User blog comment:IamJakuhoRaikoben/Chapter 452: The Prelude to the Final Battle, Review./@comment-26451407-20150916094940/@comment-1153699-20150916103433

I don't think so. August is a lot stronger than the Spriggans, sure. But so are Laxus and Gildarts (if he trained hard enough).

2nd in commands and sometimes even the bosses of almost every arc tend to be around Laxus's level (Bluenote, Mard, Zero, Jura, Future Rogue). So it makes sense that top dogs like Laxus or Gildarts will be the ones to take him down.