Chapter 204: The Balding Curse

Unfortunately, before the guitar mage could play another note, a red flash struck him from behind.

"Expelliarmus!"

It was George, who, after firing his electromagnetic cannon, quickly circled around behind the guitar mage and used the Disarming Charm to knock the magic guitar right out of his hands.

"So you're behind me. Die already!"

Enraged by the sudden disarming, the guitar mage wasted no time retaliating. He activated his unique hair magic, extending his hair to an impossible length. It surged toward George like a waterfall, ready to engulf him.

The guitar mage smirked; though George could turn invisible, his previous attack had revealed his position.

"Hair Loss Curse!"

George, however, remained unfazed. He raised his wand casually and uttered the balding curse.

As the name suggests, the Hair Loss Curse instantly causes hair to fall out. George liked to call it the Balding King’s Curse.

Though it was considered a prank spell—similar to dancing, tickling, or sneezing charms—this time, it proved incredibly effective.

Sure enough, the wildly thrashing hair suddenly stopped mid-air before falling limply to the ground.

At the same time, the guitar mage’s head, once crowned with flowing locks, was now a smooth and shiny dome.

"M-my hair! How could such an evil magic exist in this world?"

The guitar mage, who cherished his hair like his very life, touched his bald head in disbelief. His world seemed to crumble.

"Ahhh!!!"

Before he could recover from the emotional devastation, a surge of high-voltage electricity coursed through his body, rendering him unconscious.

"Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus!"

Making himself visible again, George finished the guitar mage off with a Stupefying Charm and a Full Body-Bind Curse. Then, he sealed the mage in a containment box and stowed him in his inventory space.

The guitar mage’s ability to control others through music wasn’t something George had encountered in Fairy Tail’s library of spells. It piqued his curiosity.

"George! You’re here—thank goodness!"

Seeing George reveal himself, Lucy let out a huge sigh of relief.

Since the Phantom Lord incident, Fairy Tail’s mages had come to place a great deal of trust in George, Lucy included.

"Reparo."

George flicked his wand, casting the Repairing Charm on Lucy, whose tattered clothing was barely holding together. The spell restored her outfit to its original state.

“What’s going on here? Where’s Erza and the others?”

"Erza was sealed into a card by one of her former comrades. As for what’s happening..."

Lucy, holding her reddened backside from being lashed by Juvia’s water whip, recounted the events in detail.

A few days earlier, the Fairy Tail group had come to a resort with passes gifted by Loki. At the resort, they’d encountered Juvia, formerly of Phantom Lord.

Everything seemed fine until last night, when several mages ambushed them. These mages possessed peculiar abilities, catching them off guard and resulting in Erza and Happy being captured.

After escaping their initial predicament, the group pursued the enemy to this island and infiltrated the tower after defeating the guards. There, they reunited with a freed Erza.

Through Erza, they learned the truth about the Tower of Heaven.

Years ago, Erza had been enslaved there, building the tower alongside other captives. They eventually overthrew their dark mage captors, led by her childhood friend Jellal.

However, just as freedom was within reach, Jellal had undergone a sudden and drastic change. He turned on his comrades, banishing Erza while convincing the others she had betrayed them. Under his manipulation, they continued building the tower, dreaming of a so-called paradise.

The mages who attacked them were Erza’s old comrades, now under Jellal’s sway. Erza had allowed herself to be captured to return to the island and uncover Jellal’s true motives.

Upon learning the truth, one of the former comrades, Sho, had sealed Erza in a card to prevent her from being harmed by Jellal. He’d then gone to confront Jellal himself.

The group split up—Sho took Erza to the tower’s upper levels, Gray and another former comrade, Simon, pursued them, while Lucy and Juvia sought to rescue Natsu, who had charged ahead earlier to save Happy.

"It seems complicated. Let’s find Natsu first, then regroup with Erza and the others to leave this place."

George initially planned to teleport Lucy and Juvia outside for safety. However, the situation reeked of conspiracy. With two S-Class enemies and the enigmatic Jellal still at large, it seemed wiser to stay together.

Having defeated the guitar mage, George knew Jellal was aware of his presence. A united front would improve their odds.

"Tracking Spell: Natsu!"

George adjusted his tracking spell to focus on Natsu, then led Lucy and Juvia deeper into the tower.

The Tower of Heaven stood over 100 meters tall, with dozens of interconnected levels. Without the tracking spell, finding anyone would’ve been nearly impossible.

At the tower’s summit, Jellal sat on a throne, one hand propping up his chin while the other flicked a game piece from the chessboard in front of him.

The piece represented the guitar mage, now eliminated.

“How interesting... even Fairy Tail’s healer has joined the fray. Things are getting lively,” Jellal muttered, a sly grin forming on his lips.

To him, the battles below were insignificant. Even a fraction of his power, manifested as his thought projection, had been enough to rank him among the kingdom’s Ten Wizard Saints.

He was confident he could crush the intruders at any time.

But the wait for the Etherion bombardment to complete the R-System was dull. This game merely passed the time.

...

With only fifteen minutes before the Etherion strike, George decided on a more direct route. He grabbed Lucy and Juvia and flew out of the tower, heading straight for Natsu’s floor.

Upon locating Natsu’s position, George blasted a hole in the tower with an Explosion Charm and barged in.

“What the heck is that?”

Inside, the trio found themselves face-to-face with a bizarre creature—a muscular humanoid with the head of an owl.

Strangely, the owl’s head sported spiky pink hair, uncannily similar to Natsu’s.

To George’s surprise, his tracking spell indicated this strange creature was his target.