Fairy Tail: All Magic Converges in One Body

"It seems you're not going to voluntarily reveal the truth..."

"So don't blame me for using a little trick to find the answer."

"Relax, if you keep moving around, you might turn into an idiot."

Hope casually snapped the rope, and with a villainous smile, strode up to Hugh. To Hugh's horrified expression, he pressed his green-glowing hand onto his head.

The next second, under the combined effects of telepathy and memory magic, Hope saw Hugh's past...

Chapter 96 The Tower of Paradise

seaside.

Mirajane and Kana lay panting on the beach.

Meanwhile, another "murderous volleyball" match had completely transformed into a magical battle. The volleyball traced incredible trajectories in the air, occasionally accompanied by explosions and magical flashes.

With a perfect spike from Erza, the ball pierced through Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel, sending the three flying high into the air before crashing into the nearby sea.

Erza finished her second beach volleyball match of the day, but judging from her expression, she didn't seem satisfied.

"That's...too violent."

Lucy shrank back, glancing at Erza who was clearly still not satisfied, and whispered to Levy beside her, "First Mirajane and Cana, then Natsu and the others, will Erza target us next...?"

Levy glanced at Lucy on her left and Juvia on her right, and said with a wry smile, "Very likely. Erza is capable of anything when she's infatuated."

"is it?"

A volleyball fell between the two of them. Lucy and Levy turned their heads stiffly, only to be grabbed and twisted back by Erza from behind. "You two...were you talking bad about me just now?"

Levy and Lucy were on the verge of tears.

Only Juvia was undeterred; she was determined to win back her Lord Grey.

Makarov, who had been admiring the beautiful women playing in the sea, snapped out of his reverie and said, "Oh, everyone's finished exercising? Let's eat some watermelon."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, finally having an excuse to escape from Erza.

Erza wiped the sweat from her brow as Mirajane handed her the watermelons, glancing absentmindedly in the direction of the hotel. "Honestly, how did we end up playing for so long..."

Just then, a security guard rushed over.

"Is he a mage from Fairy Tail?!"

"One of your companions has been attacked in the hotel's underground casino!"

Everyone's expression changed, and they immediately thought of Hope, who was not present. So they stopped eating the watermelon and hurriedly returned to the hotel, heading straight for the casino on the basement floor.

However, the devastation they expected from the great war did not materialize; instead, they found the casino completely intact.

At a gambling table, four strangers were neatly tied to chairs in a row, while Hope, with his legs crossed, idly tossed around chips.

"Oh, you've arrived."

Hope casually tossed aside his chips, unsurprised by his companions' quick arrival. He pointed to the row behind him and said, "Perfect timing. Let me introduce you. These four are Erza's old friends."

Everyone looked on with curiosity.

When Erza's gaze fell on the four bound people, her body jolted violently, the color drained from her face, and her pupils contracted sharply in shock.

“Hugh... Simon... Vo... Miliana... It's you…”

Erza's voice trembled with disbelief, "How could this be..."

The burly man called Simon looked up at Erza with a complicated expression.

A look of surprise flashed across Hugh's face. He opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Miriam, the catwoman, scoffed and turned her head away.

Only Wally, the hot-tempered blocky guy, stared at Erza with resentful eyes, "Erza, it's been a long time, you traitor!"

"You bastard! What are you saying?!"

Natsu was initially curious as to why Erza's old friends would attack Hope, but upon hearing Wally's words, his temper flared up.

He grabbed Wally by the collar and shouted, "Erza is not a traitor! She would never betray her comrades!"

Wally snorted and ignored Natsu.

Makarov looked at Erza, who had suddenly become absent-minded, and the four so-called old acquaintances she claimed to know, and finally turned his gaze to Hope. "You kid, explain yourself. What exactly is going on?"

Hope walked over to Erza and whispered, "I used magic to look into their memories."

Erza's body visibly trembled.

Her change was noticed by everyone, who all showed incredulous expressions. Even Makarov's face darkened. Could it be that Erza had really betrayed those four people before?

Hope brought over a chair, took Erza's suddenly cold hand, and made her sit down before saying, "Everyone, please don't misunderstand. Let me tell you a story first."

"By the way, do you guys know about the Tower of Paradise?"

Natsu and the others looked at each other, clearly they had never heard of it.

But Makarov's expression hardened, and he explained to his bewildered juniors, "The Tower of Paradise is actually a dark magic spell of the 'Dark Mage' called the 'R System.' It is said that this magic can resurrect the dead."

"what!"

"There's such magic!"

"real or fake!"

"..."

Makarov pressed his hand down, and everyone immediately stopped talking. He continued, "This magic requires building a huge tower, then pouring in a massive amount of magic power at once to turn the entire tower into a huge magic crystal. Finally, offerings are made in the magic circle, and the dead can be resurrected through this enormous energy."

"Because it is black magic, and resurrecting the dead is immoral, it is forbidden by the Magic Council."

