Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Altair.
October 9, x791.
Seeing the transformations Evergreen and Elfman went through, Franklin showed an expression filled with confusion. Even so, he was still ready to fight and kill the targets.
As for Shalnark, his expression did not change in the slightest. And that was due to his spell, [Autopilot]. Without any conscious thought on his part, he was only programmed to defeat his enemies. In fact, it was so bad that he would not even remember the fight after he implanted the antenna in the back of his head.
"Well, let's finish this, Elfman." Evergreen said as she used her magic power to manipulate the two daggers attached to her blindfold by chains. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to use my [Petrifying Eye] during this fight. It's just too powerful during Medusa's release. I could end up turning the entire street to solid stone, after all."
"Right!" Elfman shouted energetically. "I'll end this like areal man."
"Right… You do that…" Evergreen said, sounding slightly exasperated at her man's overused catch phrase.
However, before Evergreen could say anything else, she was forced to tilt her head to avoid a flying kick from Shalnark. A moment later, a pair of [Fairy Wings] appeared on her back and she flew into the air.
"I'll leave the big guy to you, Elfman." Evergreen said while staring at Shalnark.
"Got it!" Elfman said as he lowered himself into a three-point stance. "Finish that guy like a real man!"
"*Sigh* No wonder Mirajane beats you up so often." Evergreen said while shaking her head.
*Shunk!* *Shunk!*
A moment later, the two daggers shot towards Shalnark. However, the blond Dark Wizard's automated response made dodging look easy. Even so, Evergreen had no intention of stopping there.
While she constantly extended and retracted the daggers to strike down Shalnark, Evergreen also released a large amount of [Fairy Dust], making half of it blend in with he surrounding Ethernano. At the same time, she condensed the other half into needles for her [Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun].
"[Fairy Magic: Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun]." Evergreen chanted as she released volley after volley of [Fairy Dust] needles at Shalnark.
However, thanks to [Autopilot], Shalnark's dodging movements were extremely efficient, avoiding every attack sent his way. Unfortunately, although he, or rather the [Autopilot], was aware that he was being herded in a certain direction, there was nothing he could do about it. Otherwise, he would take serious damage from the [Fairy Machine Gun] and the flying daggers.
Even so, with Evergreen's aerial superiority, Shalnark was completely unable to mount an effective counterattack. And thanks to Elfman taking care of Franklin, he could not count on any help from his teammate, either.
Not to mention, if he were to be hit by the daggers, there was a good chance that he would end up bound by the chains connecting them to Evergreen's blindfold. And if that were to happen, there would be no need to worry about whatever trap that was being set up.
Even so, Shalnark eventually found himself chased into an alley between two relatively tall buildings. On top f that, he found himself reaching a dead end. Even worse, although he could neither see it or sense it with is magic power, Shalnark could tell that there was something dangerous saturating the alleyway.
In mot situations like this, Shalnark would be able to use the walls to escape to the rooftops of the buildings on either side of the alley. But his preternatural senses were telling him that there was no way to get to the top before the trap was sprung.
"Well, it looks like we've finally reached the end of the road." Evergreen said as she looked down at Shalnark from the air near the alleyway's entrance. "I just hope there's enough of you left to identify you as a member of the Phantom Troupe after I'm done. [Fairy Magic: Fairy Bomb: Gremlin]."
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Realizing that Shalnark was not in the proper state of mind after casting [Autopilot], Evergreen did not give him a chance to say any final words. Instead, she triggered an explosion big enough to destroy the three buildings that formed the dead end, sending chunks of building debris flying in all directions and damaging many more of the surrounding buildings.
And along with that debris, a charred body was also sent flying through the air, trailing smoke behind it as it soared through the air in a devastating parabola.
*Thud!*
The heavy thud when the body hit the ground was enough to make weaker-minded wizards flinch and recoil at the image. Yet, Evergreen, who had spent most of her wizarding career hunting down Dark Wizards, barely even registered the impact. Instead, she was more concerned with checking the body and making sure the proofs of subjugation were intact enough to present them to the client.
"Well, although his head and face are pretty burnt, you can still recognize him." Evergreen said as she crouched over Shalnark's corpse. "And the tattoo is still there, too. It's pretty badly damaged, too, though. I hope seeing three quarters of it will be enough for that Kurapika guy. At least the number is still there."
After analyzing the corpse, Evergreen stood up and dusted off her hands with a look of disgust on her face. She then reached into a pouch she wore at her waist and pulled out a scroll.
"*Sigh* These things are really handy." Evergreen said as she unrolled the scroll. "To think, ninjas have been using stuff like this for so long. It's a good thing Alfonzo learned how to make them. Carrying bodies was so much more disgusting before he started selling them to the guild."
As she spoke, Evergreen laid the unrolled scroll on the ground next to Shalnark's corpse. She then, still with that same disgusted expression on her face, kicked the body on top of the scroll before crouching down and channeling her magic power into the scroll.
