For whatever reason, Nashi has decided to face Ankhselam. Thanks to Happy, she was able to get to the western forces fast. Once they got there, Ankhselam stepped forward and Nashi was able to catch his attention.
"How surprising that you actually came out here to face me by yourself." Ankhselam said. Nashi didn't appear to be afraid. She actually seems to know what she's doing.
"What's going on? Who is this girl?" Travis questioned.
"She's actually a special girl from that guild I told you about." Ankhselam said.
"How nice that you think so highly of me...Romero." Nashi said. That actually got on Ankhselam's nerves a little.
"Romero? Who the hell is Romero?" Travis said.
"Is she talking about Lord Ankhselam?" Aelita questioned.
"Romero is a mortal that died long ago. I am the god of life and death." Ankhselam said.
"Well, whoever that is, this girl is crazy to come out here and face us by herself." Travis said. "This shouldn't take too long." He was about to fight her, but Ankhselam held out his arm and stopped his men from doing anything.
"I will take care of this one personally." Ankhselam said.
"Say what? Lord Ankhselam, she's not worthy of your time. Let us handle it." Travis said, but Ankhselam seemed to have ignored him.
"I suggest you move back. Trust me when I say that this young lady is quite powerful." Ankhselam said.
"Very well." Aelita said. "Move back, men! Lord Ankhselam shall clear the path for us!" The soldiers followed their orders and moved back and left the area.
"I know you're after my father. You're not going to get your hands on him." Nashi said.
"Isn't the parent suppose to protect the child, not the other way around? I must admit that I didn't anticipate this." Ankhselam said. "I expected this kind of thing from your father, but not from you."
"Well, I want this war over with as quickly as possible and that means I have to take you down." Nashi said. "That's what I'm going to do!" She didn't wait another second as she charged right at him and drove her fist against his face and knocked him off his feet. Ankhselam didn't expect the power in that attack. Nashi drove her fist against him again with it combusting on impact. Ankhselam slid back from her attack and fought back as he launched a black orb. Nashi avoided the attack and went right at him.
"What?!" Ankhselam said as he was amazed with her speed as well. Nashi drove her fist into his gut and gave it a boost with her flames. Nashi kept smashing her fire attacks at him and Ankhselam was trying to hold it back. Nashi pulled her fist back, but Ankhselam held out his hand and caught it. Both of their magic powers crashed against each other as they tried to push the other back.
"That's it, Nashi! Get him!" Happy cheered.
"Unbelievable. I can't believe this girl is actually challenging Lord Ankhselam." Travis said.
"What amazes me is how this battle is going." Aelita said. Nashi and Ankhselam pushed against each other until an explosion went off and both of them were blown back.
"Impressive, Nashi." Ankhselam said. "I still remember how things went when I faced you and your friends on Tenrou Island. I just had to flex some of my magic power around, fight without even trying. You've come a long way since then. Every time I see you, you're stronger than the last time I saw you."
"I don't need your compliments." Nashi said. "That said, it looks like I was right."
"Right about what?" Ankhselam questioned.
"I came out here to see if I could really bring myself to fight you." Nashi said, but Ankhselam didn't quite get it. "I'll admit that the thought that you were a god did scare me. I doubted myself, but when I heard the truth about you, everything changed. Now that I know what you really are, I know I can bring myself to actually face you. In fact, I'll do more than that. I'm going to bring you down and avenge all the lives you destroyed."
"Are you?" Ankhselam said as he grinned. "Is that really anyway to thank me for what I've done for you?"
"What are you talking about? You never did anything for me." Nashi said.
"Oh, that's right. You don't know the truth yet." Ankhselam said. "I suppose after coming this far, you deserve to know the truth. Let me guess on something first. Zeref is the one leading Fairy Tail, isn't he? He might have been an evil wizard back in his days, but he was a great tactician."
"Maybe. What if he is?" Nashi said. "He also wasn't evil. He just had a hard life and had no choice, but to fall into the dark."
"Well...you wouldn't even know about that if it weren't for me." Ankhselam said. "After all, I'm the one that brought your long lost uncle back to you." Nashi was at a lost for words. Ankhselam was the one that brought Zeref back.
"He brought Zeref back?" Happy saying what Nashi was thinking.
"You brought him back? What do you mean?" Nashi said.
"It would seem Zeref really hasn't told you, or maybe he doesn't quite know himself." Ankhselam said. "It's just what I said. Haven't you wondered how your uncle came back when Mavis and Zeref both met their end during the war with Alvarez? It's because I was the one that did that."
"But how?" Nashi questioned.
"You know the truth about who I use to be. So I suppose I should start with that." Ankhselam said. "It all really ties together. You know about Romero and how he suffered from the mistreatment of Crimson Unicorn."
"I know about it, but what did happen to you after the day you ran away?" Nashi questioned.
