Mirajane's face immediately fell.
She shook her head listlessly and said, "I've been looking at one, but I haven't actually taken it yet."
Ankh's interest was instantly piqued.
"Which mission?"
Mirajane and Ankh walked up to the second floor, the area where S-Class and higher quest were posted, accessible only to Mages with that rank.
Reaching the board, Mirajane took down a sheet of paper.
"This one," she said, holding it out. "The mission to hunt the Beast King."
Beast King?
The very same Beast King whose soul Elfman absorbed came from this exact mission!
It was confirmed—this was the job that was going to "kill" Lisanna.
Mirajane looked gleefully at the reward listed on the mission sheet and smiled.
"I'm planning to bring Lisanna and Elfman along so they can finally get a taste of an S-Class mission too."
Ankh felt a sharp stab of panic.
'Are you trying to fast-track their deaths?'
"I don't think that's a good idea. They just don't have the experience yet," Ankh flatly objected.
Mirajane frowned slightly. "But I'm an S-Class Mage now. I'm completely confident I can handle this mission all by myself!"
Hearing this, Ankh grew anxious.
He stared hard at Mirajane and quickly insisted, "No, you absolutely cannot protect them well enough!"
This was Ankh's honest warning, based on what he knew had happened in the story.
However, his words were clearly too harsh.
Mirajane's heart tightened slightly.
She gritted her teeth and whispered, "I thought... my strength was enough now..."
Ankh frowned, considering her words for a long moment, and finally spoke slowly.
"Then... go ahead."
He knew his words had been too harsh...
But Mira genuinely didn't get it yet.
She didn't realize there was always someone stronger out there, that the world was impossibly huge...
It seemed the guild's incredible success over the years had unknowingly made everyone a bit too cocky.
Building confidence and determination in the guild was great.
But adopting a mindset of "I'm from the best guild, I'm invincible, I can do whatever I want" when fighting was definitely bad news.
Fairy Tail's golden generation of young Mages was ridiculously talented, but right now, Mirajane and all her friends had developed varying degrees of arrogance deep down.
This was a terrible sign.
Maybe this upcoming disaster could actually be a wake-up call for them.
Having received Ankh's reluctant approval, Mirajane just nodded sadly and walked silently back downstairs.
Watching Mirajane's dejected figure retreat, Ankh sighed to himself.
Honestly, He could have gone to extremes—either force Lisanna to stay at the guild or take the mission sheet himself.
But he worried about things like worldline convergence happening, or other friends taking this deadly mission instead, getting hurt in Lisanna's place...
'Forget it.'
The most sensible thing to do now was for Ankh to go with them.
Worst case, he'd just make the extra effort to secretly watch over the three siblings.
With him around, nothing could possibly go wrong.
....
Two days later, at South Gate Park behind the Fairy Tail guild.
Mirajane was leading Elfman and Lisanna, saying goodbye to their guildmates.
Natsu watched the three of them with obvious envy.
The cheerful Lisanna noticed and immediately teased him sweetly.
"Bye Natsu, don't miss me too much!"
Natsu turned his head away, annoyed, burying his chin and mouth in his white scarf, mumbling.
"Stop nagging me!"
Lisanna stood on her toes and patted Natsu's head, comforting him with a smile.
"Don't be jealous. Mira-nee is an S-Class Mage, so we totally get to go on S-Class missions as her teammates."
Natsu shook his head violently.
"Who said I'm jealous? I'm gonna become an S-Class Mage all by myself someday!"
Lisanna patted Natsu's head like she was humoring a toddler.
"Yes, yes, of course you will..."
While those two childhood friends were having their reluctant farewell, the vibe between Mirajane and Ankh was totally weird.
Mirajane looked sad, clearly still hurt by what Ankh had said a couple of days ago.
To her, other people's judgment or teasing didn't matter.
All she wanted was for Ankh to truly believe in her.
Yet Ankh's solid conviction that day about her not being strong enough left her deeply disappointed and feeling weak inside.
Her efforts to get stronger, to completely master the power of Satan Soul—besides protecting her family, there was one other huge reason.
To earn Ankh's recognition, to become someone worthy of standing beside him as an equal.
'But why does that goal seem so far away...'
Ankh looked at the conflicted girl in front of him and couldn't help but say.
"Be careful."
Mirajane flinched, then raised her head, her beautiful eyes showing a renewed, fierce determination as she looked straight at him.
"I am definitely going to finish this mission, and I will prove it to you."
'Proving it to me is completely irrelevant..'. Ankh sighed inwardly.
Protecting her family—that was the only thing Mirajane should be focusing on right now.
Watching Mirajane and the other two leave for the mission site, Ankh also gathered his things and silently followed them.
Mirajane's destination was the Beast King Forest, located quite far from Magnolia.
The goal of the mission was to hunt down the ferocious Beast King that dominated the forest.
Seeing Mirajane set up a quiet camp for them to rest, Ankh, who was trailing secretly, let out a silent breath of relief.
Judging by the journey so far, this S-class mission wasn't as hard as he'd imagined—it almost seemed too easy.
The wild animals they'd encountered were weak and caused no trouble at all.
Beyond those, the only actual threat to Mirajane and the others would be the so-called Beast King itself.
But...
Ankh had been stuck on one question the entire trip: Just how powerful was this huge, monstrous Beast King that managed to completely defeat Mirajane and her two siblings?
If it wasn't strong, how did it possibly fight and beat Mirajane, who was using Satan Soul and was known for her brutal fighting style, even with her siblings helping?
But if it was truly powerful, after Elfman took it over, it didn't show much power at all; its biggest achievement was just instantly defeating one of the Phantom Lord's Four Elements...
Even if the power of Take Over depended on the Mage, it shouldn't be that weak, right?
As doubt clouded Ankh's mind, a voice suddenly cut into his thoughts.
[Ankh, there's a familiar Magic Power signature nearby—it's the White Devil Cult.]
Hearing Seram's warning, Ankh's expression immediately hardened.
The White Devil Cult had been a thorn in his side for a solid four years, and he had been hunting them down ruthlessly the entire time.
Ankh chased them all over the place, capturing any members he found and killing those who dared to fight back right on the spot.
Under his frenzied pursuit, the White Devil Cult suffered huge losses.
Finally, the Council gathered forces and launched a massive attack on their main base.
The result was a total victory—the White Devil Cult was practically wiped out, with only its leader and a few top members managing to escape.
In the years that followed, the remnants of the White Devil Cult still existed but kept an extremely low profile, barely causing any trouble, making it impossible for Ankh to find them.
But today, he was actually finding traces of the White Devil Cult right here in the Kingdom of Fiore, in this very forest!
A cold gleam flashed in Ankh's eyes.
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