— — — — — — —
"Incompetent fools!!" Siegrain said
"Sending troops? That's the best plan you useless people can come up with? You have no idea how dangerous this is! That thing is extremely dangerous! Do you even understand the situation?!"
"There's only one way to completely destroy the Tower of Heaven—we have to use the Satellite Magic Array to fire Etherion!!"
"..."
"What did you say, Siegrain?!"
"You want to use a space-time destruction spell?!"
"Are you insane?!"
"The blast radius of that spell is completely unpredictable! You could wipe out an entire country!"
"Etherion is our last resort! That magic is even more dangerous than the R-System!"
Hearing Siegrain's words, every council member's face changed. Etherion was like a nuclear bomb—the extent of its destruction was immeasurable.
Besides its power to obliterate an entire nation, it also left behind powerful magic radiation that could make land uninhabitable for centuries. It was meant to be a deterrent against invasions from other continents.
"But Etherion can precisely target a location on the ground. If we want to destroy that massive structure, this is the only way."
Ultear raised her hand. "I support this."
"There are nine council members. We need three more votes to approve the use of Etherion! There's no time to waste! We cannot let the R-System activate!!"
A moment later, a council member hesitantly raised his hand.
"Two more votes!! We're running out of time!!"
Siegrain continued to persuade them. "To erase the Tower of Heaven from existence and prevent it from being used by Jellal, we have no choice but to fire Etherion!!"
"But…"
"Ugh…"
Org and Michello were still hesitant—the consequences of firing Etherion were simply too severe.
Ultear pressed on. "The R-System has been a forbidden magic since ancient times. You all know how terrifying it is."
Org's face was grim. "But Etherion will obliterate everything! Innocent civilians will be caught in the blast, and everyone inside the tower will die."
"That will have to be accepted as a necessary sacrifice for the peace of the magic world." Another council member, Belno, spoke up. "Siegrain is right. Our current peace is built on the sacrifices of those who came before us. History has already proven this."
"I vote in favor of firing Etherion." Belno also supported Zikrein's proposal.
— — —
After a night of sailing, the ship finally arrived at the Tower of Heaven.
"So that's the Tower of Heaven?"
"It's huge!" Lucy gasped in amazement.
Sho's face was dark. "Of course it is. It took us eight years to build."
Uchiha Kitaro glanced at Erza. "What do you want to do? If you need me to, I can just destroy the entire tower right now."
It had been a while since he had demolished something this big. His fists were itching to get to work.
"No! There are still many people inside who were captured with us. Just like Sho and the others, they were deceived by Jellal. They're innocent."
"In that case, we'll take it head-on."
Kitaro wasn't interested in playing mind games—he'd just storm the place directly.
As they landed, the guards on the island quickly noticed them.
"Who are you?!"
Natsu and Gray charged forward without hesitation.
"You don't even recognize such high-class opponents?! We're from Fairy Tail, you bastards!!"
"Open! Gate of the Giant Crab—Cancer!!" Lucy summoned her spirit and joined the fight for once.
Even though Lucy wasn't the strongest, she was still one of the better mages in Fairy Tail. Compared to Natsu and Gray, she was weaker, but she was still stronger than most ordinary guild members.
Taking down these low-level guards was no problem.
Sho and the others also joined the battle.
Under their overwhelming assault, the guards were quickly defeated.
— — —
At the Tower of Heaven's peak…
"Lord Jellal! The guards report intruders! Among them are Sho, Simon, Millianna, and Wally!"
Jellal smirked. "So they've come. Fairy Tail… Just as planned. If you want to catch fish, you need bait. Sho and the others were the bait I set."
---
Before long, Kitaro and his group reached the main gate of the Tower of Heaven.
Creak—
The massive doors slowly opened.
They stepped inside.
Whoosh—
A large magic screen flickered on in the main hall, displaying a man in a black coat.
"Jellal!!" Erza's eyes sharpened with fury.
"Welcome to the Tower of Heaven, members of Fairy Tail."
"I am Jellal, the ruler of this tower. Now that all the pieces are in place, let's begin… the Paradise Game."
"The rules are simple. If the R-System activates, I win."
"If you can stop me, you win."
"To make the game more interesting, I have prepared thirteen dark guilds as your opponents."
"What?!"
"Thirteen dark guilds?!"
"That's way too many!!"
Lucy and the others were completely shocked. One dark guild alone was trouble, but Jellal had gathered thirteen?!
The battle for the Tower of Heaven had officially begun.
.
.
.