{A/N: I know there are more generations of Dragon Slayers than just four. But the characters in the story don't know that yet.}
Earth Land, Ishgar, Stella, Altair.
October 9, x791.
In the underground facility below the Caine manor, a group of several people walked through the corridors, heading towards the room Elicia found that was filled with cages and abused women.
"Hahaha! I should have a new batch of playthings coming soon." A tall, burly, middle-aged man with brown hair and a matching beard and mustache wearing a black, short-sleeved bodysuit, a pair of black gloves, a white cloth tied around his waist, and a pair of golden boots said with a boisterous laugh. "Hurry, we need to get rid of the stock nearing its expiration date."
As he spoke, the man, Zash Caine, licked his lips while a perverse glint in his eyes.
Zash had an unsavory habit of treating women as playthings. Using them to vent his more primal desires, whether they be sexual or abusive.
Unfortunately, Zash was completely unaware that someone had found out about the way he treated women. And that person, Elicia, to put it bluntly, had no intention of leaving Zash in a state that would allow him to treat women like he had ever again.
While Zash continued down the corridor as he thought about what he would do to the new batch of women he expected to receive, neither he nor the group of unnatural beings walking behind him detected the invisible figure that was slowly lowering itself from the ceiling right above Zash.
"Sorry~." A female voice said in an ominous tone from right next to Zash's ear. "But you'll never get the chance to destroy another woman's life. But don't worry, I won't kill you. But you will regret everything you've done in Fiore's most secure prison."
"What? Who's--- Ahh~~~~~!" Zash, surprised by the sudden voice, asked in a shocked tone.
Yet, before Zash could even finish his question, he felt himself being bound by an innumerable number of threads as his arms and legs were spread, and he was lifted off the floor.
At the same time, the owner of the voice, Elicia, was revealed to Zash and the unnatural beings, her [Camouflage Magic] dispelling as soon as she attacked Zash.
At the same time, all the unnatural beings turned, ready to attack Elicia with full force.
"[Thread Magic: Loosening Spool]." Elicia chanted as the unnatural beings raised their hands to launch attack spells.
As Elicia chanted her spell, a large number of threads were ejected from all over her body. Those threads then wove themselves into a cocoon that covered both herself and Zash before the whole cocoon began to spin at high speed.
A moment later, the cocoon was bombarded by attack spells.
*Boom~~~~~~~!*
"Ahh~~~~~~~~~!" Zash's scream, like that of a pig being slaughtered, rang out over the sound of the explosion.
Not long later, the explosion dissipated. Shortly afterwards, the smoke was cleared, as well. And once visibility was returned to the area, a tattered thread cocoon could be seen. And through the damaged threads one could glimpse peaks of Elicia, completely unharmed, and Zash, his face and arms marred with burns.
A moment later, Elicia dispelled the cocoon. When she did, the unnatural beings were able to get a complete picture of the aftereffects of their attacks. And although they did not show any changes in expression, they could tell that their attacks had little effect on eliminating the intruder, as Elicia was completely unharmed.
Zash was another story, though. Currently, his arms and legs were still spread apart by Elicia's threads. On top of that, he was still wailing in pain. And the reason for that was simple.
Currently, Zash's clothes were torn and burned. Clearly, Elicia had allowed some of the attack spells through her [Loosening Spool]. And all of those spells landed on Zash. Yet, had that been it, Zash probably would not be as miserable as he was at the moment.
Instead, the reason for Zash's current state was the patch of red at his crotch that had stained the cloth tied around his waist.
"You bitch! I'll kill you~~~~~!" Zash screamed in rage. "No, I won't kill you! I'll make you wish you had never been born! I'll break you completely, even worse than the rest of my toys!"
Hearing that, Elicia's mind was immediately brought to the memory of the women she saw not long ago. And just as quickly, her expression darkened as she poured magic power into her right fist and cocked it back.
*Bang!*
"Ahh~~~~~~~~~!" Zash screamed painfully as Elicia landed a kidney punch.
"I don't think you get it." Elicia said in a menacing tone. "You're not in the position to threaten me right now. Instead, you should be begging me for your life. And if you do a good enough job, I might let you keep it."
["Fonzie probably won't, though."] Scylla added in a dark tone. ["If he ever finds out about this guy's threat, he'll definitely kill him before you can take him back to Fiore."]
In response, Elicia nodded internally. Outwardly, however, she only appeared to get angrier.
Meanwhile, thanks to their protocols, the unnatural beings did not attack again, afraid of doing even more harm to Zash. Yet, Zash, unable to think properly thanks to the pain from Elicia's kidney punch and losing his manhood, had no intention of allowing them to not act.
