434 Alfonzo Vs. Gildarts

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

October 15, x785.

Once the signal to begin was given, neither Alfonzo nor Gildarts moved to start the fight immediately. Instead, they stood across from each other, smiling happily.

"So, who do you think is going to win this match?" Goldmine asked from the audience seating.

"I want to say Gildarts." Makarov replied. "But that boy has a way of turning over my expectations at every turn. On top of that, it's been a year since the last time I saw him fight seriously."

"Well, what would his chance have been a year ago?" Goldmine asked curiously.

"Negligible, at best." Makarov replied while shaking his head. "But he would have been able to put up one hell of a fight, though."

Nodding in understanding, Goldmine turned his attention back to the ring, where Alfonzo and Gildarts were finally getting started.

At that moment, Alfonzo burst forward, using only his physical strength to close the distance between himself and Gildarts. Then, when he was in range, he threw a straight, aimed at Gildarts' chin.

Using his left arm, Gildarts batted Alfonzo's punch to the outside. Then, he prepared to follow up with a straight of his own. However, he was forced to quickly use his elbow to block a left hook aimed at his ribs.

With those two punches from Alfonzo starting the match, Gildarts found himself on the back foot, constantly forced to block, dodge, and parry the onslaught of punches, kicks, elbow strikes, and knee strikes the younger wizard threw without pause.

'Damn, he's grown a lot more than I thought.' Gildarts thought to himself as he tilted his head to avoid an uppercut. 'He's physically stronger and faster than I am at this point. But he's still lacking in experience.'

As that thought passed, Gildarts grinned as he noticed an opening due to Alfonzo slightly overextending on the uppercut he just avoided. And because of his honed combat instincts, Gildarts did not miss the opportunity that opening represented.

Acting quickly, Gildarts threw a right hook at Alfonzo's ribs, his grin widening into a smile at the thought of hitting the man that stole his princess' heart.

*Smack!*

Unfortunately for Gildarts, Alfonzo was able to pull his arm back in time to catch Gildarts punch, stopping its momentum in its tracks, causing Gildarts' happy smile to freeze on his face.

"That should be enough of a warm up, right?" Alfonzo asked with a grin on his face while holding Gildarts' fist tightly. "I wouldn't want you to throw out your back on me, Old Man."

"Don't get cocky, Kid." Gildarts said with his eyebrow twitching at being called old. Though, the grin on his face telling Alfonzo he was looking forward to what he had to offer in this fight. "Don't forget who it was that took care of your training for a long time."

"Yeah, and I'm grateful for that." Alfonzo replied in a sincere tone. "And I'll show you just how grateful I am by kicking your ass."

Hearing that, Gildarts could not help but start laughing uproariously. And as he did, he flared his magic power, putting pressure on the entire stadium.

At the same time, Alfonzo's grin widened into a full-blown smile as he two flared his magic power. The combination of both his and Gildarts' magic power causing the air to tremble. At the same time, the ring around Gildarts began to breakdown into cubes.

"If you think you can kick my ass, I think you've gotten a little too big for your britches, Kid." Gildarts said, pulling his fist out of Alfonzo's grasp. Then, with his [Crash Magic] coating his fist, Gildarts threw another right hook, this one aimed at Alfonzo's face as he continued. "I guess I better handle that before your head gets too big."

*Smack!*

However, Gildarts was surprised when Alfonzo once again caught his punch with little effort.

"I already said it, Old Man." Alfonzo said, his smile widening as he spoke. "The warm up is over. [Electromagnetism Magic: Lateral Bolt]."

With his chant, Alfonzo's right fist was covered in sparking, violet electricity as he threw a fist at Gildarts ribs.

"Urgh!" Gildarts grunted as Alfonzo's electrified fist landed.

Before Gildarts could recover, however, Alfonzo, with Gildarts right fist still held in his left hand, threw two more hooks into Gildarts' ribs. However, just before a fourth punch could land, Gildarts stomped the ring, causing Alfonzo's footing to crumble. As a result, he was able to jump away, creating some distance for himself and gaining a moment to breathe.

"Well, that's one way to get away." Alfonzo said with a smile. Then, he raised his right arm, pointing his palm in Gildarts' direction as he chanted. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Spark Cannon]."

In the next instant, a ball of sparking, violet electricity gathered in front of Alfonzo's palm before it was fired in Gildarts' direction.

"You're gonna have to do better than that, Kid." Gildarts said as he flung himself forward with his right fist cocked back. "[Crash Magic: Crushing Evil, Spreading the Truth: Empyrean]."

Throwing his fist forward, Gildarts struck Alfonzo's spell, causing it to dissipate into motes of magic power. Then, with his momentum unhindered, Gildarts continued forward, intending to punch Alfonzo in the jaw and send him out of the ring, putting an end to the match.

Naturally, things did not go as easy as Gildarts expected. Instead of taking Gildarts punch head on like he had done before, Alfonzo drew Riot and Bedlam from the strap on his lower back. Then, with a flourish, he slammed Bedlam into the inside of Gildarts elbow, causing it to bend involuntarily. After that, he dropped low and swept Gildarts legs out from under him.

