65 Alfonzo's First S-Class Quest; Part 4

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Freesia.

January, x780.

Shortly after Hammer fell unconscious, Alfonzo also incapacitated the three wizards chasing behind him once they exited the town. Then, he dragged the two A-Class wizards and five B-Class wizards to the city hall. Where they were thrown into an underground prison. They would stay there until Alfonzo completed the quest. After that, the magic Council would be called to pick them up and take them to a higher security prison.

"In just one night you captured seven of them?" A then, middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair, Oliver Cromwell, Freesia Town's Mayor, asked in credulously after seeing Alfonzo.

"Well, they tried to attack me." Alfonzo replied with a shrug. "I hadn't even started looking for them yet."

Allowing his mouth to fall open slightly, Oliver stared at Alfonzo in silence for a few seconds. After that, he shook his head.

"Although this is impressive, I cannot consider the quest to be complete." Oliver said in a tone that hid a measure of disdain.

In response, Alfonzo only rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I get it." Alfonzo replied. "I mean, I did read the quest sheet. And I know what Giovanni Regalia looks like."

"*Sigh* I just wanted to make sure you understood." Oliver said, the disdain in his tone even more apparent. "You wizards---"

"Slow down…" Alfonzo said, cutting off the mayor's next words. "Don't treat me like these other wizards. I'm a Fairy Tail wizard and we always get the job done."

"And destroy half a town while doing so." Oliver replied under his breath.

Although it was clear that Oliver meant to keep that last comment to himself., the senses of a wizard at Alfonzo's level were beyond normal. So, Alfonzo's next retort caught him off guard.

"Hmph!" Alfonzo snorted. "If you're gonna talk shit, at least have the decency to say it to my face and not under your breath."

With is eyes wide, Oliver stared into Alfonzo's eyes in disbelief.

"On top of that, you must not be too well informed about who I am exactly." Alfonzo said, pride radiating from his being. "I've never had a report of property damage while completing a quest. Hell, even the iron sand that tore through the ground didn't leave any damage on hotel courtyard."

'If they had attacked me on the streets and not the front of the hotel, it would have been a different story, though.' Alfonzo thought to himself.

"Hmph!" Oliver snorted. "We'll see about that. You Fairy Tail wizards are all the same."

'Why does it sound like he's more disappointed that I didn't destroy anything?' Alfonzo thought to himself while shaking his head.

"Whatever you say." Alfonzo replied before turning around and walking toward city hall's front door. "I already have a lead to where they're hiding. I'll go investigate."

Without looking back or saying another word, Alfonzo walked away from Mayor Cromwell who looked as though he had more to say. Unfortunately for him, Alfonzo could not be bothered to listen.

'I came to help that son of a bitch's town.' Alfonzo fumed internally as he left city hall. 'Not even a word of thanks after I took out those dark wizards. He acts like those people from the Magic Council---'

At that moment, Alfonzo opened his eyes wide in realization.

'He works for the Magic Council, doesn't he?' Alfonzo mused. 'Of course he does. That's why he was upset that there was no damage to the town when I fought those dark wizards. Well, other than the frozen street and the patch of decayed grass in the hotel courtyard. But those weren't my fault and it's easy to tell.'

Alfonzo then stopped and shook his head.

'I'm getting off topic.' Alfonzo thought to himself. 'When Ur was announced as an S-Class wizard of Fairy Tail, rumors of how destructive she was appeared shortly after she completed her first quest. The same happened with Laxus. The only ones who could and would spread rumors like that are the Magic Council. Well, it doesn't hurt that they did fuck some shit up, but still.'

While in his thoughts, Alfonzo eventually reached his Vanquish. Then, after opening the door and taking a seat, he continued this thoughts.

'Canonically, the Magic Council hated Fairy Tail.' Alfonzo thought. 'Well, considering how much damage they caused, It was no surprise. I mean, the Council is the organization that represents the wizards of the continent. So, it makes sense that they would try to discredit the guild like that, I guess.'