"What are you worthless automatons doing?" Zash shouted. "I spent so many resources creating you Fourth Generation Dragon Slayers! Capture this bitch immediately!"
Upon receiving Zash's order, the unnatural beings, now identified as Fourth Generation Dragon Slayers, moved to attack in close quarters. Yet, Elicia, despite being outnumbered, showed no signs of panic.
'Fourth Generation Dragon Slayers?' Elicia mused as she slid her left foot back to avoid a punch from an automaton. 'That's new. I know how the first three generations of Dragon Slayers are made. But I didn't even know there was anything after the third.'
["Yeah, First Generation Dragon Slayers are trained by a dragon."] Scylla replied as Elicia's right hand shot up and gripped the attacking automaton's wrist. She then continued as Elicia pivoted on her right foot, swinging the automaton into another, sending both flying. ["Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel are all first-generation types."]
*Bang!*
*Swish!*
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
As soon as Scylla's words ended, the two automatons slammed into the wall behind the second. Following the momentum of her spin, Elicia dropped to the floor and spun on her back and shoulders. With that movement, she spread her legs, tripping two more automatons, causing them to crash to the floor, as well.
'And then there are the Second-Generation Dragon Slayers.' Elicia continued her thoughts as she pushed herself off the floor and into the air with her hands. 'Instead of being trained by dragons, they have a Dragon Lacrima implanted into them and have to learned the spells on their own.'
["Right."] Scylla replied as Elicia flipped herself upright while shooting threads from her fingertips to entangle the downed automatons. ["I only know about two of those. Laxus and that guy from the Oración Seis... What was his name again?"]
*Bang!*
'Erik.' Elicia said as she jerked her arms, causing the two bound automatons to slam into each other. 'But most people know him as Cobra. He used a big snake to fly.'
["Ah! That's right!"] Scylla exclaimed. ["The snake's name was Cubellios. But she wasn't even a snake."]
'Yeah, she's a really cute girl.' Elicia added as she flicked her wrist to pull Zash, who was still bound in threads, away from an automaton. Then, as she landed, she continued. 'Her real name is Kinana. And although she doesn't say much, she's actually been working at the guild hall as a server in the main hall for the last few years.'
After being reminded by Elicia, the image of a slender woman with a noticeable bust line, neck-length violet hair and green eyes wearing a lime green-colored dress with a darker green neckline, a long white skirt, and a pair of green boots wearing a pleasant smile while carrying a tray filled with drinks and food flashed past Scylla's mind.
["Yeah, she really is cute."] Scylla replied with a nod. ["But I'm pretty sure she's older than you are. So, should you really be calling her a girl?"]
'Eh... Age ain't nothin' but a number?' Elicia replied nonchalantly. 'Well... Unless you're R. Kelly... Then, it's---'
["Let's not get into that."] Scylla said, cutting off Elicia's train of thought. ["For now, just focus on taking down all these things. Even if they aren't that strong, there are a lot of them."]
'Right. And more are coming.' Elicia said as she limboed under a magic power blast.
Just as Elicia said, more and more of the Fourth Generation Dragon Slayer automatons were rushing from every corner of the underground facility towards her current location. However, she also noticed that there were several squads of automatons stopping near a powerful source of magic power, as well.
'Hmm? I'm not sure what that is, but I bet that's what Caine stole when he fled Fiore.' Elicia muttered to herself.
["Yeah, I'd bet all of Cana's alcohol on it."] Scylla added with a nod.
'Too bad Hisui couldn't give us more information about it.' Elicia said. 'Then again, I'm pretty sure that not even Fiore had enough time to figure out what it did before Caine took it.'
["Probably."] Scylla said in agreement. ["Either way, when we confiscate it, we'll just let Fonzie take a look. He'll be able to figure it out."]
'Of course he will, Fonzie's the best!' Elicia exclaimed internally as she began manipulating the threads she spread all over the underground facility. 'Fonzie can do anything.'
["Yes. Yes. Fonzie can do anything."] Scylla said in a placating tone while rolling her eyes fondly. ["For now, just worry about the automatons."]
"[Thread Magic: Vibrating Pincushion]." Elicia chanted as she rolled her own eyes.
In the next instant, the threads Elicia spread throughout the underground facility began to vibrate at high frequency. Then, with her [Magic Power Detection] as a guide, she caused them to surge upwards towards the automatons rushing towards her position. And while there were a few who were able to dodge the threads that suddenly shot up from the floors, walls, and ceilings, a large number of the automatons were skewered and heavily damaged if not outright rendered inoperable.
