Kaien walked over to Lucy and crushed the ropes binding her, setting her free.
Simon gently lowered Erza to the ground, raised both hands, and backed away in silence.
Mirajane immediately rushed to Erza's side and supported her with concern.
"Erza, are you alright?!"
Erza shook her head. "It was just a sleep dart. I'm fine."
"YOU BLOCKHEAD—!!"
Just then, Natsu burst in from the next room and spotted Woolley crumpled nearby. He rushed over and grabbed the front of Woolley's scarf.
"You square-faced freak! Give me Happy back!!"
Gray followed Natsu inside—Juvia trailing quietly behind him.
The moment Simon saw Gray, his expression tensed.
"You!"
Gray glared and moved as if to attack.
"Natsu, Gray, wait!" Erza cut in firmly.
That's when Natsu and Gray finally noticed everyone else was already here—Mirajane, Lucy… and one unfamiliar face.
"Who's the pretty boy?"
Kaien smiled. "It's me."
With that, he dispelled his transformation and returned to his original form.
"Kaien?!!"
So it was another new transformation…
"What happened here?!"
"They tried to kidnap Erza," Kaien replied bluntly. "So I beat them up."
Erza turned to Natsu and Gray, her voice calm but cold. "Bring them here. I need to ask them something."
Natsu and Gray grabbed Woolley and Sho—both were still injured from Kaien's earlier attacks.
Erza stared down at Woolley. "Return Happy to Natsu."
Woolley, though reluctant, knew very well what would happen if he didn't comply. Kaien was standing right there—and that guy meant it.
Gritting his teeth, he opened his magic storage and released a ball of light.
"Happy!"
Natsu instantly caught his partner and hugged him tightly to his chest.
Happy wasn't just a companion. He was family. No—closer than that. Natsu treated Happy like a brother, a piece of his own soul.
Gray turned to Erza. "What the hell is going on?! That big guy earlier—he was asking for you by name."
Lucy spoke up quietly. "They're… Erza's old friends."
"Friends?" Gray frowned. "But I've known her since she joined the guild. I've never seen these people before."
Erza nodded. "They were my companions… before I joined Fairy Tail."
She looked at the four captives. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?"
"Tch."
Sho turned his face away, refusing to answer.
It was Simon who replied. "It's Jellal. He sent us… to bring you back to the Tower of Heaven."
Erza's whole body trembled.
"…The Tower of Heaven? You mean… it's finished?!"
Sho smirked with pride. "That's right. It took eight years… but we did it. The Tower is complete."
"The Tower of Heaven? What's that?" Lucy asked, confused.
Erza clenched her fists. "…The Tower of Heaven—also known as the R-System. It's a forbidden magic structure that sacrifices a living person to resurrect the dead."
"What?!"
Everyone recoiled in shock—except Kaien. He already knew.
"A living person… as a sacrifice?!" Lucy's voice shook.
Sho snorted. "Don't give me that humanitarian crap. Magic doesn't need your morality. It erodes it."
Erza's voice was low and trembling with anger. "That's black magic… That's the exact ideology of those monsters. You're no different."
"You're wrong!" Sho snapped back, eyes wild. "They just wanted the R-System as a way to bring back the dead… but Jellal—he will guide us to salvation!"
"Salvation?" Erza narrowed her eyes.
Sho's voice grew more manic by the second.
"Yes! Jellal will resurrect that one. The world will be reborn—our paradise will begin! And we… we will rule over it!"
His grin twisted with madness.
"To the fools who stripped us of our freedom… to the traitors who once called themselves our comrades… to the ignorant sheep of this rotten world… to the pathetic Magic Council—!"
"We'll show them fear! We'll show them agony! We'll rip away all their freedom—because we are the ones who should rule this world!! AHAHAHAHAHA—!!"
CRACK—!!
Erza slammed her forehead directly into Sho's.
BANG!
Sho's eyes rolled up white as he crumpled to the ground—unconscious.
"W-What the hell?!"
Everyone flinched.
Erza's face was twisted in fury.
"A perfectly kind child… twisted into this. Jellal… is this all your doing?"
Lucy spoke again, softly.
"Erza… what's going on? What is the Tower of Heaven? Who is Jellal?"
"…It's my problem," Erza whispered. Her body trembled again. "You don't have to get involved."
Her voice was quiet… but it was shaking.
Gray stepped forward, resolute.
"If you don't want to tell us, that's fine. But don't say it's 'not our problem.' You're our friend, Erza. If we see one of our own struggling, do you think we'd just sit back and ignore it?"
Lucy nodded. "That's right!"
Natsu clenched his fist. "Did that Jellal guy hurt you? I'll go punch his face in!"
Mirajane stepped beside Erza and gently took her hand.
"No matter what happens, we'll be by your side."
Kaien gave her a crooked grin.
"That's not like you, Lady Erza. Come on—just give us the usual 'shut up and follow me.' We'll help you."
Erza looked up.
One by one, she saw their eyes.
Kaien. Mirajane. Lucy. Gray. Natsu.
All of them looking at her—with nothing but complete, unconditional trust.
Tears slipped from her eyes.
None of them had ever seen Erza like this before.
But finally, she gathered the courage to speak the truth.
"…Fine. I'll tell you."
Her voice was calm—but tinged with pain.
"This all started over a decade ago."
"At the time… a cult of dark mages obsessed with necromancy were building a tower called the R-System. A structure that could resurrect the dead… by sacrificing the living."
"They needed manpower… and they took it. They kidnapped people from all over. Enslaved them. And forced them to build."
"…I was just a child."
"What…?"
Everyone was stunned. All except Kaien, who already knew.
More than ten years ago—Erza was still a kid.
And those monsters had made her a slave.
Lucy's voice trembled.
"…That's horrible…"
"Those bastards…" Gray clenched his fists.
Natsu's flames flickered to life, burning with fury.
Kaien looked at the captives—then back at Erza.
'To twist a soul like Sho's… to make Erza relive this…'
They really are despicable.