"Crack—"
A crisp shattering sound rang out. That seemingly fragile Ice Lotus contained unimaginably terrifying power.
Space, the blade, and the person all transformed into countless glistening ice shards, scattering in the air and reflecting a dazzling yet deadly light.
The Three Crows were completely annihilated.
Only a few dozen seconds passed from the moment Lorne made his move until the end.
"This..."
Gray's mouth was wide open, large enough to fit an egg. He knew the current Lorne was strong, but he never expected him to be so powerful that they weren't even fighting on the same dimensional level anymore.
Natsu also stopped shouting, staring blankly at the shattered ice covering the ground, then looking at Lorne and swallowing hard.
Erza stood up from the ruins by the wall, her half-destroyed Flame Emperors Armor clanking. She looked at Lorne's back, her heart filled with shock.
She hadn't expected the current Lorne to have surpassed her by so much!
Lorne ignored the trio's shock. After solving the final troublesome obstacle, the unease in his heart grew even stronger.
He turned around, his expression solemn like never before.
"I have a very bad feeling."
"We must go to the top of the tower immediately!"
Hearing this, Erza immediately put away her shock. She knew Lorne never made baseless judgments.
"Let's go!"
The four stopped delaying and rushed toward the summit of the Tower of Paradise at maximum speed, encountering no further obstacles along the way.
When they kicked open the final door leading to the tower's summit, the scene before them caused the three people besides Lorne to freeze in place.
Standing in the center of the summit were two identical people!
One was the target of their journey, the mastermind behind this conspiracy, Jellal Fernandes.
The other was none other than Siegrain, a member of the Magic Council and one of the Ten Wizard Saints!
"Two... Jellals?!" Gray cried out in astonishment.
Natsu also widened his eyes, pointing at the two figures, his mind unable to process it: "What's going on? Are they twins?"
Just as they were shocked, the two figures began to turn ethereal. Light flashed, and they slowly overlapped and merged together!
A magical power fluctuation several times stronger than before erupted from the merged body!
"Jellal!"
Burning rage ignited in Erza's eyes, the fury in her heart completely exploding at that moment.
Without even Re-equipping, she charged forward, raising her half-destroyed Flame Emperor's Blade and slashing toward Jellal!
"Too slow, Erza."
The merged Jellal wore a wicked smile, his figure merely swaying slightly.
"Meteor!"
His body transformed into a streak of light, instantly appearing behind Erza, easily dodging the anger-filled strike with a speed too fast for the naked eye to catch.
"After all these years, you're still so impulsive." Jellal's voice held a hint of mockery. "Your sword can't even touch the hem of my clothes."
Erza's heart tightened. Just as she was about to turn and counterattack, another cold voice sounded behind her without warning.
"Is that so?"
Jellal's pupils suddenly contracted!
When?!
He hadn't sensed any aura at all!
He tried to use Meteor again to create distance, but it was too late.
A fist wrapped in pale blue magical power rapidly grew larger in his vision.
"Bang—!"
A tremendous, dull sound that set teeth on edge.
Lorne's punch landed squarely on Jellal's abdomen.
The smile on Jellal's face instantly froze, replaced by extreme pain and disbelief. He felt as if his internal organs had been shattered by that single punch.
He flew backward like a cannonball, slamming heavily into the distant wall with a loud crash, leaving the entire surface covered in spiderweb-like cracks.
"Pfft—"
A large mouthful of fresh blood spurted wildly from Jellal's mouth, staining the front of his clothes crimson.
Lorne slowly retracted his fist, shook his hand, and then walked slowly toward Jellal, who was embedded in the wall like a pile of mud.
"You're much weaker than I imagined!"
Lorne's voice was calm, but falling upon Jellal's ears, it was more grating than any mockery.
The moment he struck Jellal, Lorne keenly sensed that something was wrong.
Although the magical power within Jellal was immense, there was a sense of disharmony.
"Cough... cough, cough..."
Jellal struggled, sliding down from the indentation in the wall. He propped himself up with one hand on the ground and clutched his abdomen with the other, raising his head with difficulty. However, his face showed no trace of defeat or despair; instead, he revealed a look of manic joy.
"Heh heh... Heh heh heh heh..."
"Hahahahahahaha!"
He burst into loud laughter, his voice filled with the joy of victory.
"The Anima is about to descend!" Jellal raised his head, his pupils flickering with a mad light. "You can't stop it! This round... I win!"
"Anima?" Natsu scratched his head blankly. "What's that? It sounds really powerful. Can I eat it?"
"Idiot!" Gray, who was nearby, finally recovered from his shock, his face filled with terror. "That's the Council's ultimate weapon! The Super-Dimensional Destructive Magic! It will wipe the entire island, along with us, off the map!"
"What?!" Natsu paled drastically.
Erza's face instantly turned paper-white. She knew about that forbidden magic of the Council, powerful enough to destroy an entire country!
She abruptly turned toward Lorne, her voice trembling due to her urgency.
"Lorne! Quickly take Natsu and Gray and leave here! Hurry!"
She was already prepared to stay behind and die alongside Jellal.
However, not a shred of panic could be seen on Lorne's face. He even wore a hint of cold mockery as he sneered at the seemingly insane Jellal:
"Is that so?"
"Even if that's true, now that you're in our hands, what means do you have left to utilize this energy?"
Lorne's words brought Jellal's laughter to an abrupt halt, and the expression on his face stiffened slightly.
Erza was also stunned. She didn't understand why Lorne could remain so composed even at this critical juncture of life and death.
"Lorne... what do you mean?" she asked suspiciously.
Lorne did not turn back, his gaze remaining fixed on Jellal as he slowly spoke, word by word: "The r system is a magic used to resurrect the dead, right?"
"The amount of magical power required for this kind of forbidden magic that reverses life and death is an astronomical number."
"It's simply impossible for you to withstand it."
Lorne's words pierced precisely into the core of Jellal's plan like a sharp knife.
Jellal's expression changed slightly but he immediately controlled it.
The curve of Lorne's mouth grew colder.
"So, you went to great lengths, even exposing this place to lure the Council into using Anima..."
"Your goal wasn't to destroy this island at all."
Lorne's voice echoed across the empty tower summit, every word like a heavy hammer striking everyone's heart.
"...It was merely for charging the system."
The instant the words fell!
Boom—!!!
An indescribable terrifying pressure descended from the heavens, as if the entire sky had collapsed!
The entire Tower of Paradise began to shake violently. The ground beneath their feet groaned under the strain, and countless fragments of stone rained down.
The clouds in the sky were replaced by an enormous Magic Circle. From the center of the circle, a pillar of searing white light tore through the firmament, carrying an aura of absolute destruction as it blasted directly toward the summit of the Tower of Paradise!
The light instantly swallowed everything! The world lost its sound and color.
After an unknown amount of time, the searing white light, capable of vaporizing everything, finally dissipated slowly.
Natsu, Gray, and Erza slowly lowered the arms they had used to shield their eyes. When they saw the scene before them, everyone was completely stunned.
All the original architecture before them had transformed into blue magic crystal.
From the outside, the massive tower constructed of black rock had vanished, replaced by a Magnificent Crystal Spire composed entirely of gigantic blue magic crystal!
It pierced straight into the clouds, its surface flowing with immense magical power visible to the naked eye. Under the bombardment of the Anima, the Tower of Paradise had achieved its final form.
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