Deep in the Tree Sea, in the Southern Forest, lay the suspected location of Nirvana that Erza had been assigned to guard.
"Ge... rard? Gerard?!! Th-this—" Erza and the others stared at that familiar figure in shock! Their minds ground to a halt, unable to process what they were seeing!!
After Laxus had stopped Racer of Oración Seis from pursuing them, they had continued toward the point Achill had assigned them to guard as fast as they could. But when they were only two-thirds of the way there, eerie gray-black pillars of magic suddenly shot skyward from the nearby forest! A closer look revealed that those strange pillars were rising from the very direction of the location Achill had given them!!!
Alarmed, Erza and the other members of the third group assumed Oración Seis had found Nirvana ahead of them and immediately raced even faster toward the rising pillars of eerie magic!
Yet when they reached the source of that magic, everyone was utterly stunned!! Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Lucy in particular stood frozen on the spot!!
"Ge... rard?! How is that possible?!! Wasn't he... wasn't he already dead?!!" Blue Three, the minor player, exclaimed in shock. "Didn't the True God of Death kill him himself?!! Why! Why—"
"Why are you here, Gerard?!!!" Natsu was the first to snap out of his shock. Roaring in anger, he charged straight at the figure!!
"Hm?" Gerard, who had just released Nirvana's seal, turned around in mild surprise. Seeing Natsu rush toward him wreathed in flames, he instinctively raised his right hand.
Boom—! Golden magic flared, blasting Natsu clean off his feet!!
"Natsu!!" Erza cried. Natsu's actions had finally jolted her out of her daze, and she immediately used Requip to don the Black Wing Armor! Driving the armor's black wings, she flew