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[O.P:Uchiha] Ch 301: The Past
🕑 Added 2025-02-16 21:46:13 +0000 UTC— — — — — — —
Silence filled the air.
Sho kept his mouth shut, refusing to speak.
Uchiha Kitaro asked calmly, "Do you need me to use genjutsu on him to make him talk?"
Sho's face instantly paled. The impression Kitaro left on him was nothing short of terrifying.
At that moment, the muscular man who had been sent flying earlier, Simon, spoke up.
"I'll explain."
"Simon?"
"Jellal sent us. The Tower of Heaven is complete. Jellal wants to resurrect Zeref, so he ordered us to capture you as the sacrifice needed for the ritual."
"What?! Resurrect Zeref?!" Lucy's face turned pale. "Are you talking about the Zeref from 400 years ago, the most notorious dark mage in history?!"
"So it's finally finished..."
"The Tower of Heaven? What is that?" Gray asked.
Erza explained, "The Tower of Heaven, also known as the R-System, is a forbidden magic system designed by the dark mage Zeref. It allows for resurrection at the cost of sacrificing a living being. It's an inhumane, taboo magic."
Uchiha Kitaro couldn't help but think it sounded eerily similar to Edo Tensei.
Lucy gasped. "A magic that dangerous actually exists?!"
Sho finally spoke. "Magic has never been about humanity. All magic erodes the very concept of morality."
"That's just the ideology of dark magic," Erza countered. "How are you any different from the people you claim to oppose?"
"Those people merely see the R-System as some ordinary resurrection technique, but Jellal is different. He will lead us to a future paradise."
"Once Jellal revives that great one, the world will be reborn under our rule."
"To those who once took away our freedom... to the remnants of those who betrayed us... to the ignorant masses living blissfully unaware in this world... and to the pathetic fools of the Magic Council—"
"We will bring them fear and despair like never before!!"
"We will strip this world of its freedom!!"
"We are the true rulers of this world! Hahaha! Hahaha!"
The more Sho spoke, the more unhinged he became, his expression twisting with madness—like someone completely brainwashed by a cult leader.
BAM!
Erza landed a powerful punch squarely on Sho's face.
"GWAHH!!"
Sho screamed as he was sent flying, crashing into a gambling table.
"A person who was once normal has become this twisted... Jellal, is this all your doing?!" Erza's face was filled with fury.
At that moment, Natsu and Gray arrived.
"Erza!!"
Natsu spotted Wally and immediately charged at him. "You blockhead bastard! Where's Happy?! Where did you take him?!"
Gray, seeing the massive Simon, prepared to unleash his magic.
Simon raised a hand. "Wait! I have no hostility towards you."
Gray scoffed, magic still at the ready. "Whether or not you're hostile isn't for you to decide!"
Just moments ago, they had been plunged into darkness, unable to see anything. The ice clones Gray had created were effortlessly shattered. And Natsu had been shot by Wally. If he weren't as tough as a monster, he'd be dead already.
Lucy called out, "Gray, wait a moment!"
Hearing Lucy, Gray hesitated.
"Erza, what exactly is going on?" Lucy asked, her eyes full of confusion. "I thought you grew up in Fairy Tail. How do you have old companions like these?"
Natsu and Gray were equally clueless.
Taking a deep breath, Erza began to recount her past. "This happened more than ten years ago. A dark magic cult kidnapped people from all over to work as slaves in constructing the R-System—the Tower of Heaven, designed to resurrect the dead. I was just a child when I was taken..."
"What...?!" Natsu and Gray were stunned. Erza had been kidnapped and forced into slavery when she was just a kid?
Even Uchiha Kitaro felt a pang of unease.
Erza continued, describing how, during her time as a slave, she met many companions who supported each other to survive in the living hell they were trapped in. Among them was Jellal, a boy who, despite his young age, became their guiding light.
Eventually, Erza awakened her magic and led the slaves in a rebellion, defeating the dark magic cult and rescuing Jellal.
But after that, Jellal changed. Instead of escaping, he insisted on completing the Tower of Heaven.
He forced Erza to leave alone, framing her for betraying their friends. He warned her never to speak of the Tower or to come near it again, or he would erase all evidence—including the tower and everyone inside it.
"You're lying!!"
Sho, who had been knocked out moments ago, suddenly regained consciousness.
"Are you trying to gain your friends' sympathy with these lies?! Don't mess with me!! That's not what happened!!"
"Eight years ago, you planted a bomb on our ship and abandoned us, didn't you?!"
"If Jellal hadn't realized your betrayal, we would have all been blown to pieces!!"
"Jellal told us this was the fate of those who failed to learn magic the right way!!"
"He said you were consumed by your thirst for power, that you wanted to erase every memory of us from your past!"
Gray stared at Sho and spoke coldly. "And you just believed whatever Jellal told you?"
Lucy crossed her arms. "Does that sound like something Erza would do?"
Seeing the unwavering belief in their eyes, Sho broke into a nervous sweat.
"W-What do you know?! You don't know anything about us!!"
"Jellal's words were the only thing that kept me alive!!"
"For eight long years, we worked to complete that tower!!"
"All for Jellal!!"
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