79 The Leviathan's Final Struggle

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Akane Beach.

January, x781.

Back at the pier, Gozaburo, Ren, and Sun were sitting at a table that was covered by a parasol, enjoying the sea breeze with a cup of tea.

"It's been more than an hour." Ren said after taking a sip of her tea. "The battle should have started by now, right."

"Yes." Gozaburo replied. "With the new ship engines, that should be more than enough time to arrive at the location."

"Will they really be okay?" Sun asked, her worry for the members of the Seto group and her new friends evident in her tone.

"Don't worry, Sun." Ren replied with a smile that hid her real feelings. "Everything should be fine."

Although Sun wanted to believe her mother, something was telling her that things would not be so simple. A moment later, she picked up her teacup, finished its contents in one go, and placed it back on the table. Then, she stood up from her seat.

"I have to go to the bathroom." Sun said before quickly walking away.

At first, neither Gozaburo nor Ren paid Sun's departure any mind. However, after half an hour passed, they started to worry.

"You don't think she went after them, right?" Ren asked, feeling quite worried after Sun had not returned.

Instead of responding, Gozaburo immediately stood up. Then, he took out a communication lacrima from his kimono and made a call to the men stationed at the Seto Group HQ.

"Sun is missing." Gozaburo said into the lacrima with an authoritative tone. "I want every available man here at the pier. We will stop at nothing until she is found."

Meanwhile, around the time Sun left her parents, Alfonzo, Elicia, and Erza had just landed on the flag ship after their first clash with the Leviathan. Currently, all six ship's crews were on high alert. They had no idea when the beast would attack again, and that was starting to wear down some of the Seto Group's will to fight.

"Things can't go on like this." Alfonzo muttered.

While Alfonzo could feel the group's morale dropping, he was considering what he could say to get it back. However, before he could come to a conclusion, someone else beat him to it.

"Get your acts together boys!" Masa shouted. "We're the men of the Seto Group! Something like this won't defeat us, will it?"

Hearing Masa's voice that rang through the air, all of the Seto group's elites shuddered momentarily. Then, as they regained their resolve, they all shouted in unison.

"No, we are men of the Seto Group!" Every man, on every ship, shouted. "We will die before we give up!"

"Damn right!" Masa shouted. "Now, get it together, we've got a sea serpent to kill!"

"Yeah~~~~~!"

"These guys would fit in perfectly with Fairy Tail." Alfonzo muttered while looking around at all the ships.

Elicia and Erza could only nod in agreement with that statement. However, before they could voice their opinions, Alfonzo flared his magic power and forcefully moved three of the ships with both his [Metal Magic] and [Electromagnetism Magic].

*Splash!* *Splash!* *Splash!*

Not even a second later, three high-pressure jets of water shot out of the sea's surface where the ships used to be.

Immediately, Alfonzo created and, without the use of his [Electromagnetism Magic], fired a large number of sharp projectiles into the sea. With he speed of the projectiles reduced greatly, due to not only the lack of extra propulsion but the water resistance, the Leviathan was able to dodge them.

Unfortunately, it was forced to dodge upward, eventually breaking the surface of the water. And when it did, it was immediately tangled by a large number of threads that tried to pull it to the surface completely. On top of that, it received another slash aimed at its remaining eye.

Lucky for the Leviathan, after channeling its magic powder through its body and scales, it was able to break Elicia's threads, leaving it just enough time to protect its eye. Though it received a gash on its head in return.

*Roar!*

The Leviathan roared in both pain and fury as it opened its mouth and gathered more sea water to fire at the ships. However, before it could release its attack, a sheet of metal appeared between its open jaws, causing the high-pressure jet to spread, most of the water flowing back down its throat before the sheet was sent flying away.

Realizing its attack would not work, the Leviathan quickly dove into the sea once again. Then, it fired several shots of water from below the surface, aiming to sink the ships as it had tried before.

This led to a repetition of the earlier events. However, instead of getting caught by Elicia's threads, it would swing its tail and sever them immediately after it felt them coil around its neck. Naturally, this caused Erza to stop aiming at its eye. However, it gained many more sword scars all over its long, serpentine body instead.

Like that, this game of cat and mouse went on for another twenty-five minutes before Alfonzo realized that they could not win like that.

"Damn it!" Alfonzo cursed. "If things keep going like this, we're gonna run out of magic power before it does. Hell, I'm already at fifty percent remaining."

Though Alfonzo's irritation was starting to show, he calmed down immediately when his left hand was grabbed. Looking to the side, he saw that Elicia was holding his hand.

"Let's use the [Unison Raid]." Elicia said with an uncharacteristically serious expression on her face.

