Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Cedar.
June 1, x792.
"Hahahahaha!" A petite brown-haired young woman laughed wildly as she, using what appeared to be a broadsword formed from magic power, cut down the defenders of Cedar's port, a combination of Mermaid heel wizards, Final Fantasy wizards, and knights of the kingdom. "You're all so weak. Isn't there anyone here who can put up a fight." {Pic}
Of course, there were wizards on sight who could fight the young woman, Bambietta Basterbine, one of the Spriggan 12 of the Alvarez Empire. But the port had been invaded by four separate fleets of warships. And all of them were transporting a member of the Spriggan 12, namely August, the Etherious Bloodman, Seifer Almasy, and Bambietta.
And those four fleets were all just a smokescreen for August to complete his mission to capture the Fiore Royal Family, though it had already failed. No, had been aborted thanks to August reuniting with his mother and father, Mavis and Zeref.
Meanwhile, Bloodman, Seifer, and Bambietta were ordered to act as distractions. On top of that, there were quite a few soldiers aboard those ships. So many, in fact, that the other A and S-Class wizards from Mermaid Heel and Final Fantasy were being held up, unable to stop Bambietta's rampage.
With no one to stop her, Bambietta cut down her foes with ease. However, just before she could take another life...
*Clang!*
... her blade was stopped in its tracks.
"What?" Bambietta asked in a surprised tone.
Looking at her broadsword, Bambietta saw that it had been stopped by a staff with five claw-like protrusions at one end. She then saw the hand holding the staff and followed it up to its owner's face. {Pic}
"You... You're..." Bambietta said while taking a step back. "Irene Belserion, the Scarlet Despair. A traitor of the Alvarez Empire."
Hearing that, Irene, having just teleported to the port, smiled. Then, with her free hand, she tipped her hat at Bambietta.
"Well, you're not wrong." Irene said in a light tone. "But I don't really go by that title anymore. It sounds far too sinister for a Legal Guild wizard, don't you think?"
Although she heard Ireen's words, Bambietta did not react much. Or rather, she could not react. Ever since she joined the Spriggan 12, she'd heard stories about the three members who she, Seifer, and Greed replaced. And one thing she and Seifer had been told repeatedly was not to fight Irene alone.
In fact, without August, fighting Irene was completely inadvisable. Yet, at the same time, she also knew that she had no way to run if Irene did not want to let her leave.
But there was no way Bambietta would just lay down to die. She had heard of Irene's tyrannical strength and how she tended to decimate her foes both mentally and physically.
'Even if she's as strong as the others say, I should still have a chance.' Bambietta thought to herself as she lowered her weapon as a sign that she did not want to be hostile. 'She doesn't know what kind of magic I use. So, there should be a chance to catch her off guard. And when I get that chance, even if I can't kill her, I can at least injure her severely. Then, I'll definitely have the chance to either finish her off or run away.'
It should be noted that Bambietta was leaning towards the latter option if her sneak attack were to work.
"Oh, it looks like you've heard of my reputation." Irene said, her smile widening as she watched Bambietta lower her sword before letting it disperse into motes of magic power. "Honestly, I was hoping you'd try to fight me. I was hoping to get a little exercise on this trip."
While Irene spoke, Bambietta tried to make herself look as non-threatening as possible. At the same time, she thinly spread her magic power around her, covering the entirety of the port.
Unfortunately, Bambietta was so focused on trying to stealthily spread her magic power that she did not see Irene's smile widening.
"That's right." Bambietta said in a meek tone. "I know I'm not a match for you. So, I'd rather surrender than suffer at your hands."
"*Sigh* If you insist." Irene said in a mock-disappointed tone. "If that's the case, I'll just restrain you. Then, I'll escort you to where we're holding the captured members of your forces. *Sigh* I guess I'm not getting that exercise I was looking forward to."
While speaking, Irene also spread her own magic power. However, instead of just spreading it thinly, she also managed to slip it between Bambietta's magic power and all the things she tried to engulf it with.
"I understand." Bambietta said while slowly raising her hands, looking as if she was going to let Irene slap a pair of anti-magic cuffs on her.
At the same time, with the wide smile still on her face, Irene reached into her cloak and grabbed a pair of anti-magic handcuffs. She then opened them and brought them towards Bambietta's wrists.
Yet, just before the anti-magic cuffs came in contact with Bambietta's skin, her magic power flared to its limit as she threw her hands up above her head. The surge of magic power was so great that it stirred the wind around her. Then... {Pic}
"[Bomb Magic: E Is for Explode]."
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
... Bambietta chanted a spell and the entire port with all the wizards, whether they be from Mermaid Heel, Final Fantasy, or the kingdom's knights, were engulfed in a gigantic explosion. And the shockwave from the explosion blew out many of the windows in the city while tidal waves rose from the sea.
"Ahahahahaha!" Bambietta's shrill laughter sounded as the explosion ended. "So, what if you're strong? I still blew you to smithereens! This is the fate of a traitor to the Alvarez Empire! Ahahahahaha! What Scarlet Despair? You're just another wizard like the rest of us. You can die, too! Ahahahahaha!"
"Oh my… That was quite the impassioned speech."
Immediately, Bambietta fell silent, her laughing expression frozen on her face. And as the smoke from her explosion settled and her eyes made contact with the pair of eyes looking at her with amusement, that expression slowly turned into one filled with horror.
"How is this possible?" Bambietta whispered in terror.
Reflected in Bambietta's eyes was Irene with that same smile on her face, not an ounce of soot on her clothes, nor a single hair out of place still holding the anti-magic cuffs in position to slap them on Bambietta's wrists.
