The middle floor of the Tower of Paradise where the cells lay silent.
Shou swept the last batch of workers and guards into his cards with a flick of magic. The flash of sealing light faded, and the corridor was left in utter emptiness.
"That's it," he said, handing the stack of cards to Wally. "Now there's no one else left in the tower."
Hatred still burned in his eyes, but it had shifted. No longer was it aimed at Erza now it was fixed on Jellal.
"You go first. I'm going to kill that bastard Jellal!"
Simon's deep, steady voice cut in before anyone could answer. After hearing Chase's account, Shou had finally accepted the truth and Simon's confirmation only hammered it home. The tragedies of their lives had been orchestrated by Jellal from the start.
Erza… their strong, gentle Erza… had carried all that pain alone for years. The realization left Shou's heart a tangled knot of rage and shame. All he wanted now was to rip the culprit apart with his own hands.
Millianna and Wally kept their heads bowed, their faces shadowed. They knew it. Deep down, they had always known. Erza would never betray them. And if Simon believed so firmly…
"Wait, Shou!"
Simon stepped forward and caught his arm. "Trust Mr. Chase. We have to get out of here now."
The power Chase and Mira had shown still burned in Simon's mind. If anyone could stand against Jellal, it was them.
"This is our business! I have to "
"That's enough, Shou!" Simon's voice thundered, cutting him off. The rare burst of anger froze everyone in place. "You still refuse to trust the comrades Erza herself chose? If we rush over there now, we'll only get in their way!"
Shou stared at him, speechless. In all their years in the Tower, he had never seen Simon like this.
"If… if I had the strength, do you think I'd be willing to run?" Simon's fists shook as he glared up at the ceiling, his single eye rimmed in red. "No one wants to crush that bastard Jellal for Erza more than I do. But I can't! And every night, I've hated myself for it!"
"Do you understand that kind of pain, Shou?!"
The words struck deep.
Millianna's voice trembled as she tried to bridge the silence. "…Let's get everyone out first."
Wally sighed, heavy and resigned. "As much as I hate to admit it, that's the best way we can help right now."
Shou dropped to his knees with a growl, slamming his fists into the floor until his hands bled. Only then did he lift his head, breathing hard, and nod in reluctant agreement.
Together, they turned and fled toward the bottom floor. Their destination a boat that would carry them far from the Tower of Paradise… and from the battle that was about to shake it to its core.
At the very top of the tower, the command hall glowed faintly under the pale blue light of the magic crystal. The air was still, the shadows deep.
Click… click… click…
Footsteps echoed steadily, each one drawing closer, sharper.
On the high seat, Jellal lounged with one leg crossed, his cheek resting on his palm. Scarlet lines traced across his face, his gaze distant yet watchful.
The man in the long coat stepped into the center of the hall, stopping beneath the crystal's cold light.
Jellal's lips curved faintly as he leaned forward.
"Welcome to my paradise," he said, voice dripping with mockery. "Tell me, Mr. Chase… have you enjoyed yourself so far?"
"It's so ordinary, it can't even be called a warm-up."
Chase halted mid-step, rolling his shoulders and stretching his legs like an athlete before a match. "If that's all you've got, Jellal… I'll be very disappointed."
"Heh. As arrogant as the rumors say."
Jellal's sharp gaze shifted past him, scanning the empty space behind. "Where's that demon, Mirajane, who came with you?"
Surveillance lacrimas covered every inch of the Tower of Paradise, but somewhere along the way after Chase split from Mira and Shou she had slipped through a blind spot and vanished without a trace.
Chase only smiled, spreading his arms. "Who knows? Why don't you take a guess?"
Jellal's expression didn't change. He wasn't interested in playing along. His voice dropped, cold and direct.
"Remove the spell on Ultear, and I'll act like none of this happened."
So that's it. Just as Chase had guessed when the Three Crows appeared in Magnolia Ultear's sudden shift in allegiance had drawn Jellal's ire. He'd been expecting this conversation.
