Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Crocus.
July 6, x790.
"It looks like you were right, Itachi." Kisa said while running alongside Itachi through the city of Crocus. "If we had tried to take the Nine-Tails brat during the Grand Magic Gas, things wouldn't have gone so well. There are a lot more powerful wizards in Fiore than we thought."
Currently, Itachi and Kisa, who just finished watching the end of the Grand Magic Gas, were running through Crocus, leaving the city as quickly as they could to report what they saw to the rest of Akatsuki.
"Yes." Itachi replied stoically. "Just dealing with Alfonzo Marcus would have been bad enough. But the other mbers of their team were powerful in their own right. Then, there are the other wizards who participated. And although none of them are on par with Alfonzo Marcus, they were all quite strong, as well."
'If there weren't so many people present for the Grand Magic Gas, I would have definitely told Pain to attack during the event.' Itachi thought to himself while running forward. 'And I have no doubt that they would have all been wiped out, too. I might have even been able to find a ti to let Sasuke kill . Then, he could implant my eyes and attain what very few Uchiha have over the generations.'
When Itachi's thoughts reached that point, an image of himself and Sasuke from when they still lived in the Village Hidden in the Leaves with the rest of their clan played in his mind. However, that only led to him rembering how he ended up destroying his overly ambitious clan with his own two hands.
'Even so.' Itachi continued to think after shaking the thoughts of peaceful tis long passed out of his head. 'I'm still not convinced that Sasuke is strong enough as he is to kill in a convincing way, despite the fact that my body is failing . *Sigh* Perhaps another year or two will be enough. I just hope I can hold on until then.'
Unfortunately, things had changed from what Itachi had planned for. Especially since Sasuke had been learning swordsman ship and [Lightning Nature Transformation] from Saeko and Alfonzo, respectively. Add to that the fact that Sasuke had been training in the Fairy Tail training facilities for nearly two years, and his power was much greater than it would have been otherwise.
In actuality, had Sasuke run into Itachi during this trip to Crocus, he would have more than likely been able to fight him on even terms... For a while, at least. However, thanks to Itachi's experience, Itachi would have more than likely co out on top.
But that would have been enough. Thanks to Itachi's genius, he would have been able to find a way to throw the fight and die in a convincing manner, resulting in Sasuke being able to take his revenge. On top of that, Itachi would have been able to manipulate his emotions enough to cause his Sharingan to evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Then, with all his goals accomplished, he would be able to die and leave his own Mangekyō to Sasuke. And Sasuke would never have to worry about the curse of his Mangekyō, able to maintain his light without issue.
"You're right." Kisa replied with a nod. "Then, our plans to bring peace to this ssed up world would never be reached."
"Yes." Itachi replied, Kisa's words pulling him out of his own thoughts. "So, I think we should wait until at least next year before attacking Magnolia to retrieve the Nine-Tails. I will recomnd this to Pain, a well. Because dealing with Alfonzo Marcus alone will take many of our mbers efforts."
Kisa nodded in agreent with Itachi's assessnt. Itachi was always the brains of their team, after all. So, he would leave the thinking and planning to Itachi. Then, when he received his orders, he would do what he did best, shred targets with his sword, Sahada and drown areas with is powerful [Water-Style Ninjutsu].
anwhile, just outside the city, only in the opposite direction, Irene, with her right hand still wrapped around Jiemma's wrist, casually walked forward. However, with every step she took, the two wizards moved much further than what should have been possible.
"Release , woman.!" Jiemma shouted after finally getting his bearings.
In fact, when Irene stopped his hand from falling onto Minerva and ending his traitorous daughter's life, Jiemma had fallen into a daze because of how effortlessly Irene had stopped him. Then, before he knew it, he was being dragged through the streets of Crocus. And by the ti he finally found his voice, the two of them were already outside the city.
"Oh, you rembered how to speak again, huh?" Irene said playfully, a hint of sadism making its way into her tone. 'And all this ti, I had been wondering how far I would get before you said sothing."
Hearing that, Jiemma gritted his teeth in anger. Then, he swung the arm Irene was gripping with all his might in an attempt to free himself.
Just as he did so, to Jiemma's surprise, Irene released her grip on his wrist. As a result, Jiemma almost through himself to the ground because of the lack of a counter force. However, thanks to his many years of training and experience, he was able to right himself before he embarrassed himself.
"How dare you do this to ." Jiemma said, wrath saturating his tone. "You must have a death wish to oppose the way you have."
