"Phew…"
Ankh let out a long breath, his gaze fixed on the shattered remains of the Eclipse Gate before him and on Soda, who was crumbling into ash.
A faint curve rose at the corner of his lips.
At the same time, the crystal on Ankh's bracelet began to glow.
One of the crystals gradually released a purple light, and the divine power representing the soul was taken into Ankh's possession.
"Do not think you have won, Ankhseram."
The body Soda had forged from a dragon had already turned to ash. Only His head remained, lips opening and closing while that stiff, expressionless face stayed unchanged.
His voice was cold and eerie.
"The time of the great war draws ever closer. I hope that when it comes, you will still be able to protect the humans you love."
With the divine power of souls now in his possession, Ankh's perception of soul-type magic had improved by a qualitative leap.
He keenly sensed that Soda was gradually leaving this body, and narrowed his eyes with a smile.
"When that time comes, the result will be the same as now."
Ankh seemed to hear a faint, drifting sneer in the air. Then Soda's presence completely vanished from his senses.
"It's finally over…"
With the powerful enemy gone, Ankh was finally able to relax a little.
He turned around and looked at the golden light beginning to rise throughout the city, then sighed softly.
"They should be disappearing too."
Across the city, because the Eclipse Gate had been destroyed, the dragon soldiers began turning into golden light in great waves.
They roared madly, unwilling and furious, as their bodies gradually faded into the air.
The soldiers and mages who had been fighting them froze for a long while when they saw this.
Only when someone realized they might have won did the city finally erupt into cries and cheers of joy.
"We won!"
"Ankh did it!!"
Jet and Droy excitedly threw their arms around each other's shoulders and started dancing.
Alzack let out a relieved breath and put away his gun, then exchanged a glance with Bisca.
Both of them smiled at the same time, as if an enormous weight had finally been lifted.
Makarov dropped onto his backside on the ground.
Looking at Yajima, Ooba, Goldmine, Bob, and the other old friends who had fought beside him just now, he could not help grinning proudly.
"Well? My kids are amazing, aren't they?"
His old companions were already so exhausted they could barely breathe properly, so naturally, none of them had the energy to deal with this smug little old man.
"Gajeel!"
Above the ruins, the seven-minute limit had passed, and Gajeel had been forcibly knocked out of his dragonified state.
He was lying on the ground, twitching all over, foaming at the mouth, his muscles even slightly withered, and his Magic Power almost completely drained.
There was no trace left of the arrogance he had shown earlier while fighting two dragons at once.
Levy ran to Gajeel's side, both anxious and heartbroken.
She carefully lifted him onto her lap, and as she looked at that battered face, she could not help smiling gently.
"Idiot…"
"Gajeel-san!"
Levy was touching Gajeel's face, her own little face flushed red for who knew what reason, when she heard Sting and Rogue's urgent shouts.
Rogue dropped down beside Gajeel with a thud and asked anxiously, "What happened to him? Was he injured just now?"
Levy shook her head and calmly withdrew her hand as she explained, "It's the side effect of dragonification. He needs to rest somewhere safe for a while."
Wendy hurried over and cast Sky Magic to heal Gajeel.
Beside her, Sting immediately thumped his chest and said, "Don't worry. Sabertooth will guard this area. Let Gajeel-san rest properly!"
After witnessing Gajeel's incredible performance, even the proudest members, Rufus and Orga, had no choice but to sincerely respect him.
The magic they had been so proud of had been useless against the dragons, and they had needed another guild to save them…
How had they even managed to be called the strongest guild for so many years?
Kagura's hand trembled slightly around the hilt of her sword, and her voice carried admiration as she said, "As expected of Fairy Tail. My training is still insufficient."
"Well, dragon slaying is his specialty, after all~" Risley comforted her with a cheerful smile.
Millianna nodded like a little cat.
Then she raised a hand over her eyes and looked into the distance, saying strangely, "But who's that weird dragon over there? Does Fairy Tail have someone like that?"
Kagura frowned slightly.
Leaving behind the words, "I'll go take a look," she ran toward that battlefield.
...
Over on that side, Sawyer struggled to carry Erik, who was twitching all over and had gone as limp as an octopus.
He complained, "This side effect is ridiculous! Couldn't it at least give him a little buffer time?"
Macbeth sat on a large stone and said tiredly, "Powerful strength always comes with a price… Jellal, what do we do later? A lot of people definitely saw Erik turn into a dragon."
"We'll retreat first. Ankh will help us explain it."
Ultear held the exhausted and sleeping Meredy in her arms.
Seeing the worried look on Sorano's face beside her, she teased, "Relax. Ankh is that strong, so he's definitely fine."
Sorano's expression turned strange.
She turned her head and replied, "I'm obviously not worried about Ankh. I was wondering whether my little sister is all right."
"As for you…"
Ultear's cheeks turned red, and she awkwardly turned her head away and started whistling.
While the companions behind him were bickering and joking, Jellal looked at the Flower Capital, which had been reduced to scorched earth, and could not help sighing.
"If only there could be no war…"
Just as Jellal was silently mourning the Flower Capital, his ears twitched slightly.
Following the sound of footsteps, he immediately turned around warily.
Then he saw Kagura and Millianna, both looking furious.
Jellal: …
'I'm cooked.'
…
Boom!!
Mirajane, who was cleaning up the battlefield and helping rescue their companions, raised her head in confusion.
Looking at the sudden burst of fire in the distance, she asked, puzzled, "The war is already over. Who started fighting again?"
"No idea, but it doesn't seem like there's any killing intent," Erza said casually while directing their juniors to pull people out from beneath the ruins.
"Probably just a few people with too much energy getting into a fight."
So people like that existed outside the guild too…
Freed was diligently bandaging Laxus's wounds and asked, "Are you really all right, Laxus?"
Laxus moved his body slightly, and a series of cracking sounds came from inside him.
He said carelessly, "I'm fine."
Gray complained speechlessly, "What a monster…"
"Compared to Laxus, some people are probably having a much harder time."
Just as Gray said, back on the battlefield inside the palace, Natsu was baring his teeth and groaning in pain.
Thanks to Future Natsu sharing part of the burden, he had not passed out immediately…
Though he was close.
Atlas Flame's body gradually began to disappear.
He looked at the child of his dear friend with relief, and amid Natsu's words of thanks, he slowly faded into the air.
Future Natsu raised a hand and looked at his own palms, which were gradually becoming transparent.
A relieved smile appeared on his face.
"Looks like it's our time to go too."
Lucy looked at him with a trace of sadness.
Future Lucy's body glowed with golden light. She gently rubbed Lucy's blonde hair and smiled softly.
"We need to go find our own companions too. Thank you, Lucy… Although thanking myself feels pretty strange…"
Future Lucy closed her eyes and lowered her head, pressing her forehead against Lucy's.
With a smile full of happiness, she whispered, "Thank you, everyone, for protecting our future."