Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you another chapter of Magma Dragon King! Sho, Simon, Wally, and Millianna have managed to kidnap Erza and take her onto their ship. Now the group is sailing quickly towards the Tower of Heaven, the place that Erza was enslaved at during her childhood. But they've pissed off the Dragon Family now and rage doesn't even begin to describe how Natsu and the girls feel. The Tower of Heaven is about to become the site of rampaging Dragons!
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Chapter 36 – Tower of Heaven, Raging Dragons
On a small island just off the coast of the Caelum Kingdom there stood a tall tower. The tower was straight, neat and very symmetrical. The entire building was comprised of many differently shaped sections stacked one upon the other, many of these segments being built from brick and containing large windows and doors. The first floor was octagonal in shape, having no windows or doors. On top of this portion was a much more detailed level, this one having long pillars upon which balconies sat as well as huge windows. The third floor had a very castle-like appearance with four cylinder-shaped corners with pointed cone roofs. In the middle of this square section sat another octagonal level, this one accommodating a curved roof which flowed in a convex fashion from the ceiling. At the top level, the tower had a cylindrical room, a few tall and dark spines sticking straight up from the top to complete the structure in all of its glory. Around the base of this massive tower sat quite a few far smaller, rounded towers, which dotted the coastline of the island, with a staircase leading from them to the base of the main tower.
"Lord Jellal, we've received word that Erza's capture was a success. And that they're headed this way now." A man with a rather plain face reported to the cloaked man sitting on the throne before him. The speaker had incredibly long black hair that reached the floor as his most distinguishing feature.
"Hmm." The cloaked man on the throne had a dark grin spread across his face at hearing the news.
"But…why would you want that traitor now?" The long-haired man questioned curiously. "For a man of your magical prowess, it should be easy work to finish her off."
"Hahahahaha! That would never do." Jellal shook his head with a laugh. "This world is simply no fun."
"Sir?" His subordinate cocked an eyebrow at his words.
"However, now that the Tower of Heaven is complete, it would only cause problems if we allowed her to live any longer." Jellal spoke with an odd smile on his face. "The time has come! You will become a sacrifice on the altar of my ambition, Erza Scarlet!"
-Akane Resort-
"Where are they?!" Natsu roared as his body flared with flames and the ground around him trembled from his Magic.
The Dragon Family had been searching for the ones that took Erza for the last several minutes. The scent of the girl that had attacked Mira and Lisanna was what they'd followed, being that Lisanna could identify it even after such short exposure to it. But it had faded away at the pier and now the Dragon Slayers were left blind and searching physically.
"Happy should be back soon." Lisanna tried to soothe her Mate's rage, even while dealing with her own. They'd sent Happy flying out over the ocean in hopes that he'd spot any ship that had one of the attackers on it.
"These bastards are going to pay!" Mira's Magic power was covering her body with a black-purple aura as she raged.
"Hell yeah they are!" Lucy agreed wholeheartedly with her Dragon Sisters. She'd found a new family and now someone was trying to take it away from her! The instincts that she'd noticed after becoming a Dragon Slayer were boiling over with the need to get Erza back and destroy the ones that took her away.
"Where the hell are they going?" Cana murmured to herself as she used her Card Magic to try and divine the location of their targets. She knew they were heading south, but that was it so far. Her divination couldn't lock on to them, which meant that they must be moving at considerable speed. That or they had some protective Magic set up to obscure them from Divination Magics.
"Natsu-sama." Juvia was worried for her crush, seeing him enraged like this was heartbreaking. But she couldn't get much closer because of the sheer heat that Natsu was putting off right now. She'd start to boil if she got close enough to try and comfort him.
-Ship of Sho, Millianna, Wally, and Simon-
"We'll be docking soon, big sis." Sho spoke to the card that Erza was trapped inside of. After Millianna had revealed that Mirajane Strauss had nearly broken free of her Magic through sheer force, it was decided to keep Erza confined within the Card Dimension until they got to the Tower of Heaven.
"You actually completed it." Erza sighed heavily, wondering what in the world Jellal had done to them to get their old friends to willingly stay and build the Tower of Heaven.
