The power of the Ajeel is unleashed in Chapter 458: Morning Star, but the fairies still gain the upper hand.
Ajeel has yet to display his full strength but Erza pushes him to the limit with a fatal slash of her water sword. In his anger, Ajeel makes a sandstorm that covers the entire town and uses his sand to dry up all the moisture in Erza's body.
By using her Morning Star Armor, Erza provides a light which helps the Jupiter Cannon to aim and hit Ajeel-in what would probably be a fatal shot.
It was an exciting fight but the Brandish reveal took a backseat-and thus, it is anticipated that the next chapter, "Weakness" will feature the other Spriggan now that Ajeel has been taken care of.
The connection with Layla is still a mystery and it might be the key to Lucy's victory-or survival. With a two chapters coming out next week, it seems like the answer will be revealed. In the meantime, here are more possibilities.
Speculation is that Layla is related to Dimaria Yesta of the Spriggan 12, although this is based on their appearance, as user Mystic Mistral of Mangahelpers Forum pointed out:
"I thought so cause of their physical similarities(blonde hair and all that) . And Brandish seems to have a bad taste for Dimaria, which could have originated from the fact that Layla and Dimaria are related (Maybe)."
Also, "It should be pointed out that Dimaria, Lucy, and Layla not only have blonde hair but brown eyes as well."
There is also the angle that Layla is still alive or immortal, and that her power levels may equal Zeref himself. That, or she holds the "Weakness" of the Alvarez Empire.
In the meantime, fans have expressed some "Erza fatigue" at Reddit, from user Sir Samuel 016: "If you look at this way it takes Erza out of the equation for Fairy Tail when fighting other Spriggan. Erza's nakagami armour takes a lot of magical power to use. Throw in the magic she used to create that light in the sandstorm, the magic Ajeel drained from her with his attack and the magic she also used in the fight for other attacks and defending, and she should almost be out,"
How long will Erza stay on the sidelines? What is the "Weakness" pertaining to? Spoilers will be released soon,