Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, Unnamed Island.
September, x784.
Shortly after the Etherion landed on the Tower of Heaven, it was entirely engulfed in a bright light that caused everyone who saw it to both close and shield their eyes from its luminance.
On top of the overly bright light, a shockwave was released from the tower, blowing away everything on the island that was not heavy enough to resist. On top of that, all the ships that the tower's residence left behind immediately capsized, if they were not thoroughly destroyed, by said shockwave.
Also, just as Alfonzo suspected, tidal waves were set off in all directions with the island as the center. Those tidal waves directly destroyed several more of the escaping ships that were not traveling towards the ship Alfonzo and the girls used to arrive at the island. Meanwhile, those lucky enough to be traveling in that direction were saved when Ultear froze the entire wave, turning it into a small iceberg.
"*Sigh* Alfonzo was right." Ultear said in a tired tone after freezing a large portion of the sea. "I doubt he expected it to be like this, though. What in the world was that flash of light? And what happened to the tower? Did it turn into a… giant lacrima?"
Not only Ultear, but Simon, Shô, Wally, and Millianna were staring at the Tower of Heaven's new appearance with shock and awe, as well.
"It looks like none of you knew about this either." Ultear said after glancing at the expressions of the wizards who originated from the Tower of Heaven.
In response, the four could only shake their heads dumbly. Ever since the rebellion was concluded, they only followed Jellal's instructions to complete the tower. Other than that, they had no idea of any of its functions... Other than the function to resurrect the dead.
Even then, they were lied to. Jellal told them that they would use the tower to resurrect Rob, or Grandpa Rob as they called him as children. And they were definitely not informed of the sacrifice needed to complete the ritual.
"*Sigh* I just hope Alfonzo, Elicia, and Cana are all right. They were all either inside the tower or flying towards the top floor."
As if to answer Ultear's concerns, the sound of a screaming female voice could be heard. And from what Ultear could tell, it was coming closer. Looking up, Ultear saw Elicia and Cana, as well as a third woman who seemed to be unconscious, flying through the air towards the ship.
"*Lici~~~~! We're going too fast~~~~~!" Cana screamed as she held tightly onto Elicia's waist from the front. "Do something! Fast!"
"I'm trying, Cana!" Elicia shouted back. "But you're not making it any easier with all your struggling!"
"We're losing altitude too fast!" Cana shouted once again.
"I know!" Elicia replied.
"Lici! We're gonna crash!" Cana shouted.
"No, we won't!" Elicia shouted her reply once again. "Well, we will, but it won't hurt!"
"Lici! That's ice, not water!" Cana shouted, clearly panicking more as time passed. "Why did I promise not to drink so much!? I never got to taste that one hundred seventy year old whiskey I stored under my bed! And it looks like I never will!"
"It will be fine." Elicia replied.
As she spoke, Elicia turned the direction of the glider, so it would catch more wind. This caused the glider to jerk, abruptly slowing down and giving Ellicia the time to create a large cushion that softened their landing.
A few seconds later, Elicia, with Ikaruga strapped to her back, and Cana landed on the cushion Elicia created. Although the landing still could not be considered soft, it was much softer than landing on the ice.
"There, we're all safe and sound." Elicia said, picking herself up from the cushion.
"I'm never doing that again." Cana said, sprawling out on the cushion. "I saw my life flash before my eyes at least three times."
"Oh, come on. It wasn't that bad." Elicia replied with a wry smile. "If it wasn't for that shockwave, you probably would have loved it."
"Hey~~~~! Are you two all right?" Ultear shouted from the ship before Cana could respond.
Hearing Ultear's shout, Elicia looked in the direction of the ship and smiled. Then, she dragged Cana toward it.
Meanwhile, at the top of the giant lacrima that is the Tower of Heaven, Erza and Jellal seemed to be completely unaffected by the shockwave that the Etherion caused when it hit the Tower of Heaven. In fact, they had not moved at all from where they stood before it hit.
"Jellal, what just happened?" Erza questioned.
"Oh, those fools on the Magic Council just fired the Etherion on the tower." Jellal replied. "They gave the Tower of Heaven what it needed to start performing the resurrection ritual. Now, with you here, everything is prepared to welcome Lord Zeref back among the living."
