Charles didn't pursue Jellal, because he knew that the current Jellal had lost all of his past memories.
Now, he was more like the gentle Jellal that Erza had once known, not someone who would stir up new trouble.
In this regard, Charles agreed with Natsu: forgetting everything you did? What a joke! Anyone else might deserve that right—except Jellal himself.
Charles wasn't in a position to forgive Jellal for the pain he caused others.
Still, he had to take Erza's feelings into account. Her emotions toward Jellal were different.
Of course, the main reason Charles let it go was that Erza was the only one among Jellal's victims who had any connection to him. If anyone else he cared about had been affected, he wouldn't be so forgiving.
And more importantly, right now, Brain was the main threat standing before him.
Brain was nearly furious to the point of madness. His carefully laid plans were unraveling in every direction, and his rage was boiling over.
"Damn you insects! I'll crush you all!"
"Eternal Maelstrom of Darkness!"
Violent black magic surged toward Charles, with no concern for the unconscious Racer lying on the ground beneath him.
Charles kicked Racer aside and dodged the attack.
Once he landed and stabilized himself, he spoke calmly, "You don't even care about your own comrades?"
Brain sneered, "Failures have no place in the Oración Seis. Once I unlock Nirvana, I'll have replacements in endless supply! You seem promising—once Nirvana drags you into darkness, you'll join us too!"
Charles rolled his eyes. Good thing he was the one facing Brain—if Natsu had heard that, he'd have gone berserk in an instant.
"You, as my leader? You don't have the qualifications."
Even if Brain managed to unlock Nirvana, Charles would never serve under him, not even in a twisted, corrupted state.
And Charles intended to make that crystal clear—with his fists.
Flames ignited violently as he surged toward Brain, delivering a blazing punch.
Fire and darkness collided, and the already half-destroyed hillside erupted as the force shattered it completely.
For a mage, magic power was the foundation of everything. Brain had a vast well of it, and he could cast high-level spells without even breaking a sweat.
But the difference between him and Charles was still immense—especially in combat ability.
Brain had two personalities: his inner self, Zero, was a maniac obsessed with destruction, while the outer personality—the scholar Brain—loved knowledge.
Zero, who had been sealed through a Living-Link magic, was the one truly skilled in battle. Against Charles, Brain's current personality was nothing but a punching bag.
Charles' fist shattered the magical barrier protecting Brain, and he glared at the panicked man before him.
"I'm the leader of the Oración Seis! Don't underestimate me!"
Charles didn't even bother replying. A single Fire Dragon's Talon kicked Brain away.
He tumbled violently and crashed into a giant boulder, smashing it to rubble.
His previously well-groomed hair was now disheveled, and his face was smeared with blood.
"You damn bastard!"
"Dark Fantasia!"
A more concentrated beam of magical energy shot toward Charles.
But Charles yawned with disinterest. "What a boring opponent."
Raising his palm, he casually blocked the attack.
Brain sneered cruelly, "Foolish! You think you can block my magic with your bare hand? That spell can pierce—!"
He stopped mid-sentence, stunned to see his beam being completely stopped by Charles.
"Ha!"
With a light shout, Charles crushed the spell outright. Brain now realized that Charles hadn't even used a spell—just raw magic power—to shatter his Dark Fantasia.
And it wasn't just ordinary magic release—it was a technique Brain had never seen before, a focused, overcharged emission that overwhelmed spell-form magic.
This was a skill Charles had learned from Ikki Kurogane, utilizing Qi to overdrive magical output.
Charles had sensed the potential of this technique and had trained rigorously to master it.
With just that, Brain now fully understood the gap between them.
The residual wave of Charles' magic knocked Brain off his feet again.
He lay on the ground but didn't get up.
That blast wasn't strong enough to completely defeat him—Charles had held back.
And then, Brain started laughing.
"Another one down… What a bunch of trash!"
Charles saw clearly that the black markings on Brain's face and body were fading, and his magic energy was turning chaotic.
It didn't take a genius to understand what was happening—across the battlefield, the other Oración Seis members were being defeated one by one, gradually unlocking the seals on his inner personality.
On Lamia Scale's side, they had encountered Hoteye.
Hoteye used earth magic just like Jura. One softened the ground, the other hardened it—perfect opposites.
Hoteye tried to liquefy the terrain and bury everyone alive, even manipulating Jura's stone pillars like water.
But it wasn't Jura who took him down—it was Leo and Gray working together.
The two Ice-Make mages combined their powers and froze Hoteye solid with a joint technique.
Meanwhile, on the Blue Pegasus front, it was Midnight who awakened and overwhelmed the squad.
With his Distort Magic, Ivan's snow and Ren's air magic were useless. Hibiki's Archive magic was more support-based, and Ichiya's scent magic didn't help at all. The team was routed.
Fortunately, Erza arrived in time to prevent a massacre.
At first, even Erza's armors were manipulated by Midnight, putting her at a disadvantage.
But the strength of Requip Magic lay in its adaptability—Erza quickly switched to a counter setup and figured out the weakness of Midnight's magic.
His illusion spells also failed due to Erza's prosthetic eye, which rendered hallucinations ineffective. In the end, she slashed him down.
As for Natsu—he was still riding the typical protagonist curve. He was poisoned by Cobra at first but saved by Wendy's Sky Magic.
Revived, he launched another attack.
That's when Angel showed up and assaulted Wendy, leading to a battle between the two Celestial Spirit Mages.
Angel's knowledge of the spirits' relationships and Gemini's overpowered mimicry gave her a strong advantage early on.
But for Celestial Spirit Mages, the bond with their spirits was what mattered most.
Angel treated her spirits like tools. In contrast, Lucy had a genuine connection—and that made her worthy of the title.
Even one of Angel's contracted spirits refused to attack Lucy. With Hibiki arriving to assist, Lucy unleashed her ultimate move: Urano Metria, the Celestial Spirit's Greatest Spell!
She defeated Angel, while Natsu, on his third attempt, finally beat Cobra.
Adding in Racer and Brain, previously defeated by Charles, all six members of the Oración Seis were now down.
…
Charles grabbed the skull-topped staff that had been trying to crawl away and remarked, "A sentient magical tool… interesting. Might be worth studying."
The staff struggled in his grasp, shouting, "Hey! Let go of me, you brat! Do you even know who I am? I'm the seventh member of the Oración Seis!"
Charles was speechless. So… the Four Heavenly Kings had five members, and the Oración Seis had seven. That's just common knowledge now, huh?
He lit his hand with fire, making the staff squeal.
"Stop! Alright, alright, I give up! I'll tell you everything! Just stop burning me!
But we need to run! Master Zero… he's waking up!"
Just as the staff shouted that, Brain—still lying on the ground—suddenly stood up.
The black lines covering his body had completely vanished.
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Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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