— — — — — — —
"Oh, you guys made it. Good work."
Uchiha Kitaro smiled as he greeted them.
"Kitaro, this is bad! Less than ten minutes from now, the Magic Council is going to fire the Etherion at this place!"
Kitaro nodded, "I see. No need to panic, I'll send you all away first."
Everyone was stunned by his words.
"Send us away? How?"
They were all baffled by what Kitaro had just said.
"Just hold onto each other's arms," he instructed, not bothering to explain further.
They did as told, linking arms.
Kitaro placed his hand on Gray's shoulder.
Gray looked at him seriously and said, "Kitaro, Erza went to fight Jellal."
"Don't worry. I'll make sure she gets out safe and sound."
Whoosh—!!!
In the blink of an eye, they vanished. When they reappeared, they were standing near the resort hotel.
---
"This is… Akane Beach?!"
"No way!"
"Weren't we just at the Tower of Heaven?!"
"How did we get to Akane Beach all of a sudden?!"
Everyone was in shock, even Lucy. She had seen Kitaro use teleportation magic before, but she never imagined he could teleport such a vast distance in an instant.
When she explained that Kitaro had teleportation magic, the others were left speechless. This was beyond insane.
They had already witnessed Kitaro use too many different magic abilities—vibration, flight, water, fire, that terrifying skeleton magic… and now teleportation too?!
Was there anything this monster couldn't do?
Crash!
Jellal knocked over a chess piece from his board. "Tch, even after gathering so many forces, the game still ended so soon."
"Is playing with people's lives really that fun?" a voice asked from behind him.
"Of course, it is. Life and death are the ultimate sources of emotion. On the other hand, there's nothing more dull or empty than life itself. It's been a while, Erza."
Jellal turned around to face her.
"Honestly, I already let you and your friends go. Why did you have to come back?"
"Sure, I made them work as slaves for eight years, but I paid them fairly. I taught them magic and provided great treatment. How is that any different from the mages of Fairy Tail?"
Erza was furious. "Shameless! I have never heard anyone justify their cruelty so elegantly before. Jellal, you've only become more despicable."
Sho and the others had trusted Jellal all these years, yet he showed no remorse at all. Instead, he had the audacity to act as if he was merciful.
"Cruelty? The ones who got deceived were at fault for being so naive. Their stupidity allowed me to manipulate them. Now that the Tower of Heaven is complete, I no longer need to deceive those pathetic fools. In that sense, I'd say I was actually quite kind." Jellal just smiled.
Erza said, "Even though it's going to be destroyed in less than ten minutes?"
"You mean the Etherion? Heh…"
Erza was shocked, "You're so calm… so it's all just an act, huh?"
Jellal shook his head, "No… the Etherion is really going to be fired. You're destined to die as a sacrifice to Zeref. That's a fate you cannot change."
"Seven minutes left. Seven minutes until Etherion strikes. Let's make the most of it."
Jellal unleashed a massive surge of dark energy, forming shadowy wraiths that lunged at Erza.
Erza swiftly dodged, moving at high speed to evade their attacks before closing in on Jellal.
"Flame Breathing: First Form—Unknowing Fire!!!"
Slash—!!!
The shadowy wraiths were all cut down in an instant.
Jellal leaned backward, narrowly avoiding her strike.
"Flame Breathing: Second Form—Rising Scorching Sun!!!"
Erza dashed forward, swinging her sword in an upward arc.
Slash—!!!
A fiery slash erupted from her blade.
Jellal quickly sidestepped to dodge.
Boom—!!!
His chair and the wall behind him were obliterated.
"Flame Breathing: Third Form—Blazing Universe!!!"
Erza leaped into the air, her sword blazing as she slashed downward.
Jellal jumped back just in time.
Boom—!!!
Her sword strike shattered the floor.
"Damn you!"
Jellal's expression twisted. He hadn't expected Erza to be this strong. Not only were her techniques flawless, but her attacks were insanely powerful.
He couldn't let her keep up this offensive. If he wasn't careful, she could actually kill him.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!!!
Jellal gathered magic power in his hands and released another swarm of shadowy wraiths, attacking from all directions.
"Flame Breathing: Fourth Form—Blooming Flame Undulation!!!"
Erza spun her sword in a swirling blaze, forming a vortex of fire. Every last wraith that touched the flames was instantly vaporized.
"What?! Is this really that Erza?!"
"Flame Breathing: Fifth Form—Flame Tiger!!!"
Erza lunged at Jellal, her slash forming a blazing fire tiger that roared toward him.
Boom—!!!
"Arghhh!!!"
Jellal was sent flying, crashing through pillar after pillar before finally coming to a stop.
"Gah!"
Jellal couldn't believe it. Erza's strength was unreal. Was this really the same Erza he once knew? When did she become so terrifyingly strong?
Shing!
Erza pointed her blazing sword at Jellal's throat.
"Speak! What is your true objective?!"
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