With that, Jellal forced the immobilized Erza toward the spot where his throne used to be. Now, in its place stood a lacrima pillar.
Once the two arrived in front of the pillar, Jellal forced Erza's back against it.
"Now, the time has come, Erza." Jellal said, no remorse in his eyes as he intended to sacrifice his old friend.
"It's still not too late." Erza replied calmly. "Don't do something you won't be able to come back from."
"I've heard enough." Jellal said as he activated the ritual. "I will not stop here. Zeref will be resurrected."
"*Sigh* No, he won't."
*Bang!*
After hearing that unfamiliar voice, Jellal froze momentarily. And the owner of the voice, Alfonzo, used that to his advantage as he backhanded Jellal away, sending him skipping across the top of the tower, and took Erza into a princess carry.
"Alfonzo, you're here." Erza said from Alfonzo's arms with a slight dusting of red on her cheeks. "You can put me down, though."
"I would have been here sooner if it weren't for that damn shockwave." Alfonzo muttered.
"Shockwave?" Erza asked, tilting her head slightly.
"Yeah, although it didn't seem to affect you and your friend, when that flash, most likely the Etherion, hit the tower, it did quite a bit of damage to the island." Alfonzo explained. "It kicked up a few pretty serious tidal waves, too."
"Is everyone else okay?" Erza asked in worry.
"They should be." Alfonzo replied. "I can't really tell from all the way up here. But I did move the ship away and Ultear stayed there to keep it safe. Plus, I ran into Lici and Cana before I made it up here and they seemed to be fine."
"I hope you're right." Erza said worriedly.
"Ugh… I should have known you would get in my way when I heard that you accompanied her to the island." Jellal said while rubbing the side of his face where Alfonzo hit him. "But even if you are here, Alfonzo Marcus, you won't be able to stop me from resurrecting Zeref. In fact, you would make an even better sacrifice than Erza."
"*Sigh* Speaking of sacrificing Erza…" Alfonzo said, turning towards Jellal. "I'm gonna have to kick your ass for that. You see, I'm definitely not okay with you trying to sacrifice my fiancée in a ritual that won't even work."
In response, Jellal could only look at Alfonzo incredulously.
"From the way you're looking at me, I would guess that you think I'm talking nonsense." Alfonzo said with a chuckle after seeing Jellal's expression. "That's fine, though. But there are two reasons why I said that it wouldn't work. The first is that the dead don't come back to life… Ever. That's just a law of the world. I mean, look at all the Alchemists throughout history that tried to bring people back with [Human Transmutation]."
As someone whose special [Thought Projection] had been on the Magic Council for the last few years, Jellal knew exactly what Alfonzo was referring to. However, because he was using a different system of magic, he did not believe he would fail like the alchemists had. Even if he willingly ignored the fact that he was also trying to bring someone back to life with equivalent exchange.
"And what is this second reason you speak of?" Jellal asked, completely dismissing the first reason Alfonzo mentioned.
"Oh, that one will make you feel really stupid when you find out." Alfonzo said, chuckling a little harder when he thought about it.
"Alfonzo, are you okay?" Erza asked, a bit concerned that Alfonzo had started chuckling for no discernable reason.
"I'm fine, I'm fine." Alfonzo replied, doing his best to get his chuckling under control. "Anyway, I won't tell you about that one. Wouldn't wanna give out any spoilers, after all."
Hearing that, Erza looked on with confusion while Jellal deadpanned.
"Trust me when I say this, you'll find out in a few years." Alfonzo said after seeing the other two's expressions. "And when you do, you'll realize just how meaningless this whole incident was."
"Enough!" Jellal said sternly. "I've heard you prattle on for long enough. And that has made my decision more firm. You will become the new sacrifice to activate the R-System."
"*Sigh* You really should have listened when I said that it wouldn't work." Alfonzo said as he let an electric current run over Erza's skin, destroying the [Bind Snake] that was immobilizing her. "I wouldn't have had to kick your ass so hard if you did. But it seems like you really wanna catch this ass whoopin', don't you."
