Staring up at the seemingly calm sky, Kabe could feel a certain energy gathering high above.
The next instant, a flaming meteor tore through the clouds and plunged straight down toward the Tower of Heaven.
It was obvious that Jellal meant to end everything in one strike and bury them all on this island.
As for himself, in Kabe's perception, Jellal had already taken advantage of the moment Kabe looked up to flee at full speed into the distance.
"Tch, he really has the guts to go this far."
Kabe had not expected Jellal to be this decisive.
"But it is a pity."
"Your idea is still a little too naive."
"A mere meteor is not enough to keep me here."
He turned his body sideways, pressing the back of his right hand against his open left palm.
Between his hands, a ball of purple ki rapidly expanded.
"Galick Cannon."
A pillar of violet light roared upward, colliding head on with the falling meteor.
Several kilometers away, Jellal turned back just in time to see the beam lance into the sky.
A scornful smile tugged at his mouth.
"Fool."
"Trying to resist a natural disaster head on."
"With your speed, if you only cared about running away, Sema would never be able to touch you."
He sneered in his heart.
"Pathetic, to throw away your life for such pointless emotions."
Jellal's body stopped in midair.
He turned fully around, intending to watch with his own eyes as Kabe and his former comrades were wiped out.
The very next second, the Galick Cannon smashed the meteor apart, bursting into a brilliant flower of light in the sky above the island.
The blast scattered the clouds, revealing a vast, flawless blue.
Jellal's eyes went wide with disbelief.
"No, that is impossible."
"He actually shattered my Sema?"
The sight was so absurd that it completely crushed the last support of Jellal's confidence.
Without hesitating again, he spun around and continued his panicked escape.
He managed to get less than a hundred meters before a huge foot came down from above and stomped him straight into the sea.
"Yo."
Watching the massive plume of water spray into the air, Kabe hovered above the surface and cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting down.
"Give it up, Jellal."
"Your comrades are still waiting for you to come back."
Jellal burst out of the water, clutching his waist in pain.
Hearing that string of nonsense, his face twisted even darker.
"That bastard, how dare he humiliate and toy with me like this."
"I will kill him."
"I will absolutely kill him."
"Shut up."
Blinded by fury, Jellal had completely lost his reason.
He hurled himself back into the sky and launched a flurry of rapid attacks at Kabe.
"Man, you really do not listen, do you."
Kabe shook his head helplessly, raised one hand, and fired a piercing beam straight through the "Jellal" charging at him, blowing a hole in his heart.
Then he did not spare that figure another glance.
Instead, he spread his hand toward the sea and unleashed a rain of tiny ki blasts across the surface.
The Jellal whose heart had been pierced flickered, then dissolved into phantom light and vanished.
The real Jellal, lurking beneath the waves and trying to escape, was forced from hiding by the relentless barrage.
The ki blasts hammered him from all sides, twisting and tumbling him over and over in the churning ocean.
He finally could not stand it anymore and burst out of the water, raising both hands and shouting,
"I lose, I surrender."
"I remember everything now."
"There is no spirit of Zeref."
"It was all my delusion."
"Tch, see, would it have killed you to say that earlier."
Kabe snorted, instantly stopping his attacks.
Jellal's eyes were clearer than they had ever been.
Hands still raised, he slowly rose from the water and floated carefully toward Kabe.
"Thank you for waking me from that nightmare."
"If not for you, I do not know how many more terrible things I would have done."
His head drooped, his posture and tone like that of someone sincerely repenting.
"So you are saying you finally realize your mistakes now?"
Kabe folded his arms, watching the performance quietly, a faint smile at the corner of his lips.
"Yes."
"Enchanted by Zeref, I did many things that betrayed my comrades and hurt Erza."
"When we go back later, I will apologize properly to all of them."
As he spoke, Jellal's eyes flicked restlessly, secretly measuring the distance between them.
To realize his ambition, to accomplish his dream, he had no choice but to stake everything on one last gamble.
However, before he could get close enough to launch the sneak attack he was planning, Kabe moved first.
He shot forward abruptly and brought his hand down in a heavy knife chop toward Jellal's neck.
"You–"
Jellal had never imagined he would be the one ambushed instead.
By the time he reacted, Kabe's hand had already slammed into the back of his neck.
He only had time to choke out one word, despicable, before his eyes rolled back and he blacked out completely.
Before he could fall back into the sea, Kabe grabbed him by the back of his collar.
Looking at the completely unconscious Jellal, Kabe spat to the side and cursed,
"Damn it, did you really think I was an idiot?"
"If I could not see through such a stupid fake surrender, I might as well find a rope and hang myself."
After venting, he tucked Jellal under one arm, turned, and flew toward where he could sense Erza and the others.
It might have looked like meteors and the end of the world from the outside, with the island shaking as if it had been under attack forever.
But in truth, from the moment their fight began to now, only eight or nine minutes had passed.
Erza, Ultear, Simon, Millianna and the others had only just managed to make it out of the tower.