Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Altair.
October 9, x791.
Standing about twenty-five feet apart from each other, Ultear and Bonolenov stared each other down. Though, that would be slightly inaccurate.
While Bonolenov was glaring at Ultear, Ultear was looking at all the holes all over Bonolenov's body with interest.
"So, what happened to you?" Ultear asked while pointing at the holes on Bonolenov's body, unable to hide her curiosity any longer. "Were you born like that? Are they from experiments? Or are they old injuries that never healed?"
"None of the above, actually." Bonolenov replied, his tone making him sound rather gentlemanly. "Rather it is a tradition of my tribe, the Gyudondond Tribe. Though, I doubt you've ever heard of them. They are a rather small tribe, after all."
"I see." Ultear replied with a nod. "How fascinating."
*Boom!*
Before the conversation could continue, both Ultear and Bonolenov were forced to move away from where they were having their conversation, as an explosion of magic power caused by Sun and Phinks resulted in the area being belted by flying drops of [Water Magic] that riddle the area with small craters and holes.
"Yeah, I guess this isn't the right place to have an intellectual conversation, huh?" Ultear asked with a shrug. "Oh well, I'll have to do some research on my own after this quest is over. It's too bad I won't be able to get any information from you after this, though."
"Researching about my tribe will be rather difficult when you're dead." Bonolenov replied calmly. "It's quite a pity. Finding someone who was genuinely interested in finding out more about my tribe is quite the rarity."
"We'll see about that." Ultear said as she made her casting gesture. "Anyway, we've talked for long enough. I'll make this quick. [Ice-Make: Lance]."
After chanting the name of her spell, Ultear thrust her hands forward. A moment later, a sheet of ice, nearly seven feet in diameter, formed in front of her. Then, a little more than three dozen ice lances shot out from the sheet.
Seeing this, Bonolenov's expression tightened. The sheer amount of magic power in those lances made Bonolenov take the situation seriously. In the next moment, a song began to resound through the area. And the source of that song, which sounded like tribal music, was the numerous holes all over Bonolenov's body.
"[Conjuration Magic: Battle Cantabile: Prologue]." Bonolenov chanted.
A moment later, the soundwaves, mixed with Bonolenov's magic power, began to materialize around Bonolenov. Then, in the blink of an eye, his attire changed from only wearing boxing trunks to tribal warrior's attire. On top of that, a spear appeared in his right hand, as well.
Then, just as the ice lances entered the range of Bonolenov's spear, he thrust it forward at high-speed.
*Shatter!* *Shatter!* *Shatter!* *Shatter!* *Shatter!*
Over and over again, Bonolenov thrust his spear, each thrust precisely striking one of Ultear's ice lances. Yet, to his surprise, though he did not take any damage, the force behind each lance forced him to step back. And had it not been for his training, he would have been thrown off balance and skewered by more than a few of the ice lances.
Seeing that her [Lances] were easily dealt with, Ultear did not rush forward to once again engage in close-quarters-combat. Instead, she raised her hands to make her casting gesture again.
"Let's see how you deal with this." Ultear said calmly. "If you can get through this unscathed, I'll really take things seriously. "[Ice-Make: Gatling Gun]."
In the next instant, ice began forming near Ultear's right hip. It then took the form of a six-barreled gatling gun that Ultear grabbed with both hands.
"What is that?" Bonolenov asked cautiously as he took a defensive stance with his spear.
*Whirl~~~~~~~~~~!*
However, Ultear had no interest in explaining her construct. Instead, she immediately began operating the [Gatling Gun] as soon as it finished forming, the sound of the barrels spinning making a piercing sound that echoed over the battlefield.
*Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!*
A second later, small ice bullets were fired from the spinning gun barrels at the rate of nearly 1,100 rounds per minute. Unfortunately, despite his immense speed, only bolstered by his [Battle Cantabile: Prologue], no matter how fast Bonolenov was able to thrust and retract his spear, there was no way he could strike down every ice bullet Ultear fired at him.
