Everyone witnessing the scene was paralyzed. Not just stunned—they were completely terrified.
What had just happened?
Etherion was falling. In that heartbeat, they all truly believed the world was coming to an end. But the apocalypse didn't arrive; it simply... vanished.
Magic Council: ERA Headquarters
Every Council member stood frozen, eyes glued to the lacrima screens showing the Tower of Heaven. Through the Satellite Magic Circle, the image was crystal clear. They had expected to see the tower reduced to microscopic dust.
Instead, the structure stood tall and unscathed.
"Where is Etherion?!" Org shouted, his voice cracking with disbelief. "Where is that massive blast of energy?!"
"It's... it's not clear! This has never happened before!"
The technicians scrambled, their fingers flying across control panels as they tried to process the data. Panic was spreading like a virus, infecting even the Council members.
Etherion was their ultimate deterrent. If this weapon failed, the Council's authority would be gutted. The very foundation of their power on the Ishgar continent was shaking.
The Top of the Tower
"Hahahahaha! Refreshing! Truly refreshing!"
Kael threw his arms wide and laughed with wild abandon. Every pore in his body seemed to tingle with adrenaline.
Etherion was a country-level threat. In terms of raw destructive power, it was easily comparable to a Tailed Beast Bomb from the Nine-Tails. Seeing a force that massive hurtling toward him had been both terrifying and the ultimate thrill.
Of course, he had a safety net. The Tower of Heaven itself was a massive magic conductor; if his technique had failed, the tower would have absorbed much of the initial hit. That was why he hadn't leveled the place from the start—he wanted to see if he could pull this off.
To him, this tower was a Level 50 dungeon, and he was the Level 100 Boss.
"As expected of the Fourth Hokage," Kael muttered, a smirk playing on his lips. "The Flying Thunder God Technique is absolutely broken."
Whoosh!
In a flicker of yellow light, Kael appeared right next to Erza. He swept her into his arms, pulling her close.
"Brace yourself," he whispered into her ear. "It's about to get loud."
"What—?" Erza was still dazed, her mind struggling to keep up with the impossible reality.
"I warped Etherion to the open sea."
Kael pointed toward the distant horizon. Erza followed his gaze and saw it—miles away, a miniature sun suddenly descended from the clouds and touched the water.
BOOM—————!!
A blinding, white-hot light erupted on the sea surface, followed by a shockwave that tore through the atmosphere. Monstrous walls of water, hundreds of meters high, were launched into the air.
RUMBLE————!!
Seconds later, the concussive force reached the tower. The massive structure groaned and shook violently under the pressure. Kael stood firm, using his own body as a shield to protect Erza from the buffeting winds and debris.
"Gwaaaaah!" "What was that?!" "What's happening?!"
Down on the lower levels, Lucy and the others were nearly knocked off their feet. They were lost in a fog of confusion. One moment, Etherion was about to erase them; the next, it vanished and detonated miles away. It defied everything they knew about magic.
Gray stared up at the top of the tower, a grim realization forming in his mind. "No... it's impossible. Even for Kael... but who else could it be?"
The others looked at him, wanting to deny it, but they knew he was right. Erza was at the top, and Kael was the only one missing from their group.
Kael was a bottomless well of miracles. Every time they thought they had seen his limit, he revealed a new form, a new character, and a new level of power. Each one was unique, but they all shared one terrifying trait: absolute strength.
They all felt it in their gut. This was Kael's doing.
Magic Council: ERA Headquarters
The lacrima screens flashed white as the explosion on the sea was captured by the satellites.
"What is going on?!" Org screamed. "Why did it detonate there?!"
A technician turned around, his face white as a sheet. "We... we found the anomaly. Just as Etherion was about to impact the tower, there was a massive spatial distortion. It appears... someone used teleportation magic to warp the entire blast away."
"WHAT?!"
Teleporting Etherion?
It sounded like a bad joke. That wasn't a person or an object—it was a country-destroying mass of raw energy. If the news got out that a single wizard could swat away the Council's ultimate weapon like a fly, they would become the laughingstock of Ishgar.
Even worse: if he could warp it to the sea, he could warp it to a city. He could warp it right onto their heads.
"Who is the man building that tower?" one Council member whispered, his voice trembling. "Did he calculate our move years in advance? Did he build a teleportation array specifically to counter us?"
They couldn't fathom a single individual doing this with their own power. Their minds jumped to complex systems and years of planning because the alternative—that one man was simply that powerful—was too terrifying to accept.
Ultear stared at Siegrain in shock. She didn't know the specifics of what was happening at the tower either. Only Siegrain, who was Jellal's Thought Projection, knew the truth.
Siegrain's face was twisted into a mask of pure, unadulterated rage. He let out a raw scream that echoed through the Council chambers:
"KAEL!!!"
The outburst startled everyone.
"Kael? The S-Class wizard from Fairy Tail?" "Sieg, what does he have to do with this?!"
Siegrain didn't answer. His eyes were bloodshot, and he scanned the Council members with a look of such ferocity that they instinctively recoiled. In the next instant, his body flickered and vanished.
"Sieg?!"
Before they could process his disappearance, the building began to groan.
Crack... crack!
Deep fissures started racing across the walls and ceiling.
"What's happening?!" "The building... it's aging?!"
Org's eyes went wide. He recognized this phenomenon. "This is... the Lost Magic, Arc of Time?!"
"The ceiling is coming down! Run! Move!!"
The Council members scrambled in a blind panic as the great hall began to crumble into dust.
"Ultear..."
Yajima turned to look at the girl in shock. She was standing calmly amidst the chaos, her hands glowing with magic. She was the one tearing the building down.
The Top of the Tower
Jellal looked like a man who had lost his soul. He fell to his knees, his eyes wide and vacant.
"Impossible... impossible... this is absolutely impossible!!"
His eight-year plan, his sacrifice, his grand ritual—all of it had been snuffed out in a single, mocking heartbeat.
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