As soon as the [Bind Snake] was gone, Alfonzo put Erza back on her feet. Then, he started walking towards Jellal.
"You underestimate me." Jellal said with a sinister grin.
With that, Jellal removed his hood, revealing the same face as the ex-Magic Councilman, Siegrain, who was his [Thought Projection]. A moment later, a second Jellal, dressed in the Magic Council's robes appeared next to him before the two fused.
As soon as that happened, Jellal's available magic power spiked, doubling from its previous amount.
"If you think that you can defeat me just because I lost to Erza not long ago, then you're sorely mistaken." Jellal continued. "Now that I no longer have to maintain that [Thought Projection], I can use the magic I truly specialize in."
"Hmm… You're on par with Laxus, from what I can tell." Alfonzo said, continuing to move towards Jellal. "Although we haven't fought in the last couple years, I'm pretty sure I'm still stronger. I guess I can test that theory on you."
With that, Alfonzo started to increase his pace as he approached Jellal.
Meanwhile, Jellal cloaked himself in bright yellow magic power. Then, he began floating off the surface of the tower.
"[Heavenly Body Magic: Meteor]." Jellal chanted from just above the ground.
Jellal's [Heavenly Body Magic] is a powerful form of caster magic that allows the caster to wield and manipulate the energy created by stars with their own body. And in most cases, the spells take properties from different astronomical objects.
A moment later, Jellal flickered away from where he floated, leaving only a yellow line as proof of where he passed by. An instant later, he appeared on Alfonzo's left and thew a punch at the side of his head.
To Jellal's surprise, Alfonzo dodged Jellal's high-speed attack by tilting his head back. Then, he stepped into a right straight. Unfortunately, Jellal's surprise did not slow his reaction speed, resulting in Jellal flashing away.
"I'm surprised that you could keep up with my speed." Jellal said after taking a bit of distance. "But how long will your body be able to keep up with such high-speed combat?"
"You're about as fast as Laxus was the last time we fought, too." Alfonzo muttered as he watched Jellal retreat temporarily.
Once again, Jellal turned into a streak of star light as he approached Alfonzo, this time opting to attack head on with a flying kick. However, just before his attack could land, he noticed that Alfonzo flickered with electricity before he vanished from where he stood.
*Bang!*
A moment later, Jellal was once again sent skipping over the top of the tower after being kicked in the back when Alfonzo reappeared behind him.
A few seconds later, Jellal was able to kill off his momentum and regain his footing.
"Looks like you're not used to people being able to match you in speed." Alfonzo said as he watched Jellal's every move. "If that's the case…"
Alfonzo once again vanished from where he stood as he spoke. A moment later, he reappeared in front of Jellal, kicking upward towards the blue-haired man's chin.
Reacting just in time, Jellal was able to guard against the kick by raising his arms. However, he was still shot up into the air. By the time he moved his arms away, Alfonzo had once again vanished from where he was, escaping Jellal's line of sight. Unfortunately, it did not take long for Jellal to figure out where he was, in a painful way.
*Bang!*
While Jellal had been launched upward, Alfonzo followed after and surpassed him. Then, with a powerful axe kick, he sent Jellal plummeting back towards the top of the tower. Then, before he collided with the tower, Alfonzo created six soccer ball-sized chucks of metal around him.
"… This won't last long." Alfonzo continued. "[Metal magic: Metal Meteor Barrage]."
As soon as his chant ended, Alfonzo kicked the first of the chunks of metal down towards Jellal. And with his ability to manipulate metal, the chunk flew down much faster than it would have normally. He could have added his [Electromagnetism Magic] to it as well, but he felt that Erza was too close to the point of impact, and did not want to negatively affect her.
Still, instead of stopping at one, Alfonzo, with acrobatic aerial movements, kicked the other five chunks of metal towards Jellal.
In the end, the first chunk of metal arrived less than half a second after Jellal collided with the tower, with the other five chunks landing within half a second of the first, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris from the giant lacrima.
"I hope that wasn't enough to beat you." Alfonzo said while continuing to float in the air. "If so, I'd be thoroughly disappointed."
