Meanwhile, Ankh, who had been forcibly teleported by Brain's magic, landed safely on his feet.
He dusted off his coat and began curiously examining his surroundings.
This was clearly a long-abandoned city, with almost no traces of human life remaining.
These crumbling ruins might hold some value for archaeologists, but for a modern mage, it felt like a grave.
As expected, this was likely Nirvana.
As an ancient forbidden Super Magic, Nirvana wasn't just a spell or a weapon—it was actually a Mobile City.
It was the former home of its creators, the "Nirvit Tribe."
Its full name was "Peaceful Nation Nirvana."
In the past, the neutral Nirvit Tribe, lamenting the endless wars in the world, created this Super Magic to maintain global balance by swapping light and dark in people's hearts.
But good and evil are interdependent in this world.
The Nirvit Tribe ultimately couldn't escape the consequences of attempting to balance the world.
The magic backfired, leading to internal conflict, and they are now completely extinct.
Ankh wandered aimlessly through the desolate stone streets, feeling a pang of melancholy.
'It wasn't apparent in the manga,' Ankh mused, looking at the towering structures, but walking here in person reveals how vast this city truly was.
'The Nirvit Tribe must have been a thriving civilization in their time.'
Nirvana was clearly still sealed, buried deep underground in this massive cavern.
'What was Brain planning to do here?' Ankh wondered.
Ankh suddenly looked up at the rocky "sky" of the cavern, frowned, and used his magic power to conceal his presence.
Like Hibiki, Brain also mastered the Archive Magic and his proficiency was even higher.
There was a strong possibility he was monitoring the entire city for magical signatures, so precautions were necessary.
Ankh crouched down and tapped the ground.
Tap. Tap.
'It felt brittle—there must be more space beneath.'
According to Ankh's memories of the lore, Nirvana's interior contained vast chambers, which held the key to controlling it.
His purpose for coming here was to find an opportunity to take Nirvana away or gain control of it.
Of course, such a massive city couldn't be taken outright into his pocket, but if he could get his hands on the core technology, it would amount to the same thing.
Ankh spread his arms wide and suddenly threw a punch downward, striking the ground beneath his feet.
"Gravity Impact."
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the decayed floor tiles predictably shattered, and Ankh's figure plummeted downward into the darkness.
Crash!
He landed on the level below.
"Clang—"
After several more strikes against the ground to descend further, the texture beneath his fists finally changed.
Unlike the stone slabs from before, this was metal!
Ankh's eyes lit up, knowing his "vertical mining method" had worked.
He intensified the force in his hands, gripping the metal.
Creak... SNAP!
He tore open the thick metal panel with sheer strength.
Then, light pierced the dim underground cavern as Ankh leaped into the hole, his vision suddenly opening up.
It was a clean, brightly lit chamber.
Apart from the entrance on the opposite side, the room formed a deep, semi-circular pit, with a massive spherical Magic Crystal suspended in the center, pulsing with energy.
"The sheer size of this Magic Crystal… the cost must be staggering…"
Ankh landed on the ground, staring in awe at the enormous Lacrima.
This was likely one of the places supplying Magic Power to the entire Nirvana city.
There were six such colossal Magic Crystals in total, each connected to one of Nirvana's "legs" when it was in motion.
They could draw immense Magic Power from the earth and supply it to the magic cannons atop Nirvana.
"Logically speaking… Nirvana's internal structure shouldn't be this simple," Ankh muttered, walking around the crystal.
"Besides the six energy supply chambers, there should also be a central control room coordinating everything."
"But where is it…"
Ankh scratched his head.
He was here to find the core technology, but digging around blindly like this was terribly inefficient.
Thump…
"Huh?" Ankh froze.
Thump… thump… scritch…
A faint sound reached his ears, like the noise of scurrying mice or digging.
Ankh thought he might have misheard it.
But after listening carefully for a while, he grew increasingly curious.
"Strange… is someone coming?"
