Earth Land, Ishgar, Bosco, Unnamed Mountain Range.
February 27, x792.
"Damn… That was a lot more work than I thought it would be.' Alfonzo said while wiping a few beads off sweat of his forehead. "We've already been out here for three days."
"It wasn't as bad as you're making it out to be." Irene said while leaning on Belserion.
"You say that because you didn't have to actually do anything." Alfonzo replied while rolling his eyes. "I was the one who had to plant all of the barrier's anker points in the ground and mountains. I had to etch all the sigils into the anker points, too. The only thing you had to do was [Enchant] the lacrima that acts as the barrier's power source."
In response, Irene only shrugged her shoulders with a smile on her face.
For the last few days, just as Alfonzo said, Alfonzo and Irene have been preparing the battlefield for their fight. And because they decided to do the job alone, there was a lot of work to do… For Alfonzo, that is. All the physical labor was left to Alfonzo, even if that labor could mostly be completed with his magic.
"All the recording devices are set up, Alfonzo." Marin said as she jogged towards Alfonzo and Irene. "This is gonna be so epic! The two strongest wizards on the continent are gonna fight. I'm so pumped!"
Alfonzo and Irene were not the only ones to come out to Bosco for pre-battle preparations. Several of Alfonzo's wives, lovers, and maids, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, Lucy, Saeko, Rika, Ai, and Miyuki, were also there to set up the broadcasting devices, with Ai taking the lead on the project.
Shizuka also came along just in case anyone got seriously injured during the fight.
"Thanks, Marin." Alfonzo said as Marin approached. He then started combing his fingers through Marin's long blonde hair when she was close enough as he continued. "Where's Ai? I thought she would be the one to make the completion report."
"she's laying down." Marin replied while leaning into Alfonzo's touch. "She had to use a lot of magic power to connect everything. Right now, she's sleeping on the Blackbird while Miyuki is taking care of her."
"*Sigh* I told that girl not to overdo it." Alfonzo said in a tone filled with fond exasperation. "It's not like the fight couldn't wait one more day."
"Don't be so hard on her." Irene said with a smile. "She did her best, and it shows."
"You've really changed, Irene." Alfonzo said with a smile. "A few years ago, you would have mocked Ai for doing more than she was capable of."
"That's thanks to you." Irene said, her smile turning loving. "You gave me my humanity back. On top of that, you let me reconnect with my daughter. Honestly, I don't think there's any way I could have stayed the same."
"You're gonna make me blush." Alfonzo said with a smile. "Anyway, we can hold off for a few more hours until Ai is back on her feet. Besides, I could use a little time to recharge, too."
"Fine by me." Irene said as she materialized a book in her free hand. "Well then, I'll take some time to catch up on my reading while we wait."
Seeing the book Irene materialized, Marin's eyes lit up with excitement.
"O.M.G!" Marin squealed. "Irene, is that what I think it is?"
"Huh? Oh, this?" Irene asked with mock obliviousness. "It's just a copy of the soon-to-be released volume of Slippery Girls. What's the big deal?"
"How? How-How-How? How did you get that?" Marin asked excitedly. "It's not supposed to come out until April! Erza and I were already planning to camp outside of the bookstore to be the first ones to get it."
"I just used the proper negotiation tactics." Irene said humbly.
'Yeah, she definitely threatened the publisher.' Alfonzo thought to himself.
And when Irene shot him a wink, he knew his thoughts were correct.
After that, everyone disappeared to do their own things until Alfonzo and Ai recharged their magic power. Like that, time passed quickly, and before anyone knew it, a few hours had passed.
In that time, Alfonzo's magic power was fully recharged. And although Ai was still not completely filled up, she was able to move around with no issue. As a result, she took control of the broadcast while Alfonzo and Irene moved towards the center of the battlefield.
When the two combatants were at the center of the battlefield, Alfonzo raised his right hand, signaling Ai to begin the broadcast. In response, Ai flicked the Blackbird's lights on and off to signal that the broadcast had started.
Seeing that, Irene tapped the butt of her staff on the ground. With that action, a pulse of magic power expanded outwards with Irene at the center. Quickly the wave of magic power reached all the anker points Alfonzo planted in the ground.
