"I will build a nation of freedom," Jellal declared, his voice trembling with fervor. "In pain and fear, Zeref whispered to me. I was chosen. Chosen to stand beside him and reshape this world. Why can't you understand? Before a vision this great, every sacrifice is justified!"
His magic erupted without restraint. Spell circles layered across the sky as streaks of starlight rained down like guided missiles, crushing every attempt at resistance.
Erza's blades shattered in her hands. Natsu and Gray were barely standing, their bodies battered beyond recognition. Lucy's bond with Aureo was severed, the spirit forcibly sent back to her realm. Juvia endured only because her body could dissolve into water. Simon, Hugh, Wally, and Millianna lay scattered across the ground, broken and unmoving.
"Jellal!" Erza forced herself upright, blood running down her arm. "Your so-called dream will never come true. Because we still have Rowan!"
High above, storm clouds had gathered, thick with coiling lightning. Behind Jellal, the silhouette of a towering figure was taking shape.
The moment her words left her mouth, thunder answered.
Lightning descended in a relentless barrage, every bolt guided by Rowan Mercer's wand. Jellal snapped into motion, summoning a lattice of star-forged light that hardened into a shield. He blocked the storm, then turned, eyes narrowing, to stare at Rowan standing atop the thunder giant.
"I thought you'd be the easiest to deal with," Jellal said, almost amused. "Turns out you're the real problem."
His information had been wrong. Badly wrong.
The strange mage he had dismissed as a support caster, a nuisance with tricks and transformations, was now hammering him with sustained lightning powerful enough to rival elite thunder mages. Not a single spell, but an unbroken assault.
"And you still don't see the whole picture," Rowan replied calmly.
The thunder giant raised its arm.
"Go."
Electricity, iron sand, and pulverized stone compressed into a single point before erupting forward. The enlarged electromagnetic blast tore through the sky, warping the air in its wake.
Jellal responded instantly. One hand maintained his starlight barrier. With the other, he drew a golden spell circle.
"Celestial Magic. Sixfold Star."
Six radiant bodies formed and launched in rapid succession, colliding head-on with the incoming blast. The explosion lit the horizon white. When it faded, both attacks had vanished.
Rowan exhaled.
"So it comes to this."
He closed his eyes.
Ancient magic stirred, a deeper current beneath the storm. Rowan extended his wand and seized every stray bolt of lightning still striking the sky, wrenching it from its path and forcing it into the thunder giant's core.
The effect was immediate.
The giant swelled, its form ballooning outward as lightning drew in more matter. Sand, rock, iron filings, even seawater were torn upward and absorbed. The air screamed as mass and energy fused together.
Thirty meters became fifty. Fifty became one hundred.
It didn't stop.
By the time the storm stabilized, the thunder giant stood two hundred meters tall, dwarfing the crystal tower beside it.
Rowan opened his eyes, sweat running down his face.
"That's the limit."
Any more power, and control would shatter. To go further, he would need to break his own boundaries.
For the first time, Jellal hesitated.
"What kind of magic is this…?"
Below, the others stared in stunned silence.
Lucy could barely speak. "Is… is this really Rowan's spell?"
"Even Laxus couldn't do something like that," Gray muttered.
Natsu laughed hoarsely, flames flickering from his mouth. "Rowan! Crush him! Show him what happens when you steal freedom and call it justice!"
Jellal's smile twisted.
"Only unyielding will can change history," he snarled. "If that's the case, then you'll all die here!"
His eyes burned red as he carved a massive black spell circle into the air.
Erza's face drained of color. "That spell… Jellal, are you insane? You'll destroy the crystal tower too!"
She recognized it instantly. A forbidden convergence of the four elements, condensed into pure annihilation. A spell that once required multiple masters to cast.
Jellal didn't care.
"Then I'll build another one in five years."
He poured everything he had left into the formation.
"Forbidden Magic. Abyssal Ruin."
A column of black energy erupted, tearing through the sky toward Rowan.
Rowan didn't flinch.
"Then let thunder answer darkness," he said quietly.
The thunder giant's arm glowed blinding white as every last charge within it condensed into a single point.
"Ultimate Electromagnetic Cannon."
Light and shadow collided.