Jose spat a mouthful of blood onto the debris-strewn floor, his hand trembling violently as he pointed a shaking finger at the three young men towering over him.
His face, once arrogant, was now flushed crimson with impotent rage and humiliation.
"You... you shameless bastards!" Jose rasped, his voice cracking. "You have no honor! Is this how Fairy Tail operates? Gang attacks on a fallen master?"
However, Jose's desperate attempt at taking the moral high ground sounded less like a condemnation and more like a death wish to the hot-tempered Laxus.
"Honor?" Laxus repeated, his voice dropping to a dangerous growl.
With a dark, terrifying expression, Laxus didn't bother with a verbal retort.
He simply transformed into a jagged flash of yellow lightning.
In the blink of an eye, he materialized right in front of Jose, grabbing the very arm the older man had used to point at them.
With a brutal, merciless motion, Laxus twisted the limb downward.
CRACK!
The sharp, sickening sound of breaking bone echoed abruptly through the silent ruins of the rooftop.
It was followed an instant later by Jose's agonized scream—a shrill, piercing shriek that sounded like a slaughtered pig.
"GAAAAH! MY ARM!"
Ankh stood nearby, digging a finger into his ear irritably as if the noise was merely a nuisance.
He stepped forward and patted Laxus on the shoulder, signaling him to ease up.
"Alright, Sparky. That's enough," Ankh said calmly. "If he passes out from the pain, this will take longer."
Laxus let out a cold snort from his throat.
He released his grip, flinging Jose to the ground like a sack of garbage, and stepped back to cross his arms.
Jose curled into a ball, clutching his broken arm, sweat pouring down his face. He had completely lost his fighting spirit.
As he looked up through tear-filled eyes and surveyed the devastated remains of the Phantom Lord guild around him—his life's work reduced to scrap metal sinking into the lake—a wave of absolute despair washed over him.
He realized, with terrifying clarity, that he was at their mercy.
"You... you're not killing me," Jose wheezed, analyzing Ankh's behavior. "If you want me dead, I'd be a corpse already. What else do you want?"
Seeing Ankh hesitate to strike the killing blow, Jose shifted into a more comfortable sitting position on the cold metal floor.
The arrogance he had displayed earlier was gone, replaced by a weak, low voice laced with fear.
Ankh's methods differed from Makarov's—even an outsider like Jose could see that.
Makarov was a soft-hearted, hypocritical old man who preached forgiveness.
But in Jose's eyes, this young man, Ankh, was far from merciful.
There was a cold, calculating darkness in his gaze that was far more terrifying than Laxus's rage.
Ankh smiled faintly, crouching down to be at eye level with the fallen saint.
"Jose, you're quite clever. There is indeed something I need from you."
Jose let out a self-mocking laugh, staring with disgust at Ankh's pleasant smiling face.
He sneered, "If I help you... will I get to live?"
Ankh looked at him in genuine surprise while tilting his head.
"How could you entertain such an outrageous idea? Of course not!"
Laxus and Mystogan, standing in the background, felt utterly speechless upon hearing Ankh's response.
'Did he have to be so blunt?' Mystogan thought behind his mask.
'What if Jose, in despair, decides to bite his tongue and kill himself on the spot?'
But instead of anger or suicide, Jose laughed at these words.
His ugly, bruised face contorted even more grotesquely.
Gnashing his teeth, he spat out bitterly.
"How shameless! You want my help, but you promise me death? What exactly has Makarov been teaching you kids?"
"That's none of your concern," Ankh replied, brushing off the insult with a wave of his hand.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, glowing Lacrima crystal—a recording device.
He tossed it to Laxus.
"Here's the deal," Ankh said. "Explain your reasons for attacking Fairy Tail. Detail exactly what you've done, how you provoked us, and admit that you fired the Jupiter Cannon first. You know exactly what I want you to say to make us look like the victims."
Laxus caught the crystal ball, tossing it up and down disdainfully.
"You want me to record this?" Laxus scoffed. "I'm not a secretary."
Not wanting to do the tedious work, Laxus had a sudden inspiration.
He turned and quickly shoved the crystal ball into Mystogan's hands.
"Here. You're the mysterious quiet type. You do it."
Mystogan gave Laxus a speechless look, his eyes narrowing slightly behind his mask.
He sighed helplessly.
In the end, as the most reasonable person present, he ended up being the unlucky one stuck with the tedious task of cameraman.
Jose looked at Ankh with disgust and snapped, "Did you really think I'd help you ruin my own reputation before I die?! I refuse!"
Ankh replied indifferently, checking his fingernails. "Doesn't matter. If you refuse, I can always have someone else—like Mirajane—transform into you to record it instead. We can fake your voice, your face, everything."
Ankh leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"But if it comes to that... you'll be as good as dead right now. I'll peel the skin off your bones."
Jose shuddered.
"However," Ankh continued, his voice brightening artificially. "Cooperate nicely now, and I'll reluctantly lower my demands. I'll only strip you of your Magic Power and let you live out your days as an ordinary, powerless old man. You'll be alive. That's better than nothing, right?"
Jose narrowed his eyes and said angrily, in a tone of disbelief, "What's the difference between that and dying?! For a wizard, losing magic is death!"
Finally losing his patience, Ankh reached out and grabbed Jose by his greasy hair, yanking his head back.
"Don't push your luck, you old bastard!" Ankh snarled. "Take the deal or die screaming!"
Jose's face shifted between pale and flushed.
He looked at the scythe in Ankh's other hand, then at the crackling lightning around Laxus. He let out a strained breath and gritted his teeth.