"Oh, I guess your daughter was in charge of information gathering for your guild, huh?" Irene asked while pressing he fur brimd witch hat down on her head, its brim shadowing her face. "To think, you don't even know who I am. Yet, your daughter recognized the instant she saw . And I must say, she was suitably afraid when she did."
"And why would I, the strongest, have a reason to fear soone like you, a nobody?" Jiemma asked in a prideful tone while flaring his magic power now that it was not being suppressed anymore.
"You? The strongest? Hahahahahahaha!" Irene asked before bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laughter. "Oh my... Hahaha! I'm sorry, but that is quite the tale you have convinced yourself of. My, oh my, I must thank you. I don't believe I've laughed like that in a month, or so."
Hearing Irene's mocking words and laughter, Jiemma grit his teeth so hard that they were in danger of breaking. He then swung his right arm in Irene's direction.
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
In the next instant, a massive explosion, enough to destroy nearly half a block of Crocus' streets, engulfed Irene. The purple light from the explosion lighting up the entire area.
However, what Jiemma failed to realize, was the fact that by the ti the explosion produced by his [Blast Magic] had subsided, there was no one coming to investigate the commotion, despite being not too far outside of Crocus.
"Hmph! A fitting end for soone who would disrespect so blatantly." Jiemma said with a snort before turning around to return to the city. "And now that I've dealt with you, I'll send my foolish daughter after you. Maybe you can teach her like you said you would in the afterlife."
"You are truly ignorant."
Before Jiemma could take more than a few steps, the explosion subsided. And as soon as he could no longer feel the heat of the explosion on his back, he heard those words, causing him to widen his eyes in surprise. However, what was more surprising was the fact that he recognized the voice.
Imdiately, Jiemma spun around and looked at the area he should have destroyed with astonishnt. Yet, there was no sign of the destruction he was expecting to see. Instead, he saw the woman he thought he had killed standing there with a staff whose end looked like the claws of a dragon standing there with a spine-chilling smile on her face.
"You dare call yourself the strongest with power like this?" Irene asked disdainfully. "Even that old pervert, Makarov, has more power than this. And that's without taking into account the Three Great Fairy Magics."
"Impossible." Jiemma said in a tone filled with disbelief. "This can't be possible. He said I was the strongest human he had ever known... Other than his creator."
"Ah! I assu you're talking about Mard Geer Tartaros." Irene said with a nod of understanding. "Well, taking his words at face value is probably not the smartest idea. I an, he can't even rember the nas of the humans he ets. On top of that, he sees all humans as little more than ants. So, calling you the strongest was basically calling you the strongest ant. And who really pays attention to them, right?"
"How...? How do you know that?" Jiemma asked while taking a step back in shock.
"What do you an?" Irene asked while tilting her head to the side, imitating Sun's cute gestures. "Are you talking about Mard Geer's personality? Or that you have a connection with him?"
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
*Boom~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!*
Instead of replying, Jiemma rapidly swung his arms in Irene's direction, producing more and more powerful explosions with every swing. Right now, it was more important to get rid of soone who knew such a secret than figure out how they found it in the first place.
"Well, I don't mind answering those questions for you." Irene said, her voice heard clearly over the successive explosions. "To answer your first question, I guess I would have to introduce myself."
As Irene reached that point, Jiemma saw her walking through the explosions produced by his [Blast magic] while not even seeming to defend herself. And with every step Irene took, Jiemma found himself taking a step back while continuing to bombard her with powerful explosions.
Yet, what Jiemma failed to notice was the fact that despite continuously stepping backwards, he was not getting any closer to Crocus' gates.
"But more than likely, my na has been lost to the ages on Ishgar." Irene continued, completely unbothered by Jiemma's bombardnt. "And though I'd rather not go into the details of my past, just know that I've lived for a long ti. And during that ti, I ca across a certain man. Soone who had lived about as long as I have. I even worked under him for more than two decades."
By now, Jiemma's explosions were strong enough to wipe an entire village off the map. Despite that, Irne continued to approach without even having her hat blown off, let alone sustaining any injuries. And the fact that he was so outclassed was scaring him more than anything he had experienced in his life.
"And as it just so happens, that man was the emperor of a nation on another continent." Irene continued, her smile widening as she enjoyed the growing horror in Jiemma's eyes. "To the people of that nation, this man was known as Emperor Spriggan. But on Ishgar, he went by a different na. You see, on this continent, they called him the Black Wizard, Zeref. And while working with Zeref, I've heard quite a few stories about his experiences from when he was young. Like the personalities of all of the books on his bookshelf."