Continuing to think about the mayor's attitude and his possible connection to the Magic Council, Alfonzo drove out of the town and headed toward the area where he could feel some of his magic power. Eventually, he arrived at the foot of a mountain. And although he could feel that his magic power was somewhere under the mountain, he could not find his way inside.

"Damn it." Alfonzo muttered to himself. "There's got to be a hidden door or something around here."

That statement began Alfonso's extensive search of the foot of the mountain.

Meanwhile, in Behemoth Claw's underground base, Nigel, who Alfonzo allowed to escape, had been standing in front of a certain room for the last few hours. Finally, as he was falling asleep, the door opened and through it walked Giovanni.

"Oh, it's you… What was your name again?" Giovanni asked, glancing at Nigel after walking through the door. "Whatever, it doesn't matter. Why are you here?"

"I have bad news to report, sir." Nigel replied, feeling uneasy at the thought of reporting the mission failure.

"Bad news, huh?" Giovanni replied, staring into the young man's eyes. "Does that have anything to do with the fact that I can't feel Hammer in the base?"

"Yes sir." Nigel replied, even more nervous than before. "Hammer, Fiona, Zio, and Grind were captured by the target."

Hearing that, Giovanni's visible eye narrowed as he began leaking his magic power.

Feeling his guild master's magic power, Nigel took a step back out of fear. Although Giovanni had never killed any of the members of Behemoth Claw out of anger, he did not want to be the first.

"And what about the other three?" Giovanni asked, sounding calm while his magic power raged.

"I-I don't know." Nigel replied with is head lowered. "I came back here to report as soon as I saw Hammer get defeated."

After hearing Nigel's response, Giovanni's magic power flared even higher. Then, he waved at the young man in a dismissive manner, signaling him to leave.

Once he was alone, Giovanni slammed his fist into a wall.

"Damn that Hammer!" Giovanni shouted angrily. "He was only good for one thing! But he somehow screwed that up. Now my plans will be pushed back. Fucking useless piece of garbage!"

Before He could continue to rant, however, Giovanni's eyes opened wide. Then, he leapt away from where he was standing.

A moment later, the ceiling above where he once stood exploded. Then, in the dust that filled the corridor, he heard something heavy and metallic hit the floor, followed by the sound of something grinding into it.

"What the hell was that?" Giovanni asked, while he watched the cloud of dust cautiously.

Not long afterward, the rest of the members of Behemoth Claw came running down the corridor and gathered behind Giovanni.

"Master Giovanni, are you alright?" One of the two remaining A-Class wizards, a short, seemingly malnourished woman with unkempt, fuchsia hair, asked after arriving behind Giovanni.

Before he could respond, however, Giovanni noticed that the dust cloud was starting to settle.

"Damn, how the hell did you build this place so far underground?" Alfonzo asked as the smoke settled. "Even with [Giga Drill Break], it took me like a whole minute to dig down here."

When the dust finally settled completely, the members of Behemoth Claw saw Alfonzo kneeling on one knee with his right hand pierced into the floor.

"Who the hell are you, Kid?" The other remaining A-Class, an ugly man with bucked teeth and a huge nose, asked while pointing at Alfonzo.

Instead of replying, Alfonzo examined the people in the corridor. AS he did, Giovanni could see a glint of recognition every time Alfonzo's eyes passed over one of his dark wizards.

"You're the one who took down Hammer and the rest, aren't you?" Giovanni asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Hammer? Do you mean the guy with the wind?" Alfonzo asked, tilting his head to the side while doing so. "If so, then yeah. I kicked his ass. He wanted to destroy my baby, and I couldn't have that."

Hearing that the young man in front of them had taken down Hammer, the second strongest member of Behemoth Claw, after Giovanni, the dark wizards went on guard.

"Well, I don't really have time to chat." Alfonzo said with a smile. "I wanna go home, I miss my girlfriends. So, will you guys come peacefully? Or do we have to do this the hard way?"

"Kill him." Giovanni ordered.

With that, the dark wizards began flaring their magic power and chanting their spells.

