Chapter 191 - 192

Chapter 191: Chapter 192

"Jellal, Erza has been successfully captured."

"Oh?"

Jellal sounded pleased.

"Well done. Did anyone notice?"

"No. She came back with us willingly."

"Excellent."

Jellal laughed.

"Erza really is such a foolishly kind woman. Lock her up and prepare everything for tomorrow’s ritual."

"Understood."

...

After Simon ended the call with Jellal, he signaled for the others to "escort" Erza toward the prison.

At that exact moment, everyone heard Marshall’s voice through Telepathy.

[You don’t need to hide anymore. I’ve secretly altered every surveillance array below the fifteenth floor except the ones around the prison. Jellal can’t see what you’re doing now, so go ahead and start rescuing people openly.]

"Uh..."

Sho’s mouth twitched.

They had only just been discussing how to coordinate signals without exposing themselves, and now the most troublesome part of the operation had been solved in an instant.

So this was what it felt like to have an absurdly powerful ally carrying you!

"Wow!"

Millianna’s vertical cat pupils sparkled.

"Marshall is amazing!"

She was beginning to become a fan of him.

Simon quickly reorganized the plan.

"In that case, we’ll split up."

He turned toward Wally.

"Go back upstairs and cover for us. Sho and I will start sealing people into cards and getting them out."

Then he looked toward Millianna.

"You stay with Erza in the prison for now. After that, we’ll wait for Marshall’s next instructions."

Even Simon felt slightly strange saying it.

He had expected this to be an incredibly serious and dangerous operation.

Instead, everything had suddenly become almost too easy, leaving him somewhat unsure what to do with himself.

Erza shook her head.

"I’ll help with the rescue too."

She looked toward the darkening sky.

"There are still several hours before dawn. With me helping, we should have enough time to clear everyone out before morning."

"But what about the prison?"

"Sho."

Erza held out her hand.

"Give me one of the Guga cards. I’ll show you how to use it."

Sho passed one over.

Erza activated the card and summoned a Guga.

"Gugugagas!"

Then she pointed at herself.

The next moment, the little creature transformed into a perfect copy of Erza.

Sho stared speechlessly.

’A flawless Transformation spell.’

"Millianna can take this one to the prison and guard it."

Erza nodded.

"That should keep Jellal fooled for a while."

"Okay!"

Millianna perked up immediately.

"Yaaayyy!"

Now that Sho and Millianna understood how the Guga cards worked, everyone immediately began moving.

There was no time to carefully explain the situation to all their former companions still living in the Tower.

So they simply knocked them unconscious and carried them away.

Before long, the lower levels of the Tower of Heaven descended into complete chaos.

And the master of the Tower—

Jellal—

remained completely unaware.

...

Meanwhile, Marshall was secretly observing the three subordinates Jellal had hired.

They were the infamous assassination squad Trinity Raven from the dark guild Death’s Head Caucus.

The first was a muscular man with an owl’s head.

Fukuro.

His Magic Power was around twenty thousand.

The second was a long-haired rocker.

Vidaldus Taka.

His reserves were also roughly around twenty thousand.

Not bad.

But nothing particularly impressive.

The strongest among them was Ikaruga, a woman dressed in clothing resembling a kimono and carrying a katana.

Her Magic Power was close to a hundred thousand.

According to Ultear, Trinity Raven had once assassinated the entire senior command structure of another nation during a war.

They were professional killers.

It sounded intimidating.

To Marshall, they were little more than speed bumps.

His current job was simple.

Until the rescue operation downstairs was complete, he would keep an eye on Jellal and make sure the bastard didn’t run.

Jellal, meanwhile, was still amusing himself with how smoothly everything had gone.

"Erza actually followed them back without resisting."

He sounded disappointed.

"She did the same thing back then."

Jellal leaned back.

"Has she really given up fighting entirely? How disappointing."

Ikaruga, the leader of Trinity Raven, covered her mouth with a folding fan and smiled.

"Then perhaps our mission can already be declared complete."

Her voice was light.

"This may be the easiest assignment we have ever accepted."

"Haha."

Jellal smiled without much warmth.

"Perhaps."

He had hired the three dark-guild assassins as insurance.

If Millianna and the others had failed to bring Erza back, then the R-System’s resurrection ritual would still require a body with power approaching the level of a Wizard Saint.

