The first day of fights of Ishgar's Strongest was halfway over. Pergrande battled Fiore and emerged victorious, and Midi battled Joya,, coming out on top. So far Pergrande held a strong 15 point lead due to Lucia defeating Erza, Fiore's captain. The 3rd matchup of the day was…
"And next we have Minstrel vs Seven!" Chapati exclaimed.
"Minstrel, huh…" Tia crossed her arms. "I know that every mage on that team is strong as hell, but…"
"Their cooperation is nonexistent." Ace reported. "The fact Minstrel has a team at all is a miracle. I know the people from different guilds don't get along, but I have no idea how well anyone from the same guild would act anyway."
"That's the team that might destroy itself before the week is even over, yeah?" Diamond asked.
"Indeed." Daigo said with a firm nod. "Minstrel is in the midst of his own little internal conflict…this may make things better or worse."
"Then I'll go." Spade said confidently. "If nothing else, I can scout and see what it is we'll be up against. I intend to win, but I know it won't be easy."
"You can do it, bro!" Spark said with exuberance.
"You got this Spade." Ace said with a thumbs up.
"He's going to get destroyed." Joker said calmly.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Spade said with a sweat drop.
"Joker, we talked about this. If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all." Heartless told Joker, but Joker scoffed at her words, as expected.
Spade jumped into the arena as Seven's fighter. "Ooooh! It seems that Seven's fighter will be Spade Magnus! Who will meet him in the arena!?" Chapati asked. And when everyone looked to see who Minstrel was choosing…
"It should be me!" Tyson Brock exclaimed. "I'm going first so the world can see what Chimera Kingdom is capable of!"
"That's utterly ridiculous." Byrnhild crossed her arms, letting out an aggravated sigh at Tyson's reasoning.
"Why should it matter who goes first?" David asked. But the fact the question came from him only irritated Tyson even more.
"Because when people think of Minstrel after this, they'll think of Chimera Kingdom." Felix said, completely understanding Tyson's desire to step to the stage first.
"It doesn't matter who goes first." Byrnhild rolled her eyes. "Besides, in the end, Harpy's Nest will have the most stellar performance."
"Yes, and I'll have to clean up whatever mess you're unable to finish." Medusa shot Byrnhild a look.
"As if I would need your help doing anything." Byrnhild shot back, electricity appearing between their eyes.
"Is there really a need to argue about this now?" Rob asked, feeling the need to smoke. They hadn't even gotten started and they were already struggling at the first hurdle.
"They're really doing this now…" Renae placed two fingers on her forehead.
Everyone was silent as they witnessed this argument go down. No one could say a thing as Minstrel's team started to bicker with one another. "…They're fighting…." Lucy was absolutely shocked. She knew nothing about Minstrel but if they certainly got their first impression across all right.
Count Waltz wouldn't stand for this much longer. "You can argue on your own time." The Count said with an irritated tone of voice. "Choose a fighter or be disqualified. We don't have time to listen to you bicker over the smallest details."
The young Queen Raha of Minstrel had a sweat drop on her forehead. "All of you, please…we talked about this…"
"And now the short king is mad." Raku said. "We should pick someone."
When everyone glanced around, Renae was already gone. She took it upon herself to enter the arena and meet Spade head on. "I hope you don't mind, but I'd rather we didn't get disqualified over something so trivial."
"Better Renae than someone else." Asbel commented quietly.
"Seriously!? A Martell!?" Tyson was aggravated. But it was too late to do anything now. While he could've gone in to 'aid' Renae, he'd rather not cooperate with a Martell.
"Hm. Don't lose." Brynhild remarked with a roll of her eyes.
"And here we have it! Spade Magnes of Seven vs. Renae Martell of Minstrel!" Chapati introduced the fighters with excitement.
"Oooooh!" Zelos had hearts in his eyes immediately. "A beautiful woman! The last match had two sweaty dudes duking it out. Hard to root for anyone like that."
"One of those dudes is also a current enemy…" Kagura glared at Zelos, but he simply took it in stride.
"I'm starting to regret not replacing him when we had the chance…" Luke said with an aggravated sigh.
Renae and Spade stood across one another in the arena. The field was crackling with electricity just from the two of them standing near each other. "So you're my opponent? Let us make this an entertaining fight. But I must tell you, my brothers are watching me, so I don't intend to lose in front of them." Renae's yellow eyes stared into Spade as her hand hovered above the hilt of her blade.
"Oh? Is that so?" Spade's lips curled up into a slight smirk. "It just so happens that my brother is watching me. I don't plan to lose in front of him."
