Chapitre 425: Coming Across the Bridge

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

"Looks like Fonzie is getting serious." Elicia said as she turned her head in the direction of the Takagi mansion.

Currently, Elicia was playing with the children at the primary school along with Takashi and Kohta while all those capable of cooking made dinner for everyone taking shelter in the primary school.

"What do you mean?" Takashi asked curiously.

"Look out the window in the direction of Saya's house, and you'll see." Elicia replied with a smile.

Instead of Takashi, it was Kohta who moved towards a window in the direction where Elicia turned to. And when he did, he was thoroughly confused.

"When did those clouds roll in?" Kohta asked in a dumbfounded tone. "It was completely clear only a few minutes ago."

"Clouds?" Takashi asked as he, too, stood up to look out the window. "Holy... What the...?"

Takashi's loud exclamation drew the attention of the children. His mother, Sayuri also came out of the kitchen to see what was the cause of the commotion.

"Takashi, why are you making so much noise?" Sayuri asked with a slight frown.

"It's because of that?" Takashi said while pointing his finger towards the storm clouds in the distance.

Deciding to take a look as well, Sayuri made her way over to the window Takashi was standing in front of. Then, when she finally saw what Takashi was pointing at, she frowned slightly.

"Such a sudden storm isn't a good omen." Sayuri murmured.

"This time it is." Elicia said with a smile as she stood up and started walking towards the school's front entrance. "For the people of this town, anyway. Not so much for the zombies, though."

"What do you mean?" Sayuri asked as she turned her head in Elicia's direction. "Uh... And where are you going?"

"To help Fonzie." Elicia replied as she reached the door. "Although he probably doesn't need my help, it will be faster if I go."

"But it's about to storm." Sayuri said in a concerned tone.

"I'll be fine." Elicia said as she pulled the door open, walked through it, and closed it behind her.

"I really don't think you have to worry, Mrs. Komuro." Kohta said as he returned to playing with the children. "Before any of us noticed the storm clouds, she said something about Alfonzo getting serious. So, those clouds are probably his doing."

"But how is that possi---" Sayuri began to ask.

*Rumble!*

Before she could finish, however, a flash lit up the surroundings, followed by the sound of thunder. However, it did not take long for the lightning to strike for a second, a third, and even more times. In fact, it struck so many times and in such close succession that it was impossible to see or hear anything for nearly a minute.

By the time the onslaught of lightning ended, the younger children were screaming in either fear or excitement, while the older children and adults were covering their ears and closing their eyes.

"Well, now I know what she meant..." Kohta muttered.

Meanwhile, Elicia was making her way towards the Takagi mansion to offer her assistance. However, she did not go there in a straight line. Instead, she made a quick detour to intercept all the zombies who were drawn in that direction by the rumbles of thunder.

"Wow! There are at least fifteen magically enhanced zombies heading that way." Elicia said in an amazed tone. "There were already around seventy in the original horde."

["Does that mean you're gonna put on a show like Fonzie?"] Scylla asked, the smile on her face audible from her tone.

"Might as well." Elicia replied as she flared her magic power. "Mend the Seams of Reality, Scylla]."

With that, the wristband on Elicia's left wrist began to glow before covering her hands and transforming into golden scales. On top of that, with the surge in her magic power, Elicia's speed tripled.

Then, after about thirty seconds, Elicia found the first magically enhanced zombie.

"[Cross Stitching]." Elicia chanted as she shot one of the dragon scales on her right hand at the zombie.

Mid-flight, the dragon scale transformed into a golden needle with a dragon motif. Then, the eye of the needle was threaded by one of Elicia's threads. A moment later, it pierced through the zombies upper lip before stitching its mouth closed.

"There, now we don't have to worry about it biting anyone." Elicia said.

["Yeah, but don't their scratches transmit the curse, too?"] Scylla asked.

"You're right." Elicia replied.

By now, the zombie, while not reacting to having its mouth stitched shut, turned in Elicia's direction thanks to the fact that she had not lowered her voice while speaking to Scylla. Then, at a speed comparable to Elicia's base speed, it dashed at her with its arms outstretched.

