Marvel's Master of Heavenly Magic

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The thunder that illuminated the world clashed with the all-consuming darkness, creating a powerful explosion that spread instantly in all directions. The Magic Crystal Tower was torn into several pieces, directly split in half.

The entire island also began to fade away in the aftermath of this clash between darkness and thunder.

Fortunately, George had already communicated a strategy to Erza and the others through telepathic communication before the attack, informing them of how to respond.

Before the two magic forces even collided, Hugh had already activated his playing card magic in advance, quickly pulling the injured into the cards for protection.

Then, the most intact of them all, Juvia, took Hugh and submerged them both deep into the sea to avoid the shockwave of the magical collision.

"Good thing I'm tough, or I really wouldn't have been able to handle it!"

As the thunder and darkness faded, George stood with his wand, casting a healing spell on himself.

If he hadn't strengthened his body with giant magic at the crucial moment, he thought he might have been in worse shape than just being injured.

"Look at you, acting all arrogant. Not so cocky now, are you?"

Looking down, George saw that the island, which had originally been even larger than the town, had shrunk to just the size of a football field after the clash.

Gerald, the one responsible for this destruction, was lying unconscious on the island, his body scorched and severely injured.

The power of the forbidden magic, Hell's Fragmentation, and his ultimate version of the electromagnetic cannon were quite similar, but George's physique was much sturdier than Gerald's. With timely healing, George had managed to avoid serious harm.

"My Magic Crystal...!"

Looking at the shards scattered around, with only a fraction of the original Magic Crystal remaining, George's heart ached deeply.

There was nothing he could do. In that moment, he hadn't had the chance to create clones to protect the Magic Crystals, and most of them had been destroyed by the shockwave.

"Better than nothing, I suppose."

Muttering to himself for comfort, George packed the remaining Magic Crystals into his box and stored them in his changing space.

These should be enough for him for the next two years, and when they ran out, he would think of another way.

"George! George!"

As George finished storing the Magic Crystals, Erza and the others surfaced from the sea.

When they saw the island, now only the size of a football field, with George standing unharmed and Gerald lying on the ground, gravely wounded, they all sighed in relief.

Swimming onto the island, Erza drew a new magical sword and gritted her teeth, pointing it at Gerald.

"Today, I will finally put an end to you, and complete this fate that has haunted us for the past eight years."

When they first arrived on the island, Erza had still harbored thoughts of saving Gerald, of bringing him back to the right path.

After all, Gerald had once been so kind and gentle. He had been captured by the dark mages while trying to protect them and had been transformed into the person he had become.

But after hearing Gerald's words earlier, she had realized that there was no saving him anymore. The only option now was to end Gerald's life, to prevent him from causing even more destruction in the future.

Though it pained her, she knew she could not afford to be soft-hearted.

"Wait, not so fast."

George stopped Erza when he saw her about to strike.

From what Erza had said and the words Gerald had spoken, something about this situation didn't sit right with him.

According to Erza, Gerald had once been incredibly kind and just. He had been captured by the dark mages, and only after that had his personality changed. He had driven her away and started pursuing the dark mages' goal of resurrecting Hades.

Yet, Gerald claimed that he had heard Hades' whispers, which had shown him what true freedom was.

From a psychological perspective, this kind of sudden change was impossible to believe.

A person's personality and worldview don't change overnight—it's always a gradual process. At the very least, it would take months, or even years in Gerald's case, as Erza had described him as a strong-willed person.

If there was any possibility to explain this, it would be something like the Soul-Severing Curse Gerald had cast, using mental magic to influence a person's mind, causing a rapid and drastic personality shift.

So, George suspected that after Gerald was captured by the dark mages, they likely used some form of mental magic on him—perhaps a long-term, ongoing form of control.

Otherwise, based on Gerald's demonstrated strength, he should have been able to return to normal on his own fairly quickly, unless he had been continuously influenced.

"Mind Probe!"

George placed his paw on Gerald's forehead, simultaneously activating his telepathic abilities and the Mind Probe spell.

Normally, the Mind Probe spell requires the target to be awake and to be looking directly into the caster's eyes, allowing the caster to peer into the target's mind and extract fragments of memory.

But George didn't need to bother with that. He directly invaded Gerald's brain with his psychic abilities and then enhanced the effect with the Mind Probe.

"There it is."

As soon as George infiltrated Gerald's brain, he immediately detected a subtle psychic energy lurking there, occupying Gerald's mind.

"Get down here."

With a burst of mental energy, George forcibly pulled the psychic force from Gerald's mind, causing it to return to its original form within the sea of Gerald's consciousness.

"It's you!"

Upon seeing the appearance of the psychic entity, George was instantly taken aback.

He recognized this entity—or more accurately, he had seen it before.

It was Uluhtiya, the head of the council that he had encountered when he went to Kroba City to repair the town.

"Who would have thought that your plan would fail in the hands of this cat," Uluhtiya muttered, seeing George's imposing form—like a giant beast—manifest in Gerald's consciousness. She knew that the psychic energy she had left in Gerald's brain was no match for George's abilities.

So, after a final remark, she dissipated on her own.

"He was indeed controlled... The one controlling him was a female mage from the council, named Uluhtiya…"

Withdrawing his hand, George informed the others of Gerald's true condition.

Everyone was shocked by this revelation. Erza and Simon looked at Gerald with eyes that had shifted from disappointment and hatred to pity.

The kind and gentle Gerald they had once known never really disappeared in their hearts. Knowing that Gerald had been manipulated into doing these things made them stop blaming him.

As for Natsu and Lucy, being kind-hearted individuals, they weren't overly concerned with the fact that no companions had perished in this battle. They wouldn't hold grudges.

"Full recovery!"

Gerald's injuries were serious, so in order to prevent him from dying, George cast a basic healing spell on him.

Having learned the truth, George began to formulate some thoughts in his mind.

Since his ultimate goal was to become the future Guild Master of Fairy Tail, strengthening the guild seemed essential.

The stronger the guild became, the more benefits he would be able to gain from it in the future.

If one day Fairy Tail became the most powerful guild in the world, he wouldn't need to leave the guild at all. The guild's mages would carry out missions across the world, bringing back many of the resources and magic he desired.

So, George thought that if Gerald could return to his normal self, recruiting him, along with Simon and others, into the guild might be a good choice.

(End of Chapter)