Hughes shook his head, his voice hoarse:
"We thought so at first, too... but it wasn't until we brought Erza back that we learned Jellal had changed his plan long ago."
"He said that man named Blanc... was the best sacrifice to truly resurrect Zeref. Because the magic power inside him was far greater than anyone else's."
"But that man was too strong. So strong that even Jellal admitted no one in the entire Tower of Heaven could beat him in a head-on fight."
"But he had one fatal weakness..."
Hughes gave a bleak smile, his eyes filled with self-mockery and guilt.
"So, as long as we held on to Erza..."
"He would have no choice but to walk into this tower and let himself become the sacrifice for Zeref's resurrection."
Erza stood rooted to the spot, memories of her years with Blanc flashing wildly through her mind.
She remembered how he always protected everyone in his own clumsy way, with that easygoing yet gentle manner... and in the end, she had become the shackles that bound him?!
"You've got to be kidding..."
Erza's voice began to tremble uncontrollably.
The next second, she slammed her fist into the stone wall beside her.
Boom!!
Web-like cracks spread across the entire wall from her fist. Shattered stone burst outward, making everyone nearby flinch.
"You've got to be kidding!!!"
Her furious roar exploded through the stone chamber.
"I... became a hostage used to threaten my own comrade?!"
"Because I was weak, Blanc was threatened and forced to become a sacrifice?!"
Her fist remained pressed hard against the wall, blood slowly trickling between her fingers, but she seemed to feel nothing.
Her overwhelming fury seemed to take physical form as a fighting aura, surging wildly around her.
**"If my existence puts my comrades in