Chapter 587 - 587: From Hatred to Forgiveness

"...Yes, that's right. We found Millianna and the others. This place seems to be some kind of mining complex."

After finally managing to stop Kagura from charging in to settle things herself, Jellal contacted Ankh again and explained their exact location.

Once the call ended, he turned to the other three and let out a relieved breath.

"They're already heading here from Black Moon Mountain. They should arrive soon."

Between Ankh, Selene, Happy, and all the different teleportation and high-speed travel methods available to them, the journey shouldn't take long.

Kagura, however, clearly couldn't sit still for even another minute.

She pushed herself upright with one hand on her sheathed sword, her expression dark.

"Then I'll go in first and restrain everyone inside."

"No."

Jellal stopped her without hesitation.

"Until Ankh arrives, anything we do risks alerting them. If even one person escapes, word could spread and compromise the entire operation."

As the leader of Crime Sorcière, Jellal had spent years dismantling dark organizations from the shadows. He understood better than most how important it was to plan before acting.

And this time, the people involved were members of legal guilds—friends and comrades who had been taken against their will.

They couldn't afford a mistake.

Jellal reached out and caught Kagura by the wrist.

To everyone's surprise, the normally calm and composed swordswoman suddenly tore herself free.

Her eyes were red.

Her body trembled uncontrollably.

Then both hands seized the front of Jellal's clothes as she dragged him closer.

"Don't stand there pretending to be the reasonable one, Jellal!"

Her voice was low and hoarse, anger shaking through every word.

Jellal stumbled backward under the force of it.

He looked into Kagura's furious eyes as though he wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.

"P-Please, Kagura-san, calm down…"

Ichiya and Bacchus exchanged nervous looks before cautiously inching closer, both clearly wanting to intervene while also having no desire to physically step between them.

Kagura stared at Jellal's lowered, silent face.

For some reason, his refusal to defend himself only made the anger inside her burn hotter.

Her grip tightened.

"You know what's happening to Millianna and the others right now, don't you?"

Jellal was quiet for a moment.

Then he answered softly,

"They're being controlled."

"Yes!"

Kagura's chest rose and fell sharply.

"Exactly! They're being controlled!"

She looked ready to explode, making Bacchus and Ichiya even more uneasy.

Yet after several breaths, Kagura slowly released Jellal's collar.

She forced herself to control the violent emotion tearing through her, and when she spoke again, her voice had regained much of its usual calm.

"Controlled…"

She looked directly at him.

"Just like you were back then."

Jellal froze.

He raised his head in surprise.

Kagura's expression had gone distant.

She bent down, picked up the sword she had dropped during her outburst, and quietly said,

"My brother told me something before."

"He already forgave you."

Jellal's expression became complicated.

Simon.

If Ankh hadn't intervened back then, Jellal might truly have killed him with his own hands.

"But I still hated you."

Kagura's fingers tightened around the sheath.

"You caused my brother to spend half his life suffering. Because of you, we almost never saw each other again."

"Whenever I saw you, I couldn't control that hatred. I wanted to kill you and avenge him."

Her voice softened.

"But while chasing you…"

"I also saw what you and the others were doing for this continent."

Kagura turned away and stared toward the entrance of the cave.

When she and Millianna had first begun hunting Jellal, revenge had been all either of them cared about.

But over time, Kagura had also been forced to confront who Jellal actually was after escaping the control that had twisted him.

Kind.

Gentle.

Fiercely protective of his companions.

If dark forces had never manipulated and corrupted him, Jellal might have spent his entire life as one of the most admired mages on the continent.

Instead, fate had turned him into a weapon and then left him to carry the guilt.

Unable to return fully to the light, he had devoted his life to an endless road of atonement.

Kagura, at least, had eventually regained her family.

She still hated what Jellal had done to Simon and Millianna back then.

But the murderous intent she once carried had gradually faded, and much of her anger had gone with it.

Today, however, seeing Millianna and the others had torn that old wound open again.

Her most precious companions were now standing on the edge of becoming the next Jellal—forced to commit acts completely opposed to their true, compassionate nature, only to wake later and bear the guilt for crimes they had never willingly chosen.

"About the past…"

Kagura finally spoke.

"If my brother has already let it go, then I won't try to kill you anymore."

She paused.

"I'm sorry."

Then she gripped her sword more firmly and looked toward the cave with absolute determination.

"But don't stop me."

"You've lived through this yourself, so you should understand better than anyone."

"I don't want my friends to wake up one day and discover that they've become what you became."

Her voice trembled for only a moment.

"I don't want them walking an endless road of atonement for things they never truly chose to do."

With that, Kagura planted one hand on her sword and rushed into the cave without another word, disappearing into the sprawling underground tunnels.

Outside, silence fell.

Ichiya and Bacchus stared at one another.

The two of them had just witnessed an unexpectedly emotional reconciliation that clearly meant a great deal to both people involved.

Unfortunately, neither of these two muscle-brained men had fully followed all of it.

Bacchus scratched his head and glanced cautiously toward Jellal.

"So…"

He hesitated.

"Are we helping?"

Ichiya immediately struck one of his usual flamboyant poses.

"Naturally! We cannot allow Kagura-san to face an entire army alone!"

"That's right."

Jellal suddenly spoke.

He lifted his head.

The darkness that usually lingered in his expression had faded, replaced by a warm smile that inspired a strange sense of security.

"Yeah…"

His voice was quiet.

"How could I stand by and let more people become like me?"

Without another moment of hesitation, Jellal followed Kagura into the underground complex.

Bacchus and Ichiya hurried after him.

Before Ankh and the others arrived—

they would handle as much as they could themselves.

...

The natural cave opened into an enormous artificial mining network that twisted deeper and deeper beneath Elentear.

The underground space was vast.

Countless gaunt laborers worked beneath dim light, sweat pouring from their bodies as they swung pickaxes into the rock and pushed heavy carts through tunnels that seemed to stretch endlessly into the darkness.

"Move faster, old man!"

Millianna's cute, catlike face showed open impatience.

Her magic formed a binding tube in her hand, and she lashed it mercilessly across the back of an elderly man struggling to push a cart.

The old man cried out in pain.

Whiteout Magic did not erase personality or memory.

What it changed was the victim's standards of behavior—the rules by which they judged what they were willing to do.

Millianna still loved cats.

She was still intelligent and rational.

But the compassion that would normally have made her protect the weak no longer influenced her actions.

And she wasn't alone.

Members of Mermaid Heel stood throughout the mine, alongside mages from several other guilds.

All of them behaved the same way, casually abusing the exhausted workers whenever they slowed down.

Cries of pain echoed constantly through the underground chambers.

Then Kagura rushed into the mine.

The moment she saw what was happening, every trace of hesitation disappeared from her eyes.

Her hand closed around the hilt of her sword.

The blade never left its sheath.

She didn't need it to.

Kagura charged straight toward the companions she once fought beside and swung without hesitation.

"ALL OF YOU—WAKE UP!"