*Flash!*
A moment later, when all the anker points were engulfed by Irene's magic power, the entire area, a mile in radius, was engulfed by a bright light. And as the light dimmed, for a moment, everyone watching the fight could see a giant barrier covering the area before the barrier faded from view.
"Incredible." Mirajane said with awe in her tone.
"You'd have more to say than just 'incredible,' if you knew the principles of that barrier." Ultear said with a healthy dose of respect in her tone. "I don't know how Alfonzo and Irene came up with it, but they basically superimposed another space over the area where they're fighting. Meaning, when they take the barrier down, any damage that they cause during the fight will revert to what you see now."
"How is that possible?" Sun asked with her eyes wide open in disbelief.
"I have no idea." Ultear replied with a shrug. "I felt the same way when I asked Alfonzo about it last week."
Similarly, all the wizards back in Magnolia were just as amazed, with the exception of Mavis, who had been consulted on the barrier's principles during its creation thanks to her impressive magical knowledge.
"They're about to start." Lucy said, drawing everyone's attention to the screens installed in the Blackbird.
Meanwhile, back on the battlefield, Alfonzo had just drawn Riot and Bedlam from the straps on his waist.
"Oh, you're not gonna release their first seal?" Irene asked as she spun Belserion before taking a staff fighting stance.
"Not at first, I wanna see how big the gap is between your released state and my base state." Alfonzo replied while spinning his tonfas skillfully.
"I see." Irene said as she shifted her weight forward.
*Swish!*
An instant later, Irene covered the distance between her starting point and Alfonzo's, reappearing just in her melee attack range with Belserion already swinging at Alfonzo's torso.
"Don't lose too quickly." Irene continued.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Ireen's skill with a staff was impressive. Clearly, she had polished it over her long lifetime. Yet, she was never able to land a strike on Alfonzo, as he spun his tonfas rapidly, deflecting each blow just before it could land.
However, with Belserion constantly in its released state, Irene's power was significantly greater than Alfonzo's. As a result, with every exchange, Alfonzo was pushed back.
"I don't think I've ever seen Alfonzo get pushed back like that." Rika said while watching the fight closely. "He always seemed completely unstoppable to me."
"And he usually is." Erza replied. "But this time, he's fighting at a serious disadvantage. Remember, Alfonzo has not released Riot and Bedlam's first seal."
Unaware of the conversations going on in the Blackbird, Alfonzo's concentration was pushed to its limits, making sure that none of Irene's powerful blows would land.
*Bang!*
And when he dodged an overhead strike, the crater Irene's blow created let him know that evading was the right decision.
Reacting quickly as Irene pulled Belserion from the collapsed ground, Alfonzo lunged forward, jabbing Riot's shaft at Irene's abdomen.
*Clap!*
Yet, Irene reacted even faster. Releasing her right hand from Belserion's shaft, she caught Riot before it could be jabbed into her stomach.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Stun Gun]." Alfonzo chanted without even trying to pull Riot out of Irene's grasp.
Feeling the surge of magic power before Alfonzo even finished his chant, Irene pushed Riot back towards Alfonzo, letting go just before the electrical current surged through it. She then tried to throw a punch at Alfonzo's chest to push him away. However, she had to cancel that plan before it could even get started.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Shock Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted as the current running through Riot's shaft gathered at its tip, forming a crackling ball of electricity.
"[Enchantment: Reflect]." Irene chanted while pointing the claw-like protrusions of her staff at Alfonzo.
Then, just before Alfonzo fired his spell, the space between the five protrusions on Irene's staff lit up with her magic power. An instant later, the spark of magic power expanded into a barrier that reflected Alfonzo's [Shock Cannon] back at him.
"Damn it…" Alfonzo groaned as he dodged his own spell. "Now I see why everyone hates it when I do that."
*Boom!*
A moment later, Alfonzo's [Shock Cannon] hit a hill in the distance. When it did, the hill exploded, sending dust and debris in all directions. Yet, Alfonzo did not even look in the explosion's direction, opting to charge towards Irene instead.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Lightning Enhancement]." Alfonzo chanted, arcs of violet electricity cloaking his body as he did so.
In the next instant, Alfonzo seemingly vanished from where he stood. A moment later, he reappeared next to Irene with his tonfas cloaked in electricity as he swung them at her.
