Chapter 202: The R-System and Etherion

"They’ve gone to Arcane Paradise for a vacation. Loki gave them some vouchers for the luxury hotel there.

By the way, you’ve been buried in the library these past few days, so you probably don’t know—Loki is actually a Celestial Spirit."

Mira Jane smiled as she recounted the events of the past few days to George.

It turned out that Loki's real name was Leo, and he wasn’t human. He was the Celestial Spirit of Leo, the leader of the Zodiac.

Due to his anger over the abuse of Celestial Spirits by a former Celestial Spirit Mage named Karen, he had forced himself to stay in the human world. This act prevented Karen from summoning other spirits, resulting in her death during a mission.

As punishment, the Celestial Spirit King barred Leo from returning to the Spirit World.

Since then, Leo remained in the human world, disguising himself as a human Mage and joining the Fairy Tail Guild.

Celestial Spirits cannot stay in the human world for extended periods. They must occasionally return to the Spirit World to replenish their magic energy, or they risk disappearing due to magical exhaustion.

Though Leo was powerful, he had pushed himself to the brink of depletion.

After learning of his situation, Lucy summoned the Celestial Spirit King and pleaded for Leo’s punishment to be lifted. This allowed Leo to officially become her Celestial Spirit.

"Loki is a Celestial Spirit?!"

George was stunned after hearing the story. He hadn’t noticed anything unusual before.

"I missed such a spectacle. I wonder what the Celestial Spirit King looks like," he said with a hint of regret.

George had read about the Celestial Spirit King in books on Celestial Spirit magic at the library. According to the descriptions, the King was a being of immense power.

"Still, Lucy summoning the Celestial Spirit King—that’s an incredibly rare feat in the history of humanity."

"Mira Jane! Mira Jane!"

As George was contemplating the Celestial Spirit King, the magical crystal ball on the bar suddenly lit up. The image of a small, frail old man appeared.

"Councilor Yajima?"

Mira Jane set down her cup and picked up the crystal ball, her expression surprised.

Yajima was a former Mage of Fairy Tail and a close friend of Master Makarov. He often defended Fairy Tail in the Magic Council when they got into trouble.

"An incident occurred at Arcane Paradise last night. According to witnesses, Erza Scarlet was abducted and taken to an island near Caelum's coast.

The mastermind behind this is a dark mage named Jellal. He and his group of dark mages are constructing the R-System on the island to resurrect Zeref, the dark mage progenitor.

The kingdom's army was annihilated when they intervened. Following Councilor Siegrain's suggestion, the Magic Council has decided to deploy Etherion for a devastating strike on the island.

You have only 25 minutes.

Tell Makarov to figure out a way to rescue Erza within that time frame."

Yajima’s tone was grave.

If Erza had been taken to the island, it was certain that Natsu and the others had pursued her. If they didn’t leave the island within 25 minutes, they would be obliterated by Etherion.

Yajima was the sole vote against the Etherion strike; the other councilors, fearing Zeref’s resurrection, had all voted in favor.

"What?!"

Mira Jane’s face turned pale, and she urgently said to George, "George, hurry to Caelum. Find Erza and the others and get them off that island!"

With Makarov away, there was no one else in Fairy Tail who could make it to Caelum in 25 minutes.

Only George, with his spatial magic, could manage it.

"Mira Jane, calm down. First, tell me what the R-System and Etherion are."

George had been to almost every city in the kingdom while helping guild members with various emergencies. Caelum, a coastal city, was among them.

With one teleportation, he could be there instantly. But first, he needed to understand the situation to handle it effectively.

Mira Jane quickly explained:

The R-System was a dark magic system created by the progenitor of dark mages. It could resurrect the dead. In the past, a group of dark mages had built seven R-Systems on islands near Caelum to resurrect Zeref.

The Magic Council had destroyed all seven incomplete R-Systems.

Before joining Fairy Tail, Erza had been enslaved by dark mages and forced to work on the construction of the R-System.

Etherion, also known as the "Ultimate Space-Time Destruction Magic," was the Magic Council’s final weapon for maintaining order in the magic world.

It involved a satellite magic array that condensed 2.7 billion units of magical energy into a single destructive blast, capable of targeting any location in the world.

Its power was enough to destroy an entire country, making it a terrifying weapon.

"It’s like a modern-day nuclear bomb—probably even worse. A nuclear bomb can’t obliterate an entire country in one shot," George thought.

He turned to look at the guild, then vanished with a teleportation spell.

He had considered bringing a few guild members along, but the strongest ones, like Erza, were already at the island, and the others were out on missions.

The remaining members in the guild weren’t strong enough to help and might even become liabilities.

Thus, George decided to go alone.

His primary goal wasn’t to defeat the dark mages but to rescue Erza and the others and get them off the island before the Etherion strike.

With his teleportation and mirror world magic, he could easily evade Etherion’s destructive power.

High above Caelum, George appeared and immediately unfurled his wings, flying swiftly toward the sea in the direction Yajima had provided.

Teleportation required familiarity with the destination, so he relied on his flight magic to reach the island.

At full speed, it didn’t take long before a strange, towering structure on an island came into view.

Floating near the island were the wrecked remains of ships bearing the kingdom’s flag. George knew he was in the right place.

"Invisibility!"

Drawing his wand, George cast an invisibility spell on himself and used a tracking spell to follow the footprints leading toward the tower’s entrance.

If Erza, an S-Class Mage, had been captured, the enemy must be formidable. George decided to proceed cautiously.