Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Altair.
October 9, x791.
Although it seemed like a lot of time passed while Pakunoda was in Levy's inner world, it actually only happened at the speed of thought lasting less than a second. Unfortunately, that second made all the difference in changing the pace of the fight.
*Thud!*
Before Gildarts or Ur realized what was going on, Pakunoda, whose hand was still on Levy's shoulder, began bleeding from her eyes and nose. Then, as if she forgot how to stand up, she fell back, landing on her back without bracing herself.
"Pakunoda?" Shizuku, who, after seeing Pakunoda successfully cast her [Psychometry] spell, had taken a few steps back and turned to make sure that neither Gildarts nor Ur could interfere, gasped in shock after glancing back at the sound of a body hitting the ground only to see that it was Pakunoda on the ground while Levy looked no worse for wear. "What happened?"
However, Shizuku did not receive an answer to her question. Instead, Pakunoda lay on the ground unmoving with her eyes dilated to an unnatural degree. On top of that, the blood that flowed from her eyes and nose did not stop for even an instant.
"Well, I guess she's done for." Levy said calmly as she looked down at the unmoving Dark Wizard. "She's probably completely brain dead. It would be better to put her out of her misery instead of just letting her suffer like this, right?"
*Voom!*
As she spoke, Levy raised her Light Pen, it's tip extended into a light saber, before thrusting down and penetrating Pakunoda's chest and heart.
Seeing another one of her comrades die in front of her, Shizuku did not freeze in shock. Instead, her emotionless mask slipped for just a moment, her expression showing signs of anger and grief, before it snapped back into place.
Meanwhile, Gildarts and Ur finally realized what was going on after hearing Levy's comment about being brain dead.
"So, she tried to invade Levy's mind, huh?" Ur asked nonchalantly. "Not a bad plan for anyone normal."
"I agree." Gildarts replied with a nod. "On most people, mental attacks are very effective. But when fighting someone like a member of Fairy Tail with a [Soul Armament], it can be a double-edged sword if they can't get out fast enough."
"I'm going to make you pay." Shizuku said, her emotionless tone sounding even colder than usual.
"[Transfigure, Ars Mana]." Levy chanted while ignoring the death threat.
Levy then switched the grip on her Light Pen from that of a sword to an actual pen. At the same time, the Light Pen, Ars Magna, glowed in a radiant blue color as its form changed from that of a normal light pen.
Finally, when the light faded, Levy's Light Pen had taken the form of a fountain pen. Though, its tip still glowed like that of the average Light Pen.
"First, we need to do something about your mobility." Levy muttered to herself as she crouched down and pressed the Light Pen to the ground. She then quickly wrote a sentence on the ground.
"The Ground turned from a grassy field to a murky swamp."
After she finished writing, Levy tapped the tip of the pen against the words she wrote, causing them to sink into the ground.
While Shizuku was unaware of what exactly was going on, Ur, who could use [Magic Power Detection] felt Levy's magic power move towards Shizuku under the ground, stopping when it was directly beneath her. Then, it spread with Shizuku as the center.
"[Activate]." Levy chanted as she stood to her full height once again.
In the next instant, just as Levy wrote, the ground around Shizuku changed into a mirky swamp. And Shizuku, completely unaware of what was coming, began to sink into the quagmire.
"What is this?" Shizuku asked emotionlessly. "No, it does not matter. I'll just get rid of it."
As she said that, Shizuku pointed Blinky's nozzle at the ground, intending to suck up the magic that caused the change in terrain. Unfortunately, nothing of the sort happened, leaving Shizuku completely confused.
"What is the meaning of this?" Shizuku muttered to herself when the only thing that Blinky sucked up was the mud making up the swamp. "Why isn't the magic being consumed?"
Naturally, Levy had no intention of explaining how her [Soul Armament] worked. But if either Izumi Curtis or the Elric Brothers were here, they would definitely click their tongues at the fact that Levy was using [Alchemy] without the use of some kind of [Transmutation Circle].