"But some people don't think so. More than a decade ago, the Church of Dark Magic, which was founded because of the worship of 'Dark Magician Zeref,' secretly abducted many ordinary people to build the 'R System' to resurrect Dark Magician Zeref."

"To avoid being discovered, they renamed the 'R System' to the Tower of Paradise as a disguise. By the time the council finally found out, the Black Magic Order had already completed nine Towers of Paradise."

"Although the council assembled orthodox guilds and armies and quickly destroyed the Black Magic Order and the nine Towers of Paradise, according to intelligence, there should be one last Tower of Paradise that has just started construction."

"Unfortunately, no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the final Tower of Paradise. Considering that the Black Magic Order had been wiped out, even if there were any survivors, they wouldn't be able to finish it. So the council ended the operation."

"Could it be...?"

Makarov finally realized why Hope had mentioned the Tower of Paradise, and then looked at Erza with heartache, remembering how Erza had been covered in wounds when she first came to the guild eight years ago. "Child, you've suffered so much..."

Makarov's actions made it clear to the others that Erza was a victim of the Tower of Paradise, so weren't Simon and his companions also victims...?

Chapter 97 The Red-Haired Girl's Past

Ten years ago, Erza's childhood village was destroyed by the Dark Magic Cult, and she herself was captured and enslaved, sent to an island far from the mainland, which was also the location of the last Tower of Paradise.

Despite being enslaved, Erza's strong beliefs remained unshaken, and she made good friends with many of her peers.

Erza also met an old man named "Rob," who was a mage but had weakened to the point of being no different from an ordinary person due to his age.

Erza firmly believed that she would regain her freedom, so she kept trying to escape in secret, but she failed time and time again.

After a failed mass escape attempt, she was identified as an instigator, arrested by guards, and tortured, resulting in necrosis of her right eye. The torture continued.

A boy named Gerald couldn't stand it anymore and took the initiative to confess that he was the mastermind behind the mass escape. He exchanged himself for Erza and continued to be tortured in her place.

Erza, who lost an eye, finally understood a truth after being comforted by Grandpa Rob: running away will not bring freedom, only resistance offers a glimmer of hope.

In order to gain freedom and to rescue Jellal, who was still suffering in her place, Erza persuaded some of the slaves to join her in rebelling against the Dark Magic Order.

After all, compared to being tortured to death in the Tower of Paradise, it's better to risk your life for a glimmer of hope; even if you fail, it's still just death.

The unified belief unleashed unprecedented fighting power in the slaves, who swept through many of the religious guards along the way.

However, when the dark magic cult's magic soldiers began to act, the situation was completely reversed, and the ordinary slaves were instantly routed.

Grandpa Rob, who usually took good care of children, was killed after exhausting his last bit of magic power in order to save Erza.

As her companions were killed one by one, the immense grief awakened the hidden power within Erza, and she awakened the magic "Costume Knight".

Taking control of the weapons of the previously defeated soldiers, Erza successfully eliminated the Order's magic soldiers.

Then she boarded a ship and left alone, abandoning her companions and burning all the other ships before she left.

After two years, he was abandoned by the person he trusted most.

The slaves, who had no means of transportation to escape, were deeply traumatized. Under Jellal's leadership, they collectively turned to the dark side, inheriting the wishes of the Dark Magic Order to resurrect the legendary "Dark Magician".

Eight years later, the Tower of Paradise is now complete.

This is the story Hope pieced together from the memories of Hugh, Wally, and Milliana.

"impossible!"

"Erza is definitely not that kind of person!"

Just as everyone fell silent, Natsu was the first to stand up and loudly refute them without hesitation.

Hugh, with tears in his eyes, burst into laughter. "We trusted Erza just like you did back then, but what happened in the end? She abandoned us and ran away!"

"No! There must be a reason!"

Gray stood up. He had been a member of the guild for ten years, and among those present, only Kana was older than him, besides Makarov.

Gray would never forget how Erza would secretly hide by the river and cry after joining the guild; he believed Erza must have had her reasons.

Gray approached Erza. "Tell us the truth. You're not that kind of person. There must be something that forced you to leave..."

Erza's eyes were filled with pain and struggle, but in the end she remained silent.

This sight sent a chill down everyone's spine.

Hope sighed, speechless, and pressed Natsu and Gray back down. "I haven't finished speaking yet, what's the rush for you two?"

"Huh? Didn't you already summarize their memories?"

Seeing Natsu's bewildered expression, Hope said helplessly, "I was referring to Hugh, Wally, and Miliana's memories. There's one more person's memory I haven't mentioned yet."

In that instant, not only the Fairy Tail members, but also Hugh and his two companions focused their attention on Simon.

Hope dragged a chair over and sat down in front of him. "Simon, should I speak, or will you say it yourself?"

Simon gave a wry smile. "Now that things have come to this, I'll have to do it myself."