The Reappearance of an Old Enemy

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia. 

June 17, x788. 

After the wedding, Alfonzo, along with Ultear, Mirajane, Marin, Lucy, and Shizuka, headed to the villa on Akane Beach for their honey moon. During that time, they did nothing special. Other than relaxing, having fun, and working to get Mirajane and Shizuka pregnant, that is. 

After a week spent on Akane Beach, the group of six returned to Magnolia to return to their normal lives. And Alfonzo decided to do something he had not done in a while, take a quest. Hearing that, there were a lot of people who wanted to take the quest with him. However, he only decided to bring Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca, making it a sort of couples get away. 

"So, what quest are we taking?" Elicia asked as the group of four stood in front of one of the quest boards on the guild hall's first floor. 

"I'm not sure." Alfonzo replied while looking through the quests. "But it will definitely be an S-Class quest. Maybe even a Ten Years Quest." 

"But if we take a Ten Years Quest, will Bisca be able to come with us?" Alzack asked while looking at his wife in worry. 

This was not Alzack doubting his wife's capabilities. Instead, it was because she was only an A-Class wizard, and he was unsure if A-Class wizards were allowed to tag along on Ten Years Quests. 

"Don't worry about that." Alfonzo replied while waving off Alzack's question. "I'll talk to Ur about it. But I'm sure she won't have an issue as long as Lici and I are there." 

In response, both Alzack and Bisca nodded in agreement. 

"Either way, I'm kind of excited." Bisca said with a smile while hugging Alzack's arm. "I've never been on a quest with the two of you. So, this should be a great opportunity to learn something." 

Smiling at Bisca's excitement, Alfonzo and Elicia continued looking through the available quests for something suitable for a team of four. 

At that moment, the elevator door opened. Through it, Ur, carrying a stack of papers, quest sheets, walked into the guild's first floor. When she saw the group of four gathered around the quest boar, she could not help but be curious to know what they were up to. And since she was on her way there already, she decided to ask about it. 

"Hey, what are you kids up to?" Ur asked as she opened the panel to load the quest sheets into the quest board the four were looking at. 

"Oh, perfect timing, Ur." Alfonzo said after Ur drew his attention away from the quest he was reading. "We were going to take a quest together. And we were wondering if it would be okay to take Bisca along with us if we decided on a Ten Years Quest." 

Since they were standing around the quest board, Ur expected that they might be taking a quest together. However, the fact that they were considering a Ten Years quest was outside of her expectations. 

"Well, as long as Alfonzo and Lici are there, I don't see why not." Ur replied just as Alfonzo expected. "But I'm expecting you to make sure that Bisca stays safe. She's on a short list of people to be eligible for this year's S-Class Promotion Exam." 

"Ooh! And if we succeed, this should be a great push for her to actually get that candidate spot, right?" Elicia asked excitedly. 

"That's right." Ur replied with a nod. 

"In that case, we definitely can't fail the quest." Alzack said in a determined tone. 

"And as it turns out, I think I found the one." Alfonzo said as he pointed at the panel. 

The quest Alfonzo found was to slay a monster that appears in a certain tower on one of the islands in Fiore's territorial waters and find an item called "Old Document 01" while they're at it. The thing is, however, that the tower only appears at night. On top of that, it's only visible to those with enough magic power. 

"That's weird." Bisca said with a frown. "And kinda creepy, too." 

"And the name of the monster… The Reaper…" Alzack added in an uncertain tone. 

Elicia, on the other hand, was thinking something totally different. The setting for this quest sounded a lot like a game she had played in her past life. Though it was the third game in the franchise, it was the first one she played, after it was recommended to her by Alfonzo. 

"Fonzie… This sounds like…" Elicia whispered into Alfonzo's ear. 

"I know… That's why it caught my attention." Alfonzo replied in a whisper of his own. 

Seeing that the four were looking over the quest, Ur was curious to know which one it was. So, she walked around to the other side of the quest board. When she saw which one it was, she did not know what to say. 

