In an instant, nearly three hundred thousand soldiers collapsed unconscious amidst the millions gathered.
The expressions of the Spriggan Twelve all shifted.
"What terrifying force…!"
"To knock out so many at once with just willpower…!"
"Who is this man?!"
Zeref's calm voice cut through the tension.
"He is Su Yan."
"What?!"
"He's the one Your Majesty warned us of?!"
Though not all of the Twelve had attended the last council, they had all heard the name. It was because of this man that Zeref had declared such a grand war upon Ishgar.
Zeref's dark eyes fixed on Su Yan.
"Su Yan… do you believe you can stop this war alone?"
Su Yan's lips curled.
"Of course not. I'm not that arrogant. I only came to say hello."
He raised his hand, and a blade of crackling, blood-red lightning—Haki sharpened to a cutting edge—sliced toward Zeref.
Several Spriggan Twelve immediately leapt to defend.
Invel, the Winter General, swept his hand. An arctic chill surged forth, aiming to freeze Su Yan's blade of will.
Crackle! Boom!
Scarlet-black lightning tore through the frost.
"What?!" Invel's face paled—his magic had never failed him like this.
"Rattle!"
A vast barrier flared before the Twelve.
BOOM!
The blade of Haki slammed against the shield, exploding into shards of light. Both forces shattered together.
Zeref spoke evenly:
"Su Yan, your strength may rival even Acnologia's. But unlike him, you lack a dragon's resistance to magic. That is your weakness."
His words echoed over the silent square. Dragons devoured magic, turning it into strength. Acnologia could consume anything, becoming unstoppable. That was how he ended the age of dragons, why even Zeref himself kept away from him.
But Su Yan was still human. His body was powerful, his will unbreakable—but magic could still wound him. That was what Zeref counted on.
Yet in truth, in Zeref's heart, he wavered. If anyone could defeat Acnologia, it might be this man before him. Sometimes he wished Su Yan would kill him, ending his curse. Sometimes he longed only for an ordinary life, far from immortality and endless sin. And sometimes… sometimes he wished to see Acnologia's death above all.
For Acnologia was his greatest mistake.
The desert king Ajeel stood, eyes gleaming.
"Your Majesty says this man rivals Acnologia? Then let me test him myself!"
But before he could strike, another voice rang out.
"Purgatory Dragon's Burning Hell!"
A blazing inferno swallowed Su Yan's form.
"God Serena?!"
The one who struck was none other than the traitor God Serena—the former top Wizard Saint of Ishgar, now one of the Spriggan Twelve.
The flames died down. Su Yan stood untouched, lightning crackling around him.
God Serena's eyes burned with battle-lust.
"You're the new Dragon King? Then—"
"I know you," Su Yan cut in coldly. "The First Seat of the Ten Wizard Saints… God Serena."
Serena's grin widened. "Good. Then you'll know what it means when I—"
"Be careful!!" August, the Sage King, suddenly shouted.
Too late.
Su Yan appeared in front of Serena in a flash, his fist wreathed in dense violet lightning.
CRACK!
"Ghhh—!!"
His punch smashed through Serena's skull. Blood and fragments scattered as the traitor's body crumpled lifeless to the ground.
God Serena—once hailed the strongest mage of Ishgar—was dead in a single blow.