Gray frowned. "Who is Jellal?"
Mira's reaction was the complete opposite. "The Tower of Heaven is still standing?!"
Their voices overlapped one after the other, one full of confusion, the other filled with shock.
Gray looked around at everyone's changing expressions, feeling more and more that there was something important he had been left out of.
Mira, after blurting out her question, finally noticed how strange Erza's expression had become. She hesitated, then nervously reached out and tightly held Erza's hand.
Erza, feeling the warmth from the hands of the two people closest to her, slowly steadied. The dark memories that had surged up the moment she heard Jellal's name faded a little.
She turned her head and shook it gently at Mira, then gripped Mira's hand even tighter, silently telling her that she was all right.
After that, Erza turned back, her expression becoming solemn. Her voice was a little dry as she asked Ultear,
"Why do you want to defeat Jellal? What is the Tower of Heaven like now?"
Hearing that question, Ultear's heart sank heavily and her guilt only deepened.
But she had not come here to escape from her sins. She met Erza Scarlet's gaze, eyes full of apology.
"Erza Scarlet, regarding Jellal and everything you went through back then, I owe you an apology."
"The reason Jellal changed so much later on is entirely because of what I did."
"Y you, what did you say?"
Erza's pretty face went completely pale in an instant, then almost as quickly flushed with anger and panic.
"What do you mean by that? Say it clearly!"
"Wait, Erza, Ultear has her own reasons."
Gray stepped in, trying to calm things down. He still did not know who Jellal was exactly, or what Ultear had done.
Even so, he did not want to see his comrades and his family turn on each other because of this.
"Do not speak up for me, Gray. This is my fault. It was me who led Jellal step by step into the darkness, and because of that, you, Erza, have been tormented all these years."
Ultear stopped Gray from defending her and began to speak slowly, confessing every sin she had committed, one by one.
As she spoke, Erza's thoughts were pulled back into the past.
When she was very young, Erza had lived in a small, poor village. Life had been hard, and she had no parents, but she had the villagers' kindness. For all its hardship, that little village had still been warm and happy to her.
Then the Dark Mage cult came. They destroyed the village, burned her home, and took her away to the Tower of Heaven, turning her into a slave.
That was where she met Jellal for the first time.
Back then, Jellal had been the leader of a group of kids around the same age. He was warm and optimistic, always looking after Erza and encouraging her and the other children.
Until the day they rose up in rebellion against the cult.
When an escape attempt failed, Jellal took all the blame onto himself and was dragged away by the cult's priests.
After that day, Jellal's personality changed completely.
"Jellal's transformation was my doing. That day, I infiltrated the Tower of Heaven on orders from Master Hades of Grimoire Heart."
"I used illusion magic to brainwash him, making him believe he had been chosen by the Black Mage Zeref."
Her voice was calm, but every word was heavy.
"He changed completely after that and used the lives of your other companions to threaten you, so that you could not reveal anything about the Tower of Heaven. I know everything that happened there."
"So if you want to hate someone, if you want to blame someone, then hate me. Jellal is just a pitiful man who was controlled."
Ultear took all the responsibility onto her own shoulders. After she finished speaking, she closed her eyes, silently waiting for Erza to decide how to deal with her.
"This is not only your fault, Ultear. You said it yourself, it was that Hades guy who sent you there, right?"
"You were deceived and manipulated as well. The ones who are truly guilty should be Brain and that Hades."
Gray's voice rose in protest. He did not think Ultear was innocent, but he could not accept her trying to carry all the sins alone.
As he spoke, he turned to look at Erza. She was glaring at Ultear, her eyes full of pain, grief, and confusion that seemed to tangle together and almost overflow.
"Erza, this is not what you think. Ultear is just like Jellal, a chess piece used by others."
"The ones truly responsible for all of this are not Jellal, and not her, but other people behind them."
"I know."
Erza suddenly raised her voice, cutting off Gray's attempt to keep explaining.
She pressed her lips tightly together, forcing herself to calm down with sheer willpower.
"You are my comrade. I believe everything you say."
"But even so, I still cannot stop myself from feeling angry."
As she spoke, a single tear slid down her face. She pressed her trembling body against Kabe's chest, her voice choked as she whispered,
"I did nothing wrong. Jellal did nothing wrong. Ultear is not wrong either."
"So why did things end up like this? What is wrong with this world?"
No one had ever seen Erza cry like this. Everyone felt their hearts twist with pain at the sight.
Kabe held her tightly in his arms, his hands gently patting her back as if to calm the trembling in her shoulders.
"This world was never normal to begin with. Even so, we still have to live on, and live strong."
That was simply the kind of world they were in, crooked and twisted.
Everyone had their own burdens and their own scars, making it impossible to clearly divide who was right and who was wrong.