Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Tatsumi Port Island.
June 22, x788.
*Rattle!* *Rattle!*
Listening to the sound of the chains rattling draw nearer, Alfonzo, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca readied themselves for battle.
"Does something of this level even belong in this tower?" Alzack asked as he watched the entrance they used to enter the last room like a hawk. "I mean, what if those kids ran into something like this? They wouldn't even be able to move, would they?"
"Instead of thinking about how those kids would survive, we should be thinking about how we're going to survive." Alfonzo reminded solemnly. Then, he swept his gaze over his teammates. "Alzack, Bisca, as soon as it is in your sight, I want you two to light it up with as many elements as you can. We have to find its weakness."
'But if it's anything like the one in the game, that will probably be useless.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'If I remember correctly, it was neither weak nor resistant to anything. But it had a shit-ton of health and hit like a fucking truck.'
Unaware of Alfonzo's thoughts, Alzack and Bisca nodded their heads as they readied the magazines they would be using for their initial barrages. Meanwhile, Alfonzo turned his attention to Elicia.
"I think we're gonna have to use Riot, Bedlam, and Scylla for this." Alfonzo said solemnly.
"I know." Elicia replied. "This thing is almost as strong as Irene back when you and Master Unohana fought her. So, it's not gonna be easy."
"I know, but we have no choice but to fight." Alfonzo said with a daring grin. "Fairy Tail wizards don't fail quests, after all."
Elicia smiled back in response.
Meanwhile, Mitsuru was once again stunned by the level of power she was sensing. At the same time, Akihiko and Yukari stopped their training after hearing the conversation over the comms.
"It looks like they're about to face something dangerous.' Akihiko said in a serious tone. "I kinda wish I was there, too."
"No, you don't, Akihiko." Mitsuru said in a shaky tone. "The thing they are about to face is like nothing I've ever felt before. It's so dark and sinister."
"If it's as bad as you say, why aren't they running away?" Yukari asked in a worried tone.
"You heard them already, didn't you?" Mitsuru asked as she glanced at Yukari. "It's because of their pride as wizards of Fiore's strongest guild."
"But is pride worth risking their lives for?" Yukari asked.
"Only the individuals involved in the situation can answer that." Akihiko said.
Back on the eighteenth floor, the wizards from Fairy Tail were finally able to see the approaching calamity. Stepping into the room they just left was a 12' tall humanoid figure wearing a long, black hooded robe with red accents and a pair of black gloves carrying a scythe over its left shoulder and an extremely long barreled revolver in its right. And based on the small part of its lower face that was not covered by the shadows from the hood, its head was more than likely nothing but a skull.
"Alright, guys, let's do it." Alfonzo said as he flared his magic power. "[Run Wild with Destruction on your fingertips. Usher in Pandemonium with Creation in your hands. Riot, Bedlam]."
"[Mend the Seams of Reality, Scylla]." Elicia chanted at the same time as Alfonzo.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
Meanwhile, Alzack and Bisca fired as many magic bullets of as many magic elements as they had. As a result, the room they just exited was lit up with the colors of all sorts of magic spells. And had it not happened in such a desperate situation, it would have been quite the sight to admire.
"Mitsuru, was there any luck?" Alzack asked over the comms while he changed the magazines in his pistols. "With all the magical explosions, we can't see if it was knocked down or not."
{"Unfortunately, nothing has changed from what I can see."} Mitsuru replied.
"Does that mean it's not weak to any elements?" Bisca asked as she continued to shoot.
{"That's correct."} Mitsuru replied. {"But it doesn't seem to be resisting any, either."}
*Rattle!* *Rattle!*
Eventually, the gunfire came to an end and all the magical explosions died down, as well. However, as soon as they did, the sound of rattling chains was still continuing at the same pace. On top of that, it was even closer than before.
"We didn't even slow it down." Alzack said in a shocked tone.
At that moment, the Reaper came to a stop. Then, it took its scythe off its shoulder and slammed the butt of the shaft onto the floor. In the next instant, a wave of [Darkness Magic] spread towards Alfonzo, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca from the point of contact.
'Shit!' Alfonzo exclaimed internally as he sprung forward before slamming his palms onto the floor. 'That's definitely this world's version of [Mamudoon]. That's a fucking insta-kill spell. Even if it's accuracy is low, I can't chance anyone getting hit by it.'
"[Metal Magic: Anti-Magic Barrier]." Alfonzo chanted just as his hands came into contact with the floor.
In the next instant, an adamantite shield inscribed with anti-magic sigils sprung up from the floor in front of Alfonzo and covered everyone from being hit with the wave of [Darkness Magic]. However, before Alfonzo could breathe a sigh of relief, the Reaper, in a burst of speed, disappeared from where it stood. When it reappeared, it was standing behind Bisca with its scythe raised and ready to cut her in half.
