Chapter 628 - 628: The Jealous Woman

After swallowing the cotton-candy-like memories he had extracted from Ennie's head, Jellal finally relaxed.

He carefully returned the remaining strands of memory to their original place, pushing the strange, cloudlike substance back into Ennie's head until nothing remained outside.

He had destroyed every memory she possessed concerning the Old God Ruins.

More importantly, he had removed her memories of the Divine Rings, particularly the terrifying abilities of the Pride Ring.

Even if Ennie returned to Guiltina, she would no longer be able to provide Gold Owl with any useful intelligence about what she had witnessed.

"Jellal…"

Ultear cautiously approached him.

After hesitating for a moment, she finally asked the question everyone else was afraid to voice.

"Are you… alright?"

Her gaze drifted toward the Lion Ring.

"You haven't been affected by Pride, have you?"

Jellal shook his head.

He was just about to answer when the wings of light behind him suddenly flickered.

The brilliant white-and-gold radiance surrounding his body began receding like an outgoing tide, flowing back into the Pride Ring.

His silver-blue wings dissolved into countless particles of light.

The elegant white robes disappeared, his hair returned to its familiar blue, and the silver-white markings across his face gradually regained their original dark-red color.

Even his brilliant golden right eye faded back to its usual dark shade.

"So the time limit's up."

Jellal touched the restored tattoo on his face, sounding more thoughtful than disappointed.

With the transformation gone, the overwhelming divine presence that had surrounded him vanished as well.

Ultear immediately felt the pressure lift.

She released a relieved breath, though her concern hadn't entirely disappeared.

"Ennie was obviously being corrupted by her ring."

She frowned.

"Why didn't the same thing happen to you?"

Jellal considered the question.

"Perhaps because I've already accepted my own sins."

The Divine Rings didn't simply grant their wearers new abilities.

Their negative effects amplified the corresponding sinful emotions already present within a person's heart.

For someone like Ennie, the Fox Ring had encouraged her greed until it overwhelmed her remaining rationality.

But Jellal was different.

He had spent years living beneath the weight of his crimes.

Long ago, he had accepted that he could never completely erase the wrongs he had committed. Rather than fleeing from that guilt, he had chosen to carry it while dedicating his life to helping others.

Even if the Pride Ring tried to influence him, he would continue walking that same path.

And Jellal's chosen form of atonement was straightforward.

He wanted to save people.

He wanted to protect the world.

That determination was almost the complete opposite of Pride's contemptuous belief that everything else existed beneath oneself.

Or perhaps…

the two ideas were strangely compatible.

Laxus had dealt with the Wrath Ring through overwhelming self-control. He possessed such extraordinary strength of will that even when his anger was amplified to its limits, he still knew exactly who deserved that anger and who needed his protection.

He simply directed his fury toward the correct targets.

Jellal's situation was similar, though considerably more subtle.

His determination to atone through saving others balanced the overwhelming arrogance imposed by the Pride Ring.

In fact, the effect seemed to work both ways.

Jellal's guilt had sometimes pushed him toward excessive self-sacrifice, to the point where he could become almost irrationally selfless.

The Pride Ring's influence counterbalanced that tendency, leaving him surprisingly more grounded than before.

Perhaps that was also why the Lion Ring had become so firmly attached to his finger.

Jellal had already tried removing it.

It wouldn't budge.

The stubborn Divine Ring seemed determined to keep influencing him until it finally succeeded in corrupting his heart.

Instead, that persistence had somehow produced something resembling a bond between artifact and wielder.

In a rather ridiculous twist, the ring's attempt to dominate him had effectively made him its recognized master.

"Still, that ring's power is unbelievable."

The others gathered around Jellal as the tension finally eased.

Sawyer caught his arm and examined the Divine Ring with a mixture of fascination and reverence.

"The way you looked just now… You were practically an all-powerful god!"

Sorano leaned closer.

"Speaking of which, what exactly does the Pride Ring do?"

Jellal frowned slightly as he considered how to explain something so extraordinary.

After a moment, he settled on a surprisingly simple answer.

"Imagination."

Everyone blinked.

"Imagination?"

Jellal nodded.

"That transformation seems to grant a weakened version of a god's physical state when they're not directly exercising their authority over the laws."

