Chapter 137: The Paradise Game
Magic Council Headquarters, Era.
Deep within the imposing, fortress-like headquarters of the Magic Council, the nine Council Members sat in their high-backed chairs around the colossal stone table. The air was thick with a heavy, oppressive silence, the shadows in the chamber seeming to deepen.
Bang!
"What?! The R-System is still intact! How is this possible?!"
Councilor Orga, his face already purple with rage, slammed his fist on the conference table. He had just been called from his dinner for an emergency meeting, and he didn't expect it to be about this—a nightmare from eight years ago.
A nervous technician, his robes soaked in sweat, trembled as he read the report. "Eight years ago... a cult believing in Black Magic, and worshiping Zeref, invested a huge amount of money and slave labor to rebuild the R-System."
"Are those the seven towers?!" another councilor snapped. "Weren't they all destroyed by the Council's Rune Knight orders? They should be gone by now!"
"There's... there's an eighth tower, sir," the technician stammered. "Near the coast of Caracole Island."
"It can't be... it's already completed, right?" a member whispered, his voice filled with dread.
Eight years was indeed far too long. Such a long time, operating in the shadows, was enough to build a nation... or a weapon of mass destruction.
"Unfortunately," Ultear's calm, cool voice cut through the panic, "the on-site investigation team wouldn't joke about this." She stood in the shadow of a pillar, her expression unreadable. "It's already completed."
"Ugh..." Orga gripped his head, feeling a migraine coming on. Fairy Tail was already troublesome enough, and now an R-System had appeared.
At this moment, Siegrain, the youngest member of the Council, leaned back in his chair, his voice casual. "The Tower of Heaven is not the R-System. It is the Tower of Heaven."
"Shut up, Sieg!" Orga roared. "I don't care what it's called! It's a forbidden magic that will seriously affect people's lives and lead to great chaos! It's urgent that we send the army immediately and suppress them at once!"
"However," another councilor interjected, "this time it seems not to be the former Black Magic Cult, but a man named Jellal. If we don't know the opponent's situation..."
Although the Magic Council had the powerful Rune Knight legions, sending them out against an unknown, S-Class-level threat might not be enough. If the opponent was as powerful as the reports hinted, rashly deploying the army would only cause more severe losses. They had made that mistake once before when eradicating an organization, and the casualties had been catastrophic.
"The R-System is a magic that disregards human life and death and easily breeds dangerous, world-ending thoughts! Whoever occupies it is an enemy of the continent. Send out the army immediately!"
The members began to argue incessantly, their voices rising in panic.
"Incompetent fools!"
Siegrain's whisper, filled with contempt, sliced through the noise, drawing everyone's immediate, stunned attention.
"What?!"
"Sieg, you..."
Many of the Council members were visibly displeased. Siegrain was just a kid, a prodigy, but still a kid. How dare he call them incompetent fools?
"Sending the army is a countermeasure for you incompetent fools," Siegrain said, his smile thin and cold. "That thing is dangerous, very dangerous. You haven't even figured out the situation yet! There is only one way to completely destroy the Tower of Heaven now..."
He let the words hang in the air, then delivered the killing blow.
"...and that is to fire Etherion using the satellite magic circle!"
[Akarin's Note: The R-System, or Tower of Heaven, is a forbidden magic construct designed to resurrect the dead, specifically the Dark Mage Zeref. Etherion, in this context, refers to the Magic Council's ultimate weapon, Etherion—a satellite-based magic that draws magical power from all of Fiore's mages and fires it as a devastating beam capable of obliterating an entire country.]
Upon hearing Siegrain's words, almost all the Council members' expressions changed from anger to abject horror.
"What?!"
"You said to use the super-dimensional destructive magic, Etherion?! Are you crazy?!"
"The destructive range of that magic is unpredictable! An entire country could be razed to the ground because of it!"
"Etherion is our ultimate trump card! That is a magic even more dangerous than the R-System itself!"
Almost all the Council members rejected Siegrain's proposal immediately.
Siegrain, however, continued to argue, his voice reasonable, "But only Etherion can destroy that giant, magically-reinforced structure."
"I approve."
Ultear raised her hand, her face a mask of solemn duty.
