Chapter 1: Rebellion at the Tower of Heaven
“Brother Xi Feng! Big Brother Xi Feng!”
“Ugh... where am I?” Xi Feng clutched the back of his throbbing head and scanned his surroundings. He was inside a dark cavern, surrounded by a crowd of scarred children and elderly people.
He knew instantly he wasn’t in his own room. The reason? He had somehow turned into a child! If it weren’t for his iron-clad mental fortitude, he would have started screaming already.
“Brother Xi Feng?”
“Hmm?” Xi Feng finally noticed a little girl standing beside him. Looking at her, a sense of familiarity washed over him. She had a head of beautiful, scarlet hair.
“You are...” Before he could finish, a violent surge of pain erupted in his skull. Bursts of images flashed through his mindErza... Jellal... Rob... It felt like a computer downloading a massive cache of files.
Overwhelmed by the agony, Xi Feng collapsed and rolled on the ground, clutching his head. The red-haired girl cried out in panic, “Brother Xi Feng, what’s wrong?!” Other children rushed over, their eyes filled with worry.
“Whew...” After a long while, Xi Feng finally processed the “images” in his mind. He let out a long breath and forced a bright smile for the red-haired girl. “Erza, I’m fine.”
“Brother Xi Feng!” At his words, Erza threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.
“Go ahead and cry. It’s okay. You’ll feel better once it’s out.” Xi Feng gently patted her back. He knew the pressure she was under; she needed this release.
“Big Brother Xi Feng...” A boy with blonde hair spoke up hesitantly.
Xi Feng searched his new memories. The boy’s name was Sho. Xi Feng shook his head and said, “It’s all right, Sho. Go get some rest.”
“Thank you, Big Brother,” Sho replied, moving to sit nearby.
Xi Feng told the other children gathered around to rest as well. He carried Erza to a corner of the cavern and sat down, only to find she had already fallen asleep in his arms. He couldn’t help but smile; he never imagined that the future Titania could be this cute as a child.
As he watched her, his gaze gradually sharpened. According to his memories, he had transmigrated into the world of Fairy Tail as Erza’s older brother. The two had been orphans living on the streets before
being captured by the cultists of the Tower of Heaven to work as slave labor. He had been unconscious because Sho’s escape plan had failed, and Xi Feng had taken the punishment in his place. Because of his interference, Erza’s right eye was still intact.
As for Jellal, he had been captured while trying to buy time for them to escape.
Calculating the timeline, Xi Feng guessed Jellal was currently being brainwashed by Ultear. He would let things take their natural course for now, but he would never allow Jellal to hurt Erza.
The next morning, before the sun had even risen, the overseers barged in. “Get up! You damn brats are still sleeping?” A surge of magic rippled through the air. With a loud crackling sound, a bolt of lightning magic struck the sleeping group. Screams erupted instantly, and Erza let out a muffled groan of pain.
Xi Feng saw several new scorched marks on Erza’s skin. His eyes turned cold as ice. He glared at the mage who had cast the spell, carving his face into his memory.
“Hurry up! Stop dawdling unless you want more punishment!” the overseer barked. “Get to work. If today’s quota isn’t met and I get flayed for it, I’ll make sure you all suffer ten times worse!”
He lashed out with another burst of magic, causing more wails of agony. Xi Feng reached his limit. He was a mercenary in his past life; he had seen everything. He wouldn’t retreat out of fear, even against an opponent he knew he couldn’t beat.
He scanned the floor and found a sharp stone, hidden in his palm as he waited for an opening. He knew he only had one chance. Success meant a full-scale rebellion; failure meant his life in this world ended as soon as it began. His palms were slick with sweat.
Now!
The moment the mage turned his back to walk out, Xi Feng lunged. His body was small and weak, but his mind retained the instincts and movements of a professional mercenary.
Without a word, he leaped onto the mage’s back and drove the sharp stone into his throat. The movement was fluid and decisive, without a hint of hesitation.
Splurt!
A spray of blood erupted from the mage’s neck. His pupils dilated in shock and disbelief.
“What?!” Everyone in the cell froze. Before they could even register what happened, a mage had been killed.
“Brother Xi Feng!” Erza ran to his side, her voice trembling with concern, but Xi Feng raised a hand to stop her.
He swept his gaze over the slaves in the cavern and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Submission and flight will never buy us our lives! We will never be free that way! The only path left is to fight! For our freedom REBEL!”
His words acted as a spark in a powder keg. The slaves erupted in a frenzy, some causing chaos where they stood while others rushed to gather slaves from other sectors.
“They’re revolting!”
Soldiers from the Tower of Heaven arrived quickly, clashing with the slaves.
“Don’t retreat! We have the numbers!”
“Take their weapons!”
“Our freedom is right in front of us!”
The slaves showed no hesitation. Fear was replaced by a desperate courage as they began to overwhelm wave after wave of soldiers.
Xi Feng swung a captured blade, cutting down a soldier. Corpses already piled up around him. The surrounding soldiers looked at him with pure terror; in their eyes, this boy was a demon. Every move he made was a killing blow. They didn’t dare approach, opting instead to keep him surrounded.
“Hmm?” Xi Feng noticed a soldier about to swing his sword at a silver-haired girl.
Xi Feng kicked a small stone with precision. Snap! It struck the soldier right in the face. Xi Feng blurred across the distance and cut the man down. He turned to the girl and said, “Find somewhere to hide, quick! It’s too dangerous here.”
“Big Brother Xi Feng!”
Hearing Erza call his name, he gave the girl one last instruction and ran toward his sister. The silver-haired girl didn’t move; she stared at his retreating back as if trying to etch it into her soul.
“Brother Xi Feng!”
Erza ran toward him, but a magic cannon suddenly fired, the blast heading straight for her.
“Erza!” Xi Feng screamed. He tried to dive in to block it, but he was too far.
Erza froze, watching the incoming blast, her mind going blank.
Just as the magic reached her, a figure stepped in front.
“Grandpa Rob...” Erza gasped, stunned. Xi Feng froze too. In his memories, Rob had always been kind to them, often telling them stories about magic.
“It seems... this old body... can still be of use,” Rob said through gritted teeth as he held back the blast. “Grandpa’s magic power was exhausted long ago... but Erza, Xi Feng... you both have infinite potential. Heaven hasn’t abandoned me... to let me meet you two... you must keep going...”
He collapsed to the ground, his shirt tearing to reveal the emblem on his back: Fairy Tail.
