Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.
October, x785.
Around the same time Elicia met up with Rika and her team, Alfonzo, along with Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro, was cutting through the horde Shido brought with him. However, it felt like no matter how many they put down, more took their place.
"I think you over did it, Kid." Kiriko said as she avoided a lunging zombie while using the butt of her spear to trip it and cause it to fall on another. "You basically called every zombie in the town."
"Yeah, but it will make clean up faster this way." Alfonzo replied before chanting a spell. "[Metal Magic: King of Wallachia]."
In the next instant, two dozen black steel spikes sprouted from the ground under just as many normal zombies, impaling them from crotch to head.
["You know no one other than you and Lici will understand the name of that spell, right?"] Bedlam asked with a smirk.
["Yeah, people are gonna look at you the same way they look at Laki."] Riot said with a similar smirk.
"What does that spell name even mean?" Saeko muttered while beheading a C-Class magically enhanced zombie.
["See?"] Riot and Bedlam asked simultaneously.
'Sometimes, I really hate you two.' Alfonzo replied internally.
"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo replied. "It came from a story my mom told me when I was a kid." Alfonzo said dismissively. "Let's just worry about cutting down all these things. We've got a long fight ahead of us."
Nodding in response, Saeko continued to cut through every zombie at C-Class or below that she came across. However, with everyone her sword cleaved through, her eyes would glow just a bit more. On top of that, the smile on her face widened proportionally.
Meanwhile, Kiriko and Souichiro focused almost exclusively on B-Class and above threats. Luckily, thanks to Alfonzo's [thunderstorm] spell, no one had to worry about S-Class threats from within the horde. Though, whenever an S-Class zombie approached from the distance, Alfonzo would swiftly take care of it before returning to helping clean up the weaker zombies.
"That young man is truly impressive." Yuriko, who was firing down on the zombies from the mansion's walls with a magic gun resembling a Tommy Gun, said in an impressed tone. Then, with a small smile on her face, she glanced at Saya as she continued. "It's no wonder you've developed a crush on him in such a short time."
"Mother, must you continue to speak such nonsense?" Saya asked in an annoyed tone. Though, the blush on her face and the way her eyes followed Alfonzo's movements, as best they could considering his speed, gave away her true feelings.
"Saya, Sweetie, if you're gonna act like that, then you'll never catch his heart." Yuriko said in a gentle tone with an equally gentle smile on her face. Quite the jarring contrast considering how many zombies she was gunning down with every passing second. "Why do you think that Komuro boy never realized how you felt about him?"
Hearing that, Saya visibly panicked. And it was clear that she was hoping that a certain someone could not hear her mother's words.
"Mother, what are you talking about?" Saya asked, her voice quite a bit louder than intended, as if she wanted to make sure that certain someone could hear her. "I don't have feelings for Takashi, and I never did."
"Oh my? Why did you get so loud, Saya?" Yuriko asked in a teasing tone. "Is there someone you want to know--- Saya, look out!"
Hearing her mother's panicked warning, Saya was surprised. A moment later, she looked up and saw a pair of A-Class zombies jumping towards her from the horde. Unfortunately, they were moving too fast for anyone on the wall to react. And the only person who was fast and strong enough to do anything, Yuriko, was in the process of reloading her Tommy Gun.
Forgetting about her weapon, Yuriko threw herself in front of Saya and wrapped her arms around her daughter defensively, intending to use her body to shield her daughter. Unfortunately, this would result in Yuriko being both bitten and scratched by the approaching zombies.
"Mama! No!" Saya shouted, drawing the attention of Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro from below.
However, none of them were close enough to stop the zombies before tragedy could befall the mother-daughter duo. Luckily, there was one person among those present that could do so.
"*Sigh* I'm glad he's here." Souichiro muttered as he returned to cutting down zombies. "Still, you monster's will pay for what you tried to do just now. [Sword Magic: Dimensional Decapitator."
In the next instant, Souichiro's magic power started flowing around his sword. However, instead of one continuous stream, it flowed on either side of his blade before meeting at the edge, causing an even sharper edge. And with each swing of the blade, a thin black line was left in the air, cutting through the zombies with next to no resistance.