"You never answered my question, big sis." Sho looked down at Erza within the card. "Why did you betray Jellal?!" He demanded with tears pooling in his eyes.
"I never betrayed him." Erza stated firmly, long past the point of blaming herself for what had happened back then. "Jellal betrayed us all. I don't know what he told you, or what he's done to make you work for him these last years, but I know what happened."
"You're lying!" Sho snapped at her angrily. "Jellal was the one that freed us all! Then you destroyed all of the ships and left by yourself!"
"Jellal was not who he pretended to be." Erza stared directly into Sho's eyes. "The moment he got a taste of power, he became just as bad as the ones that enslaved us, perhaps even worse."
"I won't believe your lies." Sho shook his head. "We'll see what you have to say once we bring you to Jellal."
'I'm counting on it.' Erza thought to herself as she continued to examine the space around her. This spell was odd, but she knew Cana had one like it. Figuring out how it worked would take too long, but figuring out how to break it? That would be much faster. 'It's time that I settled this part of my past, once and for all.'
-Magic Council ~ Era-
"You're saying that the R-System still exists?! That's impossible!" Councilman Org slammed his fist on the meeting table. He was a tall, gray-haired, elderly man with a considerably long beard, as well as a mustache. Org had pointy ears and a habit of keeping only one of his dark-colored eyes open at a time. Org wore multiple layers of robes, much like the other members of the Magic Council, and on top of his head he wore a small bat-shaped ornament.
"Eight years ago, a cult that worshiped Black Magic gathered vast amounts of money. Their goal was to build the R-System." Councilman Leiji recalled with a grimace. He was a tall middle-aged man, who always wore small, round, dark shaded glasses. Leiji was wearing a white and blue Magic Council cloak with the hood up. He had large thin lips and tan skin, and black hair with huge sideburns that almost hit his lips.
"You're talking about those seven towers, right?" Councilman Crawford asked for clarification. "The Council destroyed them, not even the ruins were left behind." He was a very broad, tall man with a large bushy beard; the beard was knotted into a bun on either side. Crawford had a snub nose, moderately sized droopy eyes, high eyebrows and relatively small ears. He also sported a small bun atop his nearly bald head. His attire, much like the rest of the Council, was a robe that he kept tied tightly shut.
"Apparently, there were eight towers. One was found near the Ka Elm sea." Councilwoman Belno grimaced, not a fan of the idea that the Council had missed one of the cursed things. Belno was a tall elderly woman. She usually wore a cloak like other council members, and had a purple turtle-neck beneath it. Her most noticeable trait was her long nose, which gave her more of a classical witch-like appearance. She had sandy blonde hair, which she tied up into a large ponytail that seemed to fan out into a series of spiky tear-dropped shaped tufts of hair.
"They couldn't have already completed it, could they?" Org had both fists on the table and some sweat on his brow.
"The local investigators wouldn't joke about something like this." Belno killed any hope that there was a mistake.
"So, it has been built then?" Ultear asked directly, making Org groan and hold his head.
"Why would anybody be working on the R-System now?" Councilman Michello questioned the table at large. He was a short, old man with oddly flat brown hair, which tapered to a point in three places: on both sides of his face and in the center of his forehead. He also had tufts of hair on either side of his head that resembled cat ears and had what appeared to be a light-yellow tail growing out of his backside; these two attributes gave him a strong cat-like appearance. His large mustache even fanned out at the ends in an imitation of whiskers.
"The Tower of Heaven." Siegrain spoke up, his eyes serious beneath the bangs of his semi-long blue hair. His tattooed face was set in a stern look as he sat straight with both hands clasped in front of him on the table. "It isn't called the R-System. It's called the Tower of Heaven…right?"
"Yes, I think somebody did name it that." Michello looked like he was trying to recall whom.
"Shut your mouth, Siegrain!" Org barked at the much younger man. "It doesn't matter what anyone calls it!" He raised his fist in front of him as he continued. "The R-System is Forbidden Magic! It has far too great an effect on the public! Its use could cause widespread mass panic!"
"We should dispatch the military immediately!" Crawford agreed with Org readily, getting a nod from his colleague. "We must get this under control without delay!"
"However, until we know who we're dealing with…" Leiji spoke up, only to be interrupted himself.