"Are you sure about this, kids?" Ur asked. "over the years, a lot of people have tried this one. But no one has ever seen the tower referred to in the quest. And some of them were really strong, too." 

"Well, there's no harm in trying, right?" Alfonzo asked as he pressed the screen to eject the quest sheet. "If worse comes to worst, we won't find the tower. And if that's the case, we'll just come back and try again." 

"If that's what you think." Ur replied with a shrug. "Then, do what you want." 

Receiving four nods in reply, Ur turned around and headed back to the elevator to return to her office. Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Elicia, Alzack, and Bisca left the guild hall to prepare for the quest. 

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Open Seas. 

June 18, x788. 

"I wish I'd thought about this before I left for the honey moon." Alfonzo grumbled as he steered the boat towards the group's destination. "I just fucking got back from Akane Beach two days ago. And I drove right fucking back to get the damn boat. Even worse, I'll have to drive back from Akane Beach again when we get back.' 

Listening to Alfonzo grumble endlessly, Elicia wanted to laugh. However, she could understand why he was so frustrated. So, she only patted his back soothingly. Meanwhile, Alzack and Bisca were sitting together on the deck and having a few drinks while enjoying the sun. 

"Anyway, do you really think this is Tartarus from Persona 3?" Elicia asked once there was a break in Alfonzo's muttering. 

In response, Alfonzo took a deep breath to calm himself down. 

"*Sigh* Well, if The Reaper and the Old Document aren't enough proof, the fact that the requester's name is Takeharu Kirijo should be." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "Plus, the name of the island we're headed to is Tatsumi Port Island. And I really don't think there is any more proof than that." 

"*Sigh* I guess you're right." Elicia replied. "I just didn't want it to be the same. The Reaper is always really hard in every Persona game." 

"Yeah, but we're not just a bunch of high school kids, either." Alfonzo replied with a confident smile. "We're much stronger than they are, remember." 

"I know." Elicia replied with a smile of her own. "I guess it's just PTSD from all the times I had to run away like a chicken with its head cut off whenever I heard the sound of clanking chains back then." 

Smiling wryly because he knew the feeling, Alfonzo looked at the sea chart to make sure they were still on course, as well as to see how far away they were. And according to what he saw, they would arrive on Tatsumi Port Island just before sunset if nothing went wrong. 

"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Alfonzo shouted in an aggrieved tone. 

And of course, something went wrong, as Alfonzo was forced to levitate the ship out of the water because of a huge magic power signature that shot up at the ship from below the surface. 

"What the fuck?" Alfonzo shouted as he moved the ship with his [Metal Magic]. "I didn't even say anything. There's no way in hell I raised a flag!" 

"Hehehe! Finally, it wasn't me who raised the flag." Elicia cheered excitedly. 

"Is now really the time to be talking about flags!" Alzack, who heard Alfonzo and Elicia's shouting from the deck, shouted in an irritated toen. "We were just attacked by a sea serpent." 

At the same time, Bisca [Requipped] her magic assault rifle into her hands and immediately started shooting at the sea serpent Alzack mentioned. 

Following the direction where Bisca was shooting, Alfonzo and Elicia saw a long, hundred foot long, serpentine magical beast with blue scales, three pairs of fins on its sides, a fin on its tail, long whiskers on its nose, and a horn growing from the middle of its forehead that just leapt out of the water. 

"God damn it!" Alfonzo shouted as he maneuvered Sixth Sense through the air. "can't anybody tell the fucking difference between a sea serpent and a fucking Leviathan anymore?" 

That's right, like the beast Alfonzo and Elicia faced back when they first met Sun, and the same type of magical beast that took Alfonzo's left arm once before, they were facing a Leviathan, an S-Class aquatic magical beast. 

"That's not the important part.!" Elicia shouted as her hands began glowing with a gold light. "[Mend the Seams of Reality, Scylla]. For now, all we have to do is kill it." 

In the next instant, with her hands glowing gold, Elicia jumped out of Sixth Sense's wheel house,. When she landed on the deck, her hands were covered in golden dragon scales. Then, once she lifted her hands in the Leviathan's direction, she made her next move. 

