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A sudden punch from below struck the birdman's jaw heavily, and the powerful impact forced Fukuro's wide-open beak shut.
Flames roared, and the explosive Magic instantly engulfed Fukuro.
By the time Taurus reacted, the enemy who had suddenly attacked was already down, emitting black smoke and with eyes rolled back, having lost consciousness from the impact of the extreme fire blast.
One blow ended the battle directly.
What a terrifying human.
Taurus looked at the white-haired youth who had suddenly appeared and suddenly felt a little ashamed.
He was, after all, Taurus, the strongest of the Zodiac twelve Celestial Spirits, yet his battle with Fukuro had nearly ended in disaster, which was truly embarrassing for a bull.
Noah nonchalantly removed the Magic wings and Magic rocket from Fukuro. The wings had flight capabilities, and Noah couldn't possibly pass that up.
As for the Magic rocket, although its power was not ideal, it would still be quite nice to set off as a firework.
"Thank you, Noah! If you hadn't intervened in time, Taurus would have definitely been eaten by Fukuro," Lucy landed with Cheese and looked at Noah gratefully.
Noah waved his hand. "That birdman's Magic wasn't that strong—you could easily dodge it if you reacted quickly."
"Instead, Lucy, you should really focus on your training."
It is said that each of the Zodiac twelve Celestial Spirits possesses strength comparable to an S-Class Mage.
However, because they are summoned from the Celestial Spirit World to the human world, the Celestial Spirits' power is limited by the Magic Power of the Celestial Spirit Mage they are contracted with.
This means that although the Golden Celestial Spirits are powerful, they have almost never appeared in their full glory.
Lucy's situation was naturally the same. Taurus the Bull, summoned by her, couldn't unleash his full power. Otherwise, when Fukuro was struck by Taurus's axe earlier, even if he didn't suffer half his bones broken, his combat ability should have significantly decreased.
Lucy gave an awkward smile. After joining Fairy Tail, her energy had been entirely focused on jobs or adventures. The thrill-seeking girl had completely forgotten that a Mage also needed to improve her strength.
In Noah's opinion, Lucy had high talent.
The heir of the Heartfilia Konzern is a born Celestial Spirit Mage. Lucy's mother, Layla, once held three Golden Celestial Spirit keys and was a powerful Celestial Spirit Mage who could open three Golden Celestial Spirit Gates simultaneously.
According to Jude, Lucy was able to summon a Golden Celestial Spirit by herself when she was a child, but she hadn't improved much as she grew older.
Of course, this was also due to the terrible relationship between her and her father.
However, Lucy was only sixteen years old now, which was a good time for growth. As long as she was willing to work hard, there was still a lot of room for improvement.
After a brief chat, Noah had Taurus carry Fukuro, and then, along with Lucy and the cats, reunited with Natsu and Gray.
Vidaldus had already been defeated by Gray and was confined in an ice prison.
A bruised and swollen Natsu retorted to Gray angrily, "You naked pervert! Why did you only aim for my face?!"
"Hmph, what right do you have to question me when you were controlled by the enemy? Aren't you going to say thank you?"
Gray kept a straight face, but inwardly he was overjoyed. There was nothing more satisfying than taking the opportunity to beat up his arch-rival under the guise of saving a comrade.
Natsu's face twitched with pain. He suspected Gray was holding a grudge, but he had no proof.
No proof, and he still had to thank him.
What kind of situation was this...
Despite his displeasure, Natsu wasn't a sore loser. Saying thank you to a comrade who saved him wouldn't cost him a limb, so he honestly thanked Gray.
Gray also tacitly didn't continue to mock Natsu. He just wanted to win against Natsu, not to stomp on his friend.
"Have you seen Erza?"
Lucy and Happy shook their heads at Natsu's question. They were already behind Natsu and Gray—how could they catch up to Erza?
"Cheese knows!"
The snow leopard cat perched on Noah's shoulder raised its cute little paw and pointed to a spot on the upper levels of the Tower of Heaven. It had detected malice emanating from there.
However, that malice was not pure at all.
The red-haired girl hurried toward the top of the tower.
Seven years had passed since she left this nightmare place. The building, which was only a prototype back then, was now a strange, tall tower, different from her memory.
Suddenly, the girl stopped. Four figures blocked her path—they were the companions who had resisted the Tower of Heaven guards with her seven years ago.
Among the four, the burly man at the head had a turban wrapped around his head, a black eye patch over his left eye, and his jaw encased in iron.
Looking at the intruder of the Tower of Heaven, the man never expected to see her again, and his voice was full of complex emotions.
"Erza... Long time no see."
"Long time no see, Simon."
Erza gave a bitter smile. She remembered that Simon's face had been disfigured in a battle with the Tower of Heaven guards, and he eventually had to cover it with iron.
Simon wanted to catch up with Erza, but the other three clearly didn't think so.
"Simon! Don't waste words with this traitor!"
The square-shaped man dressed like a gangster, using his Square Magic to turn his right hand into a square-shaped gun, pointed it at Erza with an angry face.
Facing the gun of her former comrade, Erza simply said calmly, "I never betrayed you, Wally."
"Then why did you get on a boat and run off by yourself, and destroy all the remaining boats?!"
The dark-skinned youth named Shô, dressed in a bartender's uniform, looked at the older sister who had taken care of him when he was enslaved in the Tower of Heaven with a pained expression, pleading, "Answer me... Erza... Big sister..."
"You still call her big sister? Did she care about you when she ran away?!" The last of the four finally spoke. It was Millianna, who used Cat Magic.
Millianna glared at Shô irritably, looking disappointed, and then turned to Erza. "Since you escaped the Tower of Heaven all these years, why are you back today?"
"I'm back... to liberate this tower of sin and let you all leave here."
Erza looked at her former comrades, her tone firm, but it only drew Millianna's mockery.
"Stop with the pretty words! If you hadn't destroyed the remaining boats back then, we would have left here long ago!"
Wally and Millianna wanted to act, but Simon blocked them, standing between them and Erza. "Erza isn't that kind of person. It's not too late to act after at least hearing her explanation."
Hearing this, Millianna bit her lower lip. In truth, she knew Erza wasn't someone who would abandon her comrades, but seven years ago, she did indeed leave everyone and escape alone.
But Wally's anger grew even stronger. "Explain what? Can Jellal's own words to us be false? Were those destroyed boats also fake?!"
"What if Jellal deceived us?!"
Simon firmly stood between the two sides. "Don't tell me you haven't noticed that ever since we overthrew the guards seven years ago, Jellal's temperament has completely changed, as if he's a different person."
At these words, the furious Wally, the agitated Millianna, and the wavering Shô all fell silent.
How could they, once close companions, not notice Jellal's change...
Simon turned around. "Erza, I believe you wouldn't betray us, but we also need an explanation."