"Jellal—!!"
Erza swung her sword with a fury that could cleave mountains.
BOOM!!
The stone throne where Jellal had been lounging was sliced clean in half, sending dust and debris flying across the chamber.
"Jellal! Sho and the others placed every ounce of their trust in you, and this is how you repay them?! It wasn't enough to deceive them for eight years—now you want to trample their very dignity into the dirt?!"
Erza's voice trembled with rage. She had endured nearly a decade of exile and pain, but seeing the heartbreak in her friends' eyes hurt far more than any wound she had ever received.
And the man responsible wasn't even repentant. He sat amidst the wreckage, mocking them as if their lives were nothing more than a punchline to a joke.
"Sis..." Sho whispered, tears streaming down his face. For the first time in years, he felt like someone was finally standing up for him, shielding him from the cold cruelty of the world.
"Dignity? What dignity could slaves possibly have?" Jellal stood up, spreading his arms wide as he laughed. "Have I not provided for them? I gave them food, clothing, and magic. I promised them a future worth living for!"
"But you stole their freedom!!" Erza screamed.
"Freedom?" Jellal's eyes glazed over with a manic, fanatical fervor. "Hahahaha! Erza, look at the world outside. Is there such a thing as true freedom? Everyone is a slave to something: family, marriage, work, expectations. Are those people free? No! Only the world Zeref envisioned possesses true liberty! And I am simply the one leading them to it!"
Mentioning Zeref seemed to trigger a deeper madness in his gaze.
"That's just your own twisted delusion," Erza said coldly. "You never cared about what they wanted. You never asked for their opinion."
Jellal sneered. "Their opinion? Why would I consult the weak on how the world should be run? You've wasted your time in the outside world, Erza. Have you still not learned the most basic rule of life? The strong survive, and the weak serve."
"You absolute bastard!" Sho roared, flinging a barrage of magical cards at Jellal.
"Hmph. I'm the one who arranged for you to be taught that magic, Sho. Did you really think I wouldn't know how to counter it?"
Darkness Magic surged from Jellal's palms, erupting in writhing, ghostly forms. They swatted the cards out of the air like bothersome insects before slamming into Sho's chest.
"Uwaaah!"
Sho let out a pained cry and was sent skidding across the floor. Erza immediately rushed to his side, helping him up. "Sho! Are you okay?!"
"Sis... I'm sorry..." Sho's voice was broken. Deep down, he had suspected the truth for a long time, but hearing Jellal confirm it so callously had finally shattered his spirit.
"Don't you dare apologize," Erza said, her gaze piercing Jellal like a spear. "The only person in this room who needs to apologize is him."
Jellal simply smirked. The idea of him showing remorse to "tools" was clearly beneath him.
"You're remarkably calm," Erza noted, her eyes narrowing. "That claim about Etherion falling... it was just a bluff to panic us, wasn't it?"
"No... Etherion is coming. There are nine minutes left before the sky falls."
Erza's brow furrowed. Jellal's precision was unsettling. Whether it was true or not, she couldn't take the risk. "Sho, listen to me. Leave now. Find the others and get everyone out of this tower immediately."
"What about you, Sis?"
"I'm staying to settle this. Eight years of lies and pain... it ends today. Now go!"
"Alright... Please, be careful."
Sho knew he was outclassed. Staying would only make him a liability. He cast one last look of hatred at Jellal and sprinted for the exit.
Jellal didn't even try to stop him. To him, Sho was a discarded pawn—worthless now that the board was set. "Eight minutes left. Let's make them count, shall we?"
"Eight minutes is more than enough to finish you."
"Hah! You've certainly grown bold in your absence. Have you forgotten how I drove you off this island in a panic eight years ago?"
Jellal unleashed a swarm of dark ghosts. Erza danced through the barrage, her blade flashing as she cut the spectral entities into mist.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The support pillars of the chamber began to crumble under the stray magical blasts.
"Didn't you treasure this place?" Erza taunted. "Now you're destroying the very tower you spent eight years building? Don't you feel even a hint of regret?"
"A few pillars are just decorations," Jellal countered.
"Those 'decorations' are what Sho and the others sacrificed their lives for!"