'Shit!' Gildarts exclaimed internally as he fell to the ground.

At the same time, Alfonzo punched the short end of Riot towards Gildarts forehead.

Reacting quickly, Gildarts left hand shot out, batting the incoming attack to the side, causing the short end of the tonfa to impact the ring to the right of his head. Then, with his magic power channeled into his feet, he kicked up at Alfonzo.

*Boom!*

"Gah!" Alfonzo grunted as he coughed up a small amount of blood.

When Gildarts' kicks landed, the sound was deafening. On top of that, Alfonzo was launched straight up into the air. At the same time, Gildarts jumped back up to his feet before leaping up into the air faster than Alfonzo, eventually appearing above the younger wizard.

*Boom!*

Once again, Gildarts kicked Alfonzo, this time sending him flying down towards the ring. On top of that, with that hit landing, Alfonzo was split into a few dozen smaller copies of himself.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Sun asked nervously as she saw a bunch of miniature Alfonzos falling towards the ring.

"Yeah, he'll be fine." Elicia replied with a smile. "That's an unintended side effect of Gildarts' magic. On top of that, it's not permanent."

"Is it wrong that part of me wishes it was permanent, though?" Marin asked with sparkling eyes. "I mean, Fonzie is so cute in that size."

In response, Elicia and Sun nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Cana, Laki, Ultear, Erza, Mirajane, Lucy, Saeko, Saya, and Shizuka were thinking the same thing.

"Sorry, Kid." Gildarts said with a smile as he started to fall back towards the ring. "But I think it's time to end this. [Crash Magic: Mizuwari]."

As Gildarts chanted his spell, all the Alfonzo's hit the ring. However, they did not stay down for long. Instead, they began levitating with the use of [Electromagnetism Magic]. A moment later, Gildarts landed on the ring, driving his fist into it.

*Boom!*

As a result of the [Crash Magic] imbued fist meeting the surface of the ring, a shockwave was produced in all directions. At the same time, the entire ring was covered in cracks.

Luckily, Alfonzo's copies had all levitated high enough to be unaffected by the shockwave. At the same time, they all had their hands cupped on the right side of their waists with a ball of violet electricity between their palms.

"[Electromagnetism Magic: Zap Cannon]." x 48

With the multiple, simultaneous chants, Gildarts was bombarded by small balls of electricity that engulfed him in arcing electricity upon impact. Unfortunately for Alfonzo, none of the multiple attacks had the power to break the passive amount of magic Gildarts released, resulting in his spell having no effect.

"Nice try, Kid." Gildarts said with a smile. "But you'll need more than that to beat me."

"We'll see about that." All the small Alfonzos said in unison. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Flash Point]."

In the next instant, a pair of electrified metal rails manifested on either side of the Alfonzo copies. Then, they were all shot towards Gildarts at nearly nine times the speed of sound, whizzing past the experienced wizard while swinging their tonfas as they passed. Then, before the momentum could bleed off, they would be shot back, aimed at a different area of Gildarts' body.

"Ahh! God damn it!" Gildarts shouted in pain as each copy of Alfonzo hit him with their tonfa as they blurred by. "This hurts a lot more than I thought it would."

As he complained, grunted, and cried out in pain, Gildarts swung his hands and arms at the incoming hypersonic attacks, to no avail.

'Damn it, I could stop this if he wasn't so small.' Gildarts thought to himself as his body began to be covered in bruises. 'I need to put a stop to this.'

"Enough!" Gildarts shouted as he flared his magic power to the limit.

Immediately, all the small Alfonzo's were stopped in their tracks before being thrown backwards.

'Shit!' Alfonzo shouted internally as all the copies tried to regain stability in the air. 'I knew he was holding back, but I didn't think it was this much.'

["Yeah, he's got at least three times as much as your maximum magic power capacity."] Bedlam said in an impressed tone. ["Well, your capacity when you're in your base form, anyway."]

["That means you'll have to use us if yow want to win this fight."] Riot said, excited at the prospect of getting into this fight.

'It looks like that's the only way.' Alfonzo muttered to himself in response.

"Well, is that it, Kid?" Gildarts asked while looking around at all the floating copies of Alfonzo.

"Not quite." Alfonzo replied while all his copies grinned.

At the same time, all of Alfonzo's copies gathered in a group. Then, once they were all together, they all took the same stance with their tonfa held out to either side. Meanwhile, Gildarts watched the little Alfonzo's with interest while wondering why he still seemed so confident.

["Now that I think about it, I don't think Gildarts has ever seen our released state, has he?"] Bedlam asked with a grin.

["Then we should show him."] Riot said with a manic smile on his face. ["We'll let him see what real power looks like."]

At the same time, everyone in the audience who had seen Riot and Bedlam's release state started to get excited. Those who had not seen it, however, were looking on with interest, just like Gildarts.

"Makarov, what's he doing?" Goldmine asked curiously.

"He's about to show everyone a new level of power." A female voice said, answering Goldmine's question from behind Makarov and Goldmine.