"I guess I should do something about that, too, huh?" Elicia said as she ejected threads from the tips of her fingers.

In the next instant, before the zombie could get into striking range, the threads looped around its wrists.

"[Thread Magic: Thread Guillotine]." Elicia said as she constricted the threads around the zombie's wrists.

*Swish!*

Once again not noticing the state of its body, the zombie's hands fell off. Then, it swung its stumps at Elicia in an attempt to scratch her.

"Eww!" Elicia exclaimed as she frantically dodged the blood spraying from the zombie's wrists. "In hindsight, that was a really bad idea."

["Yeah, I thought you would stitch its fingertips to its palms."] Scylla replied.

While continuing to avoid the spraying blood, Elicia opened her eyes wide at Scylla's reply.

"I didn't think about that." Elicia said in an enlightened tone.

["You didn't think?"] Scylla replied in an exasperated tone. ["Why doesn't that surprise me?"]

"You don't have to be so mean about it, Scylla." Elicia replied with a pout.

["I'll be nicer when you start thinking about your words and actions."] Scylla replied mercilessly.

Instead of replying, Elicia continued to pout as she yanked the fingers of her left hand.

"[Thread Magic: thread Slicer]." Elicia chanted.

A moment later, all the threads Elicia released while she was dodging the rotten, spraying blood came flying towards the zombie. Then, with little resistance, they mince the zombie into small pieces of flesh and bone fragments.

"Alright, the rest should be coming this way soon." Elicia said as she stood in the middle of the street. "Looks like this group was drawn away from the bridge."

["That should take a lot of pressure off the knights defending the shelter on the other side of the bridge, then."] Scylla said. ["I wonder if that's where Rika was stationed. I mean, there's no airport to defend in this town."]

"Who knows." Elicia replied. "But maybe I should start working my way in that direction instead of waiting for them to come to me. Then, I might get to meet her."

["That's actually a pretty well thought out plan coming from you."] Scylla replied in a tone that made it clear she was smirking.

Once again, Elicia could only pout at her [Armament Spirit]. However, that did not slow her down or change her decision. So, like a whirlpool of threads and needles, Elicia dashed down the street while lashing her threaded golden needles around her.

At the same time, the knights guarding the shelter on the other side of the bridge were watching the zombies in the area start moving towards the lightning storm in the distance.

"Does anyone have an idea what's going on over there?" A middle-aged man with black eyes and hair, greying at his temples, asked.

"It's probably magic, Captain Miyamoto." A young knight replied.

"I'm aware." The middle-aged man, Tadashi Miyamoto, replied in an irritated tone. "The question is who could have used a spell that powerful? There shouldn't be anyone in this town with that much power."

In response, all the knights stationed at the shelter could only exchange unsure glances.

"Well, if no one is sure, I think we should go and find out." A tan-skinned woman standing at around 5'7" with shoulder-length purple hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a light armored chest plate, that did not cover her midriff, revealing her stomach and a small part of a white crop top, and a pair of dark shooting glasses covering her red eyes suggested. "And I volunteer to make the trip."

As she spoke the last part, The purple-haired woman leaned the large caliber magic rifle in her hands on her right shoulder.

"*Sigh* Of course you do." Tadashi said in an exasperated tone. "However, you're right this time, Chief Minami. But I can't send you alone."

Hearing that, Chief Rika Minami smiled happily. Meanwhile, the other knights focused their attention on Tadashi to see who would be accompanying her on his potentially suicidal mission.

'Good.' Rika thought as she waited to see who her teammates on this mission would be. 'If I'm lucky, I'll even get to check on Shizuka while I'm on the other side of the bridge, too. I wonder if she went to stay at my place after all this shit started.'

With that thought, Rika slung the rifle she was holding onto her back. Then, she reached into the pocket of her pants' pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, pulled a cigarette out of the pack, and lit it by making a small spark with her magic power.

'*Sigh* There's no better reason to learn just a little fire magic than this.' Rika thought as she inhaled the smoke from her cigarette.