"Begin!" Waltz exclaimed. The 15 minute timer began now!
Spade was the one who made the first move, red and blue magic circles appearing in front of him. "Missile Barrage!" From each magic seal, a red or blue rocket shot forward, flying off in various directions. Each missile was packed of electricity and the chain of inevitable explosions would deal damage to even the toughest of foes.
Just as the missiles drew near, Renae drew her sword, revealing that it was in fact a katana. In a single, swift motion, she sliced through every missile coming in her direction, causing the explosions to occur behind her. The Martell was unharmed and pressed forward, plasma coating her body to increase her speed. "Ion Thrust." She uttered silently as her body was propelled ahead!
"Plasma!?" Spade was both shocked and excited. He'd never encountered plasma before! Renae closed the distance between them within mere seconds, swinging her blade at Spade's chest in a downward diagonal motion. Spade countered by summoning a blade of red lightning clashing with the Martell's own sword. Sparks flew all over the arena and the two were locked in fierce swordplay. Renae and Spade either blocked each other's hits or outright evaded them!
"Oh, wait a second…" Zelos' eyes narrowed. "That blade she has…"
Spade brought his other arm forward, now using both red and blue blades of lightning. By spinning around he created a vicious twister of lightning. His rotation stopped on a dime and the lightning twister sliced through the arena, making way towards Renae. "…!" Renae had to act fact. She held her ground, a field of plasma erupting around her body in the shape of a dome. "Plasma Eruption!" This dome protected Renae from Spade's attack, resulting in a loud BOOM as an explosion occurred, filling the field with smoke.
"She's not bad." Spade said as a radar appeared on his left eye, using this to scope out the area. "Unfortunately she won't be able to hide her presence from me." Renae's heat signature stood out due to the properties of plasma. "Target locked! Missile Strike!" A magic seal appeared in front of Spade, shooting off a small, but powerful missile at Renae.
"Plasma Torch!" Renae had the same idea. She fired off a strong blast of plasma from her hand just as Spade fired off his missile. As a result, her beam struck Spade's shoulder, blowing him back, while Spade's missile struck her lower left side, causing an explosion that forced her backwards. Renae landed with her left pant left completely charred and a bruise on her leg, but she was fine. As for Spade, he was grimacing from the attack on his shoulder, but he could keep going.
"She's pretty good. Wish I went in there." Ace said with a slight chuckle.
"You can do it, bro!" Spark cheered for his older brother.
"Checkmate." Spade said with a smirk. This was all the time he needed to activate one of his many tricks. A blue magic seal appeared on Renae's back, while a red magic circle appeared on the arena wall. This was the activation of his Magnetic Pull. Opposite attract, so Renae was rapidly being pulled towards the magnet on the arena wall.
"Oh! Is Spade going for a Ring Out!?" Chapati asked.
"Is that his best trick?" Raku had to withhold the urge to laugh. "If he's going for a ring out, I think that means he knows he can't beat her."
The Magnetic Pull was surprisingly strong. Renae narrowed her eyes, attempting to dig her heels into the ground to stop her momentum, but it was no use. "This is…"
"Your end!" Spade formed a large red and blue magic circle on his chest. "Missile Impact!" This missile was far larger than the previous ones, easily doubling the size of his entire body. This missile rocketed towards Renae at speeds that broke the sound barrier. Between the magnet pull and this missile, it looked like it was over for the woman of the Martell family. Spade held a confident smirk. With his radar in play, Renae had no means of his escaping his sight.
"…This is cute." Renae continued her statement as plasma started to gather around her body once more. "EMP Burst!" And just like that, a potent burst of plasma erupted from her body yet again, only this time with a different purpose. This blast of plasma sought to disrupt any and all electronics within the arena. This meant the magnetic field was disrupted due to its properties, thus freeing Renae in time to bring her sword up…and cleave right through the incoming missile, not even allowing it to explode. The missile split to Renae's left and right, leaving her completely unharmed.
"W-What!?" Spade took a step back. Due to the EMP Burst, his radar was offline and it made him recoil.
"Wow…" Jack said with an impressed look.
"Impressive. She rendered it all void." Calium remarked.
"For what it's worth, I think your setup was extremely clever. I can't imagine anyone else on my team aside from my brothers who would have made it out of that." Renae was giving a compliment. "But as I said, with them watching, I will not lose." Renae held her sword at her side, the plasma of the weapon morphing it into something entirely! It became a whip! She whipped her new weapon forward, wrapping it around Spade's torso before he even knew what happened.
