Chapter 409: Sing
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
September 18, x785.
Standing in the middle of the large training room on the tenth floor of the Fairy Tail guild hall were Sun and Kagura, both in their combat stances.
"I assume no one will object to me taking the role of referee for this match, correct?" Ritsu, standing against a wall at the center line between Sun and Kagura asked.
In response, the other twelve wizards in the room, Alfonzo, Elicia, Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Wendy, Carla, Milliana, Tsunade, Araña, Risley, and Beth shook their heads.
"Very well then." Ritsu said with a nod. Then, she turned her attention back to Sun and Kagura. "Then, allow me to explain the rules… There are no rules. Anything goes. The loser will be decided when I have to intervene to save one of you from death or serious injury."
Hearing that, most of the Fairy Tail wizards wore surprised expressions, Alfonzo and Elicia being exceptions. Meanwhile, the ladies of Mermaid Heel seemed completely unbothered.
"Those are the same rules as when I had that duel with Sui-Feng." Elicia said.
At the same time, though Sun seemed taken aback by the rules, she nodded in agreement after seeing Kagura doing the same.
"Then…" Ritsu said after receiving nods from the fighters as she raised her right arm. Then, as she swung her arm down, Ritsu continued. "Begin!"
Immediately, Kagura, with her blade still sheathed, charged forward. Meanwhile, Sun, with her [Soul Armament] shirasaya held on her left hip, dropped into an iaido stance.
"Strong Form]." Kagura said, speaking the name of her technique as she thrust her sword forward.
'She practices the [Style of the Undrawn Long Sword], huh?' Sun said to herself while watching Kagura closely. 'Masa told me about it once. But this will be the first time I've ever seen it.'
In response, Sun stepped back with her left foot, allowing Kagura's thrust to miss her left shoulder by inches. Then, after stepping forward with her right foot, Sun unsheathed her sword… Or tried to.
"Water/Sword Compound Magic: First For---] huh?" Sun began to chant. Before she could complete her chant and draw her sword, however, she was forced to stop.
"Gravity Magic: Jupiter]." Kagura chanted as she reached out with her left hand and placed her palm on the pommel of Sun's shirasaya.
As a result of Kagura's actions, Sun was unable to draw her sword. Taking advantage of Sun's confusion, Kagura drew back her sword with her right hand and raised it over head.
"[Voice Magic: Howling Voice]." Sun chanted, snapping out of her surprised state before Kagura could swing her sword down.
Cancelling her attack, Kagura released her hand from Sun's hilt. Then, she grabbed her sheath with her left hand while placing Archenemy in a defensive position in front of her as she flowed as much magic power as she could into the sword.
In the next instant, Kagura was hit by Sun's spell, causing her to be blown back to the edge of the ring. However, thanks to her quick reaction, she took very little damage. Though, she was slightly disoriented from the loud sound.
"When we saw her use that spell on that joint quest, she could only raise the gravity by ten times." Marin said in a surprised tone.
"Yeah, but from what I can tell, that was at least sixty times normal gravity." Mirajane said.
"On top of that, she focused all the increased gravity on the thing she touched." Alfonzo said, narrowing his eyes in interest as he spoke.
Before the wizards could discuss Kagura's magic for too long, however, Sun drew her sword and dashed forward.
'I can't let her get close enough to touch my sword again.' Sun thought to herself as she ran forward. 'I don't know how she did it, but she only made my sword heavier.'
["Yeah, she's got really good control of her magic."] A cheerful voice said from Sun's inner world. ["This is gonna be really fun. I wonder if she'll be your friend after this."]
'I don't' know, but I hope so.' Sun thought as she reached the best position for her next attack.
Like most of the girls who had received their [Soul Armaments] from Alfonzo back in March, Sun could hear the voice of her [Armament Spirit]. Unfortunately, even to this day, Marin was the only one who had been able to release the first seal.
"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust]." Sun chanted as her movement speed increased dramatically.
