Raizel was not personally familiar with the current Jellal; in fact, Raizel had never even met him face-to-face.
The first time Raizel saw Jellal was in the pages of the Weekly Sorcerer Magazine, where he was already being hailed as a rising star of the Magic Council under the alias "Siegrain."
When Raizel first learned about this identity, he was somewhat surprised, but he didn't dwell on it too much.
Firstly, Jellal no longer had any active connections with the people of Fairy Tail in this timeline.
Secondly, Raizel didn't want to assume the worst of others—after all, it was possible that Jellal simply wanted to start a new life under a different name after being rescued.
In truth, Jellal had been somewhat influenced by Raizel's actions in the past.
When Raizel destroyed the Tower of Heaven years ago, the Council had managed to rescue all the captured children and laborers.
Raizel had originally thought that Jellal might take a different path after being saved and learn other forms of magic to better himself.
Raizel was well aware that a man like Jellal would not fade into obscurity.
Jellal possessed exceptional talent, and no matter what magic he learned, he would undoubtedly carve out a significant place for himself in the magical world.
Of course, it was perfectly reasonable for Raizel to suspect Jellal now given the circumstances.
From every angle, Jellal was the most likely suspect; to carry out such massive construction deeds behind the Council's back was not something just any random member of a Dark Guild could accomplish—someone on the inside had to be helping to cover it up.
Ultear was puzzled by Raizel's specific reference to the structure and asked, "Shouldn't it be called the R-System?"
Raizel nodded and explained, "Either name is fine—'Tower of Heaven' or 'R-System,' for what matters is its function."
"The R-System... the Revive System."
"It is a forbidden magic that violates human ethics, using numerous living sacrifices to resurrect a single deceased person."
Noticing that Erza and Kagura had not yet arrived on the island via the surveillance magic, Raizel was in no hurry.
After carefully considering his words, he explained the dark history to the group.
"About 400 years ago, there appeared a Mage of extraordinary talent and genius, known as the Black Wizard Zeref. Whether through experimentation or to achieve some personal goal, he designed a set of magic capable of reviving the dead—the R-System."
"Then, about ten years ago, a Magic Cult that worshipped Dark Magic somehow obtained the blueprints for this system. They invested vast amounts of wealth, manpower, and resources to construct the R-System in multiple remote locations across Ishgar."
"In the year X774, I destroyed one of them and reported it to the Council upon my return. The Council, in collaboration with various Guilds, demolished all the R-Systems and purged the majority of the Dark Magic Cult members."
"The matter should have ended there, but I never expected another 'Tower of Heaven' to be secretly built right under our noses."
"And it appears to have been completed, or is on the verge of completion."
Finally, as Raizel finished speaking, Lucy pressed further.
"Why do you say it's on the verge of completion?"
"To resurrect the dead, besides requiring sacrifices, a massive amount of Magic Power is needed. The amount of Magic Power required is extraordinarily vast, implying the structure itself is ready to receive it."
Ultear furrowed her brow and said, "So, the forces behind the construction of the R-System must be quite powerful."
She didn't want to see this situation escalate—anything involving Black Wizards and immense magical power never boded well, and she felt somewhat worried about Erza and Kagura's safety going in alone.
Ultear continued her analysis, "In the Ishgar continent, those with such capabilities would either be one of the Three Dark Guilds of the Balam Alliance... or there's an issue within the Council itself."
Lucy wrestled with her thoughts, weighing the options before speaking nervously, "By comparison, I'd rather believe it's the work of the Balam Alliance..."
In her view, if there were problems within the Council—the ruling body of the ishgar magical world—society could easily descend into major chaos.
"They've landed on the island."
Wendy, who had been closely monitoring the projected images of Erza and Kagura, softly informed everyone the moment the two set foot on the shore.
She remembered Raizel's warning about possible surveillance in the hotel room and deliberately kept her voice low.
However, looking back at the chaotic room, her caution wasn't strictly necessary... because Gray and Natsu were still arguing loudly by the door to create a distraction.
...
"Welcome, welcome, Erza Belserion, Kagura Mikazuchi."
It appeared the enemy had been closely tracking Kagura and Erza's movements.
The moment the two landed on the rocky shore, the Mage with long, straight black hair from earlier appeared before them, clapping his hands in a mocking greeting.
"Where's Simon?"
Kagura gripped her sword tightly, glaring angrily at the man before her.
"Don't be angry, don't be angry. Please look," the Mage waved his hands dismissively, then produced a magical crystal ball floating in the air, showing live images of Simon and his friends.
"Release Simon!" Kagura demanded.
"We will, of course, provided you two cooperate with us and follow our instructions."
"Wait a moment. How can I be sure you're not deceiving us?" Erza stopped the furious Kagura with a hand on her shoulder, questioning the Mage before them calmly.
In the crystal ball's images, Simon and the others were shown tied to wooden stakes, appearing unconscious and battered.
The Mage nodded approvingly at Erza, praising her composure. "Good, good, very clear-headed. Please wait a moment."
Normally, Kagura wouldn't be this impulsive—during missions, she sometimes thought more carefully than Erza.
But when it concerned Simon, her concern clouded her judgment, which was unavoidable.
However, Erza's ability to remain calm in critical moments was her greatest strength.
While Erza tended to be more casual during ordinary missions, she became the most reliable teammate when things got serious, which was one reason Raizel felt confident letting the two go to the island alone.
Under the Mage's command, the guards watching over Simon roughly awakened him and the others—using buckets of cold water to splash them awake.
Shaken awake by the freezing water, Simon shook his head to clear his vision and, prompted by the guards, lifted his gaze to the magical sensor.
"Kagura... Erza..." Simon couldn't believe his eyes.
He closed them briefly before reopening them to confirm the image projected before him.
"Simon! Are you okay?"
Hearing their voices, Simon confirmed that it was indeed Kagura and Erza on the other side of the crystal ball connection.
"I'm fine! Get out of here! Don't worry about me! This place is dangerous!" Simon shouted with all his might, straining against his bonds.
All these days, they had been restrained like this—bound with Magic Shackles, given only minimal water and food to keep them alive.
Being able to shout like this was already taking everything he had left.
The friends who were with Simon were all people who had participated in the construction of the Tower of Heaven, they understood the horrors of this place better than anyone else, and they felt somewhat apologetic, thinking they might have dragged Simon down with them.
"Simon! We—"
Erza and Kagura still wanted to say something, but the connection through the magic communication crystal ball was severed abruptly.
"You!"
Kagura's chest heaved violently as she breathed heavily, her heart now filled with uncontrollable rage.
If Erza hadn't been holding her arm tightly to restrain her, she would have drawn her blade and taken action right then and there.
The Mage paid no attention to Kagura's murderous reaction and instead spoke with a twisted smile.
"Well, have you two confirmed it now?"
"Now, it's our turn to set the conditions."