"Ultear! Even you..."
"There are nine Council members in total," Siegrain pressed, sensing his victory. "If three more vote in favor, we can fire Etherion. There's no time to waste. We absolutely cannot let the R-System activate!"
Tower of Heaven, Top Floor.
"Lord Jellal," a long-haired man reported, kneeling before the throne. "We just received news that Erza has been successfully captured by Sho and the others. She is on her way here. However... with your powerful magic, wouldn't it be easy to deal with her? Why do you still want to bring that traitor back?"
Jellal, sitting on his throne, smiled, his eyes closed. "Hahahaha... That won't do. This world is far too boring."
"Ha..." The long-haired man felt that his boss seemed to be going crazy again.
"Now that the Tower of Heaven has been built, the time is ripe," Jellal mused. "As for Erza? She's just bait, nothing more than bait."
"Bait?"
"Exactly!" Jellal's eyes snapped open, a blue magic circle glowing within them. "Bait for the sacrifice. A sacrifice to resurrect Zeref."
While the Magic Council was in chaos, Ren and the others were traveling by a small, chartered boat, cutting through the waves toward the Tower of Heaven.
Mira, feeling she couldn't help in a direct assault and was needed back at the guild, had stayed behind at the hotel, waiting anxiously for everyone to return.
"Little Erza, I'm sorry."
"Sorry, Erza..."
Millianna and Wally apologized to Erza. They had believed Jellal's slander and had deeply misunderstood Erza all these years.
Erza smiled and stroked Millianna's cat-like hair. "It's okay. As long as you are all safe and sound, that's the best."
"Ugh~ Blech~!"
Natsu swayed unsteadily on the deck, his face a sickening shade of green.
When Gray saw Natsu approaching, he quickly shoved him away with a disgusted look. "Don't come closer! You're making me sick! If you get seasick, why didn't you just stay at the hotel?"
"But speaking of which," Lucy said, looking at Juvia, who was sitting quietly at the bow, staring at Gray. "Why is Juvia coming along too?!"
Gray explained, "Phantom Lord disbanded, didn't it? Juvia is now a free Mage and wants to join Fairy Tail."
"Join Fairy Tail?!"
Erza and the others were a bit surprised to hear this, but Ren was not surprised at all. Juvia was, after all, one of the future main forces of the Fairy Tail Guild.
"Yes! Juvia wants to join Fairy Tail!" Juvia said, clasping her hands.
Erza thought for a moment and said, "Hmm... Although Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord had conflicts in the past, there are no personal grudges with you, Juvia. Now that Phantom Lord has disbanded, it's reasonable for you to want to join Fairy Tail. I will talk to the Master."
Juvia was one of Phantom Lord's Element 4, and her strength was S-Class level. Having such a powerful Mage join would be a good thing for Fairy Tail.
"Really! Thank you! Thank you very much! Juvia will definitely work hard!"
Hearing Erza's words, Juvia was very happy. With the recommendation of Erza, an S-Class Mage, her chances of joining the Fairy Tail Guild greatly increased.
At this moment, Happy, who had been acting as a lookout at the bow, suddenly pointed forward and shouted:
"Ah! There's a tower!"
Everyone else also looked forward. In the distance, rising from the ocean, was a towering, crystalline structure, larger than an island, piercing the sky.
"It's so big!"
Even from a great distance, they could feel the sheer, unnatural grandeur of that tall tower.
"Is it... really completed...?"
Erza looked at the distant tower, her hands trembling. She had once lived a hellish life there. At that time, the Black Magic Cult's goal was to build this very tower.
Sho clenched his fists, his voice tight with eight years of wasted effort. "Yes, we built this tower... It took us eight years..."
Simon, his massive frame blocking the sun, said grimly, "We have already reported to Jellal that Erza has been captured. He's expecting us. Next, as long as you all enter Sho's cards, we can sneak in, take you to Jellal's location, and then we can all attack him together..."
Simon's careful, stealth-based words were interrupted by Ren before he could finish.
"No need."
Ren stepped to the bow of the ship, his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the approaching tower. "Doing things stealthily is not my style."
He turned, a cold, confident smile on his face.
"We'll just crush them directly."
[Akarin Note:
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