Surprised by Sun's increase in speed, Kagura opened her eyes a little wider. However, that was not enough to throw her off completely. So, just as Sun's blade entered her range, Kagura made an upward diagonal slash to parry Sun's blade and set up her next attack.
*Clang!*
"Water/Sword Compound Magic: Third Form: Flowing Dance]." Sun chanted as soon as her sword was parried.
"[Slashing Form]." Kagura said simultaneously, naming her next attack once Sun's blade had been cleared.
In the next instant, Kagura swung her blade down with a return slash. However, Sun avoided the slash with dance like footsteps as she returned a slash of her own.
Just like that, Sun and Kagura exchanged sword strikes with neither being able to land a blow on the other. While Sun elegantly weaved around all of Kagura's attacks, Kagura meticulously parried all of Sun's incoming slashes while delivering counterattacks whenever the opportunity presented itself.
"That girl is really good." Risley said in an impressed tone.
"Yeah, I've never seen anyone other than Master Unohana who could keep up with Kagura in a sword fight before." Araña added.
In response, the other ladies from Mermaid Heel nodded their heads in agreement.
Meanwhile, Ritsu watched the ongoing spar with keen interest.
'That girl from the Seto family is quite impressive.' Ritsu thought to herself as she watched Sun and Kagura move around the ring. 'Yet another one I'd like to train properly. Though, it's clear that she has quite the excellent foundation. I would like to talk to the one who trained her, as well.'
As that thought finished, Ritsu glanced away from the match for a moment, her eyes falling on Erza, who was watching with rapt attention.
'Then there's that one.' Ritsu thought to herself. 'She looks like she wants to jump in and fight, too. Plus, I can see that sword on her hip. And it looks different from the one I saw half a year ago. Did she already release its first seal? I would like to see that.'
Looking back to the ring, Ritsu was just in time to see Kagura make her move.
"Gravity Magic: Moon]." Kagura chanted as she swung her sword upward to defend from Sun's overhead strike.
*Clang!*
To Sun's surprise, once her sword made contact with Archenemy's sheath, it became six times lighter, completely throwing off her balance.
'Uh-oh! This is bad.' Sun thought to herself. 'She doesn't need to use just her hands to change an object's gravity.'
["Do something fast, Sun!"] The [Armament Spirit] shouted. ["If you don't, you're gonna lose."]
'I know.' Sun replied internally.
"[Slashing Form]." Kagura said as she once again brought her sword down with a return thrust.
Reacting quickly, Sun was able to dodge Kagura's slash by spinning with the momentum of her sword. Then, some of her long hair was cut. A moment later, the decreased gravity effecting her sword wore off. Then, she continued her spin as her sword was coated in [Water Magic].
"Water/Sword Compound Magic: Second Form: Lateral Water Wheel]." Sun chanted as she slashed horizontally.
"[Crawler Style]." Kagura said as she quickly dropped down below Sun's slash.
As soon as Sun's blade had cleared Kagura's head, Kagura, who had planned to perform a rising thrust was forced to jump backwards to avoid the heel kick Sun had thrown. Otherwise, with a merfolk's physical strength, Kagura might have found herself unconscious with a concussion.
"Wow! I thought Kagura had her." Beth said excitedly with her hands clenched in front of her chest .
"No way! Sun is strong." Wendy countered. "She won't lose so easily."
Meanwhile, both Sun and Kagura had retaken their stances.
"It looks like we will be here all night at this rate." Kagura said stoically.
"Yeah, but this is really fun." Sun said with a bright smile.
"It is." Kagura replied with a slight smile gracing her lips. "But this can't go on forever."
With that, Kagura flared her magic power to the limit. Then, she slowly drew her sword from its sheath, revealing the shiny, unblemished, silvery blade of a nodachi.
"[Take Revenge, Archenemy]." Kagura chanted.
In the next instant, Kagura's magic power exploded to five times its normal amount. At the same time, her sword, Archenemy, was covered in a swirling mass of black and purple magic power.
