Chapter 189

Chapter 189: Chapter 189

Marshall hadn’t originally planned to reveal himself this quickly.

He simply couldn’t hold himself back.

He had already known from Ultear that Erza’s so-called childhood "companions" weren’t coming with good intentions, so their resentment toward her didn’t surprise him.

But why the hell was there also a guy secretly in love with Erza among them?!

’Like her?’

’Like her my ass!’

’You’re not allowed to like her!’

Petty as Marshall could be, he was already beginning to regret giving Erza the Mind-Reading Glasses.

What kind of place was this Tower of Heaven?

Why was everyone there constantly thinking about his Erza?!

So Marshall made his spectacular entrance and immediately began tearing into the four people in front of him, none of whom even had ten thousand magic power.

"You! Blondie!"

He pointed straight at Sho.

"Yeah, I’m talking to you! What makes you think you get to call her Erza-nee? You’re not allowed to use that anymore! Do it again and I’ll beat you up!"

Then he swung toward Wally.

"Square-face! What are you trying to act cool for? You think you’re some mafia boss? Looking twenty years older than you are is bad enough, but you’re still going through a chuunibyou phase at your age?!"

His finger moved again.

"And you, catgirl!"

Millianna stiffened.

"If you’re going to turn yourself into a catgirl, at least do it properly! What kind of catgirl uses a whip? Are you carrying your own cat toy around so you can play with yourself?!"

Finally, Marshall looked at Simon.

"And you, big guy. Someone like you actually thinks you can—"

He paused and examined Simon’s face.

"Forget it. Looking at yor face, you probably don’t have much of a chance anyway. I can’t even be bothered."

Simon: "..."

Marshall folded his arms and swept his gaze across all four of them.

"A bunch of small fries who got played for fools, and you still have the nerve to come out here embarrassing yourselves."

He sneered.

"Looks like Jellal really doesn’t have a single competent person working for him."

Marshall sighed dramatically.

"How disappointing. I’ll probably forget all of you pretty soon."

From the moment he landed, Marshall’s mouth never stopped.

Sho, Wally, Millianna, and Simon were completely stunned.

’Why does this guy talk like that?!’

’Why is every sentence he said so damn infuriating?!’

Aside from Erza, everyone present was thrown into varying mixtures of confusion, alarm, guilt, and anger.

Unfortunately for them, they weren’t given much time to process any of it.

Because Marshall moved far faster than they could react.

At the same time, his terrifying Magic Power erupted outward, instantly forcing the atmosphere to a completely different level.

"Erz."

Marshall’s eyes were cold.

"They’re the ones who were wrong."

His voice hardened.

"So why should you have to suffer for it?"

Sho’s temper immediately exploded.

He stared at this pink-haired brat who looked even younger than him yet was also calling Erza "nee."

"What the hell do you know?!"

Sho shouted.

"Erza-nee betrayed us back then! She abandoned everyone and ran away on her own! She’s a traitor! She owes us—GAH!"

Sho never finished.

His vision blurred.

A heavy blow slammed into his abdomen, and by the time he understood what had happened, Marshall had already grabbed him by the collar and lifted him completely off the ground.

Sho found himself staring into a pair of eyes almost completely devoid of warmth.

"You’re the ones who don’t understand anything."

Marshall’s voice was quiet.

"I’m only saying this once."

His grip tightened.

"I don’t want to hear any of you insulting Erza again."

He stared directly into Sho’s eyes.

"She may consider you her companions, but don’t expect me to show mercy."

"Marshall!"

Erza hurried forward.

"Don’t be impulsive! We can talk this through!"

She herself almost couldn’t believe she was the one telling someone else to calm down.

How had Marshall somehow become even more reckless than Natsu?!

"Y-You bastard! Put Sho down!"

The other three had finally caught up with what was happening.

Wally pulled out his gun and started raising it toward Marshall.

Before he could finish aiming—

BOOM!

Dense Magic Power descended over all four of them like a mountain.

Their breathing stopped and their bodies stiffened.

’No way...’

’This much Magic Power?!’

’What kind of monster is he?!’

Only then did all four truly understand the difference between them and the boy standing in front of them.

They weren’t even on the same level.

Jellal had never said Erza would have someone this terrifying beside her!

"Wait!"

Simon was the first to recover.

"We should talk!"

He stepped forward quickly.

"There’s been a misunderstanding between us."

His expression became serious.

"I’ve never believed that Erza truly betrayed us."

"Simon?"

Wally looked at him in surprise.

Sho’s head snapped around despite still being held in the air.

"Simon?!"