"We don't even know who we're up against?" Crawford looked blankly at his fellow Councilman.
"The force in possession of the R-System at present isn't the old cult." Leiji informed the table, tapping the papers in front of him.
"What?!" most of the Council exclaimed.
"It's some mysterious man calling himself Jellal." Leiji finished as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"Jellal?" Org seemed confused.
"I've never heard the name before." Belno narrowed her eyes at the unexpected variable that had appeared.
"We have no information on him except the name." Leiji shook his head.
Yajima remained silent, but he did notice the looks on the faces of both Siegrain and Ultear upon hearing the name. The old man would keep a careful eye on how this situation played out. Something seemed off to Yajima, but he couldn't put his finger on it.
-Akane Resort-
"There!" Cana suddenly exclaimed, making everyone turn to look at her. "They finally stopped!"
"Where?!" The entire family asked in unison. Juvia blinked at the perfect synchronization.
"South, in the sea near Caelum Kingdom's border." Cana read the exact location from her Divination. "I'll guide us!"
"Aye!" Happy declared as he glowed golden and rapidly increased in size. "Let's go!" He was just as eager to save Erza as the rest of the family. He'd fly across the sea as fast as possible!
All six of them hopped onto Happy's back with Juvia not even thinking about not coming along, and Happy was quickly airborne. As they ascended into the air and flew over the sea, the only thing on their minds was getting Erza back and unleashing hell upon the ones that took one of their own away.
-Tower of Heaven-
"So, this is what it looks like." Erza looked up at the tall structure as her old friends stepped onto the rocky island from the ship.
"It's been eight years since that time." Sho spoke, still holding the card with Erza inside of it. "We finished it ourselves."
"Eight years…you've all changed a lot in that time." Erza lamented the changes that she'd witnessed in the four of them.
"The ceremony takes place tomorrow at noon." Sho informed Erza as the group headed for the long staircase that would take them to the tower proper. "We'll keep you secure until then."
'Ceremony? Are they going to activate the R-System?!' Erza quickly figured out why they'd come to capture her.
"What do you expect?" Sho questioned, seeing the look on Erza's face. "You're the one who betrayed us, big sis. Jellal was really mad." He shrugged at the fate he was condemning her to. "So, it had to be you who would be the sacrifice for the ceremony!"
"Then I guess I need to deal with this now, before the others arrive." Erza exhaled heavily before steeling herself. "Earth Dragon's Landslide!" She cast the spell from within the card.
The spell Card Dimension had two flaws that could allow one to break the spell. The first was that while it greatly lessened the effect that the one trapped within it could have on the outside world, it didn't negate it entirely. The second was the amount of space that the Caster could make within the pocket dimension. If the space was overloaded, then the spell broke and everything inside came rushing outwards. Erza had gone with this second flaw to deal with her imprisonment.
"What?!" Sho cried out as the card in his hand exploded into a huge wave of rock and dirt.
"Hey!" Wally cried out as he was swamped by the spell.
"Nyah!" Millianna tried to run away but was buried quickly.
"Erza!" Simon called out as his large body was knocked backwards and then covered too.
"Earth Lock!" Erza cast a second spell on her old friends. All four of them were pulled out of the pile of earth, only to be fully encased by stone. Erza left only their noses and mouths uncovered so that the four could breathe. "You four will stay here until I'm finished with this." She requipped into her standard armor and a sword appeared in her hand as well. "Once this is done, I'll tell you all the truth of what Jellal is really like. Of what happened eight years ago." The redhead promised before rushing up the steps as her rage burned within.
"Erza! ERZA!" Sho screamed, unable to do anything within the confines of the stone that surrounded him and prevented him from even moving. He couldn't even see with the rock covering his eyes.
-Throne Room-
"Ahahahaha!" Jellal cackled uproariously. He saw everything within the Tower of Heaven, and with a minimum effort the island it stood on as well.
"Lord Jellal?" The plain-faced man spoke up at the sudden bout of laughter.
"Hahaha…I always thought that Erza was a beauty. And she's never dull." Jellal chuckled darkly to himself. "Will I win? Or will Erza win? Let's enjoy this! Life and death…but not just that, past and future as well! The game of Heaven!"
