Simultaneous travel: invincible from the beginning of the anime!

Chapter 702 Seiya: Is there a problem with charging some interest?
The towering Tower of Paradise collapsed with a violent tremor, sending up a cloud of dust.

As the sandstorm gradually subsided, the two figures slowly reappeared before everyone.

No, to be more precise, it should be that one of the figures, holding the head of another figure with one hand, slowly emerged from the sandstorm.

These two figures were none other than Seiya and Jellal, the master of the Tower of Paradise.

At this moment, Gerald looked extremely disheveled... even miserable. Seiya's two consecutive "Friendship-Breaking Punches" had swollen his once handsome face into a pig's head.

Due to the enormous depletion of his magic power, coupled with the continuous heavy blows he had suffered, he was now like a salted fish, and was lifted up by Seiya with one hand.

Seiya grabbed Jellal's head with one hand and lifted him up, while a magic circle lit up with the other. Just as he was about to deliver the final blow, Erza, who had also finished her battle on the other side, rushed in front of Seiya.

"Seiya, do you really intend to kill Geralt...?"

To be fair, considering all the things Jellal did to imprison and deceive Miriam and the others over the years, and what he did to Erza, Jellal deserves to die.

However, Erza also understood that there must have been a reason why Jellal's personality suddenly changed after he was taken away by the cult.

Ultimately, although Erza harbors deep hatred for Jellal, he was, after all, the one who saved her and was one of her former comrades.

Seiya glanced at Erza, who was barely clothed, and thought to himself, "As expected of Fairy Tail, female mages getting their clothes ripped off during battle is now a common occurrence."

Unfortunately, Gerald is a man, which deprived him of many opportunities to feast his eyes.

After glancing around and scanning the female mages like Lucy and Jubilee, and storing a large number of high-definition CGs in his brain, Seiya finally fixed his gaze on Erza in front of him.

"What? Are you trying to plead for Gerald? Don't you hate him for what he did to you before?"

And Erza, don't forget, you're not the only victim. Even if you want to let Jellal go, what about Miriam and the others' opinions?
Because of Gerald's lies, they were trapped in the Tower of Paradise for many years until the Tower was completed, at which point they were finally able to escape.

Upon hearing Seiya's words, Erza lowered her head in disappointment.

Indeed, considering that Gerald had once saved her life, she could choose to forgive him, but what about Miriam and the others?
Jellal's sins were not solely due to Erza.

"As long as Gerald can truly repent and apologize for what he did, I can forgive him..."

Simon was the first to speak. As Erza's number one admirer, the goddess's wishes were everything to him. Since Erza wanted to save Jellal's life, Simon naturally had no choice but to forgive him.

“Gerald saved me before, and if this is my sister’s wish, then I respect her choice.”

After Simon, the second person to speak was Hugh, who hesitated for a moment before finally stating his choice.

When Erza and Jellal were children, they were captured and interrogated, which was actually all because of him.

Because his escape plan was discovered, Jellal stepped forward to take responsibility for everything. However, the cult insisted on taking Erza away, which ultimately led to everything that followed.

So in a way, both Geralt and Erza were Hugh's saviors.

"A real man is one who can let go of the past!" Woolley, quoting a movie line, offered his own answer. "Since you all say so, then I will too..."

In the original storyline, apart from Erza, even though Jellal was later redeemed, Miliana and the others still deeply disliked him.

Ultimately, the reason is not only that they were deceived for many years, but also that Gerald killed Simon, who had taken care of them like an older brother.

However, thanks to Seiya's intervention, Simon did not die at Gerald's hands, but was instead mercilessly beaten by Seiya throughout the ordeal.

Seeing Gerald, who used to always be so confident, now looking like a pig's head and being held in Seiya's hands, Miliana and the others' anger actually dissipated quite a bit.

After hearing Erza and the others' choice, Seiya did not deactivate the magic circle on his other hand, but instead pressed it onto Jellal's head without hesitation!

"Ah ah ah ah ah---!"

As Seiya pressed the golden magic circle in his hand onto Gerald's head, Gerald, who had already fainted, suddenly began to scream loudly.

Hearing Jellal's screams, Erza couldn't help but feel a pang of pity. But just as she was about to step forward and beg Seiya to show mercy, she found Seiya looking at her with a mocking expression.

"Erza, do you think I'm the kind of person who indiscriminately and wantonly destroys childhood playmates?"
Sixth-tier Holy attribute magic—Holy Purification!

A golden beam of light enveloped Gerald's body, yet despite screaming in agony, Gerald, bathed in holy light, suffered no real harm.

Furthermore, Erza, who was closest to Seiya and the others, could clearly see black shadows constantly emerging from Jellal's head under the shroud of holy light, only to be instantly obliterated by it.

"This isn't Gerald's magic, could it be..."

"That's right, it's the one you're thinking of. I found it strange when you told me that Gerald's personality changed drastically after being severely tortured."

Later, during my fight with him, I discovered that his thoughts and consciousness seemed to have been subtly manipulated or brainwashed by someone beforehand.

Upon hearing Seiya's words, Erza and the others all wore expressions of astonishment.

They had always thought that Gerald's drastic personality change was due to the cult's torture, which had distorted his character.

But now that Seiya has said this, they finally understand that Gerald turned bad because he was controlled and influenced by the person behind the scenes.

Seiya's current intention is not to kill Gerald, but to help him eliminate potential threats and restore him to normal.

Erza, realizing she had misunderstood Seiya, looked at him with a sense of guilt once more.

However, she quickly extracted the key words from Seiya's words and asked in confusion, "When you saw Jellal, you sensed he was being controlled, so why did you fight him for so long? Why didn't you just use the purification magic you have now...?"

"This guy made me take the blame for so many years, and he deceived Miliana and the others for so long. Is it wrong for me to beat him up and collect some interest?"

(End of this chapter)