Not wasting any time watching Shizuku struggle in the swamp, Levy wrote another sentence in the air.
"Earth spikes will form from the ground under the swamp and skewer the target."
Using her Light Pen, Levy once again tapped the words she wrote. Then, they shot towards Shizuku, fading into the air as they travelled forward.
A moment later, the magic power Levy channeled through her Light Pen dispersed into the air and the ground.
Meanwhile, Shizuku had just noticed that Blinky's base had been devoured by the swamp. However, instead of trying to pull it out forcefully, she simply dispelled Blinky. She then resummoned it, Blinky's base now hanging from the hose and resting against her back.
Unfortunately, that was a bit too late, as the Earth spears transmuted from Levy's writing were already closing in.
*Squelch!* *Squelch!* *Squelch!* *Squelch!* *Squelch!*
*Splatter!*
Next, just as Shizuku started Blinky to continue freeing herself from the swamp, her eyes widened minutely as she realized just how close the Earth spears were. Then, before she could react to the incoming threat, pain exploded all over her body as she was impaled by around half a dozen Earth Spears.
"*Cough* *Cough* Im... possible..." Shizuku muttered after coughing two mouthfuls of blood. "Why can't... Blinky...?"
"Before Shizuku could finish her question, however, the light in her eyes faded and her body went limp. The only thing keeping her from falling into the swamp were the Earth spears pinning her in place.
Seeing that, Levy watched Shizuku for a few moments with her [Magic Power Detection]. And when she saw that Shizuku's magic power had completely dissipated, she finally exhaled a sigh of relief before her expression turned to one full of regret.
"*Sigh* I still really don't like having to kill." Levy muttered quietly. "But, I'm a wizard. And sometimes, we have to do things we don't like for the sake of the quest."
"I don't think anyone really likes to kill." Ur said as she and Gildarts approached the diminutive, blue-haired wizard. "But as long as it stays that way, that's how you know you're still human."
"Yeah, honestly, the only people I've ever known who actually enjoy killing are Dark Wizards." Gildarts added as he placed his large hand on Levy's slender shoulder. "And you're definitely not one of those. And I think that's good enough."
"Yeah, you're right." Levy said while forcing a smile. "Anyway, let's collect their bodies and head back. I bet everyone else is just about done, too. Then, after Alfonzo reports to the client, we can finally go home. I miss Gajee."
Smiling at Levy, Gildarts and Ur nodded at her suggestion. Then, Levy pulled two [Storage Scrolls] from her waste pouch.
"Oh, I need to change the ground back." Levy muttered as she began writing in the air with Ars magna.
"Return everything to normal."
"[Activate]." Levy chanted.
Then, as if time was rewinding, the Earth spears retracted from Shizuku's corpse before sinking back into the ground as if they had never been there. Next, the ground hardened and the grass returned, leaving the ground looking exactly the way it did before Levy unsealed Ars Magna.
Well... Almost exactly the way it was.
The only difference was Shizuku's corpse, which was buried up to its thighs and slumped forward lifelessly, the ground hardening around its legs when it returned to normal.
"Oops." Levy muttered after seeing the corpse, leaking blood and half buried.
Not dwelling on it, Levy dispelled Ars Magna's release. Then, she stepped towards Pakunoda's corpse first, unrolled one of the scrolls, and injected magic power into it, [Sealing] the corpse inside before moving towards Shizuku's corpse to repeat the process.
Meanwhile, Gildarts and Ur were looking at the cloud piercing ice pillar Ur created during her fight with Nobunaga.
"So, what are you gonna do about all that ice?" Gildarts asked in a tone barely containing his laughter. "You're not gonna be able to just dispel it like your usual [Ice-Make Magic], are you?"
"Ugh! Probably not." Ur groaned in frustration. "I'm gonna have to use [Ice-Make] to mold it into something else before we get the can [Seal] away the corpse."
