The entire island was shrouded in towering, billowing mist caused by the massive impact.
Gray, Juvia, Wendy, and Lucy watched the scene in horror through a protective water sphere created by Juvia.
"How could this be..." Lucy whispered.
Ultear had told her to leave with Wendy earlier, but in the end, they still failed to prevent the firing of Etherion.
"Natsu... Raizel... Erza..." Happy's eyes welled up with tears as he spoke, his voice choked with emotion.
However, as the mist began to clear, observing the changes occurring at the Tower of Heaven, Raizel—who was watching from a safe distance inside the tower—couldn't help but remark.
"An entire Lacrima... it's truly massive."
...
Magic Council Branch (ERA)
Inside the Council, panic ensued as the readings came back.
"A Magical Power neutralizing substance has appeared at the epicenter of the explosion!"
"Fusion body concentration is rapidly decreasing."
"Another powerful surge of Magical Power has appeared!"
"It's completely impossible to calculate in time!"
"Hurry and restore the visual feed!"
Finally, the visual system was restored, allowing the council members to witness the true form of the Tower of Heaven.
"The target still exists."
Council Member Reiji's voice trembled as he spoke, "The tower... it absorbed the Magical Power of the Etherion."
Org wore an expression of disbelief.
"What did you say?!"
...
"This is a Giant Lacrima," Gray stated, looking at the enormous, glowing crystal structure that had appeared before them where the stone tower once stood.
"They're all safe, right?" Lucy secretly breathed a sigh of relief seeing that the tower hadn't been vaporized.
"Ouch." Natsu struggled to his feet inside the crystal structure. "What in the world was that just now?"
"The Etherion clearly hit," Ultear thought, feeling somewhat puzzled by their survival.
Ultear, Erza, and Kagura, who had gathered together, were also unharmed.
...
"This moment! The moment I've been waiting for has finally arrived!"
Jellal laughed maniacally, standing amidst the glowing crystal walls.
"This is the true form of the Tower of Heaven! It is a giant Lacrima crystal."
"With the help of the Council's Etherion, the Lacrima has finally successfully absorbed the immense Magical Power necessary for activation!"
"The R-System is finally complete at this moment!"
...
Magic Council Branch (ERA)
Yajima pressed Siegrain, who sat with a detached cold expression.
"Siegrain, explain what is going on here!"
"Celestial Body Magic: Grand Chariot!"
Instead of answering Yajima, Siegrain stood up and drew a magic circle with his hand.
Seven magic circles formed the constellation of the Big Dipper in the sky above the Council, and seven pillars of destructive magical light descended simultaneously.
BOOM!
The attack decimated the Etherion control room and the emitters, leaving the entire Council building in a precarious, ruined state.
"My name is not Siegrain. I am Jellal of the Seven Kin of Purgatory."
Jellal used magic to project his voice throughout the entire building, and even the areas surrounding the Council could hear his declaration.
After saying this, his body vanished into mist.
This Thought Projection of his only had enough Magical Power for just over one use of Grand Chariot anyway.
It was enough.
Starting today, the current Council would be utterly disgraced.
An incident of this magnitude couldn't be covered up.
Not only had a core member of a Dark Guild infiltrated their ranks, but he had even risen to become one of the Ten Wizard Saints and one of the nine council members.
If this got out, the entire magic world would laugh at them!
"The Council has ceased operations now. All that's left is the live sacrifice."
....
If not for Jellal secretly telling Raizel to destroy the Tower of Heaven telepathically, Raizel would have truly believed he had been deceived.
To any observer, Jellal and Raizel seemed to be fighting with genuine fury.
"Celestial Body Magic: Grand Chariot!"
Jellal unleashed the Seven Stars Sword again, seemingly targeting Raizel.
However, after Raizel dodged, the destructive pillars of light completely struck the enormous Lacrima walls, shattering them.
Raizel continuously channeled his Magic Power, the Omega Sword in his left hand growing larger as he relentlessly slashed at Jellal, coincidentally cleaving through countless structural Magic Crystals in the process.
'Use your magic, destroy this massive Lacrima,' Raizel's voice reached Ultear and the others telepathically.
'Defeat me later. Someone from "Grimoire Heart" will come to extract me,' Jellal signaled.
"Originally, I planned to defeat you all without destroying this Tower of Heaven, as completing such a massive project wasn't easy. But now, there's no choice," Jellal announced loudly.
"Abyss Break!"
Raizel couldn't help but murmur internally upon seeing this familiar magic circle.
The magic circle was inscribed with countless runes, and the Magic Power radiating from it exuded palpable pressure.
Of course, whoever used this technique in history was bound to lose...
"Just five more years, and I could rebuild the Tower of Heaven. Zeref, just you wait."
At the final moment of casting Abyss Break, Jellal was closed in on by Raizel.
BAM!
Raizel punched Jellal squarely in the face, sending him flying out of the tower and into the sea.
Raizel considerately sent him flying toward the general vicinity where the Grimoire Heart airship was likely hiding.
However, Raizel didn't hold back with this strike; even if Jellal woke up, he'd be bedridden for a while.
"Let's get out of here quickly!"
With the Tower of Heaven collapsing and the crystal structure failing, Raizel's Teleportation Magic was no longer restricted by the barrier.
Raizel hurriedly gathered everyone—Natsu, Erza, Kagura, Simon, and the rest—and led them away via teleportation.
...
"It's... exploding."
"No, the Etherion energy is shooting into the sky, flowing upward."
Gray barely managed to open his eyes and watch the raw Etherion Power surge back into the heavens as the containment crystal shattered.
As the Tower of Heaven began to crumble into the ocean, the resulting waves swept away the small boat carrying Gray and the others.
"is it vanished?"
"The Etherion energy disappeared into the sky."
"Erza! Natsu! Raizel!" Lucy shouted their names frantically.
"We're back!"
POP!
Raizel teleported onto the small boat with everyone in tow.
"There are too many people! This boat is too small!"
"Urgh~"
"Hey, don't you dare throw up, Natsu!"
The battle for the Tower of Heaven ultimately concluded with the tower's collapse and Jellal being severely injured and missing.
The Fairy Tail members only sustained minor injuries, with Erza being the most wounded from Ikaruga's blade strikes earlier.
After resting at the hotel for a day, the group prepared to return to the Guild.
Kagura initially wanted Simon to return to the Guild with them, but Simon declined.
"Though the Guild is great, I prefer the outside world. Even after traveling for years, I haven't fully explored the Ishgar continent yet," Simon gave this reason.
Kagura could only reluctantly agree, happy that her brother was at least alive.
"The Guild should be almost repaired, right?"
"Is it really okay for us to escape like this to avoid Guild repairs?"
"They're going to chase us down and beat us up, aren't they?"
...
After the Tower of Heaven battle, the Council's forces arrived belatedly.
Seeing the sunken massive Lacrima remains, the Council squad leader quietly sighed in relief—facing the legendary Black Wizard Zeref, it was hard not to be on guard.
"Search for Jellal at full capacity!"
The commander waved his hand, and over a dozen Magic warships began scouring the surrounding waters.
This was one of the orders issued by the surviving Council members—to conduct a full-scale search for this traitor and spy within the Council.
If Jellal could be captured, there might still be some room for redemption of their reputation.
The incident where Jellal, one of the executives of the Dark Guild "Grimoire Heart," successfully infiltrated the Council and manipulated the members into using Etherion has begun to ferment within the magical community.
Through various weekly publications and word of mouth, it's estimated that it won't take long for the scandalous news to spread throughout the entire Ishgar continent.
---------
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