Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
May 8, x785.
"Now that the gift giving is done…" Erza said while standing up from her seat on the couch. Then, she shifted her gaze towards Yoruichi. "Yoruichi Shihouin, I challenge you to a duel."
*Sigh* x 8
"And here I thought she had forgotten about that." Mirajane said while placing her right hand on her forehead.
"Did you really?" Ultear asked in atone filled with disbelief.
"Seriously." Lucy said. "You know Erza has a one-track mind. There's no way she would have forgotten about that."
"*Sigh* I know." Mirajane replied while rubbing her temples. "I was just hoping that was the case."
Meanwhile, Sui-Feng clenched her fists and gritted her teeth after hearing Erza's challenge. However, just as she was about to step forward and challenge Erza in Yoruichi's stead, Yoruichi stood up.
"I accept your challenge." Yoruichi said in a determined tone. "And even though I know what I did was wrong, I won't make this easy for you. In fact, if you're not careful, you'll lose… and quite badly at that."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Erza replied with a nod. Then, she turned around and started walking towards the door leading to the mansion's backyard. "Follow me."
Before Yoruichi could take a step forward, the rest of Alfonzo's girls stood up and followed Erza, looking forward to the show. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, who was still seated and just watching the ongoing situation, turned his head to Yoruichi.
"You'd better take this seriously, Yoruichi." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone. "If not, this really won't end well for you."
"I know." Yoruichi replied before following the others outside.
With that, Alfonzo and Sui-Feng, who was left behind with a gob smacked expression on her face, were left alone in the living room. A moment later, Sui-Feng shifted her attention to Alfonzo with an enraged expression on her face.
"How could you allow them to disrespect Lady Yoruichi like that?" Sui-Feng questioned angrily.
"Why are you complaining when Yoruichi didn't say anything?" Alfonzo asked in a bored tone. "Or are you saying what she did to me was okay?"
As soon as Alfonzo finished speaking, Sui-Feng was ready to let her anger answer his question. However, before she could speak, Alfonzo continued.
"Keep in mind, your answer will determine the way you leave this room." Alfonzo said in a much colder tone while exuding a bit of his killing intent.
Immediately, Sui-Feng's mouth snapped shut and she only stared at Alfonzo angrily.
"Look, I know you respect Yoruichi above all else." Alfonzo said in a significantly gentler tone. "But not everyone sees her the same way you do. The fact of the matter is that she did something wrong. And those girls are not happy about it. Still, they are trying to get to know her, despite what it looks like."
"But Lady Yoruichi doesn't deserve to be treated this way.!" Sui-Feng shouted.
"In your mind, she doesn't." Alfonzo replied as he stood from the couch. "But she did something unforgivable in the minds of those girls. So, the fact that they haven't attacked her on sight is something you should be grateful for. Because no matter how strong Yoruichi is, she's not strong enough to fight six S-Class wizards and two A-Class wizards who can put up a fight against an S-Class. And that's not including me."
"Do you really think I would allow Lady Yoruichi to fight alone in a situation like that?" Sui-Feng asked while clutching the hilt of her wakizashi.
In the next instant, Alfonzo's magic power pressure and killing intent flooded the living room
"That's not the real question here." Alfonzo said coldly. "The question is, is there anything you could do about it?"
After feeling Alfonzo's pressure and killing intent, Sui-Feng's grip on her wakizashi loosened subconsciously. ON top of that, she felt her knees getting weak, as if she would kneel at any moment. However, before her knees could give out, Alfonzo retracted his pressure.
"Look, there's something I learned when I was very young. Perhaps you should think about it." Alfonzo said as he started walking towards the back door. Then, just before walking through it, he continued. "Respect is earned, not given. And Yoruichi has done nothing to earn those girls' respect. In fact, she actively destroyed any budding respect her reputation might have earned her."
With that, Alfonzo walked through the back door. Then, he flared his magic power to activate the sigils surrounding the training ground he built in the backyard.
Meanwhile, as soon as Alfonzo left the house, Sui-Feng's legs finally gave out and she slumped to the floor.
"How can someone so young have so much magic power?" Sui-Feng asked to no one in particular. "He's only a little weaker than Master Tsunade. But I wouldn't doubt it if he one day caught up to Captain Unohana."
