Chapter 206: Magic Crystal for Enhanced Meditation

Erza wasn't like Natsu or Gajeel, lacking the Dragon Slayer resistance to magic. Hit unguarded by George's stunning spell, she passed out immediately.

"Juvia, take Erza. We're leaving. The Etherion cannon is estimated to fire in about five minutes," George commanded.

Sending Erza to fight Jellal recklessly was obviously not a wise decision.

Dragging everyone to face Jellal together wasn’t smart either.

Jellal, capable of commanding someone as strong as Ikaruga, was undoubtedly immensely powerful—perhaps even at the Saint-level of magic users. Moreover, it was clear along the way that he was plotting something major.

With so much uncertainty and the looming threat of the Etherion, continuing to follow his script would be foolish.

The plan was simple: leave the Tower of Heaven, get out of Etherion's attack range, and wait for further developments.

If Jellal and the Tower of Heaven were obliterated by Etherion, it would be the best possible outcome. If not, they could adapt to the situation. Fight if they could win; retreat if they couldn't. With so many magical guilds and powerful wizards in the kingdom—many at the level of the Ten Wizard Saints—there was no need to sacrifice themselves unnecessarily.

George disliked fighting battles he couldn’t win.

If Jellal needed Erza's body to serve as the vessel for Zeref's resurrection and chose to pursue them outside the Tower, battling outside would still be better than fighting within Jellal's domain. At least they would avoid his home-ground advantage and the threat of Etherion.

George retrieved a box expanded with the Extension Charm, placed Erza and the others inside, and used Apparition to transport them to the sea just outside the island.

Meanwhile, Lucy and Simon had also left the tower with Erza's childhood friends, Wally and Millianna, escaping by boat into the open sea.

“Reparo!”

Using the repair charm, George restored a kingdom warship destroyed by magic. In no time, a brand-new ship appeared on the sea.

After releasing Erza and the others, and picking up Lucy’s group, George removed the stunning spell from Erza. As they stood on the deck, all eyes turned to the Tower of Heaven.

“Erza, there’s less than a minute before Etherion fires. Let’s watch from here,” George said calmly.

“Jellal…” Erza sighed deeply. Now that she was awake, she realized it was too late to intervene.

Meanwhile, in the Tower of Heaven’s highest chamber, Jellal angrily swept all the chess pieces off the table and moved to the window.

“Fine. Once the Tower of Heaven is complete, I’ll deal with all of you,” he muttered.

To fully activate the R-System required an enormous amount of magic power. Even as a Wizard Saint, Jellal couldn’t achieve it alone. His plan relied on Etherion, the Council’s ultimate weapon, to provide the necessary energy.

Years ago, Jellal split a part of his magical energy to create a Thought Projection, which, under the alias “Siegrain,” infiltrated the Magic Council. Using his standing as a Wizard Saint, the Thought Projection became one of the Council members.

Siegrain had proposed using Etherion to stop Zeref’s resurrection, intending for the Tower of Heaven to absorb the 2.7 billion units of conceptual magic power released by the weapon.

Afterward, he would use Erza’s S-class mage body to resurrect Zeref. Originally, he planned to lure Erza to him and begin Zeref’s resurrection once the R-System was complete.

Although plans had changed, it was no major setback. Once the Tower absorbed Etherion’s magic, Jellal would retrieve his Thought Projection from the Council, regain his full strength, and personally capture Erza.

“What immense magical power!”

George and everyone aboard the ship stared in awe as multiple massive golden magic circles appeared over the Tower of Heaven.

They had all heard of Etherion, the Council’s ultimate destructive spell, but witnessing it firsthand was another experience entirely.

A colossal golden beam of concentrated magic burst from the circles, slamming into the Tower. The sky was consumed by blinding white light, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.

“What?!”

As the light faded, the Tower of Heaven remained. Instead of being destroyed, it had transformed into a colossal, hundred-meter-tall magical crystal.

“So, that’s his plan,” George muttered, his expression betraying little surprise.

Noticing that Jellal hadn’t pursued them and hadn’t fled the Tower before Etherion’s activation, George suspected the Council’s efforts would fail. Jellal clearly had a way to counter Etherion.

“He needed Etherion’s magic to complete the Tower of Heaven,” Erza realized.

As a former slave who had helped build the tower, Erza understood its workings better than most. The original plan of constructing eight towers to gather sufficient magic for the R-System had been abandoned.

Jellal had only completed one tower. How could he claim the R-System was operational?

She had been fixated on confronting Jellal, failing to consider the possibility that the tower itself wasn’t complete. Now, seeing the crystal, everything became clear.

“The R-System is finally complete,” she concluded.

Hearing Erza’s explanation, the group finally grasped Jellal’s true intent.

“Such a massive magic crystal… if used for meditation, wouldn’t it skyrocket one’s magical level?”

George’s eyes gleamed as he stared at the magical crystal radiating immense power.

In his studies of meditation techniques from the Wizard Apprentice World, he learned that meditation involved absorbing external energy with mental power, converting it into magic stored within oneself. It was somewhat akin to mythical cultivation.

Artifacts like Merlin’s Ring and Morgana’s Circle could condense surrounding magic, significantly increasing meditation speed. The denser the magic, the more effective the meditation.

If he could inscribe Morgana’s Circle inside the magic crystal, his meditation efficiency might increase tenfold.

At that moment, George resolved to defeat Jellal, no matter how powerful he was, and claim the magic crystal tower for himself.

Fortunately, his side wasn’t weak. In addition to himself, there was top-tier S-class Erza, S-class Natsu, Gray, and Juvia, as well as Lucy, who could summon S-class Celestial Spirits to assist in battle.