After everyone had mostly recovered, Marco gathered them all atop the cliff.
"Change of plans—stealth is out, assault is in!"
Marco's opening words left everyone stunned.
"Were we discovered?"
Mirajane blinked as she asked, her first thought being that their infiltration had been detected, forcing them into a direct attack.
"Well, not exactly. It's just that we don't need to go through all that trouble anymore. Erza's friends have all become high-ranking members of this Evil Cult. Even if we're discovered, they won't kill us."
Marco explained with a laugh.
This news naturally made everyone exchange glances, and they all turned to Erza, concerned about her feelings.
"Let's go together! No need to hold back!" Erza declared with firm resolve.
"They are my comrades, but so are all of you. There's no need to deliberately go easy on them—prioritize your own safety."
Seeing how her companions cared for her, Erza felt deeply moved.
Her words were sincere; she didn't want her current comrades to come to harm either. When fighting enemies, one shouldn't start with psychological burdens—if you're thinking about holding back, the enemy certainly won't.
Erza herself wasn't even sure what state those former comrades were in now.
She thought of Jellal's transformation, that extreme shift toward evil.
What if the others had become like that too? In that case, they definitely wouldn't show any mercy.
Erza's attitude helped everyone breathe a sigh of relief, lifting some of the weight off their shoulders.
Of course, if possible, they would still show some restraint.
The close bonds within the guild had their drawbacks too—in situations like this, it was hard to completely disregard Erza's feelings.
"Watch me knock every single one of them out!" Natsu shouted excitedly.
Changing from stealth to assault was exactly his style—sneaking around wasn't satisfying.
They should just charge forward with fists of justice! He refused to believe anyone could stop them—they were Fairy Tail!
"Follow me! Be ready for battle!"
This time, Marco didn't tell Natsu to quiet down.
Instead, he simply waved his hand and led everyone toward the Tower of Heaven.
"What information did you gather?" Makarov approached Marco and asked curiously.
Throughout the journey, the old man hadn't participated in any decision-making, leaving everything to the younger generation.
He was truly just there as backup, speaking very little and carefully observing everyone's actions.
"Pretty mediocre, as expected." Marco's reply was concise.
There weren't many truly powerful "big shots" in this Tower of Heaven.
The toughest opponent was probably Jellal, the one leading this whole operation.
"Or even worse than imagined." Marco added another comment.
Below Jellal, the other officers were actually Erza's childhood friends. This lineup was so weak it completely exceeded Marco's expectations.
According to Erza, when she left the Tower of Heaven, her friends didn't even know how to use magic.
What level could these people have reached in eight years? Could they compare to Erza? Marco thought it was basically impossible.
That Jellal, however, might actually be on Erza's level.
After all, this guy seemed like a boss designed to match Erza's capabilities.
"That makes sense." Makarov wasn't surprised by Marco's response.
After all, this "Evil Cult" had been severely cracked down on by the "Magic Council," so the remaining stragglers naturally wouldn't be very strong.
"Actually, the leadership is no longer that Evil Cult. Jellal has completely replaced them, only the lower ranks remain unchanged."
Based on Erza's additional information and the intel from those "moles," Marco had pretty much figured out the situation with this "Tower of Heaven."
But this only deepened his confusion - what exactly had caused Jellal's transformation?
Marco believed this mystery would soon be solved.
And now he was increasingly certain that this was just a small-scale incident involving only a few people.
Their current lineup was completely overkill - like using a cannon to swat a mosquito.
"Don't block my way!" Natsu charged ahead, knocking aside a patrol team they encountered along the way.
These cannon fodder were utterly useless against Fairy Tail's elites, not even serving as "speed bumps."
They were basically eliminated the moment they appeared.
"Zzzzt!"
Ice spread as Gray clapped his hands, instantly freezing an entire team into ice blocks.
Whoever dealt with these weak soldiers just depended on who acted faster.
The group smoothly advanced until they reached the base of the unfinished spire.
Their assault was so swift that the Tower of Heaven hadn't even realized they were under attack.
The patrol teams had been eliminated too cleanly to serve as any warning.
"Looking at it now, it's almost complete."
Standing beneath this "R-system" tower, Marco narrowed his eyes.
The tower was in its final stages, with the main structure already finished.
It looked like it would only take a few more months to complete.
This storyline likely erupted around the second half of X784.
"Who are you?!"
The moment Marco's group reached the Tower of Heaven, they were immediately spotted by the enemy. T
he defenses here were tight, making further concealment impossible.
Now they truly had to launch a direct assault.
"Where is Jellal?!" Erza rushed forward.
Clad in her silvery "Heavenly Wheel Armor," she cut a heroic figure, her expression deadly serious and even carrying some anger.
She was furious that Jellal had turned everyone into villains, making them all his subordinates!
"Capture them!"
Erza's questions naturally went unanswered as the uniformed soldiers swarmed toward them.
Besides the soldiers, there were many working slaves who looked confused, seemingly not yet comprehending what was happening.
"Stay put! Back off! Return to the tower!"
Some guards charged forward to attack while others went to control the slaves, busily herding them all back into the tower to prevent them from getting in the way.
Caught off guard by the sudden events, the slaves had no preparation and were indeed caught by surprise, immediately being driven back by the guards.
"BOOM!"
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
"Ice-Make: Ice Cannon!" Natsu and Gray freely unleashed their power, clearing out a swarm of charging minions, while their other companions also showcased their unique abilities.
A dazzling array of magic began to carpet the area.
Ice, fire, water, iron, bullets, painting magic, card magic, and text magic—these flashy attacks alone were sufficiently stunning.