"Then, I'm happy to not disappoint you." Jellal's voice rang out from inside the cloud of debris.
A moment later, the cloud was dispersed when Jellal flared his magic power.
"It seems I was the one who underestimated you, Alfonzo Marcus." Jellal said as he looked up at Alfonzo. "It seems I'll need to take this seriously."
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Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, Unnamed Island.
September, x784.
Atop the Tower of Heaven, Erza stood, watching the ongoing clash with both awe and respect for both combatants. Even though Jellal had tried to use her as a sacrifice to resurrect Zeref, the side of her that was a warrior had no choice but to respect his ability as a wizard.
"*Sigh* With that kind of power, you could have done great things, Jellal." Erza said as she watched Alfonzo and Jellal clash mid-air.
Meanwhile, for what could have been the hundredth time, Alfonzo and Jellal exchanged moves at high speed while flying high above the Tower of Heaven.
This time, Jellal managed to push Alfonzo back with a strong kick that Alfonzo blocked by crossing his arms over his chest. Then, as soon as a bit of distance was created, Jellal's magic power flared before he stretched his hands towards Alfonzo with the palms clasped together and the index and middle fingers of his right hand extended.
"[Heavenly Body Magic: Pleiades]." Jellal chanted as a magic circle appeared high in the sky directly above Alfonzo.
A moment later, just as Alfonzo arrested his momentum from Jellal's kick, the above magic circle released six rays of starlight that fell towards Alfonzo.
Knowing there was not enough time to dodge, Alfonzo did not even try to do so. Instead, he created a shield with his [Metal Magic] and raised it over his head to defend against the incoming rays of star light.
To Jellal's surprise, instead of ripping through the shield, the rays of star light were absorbed into it. As a result, the shield began to glow like some kind of signal beacon.
"Damn it, even the sternium is getting unstable after absorbing this much concentrated star light." Alfonzo muttered as he felt the magic power he used to create the shield starting to run out of control.
Sternium, a magic metal that absorbs the light from the stars. Though it is a magic metal, it is mostly used by sculptors who focused on metal working. The patterns and effects that could be created with the gentle glow of star light that radiated from the metal has become quite popular with the upper class of Fiore in the last three decades.
Unfortunately, no one had ever seen what happened if too much star light was forced into sternium too quickly before today. If that information had been made public, many sternium statue owners would probably get rid of them as fast as they possibly could, even if there was no chance of them being in the same situation as Alfonzo.
While briefly considering the effect that information would have on the nobility of Fiore with a slight smile on his face, Alfonzo stretched out his right arm with the sternium shield in his grasp. Then, he made a quick turn and let it go in Jellal's direction, hurling the unstable metal shield at Jellal.
"You can have this!" Alfonzo shouted as he released the shield.
With his strength enhanced by his [Lightning Enhancement] spell, the shield flew through the air at a blistering speed, giving Jellal very little time to react.
Considering that [Heavenly body Magic] was more of an offensive magic than a defensive one, Jellal adopted the motto of "The best defense is a good offense," as he gathered starlight on his hands and fired it at the incoming shield.
*Boom~~~~~!"
A little more than half way from Alfonzo to Jellal, the oversaturated sternium shiel collided with the blast of starlight that Jellal fired in the hopes of deflecting the shield. Unfortunately, Jellal was unaware that the shield had become so volatile before Alfonzo threw it at him. As a result, his starlight blast pushed the sternium past its breaking point and caused a large explosion.
Due to the explosion, Jellal was shot backward at high speed. Though he was not harmed by the out of control star light that caused the explosion thanks to his mastery over [Heavenly Body Magic], the shockwave that followed the explosion did quite a bit of damage at such close range.
Still, he managed to regain control of his uncontrolled flight only a moment later. Unfortunately, by the time he did, Alfonzo was already waiting for him.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Zap Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted as he placed his hands on Jellal's back.
In the next instant, a ball of electricity was formed and shot forward with Jellal towards the base of the Tower of Heaven. Not even a second later, Jellal crashed into the base of the tower, collapsing a large portion of the lacrima that now composed it.
