A blue-haired young man in a hooded robe emerged from the shadows: "Did you bring her back, Wally?"
"Yes, Xiu is watching over her," the sharp-featured man said, "Do you want to see her, Jellal? If you're a gentleman, be gentle."
Jellal shook his head slightly: "Where are the Three-Plumed Crow?"
"They seem to be in a fierce battle. We heard commotion on the other side of the beach when we left, Simon stayed behind to support them."
"Fools, I told you it's obstruction, not assassination," Jellal shook his head, "We can't wait until tomorrow; prepare the ceremony now!"
"Now? Aren't we not ready?"
Jellal turned and walked away, "Notify everyone to be ready to greet our guests. I'll take care of the remaining preparations."
'Relying on the Advisory Council's power. Haha…'
...
At the Advisory Council headquarters, nine Evaluators hurriedly entered the meeting room one after another.
Ultear, who arrived earlier, was speaking with Beluno.
"Beluno, a few days ago, it seems you released a dangerous prisoner."
"Just a young man led astray by Joseph. As long as the right person guides him…" Beluno looked at Ultear, "Isn't now the time to talk about this?"
The irritable Mikhailo impatiently asked, "Zikrein? It's so late, what urgent matter requires a meeting?"
"Of course, it's something important," Zikrein replied, "Where's the Chairman?"
"Can't reach the Chairman, this meeting will be chaired by me, the vice-chair," Org indicated for everyone to be seated and then said to Zikrein,
"Now you can speak, and if it's not important, I'll apply to revoke your Evaluator status. Power isn't supposed to be a toy for children like you!"
Org always looked down on this frivolous young Evaluator.
Just because he had powerful Magic Power, he was listed among the Ten Wizard Saints, and then used the prestige of the Saints to join the Council, it was too rash.
"Then let me get straight to the point," Zikrein interlaced his fingers and placed them on the table, discarding his usual playful expression and speaking solemnly, "We've discovered the R System, does that count as an emergency?"
A simple term shocked everyone present: "What?!"
...
Rhode said in surprise, "The R System... isn't that the magic used to revive people?"
Simon, who was brought aboard with them, nodded, "Yes, it requires a large amount of magic power and an exceptionally gifted person as a live sacrifice."
Lucy, utterly confused, asked, "What? What are you talking about? What resurrection?"
Seeing the confusion in others, Rhode had to explain, "The R System, fully known as the Revive System, is magic that uses a living person as a sacrifice to resurrect another.
Its existence violates the principles of the Demon Path and Human Path and is strictly forbidden. Eight years ago, a Black Magic Sect invested heavily to establish seven R Systems, but they were all destroyed by the Advisory Council."
Lucy covered her mouth, "Using one person's life to exchange for another's… how can such magic exist?"
"As expected of the Fairy Tail Strategist, even possessing such rare information," Simon complimented.
Though he had been beaten and was now tightly bound, it somehow reassured him.
These people, powerful yet cautious, would surely save Erza.
Receiving the praise, Rhode looked skyward, knowing this had nothing to do with the Fairy Tail Strategist.
Mira held Rhode's hand, smiling and shaking her head when he looked over, her eyes full of gratitude and lingering fear.
Others might not know why Rhode knew all this, but she knew perfectly well.
She didn't realize Rhode had secretly done so much, even investigating such dangerous magic.
Thankfully, Rhode hadn't recklessly touched the forbidden; otherwise, Mira would never forgive herself.
It wasn't convenient to say anything now, but she promised to talk it through with him later and warn against doing anything foolish.
Gray, however, caught onto the main point: "You mean Erza and Hapi are to be used as live sacrifices to resurrect someone?"
"No, Erza was taken as a sacrifice, while the cat named Hapi probably caught the fancy of one of my companions who likes cats."
"Ha? Just because she likes cats, they kidnapped Hapi?" Natsu exclaimed angrily, "Couldn't they just hatch an egg themselves?!"
"Hatching… an egg?" Simon wondered if spending too long in the tower had left him out of touch with others.
"Natsu, focus on the course, and stop looking back," Rhode reminded, then asked Simon, "Continue, why target Erza?"
Now, two River Crabs were pulling two small boats side by side across the sea.
Rhode and Mira shared a boat with Simon, responsible for questioning and guarding him.
Gray, Lucy, and Jubia were in another, while Natsu was upfront on a River Crab, following the scent to lead the way.
Simon had just explained the motive for kidnapping Erza as well as his companions' magic, matching the descriptions given by Lucy and Natsu.
The box-shaped magic was manageable, but the black-skinned boy's Card Magic and the cat-eared girl's Restraint Magic were troublesome.
One could secretly trap someone in a card, difficult to deal with without means against Space Elements.
The other could shoot sealing magic ropes, essentially carrying a Demon Sealing Stone. If caught off guard, one was almost certainly doomed.
If these two attacked the unsuspecting Erza, it wasn't impossible to abduct her. Especially since they first grabbed Lucy as a hostage.
However, according to Simon, there might be another reason Erza didn't even think of resisting.
"Eight years ago, we, including Erza, were captured by the Black Magic Sect and forced to build the R System as labor. We were young, constantly hungry, cold, and worked against our will, regularly subjected to abuse."
"Unable to endure, we decided to escape, but were discovered en route. It was Jellal who stepped up to take responsibility, yet Erza was taken away by those men."
"When Erza was beaten near death, Jellal broke out from his cell, took down three guards, and was finally subdued, taking punishment in her place."
Simon felt somewhat discontent while recounting this, wishing he could've been the one with courage.
Even if it meant getting beaten until his body was broken, having every bone shattered, it wouldn't matter.
Everyone thought this Jellal character was incredibly strong; even as a child, he could defeat three adult guards.
And he didn't even know magic at the time!
"We couldn't bear it anymore, so under Erza's leadership, we began our rebellion. People kept getting hurt and falling, Grandpa Rob sacrificed himself to protect us."
Simon looked sadly at the small group before him, "He had an emblem on his back, just like yours."
"What?!"