"Anyway, as long as we defeat the mastermind behind this, it's over, right?" Natsu punched his palm, speaking with an excited expression.
Simon poured a bit of cold water on the mood. "But he has several strong subordinates. We were defeated without any ability to resist."
'The Trinity Raven huh?' Raizel thought but didn't say it out loud.
Instead, he asked Simon, "How many in total?"
Simon closed his eyes, counting on his fingers as he recalled, then said.
"Uncertain. The ones we saw... four in total."
The number was more than Raizel had imagined.
Raizel pinched his chin, thinking, 'It seems he hired outside help?'
...
Vidaldus Taka emerged from a magic circle, looking seriously at Jellal, who was playing chess alone.
"Lord Jellal, Erza and Kagura have escaped. They have already regrouped with the intruders. There is no more time to continue playing around."
Jellal looked at him with an indifferent expression. "I see. So you are stepping in? Vidaldus."
Vidaldus narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at Jellal and asked.
"May I?"
Jellal placed a chess piece down on the board and said, "It's our turn to attack now."
Vidaldus crossed his arms in front of his chest.
After a swirl of smoke, his entire demeanor changed drastically.
He now wore heavy makeup, thick black eyeliner, and an electric guitar appeared in his hands.
Simultaneously, two other people appeared beside him.
Assassin Guilds are Guilds that specialize in accepting assassination requests.
The Death's Head Caucus is one such Assassin Guild, and within it, the strongest team is called—Trinity Raven.
During the Cabria War, the three of them assassinated all the military officers, earning their fearsome reputation.
First was Vidaldus Taka, the rocker holding an electric guitar with long, straight black hair.
Second was a burly figure with two jet-pack bazookas on his back and an owl's head—Fukuro.
And their captain, a female swordsman with long cherry-blossom pink hair, wearing a kimono—Ikaruga.
The three bowed to Jellal.
"Death is the destiny of love and life, is it not? Let's celebrate grandly tonight. The Special Assassination Force, Trinity Raven, are all present."
"It's your turn now. Go," Jellal commanded.
"Yes."
After Trinity Raven left, four Mages emerged from the shadows.
They were members of the squad subordinate to Jellal within Grimoire Heart, serving as reinforcements.
"You go as well."
At Jellal's command, his squad members immediately departed.
Jellal pressed a Magic Lacrima on the right armrest.
Shortly after, his voice echoed throughout the entire Tower of Heaven via the PA system.
"Everyone, welcome to the Tower of Heaven. I am Jellal, the ruler of this tower. The pieces for both sides are now in place."
...
Everyone stopped upon hearing the voice booming from the walls.
"What's going on?" Lucy asked, looking around nervously.
Wally recognized the voice immediately; his body trembled slightly. "It's Jellal. He's making his voice heard by everyone in the tower."
"I suppose it's about time we began... the Paradise Game!"
"What game?!" Natsu shouted at the ceiling.
"The rules of the game are very simple," Jellal continued. "I will use Erza and Kagura as living sacrifices to perform a ritual to resurrect Zeref. In other words, once the gate to paradise is opened, I win."
"If you can prevent this from happening, then you win."
"However, such a simple game isn't very interesting, so I'll arrange seven warriors on my side."
"If you can't get past them, you won't be able to get close to me. In other words, it's a survival game of seven versus thirteen."
Raizel mentally counted their combatants: Himself, Erza, Ultear, Kagura, Natsu, Gray, Juvia, Wendy, Lucy, and Simon.
'It seemed Jellal had included Simon's friends in the count to reach thirteen.'
"One last thing: the Council will likely activate the satellite magic circle to attack this place—the ultimate destructive magic that can obliterate everything, Etherion."
"The remaining activation time is unknown, but once Etherion is activated, it means 'annihilation'—a Game Over with no winners."
Lucy asked in confusion and fear, "What is that guy thinking?"
Erza furrowed her brows tightly. "Etherion! The Council..."
Lucy said with deep concern, "If Etherion is involved, won't we be completely finished if we're attacked?"
"Alright, enjoy yourselves to the fullest," Jellal's voice faded.
Raizel was a bit puzzled.
The four combatants were unknown variables, but he knew a little about Trinity Raven.
While they were strong, Raizel didn't think Erza and Kagura would lose to the swordswoman, Ikaruga.
The other two were only decent, barely at the level of an S-Class in an ordinary guild.
Not to mention, Fairy Tail had Raizel, Ultear, and Juvia on their side.
Saying it was a 60-40 split would already be giving Jellal's side too much credit.
Jellal had managed to become a Council member and hide for so long; Raizel didn't think Jellal would fail to understand this power disparity.
'Unless he has another card to play,' Raizel thought.
Moreover, Raizel had recently defeated Jose, one of the Ten Wizard Saints.
Jellal couldn't possibly be unaware of that.
Natsu clenched his fists excitedly and said, "Great, I'm fired up! It looks like Jellal is at the very top, right?"
"Happy, there must be a trick to every game, right?" Natsu grinned.
"Aye!"
"Hey, you're running too fast!" Raizel shouted, but he couldn't stop Natsu as the boy and the cat leaped out directly through a window to climb the exterior.
Raizel watched the two flying into the sky and shook his head helplessly.
"Forget it, let them be. Let's go."
Wendy looked at Raizel with concern and asked, "Will they really be okay?"
Raizel patted Wendy's head and said, "Don't worry, Wendy."
Raizel turned to the others and said, "Since it's a game, let's play along. Natsu and Happy have run off, so let's try splitting into teams to search."
As soon as Juvia heard about splitting into teams, she immediately raised her hand and said.
"Juvia will go with Gray-sama!"
Gray was about to say something. "I..."
Everyone else agreed instantly. "Fine."
'Do you really not care about my opinion at all...' Gray thought, filled with confusion and resignation.
Raizel took command. "Simon, Sho, and Wally will go with Kagura and Erza."
"Lucy will go with Ultear."
"Wendy and Carla will come with me."
Raizel roughly divided everyone into teams based on their strength to prevent significant disparities in combat power, avoiding potential trouble if they encountered enemies they couldn't handle later.
...
Outside the Tower
"Let's fly straight to the top floor!"
Using flames as propulsion, Natsu and the cat shot directly toward the highest level of the tower.
While flying at high speed, Natsu caught a glimpse of a blinding white light heading toward him from the corner of his eye.
"Something's coming!" Natsu shouted.
---------
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