At the same time, Yuriko finally realized that the expected impact never landed on her back. Then, she opened her eyes. After that, she looked up at Saya's face. Seeing the relief and even deeper blush, she had a pretty good idea what had happened. So, to confirm her suspicions, she looked back over her shoulder.
At the end of Yuriko's line of sight, Alfonzo, floating in front of the wall, was holding the two A-Class zombies by their faces as they clawed at his metallic forearms. However, he seemed to be completely unbothered by their attacks.
"You two alright?" Alfonzo asked from over his shoulder.
"Yes, we're fine." Yuriko said as she released Saya. "Thank you for your help, Alfonzo."
"Don't mention it." Alfonzo said as his arms started sparking with violent electricity. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Spark Cannon]."
With his chant, the lightning coursing around Alfonzo's arms gathered in his palms, destroying the two zombies' heads in the process. Then, as the headless bodies fell to the ground, Alfonzo fired the two orbs of electricity into the horde. And as they detonated on contact, they spread webs of electricity to all the nearby zombies.
"Anyway, it looks like a bit of reinforcement should be here soon." Alfonzo said as he floated Yuriko's magic gun in front of her.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
In the next instant, as if to prove his words true, five gun shots rang out over the battle. And with those five shots, twenty five zombies lost their heads.
"Oh, that's a pretty good shot from so far away." Alfonzo said. "Anyway, I'll get back down there. You two be careful."
With that, Alfonzo flashed. Then, he reappeared in the midst of the horde. This time, with his [Circular Cutters] on his wrist as he dismembered the undead with ease.
"Thank you for saving my mom, Alfonzo." Saya muttered quietly as she watched Alfonzo disappear.
"Oh my, Saya." Yuriko, once again with her gun in her hand, said playfully. "If you speak so quietly, he'll never hear you."
"Mom~~~." Saya whined as she shook her head to focus her thoughts back on the fight.
Meanwhile, the Humvee carrying the knights and Elicia was driving through Takanosu on the road leading to the Takagi mansion. And Elicia and Rika were standing with their upper bodies sticking out of the hatch on the roof.
"*Whistle* There really are a lot of these things gathered on this one street." Rika said as she used her magic to create more ammo.
"Yup, I guess Fonzie thought gathering them all in one place was the best way to deal with them." Elicia replied with a nod. "Especially since he couldn't just blow up the whole town with all the people in it."
"Are you serious?" Crawford, who was still seated in the back seat asked. "Is he really strong enough to do that?"
"Yeah." Elicia replied with a nod. "I mean, he's the only person I've seen who could destroy a lacrima with a magic spell. That's how he toppled the Tower of Heaven, after all."
Hearing that, Crawford, Sato, and Tendo fell silent. Meanwhile, Rika began laughing uproariously.
"I guess he's on par with the Ten Wizard Saints at the very least, huh?" Rika asked after getting her laughter under control. "I wonder if he'll get one of the open slots, then. I mean, after Master Porla and that traitor left, there are two open spots, right?"
"Probably not." Elicia replied with a shake of her head. "I doubt the Council will want two Wizard Saints from the same guild."
With that, Elicia stopped to think.
"Actually, Warrod and Gramps are both from the same guild." Elicia muttered while rubbing her chin. "But since they've both retired, are they not looked at as members of Fairy Tail anymore? Either way, they'd probably give it to Ur before Fonzie."
Getting to that point, Elicia nodded at her own thoughts. Then, she raised her head and looked at the horde once again.
"Anyway, I think we're close enough." Elicia said as she climbed through the hatch. "So, I'll see all of you again when this is all over. Oh, and Rika, I'll take you to Shizuka when we're done, too."
"Good." Rika said as she lined up her next shot.
With that, Elicia nodded her head. Then, she shot out her threads, sticking them into the sides of two buildings.
"[Cross Stitching]." Elicia chanted.
In the next instant, threads appeared between the two buildings. Then, the two buildings were dragged towards the middle of the street, crushing all the zombies between them.
"[Release]." Elicia chanted after the two buildings stopped moving.