"Shit!" Alfonzo exclaimed as he was covered in violet lightning.
"Bisca!" Alzack shouted in a terrified tone as he aimed his pistols at the Reaper.
Unfortunately, before Alzack could pull the triggers or Alfonzo could close the short distance, the Reaper swung its scythe.
Meanwhile, Bisca, despite her impending death, [Requipped] her sniper rifle, Last Kiss, and aimed at the Reaper's head with resolve burning in her eyes.
Lucky for Bisca, she, Alfonzo, and Alzack were not the only ones present. Because the Reaper's scythe was forced to a stop by a large number of threads wrapping around its handle just before it cut through Bisca's waist.
"Hurry up!" Elicia said as he used all her might to pull the threads that were wrapped around the shaft of the Reaper's scythe. "This thing is too strong! My threads are about to break."
*Bang!*
As soon as Elicia's words fell, Bisca pulled Last Kiss's trigger. An instant later, the high-caliber bullet was flattened when it struck the Reaper's skull. Even so, it caused the Reaper's head to jerk back as it stumbled a step backwards.
Then, just as the reaper's foot touched the floor, a pair of short swords flowing with violet electricity were stabbed into its chest. Then, in a flash of violent lightning, it disappeared from where it stood.
*Boom!*
A moment later, the sound of something powerfully impacting a wall echoed through the surroundings. On top of that, a dust cloud was formed from the impact. However, it was dispersed quickly enough.
*Bang!*
And the force from the Reaper's long-barreled revolver was the reason for that. However, when everyone saw the scene behind the dust cloud, they only saw the Reaper with a pair of short sword hilts sticking out of its chest while a high-temperature swirling flame dissipated in front of it.
However, there was a strange point about the swords sticking out of the Reapers chest. And that was the fact that they were slowly melting. However, instead of falling to the floor, the liquid metal was seeping into the wounds.
"[Zig Zag Stitching]." Elicia chanted as she fired several of the golden scales on her hand towards the Reaper.
Along the way, the golden scales turned into golden needles with dragon motifs. On top of that, all the needles were threaded with Elicia's threads. And because this enemy was so powerful, she did not use her normal threads. Instead, She expended the extra magic power to create Vibranium Threads.
Then, all the needles shot through the Reapers robes and penetrated the wall behind it. After that, Elicia flicked her fingers repeatedly to sew the Reaper to the wall, as if she were sewing a patch onto a shirt.
"Hopefully, that will hold him for a while." Elicia said as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "You guys can go all out now."
Immediately upon hearing that, Alzack switched the magazines in his pistols. Then, he fired several shots at the Reaper.
"[Guns Magic: Thunder Fire Shots]." Alzack said with some venom in his tone. "You'll pay for trying to take my Bisca away from me."
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
Every time Alzack pulled the triggers of his pistols, a bolt of lightning was fired from his left pistol while a fire tornado was shot from his right. And when they collided with each other and the center of the Reaper's chest, they would explode into a flaming thunder storm. And every successive shot that landed would increase the scale and intensity of the storm.
Despite all the firepower landing on it, the Reaper was still capable of fighting. However, it was incapable of freeing itself from Elicia's stitching so quickly. So, it gave up on closing the distance with the Fairy Tail wizards. Instead, it flexed its wrist and pointed its long-barreled revolver at Alzack, who was still firing at it. Then, it pulled the trigger.
Despite firing its revolver, no bullet came flying. Instead, the ethernano around Alzack began to move and heat up.
"Damn it..." Alzack muttered as he realized he did not have enough time to evade the coming attack.
"Alzack! No!" Bisca shouted in a panicked tone.
However, just as the moving ethernano was converted into a swirl of [Fire Magic], Alzack was knocked to the side by Alfonzo, who appeared from a purple flash. Unfortunately, there was not enough time for him to move away before the spell activated.
"*Boom!*
The swirling flames immediately engulfed Alfonzo and a small area around him.
"Damn it! Alfonzo, are you okay?" Alzack asked frantically.
"Calm down, Fonzie is fine." Elicia said calmly. "Just focus on getting rid of this thing. [Running Stitch]."
With her latest chant, Elicia once again shot dragon motif needles and threads from her hands. And those threads quickly wrapped around the barrel of the revolver before the needles penetrated the wall and pinned the gun to it.
"Lici's right." Alfonzo said calmly. "It takes a lot more than that to take me out."
With that said, Alfonzo swept his left arm to the side, dispersing the swirling flames to reveal that he was mostly unscathed. And the reason for that was because he was wearing armor that looked remarkably similar to Erza's [Flame Empress Armor]. Though, the design was clearly meant for a male.
