"Jellal!"
Erza furiously swung her sword at Jellal.
Boom!
The throne where Jellal stood was cut in half.
"Jellal! How could you betray the trust of Sho and the others? Not only did you deceive them, but you also trampled their dignity into the ground?!" Erza reprimanded Jellal.
Although she had endured much suffering these past eight years, her pain was nothing compared to what Sho and the others had gone through.
And the culprit behind all of this, not only felt no remorse but also mocked and enjoyed it as if it were natural.
"Nee-san..."
Sho looked at Erza, and tears streamed down his face, as if he had finally found someone to stand up for him.
Jellal said, "Dignity? What dignity do they have? Haven't I been good enough to them all these years? I had people teach them magic, gave them food and clothing, and even promised them a beautiful future..."
Erza shouted, "But you deprived them of their freedom!"
Jellal spread his arms and burst into laughter. "Freedom? Hahahahaha! Where in this world is there true freedom? Did you feel free outside?"
"Everyone is bound by all sorts of things—family, marriage, work. Is that freedom? Did you see them free? Only Zeref's world possesses true freedom. And I am leading them to such a world."
When Zeref was mentioned, Jellal's eyes became slightly crazed.
Erza said coldly, "These are all your wishful thoughts, you never considered their opinions."
Jellal sneered, "Their opinions? What's there to consider about the opinions of the weak? Erza, you've wasted your time outside all these years. Haven't you understood the rule of the jungle yet?"
"Jellal, you damned bastard!" Sho shot card after card at Jellal.
"Hmph! I had someone teach you that magic. Do you think I don't have a way to break it?"
Dark specters emanated from Jellal's hand, striking down Sho's cards and simultaneously hitting Sho's body.
"Ugh!"
Sho let out a scream and was knocked to the ground.
Erza quickly went to Sho's side and helped him up. "Sho! Are you alright?!"
"Nee-san... I'm sorry..."
Although he had long known that Jellal was deceiving him, he still held a glimmer of hope, but upon truly hearing Jellal speak the truth, his heart had already collapsed.
"Don't say you're sorry. You're not the one who should be sorry." Erza looked at Jellal with sharp eyes.
Jellal's lips curled into a disdainful smile. How could he apologize to these people? It was impossible.
Erza said, "This composure... it seems your talk of Etherion falling was just a bluff, right?"
"No. Etherion will fall. There are still ten... no, nine minutes left until Etherion falls."
Erza frowned.
She wasn't sure if Jellal was telling the truth, but his ability to state the time so precisely made her wary.
"Sho, you leave first, then inform everyone to evacuate this tower together."
"What about you, nee-san?"
"I'll deal with Jellal first, then I'll find you all. It's time to settle the eight years of grievances with him."
"Okay... Nee-san, please be careful."
Sho had originally wanted to defeat Jellal himself, but after truly engaging in combat, he realized how weak he was. Jellal had defeated him with just one blow, and he would only be a burden to Erza here.
Jellal watched Sho flee without attempting to stop him. In his eyes, a pawn like Sho was insignificant, to be discarded once used.
He said, "There are still 8 minutes left. Let's enjoy these 8 minutes."
"8 minutes? That's enough."
"Hmph. I didn't expect your arrogance to grow so much after eight years. Have you forgotten how I drove you from this island eight years ago, fleeing in disgrace?" Jellal said, releasing a large number of dark specters from his hands.
Erza dodged the dark specters' attacks while slicing them apart.
Boom... Boom...
Many pillars were destroyed by the dark specters.
Erza asked, "Didn't you value these things before? Don't you feel it's a pity to destroy the tower you built with such difficulty with your own hands now?"
"It's just one or two pillars, just decoration."
"For these decorations, Sho and the others have believed in you for 8 years!"
"Don't keep lecturing me. The important thing is the R-System, it's already built now. Those guys are useless."
Jellal unleashed a large number of dark specters, entangling Erza's body.
"Useless? Do people only exist as useful or useless in your eyes?!" Erza roared, beginning to use her Requip magic.
Her armor gave Erza a sliver of space from the specters' entanglement. She seized this opportunity and cut all the specters apart.
Fairy Dance!
Erza rushed in front of Jellal and slashed him across the abdomen.
Swish!
Erza's sword tip pressed against Jellal's throat.
Erza asked, "Tell me, what is your true purpose?"
"I don't understand what you mean."
"Actually, the R-System was never completed, right? I haven't been doing nothing these past eight years, I've been investigating the R-System. The structure and principles of this tower were indeed built according to the original blueprints, but to fully complete the R-System, there's one indispensable thing: magic power."
"To activate such a large-scale magic, at least 2.7 billion Edeas of magic power is needed. Even if all the Mages on the entire continent were gathered, it might not be enough to achieve such immense magic power."
"Moreover, you knew the Council was coming to attack this place, yet you didn't plan to escape. What exactly are you thinking?!"
Jellal smiled and said, "There are 5 minutes left until Etherion falls."
Erza roared, "Jellal!! Your so-called ideal has already ended! Do you want to die like this?! Then let's die together!"
"Ah... that wouldn't be bad. My body is possessed by Zeref's ghost and no longer obeys me. I am just a doll used to revive Zeref's body. I can't save myself, my companions can't save me, no one can save me."
"That's why I said paradise... freedom... it doesn't exist at all. Everything ended before it even began."
"I know the R-System won't be completed, but... Zeref's ghost won't allow me to stop. No one can stop it now. I'm like a broken train engine. Erza, you win. Kill me, then escape from here with your companions."
Clang!
Erza let go of her sword and sat down opposite Jellal. "You are also a victim of Zeref."
Jellal said with a dejected expression, "This is the punishment for succumbing to my own cowardice. The huge gap between ideals and reality made my heart lose its way, leading me to do too many things that hurt you and Sho and the others."
Erza shook her head. "This isn't your fault. You saved me back then, but I couldn't save you. I will bear that punishment."
"Erza... I've already been..."
Suddenly—
A sound rang out.
"Ugh..."
Erza immediately turned her head to the side when she heard the sound.
"Takeshi?!"
Takeshi was seen appearing on the windowsill at some unknown time.
Takeshi said, "Uh... sorry, I really couldn't hold it in, but Erza, you're too easily fooled. You believe such nonsense, you're really a foolish woman."
"What?!" Erza was slightly stunned.
Takeshi then looked at Jellal and sneered, "But you're really something, just spouting all sorts of nonsense. No wonder you could fool so many people into going in circles."
Jellal looked at Takeshi with a confused expression and said, "I don't understand what you mean by that."
"Don't understand? Erza, kill him."
Although Erza didn't know why Takeshi would say that, out of trust in him, she immediately went to pick up her sword.
Bang!
Jellal kicked Erza.
"Ugh!"
Erza was kicked flying and, after stopping, looked at Jellal in disbelief.
Jellal smoothed his hair with both hands, looked at Takeshi, and chuckled. "Honestly, the atmosphere was just right. Don't come and disrupt it."