Above the royal capital, the red dragon that Natsu had become beat its wings, blazing with fire as he and Atlas Flame, the old Flame Dragon, suppressed Future Rogue and Motherglare together.
The thunder dragon Laxus had turned from defense to offense, his terrifying, unstoppable currents of lightning constantly piercing through the rock dragon's powerful defenses.
Erik and the Jade Dragon were spitting poisonous mist at each other, while Gajeel was having the time of his life carrying a massive blade and brawling with brute force.
The number of dragons in the royal capital had not decreased but increased.
Even so, the pressure on the human alliance was immediately reduced, and the dragon soldiers were suffering heavy losses under the encirclement of the various guilds.
The tide of battle was gradually turning toward humanity.
But on the palace side, the intensity of the fight had not weakened in the slightest.
Soda seemed completely unaware that his side within the city was gradually falling into a disadvantage.
He continued launching merciless attacks at Ankh as if nothing else mattered.
Ankh had gradually figured out Soda's attack patterns.
Only…
Right now, he needed an opening.
After all, Soda's true body was not here.
If Ankh could land one perfect hit, it would not matter how many tricks Soda had.
But…
He needed someone to cooperate with him.
Ankh's gaze shifted, and in an instant, he caught sight of a figure lingering at the edge of the battlefield.
Soda seemed to have instinctively ignored her because of her weak power.
But Ankh had not!
The moment their eyes met, a confident smile appeared on Ankh's face.
He raised his hand and quickly activated his magic.
"God Soul, Take Over."
Ghostly attacks swept past his ears like wailing spirits.
A faint starlight lit in Ankh's eyes as he took over the power of Lairs, the Star God.
Soda stood firmly in Ankh's path toward the Eclipse Gate. Seeing Ankh use Lairs's power, he spoke indifferently.
"Stop struggling. Even if Zous joined you, you still might not be able to shake me off."
As one of the most notoriously troublesome gods among the twenty-three, Soda possessed strange and unpredictable soul power, and he had every reason to be confident.
In his eyes, Ankh suddenly abandoning the power of the Death God to use the power of the Star God was not a wise decision.
Ankh snorted coldly.
The patterns on his sorcerer's robe faintly lit with dots of starlight. Then many of those stars connected into lines, forming a familiar constellation map!
"Virgo!"
The hidden starlight around his body suddenly turned earth yellow.
Ankh waved his palm forward, and the earth, which had originally been under Soda's control, began collapsing continuously.
Lairs, the Star God, had created all the Celestial Spirits of the Celestial Spirit World.
Naturally, he possessed the special abilities of every Celestial Spirit!
Caught off guard, Soda was immediately trapped by the splitting earth.
Before he could react, the constellation pattern on Ankh's body suddenly changed again.
"Leo!"
Pure golden kingly light bloomed.
Even Soda could not help narrowing his eyes, and for the first time, a trace of irritation entered his voice.
"You keep relying on these little tricks, Ankhseram!!"
Soda abruptly opened his eyes.
From those strange, deep pupils poured wisps of bizarre-looking souls, which swallowed the light like evil spirits.
But when he looked again, Ankh had already reached the side of the Eclipse Gate!
"Don't even think about it!"
Soda broke free from the earth's restraint and burst out, furiously punching forward.
Countless souls surged violently. Ankh took the blow squarely on his back without dodging, and Soda finally could not help revealing a satisfied smile.
But when Ankh turned around, that appearance made Soda feel an unfamiliar chill.
His face carried an eerie smile.
He looked exactly like… A copy.
Not far away, Future Lucy hid behind a massive stone.
The starlight enhancement Ankh had given her through the power of life flowed around her body.
A satisfied smile hung on her face, and in her hands, she tightly held the Celestial Spirit Lucy had given her for self-defense.
Gemini!
Strengthened by the power of the stars, Gemini could now barely copy the form and power of a god.
The "Ankh" with the strange smile suddenly transformed, becoming Soda wreathed in ghosts.
Then he threw himself forward with all his strength and clung tightly to Soda!
Soda: !!!
"You bastard!"
Soda roared in fury.
But Gemini, even after being struck, did not make a sound.
He held onto Soda with everything he had, while desperately using the copied soul power to forcibly manipulate the dense soul defenses surrounding Soda and tear open a gap!
And directly in front of that gap was the real Ankh, who had hidden himself using the kingly light moments earlier.
Divine power continued to gather.
The unprecedented density of death aura became so intense that, with Ankh at the center, every living being felt a sudden palpitation in their heart.
The dragon soldiers and giant dragons opposing them suffered even more.
The weaker ones began leaking black smoke as their life force drained away, while the stronger ones were suppressed until they could hardly breathe, their hearts filled with fear.
Pitch-black death energy gathered above the royal capital, endlessly converging into Ankh's palm as he continued building power.
Future Lucy looked at Gemini, who refused to let go, with aching eyes and murmured softly.
"Please…"
"Humanity can't lose again. This world truly can't afford to lose anymore…"
"I don't want everyone to cry again!"
In the sky, Future Natsu seemed to hear Lucy's heart.
Word by word, he said firmly, "Your ambition is standing in the way of our future, Rogue!"
Future Natsu suddenly unleashed the divine flames that brought him unbearable pain.
His face was filled with resolve as he roared and rushed toward the dragonified Natsu.
Dragonified Natsu understood "himself" without needing words.
Dragon flames burst and rose from his body, and his roar echoed through the sky.
"You're in the way! Give everyone's future back!!"
"Dragon Slayer Secret Art!"
"Unison Raid!"
Natsu and Future Natsu's voices almost merged into one.
Scarlet-gold flames that could burn the sky and black-red divine flames rapidly fused together!
"Black God Halberd Dragon Flame!!"
The voices of the human and dragon Natsus erupted together, as if answering the battle between Ankh and Soda.
Future Rogue, his eyes filled with terror, was instantly swallowed by the blazing black-and-gold flames.
His consciousness weakened like a candle flame in the wind, and together with the dragon beneath him, he crashed down thunderously toward the Eclipse Gate!
At the same time, Ankh opened his eyes.
The sky-reaching flames rushing toward them from behind seemed to become the backdrop for him as he prepared to destroy his enemy.
Ankh's voice was low and hoarse as he slowly spoke the name of this technique he was using for the first time.
"God-Slaying Secret Art—"
On Soda's face, now unable to dodge, an expression of disbelief finally appeared.
To place the decisive move in the hands of mere humans…
"This is your shame as a god, Ankhseram!"
Hearing Soda's roar in that final moment, Ankh's heart did not waver in the slightest.
'You, who ignore human emotion, are the only flaw in this battle… It's over, Soda.'
Ankh's voice erupted into a furious roar.
"End of Death… Terminus!"
The Fairy Death God's strongest human-form technique was unleashed.
An immeasurable wave of death energy swallowed Soda, causing the powerful body he had refined from a dragon to begin turning into ash, crumbling and breaking apart!
At the same time, the two Natsus' Dragon Slayer Secret Art merged with Ankh's God-Slaying Secret Art, and together, they slammed heavily into the Eclipse Gate!
The gate shattered!
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