"[Basting Stitch]." Elicia chanted as nearly all the scales on her hands shot out towards the Leviathan. 

A moment later, the scales, having transformed into needles while threaded with Elicia's [Thread Magic], pierced through the leviathan's fins on its sides and tail. Then, as if they penetrated a piece of fabric behind the beast, they sank into the air. As a result, the Leviathan was held in place, not being allowed to return to the ocean. 

*Roar~~~~~~!* 

Suspended in the air, the Leviathan roared in confusion, anger, and desperation. However, no matter how hard it struggled, it was unable to break the threads and needles holding it in place. 

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* 

With their target no longer moving, Bisca, now using her sniper rifle, Last Kiss, unloaded shell after shell into the Leviathan's head, cracking and splintering scales with every shot landed. She even managed to blind one of its eyes with her first shot. 

"[Guns Magic: Lightning Storm Shot]." Alzack chanted as he fired his two pistols simultaneously. 

It should be noted that Alzack was not using Ebony and Ivory, the pistols Alfonzo made for him long ago. Instead, he was using a pair of pistols without much in the way of adornments that were created when his [Soul Armament], which he received after being promoted to S-Class, went through its first shift. Unfortunately, he has yet to hear the names of his [Armament Spirits]. However, like Alfonzo, his [Soul Armament] also seemed to have two [Armament Spirits], as well. 

With the [Tornado Shot] and [Lightning Shot] bullets he had loaded in his pistols, the two [Guns Magic] spell combined mid-air once he fired. As a result, the Leviathan was engulfed in a violently spinning vortex of lightning. 

*Roar~~~~~!* 

This time the Leviathan's roar was one filled with pain. Despite that, at this rate, it would take all day to wear down its incredible vitality. At least, until Alfonzo involved himself in the fight. 

"I fucking hate these things." Alfonzo said as he set Sixth Sense back onto the surface of the ocean. "I don't wanna deal with this thing any longer than I have to. [Run Wild with Destruction on your Fingertips. Usher in Pandemonium with Creation in Your Hands, Riot, Bedlam]." 

In the next instant, Alfonzo's tonfa melted into lumps of liquid metal that quickly covered his hands and forearms. At the same time, he floated out of the wheel house before flying in front of the Leviathan. Then, while looking it in its eyes, he raised both of his arms with his fingers pointing at the beast. 

A moment later, arcs of violet electricity began bouncing between Alfonzo's arms. And when the Leviathan saw this phenomenon, its angry roars ceased, replaced by frightened whimpers. 

"Sorry, mother fucker." Alfonzo said as he created a conical piece of metal above his raised arms. "If you had just left my ship alone, we could have both minded our own fucking business. But you just had to start some shit. [Electromagnetism Magic: Rail Cannon]." 

Then, Alfonzo loosened his control over the piece of metal, allowing it to fall into the electrical currents jumping between his arms. 

*Boom~~~~~~~!* 

As soon as the metal piece made contact with the electrical current, it was shot forward at nearly ten times the speed of sound, piercing the Leviathan from head to tail in less than an instant, killing it immediately. 

However, Alfonzo, not one to make the same mistake twice, flashed below the Leviathan's neck. When he reappeared, a spinning circular saw was attached to his right forearm. Then, he swung his arm upwards, sending the saw blade flying at five times the speed of sound. 

"[Electromagnetism Magic: Supersonic Dismemberment]." Alfonzo chanted just as the saw blade left his arm. 

In the next instant, the Leviathan's head fell off the rest of its body. However, thanks to the heat produced by Alfonzo's attack, it did not bleed, at all. And the only proof of Alfonzo's last two attacks were the orange streaks of superheated air that slowly dissipated as the air cooled. 

"Alright, let's get going." Alfonzo said as he flew back to Sixth Sense while dispelling Riot and Bedlam's release states. "That didn't take too long. So, we might still be able to make it to Tatsumi Port Island by sundown."