At this moment, in the brightly lit underground casino of the Arcadia Resort, Erza and Lucy were sitting at a high-stakes gambling table.
They were enthusiastically guessing cards, surrounded by a small crowd of onlookers.
In the laws of the Fiore Kingdom, gambling had always been legalized and regulated. It seemed that in the eyes of Fiore's people, the concept of being addicted to gambling didn't exist at all.
Almost no one was hooked on gambling culture—everyone was remarkably rational, treating it purely as a recreational pastime.
This was completely different from Earth, where lives were ruined by addiction.
Here, it was just a game.
Though no one knew the reason for this cultural difference, it made for a much more pleasant atmosphere.
Erza and Lucy were just here for entertainment. However, beginner's luck was clearly in play. In no time, the usually disciplined Erza had already won several rounds in a row, amassing a towering stack of chips.
"Black Queen!" Erza declared, flipping her card.
"Wow! Another win!" Lucy cheered.
Ankh finally found the two girls amidst the noise and approached them from behind, weaving through the slot machines.
"You had me searching all over," Ankh said, leaning on the back of Erza's chair. "So you're here, fleecing the house."
Lucy smiled and greeted him, "Ankh! Perfect timing! Erza has won five rounds in a row! She's on fire!"
Erza crossed her arms confidently, her armor clanking softly.
She proudly declared, "I never knew I had such talent for probability. From now on, call me the Gambling Saint! And i shall conquer the casinos of Fiore!"
Ankh and Lucy exchanged a glance while sweating slightly.
"Yeah, sure, sure..." Ankh muttered.
'Please don't. We don't need another maniac.'
Just then, a tremendous roar came from outside the casino walls, shaking the entire hall. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the chandeliers swayed violently.
RUMBLE...
Erza nearly dropped her cards and grumbled, looking around.
"What's going on? That sounded heavy."
Lucy clutched the table fearfully. "Could it be an earthquake? We are underground..."
A staff member in a mascot costume nearby looked toward the exit, muttering to himself, "Is it the float parade? They usually start at nine... maybe they started early?"
Hearing the staff's murmur, Erza didn't pay it any more mind, returning her focus to the game.
Lucy, however, remained uneasy.
What kind of float parade could cause such a commotion? Is this a parade or a demolition crew?
Unbeknownst to them, Ankh's expression had hardened.
A faint red glow shimmered in his crimson eyes for a split second.
Seram quickly relayed the situation outside to Ankh.
[The exhibitionist and the rain girl were attacked by a man with square hair. The annoying pink-haired kid is currently being controlled by a cube-headed guy.]
Hearing the nicknames, Ankh couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
Exhibitionist (Gray), Rain Girl (Juvia), Pink-Haired Kid (Natsu)...
Ankh quickly processed the information. These attackers were likely Erza's former companions from her Tower of Heaven days.
They were probably sent by Jellal to capture Erza for the R-System ritual.
'Square hair... that must be Wally Buchanan.'
'Cube head... Simon.'
Ankh knew these companions weren't bad at heart. Though they were a bit muddle-headed, traumatized, and their intelligence was somewhat lacking due to Jellal's manipulation, they weren't Ankh's enemies.
In fact, even Jellal wasn't the main target of this trip for Ankh. His goal was the bigger picture.
"Straight flush! Erza, you're amazing!" Lucy's surprised exclamation suddenly pulled Ankh's attention back to the table.
Erza closed her eyes and laughed triumphantly, tossing her hair back. "With my luck today, I feel like I can win no matter what. Bring on the next challenger!"
The dealer scratched his head, looking troubled by Erza's continuous wins.
Soon, someone came to relieve him.
"Dealer change," a voice announced.
The previous dealer quickly stepped down, wiping sweat from his brow, making way for the replacement.
The new dealer was young, wearing a hood that obscured his face. He immediately showed off various card flourishes, shuffling the deck with unnatural speed and skill.
Ankh simply watched him quietly, observing his movements without any change in expression. He recognized that aura.
Erza, feeling particularly confident at the moment, smiled at Lucy and said, "No matter who deals now, I think I can win! Let's double the bet!"
"In that case..."
The dealer sneered, his voice dripping with malice.
"Let's play something special."
Swiftly, he flung five cards across the felt table.
They landed perfectly in front of Erza—each marked with a letter instead of a suit.
D. E. A. T. H.
Spelled out, they formed the word "DEATH."
Erza instantly grasped the cards' meaning.
She looked up angrily at the person across from her, her hand instinctively going to her sword hilt.
"Let's bet with our lives, Erza-nee."
The young man pulled back his hood.
He grinned widely, his messy golden hair framing a face with a distinctive tattoo near the mouth.
His eyes were wide with a mix of affection and madness.
Erza froze as she stared at the youth in disbelief, her breath catching in her throat.
"You're... Sho?"
Sho narrowed his eyes and smiled, spreading his arms. "Long time no see, Nee-sam. You look... comfortable."