Then, as if they were moving in reverse, the two buildings returned to their original positions, the only evidence of their movement the trench that was dug when they, along with their foundations, were dragged into the street.
"Oops!" Elicia exclaimed in embarrassment. "I didn't think the foundation would get dragged along, too."
["Once again, I'm not surprised that you didn't think."] Scylla said in exasperation.
'Scylla~~~!' Elicia whined internally.
Even so, Elicia retracted her threads quickly, throwing herself towards the horde in the distance and leaving a group of dumbfounded knights behind in the Humvee.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Tendo muttered in disbelief.
"Yeah, that was insane." Sato added in a similar tone.
"She literally sewed those two houses together than pulled out the stitching to put them back." Crawford muttered with lifeless eyes.
"Hey, get your shit together!" Rika shouted from the hatch. "You can think about the absurdity of what just happened later. For now, we've got zombies to kill."
"Ma'am!" The three knights shouted in reply as they snapped back to their senses.
Meanwhile, Elicia was soaring through the air as she approached the horde.
'I wonder if I can fix the damage I just crossed with your powers, Scylla.' Elicia said internally.
["yeah, it would work."] Scylla replied.
'Good.' Elicia replied with a nod. 'I thought it might mess up the spacing between the buildings if I did that.'
["As long as you treat it like when you're mending clothing, you should be able to handle it."] Scylla replied.
'Yeah, I guess you're right.' Elicia said. 'Anyway, I'll think about that after we're done with these zombies.'
"Thread Magic: Loosening Spool]." Elicia chanted as she approached the horde from behind.
In the next instant, Elicia plunged into the horde with her threads lashing around her.
Around two hours later, with the moon illuminating the town, Rika put a bullet in the head of the last zombie, bringing the battle to an end.
"Damn, there sure were a lot of them." Rika said as she lowered her rifle.
"Yeah, it's a good thing you can make ammo with your magic, Chief." Tendo said as he climbed into the Humvee. "Otherwise, we would have run out of ammo a long time ago."
"And that's why we're supposed to be just as well trained in the ways of the sword or spear." Crawford said. "Looks like someone needs more training."
"Speak for yourself." Tendo shot back. "I'm just as good with a sword as I am with a magic gun."
"Yeah, sure you are." Sato chimed in.
With that, the knights gave themselves a little time to unwind after such a battle. Meanwhile, Rika lit a cigarette with a smile on her face.
'I'll get to see Shizuka soon.' Rika said to herself while taking a drag from her cigarette. 'And it looks like I'll have some good news for the captain, too. I can see his wife over there with Elicia.'
At the same time, now that there were no more threats in the immediate area, Elicia flung herself into Alfonzo's arms, wrapped her arms and legs around his torso, and buried er head in the side of his neck.
"Fonzie, I'm tired and wanna take a shower." Elicia whined.
"Yeah, me, too, Lici." Alfonzo replied as he reverted Riot and Bedlam to their sealed state, put them in the strap on his lower back, and started combing his fingers through Elicia's hair. "But before you can do that, you need to go fix the mess you made on the street."
"*Sigh* I know." Elicia muttered as she hugged Alfonzo a little tighter.
Then, after a few moments, Elicia let go of Alfonzo and went to stitch the street together. At the same time, Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro approached Alfonzo.
"Thank you for saving my wife and daughter, young man." Souichiro said in his usual tone.
"No problem." Alfonzo replied while waving off Souichiro's thanks.
"Anyway, now that the battle is over, we need to do something with Shido." Kiriko said while glaring at Shido.
However, when Kiriko looked in the direction where Alfonzo knocked out Shido, she was surprised to see that he was not there.
"Oh, he's over there." Alfonzo said, pointing in another direction.
Looking in the direction where Alfonzo was pointing, Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro saw Shido standing up with the same anti-magic harness wrapped around his arms and torso. On top of that, his legs were completely encased in a block of what appeared to be black steel.
"Yeah, he woke up while we were fighting." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "And when he tried to run away, I realized that I forgot to put cuffs on his legs. So, I did that. I was too distracted to do more delicate work during battle."