"Hold on!"
Timaria roared, and the golden arm guard on her right arm shattered instantly.
A huge amount of time magic poured into August's body, instantly freezing the moment he was in.
As a result, Timaria's magic was exhausted.
The state of the divine soul vanished, and she collapsed on the spot.
"Come on, old man."
Brandish also consumed her magic to solidify August at a height of three meters, ensuring his strength and speed reached their peak.
"I need time."
August suddenly spoke.
"We know."
Laquette, Val, and Agil rushed toward Caesar, while Irene raised her staff and began adding more powerful energy to August.
"Noisy."
Facing the three Twelve Shield members charging toward him, Caesar clasped his hands together and suddenly roared.
"Roar of the God-Slaying Dragon!"
The light of god-slaying and the magic power of space dragon-slaying mixed together.
Along with Caesar's roar, a torrent of magic a hundred meters thick blasted toward the three of them.
"You're kidding!"
"Such magic..."
"Is it really infinite?"
"Boom!"
With a thunderous sound, the three of them were blown away in tatters.
All they could buy for August was just three short seconds.
But for August, it was enough.
"Looks like it's just the two of us."
Irene looked at the fallen Twelve Shields, sighed, and thrust her staff.
Her body became covered with dragon scales.
"Let's go together."
"I know!"
In an instant, August used magic to move at high speed, almost like teleportation, and appeared in front of Caesar.
He punched out with his right fist, burning with terrifying solar magic, powerful enough to rival a magic cannon.
It struck Caesar's arm hard.
Caesar blocked the blow and counterpunched.
"The Roar of the Wise Dragon!"
Dragon flames burst out and clashed with Caesar's fist, causing it to graze past August's ear.
However, the explosion of Caesar's magic completely reduced the Colosseum's ruins to ashes.
"Go to rift!"
August clenched his fists and slammed Caesar in the face.
The violent explosion made the ground sink several centimeters instantly.
A whip kick followed, sending Caesar flying.
"August!"
Irene, in dragon form, caught him and used her strength to hurl him back toward Caesar.
"Strong. Really strong."
Emerging from the smoke, Caesar spat out blood.
He looked at August rushing toward him and said, "You're the second person who can hurt me in this mode. But... it's not enough!"
The Philosopher's Stone was consumed.
Caesar's injuries healed instantly, and his magic power was restored.
Now he truly had unlimited firepower.
And...
"Poof."
As the last spike popped out, Caesar's skin darkened.
"It's much more comfortable now. I have to admit, there were really a lot of seals on Jiro's body."
Facing August's magic, Caesar exhaled calmly.
"You're still a little short of imitating my magic, nephew!"
"Boom!"
Endless magic erupted.
At this moment, Caesar was the sun.
August punched again, but before his fist could touch Caesar, the heat carbonized the skin of his arm.
"Additional, super-level flame resistance!"
Even in dragon form, Irene managed to grant him resistance just in time.
"Ohhh!"
Now, August didn't look like an old man at all.
He was like a hot-blooded youth, punching toward Caesar without hesitation.
"Boom!"
The ground trembled under their clash.
The scorching air spread in all directions, raising the Albares Empire's temperature by several degrees.
"Punch seriously!"
Caesar raised his hand and threw another blow.
August followed up, punching him hard in the flesh.
Even though Caesar could hear the miserable cracking of August's bones, he still did not step back.
Using the solidification of time, August fought him head-on.
At that moment, Caesar's respect for August peaked.
August's life was a tragedy.
He was the son of Zeref and Mavis, yet they could not recognize him.
As parents, they didn't even know they had this child.
After being separated from Mavis's body by Precht, though Precht couldn't kill him, he abandoned him.
Born with a power neither light nor dark, August spent a lonely and bitter childhood.
Even when his body disintegrated due to ancient magic, and he looked at Mavis with tears in his eyes, he couldn't bring himself to call her "Mom."
"As a token of my respect, I'll help you straighten out your miserable life."
Caesar smiled.
"Eight Gate Dunjia. Door of Death. Open!"
The Take Over light flared, and Caesar's body reached its limit.
"Ye Kai!"
With a roar, Caesar charged, wrapped in scarlet aura, and kicked August.
"Poof!"
August spat out blood.
The solidified organs and bones within his body took a fatal hit.
After flying backward, August's magic was drained, his body shrank, and time resumed its flow.
All his previous damage erupted at once.
"Dad... Mom..."
Tears welled in August's eyes as he closed them.
The accumulated damage detonated, taking him along with the letter belonging to Jellal.
"August!"
"Old man!"
Those still conscious looked at the explosion with sorrow.
At that moment, Caesar stood above Irene, who was stunned.
"Get down here!"
He threw a punch, and Irene's vision went dark.
Her huge body crashed to the ground, completely unconscious.
Dimaria and Brandish, still awake, had sadness in their eyes.
As they saw Caesar approaching, determination replaced fear.
"What are you thinking? That guy wants to die. Did he ask me?"
The next moment, Caesar appeared where August had exploded.
Clapping his hands, an alchemy circle appeared beneath him.
"Human body refining. Come back to me!"
Lightning flashed pale and fierce.
Part of August's body was drawn in and merged into the circle.
As the array turned, his body liquefied into pitch-black liquid.
A small hand reached out of the light, and soon, a little boy wrapped in rags fell to the ground.
The boy slowly opened his eyes and said in disbelief, "I... am not dead?"
The alchemy circle faded.
Caesar stepped up to him and smiled.
"With me here, the god of death can't take anyone away. Nephew, am I doing my job as an uncle?"