Chapter 625 - 625: Greed's Plunder

Jellal's eyes narrowed when he noticed the fox-patterned Divine Ring on Ennie's finger.

"Everyone, be careful! She's wearing one of the rings!"

"Damn it! Why can't I move any faster?!"

Sawyer was still struggling against the restriction imposed by Ennie's Rule World.

No matter how much Magic Power he poured into his legs, his body refused to accelerate. Every attempt to use his speed-enhancing magic produced the same humiliating result: he could move no faster than an ordinary person.

"Leave her to me!"

Sorano immediately activated her Take Over Magic.

Angel Soul.

A pair of pure-white wings spread from her back, and she launched herself toward Ennie. Soft, radiant light gathered between her palms, carrying the unmistakable purifying properties of angelic power.

Ennie glanced at the approaching woman.

Then she spoke calmly.

"Requip: Armor of Ruin."

Black armor materialized around her slender body.

At the same time, a horrifying weapon appeared in her hand—a long, sinister blade with several eyeballs embedded in its hilt.

Sorano instinctively flinched at the grotesque sight.

Ennie swung the Blade of Ruin.

Dark magical energy poured from its edge, corrupting the surrounding space as it spread outward.

Sorano's angelic light met the darkness head-on.

The two opposing forces began devouring one another, filling the area between them with violent fluctuations of light and shadow.

"I've got you!"

Erik charged in from the side.

Dark-red dragon scales spread across his cheeks and arms, and his fingers transformed into powerful claws.

He caught Ennie's blade between his claws and forcibly wrenched it away from Sorano, preventing her from continuing the attack.

Then he drove his free fist straight toward Ennie's face.

Ennie reacted instantly.

Her seemingly delicate hand shot forward and caught his punch.

The sheer speed of her movement surprised Erik. He hadn't expected an alchemist who looked like an ordinary woman to possess such extraordinary reflexes.

But the surprise lasted only a moment.

A malicious smile spread across his face.

"Got you."

Purple-red venom began flowing from his dragon claws.

The poison spread from the point of contact, crawling rapidly up Ennie's arm. Within seconds, nearly half her body had turned a sickly dark violet.

Erik was just about to mock her for carelessly grabbing a Poison Dragon Slayer when his ears suddenly twitched.

Something was wrong.

His expression changed.

He immediately pulled his hand away and turned toward Sawyer.

"SAWYER! GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Huh?"

Sawyer looked thoroughly confused.

He hadn't even touched Ennie. Why was Erik shouting at him?

Before he could ask, however, his face abruptly drained of color.

His knees buckled.

With a dull thud, he collapsed onto the floor.

Dark purple discoloration spread across his skin, while blackened veins bulged and pulsed beneath the surface.

The symptoms were unmistakable.

He had been poisoned.

"Erik's poison?!"

Sorano hurried toward the fallen Sawyer and began channeling purifying light into his body.

As she worked to neutralize the venom, she recognized its magical signature.

Her expression filled with disbelief.

She turned toward Erik.

"That's your poison!"

Erik's face had already darkened.

He stared at Ennie with undisguised hostility, but he no longer dared release another drop of venom from his claws.

Somehow, the attack he had used against her had ended up poisoning one of his own companions.

"Spatial Distortion!"

Macbeth immediately extended one hand.

His Reflector Magic activated, twisting the space around Ennie.

The black Armor of Ruin warped violently, its plates bending and folding in impossible directions until the entire suit was compressed around her body.

Ennie was trapped.

Ultear followed without hesitation.

She raised her hands into the familiar stance of a molding mage.

"Ice-Make: Ice Rose!"

An enormous rose of ice rapidly formed around Ennie.

Layer upon layer of crystalline petals closed over the distorted armor, encasing the alchemist in a thick frozen prison.

For a moment, the combined restraint appeared completely secure.

But it lasted only seconds.

The Armor of Ruin suddenly returned to its original shape.

The spatial distortions holding it in place vanished without warning.

At almost the same moment, the enormous ice rose began disintegrating.

Its frozen petals aged and evaporated in an instant, as though someone had accelerated the passage of time through the entire structure.

Macbeth's pupils contracted.

Ultear stared in disbelief.

"My magic…"

Macbeth looked down at his hands.

"It's gone?!"

He could still feel the Magic Power circulating normally through his body.

His reserves hadn't diminished.

Yet when he tried to activate Reflector Magic again, nothing happened.

It wasn't a matter of exhaustion or interference.

The knowledge and ability required to perform the spell had simply disappeared, as though he had never learned it in the first place.

Ultear was equally shaken, though for an entirely different reason.

She recognized exactly how Ennie had destroyed the ice.

That was Arc of Time.

Her own magic.

"What did you do?!"

Meredy immediately joined the attack.

Blue light gathered around her before separating into a dense formation of glowing swords.

Maguilty Sense.

These weren't ordinary blades intended to cut through flesh.

They were manifestations of magic that could directly affect a target's senses and nervous system, forcing even opponents with unusual physical constitutions to experience the pain of being injured.

The swords shot toward Ennie in a concentrated barrage.

Ennie glanced at Meredy.

Then she casually raised one hand.

Dragon scales spread across her arm.

Her fingers lengthened into dark, vicious claws, and drops of purple venom began falling from their tips.

Erik's eyes widened.

That was his Poison Dragon Slayer Magic.

Ennie swept her transformed arm forward.

A tremendous torrent of poison erupted from her claws, spreading through the chamber like a raging river.