Erza still seemed doubtful, unable to hide her shock.
She stood up slowly. "So you... are unharmed? You're alive?"
Sho let out a scornful laugh, his gaze fixed intensely on Erza as his features twisted into a snarl.
"Unharmed? Alive? How could you possibly think that? After you abandoned us to rot in that hell?"
Ankh watched the agitated Sho and interjected calmly, stepping between them.
"State your purpose for seeking out Erza. If you're here to gamble, sit down. If not, speak."
Sho completely ignored Ankh, as if he hadn't heard him.
He continued staring down Erza with a condescending tone, ignoring the dangerous mage standing inches away.
This irritated Ankh. Being ignored is annoying.
But just then, the lights in the entire hall suddenly went out!
CLICK.
Total darkness descended and screams erupted from the casino patrons.
In the darkness, Ankh's eyes glowed as he saw everything.
Sho darted around wildly, casting Magic on innocent bystanders, trapping them inside magical cards with flashes of light.
Soon, the hall brightened again.
Sho reappeared behind the group, leaning casually against a pillar.
He smugly tossed the cards containing the trapped victims onto the floor right in front of them—showing off a bit too much.
'This guy really knew how to put on a show...' Ankh thought, feeling exasperated.
'He's trying too hard to be a villain.'
Ankh had clearly seen Sho's movements in the dark but chose not to intervene yet.
He needed to gauge their strength and intent.
'This dumbass seemed a bit unhinged.'
Hearing the muffled cries for help from inside the cards, Erza gasped in surprise. "People trapped in cards? Is this Magic? What have you done, Sho?"
Sho held up a card with a crying woman trapped inside and grinned.
"Surprised? I can use Magic now too, nee-san. I'm not the weak little boy you left behind."
Lucy was about to pull Erza aside to ask what was happening when a pink magic circle suddenly appeared beneath her feet.
"Binding Tube!"
"Kyaa!"
A highly elastic, glowing rope shot out from the circle!
"Energy is the best! Nya!"
The rope bound Lucy tightly, constricting her arms and legs instantly.
The culprit, a girl dressed in a cat costume with cat ears and a tail, sat perched on a nearby roulette table. She waved cheerfully at Erza.
"Long time no see, Erza! Meow!"
This was Millianna, the cat-lover.
Ankh glanced at Lucy, then immediately averted his gaze out of politeness.
He turned his cold stare to Millianna.
"Release Lucy. Now!" Ankh commanded, his voice dropping an octave.
Sho scoffed, finally glancing at Ankh with disdain.
"Who are you to order us around? nee-san, aren't we your real companions? What? After betraying us, you're hanging out with people like this?!"
Erza's expression shifted dramatically—not because Sho's words had hurt her, though they stung, but because...
BAM!
Less than a second after Sho's arrogant rant, his face was met with a heavy iron fist!
Ankh had moved faster than Sho could track.
He raised his arm and delivered an uppercut that connected solidly with Shou's jaw.
"Gah!"
The scrawny youth was sent flying backward, crashing into a slot machine.
"Sho!" Millianna screamed.
"Kitty Restraint Tube!" Millianna, startled and panicked, quickly cast her magic toward Ankh.
Restraining ropes immediately shot toward Ankh like snakes.
However, Ankh didn't dodge.
Instead, he grabbed the ropes with his bare hands. With a sharp tug, he yanked Millianna off the table.
He then used the very ropes meant for him to tightly bind the dazed Sho, wrapping him like a mummy in seconds.
THUD.
Ankh knocked Sho to the ground with a kick, planting his boot firmly on the boy's chest.
Among the companions from Erza's youth, Sho's personality was particularly unpleasant to Ankh.
In the anime, his behavior was willful, childish, and emotionally manipulative, nearly causing trouble for Erza at every turn.
Since Ankh had no emotional connection to him, he took the opportunity to physically subdue this reckless youth for Erza, who was clearly too shocked and reluctant to do it herself.
Ankh pressed his foot down harder.
The immense gravity pressure made it hard for Sho to breathe.
Sho's face turned purple from suffocation as he clawed uselessly at Ankh's boot.
"Urgh... let... go..."
"You little brat," Ankh snarled, leaning down. "Speak properly to Erza! Swallow all that sarcastic crap back down your throat! If you accuse her of betrayal one more time without knowing the truth, I will crush your ribs."
Since Ankh wasn't familiar with these individuals personally, he couldn't be bothered to care about their feelings or their tragic backstories right now.
He decisively sided with Erza without a second thought.
Moreover, resolving misunderstandings often only takes a word or two if people would just listen.
Yet, following the clichéd plot developments, there are always fools shouting, 'I won't listen! I won't listen! You betrayed us!' making the situation more difficult than it needs to be.
"Fortunately," Ankh muttered, grinding his heel slightly, "as a master mediator, I know how to make people listen."
---------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator