Fairy Tail - Eyes of Ice

Chapter 74 - Alvarez Pt. 10

The winds, at last, died down, giving Erza the chance to hit the ground and Requip into a new armor set: her Morning Star Armor. Irene's fluffy hat flaps obscured all of her face save for her cheeky half-grin.

"Requips? How creative." Irene raised her staff. Her magical output far dwarfed that of Dimaria, outside of the God Soul transformation, Ajeel, and Brandish.

It was probably on par with Acnologia's, in fact, and something about her magic was so familiar.

Beyond that, of course, she had Erza's scent. And Erza's facial structure. Kai pursed his lips.

It couldn't be...right?

Erza raised her twin blades. Irene kept her focus on Erza.

"Well?" Irene asked. "What are you waiting for, Erza?"

"This magic is familiar. Are you the one that enchanted the enemy soldiers?"

"So intelligent. Yes. That was my Berserker Enchantment. But you have a powerful Master. That Fairy Law spell could have caused me some serious harm. If he were in his prime, I bet."

Kai stayed put, waiting to see what Erza would do.

"So it was you who forced his demise."

"Demise?" Kai heard Wendy whimper above.

"In a way," Irene said, shifting her staff between her hands. "But I am only doing what I am meant to. Your Ishgar allies are far more prominent and powerful than we'd predicted. But the gloves are off, now. His Majesty is moments from attaining Fairy Heart, and our greatest assets yet remain on the board, such as August and myself. Not to mention the looming threat of Acnologia. I'm sure when he comes back he'll be raring for another round against me."

"You defeated him?" Kai asked. Impossible. Acnologia consumed magic. How could she have a spell that would defeat him?

"I removed him," Irene said. "Universe One is a potent spell. It's how I rearranged this entire kingdom."

"You've caused us a lot of problems," Erza said. "Like standing in between us and returning to our guild hall."

"And I'd like to see what you'll do about it, Erza," Irene said. "So far, it seems like nothing."

"There's nothing I won't do to get back home!" Erza roared and aimed her twin swords at Irene. "Photon Slicer!"

The two swords shot a beam that joined together just before hitting Irene, who slapped it aside with her staff. Erza blitzed the woman. Kai dashed after her.

Irene glanced over in his direction and aimed her staff at him.

A projection of herself appeared in front of him and punched him hard across the face, sending him spinning away.

"Don't bother," Irene said. "This is between the two of us."

Erza brought her swords down on Irene, who blocked. Erza followed with even more sword strikes, moving as fast and hard as she possibly could.

And none broke through to Irene, at all.

The winds picked up and the magic pressure in the area increased to all-new heights as Kai watched Erza attempt to go to town on this woman but he gave Erza no openings. Granted, she was hardly attacking, too.

Any attacks she did unleash were simple beams or balls of magic for Erza to dodge and weave through.

Irene wasn't testing Erza. She was toying with her.

Erza landed from one set of strikes and Requipped into her Ataraxia Armor. The swords behind her spread out like wings. Erza straightened her back and reengaged Irene quickly, the blades all launching at Irene.