Chapitre 182: The News Spreads

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, Unnamed Island.

September, x784.

"Master Jellal, I just received word from one of our men on the main land---" A man wearing white priest robes said as he entered the top floor of the Tower of Heaven.

"Yes, I already know." The hooded man, Jellal, said from atop his throne. "Simon and the others have failed their assignment and were captured. "*Sigh* Perhaps keeping them here on this island and giving them little in the way of information about the wizards on the outside was not the best idea."

'How does he manage to find out about these things so quickly? They only set sail an hour ago.' The man in the priest robes asked himself with awe and respect in his eyes. 'I was only notified a few moments ago myself. Yet, he has not left this chamber and knew about it before I arrived.'

"Anyway, you and the rest of Trinity Raven should prepare yourselves for battle." There will be a rather strong group of attackers coming here before long." Jellal said, waving his hand at the man.

"Understood, Master Jellal." The man in priest robes said as he bowed. "We will make sure to protect this tower from all outside threats."

Earth Land, Ishgar, Era.

In the Magic Council's meeting room, the seats were slowly filling up. A little more than an hour ago, Siegrain, Jellal's spy on the Magic Council, who was anticipating news about Erza's capture, received some slightly different news.

'Though not ideal, at least she is coming to the tower.' Siegrain thought to himself when he received the news. 'Still, she's bringing along some rather annoying friends with her.'

After that, he somehow communicated this information to Jellal on the unnamed island off the coast of Caelum before he called for an emergency Council meeting.

Now, the Council members, who had been awakened from the slumbers were trickling into the meeting room. Finally, after the last one, Crawford Seam, sat on his designated chair, Siegrain addressed the gathered Magic Counselors.

"I'm sorry to have to call you all together on such short notice, not to mention so late at night." Siegrain said as he stood from his seat. "But, as I was the one on call tonight, I received some rather grim news."

"Quit wasting our time and get straight to the point." Org said, irritable from being awoken at such an hour.

"Don't mind him, Siegrain." Yajima said with a kind and somewhat happy smile. "He's just grumpy because he's sleepy."

"Be silent, Yajima!" Org barked back.

*Bang!*

"That's enough, you two." Crawford Seam said, knocking his knuckles on the desk. "Siegrain, please continue."

"Yes, sir." Siegrain replied with a nod. "As I was saying, I received some rather unsettling news. Apparently, someone has been building a Tower of Heaven or rather, the Eighth Tower of the Resurrection System, on a small uninhabited island off the coast of Caelum."

Hearing the term, Resurrection System, most of the council went into an uproar. As members of the Magic Council they all had access to much more information than the average person. So, they all knew the significance of those words.

"how is this possible?" Org asked with disbelief written all over his face. "How could someone build such a thing without us catching wind of it? That must have taken decades."

'Of course the Council never found out, you old fool.' Siegrain thought to himself disdainfully while outwardly maintaining a solemn expression. 'You allowed someone like me onto the council right around the time news of the magical materials needed for the tower's completion should have been making their rounds around the continent.'

As those thoughts ran through his head, Siegrain glanced at the reactions of the rest of the council with is gaze landing on Junko last.

'She looks so surprised.' Siegrain thought to himself with an inward chuckle. 'Inside, I know she must be elated. She wants to see Zeref revived just as much as I do.'

Meanwhile, Junko's thoughts were a little different than what Siegrain was expecting them to be.

'Mmm~~~~~! I can practically feel the despair in the air.' Junko thought to herself, trying hard to keep herself from moaning aloud. 'It's so thick. It feels like it's crawling all over my skin. I want more! I need more!'

After a minute or so, the room quieted down and Crawford Seam asked a question of his own.

"Who was it that reported this information?" Crawford Seam asked, staring at Siegrain with a solemn expression on his face.

"It was reported by five wizards from Fairy Tail. S-Class wizards, Alfonzo Marcus, Elicia Taylor, Ultear Milkovich, Erza Scarlet, and S-Class candidate, Cana Alberona." Siegrain replied in an equally solemn tone. "Apparently, they were on vacation at Akane Beach when they were attacked by a group of dark wizards who intended to kidnap Erza Scarlet. Then, after defeating the dark wizards and interrogating them, they found out about the tower. Currently, they should be on their way to the tower to try and destroy it."

"Fairy Tail again!" Org shouted angrily. "For all we know, they could have made this up just to get more attention for their guild."