Ankh turned his gaze toward the room's entrance—the logical point of entry—from where the sound seemed to originate.
Hesitating for a moment, Ankh crept quietly to the doorway and followed the sound cautiously.
Outside was a passageway built from stacked rocks.
The faint, fragmented sound echoed through the empty cavern, growing clearer as Ankh advanced slowly.
After walking for what felt like a long time, Ankh's right hand, which had been tracing the wall, suddenly met empty air.
The smooth stone wall had given way to a newly opened path beside it.
Ankh reached out and touched the soil.
It crumbled in his fingers.
'Freshly turned earth… Was this a recently dug tunnel?'
'The faint sound was coming from inside the tunnel.'
Ankh immediately turned and slipped into the new passage.
After a few steps, Ankh realized the tunnel was dug diagonally upward, making the climb quite steep.
Seemed like a path leading to the surface… away from the city.
After walking for a long while, finally!
In the dim light, Ankh spotted a man in tattered clothes, straining as he lifted a shovel and dug vigorously upward.
He looked just like a Minecraft player who had gotten lost while mining and decided to dig straight up to find his way home.
Ankh tilted his head to get a better look at the man, curious to see who this determined warrior was.
Then, Ankh began to doubt whether his eyes were playing tricks on him.
In the dimly lit mine shaft, one could vaguely make out short, deep blue hair and the iconic red tattoo around the right eye that caught the attention—along with that familiar face.
Ankh blinked.
"Jellal?!"
Hearing his name called, Jellal visibly flinched.
He dropped the shovel.
"Who?!"
He immediately turned around warily to face the person who had appeared without a sound, magic gathering in his hand.
But upon seeing Ankh's face, Jellal—his own face covered in dust and sweat—showed a trace of surprise and hesitated.
"Ankh-san?"
Ankh nodded, then pointed at the tunnel behind Jellal and the shovel in his hand.
He asked curiously, "What on earth are you doing here?"
After recognizing Ankh, Jellal visibly let out a long sigh of relief.
He slumped against the dirt wall.
"I'm trying to dig a path to the outside," Jellal explained, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Having met and talked extensively before, Jellal knew that Ankh was aware of his quest for redemption and that he was a member of the light guild that Erza absolutely relied on and trusted.
Thus, Jellal spoke without reservation, explaining what had happened after he was broken out of prison by Oración Seis.
Jellal first mentioned how his memories had been extracted by Brain, forcing him to seek out Nirvana.
Then he described how he used a Biological Link Magic to escape, skillfully manipulating Oración Seis in the process to prevent them from unsealing the weapon.
With Jellal's normal intelligence fully returned, the series of strategic maneuvers left Ankh utterly stunned.
Then, Ankh asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with you digging a tunnel underground like a mole? With your abilities, breaking out by force shouldn't be difficult, right? You're a Wizard Saint level mage."
Though he looked disheveled, Jellal smiled calmly.
He pulled down his collar to reveal a thick alloy collar around his neck, glowing with suppression runes.
"The Council put this on me. I can't use my full power," Jellal said. "So I plan to dig my way out. I've surveyed this route—if I keep digging, it will lead directly to the surface, not into Nirvana City where Brain is watching."
"That way, I can shake them off completely."
"My destructive magic can't be used at full strength, so I decided not to use it at all. That way, Brain's Archieve that detects magic power fluctuations won't be able to find me."
Ankh was taken aback. "But they can hear you, right? That Cobra guy can hear everything."
Jellal flashed a bright, white-toothed grin in the dark cave and laughed.
"I set up a Silencing Magic Array in the intermediate layer between Nirvana City and this tunnel. Only by entering this specific layer can they hear anything."
"By the time they find this place, I'll have already gotten out and filled in the hole behind me."
Ankh: ...
'No wonder Brain mentioned he'd love to kill you—you're practically waging tunnel warfare here.'
'Buddy, you're really treating him like he's an invader in a war movie!'