Chapter 98: The Etherion Finally Arrives

Natsu and Jellal continued their staring contest. Jellal waited for his alter ego's arrival i.e. Siegrain so that he could combine with him and become whole again. He knew that there was no way for him to win against the opponent in front of him without regaining his full strength.

Natsu, on the other hand, was trying to remove his restraints, but it looked like they wouldn't come off anytime soon. He wasn't too worried about Jellal since he knew he could easily beat the guy in his final form. He was waiting for the 'Etherion' blast as well so that he could destroy the charged tower afterward, making Jellal fall from 'Heaven' to 'Hell'. He felt internally excited, anticipating Jellal's miserable expression when he crushed his hopes and dreams.

After a minute of staring, the sky above them suddenly brightened, signifying the incoming holy light of the destruction. The magic council had finally fired the 'Satellite Square Destructive Magic'.

"Ah, it's finally here. It was good knowing you, Natsu. May we meet again in a new era." Jellal said to Natsu with a smile. He looked ready to die, which was bullshit in Natsu's eyes. He wondered how the guy could act so shamelessly. Thankfully, he wasn't duped by his acting due to his prior knowledge.

"Don't try to act…" Natsu couldn't continue his words when an enormous beam of holy light descended upon them, engulfing the entire island. The light looked powerful enough to remove the whole peninsula from the face of the planet.

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Erza and the gang were trying to make their retreat when they spotted the light above the sky. The group consisted of Lucy, Gray, Juvia, and the previous unconscious childhood friend of Erza. All of them were horrified after seeing the incoming disaster. It looked like the 'Etherion' blast will arrive at any moment.

"No!! Natsu's still in there," Erza screamed and tried to go back to the island, but Gray quickly approached behind her and knocked her unconscious. She hadn't got rid of the magical restraints, making her vulnerable to Gray's attack.

"Natsu-sama!!" Kagura also wanted to return, but her brother Simon hastily did the same to her, making her fall into his arms. Juvia, though, was able to successfully bypass them and reach the shoreline.

"I'm sorry for this, Kagura." Simon remorsefully apologized to his unconscious sister. He felt terrible doing this, but he didn't want her to risk her life going back. They'd just reunited, and he didn't want their reunion to end so soon.

"Juvia, get back here. Do you want to die by going back?" Lucy shouted, trying to recall Juvia, but it looked like Juvia was determined to return back.

"Juvia won't abandon her beloved even if death is waiting for her." Juvia started running toward the island. The others looked unsure what to do, but Gray gritted his teeth and made an uncomfortable decision.

"We need to retreat immediately. We don't have time to waste idling." Gray announced with a loud voice making everyone focus their attention on him.

"But what about Natsu? We can't abandon him." Lucy asked, full of uncertainty. She didn't want to run away while her friend was fighting on the island alone. Gray looked at her direction with an agonized expression.

"I know!! But what can we do about it? There's nothing we can do for him except pray for his safety, but I won't risk everyone's safety by recklessly charging in. You can blame me for this later, but we're retreating, and I'm sure that Natsu wouldn't want us risking our lives by going back." Gray answered with a pained expression. He really didn't like making such a decision, but he knew that he was the only one capable of making it. No matter what rivalry they had, Gray considered Natsu as a part of his family.

Lucy sighed and entered the boat. She put her palms together in a praying motion wishing for Natsu's safety. Simon carried his sister inside the boat while Sho, Wally, and Millianna silently entered inside the boat as well. They were told about Jellal's betrayal, making them really ashamed of their earlier actions.

Gray quickly put Erza inside the boat and entered himself as well. He looked at the others and shouted, giving commands.

"Everyone! The 'Etherion' blast's almost upon us. We don't have any more time. Pour out all your magic and propel the boat away from the island. This is the only way left for us." Gray hurriedly put everything into expelled every ounce of ethernano propelling the boat forward. The others also followed his command and poured out everything they had into accelerating the boat.

Luckily, as soon as they got out of the range of the 'Etherion' blast, it descended upon the island, brightening the entire area. All were left feeling horrified after seeing the country-buster level of magic.

'I hope you're safe, Natsu. I don't want to see my rival dead before me.' Gray thought with clenched fists. He was feeling really guilty of retreating. He felt like he'd betrayed his friend. Soon, the lights faded out, giving them the view of the island again.

While he was busy with thoughts full of self-loathing, Lucy suddenly shouted in surprise, gaining his attention. He looked at her direction and saw her staring forward with an expression of disbelief.

"W-What the hell is that!?" Lucy asked in disbelief, looking at the previous direction of the island.

"What do you mean, Lucy?" Gray asked, looking back, but what he saw made him wide-eyed. There was no longer a creepy tower on the island, but an even scarier giant tower made up of lacrima, which were glowing creepily, illuminating the nearby ocean.

"Meow!? Is that the tower of heaven that Jellal was talking about?" Millianna asked her fellow members recalling their previous goal, which was set up by Jellal.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it isn't anything good for us," Simon answered her, grimly looking at the tower's direction. He hoped that Jellal failed to accomplish his goals; otherwise, it would be a disaster.

"But at least this shows that Natsu is still alive. I think all the magic from the blast got absorbed by that giant lacrima." Lucy spoke with a relieved sigh. She didn't want anything bad to happen to Natsu after all.

"I hope so," Gray muttered, looking at the creepy tower. He also felt relieved hearing her explanation.

'I hope you don't die on me, Natsu. I still need your help calming down Erza later. I don't even want to imagine what she would do to me when she regains consciousness.' Gray thought with a shudder while looking at the unconscious Erza. He could only pray for Natsu's safety since it would decide his fate as well.