He raised his hand, remembering the strange sensation of reshaping space between his fingers.

"Within that state, I can alter practically anything according to my imagination."

Macbeth slowly shook his head.

"So gods can actually do things like that…"

He sounded genuinely overwhelmed.

"Wouldn't that make them invincible?"

"Not necessarily."

Jellal shook his head.

"What I used was nothing compared with the powers of an actual god."

He indicated the small spatial box he had created earlier.

"Take that container, for example. I had to deliberately imagine its structure and reshape space to produce it."

"But compared with a god who governs space itself, that's a trivial trick."

"Any true god could accomplish something like that with a casual gesture."

Ultear nodded thoughtfully.

"Even so, it's incredible. We're talking about beings we can barely even prove exist, let alone understand."

Jellal sighed.

He lowered his gaze toward the Pride Ring.

The once-brilliant artifact had become dull, its previous radiance almost completely exhausted.

"Unfortunately, the transformation doesn't last very long."

"And the ring needs time to recharge its power."

He made a rough estimate based on the information the artifact had transmitted into his mind.

"At this rate, it'll probably take at least another six months before I can use it again."

Erik folded his arms.

"Then why didn't you use it to capture Dimaria while you had the chance?"

He looked genuinely puzzled.

"If you could reshape space and command people like that, shouldn't you have been able to bring her straight here?"

"I tried."

Jellal gave a helpless shrug.

"But the Pride Ring's authority can't directly affect someone who already possesses a divine inheritance."

Dimaria wielded the power of the God of Time.

Even with a genuine fragment of divine authority temporarily at his disposal, Jellal couldn't simply reach across the dungeon and command another divine inheritor to submit.

He glanced around the chamber.

"Anyway, we're on the seventeenth floor now."

"There's only one floor left before the exit."

He looked toward his companions.

"Let's rest here for a while, then continue searching for the others."

Ultear nodded, though worry lingered in her eyes.

"I hope everything's going smoothly for them…"

After personally witnessing the Divine Rings' power, she couldn't help worrying about her companions scattered throughout the dungeon.

Unfortunately, her concerns were well founded.

The rings could drastically increase someone's combat strength in a very short period.

And for someone who was already as powerful as Dimaria, obtaining several of them was particularly dangerous.

...

On the thirteenth floor, Gajeel and Juvia were having an absolutely miserable time.

The two had been fighting while retreating for quite some distance, but their latest attempt to escape ended with both of them being smashed violently into a stone wall.

BOOOOM!

Gajeel's body struck the rock hard enough to leave a crater.

He slid downward and landed heavily on the floor.

"Cough! Cough!"

Blood spilled from his mouth.

Large portions of the steel-gray dragon scales covering his body had been shattered, leaving his armor badly damaged.

He gritted his teeth and glared at the terrifying woman standing farther down the corridor.

"That crazy bitch…"

The problem was Dimaria's Age Seal.

Inside the domain created by her Time Magic, Gajeel and Juvia were almost completely unable to fight back.

Time and again, Dimaria had stopped time, approached them without resistance, and struck with her enormous blade.

The only reason the two were still alive was that they possessed unusual defensive abilities.

Gajeel could use his Dragon Power to reinforce his body, giving him enough durability to endure attacks that would otherwise have been fatal.

Juvia, meanwhile, possessed her elemental water body, which allowed her to survive injuries that would ordinarily kill a human mage.

Even under Age Seal, those physical properties gave them some measure of protection.

If Dimaria had merely continued striking them with her sword, they might have been able to endure for quite a while longer.

Unfortunately, she was also wearing three Divine Rings.

And their influence was making her increasingly unstable.

As the battle continued, Dimaria had suddenly lost control of her emotions and begun using her divine authority over time in a far more vicious manner.

Instead of merely stopping time, she reached into her opponents' pasts.

She dragged injuries they had previously suffered forward through time, causing old wounds to manifest on their bodies once again.

The effect bypassed much of their existing defense.

Gajeel's reinforced scales couldn't prevent injuries that were being restored through temporal manipulation, and Juvia's elemental constitution offered little protection against damage imposed by divine authority.

Their defenses were broken almost instantly.

