Chapter 212: Immortality Achieved
Jellal's strength was undoubtedly formidable. If it hadn't been for the fusion of the Thunder Giant and ancient magic, he wouldn't have been a match for Jellal at all.
And if it weren't for Erza and the others buying time, he wouldn't have been able to land the final blow.
So in terms of true strength, Jellal was much stronger than him.
Perhaps even Guild Master Makarov, if he didn't use Fairy Law, might not be able to defeat Jellal.
Under normal circumstances, Makarov's strength was only slightly above Jose's, while Jose's strength wasn't even half that of the Jellal thought projection.
Even if Makarov used Fairy Law, whether he could defeat Jellal was still uncertain.
Because, in truth, he wasn't clear about just how powerful Fairy Law truly was.
Previously, when Makarov was about to activate it, he was ambushed by Aria and interrupted.
Bringing Jellal into Fairy Tail would mean that the guild would have two bona fide Ten Wizard Saints.
Moreover, Simon and the others were also quite capable. Although they hadn't yet reached S-Class wizard strength, they were top-tier mages just below that level.
With a few more years of training, it was entirely possible for them to be promoted to S-Class.
Of course, that referred to S-Class in ordinary magic guilds. Fairy Tail's S-Class requirements were still very high.
Most importantly, he was very interested in Jellal's Celestial Magic.
"The injuries are stabilized. Let's head back to the guild first."
Taking out the box, he put everyone inside it, and with a Phantom Shift spell, George brought everyone back to the guild.
At that moment, Mirajane, who had been anxiously waiting in the guild, saw George appear and immediately asked nervously:
"How is it? What about Erza, Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy?"
"Don't worry, they're all fine. Just a bit injured and exhausted. A few days of rest and they'll be okay."
George took out the box from his re-equip space and released Erza and the others from inside.
Seeing this, Mirajane patted her chest and let out a big sigh of relief:
"I just heard from Councilman Yajima that the Etherion had already been fired and that the Magic Council was destroyed. I was so scared! I'm glad you're all safe."
"The Council was destroyed?"
George was momentarily stunned.
Mirajane explained:
"It seems it was done by a female mage named Ultear. The Council has now been temporarily dissolved and is preparing for reorganization."
"Ultear again. This woman really isn't simple."
George flicked his whiskers and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
No doubt about it—Ultear was definitely a dark guild mage. The only question was which dark guild she belonged to.
For dark guilds to remain so active despite being hunted by the Council and numerous legal guilds, their strength couldn't be underestimated.
There were certainly mages among them capable of rivaling the Ten Wizard Saints.
"Well, if the Council is being reorganized, then they won't have time to deal with Jellal's case for now. That gives Makarov time to sort out the whole Tower of Heaven situation and use his connections to help Jellal gain amnesty."
Strictly speaking, Jellal was a victim in this whole incident, a puppet controlled from a young age. The true mastermind was Ultear.
But to get the Council to believe this information and be willing to pardon Jellal, some preparations still had to be made in advance.
The guild now had strength, money, and influence, and it had even helped the Council stop Zeref's resurrection. Taking advantage of the Council's dissolution and disarray, Makarov just needed to run around and push things. If necessary, George could even help repair the Council himself.
It shouldn't be too difficult.
By evening, Jellal had awoken. Regaining his normal mind, Jellal nearly collapsed under the weight of everything he had done over the past eight years.
Fortunately, with comfort from Erza, Simon, and the others, he finally calmed down.
The next day, Makarov returned to Fairy Tail with the newly renovated mobile fortress.
After learning the whole story about the Tower of Heaven incident, he followed George's advice and accepted Jellal and the other four into Fairy Tail. He also began seeking help from mages who had once left Fairy Tail to deal with Jellal's case.
Many of the mages who had once departed from Fairy Tail now held significant positions.
For example, Warrod Sequen, one of Fairy Tail's founders, was now ranked fourth among the Ten Wizard Saints and held an extraordinary status in the kingdom.
Then there was Councilman Yajima, as well as the guild masters of the Blue Pegasus and the Four Hounds guilds—both second only to Fairy Tail. All of them were once Fairy Tail mages.
After a good bit of maneuvering, the Council finally believed in Jellal's innocence, pardoned him, and turned the nationwide manhunt onto the female mage Ultear.
At the same time, since the mobile fortress renovation had been completed, the Fairy Tail guild underwent a massive transformation.
The second floor of the original Fairy Tail building was directly removed, and the mobile fortress was grafted onto it. A stairway was opened leading to the old underground library, with stairs going down in all directions from the fortress.
The current Fairy Tail guild had become the tallest, most eye-catching, and most luxurious building in Magnolia.
It was equipped with a magic crystal cannon and a massive magic circle capable of concentrating light magic attacks.
Even the guild's male and female dormitories were moved from the city into the guild itself. After all, the guild fortress was massive and had many rooms for mages to live in.
However, rent still had to be paid—just much cheaper than the old dorms.
Even Lucy, who cared most about quality of life, gave up her large rented house and moved into the guild's fortress.
George was no exception. He simply remodeled his room a bit, using the Seamless Expansion Spell to enlarge it significantly for his magical experiments.
"Morgana's Ring!"
Etching Morgana's Ring onto the floor, George took out a magic crystal, placed it in his hand, and began using meditation to absorb the magic power within it.
Thanks to his panda clone's diligent daily meditation, and the many-times amplification effects from his magic crystals, George's mage level had already reached 499.
Just one more level, and he would break through to 500.
And upon reaching 500, his real body and all his clones would become immortal, no longer threatened by aging.
That's why he hadn't been studying magic for the past few days but was instead fully focused on absorbing magic crystals and meditating to break through.
No matter how powerful one is, without immortality, it's all fleeting.
Only with enough time could one truly explore the essence of magic and become a truly powerful being.
So breaking through to level 500 was of immense importance to him.
"It's coming!"
As the magic crystal in his hand gradually disappeared, George felt the magic power in his body suddenly erupt, spreading to every corner, every cell of his body.
Nourished by the magic power, his cells seemed to undergo a fundamental transformation, and he instantly felt different.
When all the magic power gathered back together again, George instinctively understood—his body would no longer be corroded by the passage of time.
He had broken through to level 500.
(End of Chapter)