"He cut Acnologia's roar apart with a single slash!"
The human alliance below, already braced for a fight to the death, could not suppress a wave of excited cheers at the spectacular sight overhead.
The mages who truly understood Acnologia's strength, however, remained grim.
There was nothing to celebrate yet.
That fiery roar had merely been something Acnologia threw out on a whim to mock Ignia. Its power did not even come close to the Black Dragon's true roar.
The dragons understood that better than anyone.
Metalicana, Grandine, and the others quickly spread out around Acnologia, joining Ankh in surrounding him from every direction.
Acnologia paid no attention to the dragons moving around his flanks and behind him.
His gaze remained fixed entirely on Ankh.
The fangs that had been bared in amusement slowly disappeared.
Then his cold, brutal, hoarse voice rang through the sky.
"Ankhseram…"
"You lost the last time."
"Have you returned to humiliate yourself again?"
Acnologia normally considered even speaking to humans beneath him. Most of the time, he barely acknowledged other dragons either.
Hearing him actively address Ankh made the weight of their history obvious.
Ankh snorted and stared at the half of Acnologia's body he had once destroyed, now restored in that strange new form.
"I did lose last time."
"But you weren't the one who beat me."
"It was the bastard hiding behind you."
Ankh could clearly sense the increasingly dense Death Divine Power within Acnologia.
That power had indeed come from Ankhseram.
But it was not what made Ankh truly wary.
"Zous, the God of Creation and Destruction."
Ankh's voice turned cold.
"Back then, that divine power was buried so deeply beneath your Death Divine Power that I could barely detect it."
"But you can't hide it anymore."
"What you inherited from Zous is his power of destruction."
"And when you were about to die on Tenrou Island… he was the one who saved you, wasn't he?"
Among the more than twenty gods, Zous and Ankhseram had effectively stood at the very top.
If anyone could save Acnologia after he had been struck by Ankh's combined divine technique, it had to be Zous.
And Zous's power of creation was no less capable of restoring life than Life Divine Power itself.
Once Ankh had gone back over the battle in his mind, the identity of the hidden hand behind Acnologia had become obvious.
Acnologia had inherited Ankhseram's Death Divine Power.
Now he had also inherited Zous's Destruction Divine Power.
No wonder this Black Dragon was far more monstrous than he should have been.
Acnologia did not deny it.
His voice remained flat.
"I live only according to my own will."
"But Zous showed me a path."
Then the way he looked at Ankh changed.
The coldness gave way to something twisted and fanatical.
"I already devoured that man's Death Divine Power."
"All I lack now is Life Divine Power."
"If I kill you as well, I can rebuild this world completely."
"Ankhseram…"
His eyes burned with obsession.
"I will replace you."
Ankh narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening slightly around the hilt of his blade.
Acnologia had clearly not been the original inheritor of Death Divine Power.
Most likely, with Zous's help, he had devoured it from the true divine inheritor.
"That scheming old bastard again…"
Ankh cursed under his breath.
Zous really did seem to have his hands buried in everything.
He raised his blade across his chest and locked eyes with Acnologia.
"If you want to kill me, then come and try."
Power erupted violently from Acnologia's enormous body.
Terrifying Magic Power poured from him without restraint, carrying an unmistakable sense of decay and annihilation.
The dragons surrounding him moved at the same instant.
Igneel charged first and roared,
"There's no need for honor against the Black Dragon! Ankh-dono, we attack together!"
Five dragons immediately threw themselves at Acnologia with claws and fangs.
Acnologia showed no fear whatsoever and fought them all at once.
Ignia, who had still been struggling to process just how enormous the gap between them truly was, gritted his teeth and joined the assault as well.
The sky erupted into a full-scale battle between dragons.
Yet even surrounded from every direction, Acnologia counterattacked with disturbing composure.
The dragons' magical attacks could not penetrate his scales.
A single breath infused with Acnologia's destructive power, however, was enough to grievously wound a dragon.
Igneel bit down with all his strength, only for his fangs to fail against those pitch-black scales.
Meanwhile, one casual swipe from Acnologia's claw tore straight through Metalicana's famously powerful defense.
Even with their overwhelming numerical advantage, none of the dragons could make Acnologia feel genuinely threatened.
Acnologia was a Dragon Slayer himself.
He had spent far too long fighting dragons and knew their habits, movements, and methods of attack better than almost anyone alive.
The opponent he truly watched was Ankh.
Small body but contain enormous damage.
Just like on Tenrou Island, Ankh attacked with the terrifyingly lethal Death Divine Power, forcing Acnologia to constantly counter it with divine power of his own.
Against a Black Dragon with an absurdly powerful body and near immunity to magic, Ankh was the only person on this battlefield capable of reliably hurting him.
And compared with seven years ago, Ankh had grown far stronger.
Acnologia could no longer simply rely on his monstrous body to outlast him.
Deathly aura poured from Ankh.
Divine Power flowed into the Dragon God's Arsenal, activating its dragon-slaying properties.
Slash!
For the first time, Acnologia's seemingly flawless scales split open.
A deep bloody wound appeared across his body.
Acnologia roared in fury and immediately swatted one claw toward Ankh.
Ankh answered with a punch of his own.
Death Divine Power and Destruction Divine Power collided head-on.
Acnologia's claw was violently knocked upward.
Igneel seized the opening and smashed a fist into him, while the recoil from the divine collision sent Ankh flying far into the distance.
Ankh quickly stabilized himself in midair.
Then a graceful flash of silver moonlight crossed the corner of his vision.
Selene had returned to her dragon form.
She swept beneath Ankh, caught him, and immediately carried him back toward Acnologia.
Ankh adapted to her movement almost instantly.
Using Selene's speed, he drew his blade in one smooth motion and seamlessly continued his previous attack, bringing the sword down toward Acnologia's neck.
Igneel understood at once and slipped aside.
Selene slammed her enormous body directly into the Black Dragon.
At the same moment, Ankh's sword light tore toward the neck protected by those black scales.
Pain exploded through Acnologia.
He managed to drop his body in time and avoid a fatal wound, but the damage was still significant.
Now thoroughly enraged, Acnologia exploded with force and threw Metalicana and Ignia off his body.
His iron-hard tail then whipped around toward Ankh and Selene.
The air rippled faintly.
Selene's enormous white body vanished.
An instant later, she reappeared on the opposite side as though she had teleported.
Ankh held onto one of her crescent-shaped horns and laughed in surprise.
"I thought you weren't planning to help."
"I'm merely seeing whether we can kill the Black Dragon."
Selene gave a seductive little laugh.
"And I may as well earn myself a favor from you while I'm here. It'll make asking for something later much easier."
"Whatever you want afterward, I'll thank you for this much first."
Ankh tightened his grip around Selene's horn.
Their bodies disappeared into space once again.
Countless spatial portals opened around Acnologia.
Selene, the greatest mobility specialist among dragons, carried Ankh—the equivalent of a devastating mobile cannon—through one portal after another.
Attacks erupted from every direction in an unbroken barrage.
Seven years ago, Ankh had fought Acnologia one-on-one.
Seven years later?
Screw that!
This time, he brought the whole gang.