"What the!?" Spade was struggling with the whip's grip. Before he could even react, he was flung into the air against his will. This then gave him a chance he needed! Spinning around, he dove down towards Renae with his newfound momentum. But just as he did this, Renae used her Ion Thrust to beat Spade to the punch, appearing in front of him before he could attack. Renae wrapped her thighs around his neck, using their combined momentum to slam him into the ground forcefully! That was the end of it. Spade was KO'ed.
Renae stood up, dusting herself off. After all of that, she only came out with a bruised leg. "Thanks for the fun."
"And Spade Magnus is down!" Chapati exclaimed. "That means Minstrel wins and gets 10 points!"
"She better have won." Tyson was bitter that it wasn't him out there. But as long as Minstel took the victory, perhaps it didn't matter so much in the long run.
"Whoa…Spade got short worked…" Strong said with a sweat drop.
"It was over before it began." Joker crossed his arms. "Anyone could see that. Minstrel may lack cohesion, but every individual mage on that team is a force to be reckoned with. You all are unlikely to defeat any mage from them."
"Your vote of confidence is always appreciated." Tia rolled her eyes.
"I got 'em…" Strong hopped down to go retrieve Spade.
"HOHOHOHO!" That laugh came from King. He was having a riot after watching Spade's failure. Prometheus was far too eager to let this fallen madman speak his mind. "Pathetic as always! What an awful showcase!"
"Ugh, why did he have to be brought back!?" Diamond groaned.
"Well, the soul I did want to use has already been taken. Despite my powers, I can't use a soul if it is within someone else's possession." Prometheus explained. "So I went with the next best thing. That soul is still lingering in this arena, though…" That wasn't something anyone wanted to hear. Prometheus had another target in his sights, and it just so happened to be in this arena….
"And now, it's time for the final battle of the first day of Ishgar's Strongest!" Chapati yelled. "Alavarez vs Boscoooooo!"
"Alvarez is fighting now…" Lucy felt a bit of unease. She was dreading the matchup of Fiore vs Alvarez for various reasons.
"Oh! Oh! Your Majesty, please, allow me!" Alice was waving a hand frantically. She was like an excitable child waiting for her turn.
This made Emmeraude chuckle just a bit. "Very well. Do as you wish. I have faith you will bring Alvarez victory."
"Of course!" Alice grinned and jumped into the arena, taking her coat off. "Come on Bosco…I'll take on all 10 of you." The aura shifted immediately; her red eyes gleaming with predatory intent, her tongue slowly dragging along her lower lip. She could only take on three at a time, but she was feeling exceptionally confident. As soon as Alice stepped inside, purple clouds covered the sky, giving the arena a strange violet tint.
"That one…" Sting narrowed his eyes. This was the same woman who attacked Sabertooth.
"Gh…" Gaia grit her teeth. "This woman is a dragon…no, she's something more than that…"
"Hey…" Edna yawned but held a serious visage, which was rare for the lazy crystal dragon. "That dragon…looks familiar."
"…Yeah." Nasir narrowed his eyes.
"Hmmm…?" Verona tilted her head. "Do you know her? She's kinda scarrrrry."
"She's freaking me out…" Alex swallowed the nervous lump in her throat.
"I think that's above my paygrade." Yakuza said, leaning back in his seat.
"You aren't paid at all." Lore said.
"I'll take her on." Nasir said, jumping into the arena. He needed to confirm something for himself.
"Oi, be careful." Daryan said. "This dragon ain't right."
"And here we have it! Alice Homura vs Nasir!" Chapati yelled. Little did he realize that this was about to be a bout between dragons.
"Hmmmm…" Alice tilted her head. "You smell familiar. Do I know you?"
"…" Nasir didn't respond. He realized that this fight was going to be difficult, for he could not simply go full power in a crowd full of people in such a restricting space. He had no doubt that Alice may have noticed this as well. His light blue hair wavered in the wind as he kept his eyes close. This scent was too familiar, but it couldn't be…
"Your 15 minute timer begins now. Fight." Waltz said while raising a hand.
As soon as the bell rang, Alice was the first to move. Her speed was surprising to most and she already had her scythe drawn. "Hey! Answer my question!" Alice exclaimed as she swung her scythe right for Nasir's head. Nasir leaned backwards to avoid it, grimacing as he could smell the scent of death from the sickle as it just whiffed his nose. "Oh! You avoided-!"
As Alice pulled back, wind wrapped around Nasir's arm and he brought his hand downward. "Wind Dragon's Claw!" With great force, he swiped Alice's face and caused her head to snap back. The Spriggan was forced a step backwards from his sheer might.