Without another word or any hesitation, Alfonzo gripped Elicia's hand tightly. Then, they walked to the ship's railing, with Erza following behind them, and raised their free hands.

"[Unison Raid: Electrified Web]." Alfonzo and Elicia chanted in unison.

In the next instant, a large number of Elicia's threads extended from her hand and dove into the water. However, these were not her normal threads. Instead, shortly after they were produced, they were coated in mithril, the most conductive metal, both magically and physically, in the world, as they penetrated the surface of the water.

As more and more threads were produced, They began to spread, surrounding the area where they could feel the Leviathan. However, so they would not be discovered, Elicia chanted a second spell.

"[Camouflage Magic: Hiding in Plain Sight]." Elicia chanted, using the magic from the magic book Alfonzo brought back from Behemoth Claw's base.

When Alfonzo found the [Camouflage Magic] book he could only think of Elicia. He remembered the way she fought during the S-Class Promotion Exam they both participated in, even if he was not there to see it, when she eliminated Fried and Evergreen. Her stealth and ability to move silently were incredible.

She was still susceptible to being seen, however. But [Camouflage Magic] would take care of that. Although it is not true invisibility, the magic warps the light around whatever the caster targets, making it blend into the background. Unfortunately, she cannot make herself look different, as she cannot control people's perception of visible light, only bend it around herself and objects.

With Elicia's spell, the Leviathan was unable to see the metal threads that were moving through the water. However, it could feel the slight changes in the current, making it more alert. Unfortunately, it was not knowledgeable enough to know what made it feel uneasy.

Once all the threads were in place, Elicia disconnected the threads from her hand. Then, she wrapped them around Alfonzo's wrist. A moment later, Alfonzo's right arm began to flicker with sparks of purple electricity that ran through all the threads.

A few moment later, the sea's surface began to bubble as steam started rising. After a few seconds, the Leviathan charged out of the sea, roaring in pain.

As soon as it was out of the water again, Erza shot into the sky, charging toward the Leviathan with her sword at the ready.

Pushing her magic power to its limit, Erza's speed soared. And her blade began to glow. Then, she sped past the underside of the Leviathan's neck, swinging her sword as she passed.

"[Sword Magic: Moon Flash]." Erza chanted as she rushed past the Leviathan.

A moment later, large amounts of blood fell into the sea from a cross-shaped gash left by Erza's sword.

*Roar!*

At the same time, Alfonzo released Elicia's hand. Then, he once again held his right arm up with his index finger pointing at the Leviathan's head While it thrashed around in mid-air. Then, he quickly created another conical piece of metal and let it fall onto the tip of his finger while his arm crackled with purple sparks of electricity.

"[Electromagnetism Magic: Railgun]." Alfonzo chanted as he channeled a large amount of his magic power into his most destructive spell.

In the next instant, the conical projectile was fired at the Leviathan, leaving an orange streak of burned air in its wake. In the end, the projectile struck the Leviathan's head, blowing off a huge chunk of its skull. Then, when the serpent fell back into the sea, most of the onlookers were confused because they did not see the beasts blood coloring the water.

A few moments later, however, they all began to cheer when the Leviathan's body floated to the surface, the wound on its head cauterized due to the heat produced by the [Railgun] spell.

"hell fucking yeah!" Alfonzo cheered loudly. "That son of bitch is finally down!"

With that, Elicia finally let go of her tension. Then, she fell, slumping onto the ships deck that was wet from the splashes of sea water, not caring about the wet deck as she was already soaked due to the battle.

A few seconds later, Erza landed on the deck next to Elicia. Then, she reverted back to her initial armor after a brief flash of light.

"Elicia, are you alright?" Erza asked with concern.

"I'm okay." Elicia replied with a tired smile. "Just used up too much magic power. Apparently, having my threads snapped takes a lot more magic power than I expected."

"When we get back, we can work on strengthening your threads." Alfonzo said, sitting down next to Elicia. "But before we go back, we're entitled to a little fun at the beachside resort."

"Indeed." Erza replied, also taking a seat on the deck. "Although it is too cold to go swimming at the beach, there are many things to do at the resort. Like fine dining, dancing, gambling, there are even places where you can rent magical beasts and fly through the sky."

At Erza's explanation, both Alfonzo and Elicia glanced at her, only to see a happy smile on her face.

"It looks like someone did their research." Alfonzo said with a smile.

"Marin told me about it during one of her visits." Erza replied. "It sounded interesting, so I picked up a brochure when I saw one on one of my quests."

"We're gonna have so much fun." Elicia said with a smile. "I can't wait."

At that moment, Masa and Fujishiro approached. While Fujishiro was taken aback after seeing Alfonzo's first attack, he was now wondering if he would be able to eat the three young wizards now that they were exhausted. However, he put that thought to the back of his mind when Masa glared at him.