"Stop lecturing me! The R-System is complete! Those people have served their purpose!"
Jellal intensified his attack, trying to entangle Erza in a web of Darkness Magic.
"In your eyes, are people only divided into 'useful' and 'useless'?!" Erza roared. She triggered her Requip magic in mid-air, the sudden shift in her armor's weight and magic power signature giving her the opening she needed to break free.
She closed the gap in a heartbeat, her blade biting into Jellal's abdomen before the tip pressed firmly against his throat.
"Tell me," Erza hissed. "What is your real goal?"
Jellal blinked, his expression unreadable. "I don't know what you mean."
"The R-System isn't finished," Erza stated. "I haven't been sitting idle for eight years. I've researched the blueprints. This tower has the structure, but to actually activate it, you need a massive amount of power—at least 2.7 billion Edea. Even if you gathered every wizard on the continent, you couldn't reach that number."
"And yet," she continued, "you aren't trying to escape despite knowing the Council is attacking. What are you really waiting for?"
Jellal stared at her, a slow smile spreading across his face. "Five minutes until Etherion falls."
"Jellal!! Your dream is over! Do you really want to die for a failure?!" Erza shouted. "Fine! If you want to go down with the ship, then we'll die together!"
Suddenly, Jellal's expression crumpled. His arrogant facade vanished, replaced by a look of profound, hollow despair.
"Ah... maybe that's for the best," he whispered. "My body... it's possessed by Zeref's spirit. It doesn't listen to me anymore. I'm just a puppet being used to bring him back. I can't save myself, my friends can't save me... no one can. Paradise... freedom... they were always lies. Everything ended before it even began."
He looked at her with tear-filled eyes. "I know the tower won't work, but the spirit won't let me stop. I'm like a train with no brakes, Erza. You won. Just... kill me. End this, and then get out of here with your friends."
Clang.
The sword slipped from Erza's hand, clattering onto the stone floor. She looked at him with a mix of horror and pity, eventually sitting down across from him.
"You... you're a victim of Zeref, too," she whispered.
"This is my punishment," Jellal said, his voice trembling. "I was a coward. I let the gap between my ideals and reality break my heart. I've hurt you... I've hurt everyone..."
Erza shook her head, her eyes softening. "It's not your fault. You saved me back then, and I failed to save you in return. If there is a punishment to be borne, let me share the burden."
"Erza... I have always..."
"Blergh~!"
A sudden, loud sound of feigned gagging echoed through the chamber. Erza snapped her head toward the window.
"Kael?!"
Kael was sitting on the windowsill, leaning back with a look of pure, unadulterated boredom.
"Ugh... sorry, I really couldn't help it," Kael said, hopping down. "But seriously, Erza? You are way too easy to deceive. Haven't you heard the saying? 'A man's words are about as reliable as a ghost's promises.' You actually fell for that pathetic sob story? You're a foolish woman."
Erza blinked, her brain struggling to catch up. "What... what are you talking about?"
Kael turned his gaze toward Jellal and let out a sharp, mocking snort. "But hey, credit where credit is due. That was a hell of a performance. You almost had me reaching for a tissue. No wonder you could trick these idiots into building a tower for eight years."
Jellal's face was a mask of confusion. "I don't understand what you're implying."
"Still playing the part? Fine. Erza, stop being an idiot and pick up your sword. Kill him now."
Erza hesitated. She didn't understand why Kael was being so cold, but her trust in him was absolute. She reached for her blade.
BANG!
Before she could touch the hilt, Jellal's foot shot out, kicking Erza squarely in the chest.
"Uwaah!"
The force of the blow sent her tumbling across the room. She scrambled to her feet, gasping for air, and looked at Jellal in total shock.
Jellal calmly smoothed back his hair with both hands, his "tragic victim" persona evaporating instantly. He looked at Kael and chuckled softly.
"Honestly," Jellal said, his voice now devoid of any warmth. "The atmosphere was perfect. Why did you have to come in and ruin the drama?"
---
There are 50 advanced chapters on Patreon, which I'm currently rewriting and polishing for a better reading experience. Thank you for your support and patience.
https://www.patreon.com/c/LEYI396