So, instead of even trying, Bonolenov wrapped himself in his magic power, increasing his defense. At the same time, using all of his focus, he aimed his spear forward, thrusting it at the ice bullets that he was sure would land on vital spots.
*Splatter!* *Splatter!* *Splatter!* *Splatter!**Splatter!*
Unfortunately, that meant that more than a few of the ice bullets were able to hit Bonolenov, tearing through his body while splattering his blood all over the street while riddling the street and walls behind him with bullet holes.
*Clank!*
*Pant!* *Pant!* *Pant!*
As soon as the barrage ended, Bonolenov, breathing heavily and covered in his own blood, almost collapsed forward. Yet, before he tipped over, he slammed the butt of his spear onto the ground, forcefully steadying himself.
At the same time, Ultear, seeing Bonolenov's state, dissipated the [Gatling Gun] and started walking towards the injured man.
*Click!* *Click!* *Click!*
Hearing the sound of Ultear's high heels clicking against the street as she approached, Bonolenov struggled to raise his head. With his vision blurry from blood loss, Bonolenov's gaze eventually landed on the approaching Fairy Tail wizard.
And when Ultear looked into Bonolenov's eyes, she could see the unwillingness that shone in their depths. However, she could also see that Bonolenov no longer had the strength to continue the fight.
"It's over." Ultear said softly.
Unfortunately, Bonolenov was unable to respond, his body too weakened from blood loss to speak. The only thing he could do was stare at Ultear viciously.
"Don't look at me like that." Ultear said as she continued to approach while once again making her casting gesture. "You should have known this day would come eventually. Unfortunately for you, the quest to subdue you found its way to Fairy Tail. And that... sealed your fate. [Ice-Make: Dagger]."
As she chanted, Ultear pushed her hands forward. A moment later, a slender, double-edged dagger materialized in front of her hands. Then, just as it started to fall, she gripped the hilt, snatching it out of the air.
*Swish!*
At the same time, Ultear arrived within arm's reach of Bonolenov. Then, without any hesitation, she swung the ice dagger, slitting Bonolenov's throat with no hint of mercy in her expression.
Bonolenov did not widen his eyes when his throat was split. As Ultear said, he, and all the other members of the Phantom Troupe, expected that they would be killed someday. However, like most strong people, they were arrogant, not thinking that there was anyone strong enough to kill them before they were able to escape.
Most of them even knew about Fairy Tail and its strongest members. Unfortunately, they had no way of assessing just how powerful those members were. If they did, they would have never looked for an opportunity to find out if they were the ones who killed Uvogin or look for chances to ambush them. Instead, they would have packed up and left Stella without even thinking about Zash Caine's commission.
Unfortunately, Bonolenov was in no position to think about what could have been if the Troupe had handled this situation differently. Right now, the only thing he could do was hope that someone could get away as his consciousness faded into darkness.
*Thud!*
A moment later, Bonolenov's warrior attire and spear dissipated, leaving him in only his boxing trunks, as he fell to the ground lifelessly.
"*Sigh* Well, that was a bit disappointing." Ultear said as she reached into her cleavage and pulled out a storage scroll. She continued while unrolling the scroll. "Kinsi is getting upset that I never use her in real fights anymore. But what can I do? There just hasn't been anyone strong enough to make me fight them all out since the Grand Magic Games."
While mumbling to herself, Ultear [Sealed] Bonolenov's corpse in the scroll before putting it away. She then turned away from the battlefield and started walking towards Cana's location.
"Anyway, Sun just finished up, too." Ultear said. "But it doesn't even seem like Cana has started yet. I wonder what's going on with her. She's usually the least patient one of us. Well, I'll just go check."
Earth Land, Ishgar, Era.
At the same time, in the Magic Council building in Era, a communications officer was frantically running through the hallways. However, instead of a panicked expression, he wore what appeared to be a nostalgic expression.
