Chapter 196

Chapter 196: Chapter 196

The Dragon Seed inside Marshall’s body had first entered him on its own when he obtained that egg back then.

Even now, Marshall still had no idea where the egg had truly come from, which naturally meant he understood even less about the origin of the Dragon Seed inside him.

Until now, the thing had always been useful.

It had never produced any harmful side effects or caused him any real trouble, so Marshall had never paid it much attention.

And now, of all times, the damn thing had suddenly stabbed him in the back!

’Seriously, what the hell?’

’Which bastard set me up?’

Fortunately, Marshall quickly realized that although he couldn’t move, he hadn’t lost consciousness.

He could still see everything.

Etherion crashed directly into the Dragon Seed.

More than half of that terrifying energy was swallowed by the Seed itself, while only the overflowing remainder reached the Tower of Heaven’s absorption arrays and flowed into the surrounding Lacrima.

Even with most of the blast being intercepted, Marshall could clearly sense just how horrifying Etherion’s destructive power really was.

Jellal had obviously overestimated the effectiveness of his absorption arrays.

Without Marshall’s Dragon Seed interfering, there was no guarantee this enormous Lacrima tower could actually have absorbed Etherion completely.

But this wasn’t the time to worry about that.

The Dragon Seed’s behavior had already gone completely beyond Marshall’s understanding.

Even without any special analysis, however, he could see one thing very clearly.

The Seed was greedily devouring Etherion’s Magic Power!

Fortunately, nothing else unexpected happened.

The Dragon Seed didn’t mutate and Marshall didn’t suddenly transform into a dragon.

He had simply lost control of his body for the moment.

Etherion’s bombardment itself didn’t last long.

After only a few seconds, the beam finally faded, and under the tremendous surge of Magic Power, the Tower of Heaven shed its outer appearance and revealed the vast mass of Lacrima that formed its true structure.

Marshall, however, still couldn’t move.

The Dragon Seed continued drawing energy out of the surrounding Lacrima.

Erza tried to approach him as he floated in midair, but an invisible barrier of energy pushed her back, preventing her from getting any closer.

"Marshall?!"

Her expression immediately changed.

"What’s happening?!"

Although Marshall couldn’t move, he could still use Telepathy.

[Don’t worry. I’m fine. Something unexpected happened, but it should... probably be over soon.]

Erza had barely begun to relax when a sudden sense of danger struck her.

She spun around.

Jellal was standing amid the wreckage with both hands raised high.

Above him hovered something resembling a miniature black hole—a sphere of Magic Power that seemed to contain an entire starry sky within it.

The threat radiating from it was unmistakably lethal.

"Hahahahaha!"

Jellal laughed wildly.

"The one who wins in the end will still be me!"

His hands came down.

"Heavenly Body Magic—Altairis!"

"Jellal?!"

Erza’s eyes widened.

"You dare?!"

Erza immediately Requipped her armor and moved in front of the immobilized Marshall, preparing to take the attack herself.

But before she could—a tiny figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Do not think you can harm my lord, mongrel."

Pride floated between them, her expression remained as indifferent as ever.

"It is merely the end of one life."

She looked toward Jellal.

"If you are capable of killing me, then that is not bad."

Pride lifted her chin.

"I may even remember you for the rest of my life, blue-haired man."

"Pride..."

Erza hesitated.

Then she remembered all the thoroughly heartless things Marshall had told her about the Apostles before.

’My Apostles don’t really die, so if something dangerous happens, just let them take the hit.’

’Pain? So what if it hurts? Once they revive, they’ll forget it anyway.’

’Basically, an Apostle’s life doesn’t count as a life. Don’t start trying to teach them otherwise.’

"..."

Even remembering those words now, Erza still felt Marshall was far too harsh toward his Apostles.

Still, she forced herself not to rush forward and save Pride.

’When you revive, I’ll treat you better.’

’And I won’t argue with you anymore.’

Erza silently comforted herself with those promises as the attack descended.

Then—

"Eh?! Wait! What are you doing?!"

Erza’s eyes snapped open.

The small figure standing in front of her was no longer Pride.

It was—

"SIMOOON?!"

Erza stared in shock.

"What are you doing here?!"

Simon had used what might as well have been the one Flash of his lifetime, suddenly throwing himself into the battlefield and taking Jellal’s lethal attack.

Everyone froze.

Erza rushed toward Simon the moment he collapsed.

"Simon!"

She dropped beside him, completely flustered.

"Weren’t you supposed to leave on the ship?! Why did you come back?!"

Simon struggled to speak.

"This is... good..."

His voice was weak.

"I always hoped... that someday... I could help you... Erza..."

"Stop talking!"

Erza’s thoughts were in complete chaos.