Worse, Dimaria's increasingly unstable emotions made her attacks extraordinarily brutal.

The woman seemed less interested in defeating them than in making them suffer.

Faced with that combination of overwhelming abilities and murderous intent, Gajeel and Juvia had wisely decided to run.

Unfortunately, escaping Dimaria was much easier said than done.

"Mirajane-san…"

Juvia struggled back to her feet.

She looked worriedly toward the white-haired woman now standing in front of them.

"Are you alright?"

Mirajane had already activated Satan Soul.

Her white hair whipped wildly around her, and the powerful demonic aura surrounding her was unmistakable.

Yet her face had become noticeably pale.

She had encountered Gajeel and Juvia while they were retreating through the dungeon.

Unfortunately, their pursuer had been right behind them.

Once Mirajane realized her companions were in danger, she naturally joined the fight without hesitation.

But that decision had placed her in an even more disadvantageous position.

Gajeel and Juvia might have been weaker than Mirajane overall, but their unusual constitutions at least gave them some limited means of enduring Dimaria's Time Magic.

Mirajane was stronger in an ordinary fight.

Yet against Age Seal, she lacked the specific defenses that had kept the other two alive.

Raw combat strength couldn't solve everything.

That was the terrifying advantage of conceptual magic.

Some abilities simply operated according to rules that ordinary power couldn't overcome.

Across the corridor, Dimaria stared at the three Fairy Tail mages.

Her disheveled blonde hair partially concealed her eyes, but the emotions within them were impossible to miss.

Several extreme impulses seemed to be overlapping inside her mind, each one amplifying the others.

Her expression alternated between fury, resentment, excitement, and bitter envy.

She raised her broad-bladed sword toward Mirajane.

"Why…?"

Her voice trembled.

"Why do weaklings like you get to keep living so shamelessly?!"

Her eyes were bloodshot.

"WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT?!"

Mirajane frowned.

She had no interest in debating morality with a woman who was clearly losing her mind.

Instead, golden fragments of light began appearing around her body.

Her demonic aura shifted.

Within moments, Mirajane had transformed into Seilah.

Her expression became colder as she raised one finger toward Dimaria.

"Macro."

"Stop, Dimaria!"

The command struck.

Dimaria's arm abruptly froze.

For several seconds, her sword remained suspended in the air, unable to complete its swing.

Mirajane's eyes sharpened.

'It worked!'

But the success was short-lived.

One of the Divine Rings on Dimaria's hand suddenly shimmered.

An unfamiliar power interfered with Macro's command, disrupting the control Mirajane had established.

Dimaria's arm began moving again.

Then she violently forced her sword downward.

BOOOM!

Mirajane jumped backward just in time to avoid the descending blade.

The impact shattered the ground where she had been standing.

"Again…"

Mirajane landed a short distance away, her expression darkening.

"Every time I issue a command, some strange power interferes with it."

Seilah's Macro was an extraordinarily troublesome ability against most opponents, but Dimaria's Divine Rings repeatedly disrupted its effects.

Mirajane could temporarily seize control.

She simply couldn't maintain it.

And against someone capable of stopping time, a few seconds of control weren't enough to guarantee victory.

Realizing she needed another approach, Mirajane immediately changed forms.

A different demonic soul surged through her body.

"Demon Soul—Kyôka!"

Her white hair transformed into long, flowing green locks.

Her hands became pale, vicious claws, and her body was covered by a white, fur-trimmed combat outfit.

The powerful presence of another Tartaros demon filled the corridor.

Mirajane flexed her transformed fingers, preparing to use Kyôka's abilities against Dimaria.

Unfortunately, the sight only seemed to make her opponent angrier.

The envy blazing in Dimaria's eyes intensified.

She clenched her teeth and lowered her sword into an attacking stance.

Then she charged.

"SO WHAT IF YOUR MAGIC LOOKS PRETTY?!"

Her furious shout echoed through the corridor.

"YOU THINK THAT MAKES YOU BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE, YOU BITCH?!"

Mirajane stared at her.

"...Huh?"

For a moment, even the usually gentle Mirajane couldn't think of a response.

She had transformed because she was trying not to get killed.

Why on earth was this woman suddenly angry about how pretty her magic looked?

---------

Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.

patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator