Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
September 2, x786.
With Riot and Bedlam released, Alfonzo, alongside Retsu, stood opposite Irene, who had taken the form of a western dragon with dark red scales and white feathery wings. Then, after a short standoff, Alfonzo was the first to move.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Lightning enhancement]." Alfonzo chanted quietly.
In the next moment, Alfonzo vanished in a burst of speed with the use of his version of [Shave]. In the next instant, Alfonzo reappeared underneath Irene with his right hand reeled back.
"[Metal Magic: Circular Cutter]." Alfonzo chanted as he swung his arm, with a spinning circular saw attached to his forearm, towards Irene's underbelly.
*Screech~~~~~~~~~!*
Unfortunately, Alfonzo's attempt to cut through Irene's scales was unsuccessful. Despite the fact that he aimed for the softer scales on Irene's stomach.
"Surely you didn't think you were strong enough to harm a dragon." Irene said as she swept her tail at Alfonzo.
Instead of trying to defend himself, Alfonzo flashed away from his position before reappearing next to Retsu once again.
"Is that all?" Retsu asked with an eyebrow raised. "You made it seem as if you had a way to damage her."
"Nah." Alfonzo replied casually. "I just wanted to see how hard they were. And I gotta say, those scales are pretty damn hard. That saw blade was made of adamantite."
"You're just wasting your time, Boy." Irene said in a superior tone. "You're wasting mine, as well. And for that, I think you need to be punished."
In the next instant, Irene flapped her wings before vanishing from her spot in the sky. Not even a moment later, she reappeared above Alfonzo and Retsu. At the same time, she swiped her front claws at the duo.
In response, Retsu distanced herself from Irene using the [Flash Step]. Alfonzo, on the other hand, flashed upwards before reappearing between Ireen's wings. Then, once both Alfonzo and Retsu were no longer in harm's way, Retsu slashed her sword upwards towards Irene's left wing.
"That won't work." Irene said as she once again swept her left claw. "[Enchantment Magic: Sharpness]."
With her chant, Irene's claws began to glow. Then, with little effort, they cut right through Retsu's blade of blood-like liquid. At the same time, she noticed Alfonzo aiming for her left wing as well. However, she ignored him, knowing he did not have the power to damage her.
["Metal Magic: Dragon Slaying Blades]." Alfonzo chanted as he neared Irene's left wing.
*Slice!*
*Roar!*
In the next instant Alfonzo once again appeared alongside Retsu. At the same time, Irene roared in pain while blood splattered from a pair of gashes on her wing.
"How did you do that?" Retsu asked curiously, hoping that Alfonzo had found a way to boost his power momentarily so that she could fight him in bursts.
"I've been studying Gajeel's Dragon Slaying Iron for a long time." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "And we can talk about this later."
With that, Alfonzo once again flashed away from Retsu. Retsu, on the other hand, after seeing Irene's next attack, started slashing her Zanpakuto rapidly at the space between herself and Irene.
"[Sage Dragon's Roar]." Irene chanted as she gathered magic power in her mouth.
A moment later, Irene released a blast of condensed white magic power from her mouth at the ground where Retsu was standing. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, who was expecting Retsu to move away using the [Flash Step] was left with his mouth and eyes wide open after seeing her engulfed by Irene's dragon breath.
"God damn it!" Alfonzo shouted in an agitated tone. Then, he rushed towards the spot where Retsu stood. "What kinda bat-shit insane shit is this? Why the fuck did you just take that shit to the face?"
Before Alfonzo could arrive, however, the area around Ritsu exploded. The shockwave was so strong, in fact, that Alfonzo was forced to stop and cover himself with an adamantite barrier.
A few moments later, when the shockwave passed, there was only a dissipating mushroom cloud left in the explosions place.
"Fucking crazy bitch!" Alfonzo shouted in a tone filled with lament.
"Just who are you calling a crazy bitch?" Retsu's voice said from inside the cloud.
Hearing that, Alfonzo was stupefied.
Usually, thanks to his [Magic Power Detection], Alfonzo would not have been so worried about Retsu. He would have been able to feel her presence, after all. However, thanks to Irene's dragon breath, the area was so saturated with Irene's magic power that he could no longer sense Retsu's magic power. And because of his worry, he did not notice when Retsu's magic power was no longer covered by Irene's
Irene, on the other hand, was also surprised by Retsu's voice. She had no doubt that Retsu would have lived through her dragon breath. However, she did not expect her to sound so… healthy… after doing so.
And just as Irene thought, Retsu was fine. Though, her clothing was a little more damaged than before. However, there were no new wounds. On top of that, her magic power did not even dip too drastically in her attempt to defend herself.
*Swoosh!*
A moment later, with a swing of her Zanpakuto, Retsu blew away the cloud. On top of that, she was leveling quite the intense glare at Alfonzo.
"You're lucky you were so concerned with my well-being, Alfonzo." Retsu said with the most menacing, yet gentle, smile Alfonzo had ever seen. "Otherwise, I would have cut you down where you stand for such disrespectful words."
Hearing Retsu's words and seeing her smile, Alfonzo, for the first time since he sensed Acnologia approaching Tenrou Island, felt a bone deep fear. Because he knew, simply getting cut down would be a merciful punishment from Yachiru.
"Hahaha… Sorry about that, Master Unohana…" Alfonzo said while taking a step back in fear. "I was just worried…"
"I am aware." Retsu replied. "Otherwise, you would be on the ground right now. And I can't make any promises about how many pieces you would be in. But don't worry, I would have put you back together again."
'Yeah, just so you could cut me up again.' Alfonzo thought to himself while forcing a smile.
"But we've spoken enough." Retsu said as she turned her attention back to Irene. "I believe we need to deal with this overgrown flying lizard."
Glad that Retsu decided to change the subject, Alfonzo quickly nodded his head as he, too, turned his attention back to Irene.
Meanwhile Irene had been trying to understand what Retsu did to defend herself. Unfortunately, due to the same reason as Alfonzo's inability to sense Retsu, she did not know what happened in the explosion, either.
"No, I can think about that later." Irene muttered as she shook her head. "Killing this woman will be next to impossible. For now, I should just focus on taking the boy and his women with me. I'm sure Brandish will be able to fend for her---"
"[Metal Magic: Dragon Slaying Wires]." Alfonzo chanted as a number of orichalcum wires with the Dragon Slayer trait extended from Alfonzo's hands before wrapping themselves around Irene's limbs.
On top of wrapping around Irene's limbs, Alfonzo also caused the wires to vibrate at high speed, a trick he picked up from his wife.
"*Roar* Damn you!" Irene shouted as the wires cut through her scales and came in contact with the flesh underneath.
"Something like this was able to bring Acnologia down to the ground." Alfonzo muttered as he flared his magic power to the limit. "So, this is probably gonna hurt like a bitch."
In the next instant, Alfonzo, using half of his remaining magic power as fuel, flowed violet-colored electricity through the wires connecting himself and Irene.
*Roar~~~~~~~~~~!*
In response to the high voltage current flowing through her body, Irene involuntarily roared in pain. In fact, her roar was so loud that it could be heard from both Magnolia and Hargeon. On top of that, thanks to the electricity, her muscles ceased up. As a result, she began to fall from the sky.
"Well, it definitely works." Alfonzo said while nodding happily at his success. "And it's gonna be a really fun night after I make a dragon slaying armor for Erza."
"You can think about the debauchery you are going to have with your harem later." Retsu said as she readied her Zanpakuto for an upward slash. "For now, focus on the matter at hand."
Then, before Irene cold hit the ground, however, Retsu slashed her Zanpakuto upwards several times. Following the lines of her slashes, the blood-like liquid formed into flying slashes that cut into Irene's scales.
*Roar!*
Once again, Irene roared in pain. Then, her eyes turned towards Retsu with hatred brimming in their depths.
"It would seem you'd like to have your eyes removed next." Retsu said with a slightly sadistic, blood thirsty smile on her face.
"No, we're not maiming her." Alfonzo replied sternly. "I've got a lot of questions for her."
"Tch!" Retsu clicked her tongue audibly.
Naturally, Alfonzo was surprised to hear that. However, he continued to glare at Retsu until she finally relented.
"Fine." Retsu said as she rolled her eyes. "But you owe me for this."
"Yeah, I know." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "I'll make a full course meal for you in any style you like."
Hearing that, Retsu's eyes lit up. Then, she put on an unprecedentedly serious face.
"Well then, we should end this as quickly as possible." Retsu said in a solemn tone.