"I guess I can call this [Flame Emperor Armor], huh?" Alfonzo asked with a smile. "That son of a bitch burned my hair, though."
Just as Alfonzo said, his dreads, which were pulled into a ponytail and hung down to the middle of his back, had been burned away to the point that it only reached his shoulders.
"I just hope little man isn't too disappointed when he sees how short Daddy's hair is." Alfonzo said as his smile turned blood thirsty.
In the next instant, Alfonzo vanished from his spot in a burst of speed. When he reappeared, he was kneeling in front of the Reaper with his right palm facing the reapers chest while his right arm was sparking with arcs of violent electricity.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Linear Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted as a basketball-sized chunk of orichalcum materialized between his palm and the Reaper's chest.
"Uh oh! Brace for impact again!" Elicia shouted as she used her threads to pull Alzack and Bisca to her side.
In the next instant, Elicia created a cocoon of Vibranium Threads around herself, Alzack, and Bisca. At the same time, Alfonzo slammed his palm onto the surface of the basketball-sized chunk of orichalcum.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
If one were to look from the outside of Tartarus, they would see a line of superheated air connecting a wall of the tower with the sky. However, they would be quite surprised by the fact that there were so many cracks in the side of the tower, yet no rubble fell to the ground.
However, things inside the tower were quite different. The impact that destroyed a good portion of one of Tartarus' walls caused large pieces of rubble to fall from both the walls and ceiling of the eighteenth floor. At the same time, the entire tower shook as if it was going to collapse at any moment.
Luckily for those inside, that did not happen.
"I think I went a little overboard." Alfonzo muttered as he looked at the hole he created in Tartarus' wall, as well as all the debris that fell from the ceiling. "At least I got him, though."
"Fonzie, you call this 'a little overboard'?" Elicia asked as her threads burrowed out of the debris covering her cocoon. "Would it take bringing down the entire tower before you thought you went truly overboard?"
Alfonzo could only smile sheepishly without trying to defend himself.
"Anyway, I'm pretty tired." Alfonzo said in a blatant attempt to change the subject. "Using that much magic power at one time during the Dark Hour really tired me out. Let's find a teleporter and end the exploration early."
As he spoke, Alfonzo created construction tools to help Elicia dig herself, Alzack, and Bisca out of the pile of rubble. And after only about five minutes, they were able to clear a path for the three.
When Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca were freed, Elicia rolled her eyes at Alfonzo while Alzack and Bisca smiled awkwardly. Even so, neither of the three objected to Alfonzo's suggestion. So, Alfonzo and Elicia resealed their [Soul Armaments] and they did their best to navigate the floor with Mitsuru's assistance.
On a side note, when Elicia saw how much of Alfonzo's hair was burned away, she almost started crying. And it was not because his hair got shorter. Instead, it was because of how much work she had done over the years to keep Alfonzo's dreads looking as good as they did.
Unfortunately, there were no teleporters on the eighteenth floor. So, they had to climb up to the nineteenth floor. However, there was no teleporter on the nineteenth floor either. Nor was there one on the twentieth.
They did manage to find one on the twenty-first floor, though. And when they saw that it was one of the two-way teleporter platforms to the right of a long flight of stairs, they decisively climbed on.
"Nope, not dealing with one of those guardians today." Alfonzo said. "I'm just too tired for that shit."
In response, the other three only nodded their heads. A moment later, Alfonzo activated the platform and the three were teleported back to the first floor.
Unfortunately, if they had not been so exhausted from fighting their way up the last three floors after fighting the Reaper, they would have noticed that there were no magic power signatures, other than a treasure chest that could not be opened on the twenty-first floor.
"Do you guys have to almost destroy the tower every time you fight something strong?" Yukari asked in a tone that let everyone know she was still shaken from the earlier episode.
"Sorry, but if I didn't go all out, I don't know how long we would have been fighting that thing." Alfonzo replied. "But at least we killed it."
"Are you sure that was the Reaper, though?" Akihiko asked. "Maybe it was just a strong Shadow that gave off that impression."
"I'm sure." Mitsuru said, replying to Akihiko's question in place of the Fairy Tail wizards. "Penthesilea relayed the information to me."
"Well, if Mitsuru says so, then I guess it's true." Akihiko replied with a shrug.
"Anyway, *Yawn~~~~~* I wanna go back, take a shower, and go to bed." Elicia said in a sleepy tone. Then she turned to Alfonzo and jumped on his back. "Fonzie, carry me."
"You act like you're the only one who's tired." Alfonzo said grumpily.
Even so, Alfonzo did not make Elicia get off his back. Instead, he piggy-backed her while everyone left Tartarus and headed back for the night.