Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Shirotsume.
June, x784.
While Alfonzo was fighting the Vanish Brothers, Elicia was looking through another office that she came across on the first floor of Everlue's mansion.
"Geez! This guy is a super narcissist." Elicia complained while rifling through a drawer in the desk in the office. "Why does every room in the mansion have a statue of him in it? Even the bathrooms. I mean, seriously, who wants to look at his face while they do their business?"
Later when Elicia finds out what Alfonzo saw when he opened one of the bathroom doors on the third floor, she will end up laughing uncontrollably until she almost faints from a lack of oxygen.
"Ah, I found something." Elicia said with a smile. "This looks like the combination to a safe or something. And I found one of those in the last office I went to. I guess he isn't all that bright. He had to write down the safe combination."
Like that, Elicia stuffed all the papers she found back into the drawer. Then, she left the office, not even caring if Everlue finds out that someone was there. She then returned to the office she found on the second floor. Using the combination she found, she quickly opened the safe that was hidden behind a portrait of… you guessed it… Duke Everlue hanging on the wall.
After putting in the combination, Elicia opened the safe. Inside there was a lot of cash piled up. Along with the cash was a thick folder containing a number of documents.
Reaching into the small bag she had slung over her shoulder, Elicia pulled out a pair of glasses before she started flipping through the documents in the folder.
The glasses Elicia put on were no ordinary glasses, however. Instead, they were a magic item called "Gale Force Reading Glasses." The purpose of these glasses was to increase the speed at which someone could read and retain information. They also came in different reading speed amplifiers, anywhere from 2x to 120x.
Although anyone with magic power could wear any level of Gale Force Reading Glasses, the amount of magic power and mental capacity usually factored into the speed wizards chose to use.
Right now, Elicia was using a pair that amplified reading speed by 100x. She could probably handle more, but she felt as if it would be taxing on her brain. On top of that, Alfonzo, the creator of her glasses, could only create glasses with a 105x amplification. So, Elicia felt that 100x was enough.
"Wow, this guy is a real scumbag." Elicia said as she put down the final document. "The way he amassed his fortune was to take away the citizenship of anyone who owned a profitable business. But that wasn't it. First, he would get them to sign over their business in return for letting them keep their citizenship. Then, he would still take it away after getting his hands on the business to take away their credibility if they ever tried to go to the authorities."
*Boom!*
Then, with her magic power flaring angrily, Elicia punched the wall, causing the safe to fall out and slam into the floor, after most of the wall was destroyed.
"And the next on his list was Fonzie!" Elicia growled in anger. "He wanted all of Fonzie's patents. Everlue, you better hope Lucy beats you up before I get there."
When speaking the last sentence, Elicia's aura turned dark and malevolent. A moment later, she calmed down enough to think properly and put the folder with evidence of Everlue's crimes in her bag. Then, she cast [Hiding in Plain Sight] on herself once again and ran out of the office to find Lucy, who was no longer in the mansion.
"I hope she's in the sewers like she was in the anime." Elicia said as she made her way toward a maintenance tunnel that led beneath the mansion. "Still, I wonder what possessed Lucy to hide in the sewers to read the book? I mean, it must smell horrible down there."
Meanwhile, Lucy, who ran away from the library while Alfonzo was fighting the Vanish Brothers was, just as Elicia hoped, in the sewer system under the mansion wearing a pair of 18x amplification Gale force Reading Glasses and flipping the pages of Daybreak at high speed.
"Alfonzo was right." Lucy muttered as she closed the book. "There really was something hidden in this book."
"Boyoyo!" Everlue's strange laughter sounded out from the surroundings. "Interesting."
Immediately after hearing the laughter, Lucy stood up and reached her hand into the pouch on her waist while holding the book tightly in her other hand. Plus, when she stood up, it caused her skirt to flip up slightly, revealing the whip wrapped around her right thigh.
On a side note, for today's operation, Lucy was wearing a pink tank top with black accents, a black skirt that almost reached her knees, and a pair of open toed high heels with straps that curled up her calves.
"Everlue, you're the worst kind of human being." Lucy shouted with anger apparent in her tone. "How could you to that to Kemu Zaleon? All because he refused to write such a trashy book that painted the trashy you as some kind of hero of justice?"
Instead of responding, Everlue popped out of the sewer floor right behind Lucy and tried to grab the arm she was holding Daybreak with. However, even though it was not for long, she had been training with the rest of the wizards in Alfonzo and Elicia's group of friends. So, her reflexes were better than her canon counterpart's allowing her to twist her body and avoid Everlue's grasp.
However, she did not stop with simply dodging. Instead, while she twisted her body, she through a back heel kick that landed on Everlue's chest, sending him flying backward.
Though, when Everlue hit the floor after Lucy's kick, he tunneled into it once again.
"To think you could react to a sneak attack when I used my [Diver Magic]. Boyoyo." Everlue said with his strange laughter. "but if you think that will be enough, then you're truly underestimating me."