While many automatons were incapacitated, those that were still active increased their pace, rushing towards Zash Caine to rescue him. On top of that, there were still ten, or so, automatons surrounding Elicia doing their best to eliminate her and free Zash, as well.
Meanwhile, outside of Altair, Alfonzo was walking through the cavern the Phantom Troupe was using as their secondary hideout. Along the way, he flared his [Electromagnetism Magic]. With every flare of magic power, violet arcs of electricity destroyed the traps set along the way.
But the traps were not the only things Alfonzo had to worry about, as Machi, trailing behind him, launched attacks consisting of her needles and [Thread Magic] as often as she could. Yet, thanks to Alfonzo's [Electromagnetism Magic] and [Metal Magic], none of her attacks were able to make a dent in his defenses.
"Hey, cutie." Alfonzo said without even turning in Machi's direction. "Do you know the definition of insanity?"
Machi did not respond to Alfonzo's question. Instead, she continued to attack. Though, her objective was not to stop Alfonzo. Instead, she only intended to slow him down until Chrollo arrived to reinforce her.
'This guy is a monster.' Machi thought to herself as she used her threads to manipulate the last of the needles in her pincushion. 'He counters me perfectly, too. Still, as long as I can hold on until the leader gets here, there's no way he'll be leaving here alive. And I'm sure the leader will be happy to steal his magic before he's killed.'
"*Sigh* No answer, huh?" Alfonzo asked while shaking his head in disappointment. "This is getting a little boring. I mean, at least, say something. Isn't that what you villain-types are into? Every other Dark Wizard I've ever taken down had to talk about how superior they are... All the damn time."
Still, Machi did not respond. She was only focused on dodging Alfonzo's electric discharges and slowing his progress.
"Fine." Alfonzo said, completely losing interest in trying to get Machi to speak. "Then, let's just end this."
*Zap!*
In the next instant, Alfonzo vanished from where he stood. And when he did, Machi's pupils constricted. Then, she bent her knees to jump away from her current position.
*Clap!*
Yet, before her feet could even leave the ground, she felt a crushing force around her neck. At the same time, she felt herself being lifted off the ground as she was pulled face to face with the man she had been attacking relentlessly.
Unable to speak with Alfonzo's large hand wrapped around her neck, Machi, finding it harder and harder to breathe, threw kicks and punches with all her might at Alfonzo. Yet, every strike that landed felt as if she were striking an iron pillar. On top of that, every time her threads drew near, a small arc of electricity would jump from Alfonzo's body, dispersing it into motes of magic power.
"Alright, looks like this little game is over." Alfonzo said blandly. "*Sigh* I really don't like killing women. But a job is a job. On top of that, you and your little buddies have done some seriously fucked up shit over the years."
As he spoke, Alfonzo's grip tightened around Machi's neck, causing her attempts to free herself to become more frantic with every second. However, just before Alfonzo exerted enough force to crush the Dark Wizard's windpipe, a charismatic voice sounded from further down the cavernous corridor.
"Now, now, if you're not into killing women, then you shouldn't kill her." Chrollo said as he approached from the depths of the cave. "That way, when you die, you'll go with a clear conscience, no?"
In response, Alfonzo stopped tightening his grip while flicking his gaze towards the voice. And just as he expected, as he noticed Chrollo's approach through [Magic Power Detection], the Head of the Spider was the one at the end of his line of sight.
"Really?" Alfonzo asked with a hint of amusement in his tone. "That's the first time I've heard something like that. Usually, the bad guys ask me to let their subordinates go and we can pretend like nothing happened. But you're telling me I'm gonnna die either way?"
"There's no point lying to a dead man." Chrollo replied while shrugging his shoulders. "The only question is if you're going to die painfully or in a slightly less painful way."
"Ha! Hahaha! Ahahahahahaha!" Alfonzo could not help laughing at Chrollo's response.
Hearing Alfonzo's laughter that seemed to be saying: "The audacity of this bitch," Chrollo frowned slightly. He then flared his magic power, readying himself for a fight.
*Zap!*
*Crack!*
*Clap!*
Yet, before he even realized what happened, Alfonzo's and Machi's figures began to blur. A moment later, with a clap of thunder, he felt a hand land on his left shoulder.
"You seem to be vastly overestimating yourself, Chrollo Lucilfer." Alfonzo said softly as he leaned down to speak into Chrollo's ear with Machi's lifeless body dangling in his grasp. "I know it didn't spread much, but I was the one who defeated the former number one God of Ishgar, God Serena. So, unless you think you can take on a guy like that, it won't be me who's gonna die here."