From his perspective, though, wasn't this all just misplaced blame?
"And what," Chase asked lightly, "if I don't?"
Jellal's reply came like a blade unsheathing. "Then I'll kill you… and erase Fairy Tail from Fiore."
Chase grinned. "To be honest, I like this version of you better than the fake one you showed the Council. Ziklein no… Jellal."
That name stopped Jellal cold for a heartbeat. Even the Council elders had never seen through his projection magic. Yet this man had unraveled the disguise after a single meeting?
"I underestimated you," Jellal admitted, his voice low and edged with murder. Whatever Ultear had told him, he didn't care. Chase couldn't be allowed to leave the Tower alive not if Jellal's grand plan was to succeed.
Golden magic surged around him as he rose from the high seat.
Chase stepped forward without hesitation, answering in kind. A storm of dark-gold energy erupted from his body, the pressure slamming into Jellal's magic head-on.
The collision was instant and crushing. Rubble and shards of the floor lifted into the air, caught in the anti-gravity field created by their clashing power. The room trembled as the magic storm reached its peak then the suspended debris rained back to the ground.
"Meteor!"
Jellal's body blurred into a streak of golden light, vanishing from sight and tearing through the air toward Chase. He intended to end this quickly before that card magic could become a problem.
But Chase already knew this magic. He'd been ready.
The sealing magic on his right arm flared to life. Planting his feet, Chase whipped his arm up in a sharp arc
BOOM!
Fist met fist in midair, and the impact detonated a hurricane through the command hall.
For an instant, it seemed Chase had stopped him until the pressure shifted. His footing slipped, balance shattering, and suddenly Jellal's presence vanished.
"Too slow."
The voice came from behind. Chase spun, only to be met with a blazing magic circle, golden light flooding his vision as Jellal unleashed his next strike.
"Who's slower?"
BZZT!
The moment Chase spoke, a card flipped open beneath Jellal's boots. The trap flared to life Hexagram!
Golden light blazed into the shape of a six-pointed star around Jellal, locking onto him like chains of pure magic. The binding force surged, cutting off the celestial spell he had been weaving.
Tch… magic similar to my Binding Serpent?
The floor behind him erupted as massive slabs of stone shattered outward. From the rubble, a towering rock soldier emerged, both arms hefting twin stone blades that crashed downward in a devastating cross-strike.
CRASH!
The impact cracked the ground like glass, but the Jellal caught beneath them dissolved into golden light, reforming high in the air.
In one smooth motion, he flung both arms forward blinding beams of light magic shot out in rapid succession, obliterating the rock soldier into dust before raining down toward Chase.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A meteor storm of golden magic tore apart the floor, detonating in a chain of explosions.
Jellal hovered above the destruction, lips curling into a victorious smile until his pupils constricted in alarm.
A wave of scorching heat burst from the smoke. Through the swirling fire emerged a massive cursed dragon, wings spread wide, scales wreathed in flames as it roared toward him.
One of the Ten Wizard Saints, Jellal's reaction was instant. Golden light surged into his clenched right fist, and he met the beast head-on with brutal force, smashing both fire and monster into a shower of glowing fragments.
But the real threat came in the next heartbeat
From behind the fading flames, Chase lunged in, his fist whipping around in a brutal hook that connected squarely with Jellal's jaw.
The cursed dragon had only been a distraction.
This guy !
The blow hurled Jellal backward. He crashed into the high seat he had been lounging on earlier, splintering it into rubble.
Yet even as Chase landed, a spear of golden light shot up from the floor beneath him hidden amidst Jellal's earlier meteor barrage.
BOOM!!
The twin detonations roared almost at once, smoke and dust rolling through the command hall before slowly clearing.
They had exchanged their first true clash, and neither had gained the upper hand.