With that said, Everlue shot out of the wall to Lucy's right with his fist extended to punch Lucy in the side. Luckily, Lucy was able to dodge once again. However, Everlue was moving too fast for her to land a kick in retaliation.
This back and forth lasted for a few minutes with neither able to land another hit. Seeing that, Everlue popped his head out of a wall and glared at Lucy.
"I've read that book cover to cover and didn't find anything special about that subpar book." Everlue said with his teeth gritted in frustration. "Tell me! What is the secret of that book."
"Of course you never noticed." Lucy said wither her teeth also gritted. "Everyone knows Kemu Zaleon as a great writer, but not many people know he was a wizard first. And this book, it has a spell on it. So, unless you crack the spell, you'd never see this book's true content."
'She asked me how I could do that to Zaleon.' Everlue thought to himself after hearing Lucy's explanation. "Then, does that mean that Zaleon left a record of all my dirty deeds in that book? Did he know how I accumulated my fortune over the years? No! If that information gets out, I'll end up in the gallows.'
"Give me that book, Girl." Everlue ordered. "If you do, I will leave you with your citizenship and we can pretend that this never happened."
"Hmph! You're trying to use the same trick you used on Kemu Zaleon, huh?" Lucy said with a snort. "Do you think I'm stupid?"
"So he did detail my misdeeds in that book!" Everlue shouted angrily. "I will have that book back at all costs."
With that, Everlue sank back into the wall completely. At the same time, Lucy put the book in her pouch and waited for Everlue to attack again.
When Everlue finally attacked again, Lucy, instead of trying to kick him after dodging, reached under her skirt and unraveled the whip on her right thigh. Then, as Everlue flew past her, she flicked her wrist, causing the whip to wrap around one of Everlue's legs.
In the next moment, Lucy spun on her heels. With one end of the whip in her hands and the other wrapped around Everlue's leg, he was pulled off course. At the right time, Lucy flicked her wrist again, causing the whip to unwrap from around Everlue, sending toward the murky water flowing through the sewer.
"No, how could you do this to the great me~~~~~!?" Everlue screamed as he approached the sewage.
*Splash!*
"That's the perfect place for such a trashy little man like you." Lucy said while remaining on guard.
To her surprise, however, Lucy did not see Everlue surface for the next two minutes.
"OH no, did he drown?" Lucy asked, starting to worry that she might have killed someone. "Should I go in and pull him out?"
Looking at the flowing sewage, Lucy quickly shook that thought away.
"Nah, I'm sure he'll be fine." Lucy said.
A few minutes later, Everlue popped out of the floor in front of Lucy in dry clothes.
"So, you went to change out of those gross clothes, huh?" Lucy said with a smirk. "But you still smell."
Hearing Lucy's mockery, Everlue gritted his teeth so hard that they were on the verge of cracking.
"I'll make you pay for that." Everlue said in a low threatening tone. Then, he reached into the pocket of his suit and pulled out a golden key.
"You're a Celestial wizard, too?" Lucy asked in a disbelieving tone.
"That's right." Everlue replied. "Now, face my wrath! [Open! Gate of the Maiden, Virgo]! Boyoyo!"
A moment later, the huge, pink-haired maid appeared in front of Everlue.
"She's a Celestial Spirit?" Lucy asked rhetorically. Then, she pulled a golden Celestial Spirit Key out of her pouch. "No, there's no time to think about that right now. [Open! Gate of the Giant Crab, Cancer]!"
In front of Lucy, a tall, light orange-skinned man with stubble on his chin and a pair of green lensed sunglasses appeared. This man's hair was black and red and in braids that were pulled to either side of his head, their ends coming together to create the shape of a crab claw. He also wore clothes that made him look like a hairdresser with a light blue striped shirt, darker blue pants with aquamarine strips on the sides, and brown boots.
He also wore a golden neckless, had a ring chain hanging out of his right pocket, a hairdresser's tool kit hanging on the left side of his waist, had six crab legs sticking out of his back, and he held a pair of scissors in his hands.
"Hey, Baby." The orange man, Cancer, said as soon as he appeared. "How would you like your hair done, Miss Lucy?"
"I didn't call you for that this time, Cancer." Lucy replied. Then, she pointed Cancer's key at Everlue and Virgo. "We've got a fight to win."
"Understood, Baby." Cancer said, now focused on the enemies before him.
*Snip!* *Snip!*
Before charging forward, Cancer opened and closed his scissors. At the same time, Lucy swung her whip at Everlue. However, Everlue evaded by sinking into the ground with his [Diver Magic]. So, Lucy flicked her wrist and sent the tip of her whip at Virgo.
With her large frame, Virgo was unable to avoid the fast moving whip. However, she did not need to. Instead, the chain connected to the shackle on her right wrist elongated. Then, she swung her arm and knocked Lucy's whip away.
At the same time, she used her left hand to deflect the attack from Cancer's scissors.
