Chapter 194

Chapter 194: Chapter 194

The Crimson Armor was unlike anything anyone present had ever seen.

The moment it completely enclosed Erza’s body, its sleek, striking appearance and overwhelming presence immediately eclipsed everyone else in the room.

Even Pride stared enviously at Erza’s armor.

That was the only transformation armor Master had ever personally built from scratch.

She wanted one too!

But Master kept saying that Pride could already transform her own body, so he refused to make one for her.

’Hmph.’

’Master really does spoil those women far too much!’

Erza slowly raised her sword.

"I won’t lose."

She took a deep breath and launched her counterattack.

The Crimson Armor enhanced her perception, and now she could clearly sense Ikaruga’s sword.

This was exactly the realm Erza had been trying to reach for so long, yet had never managed to comprehend.

Until now, she had been unable to see the path ahead and could only explore it little by little on her own.

But now, standing right in front of her was a swordswoman who had already reached that higher level.

Erza had no intention of wasting such an opportunity.

She began absorbing everything she could from the battle.

Every strike she made became faster and stronger than the one before.

From Marshall’s perspective, her skill experience would have been rising at an absurd rate.

"Damn you!"

Ikaruga immediately realized what was happening.

"You’re using me as a whetstone?!"

She leapt backward and widened the distance between them.

"Don’t get arrogant, Fairy Queen!"

Ikaruga was just preparing to unleash a stronger technique when a beam of light suddenly struck Erza from behind and blasted her away.

Jellal finally rose from his seat.

He could no longer sit still.

"It looks like you need a little help."

Erza emerged from the rubble without injury.

Her gaze toward Jellal was now filled with contempt, though the mask of the Crimson Armor prevented him from seeing it.

"So you’re finally done playing your little game, Jellal?"

"Heh."

Jellal smiled.

"I admit I underestimated you, Erza."

His gaze swept over her armor.

"You seem to possess some magical equipment I’ve never seen before."

Then his smile widened.

"But even with that, you still can’t defeat me."

At that exact moment—

Whoosh!

A longsword flew past Jellal’s temple and embedded itself in the throne behind him.

Pride slowly descended beside Erza, chin raised as she looked down on everyone through her nose.

Jellal and Ikaruga both turned.

Only then did they notice that Vidaldus had been pierced through by dozens of swords and pinned to the ground.

He was already dead.

Pride looked utterly unimpressed.

"Mere mongrel cannot compare to even half of me."

She pointed one sword toward Jellal.

"So you are my next opponent?"

Her expression remained arrogant.

"I hope you can provide me with at least a little entertainment."

"..."

Jellal stared at the miniature Erza.

Somehow, he still had enough composure left to joke.

"Is that your daughter, Erza?"

He smiled faintly.

"She’s rather cute."

For some reason, Erza answered without even thinking.

"The child’s father is even cuter."

Then she added, "And he would never betray me."

The room went silent.

Erza had never been more grateful that the Crimson Armor came with a full faceplate.

Otherwise, everyone would have seen that her face was now even redder than the armor itself.

Jellal’s expression went blank for a moment.

Something seemed to slip permanently out of his grasp.

Then a difficult-to-explain anger began brewing in his chest, even though he couldn’t fully understand why he was so furious.

"Heh..."

His smile became strained.

"Hehehe..."

"Looks like you’ve been living quite well since leaving the Tower of Heaven, Erza."

His voice gradually hardened.

"But haven’t you forgotten something?"

Jellal spread his arms.

"The opportunity for you to live that life was something I granted you!"

His expression twisted.

"And now you point your sword at me?"

He laughed coldly.

"Do you not understand gratitude at all?!"

"Shameless."

Erza raised her blade.

"I’ll end your ambitions here, Jellal."

Her eyes became cold.

"For everyone you deceived..."

"I will win."

Erza charged Ikaruga again.

The enraged Jellal immediately began casting Magic to stop her, but every one of his attacks was intercepted by Pride.

Meanwhile, Erza and Ikaruga resumed their sword duel.

Their blades moved faster and faster.

The shockwaves from their battle damaged the surrounding tower, sending fragments of stone falling from above.

Then, during one exchange—something clicked.

