A little earlier.
Just as Erza and her friends were reuniting, the Magic Council reached a decision on how to deal with the Tower of Heaven.
By an overwhelming margin of nine votes to one, the ten high-ranking members approved Jellal Fernandes's proposal to unleash Etherion on the Tower of Heaven.
What had made the indecisive Chairman Crawford suddenly change his mind? He had ignored the objections of Makarov and Councilor Yajima and announced that Etherion would be fired, showing no concern for the lives of Erza and the others inside the Tower of Heaven.
Only another Ten Wizard Saint could give Crawford the confidence to offend a Ten Wizard Saint to his face.
A new figure had joined the meeting: a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a tall hat and a purple-black robe, with a pair of mustaches.
The man was Jose Porla, one of the Ten Wizard Saints and the president of the Phantom Lord guild. His status was extraordinary.
When Jose heard that Makarov had asked the chairman to convene a meeting of the high-ranking members, he—an enemy of Fairy Tail—had hurried over uninvited.
Once he learned the meeting's subject, Jose had no hesitation in supporting Jellal Fernandes. He called on the chairman to use Etherion to destroy the evil Tower of Heaven.
With Makarov present, Chairman Crawford had already been torn over how to handle the Tower of Heaven proposal. After all, Makarov was famous for protecting his own.
But now that Jose, another Ten Wizard Saint, was standing with him, Crawford had found his backbone. The title of Ten Wizard Saint had been bestowed by the Magic Council, after all. If Makarov dared to cause trouble here, the Council wouldn't hesitate to strip him of that honor.
Watching those foolish councilors, Makarov was furious.