"I see now…" Jellal emerged from the haze, wiping the blood from his lip, eyes burning with renewed focus. "Your card magic isn't just leagues beyond that useless Shou you've got reflexes and battle sense to match. No wonder the Three Crows failed to kill you."
From that brief exchange, he had measured Chase's capabilities and they far exceeded the intel he'd been given.
"You're not bad yourself," Chase replied, glancing at the shallow cut on his arm. "The badge of the Ten Wizard Saints suits you."
Joseph might also hold the title, but Jellal's sheer speed and attack power were in another league entirely. Every attempt to unleash a perfect card combo had been cut short Jellal was simply too fast, and every strike hit like a hammer.
"That's enough warm-up." Chase reached up, grabbed his cloak at the collar, and ripped it open, revealing the hard lines of his upper body. "Let's move on to round two, Jellal."
"Hah… it's been a long time since I've found an opponent worth my time."
Jellal tore off his own cloak with equal force, his smile razor-sharp. "Chase don't disappoint me."
Unlike Chase, Jellal still wore a tight, black short-sleeved shirt but the sharp definition of his muscles was just as clear.
Between fighters of this level, words were unnecessary. Reputation and rumor meant nothing their earlier clash had already told them everything they needed to know about each other.
Because of that, the next exchange would be nothing short of ferocious.
If Lucy were here, she'd probably be shouting in exasperation from the sidelines: But why do they both have to take their shirts off?!
BOOM!!
Chase's magic erupted. The air warped around him as he entered his God-Slaying state, the skin along his arms and even part of his face taking on the faint sheen of dragon scales.
Dark-red magic surged like a living tide, coiling around him until it formed the towering, majestic shadow of a Sky Dragon its silent presence radiating a pressure that could crush the unprepared.
"An ancient Lost Magic… like Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer? No…" Jellal's eyes widened. "This aura… it's even older more dangerous."
The image of the dragon reflected in his pupils made every nerve in his body scream in warning. He didn't hold back his golden magic roared to life, fighting against the invisible weight pressing down on him.
He crossed his arms overhead, channeling magic into his palms until the air split with a low, resonant hum.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Wind howled. Space itself seemed to ripple. Between his hands, a dark sphere expanded, its surface swirling with drifting points of light like distant stars.
The pull it gave off was unnatural strong enough to drag even the shadows on the floor in reverse.
One of Jellal's deadliest techniques. The same Celestial Magic that had once taken Simon's life Dark Paradise.
"There's no point hiding behind mystery, Chase! If you've got the strength take this head-on!"
With a roar, he hurled the expanding sphere forward. "Dark Paradise! Devour everything enemy and matter alike!"
The black orb skimmed across the ground, annihilating everything it touched floor tiles, steel supports, even the air itself seemed to distort as it passed.
The gale it generated howled like a beast.
Chase didn't flinch. His grip tightened on his black magic staff, the tip whirling in a blur before it leveled at the incoming sphere.
While Jellal had been gathering power, he hadn't been idle.
The Sky Dragon's God-Slaying magic was perfect for this. And when two overwhelming spells collide, sometimes the simplest answer is also the most brutal crush magic with magic.
"Dark Mage!!"
The staff thrummed violently as arcs of dark lightning snapped along its length. At its tip, a sphere formed deep violet, swirling with destructive energy.
It launched forward, carving a path of ruin through everything it touched.
This was the Black Magician's signature spell now amplified by both his exclusive magic card and the God-Slayer state. Its destructive force was monstrous.
The two spheres screamed toward each other, their gravitational pulls distorting the air. The instant they met
BOOM!!!!
Light vanished for an instant, swallowed by the collision. Then came the hurricane-force winds, the rolling thunder, and a violent explosion that ripped the command hall apart.
A column of dark-violet energy blasted skyward, shredding the top floor of the Tower of Paradise into powder before spearing into the clouds.
The entire structure groaned and shuddered under the force. Debris chunks of stone, twisted metal rained into the sea below as the shockwave spread for miles.
....
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