Looking back, Makarov and Gildarts came face to face with Ritsu, the former guild master of Mermaid Heel.

"Ritsu, I didn't expect to see you here." Makarov said with trepidation.

Before Ritsu could respond, however, a surge of magic power originating from the ring washed over the stadium, drawing Makarov and goldmine's attention back to the ring.

"[Run Wild with Destruction on Your Fingertips. Usher in Pandemonium with Creation in your Hands. Riot, Bedlam]." All the Alfonzos chanted in unison.

In the next instant, All the Alfonzo's were drawn together, combining into the normal sized Alfonzo. At the same time, Alfonzo's magic power spiked five times as his tonfa melted down and covered his hands and forearms.

"What the hell is this?" Gildarts asked with his eyes opened wide in surprise. "How the hell does someone's magic power just shoot up like that?"

"I'll tell you about it later." Alfonzo said as he smiled widely. "Before that, though, it's time for us to bring this to an end."

With that said, Alfonzo was covered in arcs of electricity. Then, he vanished in a burst of speed. An instant later, he reappeared in the place where Gildarts was standing with his arm extended upwards.

*Boom!* *Bang!*

An instant later, a sonic boom threatened to deafen the crowd, causing the majority of the spectators to cover their ears.

Even so, despite his speed, Gildarts was able to raise his arms and defend against Alfonzo's devastating uppercut. Though it was not enough to stop himself from being sent flying up into the air.

"Damn, this is nuts." Gildarts muttered as he brought his hands to his sides while gathering his [Crash Magic] on his palms. Then, at a volume loud enough for the entire stadium to hear, he continued. "Still, you'll need more than that to take me down, Kid."

"If you think that was all I can do, then you've got another thing coming." Alfonzo said as he spread his arms to either side and gathered orbs of electricity on either palm.

"Then show me what you got, Kid!" Gildarts shouted excitedly. At the same time, he pushed his hands forward and chanted his spell. "[Crash Magic: All Crush]!"

"Gladly!" Alfonzo shouted with just as much excitement in his voice. "[Electromagnetism Magic: Final Flash]!"

With that, Alfonzo and Gildarts cast their spells simultaneously. While Gildarts sent a highly compressed blast of his [Crash Magic] downwards, Alfonzo fired a condensed beam of lightning upwards. And when the two spells collided, surprisingly, there was no loud or flashy explosion. Instead, the two spells stopped each other in their tracks.

Seeing that, the more experienced wizards stood up in surprise. Especially those who knew how strong Gildarts was. At the same time, the wizards from the younger generation were excited to see someone pushing Fairy Tail's ace so far in a fight.

"Is he actually breaking even with Gildarts?" Goldmine asked in blank amazement.

"No, he's not." Makarov said with his eyes opened wide.

"The old pervert is right." Ritsu said as she focused on the colliding spells. "He's actually pushing him back."

"What?" Goldmine asked in astonishment.

Just as Ritsu said, Gildarts spell was actually losing in the contest. While Alfonzo's spell had not pushed the [All Crush] spell backwards, it was eating up the magic power in the spell. Meaning, Gildarts' spell was dispersing Alfonzo's [Final Flash] on contact. However, as the stream of electricity continued, it was burrowing through the spell as its magic power was slowly used up.

Eventually, Alfonzo's [Final Flash] spell shot out of the other side of Gildarts' [All Crush], colliding with Gildarts shortly afterwards and sending him flying even higher into the air while sending electricity coursing through his body.

"Argh~~~~!" Gildarts screamed involuntarily as he was electrocuted.

At the same time, with the center of his spell burrowed through, Gildarts spell travelled down the beam of electricity, eventually reaching the ring and causing an explosion.

*Boom!*

With that, the audience fell silent with their mouths hanging open in disbelief as they watched Gildarts fall from the sky while Alfonzo's location was engulfed in a storm of [Crash Magic].

"Boom!*

Eventually, Gildarts landed outside of the ring, his body still twitching thanks to the electricity running through his body.

"So, who won?" A woman in the crowd asked with bated breath.

That question caused everyone in the crowd to turn their attention towards Ur, who had not yet given her ruling on the match.

Ur, on the other hand, was amazed that the son of her old friend had grown so much in such a short time. At the same time, she was thinking about asking Alfonzo to make her a [Soul Armament], too, after seeing the boost in power they can give.

A moment later, as the haze of magic power began to settle, Ur finally made her ruling.

"The winner of the first match of the round is..." Ur said in a sonorous voice.

Just as Ur started speaking, in the center of the rampaging [Crash Magic], a black, metallic dome with thousands of anti-magic sigils inscribed into its surface could be seen. However, as the magic power continued to dissipate, it could be seen that the dome was atop a pillar of the same material. And around the pillar, the ring had crumbled into dust.

Then, the metallic dome and pillar also began dispersing into motes of magic power, revealing Alfonzo kneeling on one knee atop a part of the ring that had been protected from the destruction caused by Gildarts' spell.

"... Alfonzo Marcus of Team Steel Threads." Ur said, continuing her announcement.