'It's been years since we've received a report like this.' The communications officer thought to himself as he approached the Council's meeting room. 'I wonder what the other Councilors will think when they hear this report. Well, they probably won't react as strongly as the former Council usually did. I mean, none of the former guild masters seem to hate Fairy Tail as much as the old Council did. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing their reactions for old time's sake.'
Meanwhile, most of the members of the current Magic Council were gathered in the meeting room discussing the Phantom Troupe subjugation. And from the expressions on most of the former guild master's faces, it was clear that Fairy Tail were not the only ones who have tried to complete this quest since it was first posted.
"Jura, does Lamia Scale not intend to pursue the Phantom Troupe?" Gran Doma asked. "With your strength as one of the Ten Wizard Saints, taking them down should not be an issue."
"The Phantom Troupe has too many members." Jura replied in a peaceful tone while shaking his head. "Though Lamia Scale has several outstanding wizards who would definitely be able to contend with the Phantom Troupe's members, we would not be able to eliminate them completely with our numbers."
"Yes, it's abnormal for a guild to have more than a few S-Class wizards in its ranks." Draculos Hyberion, the second-ranked of the Ten Wizard Saints, said with a nod. "Then, perhaps we should organize an alliance for this quest. The same was done when pursuing the Oración Seis, was it not."
"That's right." Gran Doma replied with a nod of his own. "Back then, Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, Lamia Scale, and the now disbanded Cait Shelter handled it brilliantly."
"Well, I suppose I can contact my children and see if they can spare a few wizards for another collaboration." Makarov said while puffing his chest proudly. "But honestly, we have more than enough S-Class kids to deal with this quest ourselves. IN fact, there may be a chance that they've already taken it. I just haven't heard anything from Master Mavis yet. Would you like me to call her and find out if they've done so yet?"
By the time Makarov finished speaking, he was standing on his chair. And when the other Councilors saw this, their eyebrows twitched. The sigh of Makarov standing so proudly while his tone oozed with pride made even Jura, the most peaceful person in the room, want to punch him in the nose.
"Yes... Please..." Doma spat through gritted teeth. "Master Makarov, please call Master Mavis and make a request for Fairy Tail to join the alliance to hunt down the Phantom Troupe."
"Okay~! You only had to ask~. Hehehe." Makarov replied in a cheerful tone before flopping back into his seat.
Makarov then reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his lPhone. Then, he scrolled through his contact list and found Mavis' name. However, just before he could start the call...
*Bang!*
"Councilors, we just received an urgent report from Stella!" The communications officer who had been running through the halls of the Council Building shouted through ragged breaths. "Apparently, the Capital City, Altair, has taken massive damage!"
Immediately, almost all the eyes in the room shifted to stare at the communications officer sharply. The only exception was Makarov, whose gaze shook as he looked at the communications officer while the hand holding the lPhone began to tremble.
"I've got a bad feeling about this." Makarov whispered in a horrified toen.
"Do we know the reason?" Gran Doma asked sternly.
"*Gulp* Yes." The communications officer replied nervously under the Council Chairman's sharp gaze. He then quickly glanced at Makarov, making the former Fairy Tail guild master break out in a cold sweat, before returning his gaze to Gran Doma. "It's... Fairy Tail... There are six confirmed members in Altair. And from what the reports say, they're fighting other wizards in the city."
The entire room fell silent after the report.
*Clatter!*
Which made the sound of Makarov's lPhone falling to the floor sound even louder than it should have. And with the sound of the lPhone hitting the ground, all the other members of the Magic Council turned to stare at Makarov, who was now trembling all over while his face was covered in beads of cold sweat.
The silence grew heavy as time passed. And it was clear to everyone in the meeting room that no one had any intention of speaking until Makarov spoke first. So, after realizing that, Makarov did his best to calm down, taking one deep breath after another. Then, when he finally got his emotions under control, he tilted his head back and let out an angry roar.
"Those damn brats~~~~~!" Makarov shouted with a tone filled with all the grievances that came along with bragging to the high heavens, just to get slapped in the face by reality.