Chương 473: Elicia Vs. Ikkaku
Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Quatro Cerberus Headquarters.
April 1, x786.
"Hmm... Lici, Marin, Ikaruga, Ikkaku, and Yumichika are head out of the guild hall together." Alfonzo muttered to himself while molding materials into the proper shapes with his [Metal Magic]. "They're probably gonna spar. But I wonder who will be facing whom."
["I bet Ikkaku challenged Lici."] Bedlam replied. ["You know, since she's the strongest of the three."]
["Hmph! That bald moron is gonna get his ass kicked."] Riot said disdainfully.
"Probably." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "If he doesn't use his [Bankai], Lici won't even have to open Scylla's first seal. Then again, I don't even know if he can use his [Bankai] yet. I mean, I have no idea where they are in the time line, after all.
["Then there's the fact that he's really reluctant to use his [Bankai], too."] bedlam added. ["I mean, in the canon, he only used it when there was no one around to see it, right?"]
"Yeah, something about not wanting to become a captain." Alfonzo replied. "But there's no one else from Soul Society here. So, he might be willing to use it if he's pushed far enough."
["Actually, now that I think about it, he should be stronger than Bacchus if he uses his [Shikai], right?"] Bedlam asked. ["So, why isn't he S-Class yet?"]
"In terms of magic power, he should." Alfonzo replied with a nod. "Despite myself, I know that Bacchus knows what he's doing in a fight. So, he might still be able to beat him."
["I guess."] Bedlam replied with a shrug.
["Quit yapping, they're about to start."] Riot said snappily. ["And he really did challenge Lici. Hey, Alfonzo, you can make up for the lost time by working a little later, right? Let's go watch."]
Meanwhile, on the Quatro Cerberus training grounds, Marin, Ikaruga, Yumichika, and quite a few members of Quatro Cerberus were surrounding the sparring ring while Elicia and Ikkaku stood opposite each other at its center.
"This is gonna be great." Ikkaku said excitedly. "Now I can fight someone strong who won't be wiggling around like a jelly fish."
"I guess you don't like fighting Bacchus, huh?" Elicia asked with a smile.
"Of course not." Ikkaku said with a scowl. "I'll admit he's strong, but he's too slippery."
"Well then, you probably won't like fighting me, either." Elicia replied.
Hearing that, Ikkaku could not help but frown.
"You don't seem like a total drunkard, though." Ikkaku said.
"I'm not." Elicia replied while gently shaking her head. "But my fighting style is a little elusive."
"Well, as long as you aren't like that guy, I don't care." Ikkaku said as he unsheathed his katana. "Now, let's get started."
"Sure." Elicia replied as she took her own fighting stance. "By the way, what's your name? You haven't introduced yourself. Oh, and I'm Elicia Marcus Taylor, an S-Class wizard from Fairy Tail. But you can just call me Elicia."
"Oh, you can call me Ikkaku." Ikkaku replied. "Ikkaku Madarame."
"Cool." Elicia said with a smile. "Then, should we get started, Ikkaku?"
"Of course." Ikkaku replied as he [Flash Stepped] in front of Elicia.
In the next instant, Ikkaku swung an overhead slash down at Elicia, who avoided by making a quarter turn to her left. Then, using her left foot as leverage, she threw a right kick at Ikkaku's abdomen.
Reacting quickly, Ikkaku raised the hilt of his sword to block Elicia's kick. Then he thrust the tip of his blade at Elicia's right shoulder.
In response, Elicia quickly bent her left leg, causing her body to drop down below Ikkaku's thrust. Then, she spun on her pivot foot with her right leg still extended, sweeping it towards Ikkaku's legs.
Hopping lightly, Ikkaku thrust his katana down at Elicia as he fell back to the ground. However, Elicia quickly rolled towards Ikkaku, rolling past his landing point. Then, she placed her hands on the ground and flung her legs up at Ikkaku's back.
