"They really are strong!"
Even though he already knew how fearsome Ankh and Laxus's strength was, Gray couldn't help but sigh in sheer amazement.
Erza also sighed, feeling like she couldn't quite measure up to them.
"Yes... there is still a wide gap between us and my brother..."
Everyone else watched the overwhelming scene of the two men battling the evil dragon with deep emotion.
Only Natsu gazed unwillingly at the sky, secretly vowing in his heart.
He would become an S-Class Mage sooner or later!
He would become a Mage as strong as Ankh and Laxus!
In the sky battle, Faust was completely suppressed by Laxus's Roaring Thunder. He was forced to remain perfectly still in mid-air, howling in an agonized frenzy.
Ankh, positioned high above Faust, took a deep breath.
Simultaneously, he exerted immense force with both arms, beginning to swing the Scythe in his hands.
Faust, struggling desperately amidst the sea of raging lightning currents, suddenly felt his body begin to swing completely out of his control.
At the same time, an excruciating, heart-tearing pain erupted from the spot on his back pierced by that enormous black war scythe.
Faust's mouth, which had been spouting arrogant boasts earlier, could now only emit miserable wails and screams.
His massive draconic body began to fly uncontrollably, spinning wildly in the air with Ankh acting as the central axis.
The combination of the blade wound on his body, the numbing sensation from the lightning, and the extreme dizziness—even with his Dragon Physique—nearly caused Faust to pass out on the spot.
Ankh exerted all his strength to spin Faust around, finally hurling him violently toward the higher atmosphere while shouting:
"Laxus!"
Faust discovered in horror that he was continuously flying higher into the sky, the momentum seemingly strong enough to launch him entirely out of the stratosphere.
Unfortunately for him, Laxus had already been waiting within the dark clouds for a long time.
Laxus's eyes began to glow with a blinding golden light.
His body violently expanded a full size, bursting the clothes on his torso and revealing his solid, heavily scarred muscles.
On his chest, the golden Lightning Dragon Lacrima began to radiate intense light.
Like Natsu before him, Laxus's body sprouted small golden Dragon Scales on vital areas like his arms and the corners of his eyes.
"How could I not know what Natsu knows?"
Laxus still found the time to take a jab at Natsu below.
Then, facing Faust who was being thrown skyward, the apocalyptic lightning brewing within the overcast sky erupted entirely from his hands.
"Lightning Dragon's... Roaring Halberd!"
Countless thunderclaps boomed through the air like war drums, forcing everyone on the ground to cover their ears in pain.
Immediately following the thunder, a massive golden halberd burst forth from Laxus's hands, seemingly powerful enough to tear through the entire cloudy sky.
Its scale was so grand it could almost pierce through the entire royal capital island.
And the sole target of this devastating attack was Faust.
By altering the celestial phenomena and borrowing the momentum of the storm to unleash a world-shattering move, accompanied by the continuous, deafening thunderclaps, Faust even began to see his life flash before his eyes the instant he faced the halberd.
However, before Faust could finish reminiscing about his life, the Roaring Halberd came stabbing down toward him.
Taking the hit head-on, and leveraging the momentum from Ankh's throw, Laxus sent him crashing back down toward the earth at an even faster speed.
The halberd's blade carried Faust downward, while the shaft—composed entirely of a torrent of lightning—extended madly.
It was as if the Thunder God hiding in the clouds had used a divine weapon to strike through both earth and sky.
Ankh had already landed on the ground by then... mostly because Lily really couldn't take the altitude anymore.
He watched as Faust and the Roaring Halberd came crashing down toward the earth.
Frowning, he muttered softly, "Not quite enough..."
Lily, who was still tightly covering his sensitive ears, stared at him in complete shock.
'Seriously?'
'You two have been beating the old king's dragon form like a stray dog and it's still not enough?!'
Ankh grinned, a faint smile curling his lips.
The Death God Power in his palm erupted once more. "Let me add some fuel to the fire."
In an instant, black Divine Power imbued with an aura of pure despair coalesced in his palm.
Ankh rapidly compressed the power, condensing it to the size of a firefly, then shot it out from his fingertip.
"Death Calamity: Glimpse of the Underworld."
Ankh instantly fired an extremely thin black ray from his fingertip, striking Faust at the visible speed of light.
Upon being hit, Faust's downward momentum immediately halted.
Instead, his body began to wither and decay frantically, as if something was draining his very life force.
The imposing lightning halberd was now being held at bay by a slender black ray.
Poor Faust was caught right in the middle of these two conflicting attacks.
Ankh raised his hand, continuing to output his Divine Power, a highly satisfied smile appearing on his face.
Do not be fooled by how Glimpse of the Underworld might seem less flashy than the Roaring Halberd, or how its destructive area of effect is much smaller compared to the Deceased Rebirth of his Death Calamity series.
Its true advantages are its instant cast time, speed, persistence, and extremely low magical consumption.
Right now, Ankh was quite content that this "Death Calamity" technique could hold its own against Laxus's ultimate move without being at a disadvantage.
But Laxus didn't see it that way.
His brain, seeing that his ultimate attack was actually being blocked mid-air, immediately became stubborn.
With all this sky full of thunder, I'm going to let a scrawny black beam hold it off?!
Increase the power output!
The lightning erupting from the halberd became even more ferocious.
Ankh saw Faust being pushed back down toward him again.
He frowned and immediately got fired up.
'Laxus, you little punk—you want to have a go with me?'
'I will keep you company to the bitter end!'
Ankh extended his finger, and the slender death ray of Glimpse of the Underworld thickened slightly, pushing Faust back up into the sky a bit.
Then Laxus exerted force again, and Ankh countered.
This repeated several times...
Faust: Maybe I'm just asking for it... (′×ω×`)
The others watching from afar saw Faust going up and down in the sky like a drop tower amusement park ride.
The scene fell into an awkward silence.
"Are they always like this...?"
Edolas Lucy pointed a trembling hand in their direction, completely speechless.
The guildmates who had just been praising the two men as peerless mages were now either looking up at the sky or staring down at the ground—no one answered her...
Childish rivalry was also one of Fairy Tail's longest-standing traditions.
But, well, the good news was that Faust would soon be liberated and wouldn't have to suffer this torment anymore.
As for the bad news... it was the exact reason for the good news.
While simultaneously enduring the erosion of two waves of absolute destructive attacks, Faust, quite regrettably, couldn't hold on any longer and exploded violently.
The clash of the two energies also stopped as the "middleman" Faust suddenly popped.
The Dragon Knight Armor on Faust's body had long since turned to ashes.
His originally robust dragon body was now broken and tattered.
Half of his dragon head was gone, only one of his originally thick limbs remained, and his firm, taut torso muscles had become a withered layer of skin, with bones exposed in many places...
His appearance was more than just "miserable."
Laxus descended at this point, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Ankh in front of Faust's crater.
The two were silent for a long time before Laxus finally spoke up.
Crossing his arms, he spoke in a deep voice.
"Just now, I pushed him toward your side. I won."
Ankh retorted helplessly, "Thats because my Glimpse of the Underworld is a penetrating killing move. It went right through Faust, alright?"
Laxus struck a haughty pose, openly mocking him. "If you're no good, practice more."
Ankh: (?˙ー˙?)