"So, do you still have anything else you want to try?" Irene asked in a mischievous tone. "If you do, I'm okay with that. I haven't really gotten to exercise, after all."
Bambietta did not respond to Irene verbally. Instead, she stared at Irene with a mix of disbelief and terror in her expression for almost a minute. Then, her expression turned into resignation as she lowered her head and raised her hands to be cuffed.
"Oh, that's probably the smart choice." Irene said, a note of disappointment in her tone. "But I really would have preferred if you struggled a bit more. *Sigh* Well, I can't force you to fight, I guess."
*Click!*
With that said, Irene fastened the anti-magic cuffs onto Bambietta's wrists. At the same time, all the fighting on the port came to an end, as well. Not only were all the wizards in the area terrified by the explosion that just went off, but most of the Alvarez Empire soldiers also recognized Irene.
And because they did, the Alvarez Empire soldiers knew they had no chance of winning with the Scarlet Despair on the battlefield. So, like Bambietta, they quietly surrendered, praying that their comrades on other battlefields would be able to gain victory for the empire.
Not long later, both Yoruichi and Squall claimed victory over their opponents from the Spriggan 12, and the Kingdom of Fiore claimed total victory on this battlefield.
Earth land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Skies.
"We're almost there." Ur said from the pilot's seat of the Fairy's Tail. "Are you ready, Lici?"
"I guess.' Elicia replied listlessly. "Honestly, after having to fight Dad and Auntie Bianca, I really don't feel like fighting again today."
"*Sigh* I can't imagine how you must feel right now." Ur said in a gentle tone. "If I had to fight Bianca and Orlando, I probably wouldn't be feeling any better than you are right now. In fact, if I could, I would take your place against that homunculus."
"Why can't you?" Elicia asked with a pout. "You haven't had to fight at all since this whole thing started."
"Because none of you brats ever bothered to learn how to fly the airships." Ur grumbled in response. "If you had, I could be freezing all those Alvarez Empire ass hats into popsicles. But no~~~! I have to run around taking all of you to the different battlefields. I wanna cut loose, too, damn it! Do you know how rare it is to be able to not worry about collateral damage?"
"Not really?" Elicia replied in a sheepish tone. "I mean, I've never really worried about it. I just don't break other people's stuff. I'd hate it if someone did that to me, after all."
"*Sigh* I don't even know how to argue with that logic." Ur said in a dejected tone. "Anyway, we'll be there in five minutes. So, make sure you're ready to go."
"Got it." Elicia replied with a nod. "Oh, by the way… Where is Tear? She knows how to fly the Fairy's Tail, too, doesn't she?"
"Mavis and Alfonzo decided she should face that Dimaria girl." Ur replied casually. "Since she uses [Time Magic], Tear is the best one for the job."
"Oh… Right… Her." Elicia said while smacking the side of her right fist into her left palm. "Yeah, Brandi mentioned her. She's supposed to be pretty strong. But I bet she's got nothing on Tear."
"Naturally.' Ur replied in a smug tone. "Did you forget whose daughter she is?"
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Shirotsume.
Meanwhile, Ultear, who Elicia and Ur were talking about, was exchanging blows with a blonde woman with golden eyes, a slender figure, and an impressive bust wearing a red bandeau, red and black capri pants, golden sandals, a black bracer on her right arm, and golden armor on her left arm and shoulder. {Pic}
This woman was the Dimaria Elicia and Ur were talking about.
*Boom!*
Although the two were exchanging blows, it would be clear to anyone who could actually see them that Dimaria was losing... And badly at that. Though, thanks to her magic, [Age Seal], which was taught to her by the God of Time, Chronos, no one could see the ongoing exchange.
[Age Seal] is a magic that allows Dimaria to stop time in a localized area. Because of this magic, Dimaria was usually uncontested on the battlefield. Able to perform any attack while her opponents were unable to react, or even see her, she gained the epitaphs of Goddess of War and Warrior Queen.
Unfortunately, Ultear, thanks to her mastery over [Arc of Time Magic] and the fact that she outclassed Dimaria by quite a bit in strength, was unhindered in the time stopped area.
And that became clear when Dimaria, after being sent flying into and through the wall of former Duke Everlue's mansion, which caused her to lose concentration and drop her magic for a moment.
*Crumble!*
"How is this possible?" Dimaria asked while climbing out of the rubble that fell from the wall.
"What are you talking about specifically?" Ultear, with her [Soul Armament], Kinsi, on her hands, asked innocently while tilting her head to the side as she approached Dimaria. "Are you talking about how I can move through your area of frozen time? Or how badly you're getting beat up by someone you thought was beneath you?"
Hearing Ultear's tone, Dimaria gritted her teeth. Yet, Ultear did not seem to be waiting for a response.
"Let me answer those two questions in order." Ultear said with a sweet smile on her face. "First, who knows?"
The sound of Dimaria's teeth grinding grew in volume at that answer.
"Second..." Ultear continued while pretending not to notice Dimaria's growing anger. "I'm just that much stronger than you. So, it's natural that you're losing to me, isn't it?"
Hearing that, Dimaria's angry expression immediately disappeared. In its place, she wore a completely emotionless expression.
"[Take Over Magic: God Soul: Chronos]." Dimaria chanted in a flat tone.
With that, Dimaria was covered by the light of her magic power. At the same time, her surging magic power started to put pressure on the surroundings, causing Ultear's hair to whip around in the wind it created.
"Looks like she's finally taking this seriously." Ultear said quietly while smiling at Dimaria. "Good. This was getting boring. I hope she'll be more fun now."