"Sho and the others… I met them back then too," Erza said softly. "Back when we had nothing but each other to survive. We clung to laughter just to stay alive."
"But that kind of life had no end. Any day could've been our last. So one of us suggested escape. Everyone agreed."
"But before we even had the chance… the cult caught wind of it. They dragged me away to find the ringleader. Jellal… he stepped in to save me. So they took him too."
"To break free… to save Jellal… we picked up weapons and fought. Every slave who had been captured stood together. We fought the cult with everything we had—and we won."
"I rushed to save Jellal… but he'd changed. He wasn't the same person anymore."
"He'd learned magic. And instead of escaping with us… he chose to stay behind and rebuild the R-System—to resurrect Zeref."
"I tried to stop him. He beat me. He didn't kill me, though—maybe some part of him still remembered who he was."
"But he warned me: tell anyone, and he'd slaughter everyone in the Tower—Sho, Wally, Milliana, all of them."
At that moment, Sho staggered to his feet.
"What are you talking about?! Are you trying to make up some sob story just to get them on your side?! Don't screw with me!"
"You're the one who planted bombs on our escape ship! You ran away and left us all behind! If Jellal hadn't stopped you, we would've died!"
"He told us you'd been corrupted by magic! That you wanted to erase your past, forget about us!"
"…Didn't he, Wally?! Milliana?! Simon?!"
Wally and Milliana exchanged glances, visibly shaken.
They didn't know what to believe anymore.
Simon, though… didn't even hesitate.
"Say something!!" Sho shouted.
Gray stepped forward, gaze calm. "So all of this came from Jellal, huh?"
Lucy nodded. "The Erza you know—does that really sound like her?"
Sho broke into a cold sweat. Deep down, he knew it didn't. He knew Erza wasn't that kind of person.
But if she wasn't… what did that make his last eight years?
"You people don't know anything! Jellal's words—his dream—that's what got me through all this!"
"For eight years, we built the Tower of Heaven—for him!"
"And now you're telling me it was all a lie?! That he was wrong and she was right?!"
"Exactly," a voice answered.
"Simon?!"
Everyone turned toward the speaker—it was Simon.
"You bastard!!" Gray growled, stepping forward.
"Wait, Gray-dono," Juvia called. "Earlier, he used a shadow spell. He must have known your ice clone was a fake—but attacked anyway."
Simon nodded. "The infamous 'Element,' huh… I never meant to kill anyone. But I had to make it convincing. When I realized the one standing before me was just a clone, I played along."
"W-Why would you…?"
"You three—Sho, Wally, Milliana—you've all been deceived by Jellal."
"It's not hard to see who's in the right. If Erza had really betrayed us, she wouldn't have stopped Kaien earlier. We wouldn't be standing here unharmed."
"You saw it yourselves—he's strong enough to crush us like insects. If he wanted us dead, he wouldn't have even needed a second."
The three fell silent.
That fight wasn't a fight. It was a slaughter.
Their spells didn't even scratch him.
If not for Erza…
"Damn it all!!"
Sho clutched his head, breathing hard.
"What's real?! Who am I supposed to believe?!"
Believing Jellal made no sense anymore.
But believing Erza… what would that make the last eight years of their lives?
Erza knelt before them, voice low. "I know it's hard to accept. But I've never once forgotten about you. Not in eight years. I was too weak to help you then. I'm sorry."
Simon looked ahead, determination shining in his eyes.
"But now… things are different. I've waited so long—for real mages to gather and stand up to Jellal. To bring him down."
"Jellal…" Sho muttered.
His expression turned twisted with rage.
"That bastard—he tricked us!! For eight years—!!"
"Damn it! He used us like pawns!"
Milliana and Wally clenched their fists.
That deception burned hotter than any pain.
"Right! We can't let Zeref come back!"
Erza's eyes sharpened.
She wouldn't hesitate anymore.
Sho had been fooled for years. So had she. That pain—they'd repay it in full.
"Jellal, huh…" Kaien muttered.
He remembered the guy—pitifully manipulated, another tragic villain.
Eventually, Jellal would come back to the light, become a hero again.
Erza and Jellal… honestly, Kaien used to ship them.
But that's the thing about shounen stories—they almost never let villains stay villains. Everyone gets a redemption arc. It made fights less satisfying.
Still…
'Even if it's not satisfying—I won't show mercy.'
In battle, they're enemies. And the enemy won't go easy on you.
'Showing mercy to an enemy… is cruelty to your comrades.'
If someone needs to be cut down—then cut them down.