Bab 440: Ultear Vs. Mirajane II
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
October 15, x75.
"*Sigh* I lost to her again." Sun said as she picked herself up from outside the ring. "I know I'm getting better, but it feels like the gap between is hasn't closed at all."
"That's because she's improving, too." Alfonzo said while he and Marin approached Sun.
"Besides, if it wasn't for the ring out rule, I think you would have probably won this time." Marin said excitedly.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Sun asked curiously, as she was unable to see the effect her sound wave attack had on Erza because of how fast she was sent flying away.
Naturally, Marin delighted in telling Sun exactly what happened after she was knocked out of the ring. And when Sun heard it, her eyes opened wide in surprise and concern.
"She coughed up blood?" Sun asked in a panicked tone. "We need to hurry up and take her to see my mom and Shizuka. I didn't mean to hurt her that bad."
Hearing the concern in Sun's tone and seeing the frantic expression on her face, Alfonzo and Marin could only smile warmly. Then, Alfonzo began combing his fingers through her hair to calm her down.
"Calm down, Sun." Alfonzo said in a soothing tone. Then, he pointed towards Elicia, who was helping Erza over to the medical station. "Lici is taking care of it. Besides, you know how strong Erza is. She'll be fine. And when she's all healed up, she'll train even harder to make sure that it doesn't happen again."
Hearing that, Sun nodded her head, though she did not move to follow Elicia and Erza. She was enjoying the feeling of Alfonzo's fingertips brushing against her scalp too much for that. Also, she could feel an envious stare. But since it did not carry any malice, she could not be bothered to look for its source.
'Shizuka is looking over here with a lot of envy in her gaze.' Alfonzo said to himself as he glanced in the direction the envious stare was coming from. 'I guess she really liked it when I did this that one time, huh?'
"I'll train harder, too." Sun said as she clenched her fists with determination. "And I won't lose next time."
"That's the spirit, sun." Marin said as she lunged at Sun and pulled her into a hug. "And I'll train hard with you."
With a bright smile on her face, Sun returned the hug while nodding in agreement.
"Anyway, let's get back to our seats." Alfonzo said with a smile. "The next match is going to start soon."
Nodding at Alfonzo's words, Marin and Sun, though reluctant to move away from Alfonzo's hand, followed him to their seats, where they were joined by Elicia.
Meanwhile, Ur called Team Strauss and Team Ultear to ring side. And with little time wasted, the two teams reached the side of the ring.
"Now, both teams send up your first fighters." Ur ordered. Then, with little hesitation, Ultear and Mirajane both hopped into the ring.
"Oh, this should be good." Alfonzo said while looking at the tiara on Mirajane's forehead and the clawed gauntlets, reminiscent of Wolverine's Claws from Marvel Comics, on Ultear's hands. "They should both be close to releasing the seals on their [Soul Armaments]. I wonder if this match will be enough for either of them, or maybe both of them, to take that step."
"I'm actually still surprised that I was the first of us to unlock their [Partial Release]." Marin said, shivering as she remembered her fight with Lust.
"It's probably because of the life or death situation you were in." Elicia said as she grasped Marin's hands tenderly. "Although I wouldn't call it lucky to end up in a situation like that, it did help you overcome that barrier."
Nodding in reply, Marin returned her attention back to the ring.
"Now, if both of you are ready..." Ur said after introducing the two fighters to the audience. "Begin!"
Immediately upon hearing the signal to begin, Ultear made her casting gesture. Then, she slammed her hands onto the ring.
"[Ice-Make: Iron Maiden]." Ultear chanted.
A moment later, a box made of ice grew around Mirajane. On top of that, like the name suggested, the inside of the walls, ceiling, and floor were lined with sharp spikes. A moment later, the walls and ceiling of the box started closing in ON Mirajane, who was trapped inside.
Shortly afterwards, Ultear leapt high into the air. Then, less than a second later, a purple beam of [Darkness Magic] cut through the four ice walls.
Luckily, Ultear had jumped high into the air. Otherwise, she would have undoubtedly been hit by the beam of [Darkness Magic]. Meanwhile, while she was in the air, Ultear once again made her casting gesture.
"[Ice-Make: Gatling Gun]." Ultear chanted as a gatling gun made of ice appeared in her hands.
At the same time, the top half of the box enclosing Mirajane was blasted into the air, straight in Ultear's direction, revealing Mirajane, once again in her [Sitri Take Over] form with a beam of [Darkness Magic] being shot from her right hand and propelling the top half of the box.
Immediately, Ultear began firing her [Gatling Gun], destroying her ice construct and holding off Mirajane's ray of [Darkness Magic].
"That would have been enough before, Tear." Mirajane said as [darkness Magic] began accumulating on the jewel in the center of her tiara. "But what will you do about this while stuck in midair?"