Yet, Alfonzo was not done with his assault with just that. While still in mid-air, Alfonzo took a pose as if he were about to throw a ball. Then, as his magic power flared, a glowing, green orb of magic power began forming in his right hand.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Eraser Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted as he tensed the muscles all over his body.
A moment later, Alfonzo threw the glowing, green orb towards the place where Jellal crashed into the tower.
At the same time, Erza, who first felt the entire tower shake when Jellal crashed into it before feeling Alfonzo's magic power output before he launched his attack, decided that now was a good time to get off the top of the tower. So, after [Requipping] into her [Black Wing Armor], she flew away from the top of the tower and watched the next series of events from a safe distance.
Like Erza, Elicia, Cana, and Ultear were also watching the battle from a safe distance, more specifically, from the ship.
"What spell is that?' Ultear asked curiously after seeing the bright green light in the sky.
"Fonzie calls it [Eraser Cannon]." Elicia replied while focusing on Alfonzo. "He generates a large amount of gamma-rays and compresses them into a ball. Then, he throws it and lets it explode on contact."
"Just how strong would a spell like that be?" Cana asked, curiosity glistening in her eyes.
"I'm not sure." Elicia replied once again while shaking her head lightly. "He's never really had the opportunity to test it. But I saw him form it once. And the amount of magic power I could feel from the spell was crazy."
Hearing that, Cana and Ultear increased their focus on what was to come.
Meanwhile, Simon, Shô, Wally, and Millianna were simply watching the ongoing battle in disbelief. They all knew that both Alfonzo and Jellal were strong. However, they had no idea of exactly how strong they were until now.
Seeing Jellal going all-out had completely flabbergasted them. However, seeing Alfonzo not only keep up with Jellal, but surpass him in every conceivable way made their jaws fall to the ship's deck.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~!*
When the [Eraser Cannon] landed on the collapsed part of the tower, a bright, green flash illuminated the area around the tower, over shadowing the light from the rising sun. Less than a moment later, an ear deafening boom rang out over the sea which was shortly followed by a shockwave that set off another chain of tidal waves.
Luckily, the iceberg that Ultear created when she froze the first tidal wave was still in place, splitting the wave that was headed for the ship in half. Unfortunately for the other ships and people in the area, even more of them were damaged or destroyed by the second wave.
Meanwhile, the bottom portion of the Tower of Heaven was wiped from existence due to the explosion. Subsequently, the tower from above that point plummeted to the surface before tilting over and falling into the sea.
On a side note, what remained of the unnamed island after the Etherion blast landed on the tower was completely destroyed.
"Damn, that was a bigger explosion than I expected." Alfonzo muttered as he watched the destruction his spell caused. "I wonder if Jellal is still alive."
As he spoke to himself, Alfonzo began lowering his altitude and getting closer to the remains of the Tower of Heaven. While he was at it, he manipulated the gamma radiation so that it would not ruin the rest of the ecosystem around the island, eventually causing it to harmlessly dissipate.
When Alfonzo arrived close enough to the island, he had his [Magic Power Detection] spread to its maximum range. He did not want to be ambushed by a more than likely, completely enraged Jellal after he realized that the thing he had worked so hard for, for the last few years, had been completely destroyed.
Around the same time Alfonzo arrived near the surface of the sea, he heard the sound of wings flapping nearby. Looking in the direction of the sound, Alfonzo saw Erza approaching.
"That was impressive." Erza said once she was in speaking range.
"Thanks." Alfonzo replied, returning his gaze the surface of the sea. "But you should probably take your distance again, he's still kicking."
As if that were signal and before Erza could take Alfonzo's advice, a ray of star light shot out of the sea, flying above Alfonzo and Erza.
A moment later, when the ray stopped, Jellal was revealed, his cloak gone, likely destroyed in the explosion. On top of that, there was a gash on the left side of his forehead with blood flowing down past his eye. His body was also covered in cuts and bruises of various sizes.
Still, it was clear that Jellal was not ready to give up. Even if it was also clear that he was standing on his last leg.
"[Heavenly Body Magic: Grand Chariot]." Jellal chanted as he took his casting posture.