"Now is no time for your prejudice!" Yajima shouted. "No wizard would make a false report about something like this. If it was ever found that they were lying, not only their own, but their guild's reputation would be dragged through the mud rather quickly."

"This time, I agree with Yajima." Crawford Seam said with a nod. "The important thing for now is to address the crisis that a tower of the Resurrection System, or R-System for short, represents for the continent."

With that, Org sat back in his chair with a huff. He had already known that his accusation was illogical and unreasonable. However, if he could have gotten enough people on board and discredited Fairy Tail, then it would not have been too long before they were forced to disband.

"If I may, Council President." Siegrain said, drawing the attention back to himself. Then, in an even more solemn tone than before, he continued. "That tower cannot be allowed to exist. Therefore, I motion to fire the Etherion and wipe it off the map completely."

Once again, there was an uproar in the Magic Council's meeting room. The Etherion was the Ishgar continent's most powerful weapon, intended for use against outside threats that a normal army could not handle. Yet, Siegrain just motioned to have it fired on their own continent.

"Siegrain, have you lost your mind?" Yajima asked in shock.

"I haven't, Mr. Yajima. And I understand your concerns." Siegrain replied respectfully. "But these are drastic times. With a tower of the R-System in existence and enough human sacrifices, any number of powerful dark wizards, including Zeref, could be revived."

At first, everyone in the meeting room agreed with Yajima. They all thought that using something like the Etherion to fire with in their own borders was crazy. However, after hearing Siegrain's rebuttal, they started to have second thoughts.

"And what if the Alvarez Empire somehow heard about this?" Siegrain added, causing the faces of the Counselors to pale even further. "I'm sure you all know this, but that Emperor Spriggan would stop at nothing to have something like that."

"Even so, this is too much." Yajima said, shaking his head. "You mentioned that there are wizards from Fairy Tail on their way to the tower, right? We should wait until we hear back from them before making a decision."

"And what if they fail?" Siegrain asked in a serious tone. "Wouldn't those strong, young wizards be the perfect sacrifices? We can't wait for that to happen! We must destroy that tower immediately!"

With that, a few more Counselors sided with Siegrain. Though, the majority were still against firing the Etherion. So, Siegrain continued to push his agenda while Yajima continued to oppose it.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

While the Magic Council debated the pros and cons of using the Etherion to destroy the Tower of Heaven, Makarov was sitting in his office on the top floor of the new guild hall reading an emergency letter he just received.

"The Tower of Heaven, huh?" Makarov said as he looked away from the letter and up towards the ceiling of his office. "I knew the past would come looking for those children. But I hoped it would come much later. Please, be safe my children."

A few moments later, the elevator doors opened. Through them, Ur, clearly still sleepy, walked into the office.

"Why did you summon me here so late, Old Man?" Ur asked in an irritated tone as she approached Makarov's desk.

"Because of this." Makarov replied, sliding the letter across his desk.

Once she was in front of the desk, instead of picking up the letter, Ur simply looked down and let her eyes scan over the words. The more she read, the more serious her expression became. Solemnity replacing the irritation she showed when she entered the office.

"*Sigh* Those kids are always getting into some kind of situation." Ur said in an exasperated tone. "So, they went along to help Erza deal with her past, huh? She's got a good boyfriend and a great group of friends. Plus, with those five working together, there shouldn't be anything to worry about."

"If that were all there was to it, I would agree with you." Makarov replied with a nod. "Unfortunately, there is more to it. Biancca and Orlando were killed by cultists who wanted to use them to build the Tower of Heaven."

Hearing that, Ultear's eyes opened wide.

"Those kids, Alfonzo and Elicia are definitely out for revenge." Makarov continued.

"*Sigh* I kinda feel bad for those cultists." Ur said with a little chuckle.

"Actually, those cultists are most likely all dead." Makarov said. "Erza led a rebellion that killed most, if not all of them, when she escaped."

"I see." Ur replied. "Well, if that's the case, things will probably get rather flashy off the coast of Caelum before too long."

"Indeed." Makarov replied. "There's no way those children will allow that tower to stand past tomorrow, provided no one at the level of a Wizard Saint interferes."

"I'm not even sure that will be an issue if Alfonzo gets serious." Ur replied. "Did you feel the density of his magic power after the guild hall was completed?"

