Hughes raised an eyebrow and broke into a sickly grin.
"Oh? So you know about the R-System too, Sis. As for humanity? Wasn't magic meant to erase humanity from the moment it came into existence?"
"That's nothing but the Dark Magic Cult's insane ideology!" Erza snapped. "How are you any different from the people who captured us?"
"Of course we're different! Those scum only treated the R-System as an ordinary resurrection spell."
At that, Hughes's face suddenly twisted, a fanatical gleam of magic flickering in his eyes.
"But Jellal's goal is to resurrect the legendary Black Wizard-Zeref!"
His voice rose steadily until it became a hysterical roar.
"Once that great lord descends upon us, this world will be remade from the ground up! And when that happens, we'll rule everything!"
"The remnants of the Dark Magic Cult who once stole our freedom, the companions of our sister who betrayed us, those incompetent politicians on the Magic Council, and every ignorant fool in the world!"
"We'll bring them terror and despair unlike anything they've ever known, and strip the world of all freedom! We'll become the rulers of this world! Hahahahaha!!"
Erza opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Looking at that face contorted by madness beyond the iron bars, she could not reconcile him with the sweet little boy in her memories who had always trailed after her, calling her "Sis" in his soft voice.
For a moment, boundless anger and sorrow surged through her heart. How could a perfectly good person be twisted this far? Jellal, what have you done?
With her restraints leaving her no outlet for her fury, she could only try to reason with him again.
"Hughes..."
But before she could finish, everything changed.
Bam!!
A flaming fist slammed into Hughes's face while he was