Chapter 183: Entering the Tower
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, Unnamed island.
September, x784.
"Master Jellal, they have arrived." The man in priest robes said as he entered Jellal's throne room.
"I see." Jellal replied. "And have you determined where they will enter the tower from?"
"That's the strange thing." The man in priest robes said in an awkward tone.
"What do you mean?" Jellal asked in an interested tone.
"They are approaching the main gates of the tower.
"Hmm…" Jellal hummed as he began to contemplate.
A moment later, before Jellal could contemplate for too long, he opened his eyes wide as he felt a large spike in magic power from the base of the tower.
*Boom~~~~~!*
Before either of the two could react to the magical power spike, an explosion followed by a loud boom shook the entire tower, causing the man in priest robes to stumble to the floor while Jellal was almost thrown from his throne.
"What in the world was that?" The man in priest robes asked as he slowly climbed back to his feet.
"They attacked." Jellal muttered. "I want you to take the rest of Trinity Raven and intercept them, Vidaldus. More than likely their goal is to destroy the tower. And we cannot allow that."
Hearing his orders. The man in priest robes, Vidaldus, ripped away his robes to reveal a man with similar features, yet a completely changed appearance.
Now, Vidaldus was standing before Jellal with much paler skin and dark makeup around his eyes and black lipstick. His long, straight, black hair flowed down his back and on the sides of his face with the back reaching to the floor and the bangs on either side of his face reaching past his waist.
His clothes under the robes were not typical of what you would expect to see, either. Currently, he was bare chested with spiked shoulder pads and arm guards. On his chest was a tattoo that read "skeletoy", and he wore tight pants with a belt to hold them up. Also, the belt's buckle was in the shape of a skull.
Completing the ensemble of what appeared to be the look of a heavy metal singer, Vidaldus wore a pair of boots with greaves over top that were decorated with a flame motif.
"As you command, boss!" Vidaldus shouted loudly while headbanging and letting his tongue hang out of his mouth.
A moment later, a large magic circle appeared on the floor below Vidaldus. Then, he slammed his palms onto the floor. A moment later, two more people appeared in the circle from plumes of smoke.
"Ikaruga, Fukuro, we have a job.!" Vidaldus shouted.
Hearing that, the only woman in the trio, Ikaruga, a woman of average height with bright pink hair, green eyes, and a curvaceous figure with a beauty mark under each eye and wearing red lipstick who wore a white kimono with black and red stripes down the center, a black obi with a horned skull in the center, a black, buckled collar, and a long katana strapped across her back, immediately turned around and started walking towards the door to the throne room.
"It shall be done." Ikaruga said in a calm voice. "Vidaldus, you can fill us in on the details of our job along the way."
With that, Ikaruga disappeared beyond the doors to the throne room. Naturally, this prompted Vidaldus to turn around and follow her. Meanwhile, Fukuro, a large, extremely muscular man with the head of an owl and a rocket pack strapped onto his back wearing only a pair of tight shorts, reminiscent of MMA trunks, with a flame motif and a belt with buckle in the shape of a waning moon and a left pointing triangle in the center, bowed slightly to Jellal before following his teammates.
"Now, I don't expect the three of you to win." Jellal said once he was alone in his throne room. "I don't even expect you to live through this. But I do expect you to gain enough time for me. The tower's final touches are not too far away."
Meanwhile, The group of nine who just arrived on the island were standing at the base of the tower watching the destruction Alfonzo's [Railgun] caused to the front gates of the tower.
"That's what you call knocking on the door?" Shô asked while covering his ears.
"Well, I had to knock loud enough so that even the people on the top floor could hear me, right?" Alfonzo asked with a malicious smile on his face.
"Is it just me, or did that seem more powerful than usual?" Cana asked as she watched the dust settle around where the attack struck.
"Yeah, that's the benefit of compressing my magic power. "I even used less magic power than usual. Still, it did more damage."
"Awesome, once I master this trick, I'll be unbeatable in the S-Class Exam!" Cana cheered happily.
"If you even get to take it." Ultear said, pouring cold water on Cana's enthusiasm. "You'd better show good results after your AA meetings. Otherwise, Master may not name you a candidate."
Hearing that, Cana's face fell as she grew pale.
"He… He wouldn't really do that, would he?" Cana asked nervously.
"Who knows." Ultear replied with a shrug.
While Cana and Ultear continued to talk, Simon, Shô, Wally, and Millianna looked at them in disbelief.
"Are you telling me that woman isn't even S-Class?" Simon asked incredulously. "I was hurt so much by two spells from an A-Class wizard? If she's only A-Class, just how strong is Fairy Tail? What kind of monsters have come to our home?"
The other three were also thinking the same things that Simon just said. At the same time, they were all happy that Erza had found a place that would be able to keep her safe.
"The smoke is settling." Erza said in a resolute tone. "We should go inside now."
With Erza's words, everyone looked toward the now missing main gates of the tower. While Alfonzo and the girls were not surprised by what they saw past the missing main gates, The four wizards behind them were left flabbergasted.
