章 246: The Raid Begins

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Hidden Leaf Ravine.

November, x784.

The next morning, the seven wizards of the alliance woke up a few hours before dawn. After getting dressed and making sure they had everything they needed to complete the quest, they all set out from the hotel and made their way towards Hidden Leaf Ravine.

Although the group had a vehicle, in the form of Alfonzo's Escalade, they chose not to use it. And there were actually two reasons for that.

The first being that it could only comfortably seat five passengers. And even though the other two could sit in the vehicle's trunk space, Bacchus was firmly against that notion while Guy was curious to finally ride in one of the new magic vehicles. And when the decision was made to go on foot, Guy's disappointment was visible to anyone who saw him.

The second reason was also quite simple. The three leaders of the guild teams thought that the team would be an easy target if they were all crammed into one vehicle.

On a side note, Alfonzo was also against using the Escalade. If they did, the chance of it getting damaged would rise exponentially.

Now, with only about half an hour before the sun's first rays lit up the landscape, the alliance wizards, minus Alfonzo were standing at the mouth of the Hidden Leaf Ravine, guarding against any sneak attacks. Meanwhile, Alfonzo was standing a bit further back and gathering his magic power.

"[Metal Magic: Adamantine Shelter]." Alfonzo chanted as he slammed his palms onto the ground.

A moment later, a dome, large enough to comfortably house fifteen hundred adults sprouted from the ground. He even created a floor so that the rescued civilians would not be attacked from underground.

"*Sigh* Alright, that's done." Alfonzo said as he walked out of the giant, adamantine structure. "Although it's not completely indestructible, I doubt anyone less than one of the Four Gods of Ishgar should be able to destroy it."

"Are you alright, Alfonzo?" Mirajane asked as Alfonzo approached the rest of the team. "Making something that big out of Adamantine couldn't be easy."

"Yeah, I'm fine." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Before the whole mess with Phantom Lord and building the new guild hall, that would have been pretty taxing on my magic power reserves. But now, it's little more than a drop in the bucket."

Remembering the compression exercise Alfonzo had been teaching his group of friends in the guild, Mirajane could only nod her head in understanding. Meanwhile, the wizards from the other two guilds wondered just how much Alfonzo's magic power could have grown in only a few months if what he did coud only be considered just a drop in the bucket, as he put it..

"Anyway, it's about time to get this shit started." Alfonzo said, glancing at the eastern horizon as he spoke. "We need to go in fast and hard. We can't' let those nasty mother fuckers get a chance to use the civilians as hostages."

"Got it." The female members of the alliance replied in unison.

"Don't worry, our youth will get us through this." Guys said at the same time.

"Let's just make this fast." Bacchus said at the same time as the others. "I'm gonna have a good, stiff drink after all this is over."

'Aren't you always doing that?' Most of the present wizards thought to themselves.

With that, the seven wizards started making their way into the ravine, with Alfonzo and Guy leading the way while Mirajane brought up the rear.

"*Sigh* It's too bad we couldn't come here in the magic vehicle." Guy muttered to himself.

"Don't worry, Guy." Alfonzo replied while patting Guy on the shoulder. "I can take you for a ride sometime after this quest is finished. Besides, with the reward money we'll get from this quest, you'll be able to buy your own, right?"

Hearing that last part, Guys' eyes lit up. Until now, he had never even considered buying his own magic vehicle. Especially since he almost always travel to and from his quests on foot as a way to train himself. But now, he finally had a target for his hard earned money outside of just buying training equipment.

For the next twenty to twenty five minutes, the allied wizards made their way through the narrow ravine. Along the way, they held conversations in hushed tones to not let the tension get too high. On top of that, Guy dismantled more than a few purely physical traps set along the path from the valley to the hideout.

"Damn, so many traps that spewed poison." Bacchus muttered as the group stopped outside the hideout. "These guys are real, nasty pieces of work."

"Yeah, most of that poison probably leads to a slow, painful death, too." Yoruichi added with a frown.