Part of her desperately wanted to yell that if he hadn’t jumped in, nobody would have been hurt in the first place!

But how could she possibly say something like that right now?

"SIMON!"

On the other side, Jellal covered his face and burst into laughter.

"What an idiot!"

He laughed harder.

"He came back just to throw his life away for nothing!"

"How ridiculous! Hahahaha—"

Zzzzt!

A crimson beam flashed across the room as a hole instantly appeared through Jellal’s abdomen.

His laughter stopped.

Marshall had finally broken free from the Dragon Seed’s restraint.

He was back!

"Marshall?!"

Erza’s eyes lit up.

"Thank goodness! You’re all right!"

Marshall immediately looked toward Simon.

"Erza, summon Sloth. Quickly."

"Oh!"

Erza suddenly remembered.

"Right! Sorry, I forgot!"

She immediately activated the Summoning Card.

A sleepy-eyed Sloth appeared.

Marshall glared at her.

Sloth instantly understood what that meant.

Looking deeply unwilling, she shuffled over and began treating Simon.

His injuries visibly reversed.

The damage disappeared at a rate visible to the naked eye, and even his heart, which had already stopped, began beating again.

Then Sloth frowned.

"Huh?"

She looked toward Marshall with a pitiful expression.

"Master..."

"Something’s wrong with this person."

Marshall’s expression sharpened.

Sloth looked as though she wanted to make it absolutely clear that she really had tried her best.

"I don’t know why, but... he won’t wake up."

Marshall crouched beside Simon and checked him himself.

His vital signs were normal.

Yet he remained unconscious.

That really was strange.

Marshall frowned.

"We’ll deal with that later."

He slowly stood.

"As long as he isn’t dead, it’s fine for now."

His gaze shifted toward the ruins.

"Someone else apparently still hasn’t given up."

"Cough... cough..."

Then came another burst of laughter.

"Hahaha..."

Covered in blood and with a hole still torn through his abdomen, Jellal staggered out from the shattered stone.

His expression had become completely crazed.

"Don’t... think... you’ve already won!"

He spread his arms.

"The R-System is complete!"

"I’ll sacrifice myself!"

His laughter became increasingly frantic.

"I’ll resurrect Zeref!"

"And then every single one of you will die!"

"You’ll all die!"

Marshall calmly looked at him.

"The R-System requires roughly 2.7 billion Magic Power to activate."

Jellal froze.

Marshall tapped the Lacrima beneath his feet with one foot.

"Unfortunately for you, there isn’t anywhere near enough Magic Power stored in this Tower."

His smile widened slightly.

"You should know that better than anyone, Jellal."

"The maximum amount this Lacrima tower can safely store is only a few hundred million Ethernano."

Marshall looked around.

"Your original plan was never to permanently contain Etherion’s full power."

"You intended to temporarily store the energy and complete the ritual before the Lacrima exceeded its limit and burst, right?"

Jellal’s face gradually changed.

Marshall pointed downward.

"But take a good look."

"Can you feel even the slightest sign that the Lacrima beneath your feet is about to go out of control?"

Jellal suddenly dropped to his knees.

He placed both hands against the crystal floor.

Then his body began trembling.

"No..."

His eyes widened.

"No, no..."

"Impossible!"

He frantically searched through the Lacrima with his senses.

"Where is it?!"

"Where’s my Magic Power?!"

His head snapped toward Marshall.

"You!"

Realization hit.

"You bastard!"

Jellal’s expression twisted.

"You absorbed my Magic Power!"

"You stole it!"

"You goddamn bastard!"

Marshall tilted his head.

"That..."

He thought about it.

"I don’t think I can really deny it."

Then he shrugged.

"All right."

"Let’s say I ate your Magic Power."

Marshall smiled.

"So?"

"What about it?"

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

Jellal completely lost control.

"YOU BASTARD!"

"I’LL KILL YOU!"

"Meteor!"

Jellal exploded forward at a speed that was in no way inferior to Marshall’s flight.

Before he could reach him, a streak of crimson crossed his path.

BOOM!

Erza’s full-force strike smashed into Jellal and sent him flying backward once again.

She stood between him and Marshall, gripping her sword in one hand.

There was no anger left in her eyes anymore, only complete coldness.

"Jellal."

She pointed the blade toward him.

"This ends here."

Erza’s voice remained steady.

"Eight years ago, I’ll count what you did as saving my life once."

"So today..."

"I won’t kill you."

Her expression hardened.

"I’ll defeat you completely and hand you over to the Magic Council."

Erza looked at the person who had haunted her past for so many years.

There was no hesitation left.

No sympathy.

No lingering hope.

"From this day forward..."

"We are through."

"Whatever bond existed between us is over."