"Hehehe… as expected of a man who dares proclaim himself in the name of god. Rumor has it you possess power close to the Ten Wizard Saints. It seems those tales are not exaggerated after all."
That deep, magnetic voice echoed through the interior of the tower.
Erza immediately recognized it as Jellal's voice. She opened her mouth, ready to call his name, but the moment the edge of her vision caught Kabe, she slammed on the mental brakes and swallowed the name back down.
"Simon, bring our guests up. I will be waiting for you on the top of the tower."
Jellal's voice sounded again, calmly issuing his order.
Simon, still a little dazed, reacted a beat late. After two seconds, he finally nodded and answered,
"I understand."
He looked at Kabe and Erza with complicated eyes, then gestured.
"Come with me, Erza… and your friends. I will take you to Jellal."
"Not just friends, man."
Kabe deliberately corrected him, then finally withdrew the fingers pressing against Sho and Wally's temples and uncurled the tail wrapped around Millianna's neck.
Facts proved that a little demonstration of force was very necessary. At the very least, once Kabe had moved his hands away, Sho did not yell a single word more.
Once out of danger, Sho and Wally immediately put some distance between themselves and Kabe, looking at him with lingering fear and wariness written all over their faces.
Millianna, on the other hand, looked not scared at all. She kept staring at the tail now coiled back around Kabe's waist, itching to try something as she stepped forward.
"Your tail… can I touch it, meow?"
"No."
Kabe refused in the shortest possible way.
"Eh, you are so stingy."
Millianna pouted and flicked the pair of cat ears standing upright on her head. Then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, she eagerly pushed her own tail toward Kabe's hand.
"Then we trade. You touch mine, I touch yours."
Without waiting for Kabe to agree, her supple cat tail slipped deftly into his palm. Millianna did not hesitate at all. She reached out and grabbed his dark brown tail, giving it two firm rubs.
"It is so stiff. It does not feel as nice as mine."
"You even have the nerve to rate it now, seriously."
Kabe stared at the little cat girl in speechless pain. If she had not been Erza's former comrade, he would have already smacked her away with that very tail and taught her that some things are not to be touched at random.
Just then, Erza and Ultear rushed over.
"Millianna!"
Erza wrapped her arms around the cat girl from behind, hugging her so hard it was as if she wanted to fuse her right into her own body.
"L little…"
Millianna's whole body froze. Sandwiched against the hard metal, she stiffly tried to move but could not.
"Your armor is really hard."
Kabe: …
"Sorry."
Erza hurriedly let go, terrified she might have hurt her.
The very next second, Millianna turned around and threw herself into Erza's arms instead, burying her face against Erza's chest.
Her eyes were already brimming with tears at some unknown point. Tilting her head up, her small face was full of desperate hope.
"Little Erza… what really happened that day? Why did you leave without saying anything?"
"What he just said and what Jellal told me… which one is true? I cannot tell at all anymore."
Sho and Wally were also staring fixedly at Erza now, both of them clearly wanting to know the truth just as badly.
"I did not lie to you. Everything Kabe said is true."
Erza had already decided to clear all of this up. She did not hesitate any longer and answered directly.
At her words, the three of them felt their hearts clench tight.
Even after six years of Jellal's brainwashing, deep down they still wanted to believe in the companion who had once stood beside them.
But if things were as Erza said, then everything Jellal had told them until now… would all be lies.
"But Jellal was not trying to trick you from the start either. He was also being controlled by magic."
"I came this time to bring him back to his senses, to take you away from the Tower of Heaven, and to give you real freedom."
"Jellal… was being brainwashed."
Sho's mind was a complete mess. He no longer knew who he should believe.
"That is right. The so called spirit of Zeref that Jellal talks about has always been fake."
"Everything was my doing, the result of me controlling him with magic from the shadows."
Sho lifted his head toward the speaker, his eyes even more lost as he stared at Ultear.
Wally's mind was just as scrambled. He could not help asking in confusion,
"And you are… who exactly? You are saying you are the one who controlled Jellal?"
"Forget her for now. This woman is just another pitiful pawn who was misled, just like Jellal."
Kabe cut in before Ultear could continue.
He understood her need for atonement, but this stubborn habit of dragging all the blame onto herself was simply too foolish. He did not want Wally and the others to shift all their hatred onto Ultear.
"Let us go. Take us to Jellal. Once I beat that guy awake, everything will be clear."
He jerked his chin at Simon, who had stayed silent all this time.
Simon stared at Erza in a daze. Only when Kabe deliberately stepped forward and blocked his line of sight did he finally come back to himself and, after a pause, slowly open his mouth to speak.