Chapter 193

Chapter 193: Chapter 193

The moment Erza entered the top floor of the Tower of Heaven, Siegrain opened his eyes.

He immediately exercised his authority and called an emergency meeting of the Magic Council.

"Ultear, the situation has changed. Move the plan forward. Get the Council resolution passed as quickly as possible and activate Etherion."

"...All right."

Ultear answered with obvious displeasure.

It wasn’t often that Marshall had enough free time to chat with her all night, and Jellal had gone and ruined it.

Of course she wasn’t happy.

Still, she also felt relieved.

After today, she would finally be able to leave the Magic Council.

She had grown sick of this miserable place a long time ago and wanted nothing more than to return to Marshall’s side.

As for the Council vote?

That part was easy.

She and Jellal controlled two votes between them.

Add one mole and another Council member who had already been bought off, and they had four.

All they needed was to persuade one more undecided member to vote in favor.

Their chance of success was practically ninety-nine percent.

There was almost no possibility of anything going wrong on the Council’s side, so Ultear had already prepared to make her exit.

What she was more curious about was how Marshall intended to deal with Jellal.

After all, Ultear bore an undeniable share of responsibility for Jellal becoming the person he was today.

She had even asked Marshall to broadcast the confrontation live for her.

Unfortunately, he refused.

For now, the Magic Council could be ignored.

....

Back at the Tower of Heaven—

Erza had changed out of her usual armor and into lighter clothing, carrying a katana in one hand while wearing the crimson sunglasses Marshall had given her.

Jellal couldn’t see her eyes.

More importantly, he had no idea that every surface thought passing through his mind was being displayed directly in front of Erza.

[This is getting troublesome. My Thought Projection still needs to remain at the Magic Council. Hopefully Trinity Raven can delay her for a little longer.]

Erza silently read the words as Jellal smiled from his seat.

"Erza, these three are the famous Trinity Raven. I paid quite a price to hire them specifically to deal with you."

His smile widened.

"You should feel honored."

"Three of them?"

Erza calmly raised her katana.

"Unfortunately for them, none of them is my match."

"My, my. Such confidence."

Ikaruga smiled behind her folding fan.

"The Fairy Queen of Fairy Tail... I thought I might not get the chance to cross blades with you after all."

Her eyes narrowed.

"Your head is worth quite a lot in the underworld."

"Justice Warrior!"

Fukuro didn’t bother wasting any more time.

"Charge!"

The thrusters of the Magic Item on his back roared to life, launching his enormous body straight toward Erza.

Erza’s figure blurred.

For a fraction of a second, she seemed to vanish.

When she appeared again, she was already behind Fukuro.

A thin line of blood stretched across his body.

Fukuro dropped to his knees, then collapsed.

He could no longer stand.

One exchange.

One opponent down!

"Is that all?"

Erza slowly turned and raised her katana toward Ikaruga.

"Now there are only two of you."

For some reason, the situation suddenly reminded her of something Pride might say.

Erza hesitated for a moment before finally delivering the line.

"You..."

She pointed the blade forward.

"...are the challengers."

Her cheeks reddened slightly as soon as the words left her mouth.

She really had spent too much time around Pride lately.

How had she started picking up that child’s strange way of speaking?

Still, this was probably the perfect time to summon her.

Erza reached into her clothes and pulled out a Summoning Card.

A magic circle lit up and a miniature version of Erza appeared beside her.

Everyone on the opposite side paused.

After being summoned, Pride said nothing at first. She calmly surveyed the room, then slowly floated upward until she was level with Erza.

"These enemies are only of this caliber?"

Pride’s expression remained indifferent.

"How boring."

Erza couldn’t help but smile.

Pride was much cuter when she was fighting on Erza’s side.

"One each."

Erza pointed toward the long-haired man.

"You deal with that greasy-haired one."

"Hmph."

Pride raised her chin.

"There is no need. I alone—"

She stopped.

Then glanced down at herself.

Apparently, she had forgotten to bring any weapons.

Pride turned toward Erza.

"You brought Greed as well, didn’t you?"

"Yes."

"Have her send me some equipment."

"All right."

The complete disregard shown by the two "Erzas" finally irritated Ikaruga enough to make her laugh.

"You merely defeated one member of Trinity Raven."

Her fan snapped shut.

"And already you look down on us this much?"

Ikaruga casually swung her blade.

A flying slash tore through the air.

Erza’s eyebrows rose.