In the next instant, Mirajane fired the accumulated [Darkness Magic] at Ultear, who had no way of avoiding the incoming spell.
"I think you forgot something." Ultear said as her left eye began to glow red. "[restore]."
A moment later, all the shards of the destroyed ice box began to reassemble themselves between Ultear and Mirajane, once again blocking the beam of [Darkness Magic] Mirajane fired from her right hand, as well as the beam firing from her forehead.
Then, with Mirajane's magic propelling the top half of the box forward, it did not take long for the box to reach Ultear, who had dispelled her [Gatling Gun] once her [Restore] spell was completed. And when she was close enough to use the box as leverage, Ultear dug her [Soul Armament] into the ice box and scaled it before running along the top side. After that, she leapt from the box towards Mirajane, who was still standing in the ring.
"Wrong move." Mirajane said as she directed the beam firing from her forehead at the approaching Ultear.
"I don't think so." Ultear replied, using the claws on her left hand to redirect the beam upward.
"Tch!" Mirajane clicked her tongue as she stopped the beam before using her incomplete [shave] in combination with her ability to fly to close the distance with Ultear.
A moment later, Mirajane appeared in front of Ultear with her right hand reeled back to throw a punch. However, before she could do so, Ultear raked her claws down at Mirajane's shoulders.
Reacting quickly, Mirajane opted not to throw her punch. Instead, she spun in midair, lashing her left leg at Ultear's arms, deflecting the claws to her right. In response, Ultear formed her hands into her casting gesture while her hands were both on the left side of her body.
"[Ice-Make: Lance]." Ultear chanted.
Hearing Ultear's spell, Mirajane's eyes opened wide in surprise. And with little time to react, Ultear's close range [Lance] spell was cast, striking Mirajane in the torso with close to three dozen ice spears and launching her downwards towards the ring.
*Boom!*
"Argh!" Mirajane cried out in pain as she slammed back first into the ring.
At the same time, Ultear fell towards Mirajane with her claws aimed downwards. However, since she had no intension of fatally injuring her, Ultear's claws were aimed at either side of Mirajane's head.
Still, Mirajane was well aware that if those claws dug into the ring on either side of her head, Ur would immediately deem her the loser of the match. Unfortunately, because of the hard impact with the ring, Mirajane's body was not listening to her commands to move out of the way.
'Come on, move!' Mirajane roared internally. 'There's no way something like this is going to stop me.'
Meanwhile, in Mirajane's inner world, there was an opulent mansion situated on a vast amount of land. And sitting in the parlor of that mansion was a beautiful, well-endowed woman with shoulder-length, flaxen hair and violet eyes wearing an elegant white evening gown.
"Calm down, Mira." the woman, Mirajane's [Armament Spirit] said calmly while setting a tea cup down on a saucer.
"Huh?" Mirajane asked, surprised to be in her inner world right now.
"I pulled you in here because I think it's the time for you to hear my name." Mirajane's [Armament Spirit] said with a smile. "But if you do it, there's a good chance that Ultear will find herself in a similar situation shortly afterwards."
"That's fine." Mirajane said with a smile. "It'll make the guild stronger. Which is a good thing."
Smiling in return, Mirajane's [Armament Spirit] picked up her teacup once again before taking a sip.
"If you've made your decision, then you can call me..."
Back in the real world, Mirajane looked up and made eye contact with Ultear. Then, she opened her mouth to speak.
"[Show the World the Power of Destruction, Bael]." Mirajane chanted.
A moment later, Mirajane's magic power spiked. At the same time, the tiara on her forehead began to glow. Shortly after that, the glow climbed down Mirajane's body. Then, when the glow faded, she was wearing a pair of elegant gloves that appeared to be made of silk. Meanwhile, the tiara she was wearing had disappeared.
'The [Power of Destruction]... Bael..." Alfonzo and Elicia thought simultaneously as they made eye contact with smiles on their faces.
Ultear, on the other hand, had a shocked expression on her face. On top of that, the surge in Mirajane's magic power flung her backwards.
'Shit, I'm gonna end up flying out of the ring at this rate.' Ultear thought as she made her casting gesture.
"[Ice-Make: Rose]." Ultear chanted.
In the next instant, an ice rose grew from the ground at the spot where Ultear would have impacted the ground. Before she could land on it, however, Mirajane raised her hand with its palm aimed at the ice rose.
"[Extinguished Star]." Mirajane chanted as an orb of red and black energy formed in her palm.
A moment later, and just before Ultear could land on the [Ice Rose], Mirajane fired the ball of destructive energy, obliterating the rose on contact.
In response, Ultear could only look on in disbelief as her landing point simply vanished. However, before she fell to the ground, she found herself in a frozen wasteland. In the center of this tundra, there was a lake. And despite the biting cold, the water was not frozen.
The truly magical part of this frozen tundra, however, was the large, ice blue bird sitting atop a completely iced over tree.
