Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Akane Beach.
September, x784.
At the bar, Elicia and Cana had just questioned the man who confronted them about Erza's whereabouts.
Hearing the question from Elicia and Cana, the tall man's expression did not change. Instead, he answered their question calmly.
"We're here to take her back." The tall man said.
"Take her where?" Cana asked in a threatening tone as she reached into her card pouch.
"That is none of your concern." The tall man said, unbothered by Cana's threatening tone. "But since you refuse to cooperate, you leave me no choice, [Darkness Magic: Dark Burst]."
With that, Simon gazed at Elicia and Cana as his magic power flared. A moment later, a shockwave of pure [Darkness Magic] shot forth from his body in a conical shape.
"[Thread Magic: Thread Cocoon]." Elicia chanted as soon as she felt the flaring of the tall man's magic power.
In the next instant, just before the shockwave could strike, Elicia and Cana were covered in a spherical dome of the hardest threads Elicia could produce. Unfortunately, they, along with the bar behind them, were blown away.
Immediately after the man cast his spell, the nearby patrons and employees of the casino started to run in panic, trying to get as far away from the destruction as their legs would carry them.
Looking at the destruction his spell caused, the tall man could only shake his head.
"This could have all been avoided had you been more cooperative." The tall man said.
While shaking his head, however, the tall man spotted a few tarot cards arranged by his feet from the corner of his eye. Seeing that, his visible eye widened.
"[Card Magic: Thunderbolt's Fate]." Cana's voice could be heard from underneath the rubble of the bar.
A moment later, a thunder cloud quickly formed near the ceiling of the casino. Then, a bolt of lightning fell in the center of the cards, where the tall man stood with shock in his visible eye.
*Boom!*
As the lightning bolt landed, a cloud of dust was kicked up.
At the same time, the rubble from the destroyed bar started to move. If one were to look closely, a number of threads were digging out of the rubble, eventually revealing a sphere composed of hardened threads. Then, once all the rubble was removed, the sphere began to unravel.
"Since when can you activate your [Card Magic] remotely, Cana?" Elicia asked as she and Cana emerged from the threads.
"I've been training just as hard as the rest of you, you know." Cana said with a proud smile. "After enough training, I can finally activate my spells by spreading out my magic power. Though, it's even more delicate than [Magic Power Detection]."
"Then, your magic power control must be pretty good now." Elicia replied with a smile.
As the two spoke, they walked towards the cloud of dust that was created by Cana's attack. And just as they arrived near it, the dust had finally settled. Now, where the cloud once floated, there was a crater in the casino's floor surrounded by burnt scraps of carpet.
In the center of the new crater stood a battered cocoon of darkness magic. It was obvious that the hastily created defense was incapable of defending from Cana's attack completely. However, neither Elicia nor Cana could be sure of exactly how much damage Cana's spell did to their enemy. Though, they did not have to wait long to find out.
"*Pant* *Pant* *Pant*" The tall man breathed heavily as the cocoon of [Darkness Magic] dissolved into particles of magic power.
Once the tall man was revealed, it was clear that he had been better. While he was kneeling in the center of the crater, the turban on his head was missing, the cloth draped over his shoulder was tattered, and there were a few burns on his pants, torso, and arms.
"It looks like Erza's companions are stronger than expected." The tall man muttered after looking up to see the two women standing in front of the crater, completely unharmed.
"So, are you gonna tell us what you want with Erza, now?" Elicia asked as she rested her left hand on her hip.
"Let's see how well you fair when you can't see where to aim your magic." The tall man said, ignoring Elicia's question.
"*Sigh* They always wanna do things the hard way." Elicia said as she twitched the fingers on her right hand as she casually kicked off her heels.
"[Darkness Magic: Dark Mo---]." The tall man tried chanting his next spell before he was interrupted.
*Bang!*
As the tall man's spell was about to be cast, his legs were pulled out from under him by the threads Elicia had sneakily wrapped around them, resulting in him slamming onto the bottom of the crater, face first.
In the next instant, Elicia leapt into the air, performed a forward summersault, and dropped her left heel on his back.
*Bang!*
"Gah!" The tall man grunted as the wind was knocked out of his lungs.
