Chapter 140: The Paradise Game
The echoes of Ren's world-shaking "greeting" had barely faded, and the seawater was still churning violently, when Natsu decided he'd had enough of waiting.
"Alright, that's my cue!" he grinned, his knuckles cracking.
"Natsu, wait!" Erza commanded, but it was too late.
With a primal roar, Natsu's fists ignited. "FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!"
Boom—!!!!
The massive, ornate main gate of the Tower of Heaven, a structure of reinforced iron and dark, magic-infused lacrima, exploded inward in a shower of splintered wood and metal shrapnel. The sound of the explosion echoed up the forty-eight floors of the tower like a thunderclap.
"YEAH! We're here, you bastard!" Natsu charged into the darkness of the entrance hall. "Jellal! Get your cowardly ass out here—!!!"
The group rushed in after him, met by a vast, dark, and eerily silent chamber.
"Natsu, you idiot!" Gray yelled. "You're not supposed to break stuff, remember?!"
Squelch...
A wet, slithering sound suddenly echoed from all around them. The team froze.
"What... what's that noise?" Lucy whispered, her hand instinctively going to her keys.
From the dark, crystalline walls, from the high, vaulted ceiling, and even from the polished stone floor, large, grotesque mouths began to emerge. They pushed through the surfaces like tumors, their lips a sickly purple, peeling back in a silent, collective snarl.
Lucy screamed and hid behind Gray. "What are these? They're so disgusting!!"
"Mouths?!" Happy shrieked, flying up to hide on Ren's (still Whitebeard-sized) shoulder.
"This is Jellal's magic," Simon said, his face grim as he drew his own large blade. "A projection magic. He's ensuring his voice can be heard in every corner of the Tower."
A voice, smooth and laced with mocking, theatrical amusement, emanated from all the mouths at once, surrounding them in a disorienting chorus.
"Welcome, my dear, long-awaited guests, to the Tower of Heaven," Jellal's voice purred. "I am Jellal, the ruler... the God of this new world. The pieces on both sides are all here, so let the game begin. I call it... The Paradise Game."
Natsu looked around, his rage momentarily replaced by confusion. "What game? Quit hiding and fight me, coward!"
"Patience, Natsu Dragneel," Jellal laughed. "The rules are simple: it's a stage-by-stage clearing game. I have arranged for... entertainment... on every floor of the Tower of Paradise. Guards, mercenaries, and fanatics, all responsible for watching over the hostages."
"Hostages?" Erza's voice was sharp steel.
"Oh, yes," Jellal's voice dripped with false sincerity. "Our old companions. The ones who built this beautiful Tower of Heaven with Sho, Wally, and Millianna. The very same slaves who resisted the Black Magic Cult with you, Erza. All those friends you left behind... and who they abandoned you to 'save'."
"What?!"
"He... he wouldn't..." Sho's face went pale.
"Our friends... they're still alive?!" Wally stammered.
"Jellal, you scoundrel!" Erza gritted her teeth, her entire body shaking with a pure, cold fury. "Isn't it enough that you deceived those innocent, pitiful people for eight years? Now you want to use their lives as game pieces?!" He had become even more evil, more twisted, than she could have ever imagined.
"To be honest," Jellal continued, "I originally intended to kill all these useless tools. After all, the Tower has been completed. But now, I'm giving you a chance to rescue them. This can be considered... my final act of mercy."
"Mercy?! You call that mercy, you bastard?!" Gray yelled, his hands already chilling the air.
"Besides those guards," Jellal's voice ignored him, "I have also arranged three of my finest warriors. My elite guard. The Trinity Raven. Only by defeating these three warriors can you earn the right to reach the top floor and engage in the final, glorious battle with me."
"But, there are rules, of course," Jellal's tone turned cold. "If you violate the rules... for instance, if you get lost, or try to cheat... I will order all the hostages to be killed. The decision is yours: rescue the hostages, floor by floor... or come directly to me for the final battle and let them all perish."
Simon's face was solemn. "This guy… he knew we were going to betray him all along." His entire plan to use Sho's Card Magic to teleport them directly to the top floor was now useless. Jellal had anticipated everything.
"Oh, and one more thing," Jellal's voice added, a new, sharp edge to it. "This is the Tower of Heaven that took me eight years to build. I don't want any major damage." This part seemed aimed directly at Natsu and Ren. "If the damage to my beautiful tower is too severe... I will also kill all the hostages."
Natsu's jaw dropped. "He... He's telling me not to break stuff?! That's impossible!"
"Finally, an additional special note," Jellal's voice became almost gleeful. "The Magic Council is very likely to use its satellite magic array to attack this place. That is the ultimate destructive magic that can turn everything to ashes... Etherion."
[Akarin's Note: Etherion, the Magic Council's ultimate weapon. It is a satellite-based magic that gathers magical power from across the continent and fires it as a single, devastating beam capable of obliterating an entire country.]
"!!!"
The entire group was stunned into silence by this revelation.
High above them, in the throne room, Vidaldus Taka, who had been listening to his master's broadcast, scrambled to his feet. "Hey! Hey! You never told us about this, Jellal!!" he shrieked, his rock-star persona cracking. "Etherion?! If we get hit by something like that, we'll all go to HELL!! That thing destroys everything!"
Ikaruga, who had been calmly polishing her katana, glanced up at Vidaldus, a slight, amused smile playing on her lips. "Vidaldus, are you scared?"
