"Is Jellal dead?"
Looking at Jellal, who was motionless and covered in blood, dangling from Marco's hand, Erza, Sho, Millianna, Simon, and Wally finally approached and asked with complicated expressions.
"He's not dead yet."
Marco tossed Jellal onto the ground.
The guy's vitality was quite tenacious; of course, his magic power was also very robust, otherwise he wouldn't have survived.
Although he was hanging by a thread, surviving in that situation was already a miracle.
"If left alone, he'll probably die very soon," Marco added, his gaze sweeping over the faces of Erza and the others, observing their attitudes towards Jellal.
"All of this... what exactly is going on?"
"Why did Jellal become like this?"
Sho, Millianna, and Wally were completely confused. Unlike Simon, who had sensed something was wrong early on and firmly believed Erza wouldn't betray them, the three of them had truly believed Jellal's words at one point.
"His mind might have been disturbed by something. He kept talking about Zeref, Zeref. You've been here for so many years; have you ever seen Zeref? Or anything related to him?"
Marco wasn't unfamiliar with this kind of situation. Classic examples included "being possessed by an evil god" or having one's mind altered.
For a perfectly fine person to suddenly turn dark, there must be a reason.
Jellal was naturally like this because of that Zeref—no, whether it was the real "Zeref" couldn't be confirmed yet.
It might be something else impersonating the name of that evil legend.
"None of us could see Zeref. Only Jellal himself could see him..."
Simon answered Marco's question directly.
This matched what Jellal had been shouting earlier. In fact, this was one of the major reasons Simon had always remained suspicious of Jellal.
Jellal kept going on about Zeref, saying Zeref could give them true freedom, but they couldn't sense that guy's presence at all—not even a trace.
In Simon's view, Jellal had likely truly gone mad, tortured into insanity by the people of that evil cult, to the point where he believed resurrecting Zeref could bring them true freedom.
That was the "Grandmaster of Black Magic"!
An evil existence that created countless terrifying demons!
Could the freedom he brought... really be freedom?
Unfortunately, everyone, having suffered a major blow, was deceived by Jellal.
Plus, the ships had been burned at the time, so they couldn't leave even if they wanted to.
They could only stay and continue building the "Tower of Heaven."
And so they stayed, for eight long years, until Erza brought her companions to the "Tower of Heaven" to rescue them.
Simon looked at Erza. The expression on the girl's face was quite torn, but ultimately, Erza lifted her head and looked at Marco.
"Marco, how do you think we should deal with him?"
At this moment, Erza had absolutely no idea what to do, so she chose to ask Marco for help.
He was the most reliable, trustworthy man, and the one she depended on the most.
If it were Marco, he would surely be able to make the correct choice at a time like this, right?
"This guy should still have quite a few secrets on him. Let's lock him up first. After we've squeezed all the intelligence value out of him, we'll hand him over to the Magic Council. They will judge his crimes."
As soon as Erza asked, Marco immediately laid out his plan.
It could be said that Marco was just waiting for Erza to ask.
Facts had proven that Marco's position in Erza's heart was far beyond what Jellal could compare to.
A childhood friend was ultimately hard-pressed to beat someone who swooped in later—wait, actually, Jellal was the childhood friend in the traditional sense, but Marco had been there for her consistently.
Furthermore, they couldn't really be counted as "childhood sweethearts" in the deep sense.
The time they spent together didn't even amount to a fraction of the time she spent with Marco, and it was when they were very young, knowing nothing.
If one had to say, Marco and Erza were the proper childhood sweethearts.
From eleven years old until now at nineteen, from early adolescence to becoming a graceful young woman—this bond wasn't something a suddenly reappearing Jellal could change.
Although Marco kept observing Erza's reaction, he never doubted in his heart that Erza would make the wrong choice.
And indeed, Erza ultimately stood by his side.
This girl had never forgotten the "Tower of Heaven," nor Jellal, Sho, Simon, Millianna, and Wally.
It was more out of guilt—a guilt that she had left alone and failed to save everyone.
Even though it wasn't really her fault, Erza, with her strong sense of responsibility, still tortured herself over it.
People like Erza, with such a heavy sense of responsibility, were indeed prone to putting pressure on themselves, and sometimes on others too.
This was why everyone in the guild feared Erza more than they feared Marco.
Marco's methods were much gentler in comparison, and he would coordinate with Erza to play "good cop, bad cop."
Serious, responsible, and dutiful Erza was actually quite cute, especially since she led by example in everything, charging to the front lines.
Everyone in "Fairy Tail" respected her for it.
Otherwise, with that group's temperament, they wouldn't give a damn about a busybody.
Now that the "Tower of Heaven" was destroyed and her former companions were freed from the sea of bitterness, a knot in Erza's heart was finally untied.
Naturally, she wouldn't dwell on this matter anymore.
Simon watched from the side, the light in his eyes gradually dimming.
When Erza was lost or vulnerable, she would instinctively seek Marco's help and trust Marco's suggestions implicitly.
Clearly, Erza had long found someone to rely on in the world.
Most crucially, this person she relied on was incredibly dependable and had even saved them.
This left Simon unable to harbor any other thoughts.
Facing a rival like Marco, Simon didn't feel he had any chance of winning.
Marco was like the sun capable of illuminating Erza, while he, at best, could only emit the light of a firefly's tail.
Once Marco stood next to her, Erza would no longer be able to see him.
"Is there a way to return him to normal?"
Looking at Jellal, Erza asked seriously.
To remain a puppet with a manipulated mind forever was too pitiful.
Erza was kind-hearted; even if the person lying there wasn't Jellal, she would have asked this question.
"We can try, but I can't guarantee what the effect will be. It might make things worse, turning him completely into a madman."
Marco thought for a moment but still voiced his concerns.
Using the [Phantom Demon Emperor Fist] on Jellal—Marco truly couldn't guarantee the final outcome.
With two forces trying to manipulate Jellal's mind, it might just tear his psyche apart.
"Living like this isn't any different from being dead." Erza stated her attitude in one sentence.
When Jellal recklessly tried to destroy everything, Erza understood that this Jellal had gone completely mad.
Although he still wore the same shell, the inside was no longer that person.
Saying it was "no different from being dead" was very apt.
Marco looked at the others.
Sho, Millianna, Simon, and Wally all nodded, expressing their support.
They felt that Jellal himself would definitely want to break free from this control and return to the person he used to be.
In this current situation, for Jellal himself, it was no different from being dead.
So what danger was there to fear? Better to seek life in the face of death!