Surprised by Elicia's fighting style, when Ikkaku landed on the ground, he quickly stepped forward, just barely avoiding Elicia's upward kick. Then, he spun on his heels and slashed at Elicia horizontally.
Ikkaku's slash did not connect, however, as Elicia used the momentum from swinging her legs up to flip over and return to an upright position. Then, once Ikkaku's sword passed, she lashed a back heel kick at Ikkaku's temple.
*Bang!*
However, before Elicia's kick could land, Ikkaku quickly pulled his sheath off his waist to block the kick.
Pushing off of Ikkaku's sheath, Elicia used the force to put some distance between herself and her opponent.
"Not bad for someone so young." Ikkaku said with a smile while patting his sheath against his left shoulder.
"Well, I've had a lot of experience." Elicia said as she took her stance once again. "The real question is, are you as good with a weapon in both hands as you are with both hands holding the same weapon?"
"I guess we'll have to find out." Ikkaku said as he [Flash Stepped] once again.
When Ikkaku reappeared, he thrust the sheath in his left hand at Elicia's chest, which she avoided by stepping back. Then, Ikkaku followed up with a thrust from the sword in his right hand.
This time, however, instead of stepping back, Elicia deflected Ikkaku's thrust with the sealed Scylla on her left wrist. Then, after moving Ikkaku's sword to the outside of her body, she threw a sharp jab that landed on Ikkaku's chin, rocking his head back on impact.
After that, Elicia raised her left leg before stomping it down on Ikkaku's front foot and followed up by leaping to slam her right knee into his chin.
Reacting quickly, Ikkaku thrust his sheath into Elicia's abdomen, pushing her back before her knee could make contact.
A moment later, Elicia landed gracefully. Ikkaku, on the other hand, looked even more excited than he did at the beginning of the spar.
"Great, you're even better than I thought you were after seeing you beat up Bacchus last night." Ikkaku said excitedly. "So, why don't we get serious? I think we've both had enough time to warm up, after all."
With that, Ikkaku flared his magic power. Then, he slammed the pommel of his sword into the mouth of his sheath.
"[Extend, Hōzukimaru]!" Ikkaku shouted excitedly.
In the next instant, Ikkaku's sword, or rather, Zanpakuto, flashed with light. A moment later, when the light reseeded, Ikkaku held a Yari, a spear with a traditional Japanese blade as its spearhead, with a wax wooden shaft and a red, horsetail tassel hanging from the pommel.
"Hmm... This should get more interesting from now on." Alfonzo muttered to himself from the Quatro Cerberus guild hall's roof.
["Still, unless he uses his [Bankai], he has no chance of winning against Lici."] Bedlam replied.
["Of course!"] Riot shouted excitedly. ["Lici is the best, after all!"]
Shaking his head at Riot's overenthusiastic exclamation, Alfonzo refocused his attention to the ongoing spar.
Meanwhile, as soon as Ikkaku's release was complete, he rushed forward, thrusting his Yari as he did so.
Reacting quickly, Elicia once again used Scylla to deflect the thrust. Then, she punched forward with her right fist. However, with the overall enhancement from releasing his [Shikai], Ikkaku was able to tilt his head out of harm's way.
With that, an exchange of punches, kicks, thrusts and sweeps unfolded between Elicia and Ikkaku. Both fighters showing mastery over their preferred fighting style. Meanwhile, the onlookers from Quatro Cerberus watched in amazement.
The only exception being Yumichika. With his years of experience, he could tell that Elicia was a skilled combatant. So, seeing her keeping up with Ikkaku was not so surprising. In fact, like Alfonzo, he also knew that unless Ikkaku used his [Bankai], he would have only a slim chance of coming out victorious in this spar.
Then, Yumichika looked over at Marin and Ikaruga, who were wearing expressions that said: "As expected."
'They don't look surprised to see Ikkaku's weapon change.' Yumichika thought to himself as he cupped his chin with his left hand. 'I guess they've seen other Zanpakuto in action. Actually, now that I think about it, that woman, Elicia's wrist band gives off a similar feeling to or Zanpakuto. But how is it possible that a Zanpakuto can take a form other than a katana when in its sealed state? Hmm... I guess I should report this back to Soul Society.'
