Etherion has hit the target.
"Repeating — Etherion has hit the target."
The booming broadcast echoed.
"We don't know how many were caught up in it and sacrificed." The Second Seat, Org, closed his eyes.
"To prevent Zeref's resurrection, casualties are unavoidable." An older councilor with cat-like hair sighed.
"No matter how righteous a name we give our actions, it won't ease the grief of the families of the fallen."
Ironically absurd — only at this moment, after Etherion had been unleashed and nothing could be undone, did Org feel regret. To hell with alliances, guilds, and cold rationality.
Without lifting a finger to explore alternatives, they had unleashed a strategic weapon to erase everything. This was a grave dereliction of duty by the Magic Council!!!
"Perhaps… It's time I retire." The thought surfaced and refused to leave.
But then—
"No… something's wrong!!!"
"At the center of the explosion— magical particles are… neutralizing…"
"The fusion density is plummeting rapidly! Other high-magic signatures are appearing!!"
"The calculations can't keep up—"
"Hurry! Restore the visuals immediately!"
The sudden anomaly shattered grief and replaced it with shock. The councilors fixed their eyes on the magic screen as technicians scrambled to stabilize the feed.
When the dust cleared, the image revealed—
A massive crystalline spire piercing the clouds, dazzling with flowing radiance. At its base bloomed a bud-like structure, rising into a magnificent crystal column. Higher still, each tier blossomed like petals of light until the very summit, where two enormous magic crystal pillars soared skyward.
Around the Tower of Heaven's perimeter, circles of runes glowed, shimmering with lingering high-density magical residue — a sight breathtaking and terrifying alike.
"What in the world…? With that much magic concentrated in one place, it should've exploded!"
"This… this makes no sense!"
The council chambers erupted in chaos. Technicians slammed commands across their consoles, frantically trying to decipher what had just occurred.
"Where's Jellal? Where's Jellal?!" Ajima's eyes darted wildly. A sense of dread gnawed at him.
But Siegrain had already slipped away earlier.
"Damn it… damn it all!!!" Veins bulged across Ajima's forehead as he gripped the railing with white-knuckled fury.
And then— another anomaly.
Decay. Everything began to rot and collapse at breakneck speed!
Railings crumbled like brittle clay. Dust and stones rained down as cracks spidered across the entire council chamber. Staircases gave way, consoles failed, and the entire structure collapsed in an instant.
The chain reaction spread beyond physical collapse — panic flooded like a tidal wave.
"The building is rapidly aging— it's going to fall!"
"Help! Somebody help!!"
"Run for your lives!!!"
Some froze in horror, others fled blindly. Even those who understood something was amiss were swept away in the chaos, unable to resist.
Amid the pandemonium, Ajima caught sight of the culprit — Ultear.
She stood at the crumbling center, her Arc of Time spell in full effect.
"Why… WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS, ULTEAR?!" Ajima roared.
"All of this is for Lord Siegrain— no, for Lord Jellal. His ideals… will finally be realized!" Ultear turned her head toward Ajima, her expression feverish, eyes gleaming with fanatic devotion.
Ajima was nearly speechless with rage— until he turned toward another corner of the ruins. His voice thundered:
"Is this what you wanted? Is this your revenge?!"
Ultear froze, her own eyes flicking nervously in the same direction.
There, a pocket of untouched space remained pristine amidst the ruin, bathed in pale white light. Its foundations, its structure, everything linked to that room had been preserved, utterly immune to the decay.
"…Yes. This is revenge."
Through the broken wall, Pai Pai finally appeared, expression cold as ever.
"To receive your recognition, Lord Pai Pai, is an honor," Ultear said with forced composure. Though surprised at his words, she did not relax in the slightest. The hostility between them was irreconcilable.
Pai Pai didn't even look at her.
"The Magic Council plays an important role. As mediator and regulator of the magical world, it balances ordinary people and mages. Even for me, it has had positive effects. That is undeniable."
"Then why are you—" Ajima snapped, losing his composure.
"Public duty is one thing. Personal affairs are another. Just because I don't speak doesn't mean I don't know. And it certainly doesn't mean I have no opinion."
Walking calmly through the ruins, Pai Pai's voice was unnervingly steady, inhumanly so.
Ajima clenched his fists, torn between anger and reluctant acknowledgment. Ultear's actions were an assault that threatened the balance of the entire magical world. But Pai Pai's words—
"As for casualties— there will be none today."
His voice remained flat, but the meaning hit differently for each listener. Ultear's face twisted as her eyes swept the ruins— no corpses, not even a single cry of the wounded. Her expression blackened instantly.
Ajima, however, felt his fury ease just slightly. He gave Pai Pai one last look before running out of the crumbling structure.
Ultear licked her lips, forcing a smile. "In truth, there's no need for us to be enemies, is there? If Lord Zeref were resurrected, perhaps he and you would find common ground— after all, you're both figures of four hundred years ago."
The weight of Pai Pai's gaze crushed down on her like a mountain. Her nerves screamed, every fiber of her body sensing mortal peril. She forced a grin, but her voice trembled.
Pai Pai ignored her.
Her danger sense spiked to its peak. She threw herself aside, Arc of Time warping her body into the state of a few minutes prior— a temporal shield. The crushing gravitational attack barely missed, the air imploding into a singularity that condensed debris into a dense pebble in the blink of an eye.
Had she not dodged, she would have been obliterated without a trace.
The compressed stone drifted into Pai Pai's hand.
"He's… he's using my style against me?!" Ultear's mind reeled. His attack mirrored her manipulation of space-time almost mockingly.
"Is this mockery? I'll make you pay for it." Her eyes flashed with fury. She pulled a golden key from her robes.
"Open… Gate of the Celestial Spirit King!!!"
Radiance burst forth, flooding the heavens. A colossal magic circle blazed across the sky, stars shuddered, and the flowing galaxy itself descended upon the world.
The pinnacle of the Celestial Spirit realm—
The Celestial Spirit King— Descends!