"Sorry to interrupt." Masa said in a respectful tone. "But we'll need your help for the last part of this quest."

"What's up?" Alfonzo asked in a lazy tone.

"We would like to bring the corpse back." Masa replied. "But since you are the ones who killed it, we need your permission to do so."

Alfonzo then looked out toward the Leviathan's corpse that was still floating on the sea. When he saw the members of the Seto Group trying to attach hooks to it, and failing to penetrate its scales, he could only smile wryly.

"It looks like you're not waiting for our permission, though." Alfonzo said, pointing at the Seto Group.

"Well, we figured that you would agree to take it back." Masa said, scratching his cheek awkwardly. "We intended to buy it from you. A beast like that's body is quite valuable after all."

"Don't look at me like that, man." Alfonzo said, waving dismissively. "I was only fucking with you. Of course we're bringing the thing back. And I'm not opposed to selling it…. Well, most of it, anyway."

After saying that, Alfonzo looked at Erza with a smile.

"I bet that thing would make some pretty good armor and weapons, Erza." Alfonzo continued. "I already made your [Fire Empress Armor] from that Blaze Fang Cobra. What do you think of a matching armor for water?"

Immediately, Erza's eyes lit up in joy.

"Of course! All the armors you make are fantastic." Erza replied happily. "If you look at the [Black Wing Armor] anyone can see that you are a master craftsman."

In fact, in this timeline, Alfonzo had forged all of Erza's various armors and weapons. Since he had learned magic item crafting from Nell, he saw no reason why Erza should pay someone else to make them. He would even do it for a better price, not free though, of course.

"If that is the case, we will need help towing it." Masa said, getting the conversation back on track. "As you can see, our hooks can't penetrate its scales. And we can't dig them deep enough into the exposed flesh to hold."

"*Sigh* Fine…" Alfonzo said as he picked himself up from the deck. "I'll just magnetize it and you can just stick the chains to its scales."

With that, Alfonzo raised his right hand toward the Leviathan. A moment later, however, he lowered his hand with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Tch!" Alfonzo clicked his tongue in annoyance. "Not enough magic power to magnetize it from here. I don't I have enough to hold it with the chains, either. I'll have to go make physical contact to magnetize it."

With that, Alfonzo used his [Electromagnetism Magic] to float toward the Leviathan. However, just as he left the deck, Elicia's uneasy feeling blared even more intensely than before. And just as Alfonzo was about to lay his left hand on the Leviathan's nose, she saw its intact eye twitch.

"Fonzie!" Elicia shouted in a panicked tone. "Get back! Fast!"

Before Alfonzo could react, however, the Leviathan's eye snapped open as it opened its mouth and snapped it down on Alfonzo's outstretched arm, just below the shoulder.

"Argh! Fu---!" Alfonzo screamed in pain.

Luckily, Alfonzo was able to create a thin coating of Adamantite around the impact site on his arm. Unfortunately, due to the Leviathan's bite force, the bone was still snapped like a twig.

Thanks to its high vitality, even though it was on its last breath, the Leviathan was able to make a dying attack. Then, after realizing that Alfonzo was the one who inflicted the mortal wound, it decided to use the last of its strength to drag Alfonzo down with it as it dove toward the depths of the sea, before he could finish his curse.

'Fuck this shit!' Alfonzo roared mentally. 'There's no way in hell I'm dying to something I basically killed.'

With that internal exclamation, Alfonzo flared the remainder of his magic power.

'[Electromagnetic Magic: Electro-Flare].' Alfonzo chanted in his mind.

A moment later, from the hand trapped in the Leviathan's mouth, a large ball of electricity formed around Alfonzo's hand. Then, without hesitation, he fired upward, toward the injury he caused with his [Railgun].

Although this managed to free Alfonzo from the Leviathan's grip, the cost was his left arm. The force of the spell causing its head to jerk back, ripping off Alfonzo's left arm from just below the shoulder. At the same time, Alfonzo saw Elicia's threads shooting downward and wrapping the Leviathan's body before it was pulled up to the surface.

'Fuck!' Alfonzo once again cursed internally. 'If I had just left well enough alone, I would have been pulled up with it. I'm sure its not strong enough to fight Lici right now. Even so, she's gonna end up with magic exhaustion after this. She's so reckless.'

Due to blood loss and a lack of air, Alfonzo's thoughts were drifting away from what was truly important. However, just as he started to lose consciousness, he saw a girl with light brown hair wearing a white dress with a pink fish tail swimming toward him. Then, just as he closed his eyes, he had one last thought before everything went dark.

'Fuck! This is gonna be a pain in the ass.'