A smooth, curved scar had been carved through the side of the Tower of Heaven—its cross-section polished clean like glass.
Everyone—Jellal, Kaien, Erza, and even those observing from nearby—collectively drew in a sharp breath.
If they'd hesitated even a second longer, that monstrous thing would've swallowed them whole. Best-case? Skin flayed off. Worst-case? Total annihilation.
Swoosh—!
Kaien teleported Erza back to the top of the broken tower.
"Yikes. Looks like your tower's toast," Kaien said casually, hands on his hips. "You sure you don't want to fix it?"
Jellal's voice was cold.
"It doesn't matter. The tower has already been completed. Its construction is proof that the timeline I walked was real. Even if it's destroyed now, Ultear's Arc of Time will restore it as if nothing happened."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Right now, all I need to do… is kill you."
Kaien shrugged.
"Aww, c'mon. Aren't I supposed to be the sacrifice to resurrect Zeref? You need me alive, right?"
"You were Zeref-sama's chosen vessel. But at this point, you're too dangerous. I can't rest easy unless you're dead."
As he spoke, Jellal raised one hand to the heavens, the other toward the ground. His magic flared violently—storm clouds gathered, swirling with celestial light.
A burning meteor burst through the sky.
"A meteor?!" Erza's eyes went wide. Even Kaien flinched slightly.
"Yeah okay, that's a problem."
Kaien clasped his hands together—one glowing blue, the other red.
The two energies spiraled, fused, and swelled—
A massive purple sphere of annihilation rocketed skyward.
BOOOOM—!!!
Meteor and curse collided midair in a jaw-dropping supernova of flame and light. Shards of burning rock showered the sea like falling stars.
Jellal stared, stunned.
"That… that was a real meteor! Summoned from space—how could it be destroyed?!"
Swoosh—!
Kaien appeared overhead, casting his shadow over him.
"Simple. I'm stronger than you."
CRACK—!!
Kaien's leg came down like a guillotine.
Jellal barely had time to cross his arms before the blow landed, smashing him through the tower's layers like a missile.
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!
Floor after floor crumbled under the impact.
"Meteor!!"
Jellal barely stabilized himself mid-plummet, flying from a broken window in a streak of gold.
But before he could get far, a hand slammed over his face.
"Look, I don't give a crap about who you want to resurrect. But you made Erza cry. And I've got one weakness…"
Kaien's voice turned low and deadly.
"—I hate seeing girls cry."
SLAM—SLAM—SLAM—!!
He drove Jellal's body across the walls, smashing everything in their path like a battering ram.
"AAAHHHHH!!"
Jellal shrieked in fury and pain, magic bursting from his body as he tore free from Kaien's grip.
"I can't lose—I won't lose!! I'll create a nation of true freedom!!"
He screamed, hysterical.
"In pain and fear, Zeref whispered to me! He chose me to build a world of freedom!"
"I—am the chosen one!! I will bring Zeref's vision to life!!"
Jellal's hand traced a massive sigil in the sky.
Erza's face drained of color.
"That's… Abyss Break?!!"
The four-element forbidden spell. Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. So destructive, so dangerous—it was banned across the continent.
"Looks like he's desperate now…" Kaien muttered.
"And honestly, I'm almost out of mana. These flashy spells are killing me."
He teleported to Erza's side, gently took her arm.
With his other hand, he raised two fingers.
"Domain Expansion—"
"Unlimited Void."
WHOOOOOSH—!!
A black sphere erupted outward, swallowing the battlefield whole.
And then—everything stopped.
Jellal's spell? Frozen mid-air.
His voice? Silenced.
His breath? Shallow.
Erza blinked. "What…? Why isn't he moving?"
Kaien smiled.
"This is the heart of Infinity. I'm force-feeding his brain useless information—nonstop sensory overload. His cognition's gone. He's frozen. Think of it like… brain crash."
Erza was speechless. Magic like this—she'd never even imagined.
Every form Kaien took… was terrifying.
First the teleportation that deflected Etherion.
Now this—this world of emptiness.
Snap!
Kaien cracked his fingers.
The domain collapsed.
From below, Lucy and the others only saw a brief flash of a dark sphere forming—and vanishing.
Kaien returned to his normal form.
Jellal collapsed.
Completely paralyzed.
"No motor function, no magic… yeah, you're done."
He turned to Erza and patted her shoulder.
"He's all yours. Don't worry—he's not getting up. I dumped ten years' worth of junk data into his brain. If he wasn't Saint-Class, he'd be dead."
"Best-case? He'll be a paperweight for ten minutes. Worst-case? No magic for months."
Erza stared at Jellal's limp body.
And, for the first time in eight years…
She finally… exhaled.