*Boom!*
*Snap!*
A moment later, Irene finally fell to the ground. Shortly afterwards, as she stood to her feet, she snapped the wires wrapped around her limbs. On top of that, while glaring at Alfonzo, the look in her eyes made it quite apparent that she was greatly angered.
"I wanted to bring you back unharmed, Alfonzo." Irene said in a tone of barely restrained anger. "But I think you need to be taught a lesson. After killing this woman, that is."
As she spoke her last sentence, Irene shifted her gaze towards Retsu. When she did, however, she saw a gigantic blade made from the viscous liquid slashing towards her.
In fact, as soon as Retsu finished what she had to say about ending the fight, she began forming the gigantic blade on Minazuki's blade. Then, by the time Irene finished speaking her threat, Retsu had already swung it towards her.
"Argh~~~~~~~~!" Irene screamed as she was slashed by the blade of blood-like liquid.
At the same time, Retsu vanished from her spot next to Alfonzo in a burst of speed while taking the gigantic blade with her. Then, the sound of a blade slashing against scales could be heard repeatedly as Irene flailed her wings and claws to defend herself. Unfortunately, the [Flash Step] made Retsu, the attacker, too fast for Irene to catch.
After a few more minutes, Irene was visibly wobbling on her feet. And from what Alfonzo could tell, it was due to blood loss, which was not surprising. The number of slashed and broken scales all over her body was enough to tell that she was on her last legs.
"It's over." Retsu, who was falling from above Irene's head, said calmly as she drew her fist back.
*Bang!*
*Boom!*
In the next instant, Retsu landed on Irene's head as she slammed her fist down. As a result, Irene lost consciousness before being slammed into the ground.
Meanwhile, Gildarts, Ur, and Tsunade were rushing towards the battlefield. And when they arrived, they were just in time to see Retsu land the finishing blow on the top of Irene's head. However, they were thoroughly taken aback when they saw the dragon, expecting to see a buxom redhead instead.
"Hey, Kid, what's going on here?' Ur asked after snapping out of her stupor. "And why is that... dragon... in such bad shape?"
Hearing Ur's question, Alfonzo turned back to glance at the new arrivals. Then, he turned his attention back to Irene, who lay unconscious amidst a pool of blood-like liquid.
"You guys are just like the knights, showing up when everything is over." Alfonzo replied casually. Then, he pointed towards the dragon form Irene as he continued. "And as you can see, Master Unohana defeated Irene."
"Master Retsu was forced to release her [Bankai]..." Tsunade muttered in disbelief.
"I kinda regret that I missed it." Gildarts muttered as he watched Retsu hop down from Irene's head.
At the same time, all the viscous, blood-like liquid on the ground was sucked towards Minazuki. And as it made contact with the blade, it was compressed. Eventually, by the time all the blood-like liquid was sucked into Minazuki's blade, it was back to the size of Retsu's original nodachi.
"Wait... that wasn't just a liquid that looked like blood, was it?" Alfonzo asked Retsu with an eyebrow raised.
"And what makes you ask that?" Retsu asked as she sheathed Minazuki.
"Because Irene should have shed gallons of blood from the ass kicking she just caught." Alfonzo replied. "However, all of it was sucked into your Zanpakuto. And I'm sure that included Irene's blood, too."
"You're quite observant." Retsu said, her gentle smile making its way back to her face as she grabbed her hair and started braiding it quickly. "Indeed. Minazuki grows stronger by drinking the blood of my foes. And as you can see, it has drank quite a bit over the years."
'It's terrifying how she can say that with such a gentle smile.' Alfonzo thought to himself.
"Anyway, I'll secure the prisoner." Alfonzo said as he began creating an anti-magic harness around Irene's limbs, torso, and wings. "Then, we can head back to Magnolia."
"And where do you expect to keep a 'prisoner' that big?" Ur asked while rolling her eyes.
"In the airship hanger under my house." Alfonzo replied casually as he continued working.
'Of course he has an airship hanger.' Gildarts, Ur, and Tsunade thought simultaneously. 'Wait! Does that mean he has an airship?'
While Gildarts and Ur knew about the Grimoire Heart airship, Tsunade did not. But Gildarts and Ur also knew that the airship in question was safely secured in a bunker in the forest east of Magnolia. So, they had no idea whether Alfonzo had his own personal airship, as well.