Ikaruga would have been barely sufficient.

But now...the R-System had a much better sacrifice available.

"The Fairy Queen, Erza Scarlet, is quite famous even in the underworld."

Vidaldus sighed.

"The number of dark guilds she has destroyed is enormous. I thought this assignment would be difficult."

He sounded almost disappointed.

"I didn’t expect you to possess such effective leverage over her, Jellal."

The original mission had been to deal with Erza.

Now it seemed they might not even need to fight.

Jellal opened the prison surveillance feed.

On the screen, Millianna had restrained the fake "Erza" with her Magic-sealing rope.

Jellal smiled and shook his head.

"Personally, I don’t believe Erza will simply sit there and wait for death."

He knew her too well.

"She’s probably observing the situation and planning something right now."

"Oh?"

Ikaruga smiled.

"Aren’t you afraid she’ll break out of the prison and ruin your plans?"

Jellal’s grin widened.

"Wouldn’t that make things more interesting?"

"Hahaha!"

Vidaldus laughed.

"Exactly! Things need to be interesting!"

"..."

Hidden nearby, Marshall was speechless.

These people really did have the standard villain mentality.

They liked taking unnecessary risks?

Fine.

There would be plenty of time to cry later.

With nothing else to do, and none of them particularly familiar with one another, the four eventually ran out of conversation and went back to their own activities.

One sharpened a weapon.

Another maintained his equipment.

Someone else simply went to sleep.

There wasn’t even the slightest sense of tension.

’They think they’ve already won, so they’ve completely lowered their guard.’

Marshall shook his head.

’With that kind of mentality, they’ll never accomplish anything important in their life.’

His opinion of Jellal dropped even further.

...

With Marshall acting as an absurdly powerful support from the shadows, the rescue operation proceeded without difficulty.

They swept through the Tower floor by floor.

Before dawn, they had successfully sealed everyone into Sho’s cards.

Not only had they emptied the Tower of Heaven without attracting Jellal’s attention, they even had enough spare time to rest and recover their strength afterward.

Once everything was finished, Erza gathered Sho and the others.

"You won’t participate in the battle from here onward."

Her tone left little room for argument.

"Leave by ship now."

Sho immediately protested.

"Erza-nee, I want to stay and help—"

Erza raised one hand and stopped him.

"Don’t say something so selfish."

Her expression became stern.

"You can’t participate in the battle that’s coming next. Staying here would only make me worry about you."

She looked at all of them.

"If you successfully escape, that will be the greatest help you can give me."

Wally sighed.

"Sho."

He placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen to Erza."

His expression became solemn.

"This time, we can’t become something that holds her back again."

Sho lowered his head.

"...Erza-nee."

Then he looked up.

"You have to beat Jellal."

His voice tightened.

"And come back safely."

Erza smiled.

"Don’t worry."

She glanced upward.

"Marshall is here too."

"We’ll win."

Under Erza’s watch, Sho, Wally, Millianna, and the others finally left the Tower of Heaven.

The last vulnerability was gone.

Erza’s gaze hardened.

There was nothing left to make her hesitate.

She marched directly toward the top of the Tower.

Then—

BANG!

Erza kicked open the doors to the main hall.

"Jellal!"

Her voice rang through the chamber.

"I’ve come back for you!"

Jellal had been sitting in the central seat, idly playing with a chess set.

For perhaps the first time that night, genuine surprise appeared on his face.

He clearly didn’t understand how Erza had suddenly appeared before him.

But that quickly stopped mattering.

The next moment, Jellal covered his face and burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!"

"Erza!"

He looked delighted.

"It seems I underestimated you."

Jellal leaned forward.

"You turned Sho and the others against me, didn’t you?"

His smile widened.

"Well done."

Then his expression changed.

"But you made one mistake."

Erza’s eyes narrowed.

"Of all the things you could have done, you chose not to leave with them."

Jellal slowly stood.

"Instead, you came here."

He spread his arms.

"And that is why you’re going to lose."

Erza’s gaze turned cold.

"Jellal."

"You’re going to pay for betraying us."

"Is that so?"

Jellal smiled.

"Then why don’t we play a game?"

Behind him, the members of Trinity Raven began to move.

"If you can defeat those three and make it all the way to me..."

Jellal’s grin became arrogant.

"Then I’ll grant you the opportunity to face me personally."