A moment later, like a whisper on the wind, Sui-Feng heard Alfonzo's voice in her ears.
"Respect. Learn it. Earn it. And return it. That's something my mother used to say all the time before she was killed."
Meanwhile, as Alfonzo and Sui-Feng spoke in the living room, Erza led Yoruichi and the other girls out to the training grounds past the sports courts and the pool.
Here we are." Erza said as she stopped next to a number of poles impaling the ground.
All the poles were of different heights and thicknesses. Which made sense, since they were used for balance and coordination training. As for the area around the poles, it had been flattened long ago. And the reason was simple, Erza and Mirajane used to get into fights all the time. So, whenever they were visiting Alfonzo and Elicia, they would fight around the poles whenever they got into it.
But ever since Mirajane's change in attitude three years ago, the place had not been used for much more than light sparring. But today, it will be used for its intended purpose, once again.
"I see." Yoruichi said as she took off the long-sleeved orange shirt she usually wore, revealing a sleeveless, backless kimono style blouse, a yellow sash tied around her waist, and tight black pants.
"Well then, shall we begin?" Erza asked as she [Requipped] into her [Heart Kreuz Armor] with her [Soul Armament] sheathed on her hip.
"Let's." Yoruichi replied simply as she vanished from where she stood with a [Flash Step].
"Holy crap, she's fast." Marin exclaimed, barely able to keep up with Yoruichi's speed even with her [Magic Power Detection] expanded.
"She really is." Sun replied with a solemn expression on her face.
"Wel, that's not surprising." Elicia replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if she was the fastest wizard on Ishgar."
"Are you serious?" Cana asked, stopping her hand before the liquor bottle it was holding could reach her lips. "Will Erza be okay?"
As if to answer her question, Erza calmly unsheathed her [Soul Armament]. Then, she thrust it behind her at high-speed.
A moment later, Yoruichi appeared less than an inch away from the tip of the sword.
"I see, so you can keep up with my speed with that weird skill Alfonzo and Elicia use." Yoruichi said as she flicked the tip of Erza's sword. "So, he taught it to all of you, too?"
"Indeed." Erza replied as she stepped towards Yoruichi and thrust her sword once again.
"I see." Yoruichi replied while stepping out of the range of Erza's thrust.
"Well, it looks like she should be fine." Cana said in a relieved tone as she raised her bottle once again.
"If you think that's Yoruichi's top speed, you're wrong." Elicia said calmly. "She's just getting started."
*Spurt!*
"*Cough* *Cough* No way." Cana said while wiping her mouth with the back of her free hand. "You can't be serious."
A moment later, Yoruichi once again vanished from sight thanks to her speed, narrowly avoiding a slash from Erza's sword in the process, only to reappear on Erza's right with her right fist reeled back and her long ponytail trailing behind her.
Then, before the punch could land, a second Yoruichi appeared on Erza's right mirroring the first's posture.
"[Utsusemi]." Yoruichi chanted quietly as the two fists landed on Erza's abdomen simultaneously.
*Bang!*
"Gah!" Erza grunted as she was sent flying backwards. On top of that, she felt two impacts instead of one.
*Bang!*
A moment later, Erza slammed into the ground before rolling a short distance. Then, she pressed her left hand against the ground and forced herself up onto her feet. Still, she slid backwards for a few feet due to the momentum.
Meanwhile, all the other girls, other than Elicia, looked on with shocked expressions on their faces.
"What the hell was that?" Cana asked in a confused tone.
"Yeah, it was like he got hit by two Yoruichi's at the same time." Marin asked with her eyes opened wide.
"I guess that wasn't just hyperbole." Ultear muttered. "She really is that fast."
"She is." Elicia replied with a nod. "She's fast enough to leave tangible after-images. I'm not sure about her limit, though."
Hearing that, all the girls' expressions turned solemn as they continued to watch.
"*Cough* I guess it doesn't matter if I know where the attack is coming from if I'm too slow to do anything about it." Erza said with a cough.
"That's right." Yoruichi replied. Still, the fact that you were able to raised your left arm to block is impressive."
Hearing that, the girls looked at Erza's left arm instinctively. And what they saw were two fist shaped indents on her gauntlet near the wrist and elbow.