"You mean Romero ran away." Ankhselam said. Despite his claims, he remembered all of it like how he had no shelter and tried to live. "After I left that place, I struggled to survive. My whole life back when I was a mortal was nothing, but anguish and despair. I was just a child and no one helped me. I went from one place to the next and I saw people happy, smiling, like there was no real worries in the world. That was when I realized what this world really is. People believe in these foolish ideals such as hope and more, but they don't see how depressing this world really is. Why am I the only one who appears to have suffered like that?"
"The only one? I got news for you! You're not the only one who suffers, but this isn't the answer!" Nashi said. "What does any of this have to do with my uncle?!"
"Where are your manners? I'm getting there." Ankhselam said. "I soon found the place that changed everything for me." He remembers when he found himself at a great library called Magic Library. "Inside this great library, I learned about Zeref and his dark arts. I must admit that rather than being frightened by his tales, I was amazed. I idolized your uncle when I was a mortal. It was then that I decided that I will obtain the same power he held. For years, I trained myself, worked as best as I could to become what you see before you. For years, I developed magic, caused my kingdom and forces to grow, and experimented with the confines of life and death. It took me years before I was finally given the same power that Zeref once had."
"You've been planning all of this for about thirty to forty years?!" Nashi said.
"I can be quite proficient." Ankhselam said.
"And you claimed it took you years to be cursed just like my uncle? How old are you actually?" Nashi said.
"Not really important." Ankhselam said. "You can just imagine how glad I was to finally have the same power as my idol." He remembered how it all was. He remembered the day that it all changed as something came over him and the life near him was completely drained. Birds fell out of the sky, plants died, life around him was gone. Most would have been scared, but he was cheerful. "Along the way, Romero died and I took his place. Romero is no more. I am Ankhselam himself."
"You're insane. You're not a god. You're just pretending to be one." Nashi said. "I still don't see what this has to do with my uncle."
"I'm getting to there. I was just setting the scene so you have a better understanding of what I did." Ankhselam said. "I heard about Zeref and Mavis. You see, I've spent some of those years doing research on everything I can. I've always been a good study and I've traveled around to Ishgar and Alaktiasia, researching public and private information. That's how I learned Natsu was an etherious and about you with much more."
"That would explain how you knew so much." Nashi said.
"Of course! I learned ever detail I could, including what became of Zeref!" Ankhselam said. "I know that Mavis figured out that she can use love to have the curse take both her and Zeref away from this world. As smart as your guild's first master was, even she didn't know what would have happened next. They were both reincarnated and took new identities known as Mio and Arius. Arius was an upcoming writer, a fan of your mother's work, but he had no recollection of being Zeref. I wanted Zeref to aid me in this. So I tracked him down and kidnapped him." He imagined how scared he was when he and his men took him away and kidnapped him. He also remembers him being strapped to a table as he worked on him. "Once I had him, I ran numerous experiments on him."
"Experiments?!" Nashi said as she didn't like the sound of that.
"I intended to restore Zeref to the glory he once had." Ankhselam said. "I attempted to bring back his memories and his power. However, nothing seemed to have worked. I thought for sure I could do it, but I ended up being disappointed." Ankhselam did all he could to Arius, but nothing he tried worked. So he just discarded Arius and thought that was that. "I thought the experiment was a failure, but it seems there was a delayed reaction and his memories were restored. Not what I intended, but Zeref is here once again because of me."
"Yeah..." Nashi said. "You might have brought him back, but he could finally be free from all his suffering! He was free from the torment he's been through and you ruined it for him!"
"It meant you could finally connect with your uncle." Ankhselam said. "You should be grateful things went the way they did. I was planning to have Zeref fight alongside me. The experiment ended up being a failure and I just tossed him aside."
"You monster!" Nashi shouted and Ankhselam saw an opportunity. He used his magic and trapped her in a black orb.
"Nashi!" Happy shouted. Nashi could feel her body being crushed from every direction and she had trouble breathing. The life was being taken right out of her as all her strength was fading fast.
"You were an interesting girl, Nashi. Now, to oblivion with you!" Ankhselam called.
"Nashi!" Happy called as he flew down to try and save her. For a second, Nashi thought she was going to die, but a flash of light appeared in the orb and bust through in the air. It had Nashi and grabbed Happy as well. Ankhselam was actually surprised from what he saw. "Loke?!"
"No time to explain! We're getting out of here!" Loke said as he just disappeared and took both of them with them.
"That was a celestial spirit!" Ankhselam said. "Of course. Her mother uses celestial magic. Still, I'm impressed one came all the way out here. Oh well."
"Lord Ankhselam!" Travis called as he and Aelita went by his side. "What now? Aren't you going to go after her and finish her off?"
"No. We just might get another chance." Ankhselam said.
"So what shall we do now?" Aelita said.
"We keep going." Ankhselam said as he unleashed a dark aura. "We've passed the point of no return. Fairy Tail, your time draws closer and closer." Whether he is a god or not, Ankhselam is going through this until the very end.