"Should I just use my magic to break it down?" Gildarts asked, trying to be helpful.
"Right..." Ur shot back sarcastically. "You'll just break down his body along with it. Then, Alfonzo will be pissed off that you destroyed the proof of subjugation."
"Ha... Ha... ha... I was just kidding." Gildarts said with a hollow chuckle. "We definitely don't want to destroy the body. Otherwise, we might fail the quest and not get paid."
Ur only rolled her eyes in fond exasperation as she started to walk towards the ice pillar.
"After I get the body out, you can destroy the ice." Ur said as she walked away.
Hearing that, Gildarts put on a goofy smile as he followed Ur towards the pillar.
At the same time, on the other side of Altair in the mountain that served as the Phantom Troupe's secondary hideout, Chrollo Lucilfer was attacking Alfonzo relentlessly. Yet, Alfonzo easily evaded his flurry of punches, kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and various weapon attacks.
*Boom!*
"Oh, come on." Alfonzo groaned after tilting his head to avoid a punch that slammed into the cave wall. "You're gonna bring this whole cave down on us if you don't cut this shit out. I mean, seriously, aren't you worried about the guy that's creating copies of all the shit you've got hidden further in the cave?"
Immediately, Chrollo's movements came to a stop as his eyes widened in surprise.
How do you know about that?" Chrollo asked in stunned horror.
"That's a guild secret." Alfonzo replied. "Anyway, I'd rather you didn't bring down the whole cave. I'm betting the Kurta Clan's eyes are back there, too. And I kinda need those to complete the quest."
After saying that, Alfonzo stopped and lowered his head in contemplation.
Seeing that, Chrollo once again flared his magic power. However, instead of attacking immediately, Chrollo held out his right hand.
"[Copy Magic: Skill Hunter]." Chrollo chanted as a magic tome manifested in his outstretched hand.
"Oh, what's that?" Alfonzo asked in an interested tone.
However, instead of answering Alfonzo's question like a prototypical villain, Chrollo flared his magic power once again while holding his other hand out to the side.
"[Copy Magic: Fun Fun Cloth]." Chrollo chanted.
In the next instant, a black cloth appeared in Chrollo's hand before quickly enlarging to a size that would have no issue completely covering Alfonzo from head to toe.
"Hmm? That looks suspiciously like the signature spell of a mafia hitman who met his untimely demise some time ago." Alfonzo said in an amused tone. He then raised his head to look Chrollo in the eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
While Chrollo's expression did not change, From the way his eyes shook, Alfonzo knew that his question touched a nerve.
'So, he killed Owl from the Shadow Beasts before the Kurta Clan massacre in this crossover." Alfonzo thought to himself while looking at Chrollo's well-concealed shock. "Interesting... Very interesting."
"You know a lot more than you should." Chrollo said coldly after getting his emotions under control.
"Yeah, I know a few things." Alfonzo said in a teasing tone.
"It seems that getting rid of you just became an even bigger necessity than before." Chrollo said while ignoring Alfonzo's teasing. "There's no telling what you might know that could be disadvantageous for the Troupe."
"How can you be sure if we don't talk it out?" Alfonzo asked playfully. "I know… Instead of fighting, let's sit down and exchange information. That way, we could see if some of the stuff I know will be bad for you and the Phantom Troupe."
Chrollo's twitching eyebrows were a clear indication that he was not taking that comment very well. In fact, it was to the point that he stopped talking altogether and rushed forward to engage Alfonzo again.
Meanwhile, Alfonzo smirked at the clearly irritated Spider's Head. A moment later, small arcs of violet electricity began to cover his body as he prepared himself for Chrollo's attack. to
"You could have just said no." Alfonzo said as he took his own fighting stance. "Well, none of that is gonna matter after today, anyway. You and that guy in the back cave won't last all that much longer."