Chapter 62: Return of the Phantom Wizard, The Unbroken Bond (3)
"Ciel…?!"
"Kufufufu… If you're truly my partner, collapsing from mana exhaustion is unacceptable."
"Is it really… you?"
"Does the warmth of these hands supporting you feel like that of the dead?"
The strength holding her, the warmth of flesh, the undeniable pulse of life—
This was nothing like a cold corpse, nor like a wandering soul with no warmth.
This was the real Ciel.
"But you were only a spirit…"
"I promised you, didn't I? That we'd meet again."
"You… No, more importantly—the Thunder Palace in the sky…!!"
There was so much Erza wanted to ask him, but destroying the spell Laxus had cast over the city came first.
If she could not do it, perhaps Ciel could.
But before she could speak further, Warren's voice echoed directly into her mind.
....
[Hey! Can everyone hear me?! Emergency! Look at the sky!]
"Warren?! …Telepathy…"
[Anyone who's down—get up immediately!]
[Anyone still fighting—stop now! Gather every ounce of magic you have and destroy those crystals in the sky! Not a single one must remain! That's Laxus's spell hanging over the city! We're out of time—do it together!]
"Warren, how do you know about Thunder Palace…?"
[That voice… Erza?! You're safe?!]
[Erza, really?!]
[She broke free of petrification?!]
[Ohhh!]
"Gray?! So it was you…"
[I found Warren by chance.]
[Sorry—my telepathy doesn't reach inside the guild, but at least whoever can hear me now! Those things in the sky… destroy them!]
But almost immediately, arguments flared up among the guildmates Warren had reached.
[Warren, you bastard! Did you forget what you did to me?!]
[Alzak!!]
[Nab, you too! Damn it!]
[Tonoma—I'll never forgive you!]
[Fight later!!]
[Look who's talking!]
[We don't have time! Smash those crystals now!!]
....
"Stop!! They're linked with Living Magic—if you attack them, the damage rebounds onto your own body…!!"
"Kufufufu… Even in the middle of a brawl, Fairy Tail always finds a way to come together. You haven't changed."
Placing a hand on Erza's shoulder, Ciel projected his own voice through Warren's link, letting everyone hear him.
The moment his voice reached them, chaos erupted.
[Wha—?! That voice…?!]
[No way…!!]
[That's… that's his voice!!]
[A ghost! It's a ghost!!]
"You've all grown more like Natsu… treating someone alive as a ghost. That stings a little."
[Ciel!!]
[You're really alive?!]
[This can't be real…! Ciel has returned?!]
"Yes. I've returned… from beyond the wheel of reincarnation."
With that, Ciel touched the feather-shaped earring on his ear.
It shimmered into a swirl of indigo mist, reforming in his hand as a long staff.
At its tip gleamed a golden ring, adorned with six shuriken-like blades from the Eastern lands, and set within a sapphire flame fragment glowed a crimson gem—his own eye staring back at them.
Though it was just a staff, the aura radiating from him was on a scale that dwarfed even his power from three years ago.
"Now then… let me test the strength of my return. Consider this my declaration to Fairy Tail—"
He raised the staff, eyes blazing.
"Bear witness, Erza… to the true form of the Phantom Wizard."
When Ciel raised his staff high, the ornaments at its tip all pointed toward the heavens. At once, a surge of indigo mist shot upward, coiling and swelling until it gathered in the center of the Thunder Palace.
From within that mist, a titanic gate materialized.
A pitch-black gate, its surface crawling with countless glowing crimson eyes.
Its ominous aura crushed the air, radiating a pressure so dreadful that Erza's legs buckled, and she dropped to her knees.
"Come forth. Godflame Emperor: Ouriah."
"W-What the hell is that?!"
From beyond the gate came a roar like the sky itself splitting—and then, a dragon.
Its entire body was clad in crimson scales, wings so vast their ends could not be seen. As its bulk pushed through, Magnolia was plunged into shadow.
"Now then," Ciel intoned calmly, "devour that pathetic thunder before you."
The dragon's roar shook the world, and in a single motion it lunged, swallowing the Thunder Palace orbs whole.
In less than twenty seconds, every single one of the three hundred thunder lacrima was consumed.
Lightning cascaded downward in a final desperate strike—yet to Ouriah, it was nothing.
The beast drank the bolts into its maw, and with another resounding bellow, withdrew back through the gate, which sealed shut behind it.
....
"C-Ciel… that was an illusion…"
"No. What you saw was real—a being drawn from beyond the gate."
The realization froze Erza's blood. Her knees trembled violently.
Never before had she faced a presence that oppressive.
Not even Zeref's demons had exuded such a suffocating, primal terror.
This was not something mortals were meant to oppose.
It was death incarnate.
....
[…It worked…]
[H-Hey… what the hell was that just now?!]
[I thought—I thought I'd wet myself…]
"Kufufufu… Surely you'd only believe my return if I demonstrated power of this scale."
[Ciel! You really are a monster…]
[What in the world did you summon?!]
Relief spread as they realized Thunder Palace had been destroyed—but almost instantly, panic followed.
....
[W-Wait… what—what's happening?! No, stay back! AHHHHHHH!!]
[Max?! What happened?!]
[I heard his scream nearby—I'll check—UAAAHHHH!!!]
[Alzak?! What's wrong—KYAAAAAAAH!!]