His expression twisted.

"You’re betraying Jellal too?!"

Sho shouted.

"Only Jellal can make our dream come true!"

"Dream?"

Erza froze.

She looked between them.

"Isn’t Jellal’s goal to resurrect Zeref?"

"So Erza-nee already knows—ow!"

Marshall punched Sho again.

"I told you not to call her ’nee.’"

Sho nearly lost his mind.

"YOU BASTARDS!"

His expression turned dark and increasingly fanatical.

"Just wait!"

Sho began laughing.

"As soon as Jellal succeeds, we’ll rule this world!"

Erza’s expression changed.

"And then we’ll have our revenge!"

Sho’s voice rose with excitement.

"We’ll take revenge on every bastard who stole our freedom! On the useless fools in the Magic Council! On all the idiots who know nothing about the darkness hiding in this world!"

His eyes burned with fanaticism.

"We’ll bring fear to the entire world!"

"We’ll take everyone’s freedom away!"

"And we’ll become the rulers of the new world!"

"Hahahahaha!"

SLAP!

Erza stepped forward and struck Sho across the face without the slightest hesitation.

Her teeth clenched tightly as she struggled to contain the Magic Power surging through her body.

"Sho..."

Pain entered her expression.

"Why did you become like this?"

She stared at the boy she remembered from childhood.

"Is this what Jellal has been teaching you?"

Her fists tightened.

"He took an innocent child and turned him into this..."

Erza’s voice trembled with anger.

"Is this Jellal’s so-called dream?!"

"What right do you have to judge us?!"

Sho yelled back.

"You were the one who planted explosives on the ship back then and escaped alone! You betrayed us first! Ow—!"

Marshall finally tossed the blond boy onto the ground.

Then he looked down at him with open contempt.

"Do you seriously believe Erza is the kind of person who would do that?"

Sho froze.

"You’d rather believe Jellal’s story?"

Marshall sneered.

"And a moron like you still has the nerve to keep calling her Erza-nee?"

Sho stared up at him.

"W-What are you talking about?!"

Wally and Millianna also looked toward Erza.

"You’re saying..."

Wally hesitated.

"Jellal lied to us?"

Millianna shook her head.

"That can’t be right!"

"Jellal has spent all these years improving our lives. He taught us Magic, and all of us worked together to finish the Tower of Heaven..."

Simon finally stepped forward.

"I never believed Erza betrayed us."

Everyone turned toward him.

Simon’s voice was heavy.

"This entire thing was Jellal’s conspiracy."

He looked at his companions.

"He used us to manage the Tower of Heaven."

"You’ve all been deceived."

"Simon?!"

Sho looked genuinely shaken now.

"No!"

He shook his head violently.

"I don’t believe you!"

Then he pointed furiously.

"Where’s the proof?! If you’re saying Jellal lied, then show us proof!"

Sho’s voice cracked.

"If it hadn’t been for Jellal back then, all of us would’ve died when those explosives went off!"

"Hmph."

Marshall had finally had enough of the argument.

"If you want proof that badly, then I’ll give you proof."

He released Sho completely and turned toward Erza.

His tone immediately softened.

"Erza."

Erza looked at him.

"I need to borrow one of your memories."

Marshall’s expression became serious.

"It’ll mean forcing you to remember something painful."

Erza was silent for a moment.

Then she shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Marshall."

"Do it."

Her voice was calm.

"That nightmare..."

"I’ve never forgotten it anyway."

Marshall raised his hands.

[Memory Magic LV2]

He had barely used Memory Magic in the past.

What had originally caught his interest was the mass of memory information released when Deliora thawed.

Marshall had wanted to understand how something like that could be extracted and preserved, which was why he had deliberately raised his Memory Magic to a usable level.

Memory Magic was deeply tied to the soul and the mind.

Given Marshall’s existing foundations in both areas, learning it had not been particularly difficult.

He gently placed both hands against Erza’s temples.

Then he reached inward.

He found the memory she least wanted to remember—and yet could never forget.

Marshall carefully copied it.

A glowing sphere slowly emerged between his hands.

This was an application created by combining Information Magic with Memory Magic.

It allowed him to duplicate a section of someone’s memory as raw information without removing the original from its owner.

Then Marshall used Light Magic to project that information outward.

Images appeared before them.

The past unfolded.

Erza’s memories of the Tower of Heaven—the escape—Jellal’s betrayal—and the truth of what had really happened all those years ago—were displayed clearly before Sho, Wally, Millianna, and Simon.

The four stared in complete silence.

At last.... they knew the truth.