Atop the tower's platform.
The Demon Blade Benizakura in Erza's grip shattered into fading light.
Looking at Jelal pale face and his eyes that were slowly losing focus, a heavy weight pressed down on her chest.
She could barely breathe.
"Jellal..." She reached out.
Her trembling fingertips brushed his cheek.
His skin felt like ice, completely stripped of a living person's warmth.
Right then—
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound of slow clapping echoed from the other side of the platform.
Erza whipped her head around, her eyes widening in shock.
A figure stepped out from the shadows at the edge of the platform.
He wore a magnificent robe and had short blue hair and a handsome, pale face.
He looked exactly like the Jellal lying on the ground.
Well, almost exactly.
This Jellal's eyes held no madness or obsession.
They only showed a cold, chilling calm and the magical power radiating off him felt heavy and vast.
If the fallen Jellal was a raging river, this new Jellal was a bottomless ocean.
"Brilliant, truly brilliant," the second Jellal said softly.
He glanced down at his fallen double before looking right at Erza.
"Eight years of obsession, eight years of pain, eight years of waiting... all ending like this. Erza, you really didn't disappoint me."
Erza slowly stood up as her twin swords re-formed in her hands.
Her tears were gone, replaced by the cold, sharp focus of a warrior.
"Who are you?"
"Me?" Jellal smiled, a mocking look in his eyes. "I am Jellal. Actually, what you're actually fought is just my Thought Projections."
He held up his right hand.
The fallen Jellal's body began to glow, turning into countless dark purple specks of light.
The light flowed right into his open palm.
When the final spark faded, only one Jellal stood on the platform.
Now, his magical aura felt incredibly stronger than before.
"Siegrain, the youngest member of the Magic Council... is just my Thought Projections," he explained casually.
He paused, his gaze softening slightly as he looked at Erza.
"And now, we have reunited. My power, my memories, my will... everything is finally complete."
Erza's grip on her swords trembled.
She wasn't scared; she was furious, burning with the humiliation of being played.
"So... these past eight years... everything I've survived... my pain, my guilt, my nightmares... all of it was just part of your plan?"
"Yes and no," Jellal said calmly.
His gaze drifted past Erza, landing on Ace, who stood quietly at the top of the stairs.
"Ace the Summoner. I've studied your combat records. The fight against Gajeel in Oak Town, the clash with Phantom Lord in Magnolia, and your battle at the Council. Your power is unique. It doesn't seems to belong to any magic system in Earth Land."
For the first time, a spark of real interest showed in Jellal's eyes.
"If you had attacked me earlier, while my power was still split in half, you probably would have beaten me. But now..."
He slowly floated off the ground, his deep purple robes blowing wildly without any wind.
Dark magical power exploded from his body, creating massive, complex Magic Circles in the night sky.
The glowing patterns showed the orbits of stars mixed with the twisting shadows of screaming spirits.
It was a perfect fusion of Heavenly Body Magic and Dark Magic.
"I have my full strength back. The magic power of a Wizard Saint, combined with the dark essence given to me, and other magic I mastered on my own..."
He brought his hands together.
The dark gold magic violently compressed into a fist-sized energy sphere that radiated pure destruction.
"Let's see if your strength can survive the true power of stars and darkness."
Before he even finished speaking, Jellal vanished.
He was moving so fast that he only left a trail of golden light behind him.
He zigzagged across the night sky like a falling star, triggering a massive sonic boom with every sharp turn.
"Heavenly Body Magic: Meteor!"
Jellal's voice echoed from all directions, making it impossible to track him.
A split second later, he appeared right beside Erza, swinging his hand down at her neck like a blade.
Erza crossed her swords to block.
The moment his hand struck her weapons, a terrifying force crushed into her.
Clang!
Her twin swords flew right out of her hands.
The impact launched Erza backward like a cannonball, slamming her into the stone railing at the edge of the platform.
The stone shattered instantly, leaving her hanging dangerously over the edge of the tower.
"Too slow," Jellal whispered in her ear.
He materialized right in front of her like a ghost.
His right fist was pulled back, wrapped in a violent storm of dark gold magic.
"It's over, Erza."
But this time, someone stopped him.
A hand wrapped in pitch-black energy tightly caught Jellal's fist.
Ace had stepped in front of Erza, standing his ground like a mountain while glaring coldly at Jellal.
The raw strength in Ace's grip completely blocked Jellal from pushing forward even a single inch.
Beside them, BlackWarGreymon suddenly joined the fight.
"Your opponent is me." The Digimon spoke with a deep, low growl that sounded like grinding metal.
