"So cool! Charles, can you let me fight him once?"
Natsu shouted excitedly, clearly not joking—he genuinely wanted to fight the massive creature before him.
Charles smacked Natsu on the head. "Fight who? That's my partner, not your toy!"
Lucy's voice trembled. "It's really… a dragon? These creatures actually exist?"
The others stood with mouths agape. Aside from the three Dragon Slayer mages raised by dragons, the rest had only ever heard of such beings in stories.
The one Charles had summoned was Faal. During his fight with Jose, Faal had complained to Charles about being stuck in the grimoire all the time.
Charles admitted he'd been a little unfair—he usually only called Faal out for battle or to accumulate magic for the World Spell.
But more importantly, Charles had realized he'd been overlooking something crucial: Faal could help him overcome his crippling motion sickness.
Patting Faal's neck, Charles said, "This is Faal, a fire elemental spirit with whom I've made a contract. This time, we're counting on him to fly us there."
Only after Charles repeatedly emphasized that Faal was an intelligent spirit—not a beast—did the group finally relax and climb onto his back.
With Charles's growth, Faal's maximum form had grown massive. Even with seven people and one cat aboard, there was still plenty of room.
Faal flapped his wings and soared into the sky, speeding toward their destination.
Charles had already asked Ultear for the location of the Tower of Heaven, and Faal flew swiftly under his instructions.
Since Faal wasn't a transportation vehicle, Charles, Natsu, and Gajeel didn't suffer from motion sickness.
Natsu ran around on Faal's back in circles—acting, frankly, a little dumb. Despite the high speed, Faal's body was surrounded by protective magic, so they felt neither choking winds nor frigid air.
Natsu soon got bored and sat down cross-legged next to Charles. "Charles, this reminds me of Igneel."
Charles fell silent, a nostalgic expression appearing on his face.
Back when they were kids, Igneel used to let them ride on his back and soar through the skies.
Though this wasn't quite the same, it inevitably stirred those old memories for Natsu.
Charles could completely understand how much Natsu missed Igneel—he felt the same way.
At some point, Gajeel had quietly come over too. Their conversation clearly mattered to him—he too longed to know what had happened to the Iron Dragon Metallicana, who had raised him.
For a moment, Charles had the impulse to tell them everything. But he feared they wouldn't be able to accept the truth—that the dragons they regarded as fathers were already dead.
These two were still far from mature enough. Charles had no idea how they'd react.
Besides, Charles still had a plan. The World Spell allowed him to travel across dimensions. Surely, in some world, there existed a way to bring the dragons back.
For instance, in the world of Black Clover, he had seen the forbidden spell "Resurrection of the Spirit Across the World," which, combined with reincarnation magic, had revived the elven race.
But he hadn't been able to learn that spell, and the conditions for its success were harsh. Zagred, the word-devil, had waited 500 years for the souls of the elves to reincarnate. Charles didn't have that kind of time—or patience.
Still, if that world didn't work, he was sure there were others with more practical resurrection abilities or items.
At the very least, he could find a way to preserve Igneel's soul.
Once he got his hands on one of those means, he'd tell them everything.
Originally, Charles had planned to stay with Natsu a bit longer. But now he realized—he needed to start his next dimensional journey soon.
So now, there were three more heavy hearts aboard Faal.
Natsu didn't dwell on it long though—the outline of the island and a tall tower had appeared on the horizon.
"We're here. That's Paradise," Erza said, stepping forward with a heavy expression.
Charles said coldly, "Some paradise. All I feel is agony."
The entire island had been converted into part of the R-System. Charles could sense it had been transformed into a massive magic device.
Perhaps because of that, he sensed an unusual spiritual essence within. But it was filled with pain and hatred.
Whether it was Jellal or the dark cult, they had built the Tower of Heaven through the enslavement of others. The entire R-System reeked of the curses of those who had suffered building it.
Charles sighed. So many lives suffered and all for a worthless result. It was tragic and pathetic.
The R-System had originally been developed centuries ago by the black wizard Zeref to bring back his parents and brother killed by Acnologia.
But Zeref had failed. Not only had he failed to revive them, but by defying the laws of life, he had been cursed by the god Ankhseram: immortal and forever killing all life he cared for.
Which was why Charles had never considered using the R-System to revive Igneel. And certainly not in this world.
Here, there were inviolable limits to life and death. Even Zeref, with all his forbidden knowledge, couldn't accomplish resurrection after hundreds of years. That said everything about the world's rules.
Charles had no hope of finding a way to bring back Igneel in this world within the mere seven or eight years before the dragon completely disappeared. His hopes lay in other worlds.
Faal dove and landed directly before the Tower of Heaven. There, many of Jellal's mages were already waiting in formation.
Everyone jumped off Faal's back, except for Charles, who remained where he was.
"You guys handle the grunts. I'm going to have a word with Jellal," Charles said.
With that, Faal took off again, flying Charles to the tower's peak.
As they ascended, Charles sensed the magical energy within. There was no mistaking it—it was the same energy he had once sensed from Siegrain at the Council.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"
Charles punched, flames blasting through the outer wall of the tower.
He leapt into the hole, with a now-shrunken Faal perched on his shoulder.
Passing through several corridors, Charles came upon a large door. Behind it was Jellal's energy.
He pushed it open and found Jellal sitting at a chessboard.
"You've arrived. As expected of Igneel's child—you sure know how to make an entrance," Jellal said with a faint smile.
"Don't act like you knew Igneel," Charles said coldly. "I didn't come here to fight you. Don't make me change my mind."
Jellal raised his hands in a show of peace. "My bad. I don't want to fight you yet either."
Jellal still didn't realize Charles already knew the full truth. Right now, he needed to buy time for Siegrain to convince the Council to launch Etherion.
Charles sat across from him, looking at the chessboard.
There were fifteen figurines on it—not normal pieces, but ones carved to resemble actual people.
"This is the strength of both our sides," Jellal said. "So, how about it? Want to play a round of the Paradise Game?"
Charles could already tell—Jellal was just stalling. But from the moment the game began, he was already in checkmate.
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