She used ’Shunpo’ to close the distance and brought her katana up to block.

Clang!

The blade in her hand trembled from the impact.

Erza’s expression became more serious.

"So you really are a worthy opponent."

Ikaruga smiled.

"There is nothing my blade cannot cut."

She raised her sword again.

"I wonder how many of my attacks you can block."

...

On the other side, Greed raised one hand and drew a line through the air.

A spatial opening appeared.

Inside lay thousands upon thousands of swords and other weapons.

Pride immediately began pulling blades from the storage space.

Vidaldus stared at the two little girls with an exaggerated expression.

"Whoa, whoa."

He looked between Pride and Greed.

"You two little brats are something else."

His gaze settled on the opened space.

"Spatial Magic?"

Then he looked at Pride.

"And what are you supposed to be? The Fairy Queen’s little sister? Her daughter?"

"Annoying."

Pride pointed forward.

Dozens of swords shot through the air at once.

Vidaldus immediately manipulated his long hair, sending it whipping forward to intercept the incoming blades.

It was useless.

The flying swords tore through his defense so quickly that he was forced to retreat.

"Whoa, what a troublesome ability."

Vidaldus backed away, then grinned.

"In that case, try this!"

He grabbed his guitar.

"Nightmare Rock! Rock You!"

The moment he began playing, Magic spread outward with the sound.

Both Apostles frowned.

The music carried an unmistakable impact against their souls.

"You think something like this can control my soul?"

Pride’s eyes turned cold.

"Get lost."

With sheer force of will, the arrogant Apostle immediately broke free of the music’s influence.

Greed, however, didn’t seem capable of doing the same.

"Ugh..."

She looked toward Pride.

"Kill me, Pride."

Pride gave her a disgusted look.

"Useless."

Without another word—she cut Greed in half.

Vidaldus stared.

He had expected blood to spray everywhere.

Instead, the bisected little girl simply dissolved into black ash and disappeared.

"You..."

His expression changed.

"You aren’t human?"

Pride showed no interest in answering.

"I have no obligation to explain anything to you."

She raised her sword.

"Die, mongrel."

Pride didn’t even blink after "killing" Greed.

Greed had already delivered thousands of weapons to her.

She had served her purpose here.

Unlike Pride, who had received an Iron Slayer Lacrima from Marshall, Greed had never been implanted with a Slayer Lacrima.

If Greed died, she would simply revive again through her original system.

It wasn’t much trouble.

Besides, the Apostles didn’t possess much in the way of ordinary human compassion.

They had no reason to hesitate when taking action.

...

As Jellal watched the two battles unfold, he gradually frowned.

Irritation began creeping into his expression.

The Mind-Reading Glasses immediately displayed his thoughts before Erza.

[What is that miniature Erza? I’ve never seen that kind of Magic before.]

[She isn’t human? And she’s strong. Vidaldus probably isn’t her match.]

[And Erza herself... she’s much stronger than I expected.]

[No. I still need more time...]

Erza, meanwhile, was locked in a sword duel with Ikaruga.

She had quickly discovered something troublesome.

Ikaruga’s Magic Power was below her own, but her swordsmanship was clearly superior.

Even Erza was being forced almost entirely onto the defensive.

This woman was a genuine swordswoman.

"Requip: Heaven’s Wheel Armor!"

Erza stopped holding back and immediately changed equipment.

Ikaruga smiled.

"I am no mere background character, Fairy Queen."

She lowered her blade.

"Muzuki-ryū: Yasha Senkū."

Erza’s pupils contracted.

She couldn’t see the sword.

"Gah!"

A slash seemed to pass through her before she could react.

Her weapons shattered.

Then her Heaven’s Wheel Armor broke apart almost instantaneously.

Ikaruga moved again.

"Muzuki-ryū: Garuda Flame."

A flaming slash swept toward Erza.

Gritting her teeth, Erza immediately Requipped into her Flame Empress Armor.

The attack struck.

Crack!

Even the Flame Empress Armor shattered after taking a single slash.

If not for the necklace Marshall had given her, Erza would have nearly been left exposed.

Ikaruga calmly raised her sword again.

"Still not going to put on your strongest armor?"

She smiled.

"As you are now, you cannot block my blade."

Erza slowly exhaled.

"Then..."

Her hand moved toward the belt around her waist.

"...I’ll give you what you want."

She pressed her hand against it.

"Hen~shin!"

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