Erza Scarlet vs. Jellal Fernandes

is a battle fought between S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail, Erza Scarlet and Dark Mage, Jellal Fernandes.

Prologue
Erza defeats Ikaruga in their battle but suffers a few injuries along the way. Ikaruga tells her that she has never been beaten except for that day and warns her that in fifteen minutes, the shining light of justice will plummet down from the sky and bring them all to death, Etherion. Erza orders Shô to take Simon and the others and get as far away from the tower as possible. Shô almost argues but Erza convinces him to do so. He asks Erza about what would happen to her and she replies that she will be the one to finish this.

Meanwhile, Simon carries Natsu Dragneel on his back. Natsu awakes and remembers being on some kind of weird vehicle which causes him to get motion sick. Simon informs him that he was eaten by Fukuro and that Gray Fullbuster was the one who saved him. Happy took Gray out of the Tower of Heaven. Natsu freaks out about his loss to Fukuro and Gray's triumph and Simon clarifies that he didn't exactly lose, he just got eaten. Natsu doesn't seem to hear this and exclaims that Gray will be teasing him for a whole month over that. As impulsive as ever, Natsu almost runs off to battle Fukuro again, apparently with one hand tied behind his back because "it would be no good without a handicap", when Simon grabs him by the scarf and tells him this isn't the time for that. Simon informs him that he just received a transmission from Wally Buchanan and Millianna and that they found Lucy Heartfilia and Juvia Lockser collapsed with one of the Trinity Raven, Vidaldus Taka. Simon adds that he told Wally and Millianna to escort the two unconscious girls out of the tower and that Trinity Raven is defeated. Only Jellal Fernandes is left and Erza is heading for him so she can deal with him alone. Simon asks Natsu to assist Erza because Jellal is too powerful. Natsu replies that he doesn't want to, much to Simon's surprise.

Erza reaches Jellal in his room who is playing with the chess pieces on his Heaven's Game board and is muttering about how the game would be over already. Erza asks Jellal if it's so fun playing with people's lives and he replies that of course it is, since life and death are the basis of all things and they intensify every emotion. He greets Erza and states that it has been a while. He asks her why she hasn't fled the tower yet and she replies that it is to set her old friends free. Jellal states that he has no more use for them now that the tower is complete. Jellal's nonchalance about the firing of Etherion makes Erza inquire whether he is bluffing and he reciprocates that the Magic Council will indeed fire Etherion. Erza exclaims that if she can keep him there for ten minutes, then Etherion will fire and all of this will end. Jellal retorts that she will die as a sacrifice to Zeref; it is a pure fact and it is her destiny.

Natsu, after being told by Simon that Erza would be planning to use Etherion to kill herself along with Jellal, heads off in search of Erza.

Battle
Jellal mentions that there are seven minutes left until Etherion fires and they should enjoy those seven minutes. Erza replies that there is nothing to fear for even if Etherion falls upon her, she will be glad to take Jellal down with her. Jellal then assaults her with ghost-like tendrils from his Darkness Magic. Erza dodges them but is hit by a light Jellal cast. She bursts through the walls of the room and almost plummets down the tower, but she uses the falling rocks as a medium to spring back in. Erza swings her sword at Jellal and yells that he built this tower yet he's smashing it up. Jellal dodges Erza's sword with ease and calmly explains to her that it's just a pillar or two, nothing more than decorations. Erza retorts that her old friends spent eight long and hard years building those "decorations". A light appears on Jellal's palm as he replies that what's important is the R-System and it is finally complete. He throws this light at Erza as they transform once more into those ghost-like tendrils and they hit her and start to envelop her.

While trapped in Jellal's Darkness Magic, Erza remembers her friends. She remembers her allies in Fairy Tail who swore to help her and never leave her: Natsu, Gray, Happy and Lucy. She also recalls her old friends back when she was a slave: Wally, Simon, Shô, Millianna and Grandpa Rob. Their smiling faces and inspiring words snap Erza back to reality. She smiles with her confidence renewed.

Erza slashes through the dark tendrils with her blades. She swiftly approaches Jellal and slashes him as well. He is surprised and he questions if that really is the same Erza he knew. Erza pins him down on the ground, preparing to kill him. She asks him what he really is after here. Erza states that the R-System isn't complete. She has done her research over the past eight years. While Jellal has the tower constructed in perfect accordance with the blueprints, he lacks one basic thing: Magic. To activate a Magical Spell of that scale, two billion, seven hundred million Edeas of sheer Magic Power is required. It is not something that can be achieved even if all the Mages in a continent are gathered together. She imparts that it is utterly impossible for a single human being to be able to accumulate all that Magic Power and store it in the tower. She adds that he knows full well of the Magic Council's plan to fire Etherion yet he does not seem to be making any moves to run. Once more, she asks him what he really is planning.