Then, while engaging in hand-to-hand combat with Cancer, Virgo used her chains to also attack Lucy, resulting in the battle turning into a stalemate that lasted for several minutes. Unfortunately, due to her focus being on Virgo for so long, Lucy had forgotten about Everlue.
"Boyoyo! Now you're mine!" Everlue shouted as he popped out of the sewer's ceiling and approached Lucy from above.
Hearing that laugh, Lucy was unable to dodge the incoming attack from Everlue having just avoided an incoming attack from Virgo's chains. The silver lining to this situation was that Cancer would land a decisive blow on Virgo at the same time Lucy was struck by Everlue. She could only hope that this attack would not be enough to take her out.
"Even if you beat me, my friends will find a way to bring you to justice!" Lucy shouted with determination burning in her eyes.
"We'll see about that. Boyoyo!" Everlue laughed victoriously.
Just as he was about to strike Lucy, however, Everlue came to an abrupt stop with his fist less than an inch (2.54 cm) away from Lucy's face. At the same time, Cancer left an X-shaped slash on Virgo's torso, bringing an end to the battle between Celestial Spirits.
"What? What's happening?" Everlue asked as he was suspended in mid-air and struggling to move.
"Duke Everlue, Oh, Duke Everlue." A sweet female voice said from one of the corridors leading to the scene of the battle.
"Lici! You're---" Lucy shouted excitedly before her words were caught in her throat.
When Lucy looked in the direction the voice, Elicia's voice, came from, she was terrified by the smile on Elicia's face. Although it seemed kind at first glance, if you looked into her eyes, you could tell she was furious and out for blood.
"I was going through the safe in your office on the second floor, Duke Everlue." Elicia said in that same sweet tone. "And what I saw made me very angry. You've been a very naughty boy."
"How dare you break into my safe." Everlue shouted angrily after knowing that there was another person who knew about his dirty deeds. "I'll have you stripped of your citizenship for this!"
"No, no, no, Duke Everlue." Elicia said, her smile widening. "I'm gonna hand all that information over to the kingdom and the Magic Council. So, you won't have that power for much longer."
Hearing that, Everlue's fierce demeanor vanished. In its place was an expression of fear and unease.
"And I'll be punishing you personally as well." Elicia said. "You made the mistake of trying to steal everything Fonzie has accomplished. And that's a big no-no."
With at, Everlue's painfilled screams could be heard for the next fifteen minutes. Using her threads, Elicia pulled every hair on top of Everlue's head, eyebrows, and mustache out, one by one. During the process, it looked as if his mind broke. By the end, without drawing a drop of blood, Everlue lay on the floor of the sewers with a creepy smile on his face and not a single hair on his head.
"Ah, I feel a lot better now." Elicia said while wiping an imaginary bead of sweat from her forehead. "Are you ready to go, Lucy?"
Lucy, who had watched the entire scene of Everlue having all his hair pulled out was sitting in a corner and shivering at this new side of Elicia. Even Cancer, who had lived a long time and seen quite a few things, requested that Lucy send him back to the Celestial Spirit World before Everlue's punishment was even halfway over.
'I am never doing anything to piss her off.' Lucy thought as she stood up on shaky legs.
However, before Lucy could respond to Elicia's question, the roof started to shake and pieces of rubble fell, causing splashes in the sewage and cracking the floor.
"We need to get out of here!" Lucy shouted. "If we don't we're gonna get crushed under the rubble.
"Calm down, Lucy." Elicia said with a smile. "Fonzie should be here in a second. He can handle this."
"Huh?" Lucy replied with a dumbfounded expression on her face.
Before Elicia had to explain, all the holes Everlue made in the ceiling and the walls were filled with iron. Even the hole in the sewage canal was filled as well. Then, Alfonzo pumped enough magic power into his fixes to make the iron permanent.
"God damn it! This guy didn't even care about causing his Mansion to collapse into the underground." Alfonzo said as he slowly walked into the open space where the battle took place. "And the worst part is that we would have been blamed for it. Just because we're from Fairy Tail. Anyway, let's get outta here. We've got a quest to complete."
"We can't destroy the book!" Lucy shouted.
"If you say so." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "You're the one who needed the reward, anyway."
With that, Lucy froze. On top of not expecting Alfonzo to not care about completing the quest, she was also frozen because she really needed that money for her rent.
'Ahh~~~~! What do I do?' Lucy wondered to herself as Alfonzo dragged Everlue out of the sewers.
At the same time, Elicia used her threads to take Virgo's key from Everlue and toss it to Lucy.
"That's yours." Elicia said with a smile.
"But you're the one who beat him." Lucy said as she caught the key.
"But I don't use [Celestial Spirit Magic]." Elicia replied. "So, you can have it."
With that, the trio of Fairy Tail wizards left Duke Everlue's mansion and took him to the nearest division of the kingdom's knights where they submitted the evidence of his corruption. The rest would be up to the king.