Unfortunately, Elicia was not done with only one attack. Reaching down, Elicia grabbed the tall man's ankles. Then, she rolled back onto her back, while keeping her feet planted on the tall man. Then, once she was on her back and suspending the man on her soles, she kicked him up into the air.
And while the tall man was airborne, Cana drew another combination of cards and cast another spell.
"[Card Magic: Summoned Lightning]." Cana chanted while pointing the faces of her cards at the airborne foe.
A moment later, three bolts of green lightning shot from the cards and struck the airborne man before Elicia yanked the threads that were still tied around his ankles and slammed him into the floor, cracking it as a result.
"Bang!*
After the impact, the tall man was unmoving. So, Elicia and Cana walked to his landing point with caution.
"Ya think we over did it?" Cana asked as she looked around at the destruction their short battle left behind.
"Maybe a little." Elicia replied. "But considering that we were customers here and we were attacked, I doubt the resort will make a big deal about it."
"*Sigh* I hope so." Cana said as she and Elicia arrived at the tall man's side. Then, she nudged him with her foot a couple times. "Looks like he's down for the count. I'm just glad my dress wasn't ruined."
Tonight, Cana was wearing a revealing black evening gown with navy blue ruffles that revealed the top of her breasts, her abdomen, and most of her back with a slit that reached to the base of her left thigh. Completing the ensemble, she wore a pair of black, open-toed high heels with straps that crisscrossed up her calves.
With that, Cana looked down to see the state that her dress was in. Noticing that it wasn't even wrinkled after being knocked away in Elicia's cocoon, she was pleased.
"Yeah, if he had ruined the dresses I put so much effort into, he would have ended up in a much worse state than he is now." Elicia agreed with a nod.
Meanwhile, Elicia looked down to check the state of her black, sleeveless, Chinese qipao-style dress with baby blue, embroidered phoenix feathers and a pair of slits that reached the base of her thighs on the outsides of her legs. She also wore a pair of black, thigh-high stockings under the dress.
"I wonder if the others were attacked, too." Cana asked as she looked where the bar used to be with pity. "*Sigh* So much good alcohol wasted because of this stupid attack."
"Yeah, they were, but their fine." Elicia replied with a shrug. She then released a lot of her threads and wrapped up the man who attacked them from the neck down. Anyway, let's go and regroup with the others."
Just when the conflict between Elicia, Cana, and the tall man started, Ultear was in conflict with a man and woman by the giant roulette wheel.
"Just answer the question, Doll." The man made of blocks ordered in an unamused tone.
"Yeah, if you answer our question, we won't have to kill you." The cat-like girl added with a vicious smile.
"If you think I'd sell out one of my friends, guild mates, and sisters because my life was threatened, then you don't know much about the wizards of Fairy Tail." Ultear said as she flared her magic power.
"*Sigh* You asked for this." The blocky man said as he raised his right arm and pointed his index and middle fingers at Ultear.
A moment later, the blocks forming his arm transformed into the barrel of a rifle, taking Ultear by surprise. Then, while Ultear was surprised, the girl produced a tube using her magic and flung it at Ultear.
"[Binding Magic: Nekôsoku Tube]." Millianna chanted.
Although she was unsure of what the incoming tube was meant to do as the girl had chanted her spell very quietly, Ultear judged that it was best to not let it touch her. So, she side stepped the tube before making a hand gesture.
"[Ice-Make: Wall]." Ultear chanted.
*Bang!*
*Crack!*
Just as Ultear conjured her ice wall, the blocky man fired the gun on his right arm, cracking but not shattering the ice wall.
"Tch!* The blocky man clicked his tongue at his failed attempt. "Crafty broad."
A moment later, several ice spears grew out of the ice wall as Ultear had casted the [Lance] spell. To avoid the incoming attack, the man and the young woman dodged in opposite directions, something that Ultear was anticipating.
As soon as her two attackers separated, a second ice wall grew from the ground between them. Then, Ultear rushed towards the young woman from behind the first wall.
'It's a good thing Lici convinced me to show off some leg.' Ultear thought as she ran towards the young man. 'Otherwise, I would be kind of restricted in my forms of attack.'
Like the other girls, Ultear was wearing an evening gown. Hers was a simple, yet elegant, sleeveless gown that covered everything from her neck to the base of her right thigh, where there was a slit that revealed her right leg while the rest of the dress reached her ankles. Though, she had kicked off her white high heels with silver accents before she rushed out from behind the first ice wall.
