Chapter 89: You're a Genius, Erza reports Jellal

"Sho!"

Simon was shocked, and Milliana blinked in confusion. "That's Sho's magic. How did he get caught in it?"

Wally, with his right arm transformed into a magic gun, looked equally incredulous. "Copycat? How's that possible? He couldn't have learned it instantly, right?"

A small red dot appeared on the back of Nate's head as Wally aimed his laser gun. Even Erza, still seated at the card table, was surprised. However, she knew Nate had mastered the space-time magic, 'Flying Thunder God', an incredibly powerful form of spatial magic. Sho's magic seemed impressive, but Nate's ability to manipulate space was on a whole other level. Maybe he really had learned it instantly... 'What an incredible man', Erza thought to herself.

Inside the D-card, Sho was frantically banging on the card's surface. "Let me out! You bastard! Using my own magic to seal me!"

Nate spun the D-card between his fingers, performing a card trick he'd learned back in his school days. He wasn't a magician, but he had picked up a few tricks while trying to impress a girl back then.

"You know, pointing a gun at me isn't a joke. Surrender now, and I won't have to hurt any of you," Nate said casually, turning around to face the others while still toying with the card.

Seeing this, Simon immediately made his move. "Dark Moment!"

With his face partially hidden by a scarf and a black eyepatch over his left eye, Simon activated his magic. His right eye glowed red as a dark purple magic circle appeared, and suddenly, the lights in the casino went out, plunging the area into darkness.

Erza was startled. 'Had Simon learned magic too?' She couldn't even see her hand in front of her face.

Simon quickly called out to his allies. "Milliana!"

"Got it, meow! Cat Bind!"

Milliana used her cat magic, throwing out a rope resembling a cat's tail, which quickly wrapped around Nate's wrist.

The darkness was brief, and as soon as the light returned, Erza stood up, hoping to stop the fight. "Wait… Nate, they're my old friends. Don't hurt them."

"Don't worry, Erza-chan," Milliana said, tilting her head like a cat. "With my Cat Bind, he can't use his magic anymore, meow."

Wally's right arm, now shaped like a blocky magic gun, was aimed directly at Nate's head, with a red laser targeting him precisely. "We have the upper hand now, Erza," he sneered. "Mr. Ten Wizard Saints, release our companion, or your head will go boom like a watermelon."

Nate glanced at the rope binding his wrist, feeling his magic flow slightly sluggish. "Why do you all assume I can't use magic because of this?"

Nate looked puzzled, a slight smile curling his lips. "It's just a rope. Something like this won't seal my magic. I can break it with sheer force."

With that, a surge of white magic burst from Nate, tearing the rope to pieces and forming a protective barrier around him.

'Such power...' Simon felt overwhelmed, like he was standing in the eye of a hurricane. Milliana was stunned. "My Cat Bind… It's the first time someone has broken free, meow!"

"Damn it, nobody told me this could happen!" Wally was terrified. 'What kind of monster is this?' Was this the strength of one of the Ten Wizard Saints?

Sho's card magic had been shattered with a punch, and now even Milliana's Cat Bind was useless.

"In a battle between mages, magic strength doesn't always determine the outcome," Nate said with a light chuckle, sweeping the remaining three cards—marked with the letters "E," "T," and "H"—into his hand. "But when the gap in magic power is this large, fancy tricks become meaningless."

He flicked the three cards toward Simon, Wally, and Milliana. His card-throwing technique was precise, and as each card struck them, a magic circle appeared, sealing each of them into the cards.

"Damn… I can't break out! This is exactly like Sho's magic!"

"I didn't expect the mission to fail like this!"

"Let me out, meow!"

The voices of the three trapped inside the cards echoed as the cards fluttered to the ground. Nate walked over, picking up the cards. "Card Magic, Cat Magic, Body-Splitting Magic, and Dark Magic... Your magic types are interesting, but you lack the power to fully master them."

The brief scuffle had ended as quickly as it had started. Erza still felt dazed. Her childhood friends had all learned magic and were trying to take her back to the Tower of Heaven.

"Wally, what did you mean by 'mission'? Did Jellal send you? Why are you following his orders?" Erza asked as she approached the card containing Wally.

"You betrayed us, Erza. How can you even ask that?" Wally retorted from within the card.

'Betrayal?' Erza flinched, remembering how she had been forced to flee the Tower of Heaven alone, leaving her friends behind.

"How could Erza have betrayed you?" Nate flicked the card, sending Wally spinning within it. "It sounds like Jellal has been lying to you."

"What?" Sho's voice wavered.

Simon took a deep breath. "He's right. Jellal did deceive us."

"What are you talking about, Simon?" Wally asked, confused.

"I pretended to go along with his deception to gain his trust," Simon explained.

On the day Erza escaped from the Tower of Heaven, Jellal had told the others that she had stolen a boat and abandoned them to flee on her own.

"The Tower of Heaven is now complete. Erza, Jellal intends to use you as a living sacrifice to resurrect the dark mage Zeref!" Simon continued. "And that's not all—the Magic Council member Siegrain is actually Jellal's Thought Projection!"

"I only discovered this after seeing his Magic Net username," Simon revealed. Siegrain had added him as a friend, and Simon realized Siegrain was just Jellal.

Erza's body trembled, her fists clenched in anger. So Siegrain really was Jellal all along!

She looked to Nate for reassurance.

Nate's heart skipped a beat, recognizing that look for the third time. He already knew what she was about to say, so he quickly interrupted.

"Erza, it's getting late. Why don't we go eat first and deal with this tomorrow?"

He stacked the cards containing the four of them and started pulling Erza toward the restaurant.

"But Jellal… If we don't stop him soon, who knows what he'll do next," Erza said, walking along without resistance but still worried.

'Are you even worried about being used as a living sacrifice?' Nate thought, stopping to face her. "You could report him to the Magic Council."

"Report him?" Erza blinked, confused.

"This is the Council's job. And if you report that Siegrain is Jellal's Thought Projection, they'll thank you for it."

Pulling her along, Nate continued toward the restaurant. "But for now, let's just go have dinner."

Nothing mattered more to Nate than his dinner date with Erza.

Erza's eyes lit up, a smile spreading across her face. "Nate, you're a genius!"

She immediately opened the Magic Net and began filing her report on Jellal to the Council. With the Magic Council's ERA section on the Magic Net, she could submit her report directly!

'Nate, you're brilliant!' she thought, happily completing her report as Nate led her toward the restaurant.