Chapter 189: Alfonzo Vs. Jellal; Part 2
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Caelum, Unnamed Island.
September, x784.
Atop the Tower of Heaven, Erza stood, watching the ongoing clash with both awe and respect for both combatants. Even though Jellal had tried to use her as a sacrifice to resurrect Zeref, the side of her that was a warrior had no choice but to respect his ability as a wizard.
"*Sigh* With that kind of power, you could have done great things, Jellal." Erza said as she watched Alfonzo and Jellal clash mid-air.
Meanwhile, for what could have been the hundredth time, Alfonzo and Jellal exchanged moves at high speed while flying high above the Tower of Heaven.
This time, Jellal managed to push Alfonzo back with a strong kick that Alfonzo blocked by crossing his arms over his chest. Then, as soon as a bit of distance was created, Jellal's magic power flared before he stretched his hands towards Alfonzo with the palms clasped together and the index and middle fingers of his right hand extended.
"[Heavenly Body Magic: Pleiades]." Jellal chanted as a magic circle appeared high in the sky directly above Alfonzo.
A moment later, just as Alfonzo arrested his momentum from Jellal's kick, the above magic circle released six rays of starlight that fell towards Alfonzo.
Knowing there was not enough time to dodge, Alfonzo did not even try to do so. Instead, he created a shield with his [Metal Magic] and raised it over his head to defend against the incoming rays of star light.
To Jellal's surprise, instead of ripping through the shield, the rays of star light were absorbed into it. As a result, the shield began to glow like some kind of signal beacon.
"Damn it, even the sternium is getting unstable after absorbing this much concentrated star light." Alfonzo muttered as he felt the magic power he used to create the shield starting to run out of control.
Sternium, a magic metal that absorbs the light from the stars. Though it is a magic metal, it is mostly used by sculptors who focused on metal working. The patterns and effects that could be created with the gentle glow of star light that radiated from the metal has become quite popular with the upper class of Fiore in the last three decades.
Unfortunately, no one had ever seen what happened if too much star light was forced into sternium too quickly before today. If that information had been made public, many sternium statue owners would probably get rid of them as fast as they possibly could, even if there was no chance of them being in the same situation as Alfonzo.
While briefly considering the effect that information would have on the nobility of Fiore with a slight smile on his face, Alfonzo stretched out his right arm with the sternium shield in his grasp. Then, he made a quick turn and let it go in Jellal's direction, hurling the unstable metal shield at Jellal.
"You can have this!" Alfonzo shouted as he released the shield.
With his strength enhanced by his [Lightning Enhancement] spell, the shield flew through the air at a blistering speed, giving Jellal very little time to react.
Considering that [Heavenly body Magic] was more of an offensive magic than a defensive one, Jellal adopted the motto of "The best defense is a good offense," as he gathered starlight on his hands and fired it at the incoming shield.
*Boom~~~~~!"
A little more than half way from Alfonzo to Jellal, the oversaturated sternium shiel collided with the blast of starlight that Jellal fired in the hopes of deflecting the shield. Unfortunately, Jellal was unaware that the shield had become so volatile before Alfonzo threw it at him. As a result, his starlight blast pushed the sternium past its breaking point and caused a large explosion.
Due to the explosion, Jellal was shot backward at high speed. Though he was not harmed by the out of control star light that caused the explosion thanks to his mastery over [Heavenly Body Magic], the shockwave that followed the explosion did quite a bit of damage at such close range.
Still, he managed to regain control of his uncontrolled flight only a moment later. Unfortunately, by the time he did, Alfonzo was already waiting for him.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Zap Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted as he placed his hands on Jellal's back.
In the next instant, a ball of electricity was formed and shot forward with Jellal towards the base of the Tower of Heaven. Not even a second later, Jellal crashed into the base of the tower, collapsing a large portion of the lacrima that now composed it.
Yet, Alfonzo was not done with his assault with just that. While still in mid-air, Alfonzo took a pose as if he were about to throw a ball. Then, as his magic power flared, a glowing, green orb of magic power began forming in his right hand.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Eraser Cannon]." Alfonzo chanted as he tensed the muscles all over his body.