"But…I find myself worried about the moves the Council will make, now that you've let them become aware of this place." The long haired man looked slightly concerned about the Magic Council's reaction to the Tower.
-Era-
"The R-System ignores the rules governing human life and death. It's a Forbidden Magic that gives rise to dangerous thinking! No matter who is controlling it, we must consider them an enemy!" Org made his opinion on the issue clear.
"Then we must send out the military at once!" Michello nodded firmly.
"You bleeding-heart doves." Siegrain spoke up with a glare.
"What?!" Michello narrowed his eyes at Siegrain.
"Siegrain, you…" Belno was cut off before she could finish.
"Only doves would send out a peacekeeping force! We need hawks here!" Siegrain stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "That thing is dangerous! It's too dangerous!" He was visibly shaking before he continued. "You people have no idea what you are talking about! There is only one method left of eliminating the Tower of Heaven now, right?!" He glared at all of the previously squabbling council members. "The Satellite Square, Etherion!"
"Wha…?!" Org gaped at the mere suggestion.
"You're saying to use Cross-Dimensional Destruction Magic?!" Michello yelled at the blue-haired young man.
"Are you out of your mind?!" Belno demanded in complete disbelief.
"Have you calculated the damage in lives and property?! It could take out a whole country within its blast radius!" Leiji spoke loudly over the din.
"Etherion is our weapon of last resort! It's a Magic even more dangerous than the R-System!" Gran Doma, the Chairman of the Council, finally spoke up. He was a tall and fit elderly man with long graying hair and a long beard. Doma wore moderately clad fitted armor and had an ornate cape draped over his shoulders. He also sported a traditional wizard's hat.
"The Satellite Square can affect any target on the planet! There is no other weapon aside from Etherion that can take out a structure as big as the Tower of Heaven!" Siegrain argued forcefully.
"I agree. And so vote." Ultear raised her hand. She still had to see this plan through. She wasn't yet prepared to take her revenge on the one that had practically stolen her life from her.
"Ultear! You too?!" Org snapped his gaze onto the young woman.
"The Council is made of nine members. If another three vote for it, then we can use Etherion." Ultear reminded the other members with a steady gaze.
"We don't have time to waste! We cannot allow the R-System to be used!" Siegrain was adamant on his point to use the Etherion.
-Tower of Heaven-
"Uwah! It's Titania!" A guard yelled before being cut down by the redhead's blades.
Erza was tearing through every guard that got in her way. She didn't recognize any of them at all. After eight years that might be expected, but these people didn't seem to have ever been slaves here. That could only mean that Jellal had recruited more Dark Mages from elsewhere to defend and construct the Tower of Heaven. They would get no mercy from her!
"Grkh!" A Mage hacked out as Erza's left hand grabbed the front of his jacket and slammed him into the brick wall.
"Where is Jellal?" Erza demanded as she brought the tip of her sword towards the man's face.
"Th-The throne…room." The man hacked out. He was unceremoniously knocked out with the pommel of Erza's sword before being tossed aside.
Erza rushed up the next flight of stairs she saw. As she expected, the entire corridor was filled with more of the Dark Mages. A second sword appeared in Erza's left hand with the glow of her Requip Magic. She narrowed her eyes at the Dark Mages fiercely. "If you want to live, get out of my way."
"Big talk coming from a Legal Mage." One of the Dark Mages in the crowd spoke up. Judging by his nicer cloak and the well-made staff in his hand, it was obvious that he was a leader or commander of some type. "S-Class or whatever, you can't use your Magic to kill or you'll be breaking the law that you goody two-shoes Mages love so much." He mocked Erza and the others around him laughed. "But we don't have that problem, right men?"
"Yeah!" The large group cheered, most of them leering at Erza.
"You were warned." Erza's slitted eyes narrowed as her fury spiked. "Requip! Heaven's Wheel!" Erza was surrounded in a golden glow as her Magic took effect. When the light vanished, she stood in a different armor. Plated armor covered her chest, with a large metal flower over it, and she had a large billowing skirt that was covered in metal plating on the upper area. Her stomach and neck are uncovered showing off a lot of cleavage, and she had large metal wings that appeared to be made of individual blades, while on her head was a wing-like headpiece.