"Fine… I'll talk."
Ankh released him and smiled in satisfaction.
"Action."
Mystogan stiffly raised the crystal ball and began recording.
As Jose rambled on and on, confessing his crimes and detailing his jealousy of Fairy Tail, Mystogan nearly dozed off listening.
Laxus, bored, took the opportunity to pull Ankh aside.
"Hey," Laxus whispered, keeping his voice low so the recording wouldn't pick it up. "What's this recording for? And you're not actually planning to spare Jose, are you? The guy is a snake. He'll come back for revenge."
Ankh glanced at the recording session and explained softly.
"Look, Laxus. Even though Phantom Lord started this war, from an outsider's perspective, it looks like we barged into their headquarters and picked a fight for no reason."
It was true—the situation this time was already quite different from the original timeline.
In the original, Gajeel had crucified Levy, Jet, and Droy to a tree, giving Fairy Tail a clear reason for war.
But here, Ankh had prevented that tragedy. Levy and the others hadn't suffered any visible injuries or humiliation.
"Our justification for declaring war seems flimsy to the Magic Council," Ankh continued. "From an outsider's point of view, Fairy Tail bore the main responsibility for this escalation, while Phantom Lord was only guilty of minor provocations."
"Add to that the fact that Phantom Lord's guild hall is now completely destroyed... if the Council were to step in and mediate, they'd definitely punish our guild severely. They might even disband us."
Ankh pointed at the crystal ball in Mystogan's hands.
"Having a recording of the Phantom Lord Guild Master taking full responsibility will save us a lot of trouble. With Jose as a living witness and the recording as physical evidence, the two will corroborate each other. No matter how much the Council hates us, they won't have grounds to act."
Laxus frowned. "But you said you'd let him live."
"I said I'd let him live out his days," Ankh corrected with a dark smirk. "I didn't say how many days."
"When I strip him of his Magic Power later, I'll tamper with Jose's body a bit. A slow-acting curse. Once this whole mess blows over and the Council closes the case, he'll naturally 'fall ill' and kick the bucket. No one will look into it then."
Hearing Ankh's elaborate, multi-layered plan, Laxus hesitated.
He looked at Ankh with a mixture of wariness and respect.
"Is it really necessary… to go to such lengths?"
Ankh sighed, his shoulders slumping slightly.
"I also feel it's a bit excessive. But given the guild's current reputation... it's better to be on the side of caution. I do the dirty work so the Old Man doesn't have to."
The guild was already a prominent target and a thorn in the Council's side—Laxus understood that well enough.
Nodding slightly, Laxus raised a thumb and praised him with a serious expression.
"Only you could be this cunning and always full of dirty tricks. You're a scary guy, Ankh."
Ankh rolled his eyes. "If you don't know how to compliment someone, just keep your mouth shut."
Just then, the sound of wind rushing signaled an arrival.
The rest of the Fairy Tail guild members were wrapping up their battles elsewhere, but the first to arrive at the rooftop was Lucy.
She flew in riding atop the massive head of the snake spirit, Ophiuchus.
"We're here!" Lucy called out.
She leaped down from Ophiuchus's serpent head, landing gracefully on the ruined floor.
She ran over to Ankh and gratefully handed over the black key.
"Thank you, Ankh," she said, breathing hard. "It's all thanks to Ophiuchus—she saved both me and Loke! If it weren't for her, we would have been crushed."
Ankh nodded, accepted the Ophiuchus key, and slipped it into his pocket.
He reached out and patted Ophiuchus's large, scaly snout with a smile.
The giant snake hissed affectionately before dissolving into purple smoke, returning to the spirit world.
"I'm just glad you're both safe," Ankh said warmly. He looked around. "Where's Loke?"
Lucy shrugged helplessly, a puzzled expression on her face. "I don't know. He's been avoiding me ever since Ophiuchus showed up... and it seems he's quite afraid of her too. He ran off the moment the fighting stopped."
"Oh?" Ankh was taken aback for a moment but quickly understood.
Ah, right.
It was unexpected, yet it made perfect sense.
Loke's true identity was Leo the Lion, the leader of the Golden Twelve Celestial Spirits.
Because Leo had accidentally caused the death of his former contractor, Karen, he was exiled and stranded in the human world, unable to return to the Celestial Spirit World.
Not wanting to involve or burden others, Loke now avoided entanglement with Celestial Spirits and Celestial Spirit Mages.
It was natural for him to hide from Ophiuchus; she would recognize him instantly, and perhaps they had even met in the Celestial Spirit World back in the day.
'But this crisis isn't his concern yet,' Ankh thought. 'Loke will eventually be taken in by his true master, Lucy.'
Suddenly, Lucy froze.
She spotted the battered form of Jose nearby, recording his "criminal evidence" with a defeated look on his face.
She looked at the destroyed building, the injured guild members gathering below, and the sheer scale of the conflict.
Her previously excited expression instantly vanished.
Then, a wave of crushing guilt washed over her face.
She bit her lip, tears welling up in her eyes.
Without a word, she decisively bent her waist, bowing deeply to Ankh, Laxus, and Mystogan.
Ankh was startled.
"Lucy? What are you doing?"
Lucy's eyes stung as she fought back the surge of emotions inside her.
She spoke solemnly, her voice trembling with the weight of her revelation.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice choked with sobs.
"It's because of me... It's because of who I am that the guild faced this attack! My father hired Phantom Lord to find me. This war... the destruction... it's all my fault!"
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