Hearing this, Vidaldus's panic instantly flipped into a manic rage, as if he'd taken too many drugs. "SCARED?! ON THE CONTRARY!! ON THE CONTRARY!! I'm EXTREMELY HYPED!! I just want to do this kind of dangerous work—!!! THIS IS THE ULTIMATE ROCK AND ROLL, BABY!!"
Fukuro just hooted in agreement.
Jellal's voice echoed for the last time from the mouths on the wall, a cruel, final taunt: "The remaining time until the attack is unknown. It could be an hour, it could be minutes. When Etherion falls on our heads, none of us will survive. That means there will be no winner, and the game ends."
"Let us enjoy ourselves to the fullest. Welcome... to Paradise."
As he finished speaking, all the grotesque mouths on the walls and floor dissolved, slithering back into the stone and disappearing as if they had never been.
A heavy silence filled the hall.
"Wh-what… what is that guy Jellal thinking…" Lucy's body trembled uncontrollably. "He's... he's insane. He's playing games when his own life isn't even safe..."
"Etherion? The Council? No… impossible!!" Erza said, shaking her head, but her voice was filled with a new dread. "That's… that's the ultimate weapon. They wouldn't..." Her voice trailed off as she thought of Siegrain, her other Jellal, on the Council. Would he allow this? Would he... propose it?
"Is he bluffing?" Gray muttered, rubbing his temples. He also found it hard to believe that the Magic Council would fire Etherion at this location. "The collateral damage... it would wipe out the entire island and half the ocean around it. They can't be serious."
Clap! Clap!
Ren, still in his towering Whitebeard form, clapped his massive hands together. The sound was like a small explosion, snapping everyone out of their panic.
"Alright," his voice boomed, calm and steady. "Bluff or not, the people must be saved. He wants a game? We'll play, but we'll play by our rules. Let's start forming teams now."
He turned his gaze to Simon, Sho, Wally, and Millianna. "Simon, the four of you understand the structure of the Tower of Paradise. You'll guide us. We split into four teams."
Juvia immediately rushed to Gray's side, her eyes sparkling with hearts. "Juvia is with Gray-sama! My Water Magic can complement Gray-sama's Ice Magic perfectly!"
Gray sighed. "Fine, whatever."
Simon nodded. "Then I'll go with you two. We've met before, even if it wasn't particularly pleasant."
Wally, the blocky man, looked at Natsu. "In that case, I'll team up with the Fire Dragon. Our styles are... similar. We hit things hard."
Natsu just grinned. "I don't care, as long as I'm with Happy and we get to fight!"
Sho stepped forward, his face set with a new determination. "I'll go with my sister." He looked at Erza, his eyes filled with shame. "I... I have to protect my sister this time. I won't let her suffer any harm."
Erza nodded, her expression softening. Lucy stepped up beside them. "Then I'm with you guys, too!"
"Then I…" Millianna looked at the remaining person: Ren.
She visibly trembled, a small "meep" escaping her throat. Not long ago, in the casino, she was almost crushed to death by this man. She still had deep psychological trauma. She took a half-step back, hiding slightly behind Erza.
Ren just pointed at her with one massive finger. "You're with me. Let's go."
"For efficiency," Ren continued, "each team will be responsible for one section of the tower. How many floors does the Tower of Heaven have?"
Simon replied, "Up to the top floor where Jellal is located, there are forty-eight floors in total."
Happy, doing the math, said, "So that means each team has to take care of twelve floors, right?"
"This guy… he wants to drain our stamina and magic power," Gray said, clenching his fist. He'd guessed the opponent's objective. Jellal deliberately gave a vague time limit with Etherion and a huge number of floors to clear. He wanted them to fight continuously, to rush, to panic, and to burn out. By the time they reached the top floor, their stamina and magic power would be exhausted, making them no match for him.
Lucy said indignantly, "This guy is too despicable!"
"Ren... your magic power…" Erza looked up at Ren's giant form, her face etched with concern. She knew Ren's strength was immense, but she also knew his magic power burden was heavy. A battle of attrition, a long, drawn-out fight against waves of enemies, was the worst possible scenario for a mage who relied on high-cost, high-impact transformations. She felt as if Jellal's rules were specifically designed to neutralize Ren.
Ren looked down at her and deactivated his Take Over. His massive Whitebeard form dissolved, and he returned to his normal size, landing softly on the floor. He rolled his shoulders.
"It's fine," he said, his voice calm. "This level is nothing."
Erza's worry didn't fade. "But Jellal—"
"Erza," he interrupted gently. "I'm not the same as I was a year ago." He was thinking of his 6-Star magic power, a well so deep it was incomparable to his 5-Star days. He also held several new purple and gold cards in his hand, aces in the hole. If it was truly necessary, he could sacrifice one for an unimaginable boost, but he felt it wouldn't be needed.
"It's just Jellal, after all," Ren said with a confident smirk. "If I can't even deal with him at this stage, I would have wasted all those card draws."
Erza looked at his confident expression, and her own tension eased. She nodded, her resolve hardening.
Soon, everyone had their assignments.
Team 1 (Natsu, Happy, Wally): Floors 1-12
Team 2 (Gray, Juvia, Simon): Floors 13-24
Team 3 (Erza, Lucy, Sho): Floors 25-36
Team 4 (Ren, Millianna): Floors 37-48, and the path to the top.
"Everyone! Make sure to ensure your own safety!" Erza commanded, her voice ringing with authority. "Depart!!"
"OH OH OH OH OH OH!!"
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