"Oh? I like this one better!" One of the Dark Mages hollered. "It shows more skin!"
"Kind of ridiculous for armor, isn't it?!" Another Dark Mage mocked Erza, his eyes on her tits.
"Circle Sword!" Erza's response was to summon a ring of sword around her. The swords then spun in a large circle with Erza at the center. When they were nothing more than a blur, a mental command from Erza saw the circle expand rapidly.
"Oh shit!"
"Aaaah!"
"Gah!"
"Hrk!"
"Ugghhh!"
Dark Mages went flying as the spinning swords sliced through everything in their path. Blood flew through the air and Erza moved to engage directly as two more swords appeared in her hands.
"Attack her, damn it!" The Commander from earlier roared at his men. "Dark Burst!" He pointed the tip of his staff at Erza and a sphere of darkness was launched at her.
Erza sliced through the incoming spell without slowing down. Before a second spell could be fired, the top of the staff was sliced off. Her second sword stabbed into the Dark Mage and then she mercilessly tossed him aside and into the wall. The Commander crumpled to the floor and didn't move after that.
"Fireball!"
"Wind Blade!"
"Ice Spear!"
"Magic Arrow!"
"Sleep!"
"Thunder Lance!"
"Shockwave!"
The now panicking Dark Mages fired off whatever spells they could. Erza was never hit by a single one. She blurred around the hastily fired spells with ease. More and more of the Dark Mages were cut down in seconds. Two of the Dark Mages in the back of the group tried to run, but both were smashed into the far wall as Erza collided with them from behind. The two were unconscious before they hit the ground.
"Blumenblatt!" Erza called as a massive amount of swords flashed into existence behind her. A split second later and they launched forward like arrows as the screams of the Dark Mages rang out before being cut off. Erza made all of her summoned blades vanish with a thought before Requipping back into her standard armor. Without a look back, she ran down the corridor and up the next flight of stairs. "Jellal." She growled out, making her way up the tower to the one that she needed to deal with.
-Happy and Family-
"Are we almost there, Cana?" Mira questioned the Card Mage.
"We should be seeing it on the horizon soon enough." Cana confirmed as she looked over her cards again.
"Good." Natsu growled, standing on Happy's back and staring straight ahead.
"We'll get her back, Natsu." Lisanna stood by his side, also looking towards the horizon.
"Who are these people anyway?" Lucy wondered, even though she was still trying to keep hold of her instincts.
"It doesn't matter who they are, they kidnapped Erza. That means they've threatened our family." Natsu rumbled out. "No one attacks our family and gets away with it."
"Damn right." Mira's glare was fierce as she looked ahead. "We'll show them what happens when you piss off Dragons." The look in her blue eyes promised pain and retribution.
-Tower of Heaven-
"Charm!" A Dark Mage held up his fist, a ring on his middle finger glowed as he used its Magic on the redhead tearing through his group. 'If this works, she'll be under my control!' His panicked thought to save himself was covering the less than pure thoughts of what he'd really like to use this Illegal Magic for.
Unfortunately for the Dark Mage, if he'd studied up on the Magic that he'd purchased, then he would know that Charm Magic could not alter the mental state of someone that was already in an altered mental state. One such mental state being extreme rage!
"Move!" Erza blitzed the Dark Mage that tried to control her mind without even realizing what he'd attempted to do.
"Arrggkkhh!" The Dark Mage found himself embedded into the stone wall next to where he'd been standing. He was unconscious before he could feel a good number of his bones shatter.
"This is getting me nowhere!" Erza growled, having torn her way through multiple floors already. "How many Dark Mages did he recruit?" Looking at the large room filled with Dark Mages in various states of injury and possibly a few deaths, Erza snarled and revealed her fangs. "Calm down…think…" Erza took a few deep breaths to organize her thoughts. Dragon instincts were powerful, but unlike a human, when a Dragon was faced with a problem, the first response was usually to destroy it with overwhelming force. That wasn't getting her anywhere though, so she needed to calm down and think logically.