A moment later, Alfonzo threw the glowing, green orb towards the place where Jellal crashed into the tower.
At the same time, Erza, who first felt the entire tower shake when Jellal crashed into it before feeling Alfonzo's magic power output before he launched his attack, decided that now was a good time to get off the top of the tower. So, after [Requipping] into her [Black Wing Armor], she flew away from the top of the tower and watched the next series of events from a safe distance.
Like Erza, Elicia, Cana, and Ultear were also watching the battle from a safe distance, more specifically, from the ship.
"What spell is that?' Ultear asked curiously after seeing the bright green light in the sky.
"Fonzie calls it [Eraser Cannon]." Elicia replied while focusing on Alfonzo. "He generates a large amount of gamma-rays and compresses them into a ball. Then, he throws it and lets it explode on contact."
"Just how strong would a spell like that be?" Cana asked, curiosity glistening in her eyes.
"I'm not sure." Elicia replied once again while shaking her head lightly. "He's never really had the opportunity to test it. But I saw him form it once. And the amount of magic power I could feel from the spell was crazy."
Hearing that, Cana and Ultear increased their focus on what was to come.
Meanwhile, Simon, Shô, Wally, and Millianna were simply watching the ongoing battle in disbelief. They all knew that both Alfonzo and Jellal were strong. However, they had no idea of exactly how strong they were until now.
Seeing Jellal going all-out had completely flabbergasted them. However, seeing Alfonzo not only keep up with Jellal, but surpass him in every conceivable way made their jaws fall to the ship's deck.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~!*
When the [Eraser Cannon] landed on the collapsed part of the tower, a bright, green flash illuminated the area around the tower, over shadowing the light from the rising sun. Less than a moment later, an ear deafening boom rang out over the sea which was shortly followed by a shockwave that set off another chain of tidal waves.
Luckily, the iceberg that Ultear created when she froze the first tidal wave was still in place, splitting the wave that was headed for the ship in half. Unfortunately for the other ships and people in the area, even more of them were damaged or destroyed by the second wave.
Meanwhile, the bottom portion of the Tower of Heaven was wiped from existence due to the explosion. Subsequently, the tower from above that point plummeted to the surface before tilting over and falling into the sea.
On a side note, what remained of the unnamed island after the Etherion blast landed on the tower was completely destroyed.
"Damn, that was a bigger explosion than I expected." Alfonzo muttered as he watched the destruction his spell caused. "I wonder if Jellal is still alive."
As he spoke to himself, Alfonzo began lowering his altitude and getting closer to the remains of the Tower of Heaven. While he was at it, he manipulated the gamma radiation so that it would not ruin the rest of the ecosystem around the island, eventually causing it to harmlessly dissipate.
When Alfonzo arrived close enough to the island, he had his [Magic Power Detection] spread to its maximum range. He did not want to be ambushed by a more than likely, completely enraged Jellal after he realized that the thing he had worked so hard for, for the last few years, had been completely destroyed.
Around the same time Alfonzo arrived near the surface of the sea, he heard the sound of wings flapping nearby. Looking in the direction of the sound, Alfonzo saw Erza approaching.
"That was impressive." Erza said once she was in speaking range.
"Thanks." Alfonzo replied, returning his gaze the surface of the sea. "But you should probably take your distance again, he's still kicking."
As if that were signal and before Erza could take Alfonzo's advice, a ray of star light shot out of the sea, flying above Alfonzo and Erza.
A moment later, when the ray stopped, Jellal was revealed, his cloak gone, likely destroyed in the explosion. On top of that, there was a gash on the left side of his forehead with blood flowing down past his eye. His body was also covered in cuts and bruises of various sizes.
Still, it was clear that Jellal was not ready to give up. Even if it was also clear that he was standing on his last leg.
"[Heavenly Body Magic: Grand Chariot]." Jellal chanted as he took his casting posture.
