Fairy Tail: Igneel's eldest son in Anime Multiverse

Etherion—an immense mass of magical energy found in nature—was akin to a source of life force for the world itself. While humans drew upon magic from within themselves, Etherion was a natural force so vast that even a wizard like Zeref could not compare. The sheer scale of its power was incomprehensible.

According to the Council's calculations, Etherion had a potency of at least 2.7 billion Edeas. It was a level of magic utterly unattainable by humankind. Even though it lacked a special elemental attribute, its enormous density made it inherently destructive.

What made it even more dangerous was its instability—any slight disturbance from the outside could trigger a catastrophic reaction.

That's why the Council's method of using it was so simple: channel it through a satellite magic array and drop it directly on the target to obliterate everything in its radius.

And now, that target was the Tower of Heaven.

When the light of Etherion finally faded, the entire tower was shrouded in a thick cloud of dust—the result of the outer structure collapsing.

As the dust cleared, the true form of the tower that Jellal had dubbed "the path to the future" was revealed.

It wasn't a tower at all anymore. What now stood in its place was a colossal mass of magical crystal.

Only something of this unprecedented size and purity could fully absorb Etherion's blast.

"Finally… it's complete. The Tower of Heaven, symbol of freedom!" Jellal laughed maniacally, his twisted expression extinguishing the last remnants of Erza's hope to save him.

A surge of magic exploded from his body, sending Erza flying. Jellal stood up from the ground.

Then, another figure appeared beside him—one identical to him in appearance, but clad in the Council's robes.

It was Siegrain, still at the Council headquarters mere moments ago—a thought-projection of Jellal.

With the thought-form merging back into him, Jellal's magical power surged dramatically. Reclaiming the half of his power stored in Siegrain, he finally returned to full strength.

"Next comes the sacrifice—Erza's body will be broken down and used to construct a vessel for Zeref. But before that… I have to deal with you."

Jellal didn't even glance at Erza. His eyes were on Charles. He knew that Charles—not Erza—was the real obstacle to his plan.

"Jellal!!" Erza shouted, manifesting a giant sword and charging in for a thunderous strike.

Jellal, without even turning his head, spoke coldly: "Erza, just wait quietly on the sidelines for the new world to arrive."

As soon as he finished, the tattoo on Erza's ankle came to life.

It was a coiled serpent etched in bone. It slithered up her body and bound her in place.

It was the Mark of the Binding Serpent, a curse Jellal had planted on her earlier. He had relied on this spell to keep Erza under control.

Charles flexed his wrist, and the fire spirit Faal chirped excitedly on his shoulder—it seemed eager for the coming battle.

BOOM!

A thunderous explosion rocked the ground beneath their feet.

Even Jellal looked momentarily stunned. Charles's expression darkened. Their impending duel was abruptly interrupted.

This wasn't in the original story. It wasn't in his plan either. Charles genuinely didn't know what was happening.

Suddenly, a possibility struck him. He turned to Erza. "Where's Natsu and the others?"

Erza struggled against the Binding Serpent and replied, "I was afraid something unexpected would happen, so I told them to get far away."

Charles raised an eyebrow and sighed. "Anyone else I could believe—but do you really think Natsu is the kind of guy who listens to instructions?"

Erza froze, realizing what she'd overlooked.

There was no way Natsu would run off while his comrades fought. During the battle against Phantom Lord, Charles had taken down Jose. This time, their enemy was another member of the Ten Wizard Saints—Jellal. There was no chance Natsu would just sit this one out.

If Charles had guessed correctly, that earlier explosion had to be Natsu's doing.

Sure enough, moments later, someone burst through the wall.

"Where's Jellal?! Come fight me already!" Natsu roared, his fists blazing with flame.

Jellal shouted furiously, "You fool! Do you even realize what you've done?!"

Natsu grinned. "You tricked Erza and her friends to build this stupid tower, right? So if we destroy the tower, you lose everything!

And you know… we Fairy Tail wizards… we're really good at breaking things!"

Under normal circumstances, Charles would've given Natsu a thumbs-up for taunting the enemy like that. But not now…

"Natsu, you idiot!!" Charles bellowed before Jellal could respond.

Etherion's energy had indeed been fully absorbed by the Tower of Heaven's magic crystal—but that didn't mean the threat was gone.

Its unstable nature remained unchanged. In fact, the entire structure had become a ticking time bomb. And Natsu's recklessness had just brought them one step closer to detonation.

There was no time to lecture him.

Charles immediately leapt out through the wall Natsu had smashed, descending into the ruins.

Down below, a massive rupture marked the spot where Natsu had attacked. From the crack, unstable magic energy was leaking in waves.

It felt eerily like the scene of a car crash, with a ruptured fuel tank threatening to ignite at any moment. Everything about it screamed: ready to explode.

"Faal, I'm going to need your help again," Charles muttered.

He had no better plan. The sheer amount of magic energy was far beyond his ability to control.

Fortunately, Faal—being a spirit embodying one of the world's elemental roots—could filter the unstable energy and redirect it.

Even so, Faal had its limits. Charles had to share the burden through their contract just to keep the flow stable.

It felt like being an overinflated balloon—one poke and he'd burst.

At that moment, Charles sensed magical pressure flaring above his head. Apparently, Natsu and Jellal had already started fighting.

Charles managed a bitter smile.

That damn brat… He wasn't stupid, was he?

Had he deliberately set off the crystal to pull Charles away, just so he could have a one-on-one fight with Jellal?

Sure, Charles had come here expecting to handle "unforeseen events"…

But not this kind of unforeseen event!

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