"Crawford, Sato, and Tendo, you will be going with Minami on this investigation mission." Tadashi said after finally deciding on the team assignment. "The rest of you will be staying here to continue guarding the shelter."

"Sir!" All the knights shouted while saluting.

"Now, get your gear and take one of the Humvees." Tadashi ordered. "Dismissed."

"Sir!" Rika, Crawford, Sato, and Tendo replied in unison.

A moment later, Crawford, Sato, and tendo ran off to get geared up. Meanwhile, Rika, who was always carrying a sniper rifle, a shotgun, and a pair of pistols, looked at Tadashi.

"We'll check for news about your wife and daughter while we're on the other side, Captain." Rika said as she turned around to head to the magic vehicles.

"I appreciate it." Tadashi replied with a light smile. "But don't put yourselves in any extra danger because of that."

Waving over her shoulder while taking another drag from her cigarette, Rika kept walking towards the magic vehicles.

"Don't worry, I'll keep those boys safe." Rika said. "I don't like unnecessary risks, you know. On top of that, comrades don't die on my watch."

Nodding in understanding, Tadashi saluted at Rika's back.

A few minutes later, with Sato driving the Humvee, Rika, Crawford, and Tendo were on their way across the bridge.

"Even though we don't' know who cast that lightning spell, it really helped us out, didn't it?" Sato asked from behind the wheel. "I mean, all the noise basically pulled all the zombies in one direction."

"Yeah, but the guys back at the shelter might have a hard time dealing with all those things trying to get to the bridge, though." Tendo replied in a slightly concerned tone.

"Don't worry about them, Captain Miyamoto will keep them in top form." Rika said after blowing a cloud of smoke out of the window in the backseat.

"Hey! What is that?" Crawford asked from his spot on the opposite side of the back seat while pointing out the window.

With Crawford's exclamation, Rika and Tendo turned to look in the direction he was pointing.

"Is that… a wall?" Tendo asked while squinting at the massive black object down the river.

"Stop for a minute, Sato." Rika ordered as she gripped her sniper rifle.

With that, Sato slowly brought the vehicle to a stop Then, Rika stood up, opened the hatch on the roof, and looked down the river through the scope of her rifle.

"It really is a wall." Rika muttered. Though, it was loud enough for the other three knights to hear. Then, as Rika turned around to look in the opposite direction, she continued. "I wonder if… Yup, there's a wall on the other side, too."

"Where the hell did that wall come from?" Sato asked with a frown on his face.

"More importantly, did whoever cast this ritual put up walls to keep anyone from escaping?" Crawford asked.

"Or did someone raise walls to keep the undead from spreading?" Tendo asked.

"*Sigh* We'll have to find out once this mess is over." Rika replied while closing the hatch as she sat back in her seat. "For now, let's keep going."

"Ma'am!" Sato replied as he stepped on the accelerator once again.

Not long later, the Humvee began approaching the zombies who were heading for the Takagi mansion. Although Alfonzo had ended the [Thunderstorm] spell when all the S-Class enhanced zombies were destroyed, many of his spells still utilized lightning and electricity. And to keep as many zombies heading towards their location as possible, he did not lower the volume on any of the bolts.

"Ma'am, we've caught up to the horde." Sato said. "What should we do?"

"Just keep following them." Rika said, once again standing up in the back seat and opening the hatch. "I'll clean up as many as I can while we're moving."

"Understood." Sato replied while matching the speed of the back row of zombies.

"Alright, just like shooting ducks n a barrel." Rika said as she held the magazine to her sniper rifle. "[Bullet-Make: Spread Shot]."

In the next instant, a bullet appeared in the chamber of her rifle. Meanwhile, four more appeared in the magazine in her hand. Then, she took aim at the zombies in front of her.

"[Target Magic: Multiscope]." Rika chanted as she looked through her rifle's scope and aimed at five running zombies.

*Bang!*

Then, once her aim was locked on the heads of the five zombies, Rika pulled the trigger. In the next instant, the bullet flew out of the rifle's barrel. Then, while mid-flight, it split into five needlelike shells, with each needle piercing through the back of the targeted zombie's heads.