Surprise flashed in Jellal's eyes, quickly shifting into pure excitement.
"Interesting... I'll deal with you first, then!"
He pulled his hand free and leaped back.
His body turned into a golden streak of light again, darting wildly around the massive Digimon.
Every flash of light delivered a heavy punch or a brutal kick.
The attacks rained down endlessly, each one packing enough force to shatter solid rock.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The heavy impacts exploded like machine-gun fire.
BlackWarGreymon stood his ground, completely unmoving.
He used his massive claws and armored arms to perfectly block every single strike.
He could predict exactly where the wizard would strike next.
Metal claws clashed with magic-infused fists.
Golden light and pitch-black dark energy violently exploded across the platform, painting the night sky in chaotic colors.
Jellal held a slight upper hand in the exchange, but he couldn't break through the Digimon's defense to land a heavy blow.
"Tch..." Jellal backed off, hovering high in the air.
He glared down at BlackWarGreymon with growing impatience.
"You're just a summoned beast, yet you can actually keep up with me."
He looked up into the night sky and slowly raised his hands.
"You're tough in close combat. Let's see how you handle pure magic."
"Heavenly Body Magic: Grand Chariot!"
An invisible force ripped apart the dark clouds, exposing a brilliant starry sky.
Seven massive, golden Magic Circles lit up one by one, forming the shape of the Big Dipper.
Each Magic Circle spanned over a hundred meters wide, pulsing with terrifying magical pressure that seemed to warp the air around them.
"Fall!" Jellal threw his hands down.
The seven Magic Circles erupted with blinding light.
Seven massive golden pillars blasted down from the sky like actual meteorites.
They carried a terrifying aura of absolute destruction, aiming right for BlackWarGreymon.
This attack could wipe out an entire city in a single strike.
It was the masterpiece of Jellal's Heavenly Body Magic.
He had once used this exact spell to completely erase a rival dark guild and their entire base off the map.
BlackWarGreymon didn't even bother looking up.
He simply leaned forward and crossed his claws over his chest.
Pitch-black dark energy poured out of his body, rapidly gathering and compressing between his hands.
This wasn't standard dark magic.
It was the ultimate destructive energy, forged from his Virus-attribute data, the dense power of his Chrome Digizoid armor, and his endless thirst for battle.
"Dark Gaia Force!"
A massive, dark red energy sphere formed between his claws.
Pitch-black data rings looped around its surface, locking in a furiously spinning storm of dark energy.
A crushing gravitational pull bled off the sphere, severely warping the space around it.
Finally looking up at the seven falling pillars of light and Jellal hovering above, BlackWarGreymon threw the sphere.
The dark red energy shot into the sky, colliding head-on with the golden pillars of light.
For a split second, time seemed to stand completely still.
Then—
BOOM!
An ear-shattering shockwave ripped through the sky.
Two completely opposite energies slammed into each other, brutally tearing at the air.
Dark red and golden yellow light violently clashed. Data and magic burned each other away in a blinding explosion.
The force was so intense that the space around the blast seemed to collapse, creating a pitch-black void that swallowed all light.
The shockwave exploded outward, ripping away all the dark clouds above the Tower of Heaven and revealing a perfectly clear sky.
The tower itself shook violently.
Deep cracks spread across the stone surface, threatening to bring down the entire structure.
When the dust finally settled, BlackWarGreymon still stood in his exact spot.
His Chrome Digizoid armor was covered in deep scratches and minor cracks—proof that blocking the attack took a massive toll.
Despite the damage, he stood tall, his dark eyes locked on the sky above.
Jellal remained hovering in the air.
His fine robes were torn to shreds, and a trickle ofblood leaked from the corner of his mouth.
Yet, the fighting spirit in his eyes burned even brighter, filled with a twisted, morbid excitement.
"Good... Very good!" Jellal wiped the blood from his mouth and laughed out loud.
"You're the first one to take Grand Chariot head-on and survive! But let's see you handle this next move!"
He raised his hands again.
This time, he moved painfully slowly, as if lifting a massive weight.
The surrounding air suddenly felt incredibly heavy, and the sky dimmed.
An unnatural, suffocating void filled the sky, feeling like a black hole threatening to devour everything.
Dark purple magic poured out of his body.
Instead of his golden Heavenly Body Magic, this was a deeply ancient and sinister Dark Magic.
The energy spun together into a massive, twisting vortex.
At the very center, a pitch-black energy sphere began to form.
Its shape, massive size, and even its violent gravitational pull closely mirrored the Dark Gaia Force.
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