"But weren't the traps non-lethal before?" Marin asked curiously. "Why did that change?"

"They probably knew we were coming, somehow." Kagura replied. "Do we have a leak?"

"Actually, I think that's my fault." Alfonzo said in a solemn tone. "When we first came to the private room yesterday morning, I killed a snake. I wouldn't be surprised if that was a summons of one of the people inside, most likely, Orochimaru. And after not getting a report from it, this happened."

"And you didn't think to tell us about that?" Yoruichi asked in an incredulous tone.

"Actually, I did." Alfonzo replied with a wry smile. "Before I could, however, the whole thing with Bacchus happened and I forgot about it."

*Buzz!*

Before everyone could look at Bacchus with blame in their gazes, the entire group leapt to either side of the cave as the inside was lit up in a blue light. Then, with the sound of the air vibrating, a blue beam fired from inside the cave, carving a hole into the opposite wall of the ravine.

"What the hell was that?" Bacchus asked while staring at the hole in the ravine wall.

"Damn, why couldn't that one [Cero] have killed all of them?" An unenthusiastic male voice asked from inside the cave. "Then, I could go back to sleep."

"Oh, come on, Starrk, you know that's not possible." A young female voice said in a reprimanding tone. "Stop being so lazy!"

*Bang!*

After the female voice spoke, the sound of someone being hit was audible.

A moment later, two figures, more than likely the owners of the voices, walked out of the cave.

The first, a man with blueish gray eyes and unkempt, dark brown hair that reached the base of his neck and was parted down the middle wearing a white, high-collared jacket lined in black, white pants, boots, and gloves, a black sash, what appeared to be the lower jaw portion of a bone mask wrapped around his neck, and a katana strapped to his hip. Even stranger than the weird mask, was the hole on his sternum.

The second person, and the owner of the young-sounding female voice was a petite, pink-eyed, light green-haired, young woman wearing a rather strange ensemble. On her head, she wore a horned helmet that with the left horn cut off and also covered her left eye and like the man accompanying her, seemed to be made of bone, a white, high-collared, open vest that revealed the middle of her chest and abdomen, a white pair of panties with a black stripe down the middle, white arm warmers, and white, thigh-high, fur-lined boots. Like her companion, she also had a hole in her torso. Though, hers was in the center of her abdomen.

"Well, since I couldn't kill you all with that attack, do you guys think you could go home?" The man referred to as Starrk asked in a lazy tone.

"Sorry, we can't do that." Alfonzo said with a solemn expression.

"*Sigh* Can't blame me for trying." Starrk said in a disappointed tone.

"The hell I can't." the petite girl said as she leapt up and hit Starrk in the back of his head. "We were ordered to either kill or capture. Not to send them home."

"Ow…" Starrk muttered while rubbing the spot on his head where he was hit. "You really shouldn't be so violent, Lilynette."

'Damn, and that seals the deal.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'These two are the number one Espada from Bleach, Coyote Starrk and Lilynette Gingerbuck. What kinda of fucked up experiments did those two do to make people like this in Fairy Tail where hollows don't exist?'

"Mira, these two are yours." Alfonzo said, reacting quickly. "The rest of us are going inside."

"Sure thing." Mirajane said with her usual smile on her face. "[Take Over Magic: Satan Soul]."

Without hesitation, Mirajane was covered in the light of her [Take Over Magic]. Then, when she reappeared she flew towards the two sent to intercept them and talked them both, before flying them upward and out of the ravine.

"Damn it, let me go!" Lilynette shouted as she and Starrk were whisked away.

Meanwhile, the rest of the allied wizards cautiously rushed inside the enemy hideout. Before entering, Alfonzo had already spread his [Magic Power Detection], unfortunately, unlike his last trip to the hideout, he could not spread it very far.

"Damn, it looks like they added something that keeps me from feeling out the entire cave system since we were last here." Alfonzo grumbled as he used his limited [Magic Power Detection] to find the magical traps along their path.

