"I must've looked so cool back there!"
Dispersal was practically buzzing with excitement as he walked away, secretly thrilled with how he'd carried himself. His only regret? Not borrowing one of Kira's magic crystals to record the moment.
"That fight would make an epic movie! Especially that last line—'Such beautiful cherry blossoms.' Ugh, I even impressed myself!"
Dispersal muttered to himself, his body twisting like he was having some kind of ecstatic fit. "I can't believe I came up with that line! All those novels I've been reading the past couple of days paid off!"
In his mind, if he were the protagonist of a novel, he'd have already won over that swordswoman Ikaruga—though, to be fair, his heart belonged to his sword… and, well, now novels too.
A few steps later, he ran into Erza, who'd just arrived.
"Hey, Erza! Fancy meeting you here!"
"Dispersal? Uh… what's going on with you?"
Erza's confusion was understandable. Dispersal's expression was, well, weird. If she had to describe it using one of the novels she'd borrowed from Levy, it'd be something like That Boy's Too Cool… or was it That Boy's Trouble?
"Oh, nothing much. Just had a run-in with a promising swordswoman. Feels great to crush a rookie!"
Erza immediately knew who he meant. "The last of the Trinity Raven? That means Jellal's the only one left!"
With that, she picked up her pace. Dispersal hurried to keep up.
"By now, Kira's probably already facing off with Jellal," he said. "If you rush over there, they might be done before you even arrive…"
"That's exactly why I need to hurry. Jellal and I have unfinished business!"
Dispersal smirked. "Pfft, yeah right. You? Take him down? You don't have it in you."
"I can do it!" Erza snapped, her voice firm. "I'll put an end to Jellal's crimes myself!"
But her resolute tone didn't sway Dispersal one bit.
"Love and hate all tangled up together—it's rough, isn't it? I get it. These past few days, I've been obsessed with novels, but also kinda hate them. They've shown me a bigger world, but they're totally messing with my swordsmanship focus."
"Seriously, if I had to destroy my favorite books, I don't know if I could do it!"
Erza: "…"
"Look, having your love crushed before it even starts must sting, right?" Dispersal continued, completely oblivious to her mood. "You've got hope right in front of you, but the person you care about got brainwashed and turned into someone else. That kinda disappointment's gotta hurt."
"Like Kira says, humans shouldn't go setting up flags like that—it only leads to tragedy."
"Shut up!" Erza barked, but then something clicked. "Wait, what did you just say about brainwashing?"
Dispersal slapped the back of his head. "Oh, right, you don't know! Kira told me a few hours ago. The reason Jellal's so obsessed with reviving Zeref and building the Tower of Heaven is because…"
---
Meanwhile, as Dispersal was battling Ikaruga, Kira had indeed come face-to-face with Jellal, just as they'd suspected.
"Didn't expect you to be the first one to make it here, Kira Hopleit!" Jellal said.
"And I didn't expect you to stay so calm," Kira shot back. "Your crew's either defeated or defecting. What's the deal? You not paying them enough or something?"
Jellal had no response to Kira's bizarre logic. He just stood there, silent.
"The Magic Council's probably gearing up to fire Etherion by now, right? Twenty-seven billion units of magic power. Sounds like it could last a while, huh?"
Kira glanced around, his tone almost too casual. "All these magic crystals… wonder how much they'd fetch if I sold 'em. Probably enough to live easy for the rest of my life!"
Jellal's eyes narrowed. Is this guy after the Tower of Heaven too? "What are you getting at?"
"I'm saying, once Etherion's magic hits, this crystal tower's mine!"
Kira's attitude wasn't just cocky—it was like he didn't even see Jellal as a threat.
Jellal didn't respond right away. One question burned in his mind: How does he know the true nature of the Tower of Heaven?
He racked his brain but couldn't figure it out. Finally, he laughed awkwardly. "You know the tower's secret, Kira Hopleit. I'll give you that—you've surprised me. But if you want the Tower of Heaven, you'll have to get through me first. Think you can handle that?"
"Tch, even if your thought projection, Siegrain, merges back with you, you're still just a Wizard Saint," Kira scoffed. "Wizard Saint? That's just a fancy title for a power level. Like it's gonna scare anyone!"
Jellal was already shocked that Kira knew about the tower, but now he knew about Siegrain too? He started wondering where he'd slipped up.
He hadn't spoken to Kira directly as Siegrain, had he? Even with all of Fairy Tail, the only time they'd crossed paths was years ago when Siegrain met Erza, posing as "Jellal's twin brother." That had worked perfectly.
All his moves had been carefully hidden. So how did Kira know?
Ultear?
The most likely culprit was Ultear, who'd been by his side for years and knew all his plans.
Though suspicion gnawed at him, Jellal didn't want to stir up trouble at such a critical moment. He kept his expression neutral.
He knew Ultear wasn't someone to underestimate. Even if she had her own agenda, their goals had aligned so far.
Once Zeref was revived, anyone—Ultear, Kira, or otherwise—would just be insignificant pests. Poor Jellal, still dancing in Ultear's palm without realizing it.
"You're still clinging to that ridiculous dream of reviving Zeref?" Kira taunted.
Attacking an enemy's morale before a fight was a classic move, and Kira wasn't about to pass up an easy shot. Why go all-out when a few words could do the trick?
It worked like a charm. The mention of Zeref snapped Jellal's attention right to him.
The Tower of Heaven was built to revive Zeref and create a world where he ruled—a true paradise, in Jellal's mind. That's what he'd always believed and told his followers. He wasn't surprised Kira knew, given that Simon and the others had already betrayed him.
Thanks to Ultear's influence, Jellal was a blind Zeref fanboy. The second Kira mentioned Zeref, he was all ears.
"I've seen your type before," Kira said. "Always trying to revive something or other. Last time, I ran into a guy who wanted to revive a demon so he could eat it and get stronger. The time before that, another guy wanted to revive a demon just to prove he could beat it. Spoiler: neither worked out."
Kira sighed, almost nostalgic. "A world with magic sure is something else. Revival rituals left and right…"
"Oh? And why's that?" Jellal asked, playing along. He was happy to stall for time.
"Deliora's revival failed because it was already dead, frozen solid. The plan to eat the Sea Demon King flopped because the magic itself was flawed. And I'm telling you straight-up: your plan to revive Zeref? It's doomed to fail too."
"Hahaha!" Jellal burst out laughing, taking a moment to compose himself. "Is that all you've got?"
His expression oozed smugness, like he knew something Kira didn't. "Of course someone like you wouldn't understand. The Tower of Heaven, originally called the R-System, was created 400 years ago by the dark wizard Zeref himself. It's flawless!"
"Hahaha!" Kira threw the laugh right back at him. "That's it? That's your big reveal?"
"I know it was Zeref's creation. I know why he made it. I even know what happened to him because of it. And you don't see me bragging about it, do you? You're the clueless one, thinking you can use this magic to revive Zeref. How about I take over as Zeref's follower instead?"
Jellal's eyes widened. "What did you just say?!"
"I'm saying your plan's gonna crash and burn—not because the magic's flawed, but because Zeref's not even dead!"
---