After pulling Jellal back to his feet, Ankh smiled.
"Don't often see you looking this miserable."
Jellal gave a helpless laugh.
"Heavenly Body Magic really isn't suited for this kind of battle. Mystogan's magic saved me."
Ankh nodded in understanding, then his gaze drifted toward Kagura, who was still quietly supporting Jellal by the arm.
His eyebrow rose.
For some reason, he suddenly remembered what he had seen in Edolas—and the royal wedding banquet he had attended shortly before leaving that world.
Unable to suppress his curiosity, Ankh nudged Jellal and lowered his voice.
"Kagura forgive you?"
Jellal blinked.
He turned toward Kagura, only for her to immediately look away and pretend she hadn't heard anything.
"Uh…"
Jellal scratched his head awkwardly.
"Maybe?"
"Forget about that for now," he quickly added, changing the subject. "You should deal with everyone else first."
Ankh decided not to pry any further.
He raised one hand.
A crimson magic circle spread overhead as Separation Enchantment activated.
Scarlet light swept across the cavern.
The mages who had been put to sleep by Jellal's magic or forcibly commanded into unconsciousness by Mirajane immediately began giving off pale, soul-like masses of energy.
The foreign power was steadily drawn from their bodies until every trace of Whiteout's influence had been extracted.
But strangely—the fighting didn't stop.
Erza had Minerva pinned beneath her sword when she suddenly noticed something was wrong.
"Minerva! What's happening to you?!"
Minerva's eyes, which had been perfectly normal moments earlier, had turned completely white.
A strange milky substance spread over half her face before hardening into something resembling armor.
She wasn't the only one.
Once Whiteout had been removed from the others, their bodies began mutating in exactly the same way.
Natsu locked one arm around Sting's neck and grabbed his wrist to examine it.
"Over here too! His arm's turning into some weird white monster thing!"
"What the hell is this?!"
Gajeel recoiled as Rogue raised an already whitened arm and charged at him with nothing but blank white eyes and a twisted expression.
"GRAAAH!!"
Lyon let out a crazed roar.
His Dynamic Ice-Make suddenly ran wild as enormous ice apes and tigers crashed into Gray and Ultear, forcing both of them back.
"His Magic Power got way stronger too…"
Gray slid painfully across the ground while Ultear staggered several steps, staring at Lyon in disbelief.
Among the three disciples from Ur's line, Lyon was currently the only one who had fallen noticeably behind the others.
Yet this mysterious white substance had somehow elevated the quality and density of his Magic Power until it was nearly comparable to theirs.
BOOM—!
Something shot past with a deafening crash.
Suzaku picked himself up from the ground, then awkwardly noticed Gray and Ultear staring at him.
He rubbed his nose.
"Observation. Jura has also become significantly stronger. That white substance is greatly amplifying him."
Nearby, half of Sherria's face had already become covered by a white mask.
Wendy stared at her carefully and suddenly realized what was happening.
"This white substance…"
Her voice tightened.
"I think it's being formed from Magic Power that everyone can't control anymore."
That made everyone pause.
Only then did they properly examine the affected mages.
Those who were still unconscious were harder to judge, but Sting, Rogue, Minerva, Jura, Lyon, Sherria, and the others who had recovered from Whiteout were all showing signs of magical runaway.
And the source wasn't some external spell.
It was their own bodies.
Their magic containers no longer seemed responsive to conscious control.
Instead, they were producing Magic Power without stopping, generating more and more until their bodies could no longer contain it.
The excess energy was condensing into that strange white substance and physically mutating them.
Even now, their reserves were continuing to climb.
Higher.
And higher.
Erza stared at the increasingly grotesque white shells spreading over their bodies, their faces twisting in obvious pain.
"It's just like Elentear…"
Her expression changed.
"This entire world is being pushed toward collapse because it contains too much Magic Power."
Ankh narrowed his eyes.
"Another contingency Larcade left behind?"
He moved first.
His body blurred toward Yukino.
Lucy and Sorano immediately stepped aside when they saw him coming.
Kiria didn't understand what he was planning, but wisely moved out of the way as well.
The moment they released her, Yukino went berserk and charged straight at Ankh.
Libra, equally overtaken by the strange whitening effect, attacked alongside her.
Unlike Lucy, Yukino was actually quite capable in hand-to-hand combat.
Against Ankh, however, it made little difference.
He casually caught her incoming fist with one hand, planted a foot on Libra as the Celestial Spirit lunged at him, then lightly pressed his other palm against Yukino's stomach.
"Enchantment—Magic Seal."
The strike itself was gentle, barely strong enough to make Yukino stumble backward a few steps.
The real effect came from the High Enchantment woven into it.
It functioned similarly to Magic-Sealing Stone.
Rather than erasing Magic Power, the enchantment blocked the flow from a mage's internal magic container into the rest of the body, preventing them from circulating or using magic at all.
The instant Yukino's magic was sealed, the dark portions of her eyes began returning.
Her consciousness gradually cleared.
More importantly, the endless rise in Magic Power inside her finally stopped.
"Ankh-san… Lucy-san…"
Yukino looked around in confusion.
Then her eyes settled on Sorano.
"And Angel-onee-san…"
She blinked.
"What happened to me?"
"You're back!"
Sorano and Lucy both cried out in relief.
Lucy immediately hugged Yukino.
Sorano joined in from the other side, although she still hadn't brought herself to reveal that she was Yukino's real older sister.
Even after all this time, Yukino only knew her as "Angel-onee-san."
Still, the two had grown genuinely close under that identity.
Yukino squirmed shyly between them for a moment—
then looked down.
Her face went pale.
Much of her body was still covered in the horrible white mutation.
"W-What happened to me?!"
"Don't panic."
Ankh spoke calmly.
"I'm going to help everyone else first."
Then his expression became serious.
"And whatever you do, don't try to force your Magic Power through the seal I put on you."
After reassuring her, Ankh left Lucy and Sorano to explain.
Then he shot toward the next runaway mage.
Using the same specialized Magic Seal Enchantment, Ankh moved through the battlefield at incredible speed.
He didn't bother fighting anyone.
Each time he got close, he simply landed one light palm strike and shut down the victim's Magic Power.
Normally, a sufficiently powerful mage could break through this kind of sealing enchantment by forcefully circulating enough Magic Power.
Fortunately, everyone here was an ally.
The moment the seal restored their sanity, all Ankh had to do was explain what was happening and tell them not to resist.
One after another, the rampaging mages returned to their senses.
Before long, everyone in the mine had been marked with Ankh's Magic Seal Enchantment.
And at last—
the uncontrolled rise in Magic Power stopped.