Meanwhile, Erza, Mirajane, Elfman, and Joey charged forward, effortlessly clearing out large numbers of minions with a flurry of punches, kicks, and sword slashes.
"Hah! Is this all you've got? Where are the strong ones here?! Come out and fight me properly!"
Seeing the remaining minions trembling with fear, too scared to advance another step, Natsu spat out a burst of flames and shouted loudly.
Clearly, fighting these weaklings hadn't satisfied Natsu.
He craved challenges against the strong and had no interest in bullying the weak.
"This kid always has such relentless energy."
Seeing Natsu's arrogant demeanor, Makarov, standing beside Marco, shook his head with a smile.
Neither of them had stepped in, merely observing from the rear.
In this situation, their intervention wasn't necessary.
"That's Natsu's strength—he never knows fear, always confident, daring to face any challenge or hardship. Whatever doesn't kill him makes him stronger. I'm quite curious if there's ever a time he'd be afraid, aside from riding vehicles." Marco spoke, his tone full of admiration.
As he grew older and dealt with increasingly complex matters, he found himself appreciating Natsu's personality even more.
After all, even someone like him, who had lived two lives and possessed certain "advantages," often couldn't match Natsu's unwavering self-belief.
When handling certain situations, Marco sometimes felt overwhelmed or deeply conflicted.
Someone like Natsu, single-minded and utterly sincere, truly possessed a powerful "personality talent."
A "great character" wasn't just a joke—it was real.
Even if such a person wasn't the world's protagonist, they would undoubtedly be the protagonist of their own life.
That alone made them stronger than the vast majority of people.
In this world, many are trapped by circumstances, unable to control their own lives or even play the leading role in them.
"Dammit! They've actually reached the tower!"
As Natsu rampantly taunted and even began spewing flames toward the "Spire," the minions finally parted at the entrance, making way for several individuals who were clearly not ordinary foot soldiers.
At the sight of these people, Erza's expression immediately changed.
It was evident that these were her former companions.
"Shou, Miliana, Simon, Wally, you..."
Staring at the four of them, Erza couldn't help but speak first.
Her expression was complex.
Though everyone had changed significantly, her prior knowledge that these executives were her old companions allowed her to recognize them instantly.
"Nee-san?!"
One of the four, a boy, spoke up.
Seeing Erza, this handsome, fair-skinned boy with golden hair and neat attire was clearly shocked.
"Nee-san?!" The way this boy addressed Erza completely stunned the members of Fairy Tail, and everyone looked at Erza in astonishment.
You never mentioned you had a brother here?!
"..."
Marco was also puzzled, mainly because this dark-skinned boy looked nothing like Erza's.
Erza's skin was fair and smooth—how could she possibly be blood-related to that dark-skinned boy?
Well, it couldn't be ruled out that they might share the same mother but have different fathers.
"We're not related by blood." Erza explained that she and Shou had been imprisoned together back then, and she had taken care of the child, so he had always called her "Nee-san."
This put everyone at ease, because if the boy opposite were Erza's biological brother, the situation would have been entirely different.
"Erza! How dare you come back!"
The expressions of the four people opposite immediately turned grim as they looked at Erza.
Even the boy who had just called her "Nee-san" changed his expression.
Their eyes were filled with hatred—the kind reserved for a traitor.
"You traitor!" Shou shouted angrily, the most agitated among the four.
Of these four—three males and one female—aside from the dark-skinned Shou, there was also a tall man, a blocky man, and a cat girl.
The tall man appeared the calmest, with a white headscarf wrapped around his head, an eye patch over his left eye, and a metal jaw covering the lower half of his face, suggesting he had suffered facial injuries.
The blocky man wore a purple suit and a top hat.
His face was square, and his entire body looked as if it were assembled from building blocks.
As for the cat girl, she had cat ears and a cat tail, and her demeanor and posture were very feline-like, almost as if a cat had taken human form.
"Traitor? Why would you say that?"
The accusations from Shu and the other three left Erza utterly bewildered.
Erza couldn't understand why they would say such things. Why had her former companions become like this?
"How dare you play dumb!"
Millianna, the "cat girl," hissed like an angry cat, seemingly furious at Erza's feigned innocence.
But after her outburst, her attention immediately shifted to Happy.
Stars seemed to sparkle in her eyes as she muttered, "Kitty~ hehe~ kitty~."
Clearly, this "cat girl" was also a cat lover.
Not only was Millianna hissing at Erza's words, but the three boys were also infuriated by what she said.
It was evident that they held a deep misunderstanding about Erza.
"Is there some misunderstanding between you guys?"
Seeing that a fight was about to break out, Marco quickly spoke up.
It was obvious—the three of them and Erza had completely different understandings of the situation.
On this point, Marco, of course, trusted Erza unconditionally.
If these people called her a traitor or a betrayer, it must be a misunderstanding.
There was no way it could be Erza's fault.
This wasn't about favoritism or blindly siding with a friend over reason.
Even from a logical standpoint, the ones currently aiding and abetting the construction of the "Tower of Heaven" were the "villains" here and had no moral ground to judge Erza.
"Misunderstanding?! How could there be a misunderstanding?! Jellal himself said it!"
Shou, extremely emotional, revealed the source of the misunderstanding.
'Damn,' hearing that response, Marco could only mutter "damn" to himself.
Now he understood why these people were working for Jellal.
After the words "Jellal himself said this" were uttered, Marco immediately pieced together the whole story from beginning to end.
These people were unaware of Jellal's transformation.
In their hearts, Jellal remained the big brother and leader who had led their rebellion against oppression, while Erza had naturally become the traitor!
Jellal had shifted all the blame onto Erza!