"*Sigh* Seeing the Chief work never gets old." Tendo said while he watched the five zombies lose momentum and slide forward after falling.

"Yeah, she's got to be one of the top five shots in the knights." Sato replied.

"And that's why there have never been any rumors of men getting into the Chief's bed." Crawford said with a chuckle.

"Damn right!" Rika shouted as she lined up her next shot. "If a man can't even out shoot me, there's no way in hell he's getting into my pants."

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

As she spoke, Rika emptied the remaining rounds in the magazine. However, just as she was about to create more ammo with her [Bullet-Make Magic], she noticed that the number of zombies in front of the Humvee was reducing with no input from her.

'Damn, are there a bunch of those strong ones devouring the weaker ones while they run?' Rika asked herself as she hurriedly created more powerful ammo. 'The [Spread Shot] shells won't be enough for those.'

"[Bullet-Make: Inferno Shot]." Rika chanted before loading her rifle once again.

However, when she looked through her scope once again, Rika was thoroughly surprised.

*Bang!*

"Hey, Sato, stop!" Rika shouted after pulling the trigger and causing a B-Class zombi to be engulfed by intense flames.

Following the order, Sato brought the Humvee to a stop once again.

"What's wrong, Chief?" Sato asked in confusion.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

"Someone is ripping straight through that horde in front of us." Rika said as she took aim at four more magically enhanced zombies with her [Multiscope] spell and pulled the trigger four times in succession. "And I don't want you to run into them by mistake."

'Otherwise, if the way those zombies are getting minced up, we wouldn't survive the collision.' Rika thought to herself. 'But still, I didn't think anyone from outside the town would be here. But I guess she's not bad back up. And I'd bet my next month's salary that I know who cast that lightning storm now after seeing her.'

Naturally, the one Rika saw ripping through the horde was Elicia. So, instead of speeding forward, Rika continued picking off zombies while Elicia approached. Eventually, once the entire horde was dealt with, Elicia approached the Humvee.

"Wow, you might even be a better shot than Bisca." Elicia said with a smile as she walked up to the passenger side of the Humvee and looked up at Rika, who was still sticking out the hatch on the roof.

"That sounds like a challenge, Magic Seamstress." Rika replied with a smile after blowing out a cloud of smoke. "I might have to make a trip to Magnolia to see just how good a shot this Bisca is."

"I think you should, Miss Minami." Elicia replied with a smile.

"Oh, you know who I am?" Rika asked as she raised her shooting glasses.

"Yeah, Shizuka talks about you a lot." Elicia replied with a nod. "A tall, tan-skinned, purple-haired knight with big boobs, though not as big as hers, and a good, really good, shot."

"You met Shizuka?" Rika asked, her tone rising in both anticipation and worry. "How is she?"

"You don't have to worry, she's fine." Elicia replied. "Anyway, if you're willing to give me a ride to Takagi mansion, I don't mind telling you what she's been up to on the way."

"Sure, climb in." Rika replied in a carefree, yet somewhat excited tone as she dropped back into the Humvee and closed the hatch. Then, she opened the door on the passenger side of the vehicle as she continued. "By the way, do you know who cast that lightning spell earlier?"

"Yeah, that was my husband." Elicia said while smiling proudly.

"That's what I thought after seeing you here." Rika said as she scooted towards the middle of the back seat and Elicia climbed in. "Anyway, tell me about Shizuka."

With that, Elicia closed the door. Then, Sato started driving once again as Elicia talked to Rika about Shizuka and everything she had been up to since Alfonzo and Elicia arrived in town.

L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS
SixthSense1029

Bonus Chapter for reaching 700 Power Stones last week.

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commentaire Commentaire 8

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Chapitre 426: The End of the Battle

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

Around the same time Elicia met up with Rika and her team, Alfonzo, along with Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro, was cutting through the horde Shido brought with him. However, it felt like no matter how many they put down, more took their place.

