Chapter 612 - 612: Wait, I Haven't Even Gotten On Yet!

Nearly twelve hours had already passed since Dimaria entered the ruins.

That meant Fairy Tail Team B couldn't afford to wait for the Magic Council to finish mobilizing its army along the border. Ankh's group needed to leave first.

Outside the guild hall, Makarov and several others gathered to see them off.

Levy stood in front of Gajeel, frowning as she carefully smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes.

"Honestly… you always rush to take the most dangerous jobs."

"That's what being a mage is about."

Gajeel, normally rough and defiant, seemed to have put away most of his usual sharp edges around her.

"The harder the job, the better the reward."

Then his grin returned.

"And with my strength, I'm not scared of whatever some god left behind."

Panther Lily sat on Gajeel's shoulder with a small travel bag strapped to his back.

"Everyone is going together this time," he reassured Levy. "There shouldn't be any serious trouble."

"Besides…"

Gajeel scratched his head.

Then, when he thought nobody was paying attention, he quietly took Levy's hand.

"Ankh negotiated the price of this villa I found down to about a tenth of what they were asking."

Levy blinked.

"When this job's over, the Council reward should be enough for me to pay for the whole thing upfront."

Yes.

Those two had somehow progressed that quickly.

Even Jet and Droy from Shadow Gear had no idea.

They had dated in secret.

Confirmed their relationship in secret.

Decided to buy a house and live together in secret.

As far as the rest of Fairy Tail knew, Levy and Gajeel were still awkwardly circling one another.

Meanwhile, the two of them were practically one conversation away from choosing baby names.

When it came to romance, they apparently believed in speedrunning.

Gajeel looked at Levy's worried expression.

His gaze became serious.

Then, with absolutely no awareness of how wild the words sounded, he said,

"Levy."

"When I come back…"

"Let's have a kid."

"There's usually a step called getting married before that…"

Levy sighed helplessly.

Clearly, she had long since grown accustomed to Gajeel's ridiculous thought process.

Then the corner of her mouth rose.

"And saying something like that before a dangerous mission is really bad luck."

She squeezed his hand.

"So come back safely and say it to me again."

Gajeel broke into a wide grin.

Panther Lily, meanwhile, felt like he had become brighter than the sun itself.

The black Exceed rolled his eyes.

Elsewhere, Juvia had wrapped herself tightly around Gray and clearly had no intention of letting go.

Gray had matured enough that he no longer shoved her away like he might have in the past. Instead, he simply endured the embrace and awkwardly reminded her to be careful during the mission.

Makarov and Laxus were having their own farewell.

Or at least attempting one.

Grandfather and grandson stared at each other for a long time.

Both clearly wanted to say something caring.

Neither could get the words out.

Eventually, Ankh and Mirajane finished reassuring Erza and reminded everyone staying behind to be careful once the fighting began.

Then Team B boarded the airship prepared by the Magic Council and departed.

...

With Council transportation handling the journey, it didn't take long to reach another prepared facility.

From there, they used the increasingly refined long-distance teleportation system to travel directly toward the Old God Ruins.

The familiar dizziness of teleportation passed.

When the five opened their eyes again, they found themselves standing inside a dense forest.

They weren't alone.

Crime Sorcière had arrived ahead of them.

Jellal looked slightly surprised when he realized Ankh hadn't brought the familiar strongest Fairy Tail team.

Then he could only marvel once again at how absurdly deep Fairy Tail's roster had become.

The lineup had changed completely, yet the overall strength of Ankh's expedition team still sat at a level most other guilds couldn't hope to match.

Fairy Tail and Crime Sorcière had worked together often enough that everyone already knew each other well.

After exchanging greetings, the two groups quickly settled into easy conversation.

Ultear and Sorano, however, stayed unusually close to Ankh.

Their movements were stiff.

Their faces were noticeably flushed.

And both looked far more nervous than they had any reason to be.

Ankh knew exactly why.

What had happened on Black Moon Mountain had come far too suddenly.