*Poof!*
A moment later, after a puff of smoke covered Shalnark's corpse, the body had disappeared, stored into the scroll.
"Okay, I'm done here." Evergreen said as she picked up the scroll and began rolling it back up. "Elfman should be done soon, too. When he is, I guess we should check on Bickslow. But I doubt he had any issues, either."
Going back a few minutes, while Evergreen was shepherding Shalnark towards her trap, Elfman had charged towards Franklin, who once again used his [Double Machine Gun] to try and gun him down.
"[Strike Claw]." Elfman chanted as he channeled magic power into his claws, causing them to glow with a brilliant gold shine.
*Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!* *Boom!*
With the stacked speed and agility boosts allotted to him by the [Weretiger] and [Blade Liger Take Overs], Elfman dashed and dodged between the [Double Machine Gun] fire. And for the magic bullets he was unable to avoid, he lashed his claws at high-speed to deflect them.
Unfortunately for the surroundings, every magic bullet that Elfman deflected exploded on either the street, the trees decorating the street, or the buildings on either side of the street, raising the destruction to normal Fairy Tail levels.
Even so, Elfman had no time to pay attention to that. Not that he would have in the first place.
Eventually, however, Elfman was able to close the distance with Franklin, making his ranged attacks useless. Though, that was not to say that Franklin was useless when fighting up close. Thanks to his strong magic power and his skill at channeling it through his body, he was a formidable hand-to-hand combatant, as well.
*Bang!* *Bang!* Swish!* Bang!* *Swish!* Bang!* *Bang!*
And that could be seen in the way Franklin did more than just punch and kick when Elfman got close. Despite his size, he dodged nimbly, and deflected Elfman's claw strikes with precision. On top of that, whenever the opportunity presented itself, Franklin would deliver a devastating counterattack.
"Yeah! This is how a real man fights!" Elfman shouted as he raised the intensity of his onslaught while completely ignoring the attacks that landed on his body and head. "But if you wanna beat me, you'll have to do better than this! Natsu hits harder than this!"
"*Roar* I'll kill you!" Franklin bellowed at the perceived mockery.
Little did Franklin know, however, Elfman was not mocking him at all. In fact, he was completely sincere. Natsu, even without releasing Igneel, really did hit harder than Franklin. And that was the reason why Elfman could shrug off the big man's punches and kicks as he was.
Like that, the two large men stood in the middle of the street exchanging punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and claw slashes. All the while, the damage to their surroundings only increased, and the force behind their strikes was causing the ground around them to crack and crater repeatedly.
Finally, after a few minutes, Elfman's expression changed, a pleasant smile spreading across his face.
"Oh, it looks like Ever--- Urgh!" Elfman began to say before he was interrupted by a punch that landed on his nose. He then shot an annoyed glare at Franklin. "A real man doesn't interrupt someone when they're talking!"
Franklin only grunted in response as he threw another punch.
*Bang!*
In response, Elfman tilted his head, allowing the punch to land on his shoulder. He then reached up and grabbed Franklin's arm.
"Anyway, Ever is done with your partner." Elfman said as he unfolded the blades on his sides. "So, I'll end this, too. I don't' wanna keep her waiting, after all. [Blade Rush]."
In the next instant, Elfman channeled magic power into his claws and the blades growing from his ribs. As a result, the blade, like his claw began glowing with the same golden shine. On top of that, the claws wrapped around Franklin's right forearm dug into the giant man's flesh.
"Argh!" Franklin growled in pain while trying to free himself from Elfman's grasp.
However, before he could make any progress in freeing himself, Franklin's eyes widened in horror as he saw Elfman begin to twisst at the waist.
Then, with a burst of power, Elfman flung Franklin up into the air. At the same time, while using the momentum from twisting to throw Franklin, Elfman leapt up after him, his body spinning with the action.
Then, using the claws on his hands and feet, the blades growing from his sides, and, surprisingly, the golden tuft on his tail, he carved up Franklin's airborne body, despite the Spider's attempt to defend himself with his arms, as he soared past him.
*Swoosh!*
*Splatter!*
As Elfman ascended, his claws, blades, and tail tore through Franklin's defenses with little effort. As a result, by the time Elfman reached the peak of his leap and stopped spinning, Franklin was no longer in one piece, as his arm, legs, and parts of his torso had been torn away from his body, splattering blood and body parts all over the street below.
*Thump!*
A moment later, Elfman, also covered in Franklin's blood, landed near the majority of franklin's body. Shortly afterwards, Evergreen, having already dealt with Shalnark, arrived next to him.
"That was far too inelegant, Elfman." Evergreen said while frowning at the mess covering Elfman all over. She then pointed a finger directly at Elfman's nose as she continued. "You're not allowed to touch me until you get cleaned up. And you'd better wash yourself at least five times before even thinking that you're clean. Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?"
Elfman only laughed loudly as he listened to Evergreen's scolding. Then, he playfully opened his arms and lunged at his girlfriend to give her a hug.
"Eek~~~~~~!" Evergreen shrieked a she created her [Fairy Wings] and propelled herself away from Elfman's grasp.
