Chapter 280

【The tall and burly man was thrown onto the ground like a dead dog, kicking up clouds of dust.】

【"Is he the one you were talking about?"】

【Black Natsu and Juvia walked slowly from the end of Sho's line of sight.】

【Black Natsu, with his hands in his pockets, arrived in front of Sho.】

【"Sorry, I seem to have... destroyed your hope."】

【Sho was stunned!】

【His trembling pupils stared fixedly at Simon on the ground.】

【He couldn't believe this fact.】

【"How could this be... how could this be..."】

【"It was clearly... only a moment ago!"】

【Yes, from the moment the darkness descended until now, not even a minute had passed in total.】

【Excluding the time spent walking, that would mean...】

【Simon was defeated the moment the darkness shrouded them?】

【This... what kind of joke is this!!】

【That's Simon!! The leader of everyone when they were at the Tower of Heaven!!】

【His body began to tremble uncontrollably again.】

【Sho stared fixedly at Black Natsu in front of him: "It's you!!"】

【Black Natsu glanced sideways at Simon: "Don't worry, that guy just fainted."】

【"I haven't killed him yet."】

【"The main thing is that I want to hear what your goal is."】

【"Speak up, otherwise..."】

【The smile gradually disappeared from Black Natsu's face.】

【"Otherwise, they will all die!"】

【At this moment, Sho didn't doubt whether Black Natsu's words were true.】

【Because the chill contained in those words made even him feel a chill down his spine.】

【He knew that this guy was truly capable of doing such a thing.】

【"I..." Sho gritted his teeth.】

【"Cough cough... wait!!"】

【Just then, Simon, who was lying on the ground, seemed to have some movement.】

【Black Natsu turned his head to look at Simon.】

【At this moment, this guy was holding his abdomen, struggling to crawl up from the ground.】

【"Oh? You're awake?"】

【Black Natsu narrowed his eyes.】

【"Cough cough... please... don't do it..."】

【Simon's face was ferocious as he spoke with difficulty.】

【"I'll say it, I know everything, let me say it..."】 ===== CHAPTER 588 =====

【Simon struggled to stand up from the ground, swaying.】

【His gaze swept over Sho, Millianna, and Wally, who were sealed by the sword formation, bound by ropes, and knocked unconscious.】

【He took a deep breath: "Although I did think we might fail, but... I never thought we would fail so thoroughly."】

【"Huh? What do you mean?" Lucy looked at Simon with some confusion.】

【Simon, upon hearing this, even wore a smile: "Do you know? After learning that you were so strong, I was actually very happy."】

【Black Natsu frowned slightly: "What... what is your goal?"】

【"The thing is... it's like this..."】

【Next, Simon began his narration.】

【All of this goes back to the rebellion at the Tower of Heaven many years ago.】

【At that time, whether it was Simon, Sho, or Millianna, they were all slaves captured to that tower.】

【Under extreme oppression.】

【Simon and the others, led by Jellal, began to plot a rebellion.】

【In the end, the rebellion failed, and Jellal was captured.】

【But, things started to get weird from here.】

【When everyone was on the verge of despair, curling up in the corner, waiting for the dark fate to descend.】

【The door to the cell was opened.】

【The one who opened the door was Jellal!】

【Through Jellal's description, everyone learned the ins and outs of the matter.】

【It turned out that Jellal had received the favor of a god in that interrogation room.】

【He awakened legendary magic.】

【And with this, he overthrew the Black Magic Cult that had once controlled the Tower of Heaven.】

【And now, he came to rescue Simon and the others, also under the instruction of that god.】

【And, according to Jellal's words.】

【He saw true freedom under the guidance of the god.】

【And the medium for this freedom was the Tower of Heaven.】

【Jellal began to call on everyone to build true freedom together.】

【And, to show his magnanimous appearance.】

【He even proposed the idea that everyone should decide their own fate.】

【Those who didn't want to stay could take a boat and leave.】

【Those who wanted to stay could work with him.】

【When the day the paradise was built, everyone would welcome happiness and freedom.】

【What a beautiful expectation.】

【These words were like a dream that couldn't be refused for those slaves who had been oppressed to the extreme!】

【Over eighty percent of the people were willing to stay and follow Jellal toward that ethereal, happy future.】

【This included Simon and the others.】

【But, there were also over twenty percent of people who decided they wanted to leave.】

【To see the real world.】

【As expected, Jellal agreed.】

【He even personally found boats for these people and watched them leave.】

【By this point, almost everyone who remained believed in Jellal.】

【Believed in this new leader who gave them humanitarianism.】

【Thus, the construction of the Tower of Heaven proceeded smoothly.】

【This time, they were no longer forced to build it, but built it voluntarily, and even put in twelve times the effort to reach that beautiful, happy world sooner.】

