บท 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~~~~~!"
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