Erza wrapped her arms around Ankh's arm and Ankh immediately felt strong pressure.
Ankh tilted his head and looked at Erza's blushing face in astonishment.
'Ah, this...'
It had been so long since he'd seen this soft and adorable side of Erza.
'My sister couldn't possibly be this cute!'
In Ankh's impression, Erza had always been a child who acted like a grown-up, only occasionally acting cute with Ankh when she was little.
After growing up, she basically endured all hardships herself, carried all burdens alone without a word, making people feel nothing but pity for her.
Fortunately, Ankh knew about Erza's experiences from the original story, so from childhood to adulthood, he had always been finding ways to heal the psychological wounds in Erza's heart.
'But most importantly, it was Jelal's presence and the Tower of Heaven...'
A cold glint flashed in Ankh's eyes.
Nirvana's location on the continent remained unknown.
The only way to pinpoint them accurately was to use Jelal as a human tracking device.
If not for this reason, who knows how Ankh would have settled the scores with Jelal...
Ankh raised his hand, gazing at the smooth, vibrant crimson hair, and began caressing her head with fond admiration.
Erza slightly narrowed her eyes, her tightly knit brows finally relaxing as a serene smile graced her lips.
Only with her brother could Erza rediscover that long-lost sense of dependence in her heart.
Over the years, though she had maintained the image of a dignified queen in front of everyone, the constant effort had gradually worn her down.
Erza clung to Ankh's arm, suddenly finding the position uncomfortable, so she simply lay down on his lap, comfortably enjoying his attentions.
And so, she reclined right there on the steps before the gate.
Ankh paid no mind, the warm sensation from his embrace continuously flowing through him as he remained engrossed in stroking her head, much like pampering a cat.
Ankh suddenly felt playful, twirling a strand of crimson hair and tickling Erza's ear, teasing her like a kitten.
Erza shrunk her neck slightly, softly humming as she endured Ankh's antics, though she couldn't suppress a smile at the corner of her mouth.
Relying on someone like this... didn't seem so bad after all...
Erza stretched her snow-white neck and asked softly, "How long will you stay this time?"
Ankh shook his head and replied, "If nothing unexpected happens, I won't be taking any long-term missions for quite a while."
With the plotline beginning to unfold, the guild would face one challenge after another, and Ankh needed to stay to oversee the bigger picture.
Erza felt a secret joy in her heart and quickly suggested.
"Then why not join us on a mission? There's a tricky task—Natsu, Gray, and I have formed a team. With you added, it would truly be the guild's strongest team!"
The hand on her crimson hair paused for a moment as Ankh nodded thoughtfully.
'The strongest team, huh...'
In the original storyline, with the two cats included, Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and later Wendy, they formed the original strongest team.
But in reality, the only one bearing the title of "strongest" in the team was Erza, the guild's most powerful female Mage.
The others weren't even S-Class Mages.
However, looking at the team as a whole, they were indeed much stronger than the other teams in the guild.
Above the strongest team, the only formidable squad was Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe.
An ultra S-Class leading three A-Class Mages, while the strongest team had one S-Class leading two quasi S-Class and two B-Class members with immense potential.
Overall, the gap wasn't too wide, especially once Lucy and Wendy grew stronger—the strongest team's overall power would surely surpass Laxus's side.
And if Ankh joined this team, this outcome would arrive even sooner.
"Alright then, I'll temporarily team up with you," Ankh nodded in agreement.
Erza delightedly narrowed her beautiful large eyes, her charming face looking even more adorable...
"What mission did you take?" Ankh lazily propped himself up, his hand mischievously playing with Erza's earlobe.
"Ah..."
Erza felt half of her face tingling and couldn't help but let out a soft cry.
Her face instantly flushed red as she hurriedly pulled Ankh's hand away in flustered annoyance, glaring at him with puffed cheeks.
Ankh smiled awkwardly, while Erza's expression shifted back into her stern queen mode as she began speaking seriously.
"It's about the Dark Guild Eisenwald. They seem to be planning to use a magic called Lullaby to commit evil deeds."
Ankh nodded.
Of course, he was feigning ignorance—he hadn't forgotten this part of the plot.
The Dark Guild Eisenwald intended to cause chaos using a magic flute named Lullaby, but Erza happened to overhear their plans.
Cautious by nature, Erza decided to investigate... which essentially meant raiding Eisenwald's headquarters, and she specifically brought along Natsu and Gray for the task.
But Ankh knew that Eisenwald's members would appear before Erza could take action, causing quite a bit of trouble for Natsu and the others.
A contemplative gleam appeared in Ankh's eyes.
This incident occurred early in the original storyline and wasn't considered a major event, so Ankh likely wouldn't encounter any powerful opponents.
That guy Erigor was a wind Mage with considerable potential, but he was definitely no match for Ankh.
The Life God Power stored within Ankh's body had reached a bottleneck.
He urgently needed a strong opponent to battle, someone who could help him break through this barrier.
Laxus and Makarov were out of the question—they were allies, and neither would go all out to fight to the death.
Thus, Ankh had no choice but to seek opponents outside their circle.
Erigor was merely an early-stage boss, incapable of putting any real pressure on Ankh.
Though somewhat disappointed, Ankh still decided to accompany Erza and the others to check things out.
In this incident, the enemy's ultimate goal was to use Lullaby to curse and kill the Guild Masters attending the annual guild master meeting, aiming to cause a major upheaval in the magic world.
Although the strongest team would ultimately prevent this from happening, even if Eisenwald succeeded, Ankh doubted it would actually harm the Guild Masters.
Cursing or judgment-based magic often came with complex, even harsh, conditions for killing an enemy.
For instance, Fairy Law would only strike down those the caster held hostility toward—otherwise, it would fail and consume an enormous amount of Magic Power instead.
Laxus was a prime example of this during the Fairytail civil war...
Then there was Ankh's "Terror," which required the enemy to harbor fear toward Ankh in their heart—otherwise, it would have no effect.
But Lullaby's activation condition was far too simple: just play it, and anyone who heard it would die...
This was utterly absurd.
If the caster didn't pay some kind of price for it, Ankh wouldn't believe it even if he was beaten to death.
The old-timers that Master Makarov associated with might look comical, but they were terrifying figures who had honed their skills over lifetimes—they were far from simple.
So even if Eisenwald managed to sound Lullaby, it might not work.
Makarov and the others could very well crush them outright...