The fireballs expanded several meters in front of Ankh, swelling to the size of meteors in an instant and turning into a spherical prison of roaring flames.
"Other Shore Stream!"
Black light rose from Ankh's body at the center of the flaming prison.
One of his Death Calamity techniques activated, and he shot out of the fireball like a pitch-black meteor, flying toward Serena at terrifying speed.
A trail of black light remained in the sky as Ankh closed the distance in an instant and threw a fierce punch at close range.
The sharp smell of molten lava around Serena suddenly vanished, replaced by a powerful storm erupting from his body.
With the boost of the gale, Serena instantly kept up with Ankh's movement.
His entire body flew backward, shedding the force of the attack, while a new mass of Magic Power rapidly gathered in his mouth.
"Gale Dragon's Chanting Wind and Playing Moon!"
A roar-like attack blasted from Serena's mouth.
The violent wind created by the immense pressure shot toward Ankh from the front like a cannonball.
Ankh drew his fist back, then spread both arms as deathly aura quickly split the storm apart.
In an instant, two deep trenches were blasted into the ground on either side of him.
Wind-element Dragon Slayer Magic… similar to Wendy's sky element, but unlike the balanced nature of Sky Dragon Slayer Magic, this was focused much more purely on attack.
After exchanging two quick moves, Ankh immediately identified two of Serena's Dragon Slayer attributes.
The Purgatory Dragon's flames possessed heat no weaker than Natsu's in his normal state, while the Gale Dragon's wind carried far more violent output than Wendy's.
Makarov watched Ankh fight Serena with clear worry and muttered in a low voice, "His opponent is Ishgar's strongest, Ankh…"
Wolfheim nodded, looking at Ankh with some concern as well.
"Serena's personality may be regrettable, but his strength is undoubtedly formidable."
"He carries eight Dragon Slayer Lacrimas—fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, stone, light, and darkness. On top of that, he created his own theory of magic mixing, something even more refined than ordinary magic fusion. He is practically a man favored by the dragon gods, fully worthy of the title 'Heavenly God.'"
Warrod looked at his increasingly worried junior and comforted him.
"Don't worry. You should know that child's strength better than anyone…"
On the battlefield, Ankh watched Serena switch once again to the Sea King Dragon and arrogantly summon a tide.
Before long, Ankh saw through the flaw in Serena's fighting style.
Eight attributes of Dragon Slayer Magic truly allowed him to adapt to almost any battle.
The Magic Power behind each kind of magic was far above Natsu's normal state, and his offensive firepower was astonishing, like a human-shaped bomber.
His magic mixing theory also allowed Serena to release blended combinations of his eight dragon powers, making him highly effective in both one-on-one battles and against groups.
But perhaps because of his personality, he was far too arrogant.
He fought with extreme pride and aggression, focusing entirely on offense while neglecting defense.
Serena seemed to have maxed out the "attack" side of Dragon Slayer Magic without putting anything into "defense."
Despite possessing the power of eight dragons, his physical toughness might not even have reached Gajeel's level.
He was a pure standing-output glass cannon.
Even though he could use various techniques to defend and evade, if he took one proper hit, his chances of instantly collapsing would be very high.
It had been a long time since Ankh had seen such a pure mage.
Unlike everyone in the guild, who were practically blood tanks by default…
So dealing with someone with high attack and low defense was very simple.
Lock him down in one breath, then pour in critical damage.