Meanwhile, as those two played around, Bickslow, with Feitan's corpse being carried by his dolls, approached the duo. And when he saw the damage to the surroundings, he could not help but let out an exhausted sigh.
"Alfonzo's gonna be pissed when he sees or hears about this." Bickslow said in a tired tone.
"Pissed off! Pissed off!" Bickslow's dolls chorused.
"Hopefully he won't hold us too responsible, though." Bickslow continued. "I mean, it's not like those guys gave us much of a choice, right? They started it in the middle of the city. And it's not like they would have just followed us if we asked them to relocate the fight outside the town, would they?"
After asking himself that question, Bickslow could only sigh in resignation. Then, he walked over to join Evergreen and Elfman to break them out of their little, pink world. At least he could remind them of the hell Alfonzo would make them pay for the collateral damage. Seeing their lovey-dovey atmosphere morph into one filled with terror would make him feel better, at least.
Meanwhile, back in the Caine Manor's underground facility, Elicia had been following the five unnatural beings while mentally cataloging the layout. At least, that was the plan until she found Zash Caine, who she figured was down there, somewhere.
"Was" being the operative word.
Because all Elicia's plans went out the window when she came across a certain room.
"What the hell is this?" Elicia asked with her voice trembling, her choice of words making it clear that she was enraged.
["Elicia, you have to calm down."] Scylla,, her tone also shaking with rage, said in response. ["Your magic power control is slipping. If you keep this up, your [Camouflage Magic] is going to fail and you'll alert them of your presence."]
"That doesn't sound so bad right now." Elicia replied, her rage building with every second she looked in to the room. "If they find me, I'll have a good reason to beat them all within an inch of their lives."
["*sigh* Although I agree, now isn't the time."] Scylla said. ["We still need to find proof that Zash Caine was the one who hired the Phantom Troupe to annihilate the Curta Clan. On top of that, we need to find out why he betrayed the Kingdom of Fiore, remember?"]
Unfortunately, thanks to her anger, Elicia was finding it harder and harder to listen to what Scylla had to say as time passed.
And the reason for that was simple. At least, it was easy to understand from a woman's perspective. Hell, from any decent human being's perspective.
In the room Elicia came across, from wall to wall, the only things Elicia could see were women, cages, torture devices, and dried, suspicious-looking liquids. Oh, and there were no small number f blood stains splattered around the room, as well.
And Elicia was not naïve enough to think that all that blood came from just the barely treated wounds she could see on the bodies of the women trapped int eh cages around the room.
"Scylla, some of these girls are barely old enough to be considered adults." Elicia forced out through gritted teeth. "And I doubt they've only been here since they were old enough."
["I know, Lici. I know."] Scylla replied. ["But since we're here, those girls won't have to worry about going through any more of this. But for now, we've got a job to do. Once we have the evidence we need, we'll be able to save them all."]
'Though, I'm not sure if they'll all fully recover from this.' Scylla continued in her mind.
In response, Elicia growled quietly as she turned away from the room. Because she knew that if she didn't get the state of those women out of her line of sight, she would not be able to hold back from hunting down Zash Caine at that very instant to make him pay for what he had done.
"Fine… I'll stick to the mission Fonzie gave me." Elicia said through gritted teeth. "But If I come across him before I find the proof we're looking for, I can't make any promises that I'll prioritize the mission first."
["I wouldn't blame you if you couldn't."] Scylla replied. ["Hell, if I could get out, I'd wanna go make him pay, too."]
Nodding in understanding, Elicia began moving in the direction where the unnatural presences had gone before she found the room. Yet, before he could travel too far, she felt the five presences coming back towards her. On top of that, she could feel the presence of a fairly unremarkable wizard approaching her.
And when the heard the faint sound of a male voice carrying down the corridor, her expression turned from anger into a vindictive smile that promised untold amounts of pain for the one approaching.
"Sorry, Scylla." Elicia muttered in a dangerous tone. "Looks like the mission comes later. At least I'll try to keep the destruction to a minimum. That way, the world outside of the facility won't know that anything is going on down here."
["Well, I guess that's the most I can ask for."] Scylla said, her tone filled with mock disappointment. Though, the similarly vindictive smile she wore on her face made it obvious that she liked this outcome more than just completing the mission. ["Just don't' let anyone get outside. If you do, things will get complicated. Attacking a minister unprovoked won't look good, after all."]
"Oh, I promise…" Elicia said as she strengthened her [Camouflage magic]. "No one is getting out of here until I've done what needs to be done."
With that said, a deluge of nearly invisible threads shot in all directions from Elicia's hands.
Those threads, under Elicia's control, quickly covered every wall, ceiling, and floor of the underground facility. As a result, even if she could not sense all the exits, hidden or in the open, she blocked them from being accessed.
Elicia then began moving quietly towards her prey. A promise to make him, Zash Caine, feel all the suffering he inflicted on the women she found caged up in that room glinting in her eyes.