Currently, they could see from one side of the tower to the other. On top of that, there was a trench of dug out earth leading to the sea where water was currently filling a gash as deep as the sea floor.
Even after seeing the destruction, Erza took the lead in entering the tower, shortly followed by Alfonzo, Elicia, Cana, and Ultear,. After them, Simon, Shô, Wally, and Millianna entered as well.
"So, what's the plan?" Cana asked, wearing a serious expression from the moment they entered the tower.
"Well, that depends on them." Alfonzo said, nodding at Simon and the rest. "If you plan to live and die with this tower, then we'll have to put you down now. But if you plan on leaving and never coming back, then you should pack your things and get the hell outta here."
With Alfonzo speaking of "putting down" her old friends, Erza wore an uncomfortable expression. However, she knew that was what was necessary. Though, she would at least plead that they escaped the death penalty if it came down to that.
Luckily, it seemed that Erza's worries were unnecessary.
"I have no attachment to this place." Simon was the first to respond. "The only reason I lived here is because I was not allowed to go anywhere else."
"Same here." Wally added. "Besides, if I can leave, I can finally start looking for my long lost brother."
'Now that he mentions it, I don't' think they ever mentioned if Wally found his brother in the anime.' Elicia thought to herself idly as they discussed their plans.
Both Shô and Millianna agreed that they also were not attached to the Tower of Heaven and decided that they would like the opportunity to explore the world.
"Well, then, I guess Ultear and I can take them to gather there stuff." Alfonzo said after thinking for a moment. "We'll have the easiest time moving it with our magic, after all."
"Then, that means we get to go cause mayhem, right?" Cana asked with a smile. "That's what we Fairy Tail wizards do best."
"Yeah, go nuts." Alfonzo replied with a shrug.
"Just wait until we're all out of here before actually collapsing this thing." Elicia warned. "Don't go overboard. I'm talking to you two, Cana and Erza."
To that, Cana and Erza could only avert there gazes awkwardly. Even though they were held to the same standards as the rest of the guild in terms of getting Alfonzo to cook for them while at the guild hall, because they lived with him and were his fiancées, they never really cared about that since they knew Alfonzo would never refuse to feed them at home.
"Alright, let's get going." Alfonzo said after the plans were set.
A moment later, the group split into five smaller groups with Elicia, Cana, and Erza traveling alone. Meanwhile, Alfonzo and Ultear each led a group of three with Simon and Millianna following Alfonzo and Wally and Shô following Ultear.
"Hey, why did Shô look so afraid of you, meow?" Millianna asked after all the groups separated. "What did you do to him?"
"Well, when he attacked Erza and I, he tried to turn me into a card." Alfonzo replied. "But before his magic could activate, I appeared next to him, grabbed him by the back of his head, and slammed his face through a card table and into the floor."
Hearing the nonchalance in Alfonzo's answer, Simon and Millianna opened their eyes wide in shock. Although Shô was far from being the physically strongest of their group, his magic activation time was among the fastest. And Alfonzo just said that he counter attacked before Shô's magic could take effect.
Then, after his explanation, Alfonzo came to a stop and looked Simon in the eyes.
"From the way you look at her, I can tell that you have feelings for Erza." Alfonzo said bluntly. "And I'm sure you can tell that she's with me, too. She is my fiancée… Well, one of them. So, if you have anything to say, get it out in the open now."
To Alfonzo's surprise, Simon shook his head calmly.
"It's true that I love Erza." Simon replied. "I have for years. Since we were still slaves. But I would never do anything to take away the happiness she found for herself. Even if it pains me to see her with another man. Especially a man who cannot give her all of their love."
With that said, Simon stepped forward, stopping only when he was just in front of Alfonzo.
"But know this, if I ever find out that you hurt her, I'll be the first to come and make you pay for it." Simon continued in a severe tone.
"Well damn." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "That's not even the first time I've heard that threat. Not even for the first of my girls. But you don't have to worry about that, Simon. I'd rather die than break any of their hearts."
"I'll hold you to that." Simon replied after looking into Alfonzo's eyes for a while to try and find any sense of falsehood.
With that, Simon stepped back and fell in step with Millianna once again.
Meanwhile, while that whole interaction was going on, Millianna was looking on with stars in her eyes.
"Erzie-Werzie, you're such a sinful woman." Millianna squealed excitedly while she wiggled back and forth with her hands on her cheeks. "You've captivated two men so deeply that they are willing to lay down their lives for you! Ooh la la, meow~~~!."
Deciding to ignore Millianna's rambling, Alfonzo and Simon started walking again. And when she realized that the other two had left, Millianna quickly ran to catch up. However, when she did, Alfonzo had wished that he had waited until later to address Simon's feelings for Erza. Though he knew he needed to do so, Simon was hard to read. And the last thing he needed was a sneak attack from a jealous guy with an unrequited love from close range.
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