For a single instant, Erza saw it.

She completely understood the trajectory of Ikaruga’s strike.

At that moment, Erza finally comprehended the essence of the slash she had been pursuing.

Her swordsmanship broke through from LV3 into LV4.

Flying Slash!

Erza swung her sword.

A powerful blade of compressed force tore through the air and drove Ikaruga backward several meters.

Erza lowered her weapon slightly.

"Now..."

She looked directly at Ikaruga.

"There is no longer any gap between us."

Ikaruga’s pupils contracted.

Impossible!

She had spent years of relentless training to reach this level.

And this woman had comprehended it in the middle of their fight?!

What kind of joke was that?!

Unwilling to accept it, Ikaruga charged forward and unleashed her strongest technique.

"Muzuki-ryū: Issen!"

The two figures crossed.

A fresh cut appeared across Erza’s Crimson Armor.

Ikaruga, however... coughed up blood and collapsed.

She had lost.

"What... a beautiful strike..."

Ikaruga smiled faintly as she fell.

"I lost."

Erza dismissed the Crimson Armor.

Then she took out Marshall’s sunglasses and put them back on before pointing her sword forward.

"Next..."

Her gaze settled on Jellal.

"...it’s your turn."

...

"Etherion?!"

A Council member shot to his feet.

"Have you lost your mind, Siegrain?!"

"That’s an ultra-spatial destruction spell!"

Another member slammed a hand against the table.

"It’s even more dangerous than the R-System! Its destructive range cannot be reliably predicted!"

"If something goes wrong, an entire country could be wiped off the map!"

Siegrain’s proposal immediately met fierce opposition from the Council.

But he had prepared for this.

"If we want to stop the R-System before it activates, then we have no choice but to erase the Tower of Heaven from this world."

He looked around the chamber.

"What other method do we have?"

"At this point, Etherion is our only option!"

"But everything within Etherion’s attack will be annihilated!"

One Council member glared at him.

"Everyone inside that Tower will die!"

Siegrain’s expression remained firm.

"That is a necessary sacrifice!"

The Council continued arguing.

They were still missing the one decisive vote.

Then Siegrain finally played his trump card.

"You people don’t understand Jellal at all!"

The chamber went quiet.

"The person he intends to resurrect with the R-System..."

Siegrain’s voice dropped.

"...is the legendary Black Wizard, Zeref."

"What?!"

The Council erupted.

"Siegrain! How could you possibly know something like that?! Explain yourself!"

Siegrain then delivered the flimsy lie he had prepared in advance.

He claimed that he and Jellal were twins, which was supposedly why he understood Jellal’s plans and ambitions so well.

The explanation was baseless and crude.

But the moment Zeref’s name entered the discussion, panic overwhelmed the Council.

In the end—the resolution passed.

Eight votes to one.

The Magic Council authorized the use of Etherion.

...

At the same time, Jellal was preparing to face Erza after her victory over Ikaruga.

Behind the lenses of her sunglasses, another line of thought appeared.

[Damn it. There’s still some time before Etherion fires.]

[Until my Thought Projection can leave the Council and return, I have to stall Erza...]

Jellal had no idea that every thought in his head was being displayed directly in front of her.

He knew his main body, currently missing a large portion of its Magic Power, was no match for Erza.

So he could only bluff.

Jellal began clapping.

"Impressive, Erza."

He smiled.

"To defeat Ikaruga, you—wait—"

Pride had never been ordered to stop.

Dozens of flying swords immediately continued attacking him.

Jellal was forced to dodge left and right, only now realizing that the miniature Erza was anything but easy to deal with.

The sight was admittedly ridiculous!

Still, Erza finally spoke.

"Pride."

The Apostle looked over.

"Stop."

Erza stepped forward.

"Leave him to me."

Pride lowered her swords.

"Hmph."

She turned away.

"What a boring battle."

Her expression was disdainful.

"I’ll probably forget it soon."

Erza ignored her and looked directly at Jellal.

She wanted to know just how far this man would go to achieve his ambitions.

So she stepped forward alone and drew her sword.

"Come, Jellal."

Her voice was calm.

"Let’s settle everything between us once and for all."