Chapter 136: The Lie of Eight Years
Erza's voice was quiet, but it held the attention of everyone in the ruined casino. The rowdy, chaotic energy of Natsu and Gray was gone, replaced by a heavy, stunned silence. Mira's hand rested gently on Erza's arm, offering silent support.
"We were... we were just children," Erza continued, her gaze lost in a memory eight years old. "We met a few people there, including Sho, Wally, and Millianna." She nodded towards her former friends, who were now listening intently, their own expressions a mixture of confusion and dawning horror.
"We relied on each other," Erza whispered, a faint, sad smile touching her lips. "We found what joy we could in that suffering... and we barely managed to survive."
"But there was no end in sight to that life," she said, her voice hardening. "We didn't know when we would die, when we would be beaten, or when one of us would be taken away. So, one day, Jellal suggested we escape."
Natsu, for once, was completely silent, his fists clenched at his sides. Lucy's eyes were wide, her hand over her mouth.
"Everyone agreed. We made a plan. But before we could even start, we were discovered by the Black Magic Cult guards." Erza's body tensed, her hand instinctively moving to her right eye. "To force out the mastermind, they took me. They... tortured me. And Jellal, to save me, he... he took the blame. He said it was his idea. He was captured in my place."
"For freedom," Erza's voice grew stronger, "and to save Jellal, we chose to take up arms and resist. All the imprisoned slaves had finally had enough of that life, and they fought alongside us against the Magic Cult. We... we actually won. In the end, we defeated them."
"When I went to the dungeons to save Jellal... he had completely changed," she said, her voice breaking. "He was someone I didn't recognize. He was possessed by something... something dark. Not only could he use powerful magic, but he said he didn't plan to leave with us. He intended to continue building the R-System... to revive Zeref."
[Akarin's Note: Zeref is a legendary, immortal Dark Mage from history, considered the most evil and powerful Mage who ever lived. Reviving him is the ultimate goal of many Black Magic cults.]
"Of course, I disagreed," Erza said, her body trembling with the memory. "I tried to stop him. But he defeated me with his new magic. I... I don't know if he still had some kindness left in him, but he chose not to kill me. Instead, he let me go. But he forbade me from ever telling anyone about this, or ever approaching the Tower again. He said if I did... to eliminate all witnesses, he would kill everyone. He would kill Sho, Wally, Millianna, and Simon, all of my former companions."
At this moment, Sho, who had been listening with a pale, trembling face, swayed and stood up. "What... what was all that about?" he stammered. "Are you trying to use those lies to gain your companions' sympathy?! Don't be ridiculous! The truth isn't like that at all!"
He pointed a shaking finger at Erza, his eyes wide with a desperate, fanatical light. "Eight years ago, you planted a bomb on our escape ship and then fled alone, didn't you?! If Jellal hadn't noticed your betrayal, we would have all been blown up on the spot!"
"Jellal told us!" Sho shrieked, his voice cracking. "He told us that's the fate of those who learn magic the wrong way! That you were so deeply immersed in the power of magic that you wanted to abandon us! To abandon everything and all memories related to your past!"
He looked around at his friends, desperate for support. "Isn't that right, Wally? Millianna? Simon?"
Wally and Millianna looked at each other, their faces a mask of utter confusion. They didn't know who to believe. As for Simon, the giant of a man simply stood with his arms crossed, his expression unreadable, showing no confusion at all.
"Speak up!" Sho shouted when he saw no one was supporting him.
Gray, who had been silent, looked calmly at Sho. "Jellal told you that?"
Lucy also spoke, her voice firm. "Is the Erza you know—the Erza who took the blame for you, the Erza who led your rebellion—someone who would do something like that?"
Although she had been in Fairy Tail for the shortest time, she knew Erza's character. She was strict and scary, but she was also kind and fiercely protective. She was definitely not the kind of person to betray her friends.
Sho started sweating, the interrogation hitting its mark. Of course, he knew Erza wasn't that kind of person... but if she wasn't, then what did his eight years of persistence, his eight years of hatred, even mean?
"You know nothing about our affairs!" he screamed, lashing out. "It was Jellal's words that kept me alive until today! We spent eight years building the Tower of Heaven, all for Jellal! We did it for our freedom!"