Alice lowered her head, grinning as Nasir hadn't even managed to break her skin. There was just scratch marks on her cheek, yet no blood was drawn, and no damage was dealt. That being said, Nasir had managed to do more than any person who did strike Alice, but that wasn't saying much. "Heh."
"What…?" Nasir was taken back.
Alice's tail then jutted from her backside, a poisonous aura coating the extremity. "Venom Dragon's Tail!" Spinning around, Alice's tail collided against Nasir's defending arm, forcing him to slide backwards several feet from the sheer power.
"As I thought…" Nasir grunted as his arm felt a little numb from blocking that hit. "Poison. Venom, to be more precise. Everything's lining up."
"Pay attention!" Alice was continuing her assault, cheeks inflated to a great degree. "Venom Dragon's Roar!" Exhaling, a vicious torrent of toxins tore apart the ground while racing towards Nasir at high speeds!
Nasir sprouted his wings using this to take into the air and over the incoming roar. He glanced at the roar, noticing that after it hit the arena wall, the wall itself started to crumble and deteriorate. "What in…"
"What the hell!?" Lore's eyes widened. "The wall…it's beginning to crumble from the inside."
"It must be…decaying." Magnus surmised. "Even if her poison was strong enough to render a human dead instantly, it couldn't be strong enough to affect inorganic matter like this. Which means she has a different power entirely along with her poison."
"Nasir is in trouble." Edna's blue gaze focused on her companion. "Alice…isn't a normal dragon."
Nasir commanded the wind within the arena for his advantage. The wind increased his speed, which helped him move about and negate his inability to fly since he could glide along the wind. With his speed heightened, he dove down towards Alice with a flying kick imbued with wind. Alice blocked this hit, but she was forced to slide backwards due to the opposing might of a dragon. With this opening, the wind suddenly picked up around the two of them and coated Nasir and he pushed forward yet again. "Tornado Strike!" Nasir's own body became a tornado and he enveloped Alice within slicing winds, consuming the Spriggan within the eye of the storm for a few seconds before she was thrown out violently.
"Oooo!" Alice flipped and landed on the ground. Her shirt and baggy pants had been torn, but an attack of that magnitude did manage to leave some marks on her skin. "That actually hurt a little bit. It's been a while since I've felt pain. But you just seem all the more familiar…I feel like we've fought before…?"
"…Perhaps." Nasir said calmly. The pieces were coming together, but the strangest piece that didn't fit was her power of decay.
"This is fun!" Alice let out a laugh before planting her scythe into the ground, now raising both hands over her head. A sphere of toxins and decay started to form over her, taking the shape of a small meteor. "Expiation!" She then hurled this sphere directly towards Nasir. This sphere was sent to explode in a deadly array of poison and decay that would contaminate the air, meaning that any method of dealing with it already put her foe at a disadvantage. Nasir, of course, was unaware of this.
"Wind Dragon's Roar!" By dropping his jaw, the wind dragon released a blast of wind to combat the sphere. His power was so great it pierced through the sphere, but it still exploded and sent poison and decay everywhere! The decay was so strong it started to eat away at the magical barrier that protected the spectators. "Even the barrier!?"
"It's decaying!?" Bacchus took a step back. If he touched it, would he decay?!
Alice's actions were causing a bit of a panic. The decay wasn't great and eventually stopped, allowing the barrier to slowly repair itself. The contaminated air was an issue for those inside of the arena, however. Emmeraude was worried about this. "Alice. Remember what we talked about."
"R-Right…" Alice rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "My bad."
"W-What incredible power! To render even the protective barrier useless!" Chapati was both a little frightened and in awe.
"That's not any magic I've seen." Calium said.
"I don't think that was magic at all." Helena confirmed.
"What is that power of yours, Alice?" Nasir questioned, fully aware of the poison still lingering in the air.
"It is my curse." Alice said with a smile. "Everything I touch turns to nothing. That is the curse of The Creation."
"The Creation?" Nasir tilted his head. He had many questions, but too little time to inquire about them here. Instead he inhaled, drawing in the poison and even the decay lingering in the air.
"What's he doing!?" Alex asked worriedly.
"Huh? Even if you resist poison, my decay's gonnna eat ya up from the inside?" Alice tilted her head curiously. Nasir's actions were incomprehensible to her.