"Still, that won't be enough." Erza replied. "[Requip: Black Wing Armor]."
After the light of her magic shined for a moment, Erza was now seen donning her [Black Wing Armor]. Then, as soon as the light faded, her silhouette blurred as she dashed forward with the wings on her armor spread.
*Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!* *Swish!*
Once in range, Erza unleashed a flurry of precise sword strikes. However, like before, Yoruichi was able to dodge them. Though, the margin for error had been reduced significantly. On top of that, Erza's movements were speeding up with every strike.
"When did Erza get so fast?" Mirajane asked while following Erza's movements with her eyes and [Magic Power Detection].
"It probably has something to do with Astraia." Ultear replied. "I mean, you remember when she released her power to stop the fight in the guild a few weeks ago? Then, she slammed face first into a wall? I bet she started training intensively to control that kind of speed since then.'
"I see." Mirajane replied. "Makes sense."
At the same time, Mirajane clenched her fists.
'I won't fall behind her.' Mirajane thought. 'Just wait until my [Soul Armament] awakens, I'll finally surpass you, Erza.'
Meanwhile, Erza was getting closer and closer to landing a hit on Yoruichi. On top of that, she was able to evade, block, or parry any of the punches or kicks Yoruichi countered with.
Then, during one exchange, Yoruichi threw a front kick at Erza's abdomen, which Erza blocked with the flat of her sword. In response, Yoruichi added some extra force to her blocked kick to force herself away from the red-headed swordswoman. However, while Yoruichi's feet were off the ground, Erza's eyes glinted.
"[Black Wing: Moon Flash]." Erza chanted as the wings on her armor flapped strongly.
In the next instant, Erz's silhouette blurred once again. Then, she appeared behind Yoruichi having just slashed her sword. A moment later, a cross-shaped tear appeared on Yoruichi's blouse.
"Wow, she almost got her!" Marin exclaimed excitedly.
"Yeah, she made me use my top-speed to evade that one." Yoruichi said as she appeared in front of Erza with her left arm extended to the side. "[Taketonbo]."
*Bang!*
Then, before anyone understood what was going on, Erza slammed onto the ground, back first.
"*Cough*" Upon impact, Erza coughed as the wind was knocked out of her.
At the same time, the Yoruichi with damage clothing faded away. And when the girls saw that, they could not help but gawk in amazement. Meanwhile, the real Yoruichi, who had just thrown Erza, stood over her while twirling her left side bang around her finger.
'Damn, that was a lot closer than I thought.' Yoruichi said as she made a small blade of magic power on one of her fingers to discreetly cut a small amount of hair from her bang. 'It's a good thing no one noticed that my bangs were uneven.'
"Yeah, trimming your bangs is probably a good idea, Yoruichi." Alfonzo said as if he had been waiting just to prove Yoruichi's thoughts wrong. "It would have looked pretty awkward if your side bangs were uneven, after all."
With that, Alfonzo drew everyone's attention as he walked towards the group watching the duel.
"*Sigh* It wouldn't have killed you to keep that to yourself, would it?" Yoruichi asked with a wry smile on her face.
"Nope, it sure wouldn't have." Alfonzo replied while shaking his head. "but no one would have known how close to losing you were if I didn't say it."
Then, Alfonzo's expression became serious as he continued.
"Like I told you before, you better take this seriously or you'll lose." Alfonzo said sternly. Then, he pointed towards Erza, who was picking herself up from the ground. "On top of that, as a warrior, she deserves that much respect."
Hearing that, Yoruichi turned her attention to Erza, who was still staring at her with fire in her eyes.
"You're right." Yoruichi said with a nod as her expression became serious, as well. "I'll show you all I've got then."
With that, Yoruichi's magic power flared as her arms were covered in arcs of white lightning. On top of that, a pair of wings, also formed from white lightning, appeared on her back.
"Finally, you're taking this seriously." Erza said with a smile. "Then, I'll do the same. [Deliver Justice as Swiftly as the Wind, Astraia]."
In the next instant, Erza's magic power spiked to five times its normal amount. On top of that, the two pairs of folded fairy wings that served as Astraia's handguard spread, as well.