With her instincts under control, Erza examined the room she was in, ignoring the scattered bodies. Masonry and stonework, she'd have no issues replenishing her Magic. Looking up at the high ceiling, she noted that it was made of brick and stone as well. With a strong leap, Erza shot upwards and punched through the ceiling and landed on the next floor. Looking around and not seeing any Dark Mages guarding this area, Erza grinned.
"So, they're guarding the stairs only." Erza realized and placed her hands on the nearby wall. "I'll just tunnel my way upwards then." Rock and stone formed around Erza's hands and feet, taking on the appearance of dragon claw gauntlets and greaves. She put her claws into the masonry and prepared to climb, only to blink when she felt something other than plaster and stone within the wall. "What is that?" Erza tilted her head before dragging her claws down the wall, scattering the stone and plaster to the floor. "A lacrima?" She touched the blue crystal, but didn't feel any Magic within it. "It's empty…but why is it here?"
Erza tore into the wall some more, further removing the layer of masonry and finding that the entire wall was covering more of this massive lacrima. She'd never even seen one this large before! But that brought up a new question. If the walls were all covering a massive empty lacrima…then what Magic was Jellal planning to fill the crystal with? She recalled that the R-System supposedly required an absolutely inconceivable amount of Magic power to activate. But no Mage nor group of Mages could hope to power it by themselves, even if they stored their Magic power into a lacrima for years or even decades.
"No, it doesn't matter." Erza shook her head. There was no point questioning Jellal's madness. "As long as I end him, then all of this ends along with him." With her decision made, Erza used her claws to climb the opposite wall and bust through the ceiling and onto the next floor.
-Throne Room-
"Hmm? It looks like Erza has discovered the secret of the Tower." Jellal mused with an uncaring chuckle.
"Lord Jellal, should we not move to restrain Erza?" The long haired man asked with confusion.
"Vidaldus, it's not a problem." Jellal waved the assassin off with a dark grin. "If Erza wishes to fulfill her role sooner, then who am I to dissuade her?" He lost his grin a second later. "However, I'm sure her little family will find this place soon enough. I'd like Trinity Raven to deal with them. Can I leave that task to you three?"
"Hehehe…Hell yeah!" Vidaldus cheered as he activated his Magic. A glow overcame his body and when the light faded away, it revealed the plain-faced man to have changed quite a bit. His skin was much paler, and he had dark makeup around his eyes and on his lips. He was bare-chested, with a tattoo reading 'Skeletoy' on his chest. Vidaldus's clothing had also changed, now wearing shoulder pads and arm guards covered in prominent spikes. His regular pants were replaced by tights held up by a belt with a skull-shaped buckle, and his shoes had become boots paired with greaves decorated by flames-motifs. "I'll show them the best of the worst of Hell!" He stuck his tongue out, revealing it to be rather long.
The newly transformed Vidaldus quickly left the throne room to inform his fellow assassins of their new orders. Jellal watched the man go with an amused grin on his face. Whether any of these people lived or died didn't matter. As long as the Etherion was fired and the ceremony took place, his goal would be achieved!
-Era-
"I need two more votes!" Siegrain looked at the rest of the council members after Leiji had reluctantly raised his hand in favor of using Etherion to wipe the Tower of Heaven from existence. "Come on! There's no time!" He argued that waiting would doom them all.
-Happy and Family-
"Is that it?" Lucy pointed at the silhouette of a tower that had just started to become visible at the edge of the horizon.
"Yeah, that's where my divination is pointing to." Cana quickly stowed away her cards. "That's where Erza is."
"Then let's go say 'hello' to these bastards!" Mira punched her right fist into her left palm.
"How many do you think there are?" Juvia wondered as she quickly realized that the tower was incredibly large given that they were flying towards it at speed and could still only see the top of it over the horizon.
"It doesn't matter how many, we'll get Erza back." Lisanna stated fiercely, quickly reminding Juvia that the normally gentle girl was still the sister of the 'She-Devil' Mirajane.
"We get Erza back and leave this place a ruin." Natsu stated without remorse. His instincts wanted to sink the island entirely. But Erza's safety came first. After she was back with them, all bets were off.
"I'll get us there in no time!" Happy declared and his white wings glowed before they shot forward faster.
