"Victory is already assured? My companions aren't useless, and humanity has plenty of allies besides them."
Since there was no way to escape, Ankh decided he might as well see what information he could draw out of August.
"What about you? Why are you helping demons? You're human, aren't you?"
August's body was somewhat unusual, but he was still undeniably human.
A complicated emotion flashed through the old man's eyes before he answered desolately, "I'm doing this to help my father."
Because Ankh held a uniquely important place in the hearts of both his parents, August apparently felt no need to hide his motives from him.
'His father?'
Ankh quietly used divine power to sense August's age, then roughly calculated how old his parents would have to be.
Good grief.
They would have belonged to the First Master's generation.
Then Ankh suddenly froze and examined the incredibly complex power within August once again.
His vast Magic Power belonged to neither light nor darkness.
He had an exceptional affinity for Great Magic, and both the quantity and quality of his power surpassed any human Ankh had ever encountered.
He also possessed a mind capable of calculating several Great Magic spells at once.
"Your mother wouldn't happen to be Mavis, would she?" Ankh asked the question tentatively.
August's weathered face went rigid, but he offered no answer.
That reaction was enough.
And if Mavis was his mother, then judging by that absurd amount of Magic Power, his father could only be…
The Black Wizard Zeref.
Ankh suddenly felt as though he had wandered into the middle of a deeply dysfunctional family drama.
If the still-living Zeref had ordered August to oversee Tartaros, then the Face plan almost certainly involved far more than simply erasing the continent's Magic Power.
"Would you mind telling me the story of Mavis and Zer—of your parents and yourself?"
August remained silent for a long time.
He studied the curiosity in Ankh's eyes and carefully considered the consequences of revealing the truth.
Then he realized that Ankh might be the one person who could safely know.
First, none of this would affect the current operation.
Whether their plan succeeded or failed, the Black Wizard and his empire would soon act openly and reveal themselves to the world.
August also knew that Zeref held the human god before him in remarkably high regard.
And if Ankh eventually sought Zeref out and questioned him about his son, perhaps that would not be a bad thing.
After all these years, August might finally learn what his father truly felt.
Countless thoughts passed through his mind, but his expression remained calm as still water.
At last, he nodded and began telling Ankh the story of his birth.
...
While a certain troublesome god remained locked in magical detention, curiously listening to an old man recount the tragic tale of Please Love Me Again, Mother and Father, chaos erupted at the Magic Council.
The moment the councilors received the location Ankh had transmitted, their eyes nearly popped from their sockets.
A gigantic red marker was racing across the display at incredible speed.
That meant an island-sized object was traveling through the sky like a meteor.
How were they supposed to catch it and send reinforcements?
Because the Magic Council had recently been divided into regional branches, the eastern Council required authorization and assistance from the western Council before using dangerous long-range annihilation weapons.
But the western Council had gone completely silent ever since the demon uprising began.
With no other choice, the councilors prepared to send troops through alternative magical technology.
Makarov was already frantic over two of his children being trapped inside the enemy's headquarters when he saw Council personnel wheel an enormous magical machine up from beneath the building.
The assembled guild masters and their strongest mages stared at the piece of incomprehensible technology.
Ur quickly explained its purpose.
Seven years ago, the parallel world of Edolas had used Anima to transfer Ishgar's Magic Power into its own world.
Using the principles behind that phenomenon, the Council had built an experimental device capable of dropping people anywhere on the continent.
With this machine, reinforcements could be transported to any location in Ishgar almost instantly.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Erza, desperate to reach Ankh, immediately raised an arm and led the charge toward the machine covered in intricate magical patterns.
Mirajane, Laxus, and the other Fairy Tail members quickly followed.
Hyberion hurriedly stopped them.
"This device is still experimental! It requires time to recharge after every activation, and each transfer can carry only a little over twenty people. We need to organize an advance unit—"
"There's no time. Just send the strongest people first!"
The guild leaders immediately crowded around the councilors and swiftly decided who would be placed in the first few teams.
The advance force would include Fairy Tail's S-Class mages, along with Gray, Gajeel, and several others.
They would be joined by Sabertooth's five strongest members, Kagura from Mermaid Heel, Jura from Lamia Scale, as well as Lyon, Sherria, and several more elite mages.
The main force would follow aboard the Magic Council's magical bombardment fleet.
Ichiya and Blue Pegasus would deploy the Christina and lead elite teams from the remaining guilds.
The Four Gods of Ishgar, however, had to travel ahead to the northern border with Guiltina.
Reports had just arrived from the front lines that Guiltina had learned of the demonic chaos in Ishgar and had begun moving its army south.
Hyberion looked solemnly at the first wave preparing to confront Tartaros.
"We place Ishgar's fate in your hands. Stop Face, defeat Tartaros, and prevent the internal uprising and the northern invasion from tearing this continent apart!"
"So we just finish everything before they reach the border, right?"
Cramped inside the teleportation device, Gray confidently raised a thumb.
Gajeel cracked his knuckles and shouted toward Levy in the crowd, "Don't worry! I'll take care of everything!"
Laxus glanced toward Makarov, whose face was filled with concern.
He quietly lowered his gaze and said nothing.
The advance force vanished in a surge of powerful Magic Power.
Makarov watched them disappear with a deeply troubled expression.
Warrod gently patted his shoulder.
"The magical world belongs entirely to the new generation now. We old men simply have to do what remains for us."
Makarov silently nodded.
He watched the Council's support staff work frantically to recharge the machine for its next activation and repeated one thought within his heart.
'They'll win.'
'Just as we always have.'
...
Meanwhile, atop Cube, a thunderous explosion erupted from a bunker engulfed in flames.
A battered figure was blasted out of the structure and crashed into the ground.
Natsu pushed himself upright, breathing heavily, and stared at the three demonic officers standing before him.
Behind them stretched an army of demons so vast that he could not see its end.
"That's quite a welcome," Natsu said, grinning despite his injuries. "Looks like I'm going to get one hell of a fight."
Happy struggled to lift the battered Natsu into the air, nearly crying from panic.
"Natsu, we need to retreat! There are way too many of them!"
"No way!"
"Oh? You won't run?" Kyoka walked toward him, malice pouring from her entire body. "Then you can leave your corpse here."
She was about to finish off the reckless human when a strange doorway suddenly opened in the air behind him.
"Ow!"
A large group of people came tumbling out of it in a tangled heap.
Natsu focused his eyes.
Every one of them was familiar.
Fairy Tail, Sabertooth, Mermaid Heel, Lamia Scale…
The slight urge to retreat that had begun creeping into his mind vanished instantly.
Natsu turned toward the stunned Kyoka and the other demons, then raised his voice with arrogant delight.
"Now you're the ones who should be running!"