"The hard way it is, I guess." Alfonzo said with a shrug. "They always pick the hard way. [Metal Magic: Iron Sand River]."

A moment later, a torrent of iron sand rushed out of the hole Alfonzo dug through the ceiling of the base. Then, it rushed toward the thoroughly shocked dark wizards. While most were too surprised to adapt to the change in situation, Giovanni was the sole exception.

"[Barrier Magic: Polyhedron Barrier." Giovani chanted and clapped his hands together just before the iron sand washed over the corridor.

In the next instant, a four-sided, translucent barrier with a pointed top surrounded Giovani. Then, the iron sand torrent rushed passed Giovanni and the barrier, carrying the wizards of Behemoth Claw down the corridor before eventually burying them.

"You'll pay for that!" Giovanni said after taking a moment to look behind him at the state of his base. "I'll kill you myself! [Barrier Magic: Barrier Burst]!"

As he changed, Giovanni clenched his fists. Then, he slammed them both into the side of the barrier facing Alfonzo, causing it to shatter and send the fragments flying at the young man.

"I did something like that last night." Alfonzo muttered as he put his palms forward.

An instant later, A shield large enough to cover Alfonzo's entire body appeared in front of him, blocking the incoming projectiles. A moment later, while Alfonzo was considering creating wheels under the shield so he could just barrel down the corridor, he felt Giovanni approaching the shield.

"[Barrier Magic: Barrier Blade]." Giovanni chanted as he rushed forward.

Then, in Giovanni's hands, a barrier in the shape of a cleaver manifested. Once Giovanni was in front of the shield, he swung the cleaver down, cutting halfway through the shield in one slash.

"Well, damn." Alfonzo muttered after jumping away from the shield. "That's a pretty sharp blade. Didn't know you could do stuff like that with barriers."

"Oh, I'll show you exactly what barriers are capable of." Giovanni said, anger leaking from every fiber of his being. "And once I've broken your body and spirit with my barriers, I'll sacrifice you in my ritual…"

"… To revive Zeref, right?" Alfonzo said, sounding bored.

"How…? How could you know that?" Giovanni asked with shock on his face. "Do I have a mole in my guild?"

"Seriously?" Alfonzo asked with a deadpan. "Considering how hard dark wizards cream their pants for Zeref, why would anyone guess anything else?"

"Damn you!" Giovanni shouted after hearing Alfonzo's mocking reply. "I am going to---"

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it." Alfonzo said, a magic circle appearing under his feet. "[Metal Magic: Iron Sand Lash]."

In the next instant, even more iron sand rose from the ground beneath Alfonzo. Then, it formed into several long whips and began lashing at Giovanni.

At first, when only two of the iron sand whips attacked, Giovanni was able to defend himself with just the [Barrier Blade] in his hands. However, as Afonso sent more and more whips to attack, Giovanni was forced to created barriers around himself.

Then, as soon as the guild master of Behemoth Claw was forced to split his attention between the barriers he created and the iron sand whips, Alfonzo made his move.

Dashing straight toward Giovanni, using the iron sand whips to cover his approach, Alfonzo cocked his right fist back as he ran forward.

"[Metal Magic: Stun Gun]." Alfonzo chanted when he was an arm's length from his foe.

With his chant, Alfonzo's right hand and forearm were covered in a gauntlet made from a metal that generated electricity when magic power was pumped into it. Then, he thrust his fist forward and landed an uppercut on Giovanni's diaphragm, simultaneously knocking the wind out of the Dark Guild Master and electrocuting him.

Surprisingly, Giovanni did not lose consciousness after receiving that attack. However, with the same gauntleted hand, Alfonzo, after stopping the flow of his magic power to the gauntlet, backhanded Giovanni on the temple, knocking him out.

"Well, that should more or less take care of that." Alfonzo said, dematerializing the gauntlet. "The only thing left to do is secure the prisoners, bring them back to the town, and contact the Magic Council to pick them up. Oh, I guess I should check their base for any valuables and the kidnapped citizens, too."