One by one, voices dissolved into screams and then silence, as if their very consciousness was being snuffed out.
Warren, Gray, and the others still linked by telepathy tensed, dread pooling in their stomachs.
"What is going on…? Another enemy?!"
But Ciel merely smiled faintly, eyes gleaming crimson.
"Kufufufu… it seems the healer I dispatched has begun tending to you."
[A… A healer?!]
"Yes, that benevolent spirit cannot attack at all, but it can heal almost any wound at incredible speed. Though… it comes with a bit of pain."
"W-wait! Ciel! That benevolent spirit you're talking about… don't tell me—"
At Ciel's words, my face turned paler than ever before.
Could it be… the monstrous spirit that appeared in the cathedral…?
Just as I was about to ask Ciel, Gray and Warren's horrific screams echoed through the telepathy link—followed by a chilling, dreadful voice.
[Ah♥ To think there are so many children here starving for my love~♥ This body… it's trembling, I can't stop cumming with joy~♥♡♥]
"Gasp…!!!"
"Kufufufu…"
There was no mistaking it.
That voice. That grotesque way of speaking.
It was the same abominable spirit I had seen in the cathedral.
Warren and Gray's connection was cut as they succumbed, but I could already picture vividly in my head what came next.
Seeing my terrified expression, Ciel only chuckled as though amused, smiling faintly while striding toward the cathedral.
"C-Ciel!! W-wait!"
"Why are you panicking?"
"I'll… I'll go with you! And I don't need healing. This much will recover in a day or two!"
"…I'm sorry, but from what I can see, your injuries are quite severe. Without magic, you'd only get in the way. So for now…"
"Oh my my~ That cute young lady from earlier~♥"
That terrifying voice whispered right behind my back.
Panic-stricken, I reached out toward Ciel, but without hesitation he turned away, walking forward.
"Erza, from here on, leave everything to me."
"Ciel! No, don't leave me behind! Don't abandon me! Cieeeeeel!!!"
"Happiness… to you, as well~♥"
That… was the last sight I had of Ciel.
....
Kardia Cathedral.
Laxus froze mid-battle with Natsu as the floating runes suddenly displayed shocking news—the termination of Thunder Palace's activation.
He had expected Erza to destroy a few of the lacrima, but this result went far beyond his calculations. Cold sweat trickled down his cheek.
On the screen appeared the words:
『Thunder Palace Deactivated』
[??? 302 units]
All 300 lacrima had been destroyed simultaneously by a single, unidentified individual.
If it had been any Fairy Tail wizard, their name would have appeared in the record.
But now… only an unknown entity's mark glowed, credited with wiping them all out at once.
Shaken, Laxus trembled. Natsu, however, steadied his breathing and looked straight at him.
"Why do you even need to change the guild? We're all within the same circle. If you won't even step into that circle yourself, how can you call yourself Master, Laxus?"
"…Shut up!"
Infuriated by Natsu's words, Laxus wrapped his body in surging lightning and roared:
"Domination! I will rule over everything!"
"Enough, Laxus. Fairy Tail will never belong to you."
"It will… Yes… I never needed bargaining in the first place. I just have to entrust everything to this power! This overwhelming power is my true self!"
"And if I shatter that power, will you give up, Laxus?! Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Unable to listen any longer, Natsu drove his flaming fist into Laxus's face with his Dragon Slayer magic.
But Laxus only grinned.
"You'll be the first to fall. Heh… Come at me, Fairy Tail! I'll swallow you all whole!"
"Grrrraaahhh!!"
"Die!"
"Aaaaarghhh!!"
Laxus's relentless lightning strikes left Natsu's body paralyzed, crashing him to the floor. He had no strength left to move.
He tried to push himself up, his knees trembling, but merely staying upright was the most he could manage.
Towering above, Laxus raised his fist high, gathering thunderous lightning into his palm.
"The roar of thunder that shakes the heavens…"
"N-no… my body…!"
"Fall from the sky and be reduced to dust!"
"Damn it…!!"
"RAGING BOLT!!"
With the incantation complete, the massive bolt of thunder roared down from Laxus's arm, crashing toward Natsu.
As the lightning descended, Laxus sneered.
"Hahahahaha! Turn to ash! No one—no one in this world—can stop me!"
"Ghhhhhkkk!!!"
The ground shattered, smoke billowing into the air. Convinced of his victory, Laxus stepped down to see Natsu's remains.
But as the smoke cleared, a voice rang out from within.
"Kufufufu… What if that's not the case?"
"W-what…?!"
The mocking laugh echoed from the haze, making Laxus furrow his brow and instinctively step back.
That overwhelming magical pressure. That familiar, taunting chuckle. That voice that treated him like a child.
Laxus's eyes widened, staring into the smoke.
This was impossible.
"That voice… No way…!"
"To me, you're nothing more than a child, Laxus."
As the haze dissipated, a tall man emerged. His long dark hair was tied back, his entire attire black save for a stark white shirt and a loosened black tie.
And most striking—his left eye glowed crimson, inscribed with strange, otherworldly runes.
Laxus swallowed hard, sweat pouring down his face.
No—this wasn't just wariness. It was fear. Sheer, unshakable fear.
Before him stood the one being he could never defeat. A man who should not even exist in this world.
"It's been a long time, Laxus."
"C–Ciel Illusian!!"
Ciel Illusian revealed himself, having effortlessly blocked Laxus's deadly strike.
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