Ankh quickly shielded Erza, raising his hand to unleash a repulsive shield, blocking Laxus's attack.
Taking advantage of the momentary pause in the attack, Ankh hastily pulled Erza's small hand, dragging her to a safe spot behind them.
The moment Ankh returned, Laxus understood that Cana had been dealt with.
But that wasn't a big deal.
Right now, he had no time to care about that magically weak girl; Laxus had intended from the start to defeat both of them by himself!
A lightning explosion sank a patch of land, but Laxus didn't stop; a continuous composite magic circle formed from light magic appeared like a cannon, aimed at Erza, releasing layers of super-strong magic power.
Under the reinforcement of several consecutive magic circles, the light magic finally transformed into a meteor-like torrent, heading straight for Erza, who was in a weakened state!
First, completely deal with this troublesome woman, then duel with Ankh!
Ankh looked at Laxus, who seemed to have gone berserk, and couldn't help but feel a little worried.
The only weakness of Laxus in his youth was probably his inability to manage his emotions, making him prone to losing control.
This spell targeting Erza had clearly gone a bit too far!
Just as Ankh was about to once again step in front of Erza to block the magic for her, he suddenly heard Erza's strange murmur:
"Wait, I seem... a little strange..."
Before Ankh could wonder, an unprecedented black light emanated from Erza's armor!
At the same time, their hands, which they hadn't released, seemed to connect their magic power; Ankh's vast magic power automatically and slowly flowed into Erza's body!
"How is this possible?"
Seram, who had been silent, seemed startled, and Ankh felt even stranger.
"Why... why can she use Ankh's magic power?!"
Seram screamed in disbelief in Ankh's mind, but Ankh had no time to heed its words.
Because the Erza before him had almost completely changed her appearance.
Her originally smooth and fair skin had begun to turn into a pure black and gold, with even some flowing, luminous silver patterns spreading from head to toe.
Her originally wildly flowing long hair seemed to follow some order, gradually transforming into a gradient of silver and gold, floating in the air like flowing water.
Aside from these physical features, the magic power fluctuations emanating from Erza were rising at rocket speed, wildly increasing.
The originally valiant and heroic female general had, in the blink of an eye, transformed into such a terrifying appearance!
The terrifying oppressive feeling of this magic power was like a mortal facing... a God!
Erza's eyes glowed with divine light, and with an expression devoid of joy or sorrow, she slowly clenched one hand as the light magic approached.
In an instant, a chilling black evil aura shot into the sky; the originally thundering rainy weather was as if splashed with ink, directly dyed black by this evil aura!
And the falling raindrops seemed to have been paused, suspended in the air.
That scene was like ancient officials facing an enraged monarch, trembling and not daring to move... The black energy continuously gathered, and Erza slowly opened her palm, dark magic energy forming a blade.
She slowly raised her hand, aimed at the almost deadly blast fired by Laxus, and gently swung it... A simple action, yet it caused extremely drastic changes.
Laxus's released magic power was directly purged, and that invisible slash in the air, unstoppable, swept everything in front of it clean!
Laxus's eyes instantly filled with terror.
Even with his current magic power, he had no power to retaliate against that invisible sword energy!
His body was violently flung away like a falling leaf, then, with unstoppable force, he smashed through countless giant trees and rocks, finally collapsing onto the ground.
Ankh, watching from the side, was dumbfounded on the spot.
What the heck, with a "whoosh"!
Laxus was instantly killed just like that? Even Ankh couldn't do that with his full power right now!
At this moment, Erza's tight grip on Ankh's hand loosened. Ankh quickly came back to his senses, only to realize that she had returned to her original state and was lying on the ground, motionless.
Ankh quickly knelt down to check on her. A moment later, he gasped in horror.
Erza's magic power was extremely low; if they delayed any longer, her life might be in danger!
"For some unknown reason, she can use your magic power, channeling it through her body to unleash unimaginable strength, but it seems the side effects are severe."
Ankh nodded and quickly picked up Erza in his arms. He still wanted to check on the flung Laxus, but at that moment, a small figure appeared before him.
"Master?"
Makarov, with his small body, laboriously dragged Laxus and said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, Laxus is fine, he was just caught off guard, injured his internal organs, and broke a few bones, that's all."
Hiss... such injuries.
Well, for Laxus, it's just a matter of lying down for a while... he'll recover quickly anyway.
At this point, Makarov looked at Ankh with a strange gaze, then at Erza in his arms, and chuckled strangely:
"I thought you had the best relationship with Mirajane, but I didn't expect you to be even closer with Erza... you can even use a combined magic attack!"
Was Erza's mode just now considered a combined attack?
Ankh remembered that in the original work, wasn't it the fusion destruction magic like Aquarius and Juvia, or Gray and Juvia, that was called combined magic?
Erza transformed, and it became their new ability?
"Combined techniques are very difficult. Besides magic power needing to be compatible, deeper thoughts like personality, mindset, and beliefs must also be unified. I didn't realize, Ankh, that you and Erza had such great synergy..."
Makarov at this moment looked like an old rogue, chuckling mischievously and teasing Ankh.
Ankh, however, was not in the mood to reply to him, because someone else was still incessantly chattering in his head... "What kind of combined technique is that! How high would a normal person's magic power quality need to be to stay in sync with a future God of Life and Death?"
"Only a God can cooperate with a God in an attack, unless..."
Seram's tone gradually softened. Ankh raised an eyebrow, puzzled, and asked, "What, have you thought of something?"
After a moment of silence, Seram's voice was a little hesitant, but he still replied:
"Unless... this girl has the bloodline of a God..."
"Is that possible? Besides the Ankhseram God, are there other Gods?" Ankh asked, widening his eyes in surprise.
"Our predecessors were the most special Gods. Other Gods who were willing to enter the mortal world also existed, but they were particularly few, and even fewer could leave behind a bloodline..."
It seems that in the original work I didn't finish in my previous life, there's probably more about Erza's background.
Erza slept peacefully in Ankh's arms, like an obedient lamb, unwilling to wake up in its warm nest.
At this moment, Ankh suddenly remembered and asked the Master, "Then how will this S-Class Exam be counted? Do we have to retake it?"
Makarov looked up, somewhat surprised, and said directly, "Why would you retake it?"
"Cana was defeated by you, Laxus couldn't defeat your combined technique with Erza, and then Erza collapsed from lack of magic power. You have already passed the exam!"
Ankh's eyelids twitched violently. Is it that hasty?
Did you ask Erza?
Then why make it so troublesome when you go to Tenrou Island for the exam later?!
Actually... Ankh's previous deduction had some errors.
In the Master's mind, this exam wasn't just predetermined for Ankh and Laxus; it was only for Ankh.
The Master clearly saw Laxus's shortcomings; he deliberately wanted him to lose to temper his resolve.
Erza and Cana were too young, and their combat experience was too green; if they were just two years older, they might have passed smoothly.
And Ankh, humble yet powerful, and on good terms with the guild members, was almost the perfect S-Class Mage in Makarov's mind.
It was called the S-Class Exam, but Makarov knew exactly who deserved the position, clear as day.