Chapter 192 - 191

Chapter 192: Chapter 191

After reaching an agreement and finishing their planning, the group quickly put the operation into motion.

Their first destination was Hargeon, where they boarded a ship bound for the Tower of Heaven.

The first stage of the plan was simple: pretend they had successfully "captured Erza," then secretly evacuate everyone inside the Tower while Jellal’s guard was down.

On the ship, Marshall handed Sho a stack of cards.

"What are these?"

"Gugas."

"?"

"When you start rescuing people, you’ll need to leave some behind as decoys. When you need actors, use these."

Marshall pointed at the cards.

"I prepared one-use Transformation Magic for them. They’re smart enough to play their roles properly."

"Oh."

Sho accepted the stack.

"All right. Thanks."

He still wasn’t entirely sure how the cards worked, but he put them away anyway.

After Erza’s explanation, all four of her former companions had gained a much clearer idea of Marshall’s strength.

This kid was the real powerhouse here.

Marshall then turned toward Erza.

"Erza, which Apostles do you want to take?"

"Pride is enough for me." Erza answered without hesitation.

"That child is very strong."

Marshall nodded, then stuffed three Summoning Cards into her hand anyway.

"Take Sloth and Greed as well."

Erza looked down at them.

"They can both be extremely useful at critical moments. Better to have them just in case."

Marshall paused.

"Though if nobody is injured, try not to summon Sloth unless you have to."

He sighed.

"She’ll probably just become dead weight."

"All right."

Erza stored the cards away.

Marshall looked toward the Tower’s direction.

"I won’t stay here with you."

"Eh?"

Sho looked over.

"You’re not coming with us?"

Marshall shook his head.

"I can’t let Jellal discover me yet. I’m worried he might run if he realizes I’m here."

He glanced at Erza.

"We’ll operate separately, one group in the open and one in the shadows."

Then he smiled.

"Don’t worry. Jellal won’t find me."

Marshall stepped backward.

"Erza-nee, I’ll go on ahead."

"Be careful."

Marshall’s body transformed into light.

A brilliant streak shot across the sky like a meteor and disappeared in an instant.

Only after his figure vanished completely did Erza’s old companions quietly relax.

Being around Marshall put quite a bit of pressure on them.

His attitude toward them had never exactly been friendly.

Sho watched the direction Marshall had disappeared in, then looked back at Erza.

"You found companions you can really trust, huh..."

His expression softened slightly.

"Fairy Tail... that was Grandpa Rob’s guild, right?"

He smiled faintly.

"It must be a pretty amazing place."

A happy smile appeared naturally on Erza’s face.

"Yes."

"It’s a wonderful guild."

Her voice softened.

"Joining Fairy Tail was probably the greatest stroke of luck in my life."

She looked toward the horizon.

"Because that’s where I met Marshall."

After escaping that hell eight years ago, if Marshall hadn’t continued comforting and encouraging her, Erza wasn’t sure she ever would have managed to pull herself back together.

"He’s my most important family."

Sho’s feelings became complicated.

It seemed his position as Erza’s "little brother" had already been completely replaced.

Still, he could only accept it.

Until today, Sho had been believing the words of their enemy and resenting the older sister who had once protected and taught him.

It was all that bastard Jellal’s fault!

Simon remained silent for a moment before asking,

"Erza..."

She looked over.

"Are you really prepared to fight Jellal?"

His voice lowered.

"Considering what the two of you used to—"

"Simon."

Erza interrupted calmly.

"I understand what you mean."

Her expression became firm.

"But you don’t need to worry. I will fight him."

She looked toward the distant sea.

"The Jellal of today has already been completely twisted. He isn’t the person I knew back then anymore."

Her hand tightened slightly.

"If fighting is the only way to stop his ambitions, then I won’t hesitate."

"...As long as you understand that."

Simon nodded.

But beneath his helmet, a shadow passed through his eyes.

’Erza...’

...

Elsewhere, Marshall flew for a while before finally spotting an enormous tower rising from a small island in the distance.

’Found it.’

