章 424: Shido and the Horde Arrive

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Takanosu.

October, x785.

After the small talk ended, Alfonzo, Saeko, and Kiriko followed the Takagi family into the mansion where they were led to a meeting room.

"It would seem my daughter's magic power has been awakened in the last couple of days." Souichiro said as he took a seat at the head of the table in the meeting room."

"Wait!" Saya exclaimed after hearing her father speak. "Does that mean you knew I had the potential to be a wizard?"

"That's right." Souichiro replied calmly.

"Then, why didn't you ever tell me about it?" Saya asked with a frown on her face.

"It wasn't---" Souichiro began to say.

"Because we both know how dangerous the life of a wizard can be." Yuriko cut in while shooting a quick glare at her husband. "We wanted you to live a safe life. So, we thought it would be better to develop your mind rather than your magic."

Although Saya was clearly unhappy with that decision, she could at least understand where her parents were coming from.

Meanwhile, Yuriko, after saying her piece, leaned over to whisper into her husband's ear.

"We talked about this already, Souichiro." Yuriko said quietly. "She's no longer a child. She can understand the things we want to tell her if we explain them to her."

"Yes, I know." Souichiro replied while lowering his head. "But she should never have to worry about these kinds of things."

"Unfortunately, it's too late for that." Yuriko said as she took Souichiro's hand in her own. "At this point, all we can do is let her decide how she would like to live her life."

"*Sigh* You're right, Yuriko." Souichiro replied while squeezing his wife's hand lovingly.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask you all if you could provide some aid to the people we've managed to rescue since we got to Takanosu." Alfonzo said after the husband and wife's conversation seemed to end. "Right now, there are two places where Lici and I have help people set up a small shelter."

"And where would those places be?" Yuriko asked curiously.

"The first place we set up was a warehouse on this side of the river." Alfonzo replied. "And the second is at the primary school. In total, there are about a hundred people."

"Hmm... That may be difficult." Souichiro said. "Making our way through the town with a force large enough to move them all safely will cause a lot of noise..."

"And that would attract the undead." Kiriko said, finishing Souichiro's sentence.

"That's right." Souichiro said with a nod.

"I was partly expecting that answer." Alfonzo said, sounding slightly disappointed. "I was hoping we could get everyone somewhere safe. That way, I could use some of my more destructive spells."

"Aren't you worried about destroying the town?" Yuriko asked. "Your reputation says that you don't cause much property damage during your quests."

"That's not what I meant." Alfonzo replied while waving dismissively. "What I wanted to do was flood the streets with UV radiation in high amounts. Although that would cause the buildings to degrade slightly and cause discoloration, it would incinerate the zombies... I think."

"It's like spending too much time in the sun, right?" Saya asked.

"That's right." Alfonzo replied. "Just crank that up to eleven. But if there are people nearby, they could suffer from all kinds of skin and eye diseases. And I can't have that."

"I see your point." Souichiro replied with a nod. "Still, there's nothing we can do to move all the people to a safe distance."

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "And for the same reason, I can't use microwaves, either. Plus, they would do much more damage to the surroundings."

"Then, we'll just have to deal with them the old-fashioned way." Saeko said, a glint of sadism flashing through her eyes as she did so.

"Looks that way." Alfonzo replied. "Unfortunately, it will slow us down by quite a bit."

With that, Alfonzo, Saeko, Saya, Kiriko, Yuriko, and Souichiro continued to discuss the plans for helping the people of the town until close to sunset. And around that time, Alfonzo noticed that the horde and the magic vehicle leading it had come rather close to the mansion's front gate. So, they all made their way to the walls surrounding the Takagi mansion and waited for them to arrive.

"I really should have gone out there and attack preemptively." Alfonzo said as he looked down the path between the Takagi estate and the rest of the town.

"If you had done that, however, I would have missed the chance to see who was behind all this." Souichiro said from beside Alfonzo.

