Top Floor — Tower of Heaven
Bang!
"Bad news, Lord Jellal! We're under attack—it's Fairy Tail!"
A long-haired man rushed in, breathless, to report.
Jellal, however, didn't even flinch. "Calm down, Vidaldus. I already anticipated this. You think Sho and the others could really bring Erza back with that man watching over her?"
Vidaldus's expression changed. "You mean… Sho and the others betrayed us?!"
"That's right."
"Those bastards… How dare they betray Lord Jellal! They're dead!"
Jellal simply smiled. "It doesn't matter. They've already fulfilled their purpose…"
Suddenly—
The entire Tower of Heaven tilted violently.
Jellal grabbed the armrests of his throne to steady himself.
Vidaldus clutched a pillar, panicked. "Wh-What's going on?! Is the tower collapsing?!"
He turned to the window—and froze. "Th-That's… what the hell is that?!"
Even Jellal was taken aback by the sight outside. What he saw would haunt him for life.
The sea had split. Tidal waves surged. The entire island swayed and groaned, as if the heavens themselves had flipped upside down.
"This… this is impossible…!"
Below the Tower
All around the island, people screamed as the land convulsed beneath their feet.
"An earthquake?! A tsunami?! What the hell is happening?!"
Many who couldn't grab onto anything were sent tumbling into the sea like falling dominoes.
After several agonizing minutes, the chaos finally subsided. The island stabilized.
Sho, Wally, Milliana, and Simon all stared at Kaien in stunned silence.
Even Natsu and the others looked at him like he was some sort of monster. They already knew this transformation made him insanely powerful—but this? This was beyond anything they'd imagined.
He moved an entire island…
No—he could've sunk it. They all felt it. If Kaien had wanted to, he could've easily sent the entire tower to the bottom of the ocean.
Juvia was at a loss for words.
She'd seen Kaien defeat Master Jose in his Whitebeard form back in Oshibana.
Back then, she thought he was already at his limit. Now she knew—he hadn't even been trying.
"What… what was that?"
Simon whispered.
"Nothing much. Just a light use of the power of quakes," Kaien replied casually.
Milliana and the others were completely dumbfounded.
This… this was the monster we picked a fight with back then…?
Back at the Top of the Tower
Vidaldus was sprawled on the floor, shaking. He truly thought the entire tower was going to collapse. No, worse—it wasn't just the tower. The whole island, the ocean, everything had looked like it was about to be swallowed.
"What… what kind of power is that…?"
"Kaien… that bastard…"
Jellal clenched his fists. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd been genuinely terrified.
It wasn't just the raw power Kaien displayed—it was the message behind it. That if Kaien wanted, he could reduce everything Jellal had built over eight years to rubble in a single punch.
And Jellal believed it.
He knew full well—this tower, fortified as it was, stood no chance against Kaien's unreasonable power.
"Vidaldus," Jellal said. "Ready yourself."
"Oh? You mean I get to go?"
"That bastard declared war on us. It's time we fought back—or else we'll look like cowards."
Vidaldus grinned. "Then I won't hold back! YEAHHH—!!"
Magic surged from his body as he transformed. His appearance twisted—his face painted in thick dark makeup, his outfit resembling a heavy-metal rocker from hell.
"From the Assassin Guild—Skull Order's Special Assault Squad… the Three Crows have arrived!!"
Two figures appeared beside him.
One was a grotesque humanoid owl-beast named Fukurō. The other, a sultry beauty with long pink hair in a kimono, holding a gleaming katana—Ikaruga.
"HELL! Let's give them a taste of the most brutal, bloodiest hell they've ever seen!!"
Vidaldus struck a pose, head whipping back and forth, fingers flashing the rock sign like a deranged frontman at a demonic concert.
Their team leader, Ikaruga, smiled sweetly and asked,
"What in the world just happened? That quake nearly scared this lady out of her kimono…"
Even she was rattled by the earlier spectacle.
The sea had risen and fallen in massive layers. The land had tilted. It wasn't natural.
It wasn't something she could believe came from human hands… and yet, that's what it was.
Fukurō tilted his head. "Hoo—Hoohoo!"
He too was still in a daze.
Vidaldus grinned. "It was Kaien. He used Take Over Magic—transformed into that old man and unleashed his powers. That quake and tsunami? All him."
Ikaruga's expression changed. "Kaien…? You mean the one who defeated Jose, one of the Ten Wizard Saints, in a head-on fight?"
Everyone with the means to watch that battle had done so. The Three Crows included.
Jellal nodded. "That's him."
"He's… quite the terrifying monster then. Are we really going to fight him?"
"What? Are you scared?" Jellal asked coolly.
Ikaruga chuckled, caressing the hilt of her blade.
"Of course I am. Who wouldn't be? But I'm also… excited."
"This man… he's the one. The legend. If I get to cross blades with him—even if I die—it would be an honor."
She stepped forward, her eyes gleaming.
"The wind may scatter us like petals, for such is the fate of love and life… But tonight…" she smiled, her blade flashing,
"…tonight will be a grand festival of death."