Meredy's blue blades disappeared beneath the advancing flood, her entire offensive overwhelmed before the swords could reach their target.

But Jellal had already made his move.

"Heavenly Body Magic…"

He descended from above.

His hands formed the distinctive seven-fingered gesture, and brilliant starlight erupted around him.

"Grand Chariot!"

Seven enormous pillars of celestial light materialized overhead.

Then they came crashing down.

BOOOOM!

The devastating attack struck Ennie directly.

Yet what unsettled Jellal most was her reaction.

She didn't dodge.

She didn't attempt to block.

Instead, Ennie raised her chest slightly and allowed the entire Grand Chariot to strike her at full force.

The resulting explosion shook the surrounding white chamber, leaving an enormous crater where she had been standing.

As the roaring celestial light gradually faded, Jellal stared into the settling dust.

An unpleasant suspicion began forming in his mind.

Then, before he could even determine whether Ennie had survived, an excruciating wave of pain suddenly tore through his body.

"Argh!"

Jellal dropped to one knee.

Cold sweat soaked through his clothes almost immediately.

Every part of his body seemed to be suffering from catastrophic injuries. Agonizing sensations surged through his limbs and torso, coming in waves so intense that even someone with his extraordinary tolerance for pain struggled to endure them.

And yet…

There were no wounds.

His skin was intact.

Nothing was broken.

Jellal gritted his teeth and forced himself upright, fighting through the pain with sheer determination.

"This sensation…"

His eyes narrowed.

"It's as though I was the one struck by Grand Chariot."

The dust finally cleared.

Ennie was standing at the bottom of the crater.

She casually brushed debris from her clothing.

Whatever injuries she had sustained were healing at a remarkable speed. Even her torn qipao began repairing itself, the damaged fabric returning to its original condition as though the attack had never happened.

Meredy stared at her.

Then she noticed something.

A faint pink magical ring was glowing around Ennie's wrist.

Meredy's eyes widened.

"Wait…"

She recognized that light.

"That's my magic!"

Jellal's mind began racing.

Erik's poison had somehow been turned against Sawyer.

Ultear's Arc of Time had appeared in Ennie's hands.

Macbeth had suddenly lost the ability to use Reflector Magic.

And now Meredy's Maguilty Sense seemed to have transferred the pain from Grand Chariot directly onto Jellal.

There was a pattern.

"Meredy," he asked urgently, "can you still use your magic?"

"Huh?"

Meredy hesitated.

Then she instinctively raised her hands to activate Maguilty Sense.

Her body remembered the movements.

But halfway through the familiar casting sequence, she froze.

Nothing happened.

She stared at her hands.

"No…"

Her voice became faint.

"I can't use it."

She tried again.

The result was the same.

"It's like Maguilty Sense never existed…"

At that moment, Macbeth suddenly spoke.

"My magic's back."

Everyone turned.

The space surrounding his hand had begun twisting once more.

Reflector Magic was working again.

That confirmed it.

Their attacks had been repeatedly turned against them, and the powers responsible had all belonged to members of Crime Sorcière.

Jellal slowly raised his gaze toward the Fox Ring on Ennie's finger.

His expression became grave.

"I see."

He finally understood the mechanism behind the strange succession of attacks.

"Your Divine Ring…"

"It allows you to steal other people's magic and use it yourself."

Ennie's lips curved into a pleased smile.

She made no attempt to deny the accusation.

Instead, she regarded the members of Crime Sorcière with newfound appreciation.

"I must say…"

"Your magic really is impressive. Every one of you possesses something rather useful."

Jellal's expression darkened further.

A divine artifact capable of stealing magic itself.

Not merely copying a spell or interfering with its activation, but temporarily taking away the very ability to use that magic.

The implications were terrifying.

Rufus of Sabertooth possessed a vaguely similar ability through Memory-Make Magic. He could memorize an opponent's spells and even interfere with their ability to remember specific techniques.

But that was the limit.

Rufus couldn't erase an opponent's entire magical discipline at its source.

The Fox Ring apparently could.

For the duration of its theft, the victim lost access to their magic as though they had never learned it.

And the ring seemed capable of granting its wearer not only the stolen ability but also the proficiency needed to use it effectively.

'So this is the power of Greed…'

Jellal felt a chill.

Such an ability would be troublesome enough on its own.

But combined with Ennie Signario's World Alchemy, it was almost a perfect match.

He quietly raised his head and began studying the white environment surrounding them more carefully.

Countless lines of writing drifted through the air.

Each represented a rule established within Ennie's artificial world.

And the overwhelming majority of those rules favored Ennie herself.

It wasn't merely the speed restriction imposed on Sawyer.

There were rules governing the conditions under which she could fight.

Rules affecting her body.

Rules maintaining the environment.

And among them, Jellal noticed two particularly disturbing statements.

They explained why Ennie could repeatedly use powerful abilities and the Divine Ring without appearing to pay any price.

The first read:

"Ennie Signario's Magic Power and life force shall remain at their initial levels within this world."

The second was even more alarming.

"Ennie Signario's mental state shall remain at its initial level of rationality within this world."

Jellal stared at the two rules.

His face grew increasingly serious.

Ennie wasn't simply stealing her opponents' magic.

She had created a world in which she could keep using that stolen power without exhausting herself—

and without surrendering her sanity to the Divine Ring's influence.

The Fox Ring represented Greed.

And inside Rule World, Ennie Signario had given herself the freedom to indulge that greed without suffering its ordinary consequences.