Cooper POV
Lifting my fist from Jellal's blood and broken face, I leaned against the wall, gasping for air while staring at him. "Oi, bastard, I figured out how I managed to survive for so long… I'm strong." Spitting onto the ground, I rose to my feet with a grunt and kicked Jellal off into the distance; hopefully, he'd drown in the ocean.
With the mastermind having been defeated, I walked to the center of the tower and looked up, gazing through the numerous floors we'd crashed through, only to heave a deep sigh. "Man, I do not want to head up there." Rubbing my head in frustration, I bent my legs, preparing to leap back to the top of the tower.
However, before I did, the tower began to glow, well, since it was made of lacrima and filled to the brim with magic, it had always been faintly shimmering, but now it was glowing brighter than before, and it wasn't showing any signs. Now, while I had no idea exactly what was happening, I wasn't some ignorant character in a horror movie with no self-preservation instincts.
'Please don't tell me this tower is about to explode.' I observed the glowing tower with a deep frown; if this tower exploded, let alone me now, even if I were in perfect health with full mana, I would still die from this tower exploding. With Natsu and Erza still up there, at the center of the soon-to-be blast zone, I cursed and leaped from floor to floor; even if we couldn't flee in time, I wanted to at least throw them far enough.
Unfortunately for me, the tower had reached the limits of its patience, as the glowering only continued to intensify, causing me to grit my teeth. However, just as I sped up, the glowing began to converge upwards, causing me to furrow my brow in confusion.
I watched as the mana within the tower—the walls, floors, and ceilings—flowed upwards, heading to the peak of the tower with unprecedented speed. I wasn't allowed the chance to voice my confusion as a beam of pure magic shot out from the peak of the tower into the sky, its power on par with Etherion.
After a few moments, the beam of magic began to slowly fizzle out until it vanished altogether, as the mana within the tower had all dried up; now it was just a husk of its former self. While I didn't know what Erza and Natsu managed to do, I heaved a sigh of relief; I'd only made it up thirty floors, so there was no way I'd been able to reach them in time.
"Haa, finally I can take a break; my body is killing me." Sighing, I plopped onto my butt and rested my shoulder against the wall, though my luck must've been at an all-time low as the tower began to violently shake and shudder, causing me to rub my face in exhaustion. "I forgot… Lacrima's are brittle when completely dried of mana."
Right on cue, I looked over the edge, where I saw the base of the tower collapsing under its own weight. "Fuck me, man." Realizing my work wasn't done, I stood up, and just before the floor gave out beneath me, I jumped, leaping from floor to floor. Evading falling debris, I'd occasionally use one to launch me further up the tower, which was already in the process of collapsing.
If it weren't for the fact that I was on a mission to save Erza and Natsu, then this would've been rather fun, climbing a tower over a kilometer tall while it collapsed on itself? There weren't many things I could think of that were more fun.
Nearly a minute had passed until I'd finally arrived at the peak of the tower, where I saw three people falling alongside the tower.
Simon was still unconscious, barely breathing, as my mana kept his body just strong enough to survive. An unconscious Erza was floating inside a large sphere of liquid mana; her magic was extremely low, which wasn't a good sign. And Natsu was the only conscious one. He was clutching the sphere Erza was inside, trying to get her out of it. However, given his lack of magic and the fact that he was currently falling, he was having a difficult time.
Saving my questions for later, I landed on top of a piece of falling debris and launched myself towards Natsu and Erza, colliding with the sphere, which stopped my momentum. "B-Big bro!?" Surprised that I was somehow here, Natsu looked at me with slightly wide eyes, only for me to lift him onto my shoulder, confusing him. "Eh, w-what are you doing, big bro?" "Saving your dumbass… Hold on tight."
Natsu, taking my command a little too literally, changed his position into a piggyback, something I used to give him, and wrapped his arms and legs around me. As my eye twitched at his actions, I thrust my hand into the sphere, breaking through it and clutching Erza's arm before pulling her into my arms.