Glancing at Souichiro, Alfonzo noticed the katana on his hip. However, he doubted that he would be much of a challenge for the coming horde of undead. He could sense around thirty zombies that had reached the S-Class, after all.

'OH well, I'll just have to act quickly to take out the strong ones.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'I'm the only one here who could take on an S-Class threat, after all.'

["Even if they're faster and stronger than the rest, they still have no technique to speak of."] Riot scoffed. ["So, what is there to worry about."]

["Riot's right."] Bedlam replied with a nod and a confident smile. ["What is there to worry about?"]

'Even so, I can't be careless.' Alfonzo replied internally while rubbing his left arm.

["*Sigh* I guess you're right."] Bedlam said.

At that moment, a magic vehicle approached the gate of the Takagi mansion. However, none of the zombies were visible. Then, after approaching the gate, the magic vehicle came to a stop.

"Hey, that's the same vehicle we escaped the school with, isn't it?" Saya asked quietly.

"That's what it looks like." Saeko replied with a nod and a solemn expression on her face. Then, she tightened the grip on the katana on her hip as she continued. "We should have figured this out a long time ago."

"Yeah, who else could be responsible for this mess other than that bastard, Shido?" Saya asked through gritted teeth.

Hearing that, Kiriko, Yuriko, and Souichiro frowned. They all knew what Shido Saeko and Saya were talking about. They also knew his father, a marquis of Fiore, as well. And they were both disgusting excuses for human beings. Especially Yuriko, Koichi Shido was the reason her daughter's studies were delayed, after all.

"Halt!" The same guard who stopped Alfonzo and the others shouted. "State your identity!"

Rolling down the magic vehicle's window, Shido stuck most of his upper body out the window before responding. Then, he scanned the people on the top of the wall. And when he saw Saeko, Saya, Kiriko, and Yuriko, he smiled widely. At the same time, he completely disregarded the presences of Alfonzo and Souichiro, considering them dead men walking.

"I am Koichi Shido!" Shido shouted, announcing himself to the guard. At the same time, a pulse of magic power rippled from the clip on his tie. "I have several survivors inside. We came here to seek shelter. So, could you please open the gates."

'So, that's how he [Charmed] his victims, huh?' Alfonzo asked himself. 'We definitely need to do something about that.'

At that moment, just before the guards, who had been [Charmed] by Shido's tie clip could move to open the gates, Alfonzo vanished from atop the wall. Then, in the next instant, he reappeared in front of Shido with his hand wrapped around the tie clip.

"What the…?" Shido exclaimed in shock. "Who the hell are you? Wait, I know that face, you're Alfonzo Marcus of Fairy Tail."

'If he's here, I wonder if that wife of his is here, too?' Shido asked as the thought of violating an S-Class wizard crossed his mind. 'Hahaha! I sure hope so. I've wanted to have her in my bed ever since I first saw her in Sorcerer Weekly.'

As if he could tell what Shido was thinking, Alfonzo's expression turned dark. Then, with his hand still wrapped around Shido's tie clip, he yanked him through the window before slamming him into the street.

"Gah! *Cough* *Cough*" Shido gasped as the air was forced out of his lungs before coughing up a mouthful of blood.

*Crack!*

At the same time, Alfonzo crushed the tie clip, releasing all those who had been [Charmed] from its effects.

"What have you *Cough* done?" Shido asked with bloodshot eyes in a pain-filled tone.

"I've met a lot of disgusting douche nozzles like you in my life." Alfonzo said in a frigid tone. "And a lot of them have had bad thoughts about Lici. I could basically see it in your eyes. And although you're nowhere near strong enough to do anything to her, even with your horde of zombies, I thought I needed to nip that shit in the bud. Then, make you pay for your crimes."

"Hahahahaha!" Shido began laughing uproariously. "You made a big mistake! You should have just let yourself be killed. At least it would have been painless. But now, I'll make you watch as I have my way with that whore you call a wife. Now, kil all the men and bring the women to me. But leave this one alive!"