"I did, he figured out how important it was to compress his magic power." Makarov said with a proud grandfatherly smile on his face. "I actually never expected him to figure it out so soon. On top of that, he did it without anyone's guidance."

"Yeah, that's pretty impressive." Ur said, ignoring the doting expression on Makarov's face. "But I was talking about just how dense it was. Most of the older A-Class wizards in the guild have compressed their magic power to some extent. But none of them have magic power that dense."

"*Sigh* I noticed that, too." Makarov replied. "It hasn't even been that long since he started compressing his magic power. He may be even more talented than his mother. That girl Elicia, too. She's only been doing so for about a week. Yet, her magic power is as dense as Macao and Wakaba's."

"I can only imagine what the future will look like for those kids." Ur said with a smile on her face.

Though they were not mentioned, Cana, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, and Sun had also started compressing their magic power. However, although Ur knew they would all end up with magic power far denser than her own, Alfonzo and Elicia were on a different level.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, Unnamed Island.

"So, that's it?" Ultear asked as the ship she and the others were sailing on drew nearer to the island. "It definitely looks as ominous as something that resurrects the dead through human sacrifice should."

"I still can't believe Jellal lied to us for so long." Shô, who woke up along the way, muttered while seated on the ship's deck.

"What makes it even worse, he probably wanted to use Erza as a sacrifice to revive Zeref." Cana said, looking at the island. "I mean, why else would he have you bring her back after all these years."

Hearing that, shock appeared on the faces of Simon, Shô, Wally, and Millianna. Then, they all reacted rather explosively.

"Even if he had been lying to us about when Erzie-Werzie left us behind, he would never do something like that to her!" Millianna shouted as she stood to her feet.

"Yeah, you should watch your mouth, Doll." Wally said in a threatening tone.

Meanwhile, Shô was simply glaring at Cana with everything he had. Only Simon was considering Cana's words seriously. Though, he did not want to believe that was possible.

"There's no point shouting about it here." Alfonzo said while steering the ship. "You can ask him about it after I bring down your little tower."

With that, the conversation ended and the rest of the trip was made in silence. Then, after another half hour, they dropped anchor off the coast of the island and Ultear froze a path on the water's surface from the ship to the island. Then, the entire group walked up to the main entrance.

"I'm finally back…" Erza muttered as she looked up at the tower.

"Yeah, and we missed you while you were gone, meow." Millianna said as she snuggled up to Erza. Then, she looked down at the magic sealing cuffs on her wrists angrily. "I could give you a hug if I wasn't wearing these stupid things."

Hearing that, Alfonzo raised his left hand and snapped his fingers. In the next instant, all the magic sealing cuffs vanished.

"Are you really letting us go?" Wally asked, rubbing his now freed wrists.

"Well, none of you were ever a threat in the first place." Elicia explained. "But we couldn't risk you destroying the ship while we were on the open seas."

That statement caused the four dark wizards to fall silent.

"Anyway, let's get going." Alfonzo said as he raised his right hand towards the main gates of the tower.

"Do you plan on walking straight in through the front door?" Shô asked in an incredulous tone.

"is that a problem?" Elicia asked, tilting her head curiously to the side.

"But if you do that, they'll know that you're here." Simon replied.

"They probably knew about us before we even set sail." Ultear said. "I mean, you knew exactly where to find us, too."

"Yeah, your boss probably has some friends in pretty high places." Cana said. "And that's why I hate politicians. Most of them are corrupted."

"Besides, wouldn't it be rude if we snuck in like some thieves." Elicia said with a smile on her face. "We're gonna knock the way people with manners do when they come to visit someone. Right, Fonzie?"

By now, Alfonzo's entire right arm was sparking with electricity. Then, a chunk of metal the size of a pool cue materialized above his outstretched right index finger.

"Lici's right. We were raised with manners." Alfonzo replied with a manic smile on his face. "So… Knock, Knock, mother fuckers! [Electromagnetism Magic: Railgun]!"

Usually, Alfonzo chants his spell names at a barely audible volume. However, this time he shouted it at the top of his lungs, releasing all his rawest emotions with it.

At the same time, the chunk of metal dropped from the air and grazed the tip of his finger. Then, as soon as it came in contact with his fingertip, it shot forward at eight times the speed of sound.

*Boom~~~~~!"

L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
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commentaire Commentaire 8

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Chapitre 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.