-Tower of Heaven ~ Throne Room-
"JELLAL!" Erza roared as she burst through the floor. Her slitted eyes narrowed as soon as she spotted the cloaked form of the bastard that had betrayed her and everyone else.
"Ah, Erza…how lovely to see you again." Jellal greeted her, standing up from his throne with a mocking smile.
"You were a lost cause when I found you that day." Erza growled at Jellal, recalling how he'd acted after acquiring Magic. He'd changed so fast that looking back on it, Erza could only believe that Jellal had been like that the whole time she'd known him. His kind personality was nothing more than a mask to try and survive the horrid life of a slave. "But how the hell could you make them finish this damn tower after what we went through?!" Her Magic flared and the stone and brick in the large room cracked.
"They willingly completed it for my sake." Jellal replied without a care, that same twisted look on his face. "You're the one putting holes in their eight years of hard work, Erza."
"I'm going to do what I couldn't back then." Erza pushed her Magic power and the tower began to lightly shake. Her fangs became more pronounced, her slitted eyes almost glowing, and her scarlet hair flying around wildly.
"Oh? And what is it that you plan to do?" Jellal clearly didn't see her as a threat.
"I'm going to kill you." Erza stated with a stone cold finality that made the hairs on Jellal's body instinctively raise. Even a mad man like him could feel the utter threat that Erza was on some level.
"You? Kill me?" Jellal took a step forward. "You can't do it, Erza, I know you." He grinned at her, the same grin he'd shown her back when they were kids. The look that had once made Erza's young heart feel at ease.
"Earth Dragon's Roar!" Erza blasted the swirling rock and dirt at Jellal without hesitation. The blue-haired man quickly vanished with a golden aura surrounding his body. Everything in the path of the Roar was torn into tiny fragments and a large part of the wall was blasted outside, leaving a gaping hole in the throne room.
Jellal had made a miscalculation. Once upon a time, his grin had eased Erza's heart. It had made a sad, suffering girl feel the barest hints of love. But that was eight years ago. Before Erza had seen the outside world. Before she'd found Fairy Tail. And before she'd found true love with Natsu. Her heart wouldn't be swayed by sentiment. In fact, all Jellal's grin did was piss her off!
"Careful now, Erza, I might think you actually mean it." Jellal appeared behind Erza suddenly, his hand about to touch her. He was met with a multitude of sharp stone spikes emerging from Erza's back and nearly skewering him. He did take two light cuts and three minor stabs from the unexpected attack, which made his eyes widen in shock.
"Earth Dragon's Granite Scales." Erza looked over her shoulder as Jellal quickly backed off. Her entire body was now covered in overlapping gray stone scales. The spikes on her back shifted their shape to form a dangerous armored back. Trying to physically attack Erza from behind would involve negotiating which limb Jellal wanted ruined.
"Impressive…so this is the power of a Dragon Slayer?" Jellal appraised Erza's form and outpouring of Magic power. "I was right to choose you as the sacrifice, Erza. My ambition is almost complete. Soon my ideals will be the truth of this world."
"Your ideals?" Erza turned to face him fully, the Tower of Heaven beginning to vibrate under Erza's ever increasing Magic. "Your ambition?" She moved her clawed hands in front of her and focused her Magic power. "I'll show you just what I think of your ideals and ambitions!" Erza roared and the roof exploded off the top of the tower, the two lacrima spires cracking from the sudden force. "Dragon Slayer Secret Art: Tectonic Movement," Rock, dust, and even plaster was quickly drawn to the point between Erza's hands. The gathering material rapidly amassed into a titanic blade of stone with a jagged edge. The construct glowed with a green and red light from within as Erza's Magic flared and continued to shatter the area all around her. "Continent Cleaver!" Erza raised the Dragon-sized blade and brought it down on Jellal.
"You couldn't hit me with something so slow no matter how many times you tried, Erza!" Jellal was surrounded by the golden aura again and easily dodged the attack, stopping on the opposite side of the room with a grin at having avoided what was clearly Erza's most powerful spell.
"WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT YOU?!" Erza roared so loudly that one would easily mistake her for a flesh and blood Dragon.
The stone blade passed through the floor like it wasn't there. Erza completed her slash with a forward flip, which brought the blade back up through the floor again before it shattered sending shrapnel in every direction. Jellal was forced to use his Heavenly Body Magic again to dodge the bullet-like fragments lest they tear through him like a firing squad.
