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How many ten-year periods are there in a person's life?
The elderly, the middle-aged, the unregretting youth, the carefree adolescent, the infant in swaddling clothes… Time is a river, and the length of each person's river is different.
For a young man in his early twenties, ten years is half of his life.
The first three of those years were spent in the dark Tower of Heaven, where Jellal was a victim of cruel oppression and abuse.
In the seven years after overthrowing the oppressors, through various means such as harm, coercion, and deception, Jellal became the ruler of the Tower of Heaven in another way, turning into the aggressor he'd once detested the most.
To change this ugly, nauseating world and revive the Dark Mage to truly liberate the world, Jellal stopped at nothing and never believed he was wrong.
But when Ultear personally told Jellal that the so-called "Zeref's spirit" was merely a trick she'd played, Jellal broke down.
Easily swayed, abandoning companions who'd shared hardships, and turning to pursue an illusory "dark freedom"… He'd been deceived all this time into doing something impossible to succeed, like a puppet on strings, controlled without knowing it.
This was Jellal's first half of life.
At twenty, it's a time of no regrets.
But at this moment, Jellal was plunged into endless despair, regret, and pain, regretting his past actions toward his companions and hating his own foolishness.
Self-loathing and guilt toward those he'd harmed—this feeling was like a sharp sword, deeply piercing Jellal's heart.
Although the culprit was right in front of him, the tormented Jellal couldn't bring himself to hate Ultear, because he himself had committed similar, even more excessive, acts.
Whether it was threatening Erza with the lives of their companions, deceiving Simon and others who trusted him deeply, or continuing to enslave the former victims of the Tower of Heaven… Each and every one of these wrongdoings and evil acts were decisions he'd made with his own hands, without even a moment's hesitation.
Perhaps I was born an evil person.
There was no hysterical outburst of emotion; only a self-deprecating bitter smile. Jellal, his heart turned to ashes, swayed and retreated to a corner of the room, isolating himself and facing the wall.
The joys and sorrows of people aren't interconnected.
If someone's suffering, then someone else is happy, and sometimes the source of that happiness is another's pain.
At least Noah was in a good mood. Although Jellal had a face identical to his brother's, Noah didn't know why he just didn't like him much.
Watching Ultear return to her seat, guilt and confusion flickered across her delicate face, making Noah even more curious about her.
Jellal was a puppet allowed to act freely.
But was Ultear, who held the puppet strings, any better?
Seven years ago, Ultear was just a little girl, yet she'd had to infiltrate the Tower of Heaven, which then belonged to the Black Magic Cult, disguise herself as "Zeref's spirit," and entice a Jellal who was mentally disoriented from torture.
Who'd instructed her? Whose pawn was she… The answer to this question would surely come soon, but for now, Noah was more interested in what Roubaul would do next. "Senior, since you aren't planning to die, then what about Wendy?"
"Cough, cough, my true body died over four hundred years ago."
Noah's question made Roubaul's mouth twitch uncontrollably. After an unknown internal complaint about himself or Noah, he continued:
"Please take care of Wendy. I plan to confront the Black Magic Cult, uncover their hidden forces, and cut off the channel for the Demon God of War's clone to descend."
The Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods couldn't enter Earth Land, but they could open a small channel to send down their clones.
The prerequisite for establishing the channel was sufficient "chaos," and the more chaotic the world, the higher the strength limit of the descending Demon God of War clones, which could possess up to one-third of their true body's power.
Over four hundred years ago, it was an extremely chaotic era. The entire world was in war and conflict, which gave the Demon God of War a great opportunity, allowing them to take advantage and send down three clones, intending to destroy the world so their true bodies could descend.
However, heroes emerge in troubled times. Four hundred years ago was also an era of numerous geniuses and shining stars.
Those three Demon God of War clones, possessing one-third of their true body's power, were annihilated without even making a ripple, and they weren't even mentioned in the books recording that history.
Roubaul had once shattered the clone of the "Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods: String of Life," but the power of the Demon God of War also left a deep impression on Roubaul.
In this current era, the Demon God of War was clearly plotting something again, and Roubaul, who knew the power of these hateful fellows, naturally wouldn't sit idly by.
However, Mystogan wouldn't watch the respected elder fight alone. "Roubaul Senior, please let me join you."
Facing Mystogan's request to join, Roubaul smiled and shook his head, refusing. He looked at Mystogan with a meaningful gaze and said, "You're just an ordinary person; there's no need to get involved in this danger."
Mystogan gave a helpless bitter smile, realizing that his origins had been seen through long ago.
That's right, the Edolas world had peered into the Earth Land world with Anima more than once or twice; being discovered was perfectly normal.
Perhaps Mages had already visited the Edolas world using spatial teleportation Magic similar to Anima, but a world so barren of Magic that it was almost depleted simply made visitors lose interest.
Roubaul actually had another reason for refusing Mystogan: in this generally peaceful era, which was largely unrelated to great chaos, it was questionable whether the Demon God of War's clones could even descend.
And even if a clone were to descend with difficulty, due to the lack of "chaos," its power would at most be one-tenth of the Demon God of War's true body.
"My Thought Projection has fifty percent of my Magic Power from when I was alive, so don't worry."
"Hard to say."
Noah interrupted Roubaul's confidence, revealing that Zero used the special Magic Power of "Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods: Soul Scale."
That special Magic Power, capable of dissolving offensive attacks, could even nullify the killing properties of Devil Slayer Magic, which was created specifically against Demons.
Who knew if there were other characters in the Black Magic Cult, like Zero, who'd been granted power by the Demon God of War? If there were, then with those special Magic Power effects, even Roubaul might suffer a disadvantage.
Roubaul frowned. It seemed that over these four hundred years, the methods of the Eighteen Demon Fighting Gods had also evolved, granting power to humans, which could easily catch one off guard due to an information gap.
"Noah, what's your idea?" Mystogan knew his brother definitely had a plan and urged him not to keep them in suspense.
Noah did indeed have a plan.
"Roubaul Senior, sometimes doing things with a different identity can be much safer and more effective."
Under the puzzled gazes of Roubaul and Mystogan, Noah slowly turned to look at the four captured Mages, speaking with a gentle expression:
"Do you four want to atone for your sins?"