Even if both women had mentally prepared themselves to some extent, the experience had clearly gone well beyond what they expected.

Ankh sighed and gently patted both of them on the head, hoping to help them relax.

It had the opposite effect.

They became even more tense.

In the end, Mirajane walked over with the smile of a mischievous little fox, took both women by the hands, and whispered something into their ears.

Whatever she said worked.

At least they stopped looking as though they might combust on the spot.

Meredy, completely unaware of just how much assistance she had accidentally provided during that ridiculous night on Black Moon Mountain, wandered over curiously.

"Ankh-san, will the main battlefield really be alright without you?"

"It'll be fine."

Ankh naturally reached over and rubbed the pink-haired girl's head.

She seemed to have grown a little taller again.

"The four Council members are there, along with the Guild Masters from the other major guilds."

Meredy's concern was understandable.

Without Ankh and Laxus on the primary battlefield, there didn't appear to be many people capable of directly confronting someone on the level of the Spriggan 12.

But even if the Guild Masters somehow proved unreliable, Brandish and Selene were still there.

Nothing truly disastrous was likely to happen.

Jellal pointed through the forest.

In the distance, a hill rose noticeably above the surrounding terrain.

Council soldiers had surrounded it so thoroughly that not even a bird could have slipped through unnoticed.

"That's the Old God Ruins."

He started forward.

"Let's go."

Ankh nodded.

After identifying themselves to the perimeter guards, the group was immediately allowed through.

The entrance led into a passage sloping steadily downward.

Strangely, the deeper they traveled, the air never became thin or difficult to breathe.

The ambient Magic Power, however, dropped at an unnatural rate.

Laxus, Jellal, and the other conventional mages quickly began showing discomfort.

The surrounding environment wasn't merely lacking Magic Power.

It was actively draining the power inside their bodies.

Only Ankh experienced something different.

The deeper they went, the more clearly he could sense divine power.

Jellal spoke while walking.

"According to the Council's records, the Magic Power concentration inside this passage is extremely low."

"And farther down, the ruins apparently begin absorbing Magic Power directly from anyone entering."

"Mages normally need specially prepared recovery potions just to reach the bottom."

He opened his bag and pulled out several bottles.

Laxus immediately shook his head.

"I don't need one."

Jellal looked at him.

"At first it felt terrible, but now…"

Laxus flexed one hand.

"I actually feel better."

Jellal blinked.

Then he noticed something equally strange.

His own Magic Power had stopped draining too.

If anything, it seemed slightly more active than before.

He turned toward the others.

The same thing had happened to almost everyone.

In the end, only Juvia and Meredy accepted the potions.

Both had begun sweating noticeably from the strain.

Ankh watched thoughtfully.

This was probably the preliminary trial left behind by the Twin Gods.

Juvia's nature contained relatively little conflict between good and evil.

Meredy, meanwhile, was simply too young to have accumulated the same weight of sin and merit as the others.

Both were therefore having more difficulty with whatever divine force was evaluating those entering the ruins.

The group continued downward until they finally reached the deepest point of the passage.

A damp, shadowy stone chamber waited below.

The intertwined divine powers there were far denser than anywhere above.

Ankh lowered his gaze.

At their feet lay an enormously intricate teleportation array.

He smiled.

"Well then."

"Time to visit someone else's house."

Ankh gathered divine power into his palm and pressed it gently against the center of the formation.

The ancient array immediately responded.

The divine power within the ruins resonated with his own.

Soft rainbow light flooded the cavern.

The entire chamber disappeared beneath the glow.

Then the light faded.

Ankh opened his eyes.

And froze.

The stone chamber was completely empty.

Everyone else—

Laxus.

Mirajane.

Gajeel.

Juvia.

Crime Sorcière.

All of them—gone.

Only Ankh remained.

He stared at the empty cavern.

Then looked down at himself.

"...Wait."

His expression slowly became incredulous.

"Hold on."

"I HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN ON YET?!"