The strike from the spell cleaved through the Tower of Heaven. It rocketed down the entire tower, floor after floor sliced through without even slowing down. The force reached the base of the tower and the island rumbled as the slash from high above split the island and let seawater flood into the new fracture. The screams of the Dark Mages rang out all over the island, some from within the tower and others outside of it.
"The tower…" Jellal realized far too late what Erza's target had been. "You split the Tower of Heaven in two!" He bellowed in a mix of abject shock and overwhelming rage.
"That's the end of your ambitions, Jellal!" Erza spat at him. "All that's left is you." She flared her Magic, ready to unleash her instincts in full upon him.
"No…no, this…this is only a minor setback!" Jellal declared with wide eyes and a cracked smile. "I can rebuild the Tower of Heaven…it'll only take ten years…no, I can do it in five this time!" Jellal's body exploded with golden Magic power as he looked at Erza.
"You're not rebuilding anything!" Erza roared and rushed Jellal, her claws passed through the space he'd just been in, but the only thing she hit was the fading golden light of his Magic.
"You're far too slow to hit me!" Jellal sent a barrage of blasts towards Erza's back.
"Earth Dragon's Wing Attack!" Erza whirled around, her arms wide before coming together. All of the fragments of rock scattered everywhere immediately flew towards Jellal and his attack. The golden blasts exploded on impact while the rest of the stones continued on their path towards Jellal.
Jellal weaved around the shrapnel with his Heavenly Body Magic. No matter how fast Erza could launch them, he would always be faster. His enchantment far outstripped her Lost Magic in speed. All he had to do was wear her down from a distance!
"Jellal!" Erza was suddenly in his face, her claws shredding his cloak to tatters as Jellal abandoned it in surprise.
"How?!" Jellal couldn't comprehend how Erza was moving so fast. His Magic should far out class hers in speed. "You shouldn't be able to match me!" Nothing was going according to his plans!
"I've grown strong with support from my Guild and my Family!" Erza was on his trail even with her Granite Scales covering her body. "You live only for yourself!" She nearly smashed his chest in with her fist, but Jellal slipped away and the punch shattered the floor into pebbles that fell down into the gulf that now existed between the two halves of the Tower of Heaven. "You're weaker than me because of it!"
"Weaker than you?" Jellal's eyes narrowed into a hateful glare, the madness visible within. "Let's see you say that after this!" The plan was already ruined, it didn't matter if he abandoned the guise of Siegrain anymore. He'd get back the other half of his Magic power and kill Erza!
"ERZAAAAAAAAAA!" The very air shook with the volume of multiple Dragon roars calling out Erza's name.
Outside of the split tower, Happy's giant form floated above the small island. From his back Natsu, Lisanna, Mira, Cana, and Lucy jumped down to the rocky ground. The Dark Mages that were left, some okay, others injured, but all still in shock and confused about what was going on, looked at the newly arrived Dragon Slayers.
"RAAAAWWWWRRRR!" Their bellowing roar made most of the Dark Mages clap their hands over their ears in pain. And as the Magic power exploded off of the Dragon Slayers in their instinctual rage, the Dark Mages became aware of one single truth.
Death had come to the Tower of Heaven.
-End Chapter-
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Do not gain the ire of Dragons, for you and your lands are easily sundered.
Erza isn't fucking around! This ain't Shonen time! You've pissed off the Earth Dragon Slayer and she will make you pay for it!
Jellal's plans all get destroyed when Erza unleashes her own Dragon Slayer Secret Art! The Tower is split, the Lacrima fractured. Etherion hasn't even been voted to be used yet!
Now the rest of the Dragon Family has arrived, along with Juvia who will support them in bringing Erza back home!
The Council probably won't need to worry about destroying this eighth tower of the R-System, huh? I daresay that it and the island will both be underwater soon enough!
Will Jellal with his full Magic power be able to take on Erza and Natsu? What about the rest of the Dragon Slayer Family? Is Trinity Raven loyal to their employer to this extent or are they getting the hell out of dodge?
Keep reading to find out!
Until I get your reviews, later!