A moment later, seven magic circles appeared around Jellal before they were connected by star light, appearing to be a constellation from below. Then, without delay, the lines that connected the seven magic circles began to extend downward towards the sea's surface, where Alfonzo and Erza were floating.
"I'll kill you for ruining all my plans!" Jellal shouted, outraged at the state of the Tower of Heaven.
At the same time, Alfonzo quickly shoved Erza out of the range of the spell. Then, his body started to glow in a red light.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Super Flare]." Alfonzo chanted just as the rays of starlight arrived.
An instant later, Alfonzo was engulfed by Jellal's spell and the surrounding water shot up into the air, nearly reaching Jellal's position. However, before Jellal could celebrate, the surrounding water began to boil before turning to a large cloud of steam.
"What?" Jellal cried in surprise. "My spell shouldn't have heated the water like that."
"It didn't." Alfonzo's voice sounded from the steam. "Mine did."
"But how?" Jellal asked in a tone of disbelief. "How are you still alive after taking a direct hit from my [Grand Chariot]?"
"Are you sure it was a direct hit?" Alfonzo asked as he rushed out of the steam, cloaked in sparking blue electricity. "[Metal/Electromagnetism Combination Magic: Flash Point]."
In reality, Alfonzo's [Super Flare] offset Jellal's spell. So, he received no damage. The water that exploded upward, on the other hand, was caused when the microwaves that formed the [Super Flare] extended out too quickly and displaced the water surrounding Alfonzo. But he would naturally not tell Jellal about that.
As Alfonzo chanted, a pair of metal rails appeared on either side of him. Then, an electrical charge was sent through the rails before he was fired at nearly four times the speed of sound towards Jellal.
Seemingly vanishing from his former position, Alfonzo appeared behind Jellal, another set of rails appearing alongside him before he vanished again.
Alfonzo repeated this maneuver nearly a hundred times. And every time he passed Jellal, he would land a punch with his fists covered in orichalcum.
By the time the spell ended, Jellal's starlight cloak was gone, he had several broken bones, a few more cuts and bruises, and was no longer able to fly. Eventually, Jellal plummeted into the sea, creating a large splash as he hit the surface. Eventually, however, he floated to the surface and was, surprisingly, still conscious, though, just barely.
"You know, I really wanna kill you." Alfonzo said, floating down to the surface of the sea where Jellal floated. "Because of that fucking tower, so many people died. Including mine and Lici's parents. And you had the fucking nerve to finish it. You were probably being manipulated by someone to do it. I mean, why would someone enslaved there want to finish it. But still, it's because of you that it was actually completed."
Hearing that, Jellal, who was struggling to remain conscious, focused on Alfonzo. And Alfonzo noticed that something was different about him.
'Hmm… Looks like whoever was controlling him let the control go.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'But Ultear never joined Grimoire Heart in this timeline. So, who could it be this time around. Is it that crazy bitch, Junko Enoshima?'
Deciding to ponder the changes made due to the butterfly effect and the existence of people that should not be in this world later, Alfonzo focused on Jellal once again.
"But I don't think she'd like it if I killed you." Alfonzo said, glancing to the side as he spoke. "Even if she's my fiancée now, I don't think she'd take me killing one of her old friends very well."
Seeing Alfonzo glancing to the side, Jellal mustered the last of his strength to look in the direction Alfonzo just looked. What he saw was a scarlet-haired, brown-eyed, beautiful young woman flying in their direction.
"Erza..." Jellal muttered. "Even after all I did, why do you still look so concerned about me?"
"Because she never gives up on the people she cares about." Alfonzo replied. "And that makes you very lucky, Jellal. If not, you would not have lived long enough to have this conversation."
With that, Alfonzo turned away and floated over towards Erza.
Jellal, on the other hand, just watched Alfonzo leave without a word. Then, when he saw Alfonzo meet up with Erza, he looked up towards the sky.
"Lucky, huh?" Jellal muttered to himself. "I guess… he's right. But I messed that up with my own hands. Now, I can only wonder how things would have been if I had left the island with her all those years ago…"
With that last utterance, Jellal finally fell unconscious while floating on the sea.
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