The Tower of Heaven.

Marshall immediately concealed his appearance with Magic, blending himself almost perfectly into the background.

A Disillusionment Charm, bro!

In reality, Mages generally didn’t rely on their eyes alone to locate someone.

They detected fluctuations in Magic Power.

And concealing one’s own magical presence was a skill in itself.

Fortunately, Marshall possessed Magic Control LV4.

Combined with the invisibility provided by Light Magic, he had no concern about being discovered.

The only kind of Mage who might sense him would be someone whose Magic Power was so overwhelming that their perception practically filled the entire surrounding area.

The Tower of Heaven clearly didn’t contain anyone of that caliber.

Marshall casually flew through an open window and entered the Tower.

He was only here to scout the place for now.

And, if possible, to find a few convenient places to dig some pits for Jellal.

Marshall was confident that he could kill Jellal one-on-one, but that didn’t mean he intended to underestimate him.

This was the enemy’s home ground.

In other words, it was effectively another Mage Tower.

Cake Tower was the same way.

Marshall had fortified his own base so thoroughly that even a Wizard Saint who barged in uninvited would have a very unpleasant time.

So he needed to be careful.

Marshall had always preferred caution.

If he could play it safe, there was no reason to be reckless.

If this operation hadn’t involved Erza personally, he never would have chosen such an aggressive approach in the first place.

The safest method would obviously have been to bring an entire van full of people and crush the enemy through sheer numbers.

Even now, Marshall had already prepared for the possibility of calling in reinforcements if something unexpected happened.

He still had a spatial mark on Makarov, after all.

The old man had seriously screwed up during the Phantom Lord incident, but under normal circumstances, the Guild Master was still extremely strong.

After entering the Tower of Heaven, Marshall discovered that the place was surprisingly well furnished.

It was fairly modern.

According to Wally, they could even watch movies here.

Jellal really hadn’t treated them badly in terms of living conditions.

’Then why the hell did you have to single out Erza?’

’You specifically bully the honest one?’

Still, Marshall wasn’t actually interested in the interior decorating.

What caught his attention through Magic Detection were the enormous number of magical arrays hidden throughout the Tower.

Warning arrays.

Surveillance arrays.

Defensive arrays.

And most importantly—the magical arrays responsible for charging the enormous quantity of Lacrima.

Just as Ultear had reported, the entire interior of the Tower of Heaven was composed of Lacrima.

The Tower itself was essentially one gigantic interconnected magical crystal.

On the open market, there was a massive difference in price between empty Lacrima and Lacrima filled with Magic Power.

Empty Lacrima was cheap.

Its status was practically equivalent to a plastic bottle—something wealthy people could treat as disposable once its contents were gone.

The Tower of Heaven had been built primarily from empty Lacrima.

Otherwise, constructing something of this scale would have been impossible.

But if every piece of Lacrima in the Tower became completely filled with Magic Power...

then its value would be astronomical.

The supposedly "empty" crystals already contained some residual Magic Power, however.

That energy was being used to maintain the various surveillance and warning arrays throughout the Tower.

Unfortunately for Jellal, his skill with magical arrays was far below Mystogan’s.

Something as crude as these surveillance arrays could be disabled by Marshall without much effort.

That meant the rescue operation should proceed very smoothly.

Aside from the surveillance Magic, the Tower’s defenses surprisingly relied almost entirely on human guards.

Most of those guards were probably former slaves who had remained here over the years.

There was no need to worry about them.

Marshall had apparently overestimated Jellal a little.

Compared with Cake Tower, the defenses of this place were practically a joke.

At this point, Marshall was already beginning to consider how he should move all these Lacrima away once the operation was over.

’Nice crystal tower you’ve got here.’

’Soon it’ll be mine.’

Marshall quietly wandered through several levels of the Tower of Heaven without encountering anyone who particularly needed his "help."

In that case...his next stop would be Trinity Raven.

He might as well find out how strong Jellal’s hired reinforcements actually were.

Marshall moved through the enemy stronghold as though there were nobody there at all.