"N-Nameless, big brother, a-are you really alive?!" Shou stared excitedly at the man who had suddenly appeared before him, his lips trembling. "Then everything Erza said was true?! Gerard really was lying? He was the one who betrayed us?!!"
"It's been so many years. You've grown up too, Shou..." Achill gently patted Erza's shoulder. Wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes, she stepped out of his embrace, though both hands still clung tightly to his left arm, unwilling to let go.
Achill did not mind. With a faint smile, he glanced at the hands gripping his arm, then turned to the nervous Shou before him and said calmly, "That's right. The one who truly betrayed you—betrayed all of us—eight years ago wasn't Erza. It was Gerard! Judging by how you acted earlier, you seemed to think Erza was the traitor. It looks like Gerard has quite a talent for twisting the truth..."
"Nameless..." Erza opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something, but when Achill shook his head at her, she obediently fell silent. Her hands, however, never released his left arm.
"I know what you're thinking, Erza..." Achill said calmly. "But the Gerard of today is no longer the Gerard we once knew! Calling him an embodiment of evil would be more fitting than calling him human! Perhaps I once held on to the same hopes as you, but when I learned that he still refused to leave you alone, I finally understood. I understood completely! Perhaps the only truly right decision for someone who has lost every shred of humanity is to mete out true judgment! Judgment delivered by me, the God of Death—"
"Judgment!!!"
"Judgment? Just what I'd expect from the True God of Death himself!!" Lucy exclaimed from the side, her eyes glittering.
"You're