"Yeah, I thought it was weird that we couldn't' feel those two coming before they attacked." Marin said as she walked behind Alfonzo.

"I've always wondered how you wizards from Fairy Tail can feel everything magical around you." Yoruichi commented casually. "Mind sharing with the class?"

"Sorry, that's a guild secret." Alfonzo replied with a smile.

"Thought so." Yoruichi said with a shrug. "but it couldn't hurt to ask."

"Stop, my friends." Guy said, cutting in on the conversation. "There are a few traps up ahead.

Before Guy could step forward to disarm the traps he spotted, Alfonzo grabbed his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks.

Not even a second later, several bone spikes shot up from the spot where Guy would have stood after only three steps, causing the youth loving wizard to drip cold sweat.

"You sensed my attack." The voice of a young man sounded from down the corridor. "Lord Orochimaru was right, it seems that one of you has some way of detecting magic power."

A moment later, a young, pale-skinned man walked into the group's view. His vivid green eyes stood out on his angular face along with his shoulder-length white hair and the two red dots on his forehead. As far as his attire went, he wore a lose-fitting, light lavender, long sleeved jacket, black pants that cut off at his calves, bandages around his calves and ankles, black sandals, and a thick, purple rope tied into a bow around his back.

"Damn, killing that snake gave away more than I wanted it to." Alfonzo muttered. "Whatever, it's not like it wouldn't have gotten out eventually."

'The reports said that he was only at A-Class.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he felt the white haired man, Kimimaro Kaguya's magic power. 'But he's definitely at S-Class. And if he's the fourth S-Class, then who is the other A-Class?'

"We don't have time for this." Bacchus said, stepping forward. "I'll deal with him."

"Fine, he's all yours, Bacchus." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "As for the traps, I really don't wanna do it this way, but since none of them are made with metal components, I have no choice. [Electromagnetism Magic: Chidori Stream]."

With his chant, Alfonzo was covered in sparking, purple lightning. Then, he sent a stream of said lightning across the floor, walls, and ceiling of the cave. As a result, nearly all the traps, both magical and purely physical, were destroyed.

"[Bone Pulse Magic: Dance of the Carnivorous Flower]." Kimaro chanted before the electrical current reached his position.

With his chant, several large, thick bones sprouted from the ground and formed an air tight dome around him. Instead, Alfonzo's spell never made contact with Kimimaro. The bones he used to defend himself, however, were scorched black once the spell ran its course.

"Alright, now you shouldn't have to worry about the traps." Alfonzo said as he and the rest of the group rushed past Kimimaro's crumbling bone shield.

"Lord Orochimaru ordered that you be stopped here." Kimimaro said as he raised his hands, with his fingers pointed in the five wizard's direction. "And so you shall be. [Bome Pulse Magic: Ten-Finger Drilling Bullets]."

With that chant, a hole was created on each of Kimimaro's fingertips. And if one were to look close enough, they would see a hardened finger bone spinning in each hole.

"Not so fast." Bachus said as he dashed in front of Kimimaro.

Then, with his palms glowing in soft white light, Bacchus swept Kimimaro's arms upward. As a result, the finger bones he prepared to fire at the backs of the fleeing wizards were fired into the scorched ceiling of the corridor.

"You've kept me from completing Lord Orochimaru's orders." Kimimaro said in an irritated tone. "Unforgiveable. [Bone Pulse Magic: Dance of the Larch]."

In the next instant, sharp bones sprouted from Kimimaro's torso, intending to skewer Bacchus on their tips. Bacchus, however, was expecting something like this after seeing Kimimaro ready to fire his own bones from his body. So, reacting quickly, Bacchus hands, covered in his [Palm Magic], pushed off the sides of several of the bones and repelled himself away from the incoming attacks.

"Well, this should be interesting." Bacchus muttered with a smile on his face. "I wonder how many of your bones I'll have to break before you run out of them."