All that Jellal says is that there are only three minutes until Etherion fires. This makes Erza angry and she cries out that his dream was over since a long time ago. She questions him if he really wants his life to right there, and if he does, then they'll die together and she'll hold him down until his final moments. Jellal mutters that that doesn't seem so bad, which surprises Erza. He reveals that his body was possessed by the ghost of "Zeref" and he is merely a doll used to bring about "Zeref's" resurrection. In the end, he nor his friends could save him. Jellal appends that "Paradise" and "Freedom" were nowhere to be found and that it was all over before it had even begun. He couldn't complete the R-System yet "Zeref" wouldn't let him stop. He tells Erza that she wins and pleads for her to kill him, because that's what she came there for after all. Erza does not kill him with her sword. She drops it and states that it's over for both of them. Erza gets off him and they both sit on the ground. She notes that he must have been another sacrifice for Zeref as well. He replies that that is his sin for giving in to his weakness and that his heart couldn't keep up with the gigantic gap between dreams and reality. She proclaims that burying your weaknesses and the things you lock away are what friends are for. She has to atone for her sin as well of not being able to save Jellal. Jellal tells her that she's wrong because she did save him and they embrace.

Etherion is fired and a bright light shines down on the whole tower. However, everyone in the tower (Natsu, Simon, Jellal and Erza) remain conscious and alive. Jellal smirks and laughs. The outer walls of the tower crumble to reveal a large structure of crystals, lacrima. Jellal declares that this pillar of lacrima is the true form of the tower and the Etherion's blast provided the tower with the required 2.7 billion Edeas which the lacrima absorbed. The R-System is finally complete.

Erza looks at him in defiance for deceiving her. Siegrain of the Magic Council suddenly appears behind Erza and tells her that she was very cute. He states that neither he nor Jellal could provide the necessary power and it was truly troubling to have to resort to fooling her. Siegrain tells her to look back to when they first met, it was when she and Makarov came to present a written apology to the Magic Council and she mistook Siegrain for Jellal and attacked him. Siegrain calmed her down when he told her they were twins yet she never lost hostility against him. Erza exclaims that it's because Siegrain is Jellal's older brother yet he didn't try to stop what he was doing and worse, Siegrain kept watch over her for Jellal. Siegrain acknowledges that he made a mistake there and should have said something like, "I will find Jellal and kill him without fail". His greatest miscalculation was meeting Erza at all after he managed to have a spot on the council and making up an excuse on the spot wasn't easy. When Erza says that the two of them must have been in this together, Siegrain tells her that she's still not getting it. Jellal states that the two of them are one and the same. Siegrain then fades out and seems to fuse back with Jellal. This shocks Erza as she realizes that Siegrain was only a Thought Projection made by Jellal. With an evil look on his face, Jellal tells her that he hopes she enjoyed her fleeting freedom, for all of this is part of his plan to resurrect "Zeref". She angrily asks him how many people does he intend to delude. Jellal only says that with Siegrain's return, his full Magic Power has returned to him.

Erza is blown away by Jellal's power. He asks her where all her bluster from before has gone and had she already used up all of it in battling Ikaruga. She requips a large sword and approaches Jellal, her blades in hand. She repeatedly slashes at him but he seems to be able to dodge each attack. Jellal tells her that right now, the council is completely paralyzed, thanks to Ultear Milkovich. He adds that if everyone in paradise is of one mind, then he will no longer fear death. He thanks Erza as well for her stupidity. Erza cautions him that he'll get what's coming to him from all those he manipulated. Suddenly, snake tattoos slither around Erza's body which Jellal calls the Bind Snake. He placed it when Erza hugged him. The Bind Snake traps Erza as it tightens around her and she becomes unable to move. Jellal informs her that he already has the Magic needed by the R-System and now that he has Erza as the sacrifice, "Zeref" can be revived. He adds that he has no more time to play with her and that he will fuse all the Magic he collected into her body so she can be used to reconstitute Zeref's new body.

Jellal pushes Erza in the lacrima and it begins to absorb her. As Erza is slowly being taken by the lacrima, Jellal tells her that he loved her. He shouts to the exalted Zeref that he is offering this woman's body as his sacrifice. Erza continuously shouts Jellal's name in anger when all of a sudden, someone grabs her hand and pulls her out of the absorbent lacrima. It is Natsu who's come to save her from being Zeref's sacrifice. Natsu blurts that Erza belongs in Fairy Tail and he won't hand her over to him. He asks Erza what she's doing and that they still have to get back and do some jobs otherwise they won't be able to pay Lucy's rent. Erza tells Natsu that she can't move and Natsu takes advantage of this and tickles her. Later, Erza tells him to get away from the tower because Jellal is too powerful and he can't be beaten. Natsu claims that he doesn't get Erza at all and he punches her in the gut and knocks her unconscious. He then takes over Erza's fight and faces Jellal.

Aftermath
Natsu states that he's never seen Erza crying and being depressed. She should be strong, mean and scary and he hopes that when she wakes up, she'll be the Erza he knew. He sets his fists aflame and begins his battle with Jellal.