Ultear was stunned into silence by Anselion's sudden shout.
But she quickly recovered, glaring coldly.
"You vile man! You beat me with a dirty trick, and now you're trying to lie to me?!"
Anselion sneered. "Whether you hate your mother or not, you know the truth deep down! Don't tell me you don't want to know what really happened back then."
Ultear slowly calmed her breathing, though her face was still pale with anger.
"Why are you telling me this? What do you want?!"
A clear flame of ambition burned in Anselion's red eyes.
He reached out, lifted Ultear's chin, and said slowly.
"Become my subordinate, and I can help you get what you want."
"Impossible!" Ultear refused immediately.
How could she work for him just because he said so? She had never been truly loyal to Hades, the master of Grimoire Heart, let alone this newcomer!
Anselion laughed coldly. "Do you think you have a choice?"
As he spoke, he activated his magic again.
Ultear's expression changed as the same terrible pain from before rushed through her body.
"AHHHH!!"
She screamed in pain.
The scene became brutal once more.
Anselion showed no pity, his voice turn cold.
"Your life and your freedom are both in my hands!"
Sweat dotted Ultear's forehead.
The veins on her body bulged, and her magic power grew weaker.
"Damn... it..." she whispered, completely drained.
Anselion stood ready to activate the poison again. "Swear loyalty to me or die—choose quickly and stop your suffering!"
Ultear gritted her teeth, her beautiful eyes burning with hatred.
But her reason told her not to anger this man any further.
No matter what, she had to survive!
With that thought, Ultear finally made her choice.
Struggling, she forced her proud head to bow.
She knelt on one knee in a sign of loyalty and whispered, "I choose... to pledge myself to you."
As she said these words, the murderous intent in Ultear's heart grew even stronger.
She desperately wanted to risk it all and kill this man right now!
Anselion didn't care what Ultear was thinking. Hearing her pledge, he was satisfied.
It was normal for Ultear to hate him—he had, after all, used a shameful method against her.
But Anselion felt no guilt. Hadn't she been the one who tried to kill him first? If she wasn't strong enough, she had no one to blame but herself...
Having justified his actions in his mind, Anselion was completely indifferent to Ultear's feelings.
To put it bluntly, he had control over her body first; winning her heart could come later.
There was plenty of time.
And if he couldn't win her heart, it didn't matter. With the poison inside her, he could always...
Anselion helped Ultear up, wearing a faint, ambiguous smile.
"How far along is your plan with Jelal?"
Ultear's heart jumped. She looked at Anselion's smiling face and felt a chill.
He even knew about this...
Using Jelal to carry out the Tower of Heaven plan—the experiment with the R System—was Ultear's main reason for sneaking into the Magic Council.
The fact that Anselion knew this showed he was fully aware of Ultear's intentions and had very detailed information.
The more Ultear thought about it, the more scared she became.
She quickly lowered her head and replied.
"The Tower of Heaven is almost finished. We're just waiting for the right time."
Anselion nodded silently, deep in thought.
Jelal was a troublesome person...
He was a tragic figure, spending most of his life being forced to do bad things and then trying to make up for them—a character who made people feel complicated.
Jelal's plan to use the R System to bring someone back to life by sacrificing living people was something Ankh had once mentioned to his master, Seram.
Seram had been openly dismissive of it.
[Our true form masters the divine power of 'life' and 'death.' The line between life and death is ruled by us.]
[This magic looks like a poor copy of our divine power, resulting in a clumsy mix of it.]
As Seram said, he felt that relying on the power of the R System was beneath him.
Convinced by Seram, Ankh lost interest in pursuing this "cruel" magic.
Mainly, Ankh had no one he wanted to bring back to life, so it would be useless to him anyway...
But aside from his connection to the R System, what worried Anselion more was the location of Nirvana.
Only Jelal knew where it was.
Nirvana was a terrifying weapon that could swap the good and evil in people's hearts.
Anselion did not want it falling into the wrong hands.
Therefore, in what was to come, Jelal absolutely could not be captured by the Oración Seis.
Anselion made up his mind and said to Ultear, "You can continue with your plan. When it's over, use that as a reason to return to Grimoire Heart."
"Remember, don't let anyone know about our connection."
Ultear nodded slightly, a sharp light flashing in her eyes.
Anselion's reason for controlling her was definitely related to Grimoire Heart.
He was planning to move against the guild!
His ambitions were so big, there must be an even greater power behind him...
Maybe even the identity of "Anselion" was fake...
Ultear thought to herself—if she could find out Anselion's true background, she might discover his weakness.
As this idea crossed her mind, the shadow in her heart returned.
Her hand gently touched her chest, where the pain had been moments before...
Ultear refused to believe that a simple poison could control the life of a powerful mage like her.
Seeing Ultear lost in thought, Anselion immediately knew she was plotting something.
Thwack!
He lifted his leg and kicked Ultear on her backside. "What are you scheming now? Haven't you suffered enough?"
Stumbling from the kick, Ultear wore a rare expression of shame and anger.
Just as she opened her mouth to curse, she saw Anselion gathering magic power again...
Ultear wisely chose to obey, roaring in her heart.
'Just you wait—I'll make you pay a thousand times over!'
And so, Anselion more or less successfully made Ultear his subordinate.
Now bound as master and servant, the two began their awkward journey back to the Council...
...
Early the next morning, Ankh, Mirajane, and Erza were ready to leave the royal capital after saying goodbye to the king.
King Toma and Princess Hisui came to the palace gate to see them off.
Princess Hisui looked at Ankh with longing and reluctance.
But Ankh, the person she was staring at, hadn't properly looked at her even once.
Seeing his daughter's disappointed face, Toma coughed awkwardly and asked.
"Ankh-kun, are you sure you won't stay and work in the royal capital? We can offer you any conditions you want."
Ankh shook his head. "Thank you for the offer. I'm very happy at my guild."
Hisui grew anxious, nervously twisting the corner of her dress.
"But if you leave, what will I do if I'm in danger again?"
Ankh almost blurted out 'That's not my problem' but he stopped himself.
After a moment's thought, he crouched down and patted the princess's head.
"Your Highness, relying on others is never as good as becoming strong yourself." he said.
"The royal capital is big, but there are few truly powerful people here. The magical city of Magnolia—that's where I really belong."
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okay it is not a harem and only a single pairing with mirajane, man chill out 😂
but its still gonna take 130 chapter more before there is a romance!