Chapter 195

Chapter 195: Chapter 195

Erza had successfully soloed the Tower of Heaven.

It might still have been a little early to declare the outcome, but Marshall could no longer see any realistic way for Jellal to turn the situation around.

Erza had always wanted to settle things with Jellal herself, and with the Apostles supporting her, she had maintained the advantage throughout the battle.

That was why Marshall had resisted the urge to interfere and simply stayed hidden nearby to watch.

When he heard Erza mention "the child’s father," Marshall felt deeply gratified.

All those years of effort hadn’t gone to waste!

Erza had him in her heart.

Jellal?

Ha.

Just some random dude by the roadside.

Soon afterward, Marshall received another message from Ultear.

[Etherion was preparing to fire.]

It would strike the Tower of Heaven in approximately ten minutes.

Since he still had a little time, Marshall went to inspect the Tower’s magical arrays.

Jellal had supposedly prepared everything necessary to absorb Etherion, but Marshall had absolutely no intention of trusting his life to Jellal’s engineering.

If one tiny oversight caused Etherion to vaporize all of them, that would be the funniest possible way to die.

Compared with Jellal’s work, Marshall trusted his own technical skills far more.

While checking the arrays, however, he unexpectedly discovered that Simon—who should have already left—had secretly returned.

After asking what he was doing there, Marshall learned that Simon was worried Erza might not be able to bring herself to kill Jellal.

So Simon had come back intending to become the villain himself if necessary.

Marshall was impressed.

So this was the purity of a childhood romantic rival?

Fine.

He acknowledged Simon’s sincerity.

Marshall didn’t bother driving him away.

Simon couldn’t interfere with the actual battle anyway, so whether he stayed or left made little difference.

...

At the top of the Tower of Heaven, Erza and Jellal had already exchanged more than a dozen moves.

Jellal was completely outmatched.

With most of his Magic Power still invested in Siegrain, his main body only had around sixty thousand remaining.

That simply wasn’t enough to defeat Erza.

Jellal now sat slumped against his "throne," while Erza held her sword against his neck.

The result was obvious.

"You lost, Jellal."

Erza stared down at him.

"What else do you have to say?"

"Lost?"

Jellal chuckled.

"Heh..."

Then his expression became strangely resigned.

"To tell you the truth, Erza, I lost a long time ago."

He lowered his gaze.

"There’s no point hiding it from you anymore."

"The Magic Council discovered what I was doing."

Erza’s expression didn’t change.

"They’ve decided to use Etherion to destroy the Tower of Heaven directly."

Jellal smiled faintly.

"There are only a few minutes left before this entire place is wiped from the map."

He looked at her.

"You still have time."

"Run, Erza."

Behind the lenses of her Mind-Reading Glasses, another line appeared.

[Erza has always been softhearted. Will she kill me and leave, or stay here and die with me? I’m rather curious.]

Erza’s anger quietly began to build.

"Run?"

She spoke calmly.

"What about you?"

"Are you planning to die here?"

Jellal lowered his head.

"My body has been possessed by Zeref’s spirit."

His voice became tired and hollow.

"It no longer obeys me."

"I’m nothing more than a puppet being used to resurrect Zeref."

He gave a bitter smile.

"I can’t save myself."

"My companions can’t save me."

"No one can."

Jellal stared into the distance.

"Paradise... freedom..."

"None of it ever truly existed."

"Everything had already ended before it even began."

He slowly closed his eyes.

"I knew the R-System would never truly be completed."

"But Zeref’s spirit wouldn’t allow me to stop."

"No one can stop this anymore."

"I’m like a locomotive with broken brakes."

His smile became bleak.

"Until my life is exhausted, I’ll never be able to stop moving."

Another thought appeared across Erza’s glasses.

[Just a little longer...]

Jellal continued his acting.

"Erza."

He looked at her with a helpless, almost peaceful expression.

"I truly did love you once."

His smile turned self-deprecating.

"It’s just that someone as despicable as me no longer deserves those feelings."

Jellal slowly spread his arms.

"You won."

"Kill me."

And then—

[She definitely still admires me just like she did back then.]

[Hahahaha. Foolish women really are useful.]

[Erza is like that.]

[Ultear is the same...]

Shk!

Erza’s sword drove straight through Jellal’s side.

His eyes widened.

She slowly removed the sunglasses, revealing a gaze filled with nothing but cold disgust.

"You truly make me sick, Jellal."

"Guh—!"

Jellal coughed violently.

He stared at Erza in disbelief.

"You..."

His expression twisted from pain.

"You really didn’t hesitate..."

Then he forced out a laugh.

"Haha... Erza."

"Have you forgotten everything that happened between us?"

Erza’s next words made his pupils contract.

"The R-System requires an enormous amount of Magic Power to activate."

Her voice was cold.

"That’s why you’re waiting for Etherion to strike."

"You never intended to die here."

Jellal went completely still.

"Siegrain, the Council member, is your Thought Projection."