*Clang!*
The sound of Ikkaku's blade once again colliding with Scylla pulled Yumichika out of his thoughts. Then, he watched as Ikkaku swept the butt end of Hozukimaru at the side of Elicia's head.
Taking a step back to avoid the swing, Elicia was prepared to rush forward once it passed her. However, before she could do so, Ikkaku grinned.
"[Split Apart]." Ikkaku commanded just as Elicia left the range of his sweep.
In the next instant, the spear in Ikkaku's hand split about a third of the way up the shaft. Then, the butt end of the spear, connected by a chain, continued towards Elicia's face.
Having expected something like that, Elicia raised her left hand, catching Ikkaku's weapon before it could hit her.
Undeterred, Ikkaku, still holding the rest of his spear, swung the bladed end at Elicia's arm. And just like what happened with the butt end, the bladed end detached from the rest of the spear, as well. And thanks to the chain connecting it to the rest of the shaft, it quickly swung towards Elicia's forearm.
In this situation, Elicia found it a good time to use her magic, as she wrapped her arm with Vibranium threads.
Then, to Ikkaku's surprise, when Hozukimaru's blade made contact with Elicia's arm, the blade bounced back harmlessly.
"What?" Ikkaku exclaimed in surprise. "How?"
Immediately, Elicia could tell that Ikkaku was familiar with the threads she used to defend. And that did not surprise her in the least. Since Ikkaku was a Soul Reaper, she had no doubt that he was familiar with the silk threads Yoruichi's clan sold.
Still, that did not stop Elicia from taking advantage of Ikkaku's surprise. So, in the next instant, with the butt of Ikkaku's spear still in her hand, she dropped down and swept Ikkaku's legs out from under him.
Unbothered by his back hitting the ground, Ikkaku pulled the bladed end of his Yari back. Then, he thrust up at Elicia, trying to gain some time and distance.
Unfortunately, before Hōzukimaru could get halfway to its destination, Elicia flicked her wrist, causing the threads she ejected from the fingertips of her right hand to loop around his wrist.
Then, once the threads tightened, Elicia flung her right arm outward, forcing Ikkaku's thrust in the same direction. Then, she kicked Ikkaku's other hand, causing his arms to be spread before she released the butt end of Ikkaku's weapon, used her threads to pull a needle from Scylla into her hand, and thrust it at Ikkaku's throat.
In response, Ikkaku closed his eyes and released a satisfied sigh. At the same time, Elicia stopped the needle less than an inch away from Ikkaku's throat. In silence, the two remained in that position for a few seconds. However, the silence was eventually broken by Ikkaku.
"That was a good fight." Ikkaku said happily. "We'll definitely have to do that again. I bet Captain Zaraki will be so jealous when he hears that I got to fight someone like you."
Hearing that, Elicia, as well as Alfonzo on the roof, could only smile wryly. They both knew about the Captain Zaraki Ikkaku was talking about thanks to their meta knowledge. And for the same reason that Alfonzo did not want to fight Ritsu, neither of them wanted to fight this, Captain Zaraki. Though, the chances of the fight devolving into a death match was much lower in Captain Zaraki's case, as he enjoyed a good fight way too much to just kill off his sparring partner.
"I guess that means you accept your defeat?" Elicia asked with a smile. She did not remove her needle, though.
"Only if you promise to fight me again." Ikkaku replied with a wide smile.
Hearing that, Elicia smiled as she shook her head. Then, she pulled her needle back, dispelled her threads, and put the needle back on her wrist band. After that, she stepped back and offered Ikkaku her hand.
Maintaining his smile, Ikkaku accepted Elicia's hand then pulled himself up to his feet. Then, once on his feet, he looked in Yunichika's direction.
"So, did you decide who you were gonna fight, Yumichika?" Ikkaku asked excitedly.
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