"[Enchant: Anti-Electric]." Irene chanted, causing Belserion to glow for an instant.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Then, their clash restarted. And like last time, Alfonzo found himself being pushed back. However, because of the [Lightning Enhancement], he was not being so one-sidedly pushed back as before.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
Like those who traveled to Bosco on the Blackbird, the other members of Fairy Tail were watching the fight between Alfonzo and Irene on the Lacrima-Vision screens Alfonzo set up for this particular occasion. And just like those on the Blackbird, they were all surprised to see Alfonzo being pushed back so one-sidedly.
"Holy hell, did any of you know Irene was that strong?" Macao asked with his beer mug stopped halfway to his lips.
"Are you kidding?" Wakaba asked. "No one's ever seen her fight before. How the hell are any of us supposed to know how strong she was."
"She's Erza's mom, so there's no way she was gonna be weak." Gildarts said with a grin. "But I never expected the kid to get pushed back like this."
"Well, it did take Master Unohana and Alfonzo working together to beat her the first time." Ur pointed out.
"But she was still a dragon back then." Retsu said. "Though, I have no doubt that she is no match for Alfonzo at this point. He's just enjoying the challenge as of now. but when he gets serious, that woman will have no chance of defeating him."
"You seem quite confident, Master Unohana." Mavis said with genuine curiosity. "Is there something you know that we don't?"
"All I will say is that Alfonzo was able to defeat me with his [Shikai] equivalent while I used my [Bankai]." Retsu said before falling silent.
While many of Fairy Tail's wizards had some idea of the power gained when a wizard released the first seal of their [Soul Armament], they were not too sure about the difference between the first release and a [Bankai]. Yet, for those with [soul Armaments], they're eyes widened in surprise when they heard what Retsu said before returning their attention to the Lacrima-Vision Screens with laser focus.
Earth Land, Ishgar, Bosco, Unnamed Mountain Range.
"Come now, Alfonzo. "Irene said, her tone as relaxed as if she were not in the middle of a high-intensity battle. "Surely, you've checked your progress enough by now, right? Unless you think you can defeat me without calling the names of your [Soul Armaments]. And if that is so, I would understand why Elicia was so concerned about your pride growing out of control."
"Nah… You don't have to worry about that." Alfonzo replied, his tone quite a bit more strained than usual. "I just wanted to see where I stood without using them. And I think I have my answer."
"Oh, do you?" Irene asked, a hint of interest in her tone. "Then, please let me know what you think."
"Well, let's just say…" Alfonzo replied while jumping back and creating distance. "If I were to fight that dickhead, Serena again, I wouldn't need to use them at all. And I'd still crush his arrogant ass."
"A fair assessment. Irene said while flourishing Belserion. "But we both know that there are many wizards who are more powerful than that pompous fool."
"Yeah, you would crush him even without Belserion." Alfonzo said with a nod. "Not to mention Retsu. If she had wanted to, she could have been the First Goddess of Ishgar a long time ago."
"Though I'm loathed to admit it, that woman is powerful." Irene said begrudgingly. "Her apprentice, Tsunade would be able to defeat him, as well. I have no doubt that Gildarts and Elicia would be more than a match for him, too."
"Yeah, Lici's pretty bad ass when she wants to be." Alfonzo said with a smile.
"But I believe that is enough of a breather." Irene said, her tone growing sharper. "Now, shall we get back to our battle."
"Sure." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "If that's what you want."
With that said, Alfonzo spread his arms, pointing Riot's and Bedlam's shafts out to either side. Then, he flared his magic power.
"[Run Wild with Destruction on your Fingertips. Usher in Pandemonium with Creation in Your Hands. Riot, Bedlam]." Alfonzo chanted, his tonfas quickly turning into liquid metal with every word.
Once the two tonfa were completely melted down, the liquid metal they turned into climbed up Alfonzo's arms, stopping just above his elbows, leaving him barehanded. Yet, his hands took on monstrous forms. Then, he pointed those monstrous hands towards Irene as he began chanting again.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Iron Sand Tidal Wave]." Alfonzo said as the ground began to rumble.
*Rumble!*
A moment later, while Irene gathered her magic power, a large amount of iron sand shot up from the ground, destroying the area around Alfonzo. Then, with a wave of Alfonzo's hand, it was sent hurdling towards Irene, who smiled in the face of Alfonzo's attack.