"I guess something like this happened to Mira only a moment ago, huh?" Ultear said with a wry smile.
"More than likely." The large blue bird, which appeared to be a phoenix, said in an amused tone. "Honestly, I was considering letting you fall, just so I could see the disgruntled expression on your face."
"*Sigh* I already knew you were made from the sadistic part of my personality." Ultear said while shaking her head. "But that really is in bad taste."
"I realize that." The ice phoenix, Ultear's [Armament Spirit] said with a chuckle. "On top of that, I really hate losing. And you've already lost to her once before. I'd like to avoid seeing that happen again, if at all possible."
"Yeah, I hate losing, too." Ultear said with a shrug. "So, why don't you go ahead and tell me your name."
"Right. You can call me..."
Back in the real world, Ultear spread her arms to either side.
"[Soar Upon the Frozen Winds, Kinsi]." Ultear chanted.
With Ultear's chant, Ultear's gauntlets glowed in an ice blue color as they morphed into the shape of a birds talons. ON top of that, the glow spread up Ultear's arms. Then, what appeared to be feathers sprouted. And finally, just before hitting the ground, Ultear flapped her arms, lifting herself into the air while lowering the temperature in her surroundings.
"That's seven." Elicia said as she watched the ongoing match. "Two of us opened the first seal through introspection. Two in a life or death situation. And three because they did not want to lose."
"To be fair, none of us like to lose, you know." Alfonzo said with a wry smile. "Actually, that goes for everyone in the guild."
Marin and Sun nodded in agreement.
Meanwhile, Ultear, while gaining control of her new flight ability, circled the ring from above. Mirajane, on the other hand, was finally able to move after the shock to her system wore off. Unfortunately, she was still a little wobbly on her feet.
Deciding that she could figure out the intricacies of flying later, Ultear knew that letting Mirajane have more time to recover was a bad idea. So, after turning towards Mirajane, she flapped her arms violently.
"[Frozen Feathers]." Ultear chanted as she sent a volley of the feathers growing from her arms flying at Mirajane.
As one would expect after seeing Ultear's wings, her feathers were not soft like the feathers of normal birds. Instead, once they separated from her wings, they took on the qualities of extremely cold ice, becoming hard and sharp as they cut through the air.
On top of shooting her feathers, Ultear also took a moment to make her casting gesture once again.
"[Ice-Make: Wall]." Ultear chanted as a curved wall grew from the ring around Mirajane, cutting off any escape routes.
Instead of panicking, however, Mirajane simply watched the incoming projectiles. Then, before they could hit her, the flames around her legs flared explosively.
"[Fire Magic: Firestorm]." Mirajane chanted as she was engulfed in flames that spun like a tornado.
As a result, not only the feathers Ultear shot in her direction, but the wall surrounding her from three directions, were all melted and evaporated. Then, after a moment, Mirajane shot out of the [Firestorm] at high speed.
"Tch! She recovered faster than I thought she would." Ultear muttered as she prepared for close quarters combat.
However, instead of immediately engaging in melee combat, Mirajane zipped right past Ultear, leaving her confused. A moment later, Ultear was struck in the side, as Mirajane had circled back around. Then, after another moment, Mirajane appeared on Ultear's other side and struck her in the back with a kick.
And like that, Mirajane continued to rag doll Ultear while in the air. And eventually, Ultear realized why she was being beaten so one-sidedly.
'Damn it.' Ultear muttered internally. 'I guess I didn't think this through. Of course I'd lose in a midair battle. I have no experience fighting while flying. Meanwhile, Mira fights like this almost all the time.'
["Indeed."] Kinsi replied from Ultear's inner world. ["But I'm sure you'll get used to flying over time. Unfortunately, you made the wrong move, this time. Oh well, better luck next time."]
Before Ultear could respond to the sadistic laughter that followed Kinsi's statement, Mirajane, with a large amount of [Darkness Magic] concentrated on her right fist, struck Ultear in the back, sending her rocketing down toward the ring.
*Boom!*
A moment later, Ultear slammed into the ring. And after a few moments, it was obvious that the fall, in combination with the attack she received, caused her to lose consciousness, as she lay unmoving in the ring. On top of that, her [Soul Armament] reverted to its sealed state. Though, it was obvious to see that its shape had changed.
Now, instead of three parallel claws that extended from her knuckles, the claws extended from the tips of her fingers. On top of that, the gauntlets were now white while the claws at the ends were an ice blue color.
"The winner of the match is Mirajane Strauss from Team Strauss." Ur said, announcing the outcome of the match.
'I guess we'll have to add midair combat to Tear's training schedule.' Ur thought as she looked at her daughter with pride. 'Then, again, I guess I wouldn't be the best person to train her in that case. I guess I should ask Lisanna to help her. Those wings are a lot like Harpy wings, after all. But the claws on the ends of her wings make it a lot more versatile.'
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