Erza slowly shed tears as she looked at Sho.
"That isn't freedom! If you rule over us, how are you any different from those who enslaved us?!"
The instant Sho saw Erza crying, he froze. In their memories, their sister had never shed a tear even when she was whipped until she lost an eye. Yet now, she was crying.
"Big Sis... you..."
At that moment, Simon spoke up. "Sho, Woody, Jellal, you really were deceived by Jellal."
"From the very beginning, I believed in Erza."
Woody, Millianna, and Sho all stared at Simon in disbelief.
"Simon, you?!"
Ye Yang interjected, "Enough. We can't be bothered to waste any more words on you. You're our prisoners now. Take us to the Tower of Paradise, and the whole truth will be revealed."
"Natsu! Gray!"
"Boss! We're here!"
"Take them away!"
Erza was just about to stop them when Ye Yang's voice reached her.
"This has to be settled, Erza."
After hearing that, Erza said nothing more.
Before long, Ye Yang returned to his old bandit ways. Together with Natsu and Gray, he outright hijacked Simon and the others' ship.
The group headed toward the Tower of Paradise.
Along the way,
Erza leaned against the ship's railing, gazing solemnly at the hazy island in the distance, lost in thought.
Sho and the others were all tied up, heads lowered as though they too were thinking about something.
Tower of Paradise
Jellal said, "Do you think those idiots will betray me?"
Ultear's projection replied, "You're so sure they'll betray you instead of bringing Erza back?"
Jellal said, "Those few fools? Don't forget, with that person there, even if there were dozens more of those idiots, it would make no difference."
Ultear's projection said, "Then wouldn't your plan fall through? And you'd be short