"I think you over did it, Kid." Kiriko said as she avoided a lunging zombie while using the butt of her spear to trip it and cause it to fall on another. "You basically called every zombie in the town."

"Yeah, but it will make clean up faster this way." Alfonzo replied before chanting a spell. "[Metal Magic: King of Wallachia]."

In the next instant, two dozen black steel spikes sprouted from the ground under just as many normal zombies, impaling them from crotch to head.

["You know no one other than you and Lici will understand the name of that spell, right?"] Bedlam asked with a smirk.

["Yeah, people are gonna look at you the same way they look at Laki."] Riot said with a similar smirk.

"What does that spell name even mean?" Saeko muttered while beheading a C-Class magically enhanced zombie.

["See?"] Riot and Bedlam asked simultaneously.

'Sometimes, I really hate you two.' Alfonzo replied internally.

"Don't worry about it." Alfonzo replied. "It came from a story my mom told me when I was a kid." Alfonzo said dismissively. "Let's just worry about cutting down all these things. We've got a long fight ahead of us."

Nodding in response, Saeko continued to cut through every zombie at C-Class or below that she came across. However, with everyone her sword cleaved through, her eyes would glow just a bit more. On top of that, the smile on her face widened proportionally.

Meanwhile, Kiriko and Souichiro focused almost exclusively on B-Class and above threats. Luckily, thanks to Alfonzo's [thunderstorm] spell, no one had to worry about S-Class threats from within the horde. Though, whenever an S-Class zombie approached from the distance, Alfonzo would swiftly take care of it before returning to helping clean up the weaker zombies.

"That young man is truly impressive." Yuriko, who was firing down on the zombies from the mansion's walls with a magic gun resembling a Tommy Gun, said in an impressed tone. Then, with a small smile on her face, she glanced at Saya as she continued. "It's no wonder you've developed a crush on him in such a short time."

"Mother, must you continue to speak such nonsense?" Saya asked in an annoyed tone. Though, the blush on her face and the way her eyes followed Alfonzo's movements, as best they could considering his speed, gave away her true feelings.

"Saya, Sweetie, if you're gonna act like that, then you'll never catch his heart." Yuriko said in a gentle tone with an equally gentle smile on her face. Quite the jarring contrast considering how many zombies she was gunning down with every passing second. "Why do you think that Komuro boy never realized how you felt about him?"

Hearing that, Saya visibly panicked. And it was clear that she was hoping that a certain someone could not hear her mother's words.

"Mother, what are you talking about?" Saya asked, her voice quite a bit louder than intended, as if she wanted to make sure that certain someone could hear her. "I don't have feelings for Takashi, and I never did."

"Oh my? Why did you get so loud, Saya?" Yuriko asked in a teasing tone. "Is there someone you want to know--- Saya, look out!"

Hearing her mother's panicked warning, Saya was surprised. A moment later, she looked up and saw a pair of A-Class zombies jumping towards her from the horde. Unfortunately, they were moving too fast for anyone on the wall to react. And the only person who was fast and strong enough to do anything, Yuriko, was in the process of reloading her Tommy Gun.

Forgetting about her weapon, Yuriko threw herself in front of Saya and wrapped her arms around her daughter defensively, intending to use her body to shield her daughter. Unfortunately, this would result in Yuriko being both bitten and scratched by the approaching zombies.

"Mama! No!" Saya shouted, drawing the attention of Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro from below.

However, none of them were close enough to stop the zombies before tragedy could befall the mother-daughter duo. Luckily, there was one person among those present that could do so.

"*Sigh* I'm glad he's here." Souichiro muttered as he returned to cutting down zombies. "Still, you monster's will pay for what you tried to do just now. [Sword Magic: Dimensional Decapitator."

In the next instant, Souichiro's magic power started flowing around his sword. However, instead of one continuous stream, it flowed on either side of his blade before meeting at the edge, causing an even sharper edge. And with each swing of the blade, a thin black line was left in the air, cutting through the zombies with next to no resistance.