"Are you fucking serious?" Alfonzo asked as he leaned forward with his eyes open wide. "It was a Zanpakuto?"
'Then again, I guess it makes sense.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he briefly glanced at the gently smiling Ritsu. 'At first I thought Kagura only called Master Unohana Master because she was the former guild master. But if she's actually her disciple, being gifted an Asauchi isn't so far outside the realm of possibility.'
Not only Alfonzo was completely flabbergasted, but all the other wizards, other than Ritsu and Tsunade were just as confused.
'I never expected her to reveal that.' Tsunade thought to herself. 'I guess that girl, Sun, is better than I thought.'
'It would seem my disciple is unwilling to end things in a stalemate.' Ritsu said to herself as she watched Kagura. 'I'd expect nothing less from such a proud swordswoman. Now, the only question is can she push Sun far enough to break her own sea?'
'Whoa! That's so cool!' Sun exclaimed internally.
["Yeah, it really is!"] Sun's [Armament Spirit] exclaimed. ["Now I really want her to be your friend. I wonder what her [Spirit] is like. We have to ask Alfonzo or Maybe Master Unohana if there's a way for us to talk to other [Spirits]!"]
Though Sun and her [Armament Spirit] were both excited to see Kagura's Zanpakuto, neither of them dropped their guard. So, they both saw the moment when the magic power surrounding Kagura's blade dissipated.
Now, instead of holding a nodachi with a silver blade and black hilt, both Kagura's blade and hilt were black. On top of that, the blade's color was so dark that it was not even reflecting light.
"This is the first time I've been forced to use my Shikai outside of sparring with Master." Kagura said as she took her stance, Archenemy's tip pointed between Sun's eyebrows. "You are truly an incredible magic swordswoman. But now, I think it's time to end this. [Singularity]."
A moment later, a small orb of the same swirling black and purple magic power from before gathered on the tip of Kagura's blade.
'I have a guess what that is.' Sun thought to herself as she pulled her sword back into posture suitable for thrusting. 'And if that's what I think it is, letting her finish would definitely be bad.'
"[Water/Sword Compound Magic: Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust]." Sun chanted as she launched herself forward.
Once again, when Sun was in range, she thrust her sword coated in pressurized [Water Magic] at Kagura's right shoulder. However, before it could reach its target, the tip of Sun's shirasaya was drawn towards Kagura's blade. More specifically, the small orb of [Gravity Magic] on its tip.
*Ting!*
Then, once the tips of the two blades connected, Sun's sword came to a complete stop.
"And now, let's bring this match to an end." Kagura said as she slowly raised her sword.
Unfortunately, because Sun's Sword was drawn to the [Singularity] at the tip of Kagura's blade, she was also forced to raise her sword, as well. And being around five inches shorter than Kagura, who stood at 5'9", she was also forced to over extend.
'I can't pull my sword away!' Sun exclaimed worriedly. 'If I can't find a way to back up, I'm gonna lose!'
["Yeah, there's only one way out of this."] Sun's [Armament Spirit] said quietly.
In Sun's inner world, a sea that stretched as far as the eye could see, a beautiful, well-endowed girl with salmon-pink hair tied into a ponytail, violet eyes, and a bright blue fish tail in place of legs was floating on the sea's surface and staring into the blue sky.
"If you can hear my name this time, Sun." The girl, Sun's [Armament Spirit] said softly. "I can't guarantee you'll win, but I know you'll still be in this fight. Now, say it! Say my name…"
Back in the real world, Kagura had raised Archenemy to its apex. However, before she could swing it down, Sun flared her magic power to its limit.
"[Sing, Kanade]." Sun changed in a melodic tone.
In the next instant, Sun's magic power exploded, much like Kagura's had before. Also, like Kagura, Sun's sword was covered in magic power, which was strong enough to force Kagura backwards and break the gravitational pull holding their swords together.
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