【Simon at that time was the same, until...】

【One day, Simon found a pile of dry bones drifting along the ocean current on the coast of the island!】

【These dry bones were still wearing the clothes of the slaves from that time.】

【The clothes were covered in the charred blackness after an explosion.】

【Although it was sloppy, Simon still recognized their identities.】

【These were definitely among the twenty percent who had left the Tower of Heaven.】

【At that moment, Simon gradually began to doubt the tower.】

【But, Simon was clever.】

【Sensing this, he didn't panic, but quickly disposed of the dry bones.】 ===== CHAPTER 589 =====

【He returned to the tower as if nothing had happened.】

【However, from that day on, Simon began to be more cautious.】

【During the construction, he began to investigate the true purpose of the tower.】

【And the whereabouts of those who had left.】

【Every once in a while, Simon could notice new dry bones drifting from the sea.】

【This made him increasingly suspicious of Jellal.】

【Could it be that those who were let go... had all died?】

【Could it be... that Jellal really did it?】

【These questions vanished into thin air after Simon figured out the purpose of the Tower of Heaven.】

【It was almost certain that Jellal had done it.】

【The Tower of Heaven is taboo magic, so Jellal would never allow anyone who knew about it to leave and tell the outside world.】

【Those people... were probably secretly destroyed by Jellal not long after they left, right?】

【Simon, having learned this truth, even began to doubt the perfect world Jellal had depicted.】

【Until he investigated that the person Jellal really wanted to resurrect was not some god who could bring happiness to people.】

【But the legendary Black Black Mage Zeref!】

【From that moment on, Simon realized that Jellal had changed.】

【He had become a stranger, he had become... evil!】

【This tower could not be allowed to continue, but...】

【Simon's strength was too insignificant.】

【Although, in the eyes of people like Sho who hadn't seen the world, Simon was the strongest.】

【But, for Simon, who had won Jellal's trust and could often go out to perform missions.】

【He knew clearly how insignificant his strength was.】

【Let alone overthrowing the Tower of Heaven, I'm afraid if he showed any sign of something being wrong, Jellal could crush him with one finger.】

【Thus, he laid low.】

【Waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity... to borrow a knife to kill someone.】

【And that opportunity only appeared recently.】

【The Tower of Heaven was completed, and Jellal ordered them to find a body suitable as a sacrifice.】

【Who it was didn't matter, and the quantity didn't matter.】

【Even, whether the strength was strong or not didn't matter.】

【As long as the talent was enough! Even a child would do.】

【Therefore, Simon and the others boarded a ship to the continent.】

【At this moment, Simon knew his opportunity had come.】

【An opportunity to lead a powerful Black Mage to the Tower of Heaven, then stir up hatred between the two sides, and thereby destroy the Tower of Heaven.】

【Simon immediately set his sights on Fairy Tail.】

【Over the years, he also knew that Fairy Tail had long become one of the strongest guilds on the continent.】

【Especially Black Natsu, Erza, and the others, whose fame had spread across the entire continent.】

【This attack, to put it bluntly, was actually just a probe by Simon to test the strength of Black Natsu and the others.】

【If they were strong, it proved Simon hadn't misjudged the person.】

【If they were weak, he would look for others.】

【After the attack ended, he would retreat directly, and then find a way to kidnap the cat beside Black Natsu, which was Happy.】

【Bring Happy to the Tower of Heaven, thereby attracting the strong of Fairy Tail to this tower.】

【This was Simon's entire goal.】

【After hearing all this, Black Natsu couldn't help but laugh out loud.】

【"I really... should I say you're smart? Or stupid?"】

【"Smart... you could think of so much, the plan was methodical, and the success rate was even very high."】

【"But to say stupid..."】

【Black Natsu paused, his gaze looking at Simon: "Perhaps you never thought that you would be finished off by me in an instant, right?"】

【"Do you know? If I wasn't a bit curious about you."】

【"In that moment just now, you would have been dead!"】

【Simon, upon hearing this, nodded bitterly: "Indeed, I was negligent about this point."】

【"At the same time, I also looked down on the strong in the world."】

【"Setting my sights on the strong, it was indeed a bit beyond my capabilities."】

【Speaking of this, Simon's eyes narrowed slightly.】

【That moment just now kept flashing in his mind.】

【An instant! It was really only an instant.】

【The moment the darkness descended, his body suffered an unimaginable heavy blow simultaneously.】

【He didn't even see clearly how the other party made the move.】

【His entire consciousness really fell into darkness.】

【He couldn't help but shake his head: "It really is... a monster beyond cognition..."】 ===== CHAPTER 590 =====