The Dispelled Gloom

A massive amount of magic power suddenly gathered in the sky.

"Boom!"

Lucy panicked. "What was that sound?!"

"Up in the sky!"

Multiple magic circles appeared overhead, overlapping and covering the entire island. In the center of the magic circles, incomparably powerful magic power gathered.

A mechanical voice echoed from the sky.

"Etherion will be fired in 10 seconds."

Panicked, Lucy and Happy ran around frantically.

"What do we do?! What do we do?! There isn't even time to write a will! Am I going to die this young?!"

"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5..."

"Hahahaha! Good! Good! Good! Wonderful! I've been looking forward to this for so long. At last, my wish can come true! Come on, Etherion! Today, we shall determine who is stronger—and who dies!"

"War God Ye, you really are insane. Do you know what that thing in the sky represents? It means that everything will be reduced to nothing before it!"

"Eight Gates."

"Open!!!"

An immense aura spread outward from Ye.

"Gate of Rest, open! Gate of Life, open! Gate of Pain, open! Gate of Limit, open! Gate of View, open! Gate of Shock, open!"

Ye's aura shifted from green to blue.

Waves of astonishing pressure swept across the entire area.

Jellal stared at the person before him in horror. "So strong! How can he be this strong?! Is this really a level a human can reach?!"

"Not enough!"

Ye immediately activated Demon Back. His blue aura mixed with purple, while Conqueror's Haki and Armament Haki erupted. A complete humanoid phantom appeared behind him. It looked exactly like Ye, but its Demon Back was even more terrifying than his.

The entire island shook violently! The atmosphere became unstable, and rocks rose into the air.

Everyone present was suppressed by the overwhelming aura, unable to move.

Where Natsu and Gray had met up.

Gray said in shock, "Who is that? That's way too terrifying."

Natsu sniffed the air. "It's Ye's scent!"

"Are you a dog or something?!"

"4, 3, 2, 1, fire!"

A beam of light descended from the sky like divine punishment. Its sacred aura made people submit, leaving them unable to muster even the slightest thought of resistance.

"Ka... me... ha... me... ha! Haaah!"

The phantom formed from Ye's energy performed the same motion as him. All the energy in Ye's body gathered between the phantom's hands, and a white blast nearly as large as the beam from the sky charged directly toward Etherion.

At the Magic Council.

"Report! An abnormal energy source is approaching Etherion!"

The chairman of the Magic Council said disdainfully, "Hmph! Overestimating himself!"

In the pitch-black sky, two dazzling lights collided. The two forces remained deadlocked, neither yielding to the other. The shockwaves from their impact scattered the surrounding clouds without a trace, while the stars filled the heavens and made the sky exceptionally bright.

At the top of the tower.

Everyone stared incredulously at Ye as he contended against Etherion.

Lucy finally understood why Ye was called the strongest creature on the surface. He was utterly invincible!

Gradually, tiny beads of sweat formed on Ye's forehead.

"This really has some punch! Don't get cocky just because you're a little magic power! Haaah!"

The energy pouring from Ye's hands became even more immense, and the energy blast fired by the phantom grew larger still. Before long, the deadlock was broken. Etherion was violently forced back by the Kamehameha, and the magic circles in the sky were directly destroyed.

At the Magic Council.

"What happened?! How could Etherion have been destroyed?! What was that?! Erase the memories of everyone who was there! Mine too!"

At the top of the tower.

"Hahahahaha! I still won! That felt great!!"

Erza and Lucy looked worshipfully at the man who had destroyed Etherion.

Lucy shouted excitedly, "Ye, you're amazing!!"

Happy said, "Aye! Ye is the strongest!"

Erza said, "You really are a man who can create miracles."

Jellal said in disbelief, "How... is that possible... That was Etherion! And the person in front of me destroyed it just like that... I must be dreaming. I have to be dreaming!"

Erza and Lucy ran over to Ye. "Are you okay, Ye?!"

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just a little exhausted!"

At that moment, Jellal shouted like a madman, "It was you! It was all you! You ruined eight years of my hard work! Eight whole years! I'll kill you!"

"Lucy, protect Ye. I'll stop him."

"You? Erza? You couldn't even touch me before. Now that my Thought Projection has returned, I'm back at full strength. If that creature beside you hadn't stopped Etherion, I doubt I could have lasted more than a few rounds against him. But he should be nearly spent now, right? Today, all of you will die here!"

"Damn it! Even so, I won't let you touch Ye! Even if I have to stake my life on it!"

Lucy shouted, "That's right! We won't let you hurt Ye in the slightest!"

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm not weak enough to need two girls protecting me!"

"You'd better listen to your two companions. Maybe then you'll live a few more minutes."

"So noisy! Hmph!"

Ye's Conqueror's Haki surged forth and pressed directly onto Jellal. Jellal instantly felt an immense pressure envelop him.

"How do you still have this kind of power?! That's impossible!"

Jellal used the magic power of a Ten Wizard Saint to resist the Conqueror's Haki.

"I understand now. You must be forcing yourself to act tough. Watch me shatter that confident expression of yours!"

"Then give it a try!"

"Meteor!"

Lucy gasped. "So fast!"

"Hahaha! Can't see me, can you? This is why I can remain undefeated. You can't touch me at all. No matter how powerful you are, it won't matter."

Jellal flashed behind Ye, intending to attack him. Just as he was about to succeed, a fist filled his vision.

"Bang!" Jellal was sent flying and crashed into the ruins.