A moment later, seven magic circles appeared around Jellal before they were connected by star light, appearing to be a constellation from below. Then, without delay, the lines that connected the seven magic circles began to extend downward towards the sea's surface, where Alfonzo and Erza were floating.
"I'll kill you for ruining all my plans!" Jellal shouted, outraged at the state of the Tower of Heaven.
At the same time, Alfonzo quickly shoved Erza out of the range of the spell. Then, his body started to glow in a red light.
"[Electromagnetism Magic: Super Flare]." Alfonzo chanted just as the rays of starlight arrived.
An instant later, Alfonzo was engulfed by Jellal's spell and the surrounding water shot up into the air, nearly reaching Jellal's position. However, before Jellal could celebrate, the surrounding water began to boil before turning to a large cloud of steam.
"What?" Jellal cried in surprise. "My spell shouldn't have heated the water like that."
"It didn't." Alfonzo's voice sounded from the steam. "Mine did."
"But how?" Jellal asked in a tone of disbelief. "How are you still alive after taking a direct hit from my [Grand Chariot]?"
"Are you sure it was a direct hit?" Alfonzo asked as he rushed out of the steam, cloaked in sparking blue electricity. "[Metal/Electromagnetism Combination Magic: Flash Point]."
In reality, Alfonzo's [Super Flare] offset Jellal's spell. So, he received no damage. The water that exploded upward, on the other hand, was caused when the microwaves that formed the [Super Flare] extended out too quickly and displaced the water surrounding Alfonzo. But he would naturally not tell Jellal about that.
As Alfonzo chanted, a pair of metal rails appeared on either side of him. Then, an electrical charge was sent through the rails before he was fired at nearly four times the speed of sound towards Jellal.
Seemingly vanishing from his former position, Alfonzo appeared behind Jellal, another set of rails appearing alongside him before he vanished again.
Alfonzo repeated this maneuver nearly a hundred times. And every time he passed Jellal, he would land a punch with his fists covered in orichalcum.
By the time the spell ended, Jellal's starlight cloak was gone, he had several broken bones, a few more cuts and bruises, and was no longer able to fly. Eventually, Jellal plummeted into the sea, creating a large splash as he hit the surface. Eventually, however, he floated to the surface and was, surprisingly, still conscious, though, just barely.
"You know, I really wanna kill you." Alfonzo said, floating down to the surface of the sea where Jellal floated. "Because of that fucking tower, so many people died. Including mine and Lici's parents. And you had the fucking nerve to finish it. You were probably being manipulated by someone to do it. I mean, why would someone enslaved there want to finish it. But still, it's because of you that it was actually completed."
Hearing that, Jellal, who was struggling to remain conscious, focused on Alfonzo. And Alfonzo noticed that something was different about him.
'Hmm… Looks like whoever was controlling him let the control go.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'But Ultear never joined Grimoire Heart in this timeline. So, who could it be this time around. Is it that crazy bitch, Junko Enoshima?'
Deciding to ponder the changes made due to the butterfly effect and the existence of people that should not be in this world later, Alfonzo focused on Jellal once again.
"But I don't think she'd like it if I killed you." Alfonzo said, glancing to the side as he spoke. "Even if she's my fiancée now, I don't think she'd take me killing one of her old friends very well."
Seeing Alfonzo glancing to the side, Jellal mustered the last of his strength to look in the direction Alfonzo just looked. What he saw was a scarlet-haired, brown-eyed, beautiful young woman flying in their direction.
"Erza..." Jellal muttered. "Even after all I did, why do you still look so concerned about me?"
"Because she never gives up on the people she cares about." Alfonzo replied. "And that makes you very lucky, Jellal. If not, you would not have lived long enough to have this conversation."
With that, Alfonzo turned away and floated over towards Erza.
Jellal, on the other hand, just watched Alfonzo leave without a word. Then, when he saw Alfonzo meet up with Erza, he looked up towards the sky.
"Lucky, huh?" Jellal muttered to himself. "I guess… he's right. But I messed that up with my own hands. Now, I can only wonder how things would have been if I had left the island with her all those years ago…"
With that last utterance, Jellal finally fell unconscious while floating on the sea.
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