*Bang!*

As soon as Shido's command was given, Alfonzo's fist landed on his face. As a result, his nose collapsed, all his teeth were knocked out, and the back of his head hit the street so hard that a two foot crater was formed from the impact. Yet, Shido's head somehow stayed intact, for the most part.

"Wrong answer, cock sucker." Alfonzo said as he released Shido's tie. "And as much as I'd like to kill you, this is the perfect incident to get that disgusting, greasy man you call a father put on trial for high treason. Because I'm sure you're not smart enough to do something like this on your own."

'I'm pretty sure Junko played a big role in getting all this shit started, too.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he used his magic to levitate the magic vehicle out of the way of the incoming horde. 'But it would probably be better to keep her name away from the public. Don't wanna give that crazy bitch the satisfaction of causing more despair, after all.'

A moment later, the magic vehicle was placed on the other side of the wall. At the same time, Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro had all jumped down to face the horde. Meanwhile, Saya and Yuriko stayed on the wall with the guards with magic guns in their hands.

"I always knew he and his father were disgusting." Souichiro said while glaring down at Shido. "But I never thought they would do something like this."

"Hmph!" Kiriko snorted. "Then you had no idea just how disgusting they really were."

"We can talk about what kind of fuck boys the Shido father and son are later." Alfonzo said as he turned his head towards the town. "For now, we have a horde to deal with."

Nodding in response, Saeko, Kiriko, and Souichiro each drew their weapons. A moment later, the sound of footsteps could be heard approaching from the direction of the town.

"I guess knocking this son of a bitch out didn't cancel his orders, huh?" Alfonzo asked as he stood up straight. Then, with much more force than necessary, he kicked Shido in the ribs as he continued. "Well, I better restrain him to make sure he doesn't escape while we're working."

*Crack!*

"Urgh!" Shido grunted unconsciously.

With Alfonzo's kick, not only were two of Shido's ribs broken, but a restraint harness formed on Shido's torso while pulling his arms behind his back. Then, a number of anti-magic sigils were inscribed into the harness.

"*Sigh* I'm not trying to look down on the rest of you, but there are more than a few of those things that are out of your leagues." Alfonzo said as he stepped forward and pulled Riot and Bedlam from the strap on his lower back. "So, I'm gonna thin the numbers a little if you don't mind."

With that, Alfonzo took a few more steps forward, confusing the others as he did so.

"What are you talking abo---" Kiriko asked with furrowed eyebrows.

Before Kiriko could finish asking her question, however, Alfonzo flared his magic power to its limit, causing everyone else to open their eyes wide in surprise.

"[Run wild with destruction on your fingertips. Usher in Pandemonium with creation in your hands. Riot, Bedlam]." Alfonzo chanted, causing his tonfa to melt down into liquid metal that covered his hands.

At the same time, instead of feeling pressure from Alfonzo's magic power, everyone present nearly fell to their knees. In fact, the only reason they did not is because Alfonzo was controlling his output. Otherwise, everyone other than Kiriko, Yuriko, and Souichiro would be lying on the ground, completely incapable of moving. Meanwhile, the aforementioned three would have been forced to their knees.

"What in the world is this boy?" Souichiro asked in an incredulous tone while everyone else was thinking something similar.

"Now, let's do something about those S-Class threats. [Electromagnetism Magic: Thunder Storm]." Alfonzo muttered just before vanishing from where he stood in a burst of speed.

At the same time, dark clouds began to gather over the Takagi mansion. Then, a bolt of lightning fell from the gathered clouds, landing on one of the S-Class zombies, with the shockwave sending many weaker zombies flying.

As time went by, more of the S-Class zombies were struck by lightning while the shockwaves split up the weaker zombies. On top of that, thanks to the loud cracks of thunder, all the zombies in the area were overloaded with sound. Plus, even more zombies were drawn to the battlefield, as well.

'I hope Lici realized what's going on.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he touched the S-Class zombies, attracting the falling lightning to them by changing their electric charge, at high speed. 'Things are gonna get pretty hectic by the time this shit is over and done with.'