Jellal only laughed dismissively at her words. He closed his eyes, raised one hand to his ear as if listening to something only he could hear.
"Disappear? He has been urging me all this time, right by my ear, telling me to hurry and bring him back into this world."
Watching Jellal act like a lunatic, as if he really heard someone speaking to him, Kabe could not hold it in. He burst out laughing.
"Pff... cough, cough. Sorry, sorry, I did not mean to laugh at you, it is just that what you are saying is way too ridiculous."
Others might not know, but how could Kabe not be clear on this.
Zeref was not only alive, he had founded an empire on another continent and was probably off somewhere messing around at this very moment.
Where was any so called dead spirit talking to Jellal supposed to come from.
Jellal's eyes snapped open. He stared at the laughing Kabe, a dangerous light flickering in his pupils.
"An ignorant fool like you could never receive Zeref's favor."
"Only I can feel his presence and hear his divine command."
"He is really gone. This guy is seriously ill."
Kabe shook his head and muttered to Erza beside him.
Erza rolled her eyes at him, then stepped forward to speak as well.
"Jellal, wake up. There is no Zeref here. That is only something you forced on yourself."
Moments before, Jellal had still been wearing that wicked smile, practically spelling the word villain across his face.
The instant he heard Erza's voice, his whole demeanor shifted, and a look of gentle tenderness appeared instead.
"Erza, did you come back to join me?"
"I always believed you would not abandon your comrades and run away."
"If we join hands, we will definitely revive Zeref and follow him to become the rulers of this world."
Facing the olive branch he threw out, a flicker of sadness crossed Erza's eyes, but it faded quickly.
"You have completely become a slave to dark magic, Jellal."
She stepped back two paces and left the space in front of Jellal entirely to Kabe.
Seeing that his emotional card had failed, Jellal let his smile fall away. His gaze moved to Kabe, who was starting to crack his knuckles, and then to Wally and the others behind him, who were struggling, hesitant, and torn.
"Sho, Wally, Simon, Millianna..."
He called each of their names one by one, his voice full of wounded sorrow.
"Are you planning to betray me as well? Have you all forgotten who taught you magic?"
"Enough, Jellal. I believe in Erza, and I believe in the real you."
"Everything I have done over the years has been for this day, the day your lies are exposed."
Simon cut cleanly through Jellal's act, his calm words steadied Wally and the others at once.
One trick failing, Jellal only smiled faintly and turned his aim toward Simon.
"Simon, I have always known. In your heart, you love Erza deeply, but you never dare confess your feelings."
"I will give you a chance to pledge yourself to me again. If you show your loyalty, I do not mind rewarding you with her after I kill this man."
"Simon?!"
Erza, Sho and the others all turned to look at Simon, but Erza's expression was the most shocked of all.
She had always treated Simon as a comrade, a friend. She had never noticed his feelings for her.
Caught with his secret dragged into the open, Simon turned his face away in embarrassment, not knowing how to face his crush and his companions' stares.
But on one point, his heart was very clear.
"I only see Erza as a partner in battle. Stop trying to twist people's hearts with your words, Jellal."
"Tch, like hell that is true. You think I am blind or dead."
Kabe's face darkened as he undid the buttons of his shirt, his eyes cold as he fixed Jellal in his sights.
"You really have a big mouth, bastard. Looks like your illness is serious and you need some proper physical treatment."
As the words fell, Kabe's legs tensed and he flashed forward, appearing right in front of Jellal. His right fist crashed into Jellal's abdomen like a battering ram.
Jellal, who had been smiling and trying to stir everyone's emotions with words just a moment before, had his eyes bulge as the heavy punch landed. A mouthful of sour liquid burst out of his throat.
His body folded like a shrimp as he staggered backward several steps before he barely managed to force himself upright again.
Then, filling his vision, came another rapidly enlarging fist. It slammed into his left cheek without any suspense, swatting him away like a ball. He flew sideways and smashed headfirst into the wall.
"You dare run your mouth about my woman, you tired of living or what."
With the roar, a ki blast the size of a dinner plate chased after Jellal and exploded against him.
The violent blast blew off half of the tower's roof. The shockwave made Sho and the others sway wildly, nearly knocking them off their feet.
The instant he fired the ki blast, Kabe had already lifted his gaze toward the sky above.
A heartbeat later, Jellal, blood at the corner of his lips, appeared again in his line of sight, his body wrapped in golden light.