Erza continued.

"Everything happening right now is part of your plan."

She looked at him with open contempt.

"So can you stop that ridiculous, disgusting performance now?"

Jellal’s expression froze.

"Heh..."

Then his smile slowly returned.

"Hehehe..."

"So you know everything?"

Erza pulled her sword free and took several steps back.

Her voice became even colder.

"Jellal."

"Looking back on it now, I realize you never truly gave me all that much."

Jellal stared at her.

"You gave me a pleasant-sounding surname."

Her grip tightened around her sword.

"And when we were children, you sometimes took beatings in my place."

Erza’s gaze lowered slightly.

"Maybe because I had experienced so little kindness from anyone back then, I treasured those few moments of warmth far more than I should have."

"Even after you betrayed me..."

"I kept searching for excuses on your behalf."

"I convinced myself that you must have had some reason."

"That there had to be something forcing you to act that way."

Erza raised her eyes again.

"But now I understand that I was wrong."

There was no hesitation left in them.

"You’re beyond saving."

"I won’t lie to myself anymore."

She raised her blade.

"Jellal."

"You are no longer someone worthy of my sympathy."

"Heh..."

Jellal covered his face.

Then he burst into manic laughter.

"Hahahahahahaha!"

"ERZA!"

His expression became twisted.

"So what if you saw through me?!"

He glared at her.

"You think you’ve won?!"

His voice rose.

"You already know Siegrain is my Thought Projection, and yet you still dare underestimate me this badly?!"

At that moment, another figure appeared beside him.

Another "Jellal."

Siegrain.

The Thought Projection had returned and the two immediately merged.

Jellal’s Magic Power surged explosively.

His full strength as one of the Ten Wizard Saints finally became apparent.

"One minute."

Jellal grinned.

"There’s only one minute left before Etherion falls."

"My ideal is about to become reality!"

His Magic Power continued rising.

"This time—"

"I win!"

He raised one hand.

"Heavenly Body Magic—!"

Before he could finish.. a flash of light appeared directly in front of his face as Marshall materialized.

He smiled.

"Have you ever been hit by light?"

BAM!

Marshall’s fist smashed directly into Jellal’s face.

His face visibly distorted as his entire body was driven straight into the floor.

Marshall immediately turned around and cheerfully ran over to Erza.

"Erza!"

He smiled innocently.

"You’re not mad that I interfered, right?"

Erza smiled.

She reached out, rubbed his head, then pulled him into her arms.

"Of course not."

"I should be thanking you, Marshall."

Erza hesitated for a moment.

Then she lowered her head and kissed his cheek.

"Meeting you..."

Her expression softened.

"...was the greatest stroke of luck in my entire life."

Jellal had only just recovered from Marshall’s punch.

The first thing he saw when his vision cleared was Erza kissing Marshall.

Something inside him seemed to shatter completely.

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

"DIE!"

Rage and humiliation overwhelmed whatever remained of his reason.

Jellal raised his hand, preparing to attack them both.

But Marshall was faster.

He turned around and immediately fired a beam of light.

BOOM!

The blast launched Jellal off the ground.

Then came an endless barrage of glowing projectiles.

Countless tracer-like bolts of light hammered into him one after another.

Each individual projectile wasn’t especially powerful, but their ability to repeatedly stagger a target was extremely annoying.

Jellal was blasted continuously through the air, unable to regain control of his body.

He smashed through the ceiling.

Then another.

The barrage carried him farther and farther upward until he was finally launched into the open sky.

A moment later—he plummeted straight back down.

BOOM!

Jellal crashed into the Tower and disappeared beneath broken stone and clouds of dust.

Marshall shook his head.

"I still have to control my power so I don’t damage the absorption arrays."

He looked upward through the hole Jellal had created.

"What a bargain for him."

Then Marshall’s expression became serious.

"Erza."

Erza looked up.

"Etherion is about to arrive."

"Will everything be all right?"

"It will."

Marshall nodded.

"I already checked the magical arrays."

"The amount of Lacrima making up this Tower is more than enough to absorb the excess Magic Power."

He looked toward the sky.

"Here it comes."

Almost the instant Marshall finished speaking, an unimaginably enormous beam of light appeared high above them.

Etherion descended at terrifying speed.

Marshall had expected the rest to be nothing more than a harmless transition.

Then—he suddenly heard something.

His own heartbeat.

Marshall’s expression changed.

"No..."

His pupils contracted.

"Something’s wrong!"

He spun toward Erza.

"Erza, get away from me!"

"What?!"

"Marshall?"

But in the next instant—

Marshall realized in horror that he had lost control of his own body.

BOOM!

A violent wave of Magic Power erupted from him and blasted Erza away.

Then, something brilliant emerged from Marshall’s chest.

A glowing seed.

It floated upward until it stopped directly before his forehead.

At the same time, Marshall’s entire body was dragged into the air with it.

His Dragon Seed—had suddenly gone berserk.

And right now.... it was directly confronting Etherion.