"If you think you can beat me, you've got another thing coming, meow." The young woman said as she took a hand to hand fighting stance.
Like Ultear, the young woman rushed forward. Then, when she was in range, she leapt forward and threw an overhand right at the top of Ultear's forehead.
Remaining calm, Ultear swept her left arm in a circular motion, deflecting the incoming punch. Then, she charged her right palm with [Ice Magic] and struck the young woman in the abdomen, sending her flying back in the direction she came from
*Bang!*
After flying back a short distance, the young woman slammed into the floor and wrapped her hands around her injured and freezing cold abdomen.
"Meow~~~! That hurt!" The young woman shouted in pain. "And I'm so cold! This is meowful!"
Before she could recover, however, the young woman felt the air around her dropping in temperature.
"[Ice Make: Rose Restraints]." Ultear chanted before slamming her palms into the floor.
A moment later, several pairs of rose stems grew from either side of the young woman and intertwined over her body before blooming into ice roses. On top of that, the stems had sharp thorns on them, dissuading the young woman from struggling to free herself.
"[Guns Magic: Prerendering Polygon Shot]." The blocky man chanted after hearing the young woman shouting in pain.
In the next instant, the wall separating the two attackers was turned into polygonal blocks that fell to the floor, revealing the blocky man with his gun arm pointed at Ultear.
"[Ice-Make: Geyser]." Ultear chanted, slamming her hands to the floor once again.
*Bang!*
As soon as she cast her spell, Ultear leapt away from where she was kneeling, narrowly avoiding a bullet. At the same time, from underneath the blocky man, a geyser of ice shards shot up from the floor, sending the man flying into the air and coating him in a thin sheen of ice, resulting in his body reforming to its normal human state.
"Wally!" The young woman shouted in concern as the blocky man, Wally, fell to the floor, unconscious. "I'll make you pay for hurting him!"
"Take it easy, kitty cat." Ultear replied. "He's not hurt too bad. He only fell unconscious because his body went into shock from the sudden change in temperature. Unlike you, I never had the intension to kill. I've got some questions for you, after all."
Hearing that, relief flashed past the girl's eyes. However, she looked away quickly, indicating that she had no intension of answering any questions.
"Don't worry, we have our ways of getting the answers we're looking for." Ultear said with a smile. "but first, I should regroup with the others."
At the same time, at the poker table, Shô was just about to cast his [Card Conversion] spell.
"Shô, please, stop!" Erza shouted with worry in her tone.
Hearing the worry in Erza's tone, Shô had incorrectly assumed that Erza was asking him to stop so that he would not hurt her companion. Unfortunately, he could not have been further from the truth.
Although Erza was asking Shô to stop so that no one would get hurt, she was concerned for his safety, not Alfonzo's.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Lightning Enhancement]." Alfonzo muttered.
In the next instant, Alfonzo's entire body was covered in sparking electricity. Then, he vanished from his chair, leaving Erza floating above it for a brief moment.
By the time Erza landed atop the chair, Alfonzo was standing next to Shô with his palm gripping the back of the blond's head.
"Bad move." Alfonzo said quietly into Shô's ear.
*Bang!* x 2
Then, before Shô could register the new situation he was in, let alone react, he was slammed face first into and threw the poker table before his head created a small crater on the floor below.
'What the hell… Just happened…' Were Shô's final thoughts before losing consciousness.
At the same time, Erza slowly lowered the hand that she had stretched out towards Shô.
"*Sigh* I tried to warn him." Erza muttered while looking down at the unconscious form of her old friend. "But why did he do this?"
"Well, it looks like he wasn't alone." Alfonzo said as he stood up and dusted off his suit with a weak electrical current. "The other girls were attacked, too. We'll see what they wanted after we all gather together."
In response, Erza simply nodded.
"*Sigh* And Erza." Alfonzo said in a gentle tone. "I know you probably don't want to talk about your past, but this time we have to know. This guy is clearly someone you knew from the past, and he tried to attack us. We can't just let this go."
"*Sigh* I understand." Erza said, putting on a resolute expression a moment later. "You all deserve to know… Everything."