Hearing that, the arm Jiemma had been constantly swinging to bombard Irene with is [Blast Magic] ca to an abrupt halt as his eyes opened even wider. On top of that, the steps he was taking backwards beca unsteady, as well.
"No... That's impossible." Jiemma said, his voice just as shaky as his steps. "If you know that then..."
Reaching that point, Jiemma finally stopped to take a good look at Irene.
"A tall woman with red hair... A pointy hat... That sadistic smile...." Jiemma muttered aloud. "You can't be her... She's supposed to be in the Alvarez Empire."
"Oh, it seems you finally recognized ." Irene said as she continued to draw closer to Jiemma. "But that brings to the second point I brought up earlier. Your little connection to Mard Geer Tartaros and how I know about it. Well... Let's just say that soone I know has quite the information network."
'Honestly, I thought Alfonzo was just talking out of his backside when he told about this.' Irene thought to herself. 'And when Elicia chid in, I thought he had been feeding her the sa crap. But looking at his expression, it seems there was more to it than that. Maybe it ca from those so-called visitors that showed up last year. So of them seed to know more than they should, too. Hmm... I'll have to get more information out of Alfonzo and Elicia when I get the chance.'
*Thud!*
While Ireen was lost in her own thoughts, she continued to approach Jiemma. However, she was brought back to reality when she heard the sound of sothing falling to the ground. And when she looked in the sound's direction, Irene saw that it was Jiemma who had fallen.
"Scarlet Despair... Please, spare ." Jiemma said, pure, unadulterated horror in his eyes.
"Hmm... No one has called that for a couple years." Irene said as she pushed her hat up a little. "It's rather nostalgic, you know?"
"I beg you... Please." Jiemma said, seemingly having not heard Ireen's response. "I promise, I won't harm Minerva. I'll even let her be the guild master. I'll even leave Fiore. Just don't kill ."
In actuality, Jiemma was not afraid of dying. As a wizard for so many years, he had co to terms with is mortality. But dying at Iren's hands was not the sa as dying in any other way... At least from what he had heard.
Because in Irene's hands, dying would only co after she was satisfied with the torture she would inflict. And according to what he knew, it would be better if he ended his own life instead. Yet, with her so close, Jiemma had no illusions that he would be able to do so in front of Irene.
"Hmm... What exactly should I do with you?" Irene asked in response to Jiemma's question, putting on a show of thinking through her options. A mont later, she clapped her hands excitedly, terrifying Jiemma even more. "How about this?"
Irene then stepped even closer to Jiemma, who was still seated on the ground. She then bent forward to look him directly in his eyes.
"I'll let you run away." Irene said, the sadism swirling in her eyes clear for anyone to see. "Then, you go and talk to your benefactor, Mard Geer. Tell him that I betrayed Zeref. And when he hears that, he'll definitely co to for revenge."
"But why would you want to do that?" Jiemma asked in a confused tone. Though, he did not reject. "Wouldn't that bring trouble to your guild?"
"I'm actually looking forward to such trouble." Irene replied as she stood up to her full height again. "You see, my guild mates need a challenge. And I think this would be perfect for them. Because if they can't defeat a little guild filled with Zeref's failed projects, they would have no chance when Zeref finally cos to invade Fiore, would they?"
The horror in Jiemma's eyes increased exponentially when he heard Irene's reasoning. And only one word ca out of his mouth.
"Monster..."
In response, Ireen only smiled. Then, she stepped past Jiemma, heading back to Crocus as she waved her hand at Jiemma, telling him he should leave. And when Jiemma saw that, he wasted no ti picking himself up from the ground and running as fast as his legs would carry him, just in case Irene changed her mind.
"Well, this should save Alfonzo so effort." Irene said as she glanced over her shoulder. "He's been trying to find the Cube for years now. Now, they should co to us. And with all the defenses he's got set up around Magnolia, there shouldn't be any issues."
With that, Irene smiled once again before humming a tune as she returned to the city.
anwhile, from atop the city gate, Mavis watched the entire spectacle with a stern look in her eyes.
"So, that's what all that was about." Mavis thought aloud. "Alfonzo ntioned that he was having no luck finding Tartaros. So, Irene is trying to draw them to us."
Mavis then turned to look in the direction of the Sixth Sense Hotel.
"I just hope you know what you're doing, Alfonzo." Mavis said quietly. "A lot of people will be in danger if things go the way you want them to.
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