"And now you're saying it's all a lie?!" he pointed a finger at Simon. "What a joke! Are you trying to say that Erza is right and Jellal is wrong? Is that it?!"
"That's right!"
A deep, powerful voice finally rang out.
"Simon?!"
Several people looked at the speaker; it was Simon, the large, quiet man who had come with Sho and the others to capture Erza.
"You bastard!" Gray was immediately annoyed when he saw this guy. This was the one who had attacked him at the bar.
"Wait, Lord Gray," Juvia whispered, having followed Gray in. "He just used Dark Magic. He must have seen the ice clone Lord Gray used, but he still attacked."
Simon nodded at Juvia, then looked at his stunned companions. "As expected of the legendary Element 4. I didn't intend to kill anyone. To deceive Sho and the others, and to maintain Jellal's trust, I had to make the act look realistic."
"To... to deceive us?!" Wally didn't quite understand what Simon meant.
"Sho, Wally, Millianna... you've all been deceived by Jellal," Simon said, his voice heavy with the weight of the lie he had carried. "Actually, it's easy to tell who's right and who's wrong. If Erza had really betrayed us, why would she have stopped Ren just now? Why would we be standing here, perfectly fine?"
He gestured to Ren, who was still standing by the bar, his hands in his pockets, watching the drama unfold with a detached curiosity. "Ren is a super-powerful Mage, one who can even defeat a Ten Wizard Saint. You all personally experienced his strength just now."
The three fell silent upon hearing this. Just now, they had fought Ren—no, it couldn't even be called a fight. It was a one-sided, terrifyingly casual neutralization. Their magic had no effect on him. If he wanted to kill them, it probably wouldn't have even taken a second.
If Erza hadn't stopped him, they might have all been killed.
"Damn it all!" Wally punched the floor.
"What is real?! Who should I believe?!" Sho clutched his head.
If he believed Jellal's words, many things didn't make sense upon closer thought. But if he believed Erza, what did all their years of effort, their hatred, their entire purpose, amount to?
Erza, her armor clinking, knelt and looked at her childhood friends, her voice soft. "It must be very difficult for you to accept all of this right now. But I want to tell you... I have never forgotten you in these past eight years. I couldn't do anything for you. I was too weak. I'm sorry."
Simon placed a hand on her shoulder. "But it's different now, Erza. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time. I've been waiting for powerful Mages to gather, to fight Jellal, and to finally defeat him."
"Jellal... Right! Jellal! I must kill him!"
Upon hearing Jellal's name, Sho's expression also became ferocious. For eight whole years, that scoundrel had played them for fools, making them build the Tower of Heaven for him. He absolutely had to kill that scoundrel.
"That's right! It's all his fault!"
"He deceived us for so long! We absolutely cannot let him go!"
Millianna and Wally also finally understood. The fog of eight years of manipulation cleared, replaced by a burning, righteous anger. Jellal was the one who had deceived them.
"Good!" Erza stood, her resolve hardening. "For Simon and the others, and for the sake of this world... Zeref must not be revived. We must defeat that guy!"
Erza no longer hesitated. Sho and the others had been deceived for years, and she had endured years of pain and guilt because of it. All of this needed to be repaid, in full, by Jellal.
"Jellal, huh..."
Ren, who had been watching the scene play out, finally spoke, his voice thoughtful.
He remembered Jellal's story. A pitiful person who was himself deceived and possessed by a dark entity, a prime example of how a pitiful person must also have something detestable about them. Later, in the canon he remembered, Jellal would have a sudden realization, a convenient redemption arc, and transform back into a kind and upright person.
At that time, Ren had actually been quite fond of the Erza and Jellal pairing.
This was, he mused, one of the biggest downsides of shonen manga; there were rarely any purely evil villains. Many, if not most, villains ended up being "whitewashed," their past atrocities forgotten in favor of a tearful redemption. It made the resolution of conflicts, and Ren's own victories, feel less satisfying.
But dissatisfaction with the narrative aside, he would not show mercy because of some half-remembered future redemption.
After all, from the moment this battle began, they were enemies. If you show mercy to an enemy, they won't show it back.
Kindness to an enemy is, and always will be, cruelty to oneself.
'If he deserves to be killed,' Ren thought, his eyes hardening as he looked at the unconscious Erza, 'then I'll kill him.'
[Akarin Note:
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