"Big bro, don't forget Simon!" "Tch, I wasn't." "Why the tongue click then?" "Tch, no reason." Leaping off the broken sphere, I maneuvered through he sky, launching myself from debris to debris until I arrived at Simon. Grabbing him, I tossed him onto my shoulder, keeping him in place with one arm while my other arm held Erza, cradling her almost like a child.
"We're reaching the ground!" Hearing Natsu's nervous yell, I looked at the ground, which we were rapidly approaching, but it was more a pile of debris than ground.
"Brace for impact!" Kicking off the final piece of debris, I changed our trajectory, altogether avoiding the pile beneath us as we fell more towards the beach. Nearing the ground, I stuck my legs out, my feet violently slamming into the sandy beach. Going along with the momentum, I erupted into a full-on sprint before slowing down and stopping just beside the shore, the water gently hitting my sandy feet.
"Ugh, t-that impact was violent." "I swear upon Gramps' name, if you vomit on me, Natsu." Shooting Natsu a glare, he promptly covered her mouth with one of his hands, causing me to scoff before I shifted my gaze out into the distance.
Just as I was searching, I spotted them; their boat had been hidden behind a wave, but there they were, they were heading towards the beach. Relieved that I wouldn't have to swim back to Fiore while carrying three, I suddenly heard snoring, prompting me to glance at Natsu, who had somehow fallen asleep while clutched to my back like a koala.
"How?" Both annoyed and impressed, I shook my head, leaving him be; he'd fought extremely hard and faced an opponent he never had a chance of winning against. He earned a night's sleep. 'I feel like a nanny.'
Glancing between Natsu, Simon, and Erza, I softly sighed and waited for the others to arrive, which wasn't long, thanks to Juvia. When they beached the boat, they all got out and rushed towards me. "Hey, what happened, Big bro!? There was a beam of magic into the sky, and then the tower collapsed." Cana was the first to arrive as she asked questions regarding the events that had just occurred. "Are Natsu and Erza fine?" Lucy was the second to come, her focus on Erza and Natsu's sleeping forms.
Third to arrive was Gray, accompanied by Juvia; he wasn't as worried as Lucy, nor was he all that concerned with what had just happened. "What happened to Jellal? Did you kill him?" The last ones to arrive were the three people who had been with Simon. "Simon!?" "I-Is he dead?" "A-At least we ended Jellal's reign, that's what he wanted most."
Seeing everyone, I handed Erza to Gray, earning him an annoyed look from Juvia, and pried Natsu off my back before tossing him at Happy, who was flying in the air. "Everything is fine. We can talk later in detail, I've got to get Simon back to Porlyusica or he'll die."
"Um, o-okay." "Y-You mean he's not dead!? H-He's still got a chance?" Wally was the most excited among the three as he stepped forward and grabbed my shoulders, causing me to push him off me while nodding. "Yeah, now, unless you want him to die, let me go." Glaring at Wally in annoyance, I continued forward into the water.
"What about you, big bro? You're in pretty bad shape. Can you handle that trek?" I didn't look back at Cana and lightly waved my hand. "Heh, of course, Cana." "Haa, I don't even know why I bothered asking; the answer would've been the same no matter how badly injured or exhausted you were."
Chuckling at how Cana was right, I began swimming, using the water to wash away the blood over my body while lifting Simon in the air, just above the water, as I kicked my feet, speedily crossing the ocean, using whatever magic power I still had to enhance myself, further shortening the time.
Reaching the Fiore quicker than when we left for the Island, I climbed onto the beach and erupted into a full-on sprint while leaping over buildings in the way before taking the road back to Magnolia, which was thankfully close. By the time I arrived, the sun was beginning to rise, and the lacrima with my magic power that had been keeping Simon alive was nearly empty.
Sprinting beside the city, I entered the forest, arriving at Porlyusica's cabin; busting through the front door, I entered the room where she usually operates and set Simon down, before looking behind me. Porlyusica was wearing a nightgown and holding a scalpel; clearly, barging into her home had woken her up. She stared silently at me before glancing at Simon.
"Do I need to spell it out for you?" "I really, REALLY hope I get to live long enough to see you die."