"I am aware…" Nasir said, somewhat in pain. "But this arena will be required for use later…and this sickly air of yours could inhibit my team and the rest of the competition." After inhaling, he held a confident smirk. "Which is precisely why it must be purified. Wind Dragon's Purifying Breath!" Despite the damage it did to him internally, Nasir managed to turn Alice's attack around, unleashing a higher level breath that dwarfed his roar from before!
"Ah…!" Alice's eyes widened for a split second as the purifying breath struck her. She was sliding back across the ground as the winds sliced into her. As the winds died, Alice now had several bruises on her body and noticeable cuts. "That one…caught me off guard." She admitted. A closer look at her skin revealed that it was more scale-like than anything else. "But if that was a serious punch from you, then this fight is about to get exciting!"
"We can't go full power in this tiny arena. You know this." Nasir placed a hand on his stomach. He was hoping that his attack did a lot more damage to Alice, but that unfortunately wasn't the case. All things considered, that was the heaviest hit the Spriggan had taken in a while.
"You can't go full power." Alice said mockingly. As soon as she said that, some stomachs started to drop. "Your dragon form doesn't fit inside this arena. I admit, mine doesn't either…but it doesn't need to."
"…I don't like what she's insinuating." Gaia started to sweat.
"Elaborate." Nasir demanded to know. This woman in front of him was a dragon, at least half from what he sensed.
Alice pointed up to the sky. The purple clouds were still hovering over Crown Stadium, but several red dots were visible through them. It sent a feeling of dread through most everyone in the Stadium. "My dragon form…is up there."
"…!" Sting took a step back. He could feel that and it was nowhere close to him.
"Sting-kun, are you okay!?" Lector was more worried about Sting and Alice.
"What the hell!?" Natsu had returned by this point and this was what he walked into. This awful feeling of dread and death looming over him. It was worse for the Dragon Slayers than anyone else.
"Natsu!?" Lucy and Happy looked over at Natsu's rare, shocked expression.
"Whoa…whoa…" Daryan started to sweat. "What the hell is up there!?"
"I don't…want to find out…" Alex said nervously.
"I don't know, but it's not normal." Gaia said calmly.
"Hm! This presence…is a mighty dragon that only a god can slay!" God Serena posed, seemingly unintimidated by Alice's overwhelming might. In fact he was only that much more excited to redeem himself from the flounder of Acnologia.
"…" Rajaron licked his lips at this new power.
"….." Aki didn't say a word. His eyes narrowed and his body instinctively twitched.
"This is a demonic presence." A bandaged Lucia said. "I feel the urge to slay it."
David looked over at his masked guild mate, Amadio, who hadn't said a word since the tournament began. "You alright?"
"…..Fine." Amadio mumbled.
Nasir was in shock at this revelation. "You…what are you?"
"The Creation." Alice repeated. That didn't answer the question as far as Nasir was concerned.
Nasir had to take this chance and finish this with a ring out now. With the wind still at his disposal, Nasir flew forward in the shape of a tornado, planning to slam into Alice and carry her into the arena wall. "Tornado Strike!"
Things weren't going to play out the same as last time. Six wings sprouted from Alice's back and she flew forward with such ease that the wind wasn't even a factor. Her hand clawed into Nasir's side, causing all momentum to halt and he was suspended in the air with blood dripping from his lower left side. "That's all she wrote~" And with a simple motion, Alice hurled Nasir into the arena wall! This was the only method of victory, for using her full power would likely bring the arena to ruin. The only way this bout could end with a winner was with a ring out.
"Ah…" Nasir bounced off the wall and onto a knee. It was surprising that Alice hadn't even put him out of commission, but as per the rules of this tournament, that was more than enough.
"Nasir has suffered a ring out. This victory goes to Alice Homura of Alavarez, granting them 10 points." Waltz said, calling the battle then and there. "I think this goes without saying, but if for any reason an attack of a competitor hits a spectator, that is grounds for an instant loss."
"Sorrrrrrry." Alice shrugged her shoulders. The purple clouds vanished as did the red eyes burning into them. Her dragon form was gone.
Edna stood up and started to walk to Nasir. After watching that fight, her and Nasir's thoughts were confirmed. "Alice Homura…former resident of the Isle…younger sister of Venoma, Queen Edna's current advisor."
"And with that! The battle phase of day 1 has come to a close!" Chapati yelled. "To end the day off, we have the first day's event! Which team will come out with a lead on the first day of Ishgar's Strongest!?"
Scoreboard:
Pergrande: 15
Midi: 10
Minstrel: 10
Alvarez: 10
Fiore: 0
Bosco: 0
Joya: 0
Seven: 0.
.
.
Next Time: Damascus Demolition.