Simon, Sho, Millianna

On the other side, Gray was awkwardly dealing with Juvia's overly enthusiastic advances when a chill suddenly ran down his spine.

A huge shadow silently descended upon them.

"Lord Gray, watch out!"

Juvia reacted extremely quickly, sensing the danger almost immediately.

A man as burly as a small mountain appeared behind them, his face bearing a hideous scar and his eyes cold.

"Dark magic, Dark Moment!"

The burly Simon let out a low shout and, without the slightest hesitation, unleashed a deadly attack.

The lights throughout the casino seemed to be swallowed up by that dark magic, plunging it into an eerie dimness.

Without the slightest hesitation, Juvia instantly transformed into a gentle stream of water, tightly enveloping Gray and forming an absolute defensive water sphere.

However, when that dark magic touched the water sphere, it did not produce the expected violent impact. Instead, it was like a gentle caress, dissipating as soon as it touched the water sphere.

Juvia paused, sensing that the magic wasn't actually aimed at harming Gray.

Just then, the voice of the Mental Link rang in Simon's mind.

"Found it? Okay, I got it. Remember, don't hurt the blonde girl and the cat."

After ending the communication, Simon gave Gray, who was protected by the water, a deep look, said nothing, turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the casino, Erza was playing cards.

A man dressed as a waiter, with short blond hair and healthy dark skin, walked up to her table with a smile.

He flipped over the cards in front of Erza one by one, forming an ominous word—"DEATH".

Who are you?

Erza's eyes sharpened instantly; she was ready to use her Requip Magic.

"Ha! You don't need to know so much."

The blond man, Hugh, curled his lips into a wicked smile. Suddenly, a card appeared in his hand, its surface adorned with a strange rune.

He flipped the cards over abruptly.

"Seal!"

Erza felt the space around her distort, but before she could react, she was caught off guard.

He was pulled in by a powerful suction force and sealed inside that small card.

Hugh caught the falling card with satisfaction, and Simon and a cute girl named Millianna, dressed in a cat costume and behaving like a cat, came to his side.

"Where's Wally? Why hasn't he arrived yet?" Hugh asked.

"He has been captured," Simon replied in a deep voice.

"What do we do then? We can't abandon Wally's cat!" Millianna wagged her tail anxiously.

"Fine,"

Hugh waved the card in his hand, a confident smile spreading across his face.

"We also have hostages now. At worst, we can exchange Wally for them first."

"Then, we'll take that Ten Wizard Saints named Jiang Bai back to the Tower of Heaven and hand him over to Lord Jellal!"

"This way, we don't have to go through the trouble of catching the cat first and then waiting for them to rescue it, as originally planned."

"All right..."

Millianna lowered her head in disappointment.

"Actually, I really want that cat's meow."

"Let's get Wally out first. We can go look for the cat next time he gets out," Simon comforted him.

"Hmm!" Millianna perked up again.

On the other side, Gray, accompanied by a solemn-looking Juvia, quickly joined Jiang Bai and the others.

"So I wasn't the only one attacked."

Gray looked at the unconscious Wally on the ground and immediately understood what was going on.

"What?! Gray was attacked too?"

Natsu instantly bristled.

"Erza is in danger! Jiang Bai, let's go!"

What's the rush?

Jiang Bai remained nonchalant, showing no sign of tension.

"Do you really need to worry about Erza's strength? Besides, they're already here."

As soon as he finished speaking, Simon, Hugh, and Millianna slowly emerged from the shadows and stood in front of them.

"Hey! Simon, long time no see."

Jiang Bai looked at the burly man in the lead and greeted him as if he were meeting an old friend.

"You've gotten so big! Looks like you've been eating well these past few years."

"Jiang Bai, do you know them?" Natsu asked, completely bewildered.

"Simon, do you know this person?" Hugh frowned.

We were from the same village when we were kids.

Jiang Bai first gave a brief explanation, then looked directly at Simon and said,

"To avoid that kind of clichéd misunderstanding, let me explain first."

"All these years, Erza and I have been searching for you, but there are too many islands in the ocean, and we haven't found you yet."

"However, there is good news."

Jiang Bai changed the subject,

I found your sister, Kagura.

Simon's mountain-like body jolted, his breathing becoming rapid. "Then she..."

"It's very safe."

Jiang Bai gave him a reassuring look.

"And their strength is far greater than yours now."

"... That's good."

All the words I wanted to say ultimately boiled down to these three words.

A look of relief appeared on Simon's tense face. "Thank you, Jiang Bai."

"You're welcome, I didn't really do anything."

"Simon!"

Don't rush, you who are standing to the side.

"Wally is still in their hands! We have to get Wally back first!"

"No."

Simon shook his head.

My goal has been achieved.

"What?!"

Hugh looked at him in disbelief.

"Have you betrayed us, Simon?!"

Millianna also couldn't believe that Simon, who had always taken care of her like an older brother, would betray them.

"No! I'm helping us escape from that dangerous madman Jellal!" Simon's voice suddenly rose.

Why?

Hugh couldn't understand.

"Lord Jellal said that as long as we resurrect Zeref, the Great Magic World will begin, and we will gain true freedom! Isn't this what we've always longed for?"

He's lying to us!

Simon growled.

"I was just pretending to believe him! After all, I don't have the power to force you to leave."

"Hugh, Millianna, believe me! Things are different now!"

"When I was gathering information from the outside world, I knew that Jiang Bai and Jellal were both Ten Wizard Saints, and they were very powerful. He will help us!"

He added, "The reason I stopped you from hurting that blonde girl and the cat was because of this!"

Lucy, listening from the side, burst into tears. "So... in their eyes, my strength is on the same level as Happy's..."

"Yes!" Happy nodded vigorously.

"Well, it was just something I did on the spur of the moment."

Jiang Bai shrugged, then his eyes sharpened.

"And I have a blood feud with the Tower of Heaven!"

Millianna almost immediately chose to believe Simon without hesitation.

Hugh, on the other hand, was completely driven to madness.

"I don't believe it! If all of this is fake, then what has all my hard work over the years amounted to?!"

He roared like a madman, "I don't care! I'm taking you all back! I'm going to ask Jellal myself!"

As he spoke, Hugh raised the card in his hand again, attempting to seal Jiang Bai inside with the same magic.

"Yo ho~"

Jiang Bai let out a soft chuckle.

"Someone actually thinks that just because they've mastered a little bit of insignificant Space Magic, they can swagger around in front of me."

Hugh unleashed the magic with all his might, and the card emitted a blinding light.

However, Jiang Bai remained seated there, not moving an inch.

No matter how much magic Xiu tried to unleash, Jiang Bai was like an unshakeable mountain; magic had absolutely no effect on him.

"How is this possible?!" Hugh's belief completely collapsed at this moment.

Jiang Bai glanced at him, curled his lip, and spoke with disdain.

"With your rudimentary magic, you can only lock up Lucy and Happy."