At the same time, Yuriko finally realized that the expected impact never landed on her back. Then, she opened her eyes. After that, she looked up at Saya's face. Seeing the relief and even deeper blush, she had a pretty good idea what had happened. So, to confirm her suspicions, she looked back over her shoulder.

At the end of Yuriko's line of sight, Alfonzo, floating in front of the wall, was holding the two A-Class zombies by their faces as they clawed at his metallic forearms. However, he seemed to be completely unbothered by their attacks.

"You two alright?" Alfonzo asked from over his shoulder.

"Yes, we're fine." Yuriko said as she released Saya. "Thank you for your help, Alfonzo."

"Don't mention it." Alfonzo said as his arms started sparking with violent electricity. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Spark Cannon]."

With his chant, the lightning coursing around Alfonzo's arms gathered in his palms, destroying the two zombies' heads in the process. Then, as the headless bodies fell to the ground, Alfonzo fired the two orbs of electricity into the horde. And as they detonated on contact, they spread webs of electricity to all the nearby zombies.

"Anyway, it looks like a bit of reinforcement should be here soon." Alfonzo said as he floated Yuriko's magic gun in front of her.

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

In the next instant, as if to prove his words true, five gun shots rang out over the battle. And with those five shots, twenty five zombies lost their heads.

"Oh, that's a pretty good shot from so far away." Alfonzo said. "Anyway, I'll get back down there. You two be careful."

With that, Alfonzo flashed. Then, he reappeared in the midst of the horde. This time, with his [Circular Cutters] on his wrist as he dismembered the undead with ease.

"Thank you for saving my mom, Alfonzo." Saya muttered quietly as she watched Alfonzo disappear.

"Oh my, Saya." Yuriko, once again with her gun in her hand, said playfully. "If you speak so quietly, he'll never hear you."

"Mom~~~." Saya whined as she shook her head to focus her thoughts back on the fight.

Meanwhile, the Humvee carrying the knights and Elicia was driving through Takanosu on the road leading to the Takagi mansion. And Elicia and Rika were standing with their upper bodies sticking out of the hatch on the roof.

"*Whistle* There really are a lot of these things gathered on this one street." Rika said as she used her magic to create more ammo.

"Yup, I guess Fonzie thought gathering them all in one place was the best way to deal with them." Elicia replied with a nod. "Especially since he couldn't just blow up the whole town with all the people in it."

"Are you serious?" Crawford, who was still seated in the back seat asked. "Is he really strong enough to do that?"

"Yeah." Elicia replied with a nod. "I mean, he's the only person I've seen who could destroy a lacrima with a magic spell. That's how he toppled the Tower of Heaven, after all."

Hearing that, Crawford, Sato, and Tendo fell silent. Meanwhile, Rika began laughing uproariously.

"I guess he's on par with the Ten Wizard Saints at the very least, huh?" Rika asked after getting her laughter under control. "I wonder if he'll get one of the open slots, then. I mean, after Master Porla and that traitor left, there are two open spots, right?"

"Probably not." Elicia replied with a shake of her head. "I doubt the Council will want two Wizard Saints from the same guild."

With that, Elicia stopped to think.

"Actually, Warrod and Gramps are both from the same guild." Elicia muttered while rubbing her chin. "But since they've both retired, are they not looked at as members of Fairy Tail anymore? Either way, they'd probably give it to Ur before Fonzie."

Getting to that point, Elicia nodded at her own thoughts. Then, she raised her head and looked at the horde once again.

"Anyway, I think we're close enough." Elicia said as she climbed through the hatch. "So, I'll see all of you again when this is all over. Oh, and Rika, I'll take you to Shizuka when we're done, too."

"Good." Rika said as she lined up her next shot.

With that, Elicia nodded her head. Then, she shot out her threads, sticking them into the sides of two buildings.

"[Cross Stitching]." Elicia chanted.

In the next instant, threads appeared between the two buildings. Then, the two buildings were dragged towards the middle of the street, crushing all the zombies between them.

"[Release]." Elicia chanted after the two buildings stopped moving.