"My, my. I just casually swung my arm, yet I actually hit you. My luck is pretty good!"

Jellal got to his feet. "You were lucky this time. You won't be so lucky next time."

Erza, Lucy, and Happy all knew that this was Ye's ability, not a coincidence. Jellal had merely been played by Ye.

Jellal continued using Meteor. While moving at high speed, he unleashed Six Stars at Ye, but Ye dodged every single attack. No matter how Jellal attacked afterward, he could not touch Ye at all.

"Why?! Why did you dodge everything when your speed clearly can't compare to mine?!"

"Maybe because... you're too weak."

"I'm one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"

"Do you know who was the last person to say that to me? Jose Bora. By now, the grass on his grave is probably taller than you."

"I don't believe it! I'm not inferior to you!"

"Let's see how you dodge this!"

"True Heavenly Body Magic: Star Collapse!"

A massive meteor appeared in the sky and crashed toward Ye.

"One tiny meteor, and look how proud you are."

"Stop putting on an act and die!"

"Erza! Give me your sword!"

"Catch, Ye!"

Once Ye took hold of the sword, its blade turned pitch-black. Black lightning and crimson lightning coiled around it.

"Let me think... what was that move called again?"

Ye's eyes lit up as he shouted, "Divine Departure!"

A powerful sword slash cut through the sky. The meteor directly broke apart in midair and crashed across different parts of the island.

Ye mocked, "Do you have any other moves? Is that all?"

"Monster! Monster! No, I have to run!"

With that, he activated Meteor and fled into the distance.

"Ye! Oh no, Jellal is trying to escape! Stop him!"

"Trying to run?! It won't be that easy."

"Shave!"

In an instant, Ye vanished from where he stood and appeared in front of Jellal, teasing him. "We meet again."

"How are you in front of me?! How did you do that?!"

"Of course, I ran here with my sexy long legs."

"Get down there."

Ye kicked Jellal in the chest, sending him into an intimate encounter with the ground.

"Bang!"

"It should be over now."

"Ka... me... ha... me... ha!"

"AAAAAHHHH!"

"How could I lose?! I haven't met Zeref yet! I still have my mission—!"

"Pitiful man. From beginning to end, you were the one being deceived. Zeref was never dead."

Unfortunately, Jellal could no longer hear those words.

At the Magic Council, Ultear sensed that the magic inside Jellal's body had disappeared and realized the plan had failed. It was time for her to return to Grimoire Heart. She immediately released Arc of Time, and before long, the Magic Council had become ruins once again.

"What is going on, Ultear?! What are you doing?!"

"What am I doing? Of course, I'm doing what a dark guild should do."

"Damn it! You and Siegrain really are members of a dark guild."

"You only figured that out now? It's too late. I won't keep playing with you. Bye-bye!"

Amid the ruins, the chairman realized that his future might be over.

At the top of the tower.

Natsu and Gray finally reached the top of the tower.

"Jellal, where are you?! Come out and fight me one-on-one!"

Lucy looked at Natsu and complained, "It's already over, and only now do you show up."

"What?!"

"Damn it, Ye! You didn't even wait for me!"

"Next time for sure, next time for sure."

"You say that every time!"

"Hahahahaha!"

Gray asked, "What happened just now?"

Lucy said excitedly, "Gray, Gray, you didn't see it! Ye destroyed Etherion!"

Gray looked at Ye with admiration. "Damn it! I actually missed it!"

"Alright, everyone, it's over. Let's go home."

"Yeah!!!"

The group left Paradise Tower and boarded a ship to depart.

Then Ye said, "That's about it. You guys go on ahead. I need to deal with one more thing."

Erza asked, "Is there something else?"

"You'll find out soon enough."

With that, he stepped through the air with Moonwalk and arrived above Paradise Tower.

"Because of your existence, so many innocent people and innocent families suffered persecution. Today, I will seek justice for those who sacrificed themselves. Spirits of the dead who linger here, today I will lay you to rest."

With that, Ye used Moonwalk again and ran upward through the air. Once he reached a certain height, he slowly extended his index finger. A point of light gradually gathered at its tip. The point grew larger and larger, and the light it radiated became increasingly dazzling. On the ship, everyone curiously watched the sudden glow in the sky.

Lucy said, "What is that? It feels so familiar."

Erza said firmly, "It's Ye!"

"But what is he going to do?"

Everyone watched as the energy sphere grew larger and larger, looking like a second moon in the sky. Then they saw the small sphere slowly drift downward.

The energy sphere sank into the ground.

"Boom—boom—boom—!"

A silver-white mushroom cloud crackling with electricity slowly rose from the ground. The blinding light temporarily robbed everyone of their sight.

Erza warned, "Everyone, hold on tight!"

"Got it!"

After the light faded, the sea gradually calmed. Everyone slowly stood up, only to see that Paradise Tower in the distance had disappeared without a trace.

"Hey, hey, hey! Isn't that way too exaggerated?!"

"That's completely unfair!"

As Erza watched Paradise Tower vanish, tears unconsciously streamed down her face.

"Thank you, Ye!"

When everyone returned to the beach, they found that Ye was already waiting for them there.

Natsu ran over and asked excitedly,

"Ye! Ye! What was that just now? That was amazing!"

"Hahaha, it was nothing. Just a little trick."

Erza looked at Ye and slowly walked over. With a casual gesture, she changed her armor into a flowing red dress, then stepped forward and pulled Ye into her arms.

"You've worked hard!"

"I think you won't have nightmares when you sleep anymore."

"Ah! I won't!"