Then, as if they were moving in reverse, the two buildings returned to their original positions, the only evidence of their movement the trench that was dug when they, along with their foundations, were dragged into the street.

"Oops!" Elicia exclaimed in embarrassment. "I didn't think the foundation would get dragged along, too."

["Once again, I'm not surprised that you didn't think."] Scylla said in exasperation.

'Scylla~~~!' Elicia whined internally.

Even so, Elicia retracted her threads quickly, throwing herself towards the horde in the distance and leaving a group of dumbfounded knights behind in the Humvee.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Tendo muttered in disbelief.

"Yeah, that was insane." Sato added in a similar tone.

"She literally sewed those two houses together than pulled out the stitching to put them back." Crawford muttered with lifeless eyes.

"Hey, get your shit together!" Rika shouted from the hatch. "You can think about the absurdity of what just happened later. For now, we've got zombies to kill."

"Ma'am!" The three knights shouted in reply as they snapped back to their senses.

Meanwhile, Elicia was soaring through the air as she approached the horde.

'I wonder if I can fix the damage I just crossed with your powers, Scylla.' Elicia said internally.

["yeah, it would work."] Scylla replied.

'Good.' Elicia replied with a nod. 'I thought it might mess up the spacing between the buildings if I did that.'

["As long as you treat it like when you're mending clothing, you should be able to handle it."] Scylla replied.

'Yeah, I guess you're right.' Elicia said. 'Anyway, I'll think about that after we're done with these zombies.'

"Thread Magic: Loosening Spool]." Elicia chanted as she approached the horde from behind.

In the next instant, Elicia plunged into the horde with her threads lashing around her.

Around two hours later, with the moon illuminating the town, Rika put a bullet in the head of the last zombie, bringing the battle to an end.

"Damn, there sure were a lot of them." Rika said as she lowered her rifle.

"Yeah, it's a good thing you can make ammo with your magic, Chief." Tendo said as he climbed into the Humvee. "Otherwise, we would have run out of ammo a long time ago."

"And that's why we're supposed to be just as well trained in the ways of the sword or spear." Crawford said. "Looks like someone needs more training."

"Speak for yourself." Tendo shot back. "I'm just as good with a sword as I am with a magic gun."

"Yeah, sure you are." Sato chimed in.

With that, the knights gave themselves a little time to unwind after such a battle. Meanwhile, Rika lit a cigarette with a smile on her face.

'I'll get to see Shizuka soon.' Rika said to herself while taking a drag from her cigarette. 'And it looks like I'll have some good news for the captain, too. I can see his wife over there with Elicia.'

At the same time, now that there were no more threats in the immediate area, Elicia flung herself into Alfonzo's arms, wrapped her arms and legs around his torso, and buried er head in the side of his neck.

"Fonzie, I'm tired and wanna take a shower." Elicia whined.

"Yeah, me, too, Lici." Alfonzo replied as he reverted Riot and Bedlam to their sealed state, put them in the strap on his lower back, and started combing his fingers through Elicia's hair. "But before you can do that, you need to go fix the mess you made on the street."

"*Sigh* I know." Elicia muttered as she hugged Alfonzo a little tighter.

Then, after a few moments, Elicia let go of Alfonzo and went to stitch the street together. At the same time, Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro approached Alfonzo.

"Thank you for saving my wife and daughter, young man." Souichiro said in his usual tone.

"No problem." Alfonzo replied while waving off Souichiro's thanks.

"Anyway, now that the battle is over, we need to do something with Shido." Kiriko said while glaring at Shido.

However, when Kiriko looked in the direction where Alfonzo knocked out Shido, she was surprised to see that he was not there.

"Oh, he's over there." Alfonzo said, pointing in another direction.

Looking in the direction where Alfonzo was pointing, Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro saw Shido standing up with the same anti-magic harness wrapped around his arms and torso. On top of that, his legs were completely encased in a block of what appeared to be black steel.

"Yeah, he woke up while we were fighting." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "And when he tried to run away, I realized that I forgot to put cuffs on his legs. So, I did that. I was too distracted to do more delicate work during battle."