Seeing that Alex is charging toward them like a wild beast, the Spriggan doesn't dare to stay idle anymore. They initially wanted to observe him for a longer time because they still don't know his power, but they can't wait anymore now.
All members of Spriggan are strong Mages who are very confident in their power. But they've seen how Alex overpowered their fellow Spriggan's magic, so at least now they all know that Alex isn't an easy opponent.
They quickly make their moves to stop Alex in his tracks. The 1st to attack is Wall Eehto, who is a Machias, a race that looks like a living machine. Basically like a living robot, something that makes this world look a little scientific as well.
Wall has an ability called Weakness that can find his target's weak points. He has scanned Alex for weak points and has found some. So he quickly creates many missiles and shoots them at Alex.
The missiles are aimed at Alex's weak points and his weak points while being Shukaku are seemingly his bulging stomach, his butt, his head, and his back. So Wall's missiles are aimed at those spots from all angles.
They hit Alex and create very powerful explosions that send sand everywhere. It seems enough to obliterate everything, but then a powerful lightning bolt suddenly strikes from the sky. August doesn't dare to think that Wall's attack is enough so he also attacks, making Wall displeased.
Wall is just about to voice his displeasure when they suddenly hear a laughter from the explosion site. As the smoke clears, they see a big sand ball crumbling slowly, revealing Alex in Shukaku form that doesn't seem injured at all. But something seems strange.
"HAHAHAHA! THAT WAS GOOD. SOMEONE ACTUALLY SENT ANOTHER ATTACK. IT ALMOST HAD ME."
Somehow Alex's voice is different, which confuses the Alvarez side. It will take them a while to realize that it's because Alex isn't the one talking. Shukaku has taken over the body control to fight while Alex is staying back.
Alex has made a deal with the Tailed Beasts to let them fight for a while. They were bored and wanted to do some actions themselves. They didn't have any choice when fighting Acnologia except for just supporting Alex from the inside.
But now, they realized they could play around a bit because they aren't in Ishgar and won't endanger Alex's friends, so they asked Alex to let them fight for a while and because all of them wanted to fight, he gave them 10 minutes each.
They protested that it was too short, but with all 9 of them taking turns, it will already be 90 minutes in total, an hour and a half. Alex doesn't have the energy to fight forever and he knows they will use a lot of his energy, so he can only give them 10 minutes each.
After some discussions, they finally agree and the order is simply by following their tail number. So obviously the 1st to come out is Shukaku. But Alex only allows them to fight in their mini forms that are around normal bear sizes to avoid destroying everything with their real sizes.
They agree easily because it won't be fun if they win just because of their sizes. Also, it will be more fun if they can move around a lot more and it won't happen if they are too big while the enemies are too small.
So now, the one fighting the Alvarez army is not Alex, but Shukaku. Compared to Alex, Shukaku's fighting style is more crude and wild. He attacks as he pleases and often takes attacks head on to stop them using his great defense skill.
His defense skill is actually much better than Alex. It wasn't called the Absolute Defense for nothing when he was in the Naruto world. He can defend himself using sand very quickly, just like what he showed just now.
Shukaku only created the sand armor right before Wall's missiles hit him. He actually triggered the missiles using some scattered sand to block them and when they exploded, he instantly created a thick layer of sand armor.
But he almost removed them before August sent a powerful lightning bolt. Good thing his danger sense was screaming, so he kept his sand armor. What made his Absolute Defense great is because he can sense danger very keenly and set defense instantly, after all.
He was just a little careless because it has been a very long time since he fought, so he is too excited. That little mistake is enough to make his siblings mock him though. They laugh at him for almost being hit by lightning for being careless.
"DAMMIT! SHUT UP YOU ANNOYING BASTARDS! ESPECIALLY YOU, FOX! IT'S MY TURN, SO ALL OF YOU SHOULD JUST WATCH!"
Shukaku just shouts angrily, surprising the Alvarez army who doesn't know why he suddenly shouts and who he is shouting to. But Zeref quickly realizes that it's not Alex who's shouting.
"That is not Alex. He gives his body control to the beast. The one we are facing now is the 1-Tailed Sand Beast that Alex transforms into."
What Zeref says surprises everyone. They have done some research on Alex, so they know about his Magic. Take Over Magic uses the power of creatures whose souls they conquered and absorbed.
They know there were cases of Take Over Mages losing control and got their bodies controlled by the creatures they Took Over. But those cases usually happened when they have just taken over the souls and haven't conquered those souls or when their souls weakened so the taken over souls could retaliate.
This doesn't seem to be the case with Alex though. He seemed fine and still looked very strong. Yet his Beast now takes over the control. This can only mean that he gives over the control to his Beast.
"This crazy son of a bitch. Who the fuck let their bodies being controlled by a Beast?" Bloodman, an Etherious Demon is actually calling him crazy.
"Apparently, that man does. This means he has full control over his Beasts and doesn't have any problem letting them use his body because he can take back the control anytime." August quickly understands the situation because he has a lot of knowledge about many types of magic.
"But it also means that he thinks his Beasts can fight us without losing or maybe even defeat us. He thinks our power and skill levels are lower than his Beasts." Irene also quickly catches what Alex implies by letting the Tailed Beasts fight on his stead.
She isn't wrong, but his main reason was just because they were being very noisy. Though Alex also believes that while the Tailed Beasts might not be able to defeat Alvarez with their wild battle skills, he's sure that they won't lose at the very least.
That's also why he only gives each of them 10 minutes because the longer they fight, the clearer their weaknesses will be. The Tailed Beasts aren't really refined fighters, after all. That's why they kept being captured and sealed by shinobi that were weaker but more skillful in the Naruto World, except for Hashirama or Madara.
Anyway, Shukaku is now enjoying his fight. He is bombarded by magic attacks from all sides by the Alvarez army. The Spriggan have already gathered their squads and led them to attack Shukaku.
They know this war will last long, so they need to save their energy. For now, they need to understand Alex's and his Beasts' abilities. They can't waste their own energy just to find their enemy's weakness, so they utilize their men.
This is a war, after all, and they have an army to assist them. So there's no reason to just keep fighting alone all the time like Alex. They have an advantage in numbers, so they need to use it.
When the Spriggan were attacking Alex, they also secretly ordered their squads to regroup and prepare themselves. The surviving soldiers quickly heal the injured ones while those who are fairly fine immediately gather with their squads.
Irene uses a small scale Universe One to alter the battlefield. The Capital City, Vistarion is already beyond saving at this point, so they don't need to worry about it anymore and just use everything to their advantage.
She alters the whole city and makes Shukaku back in the center. The Spriggan and their squads are spread around Shukaku at fairly far distances. Then under August's command, all squads are firing magic spells at Shukaku from all sides.
Of course, Shukaku's Absolute Defense isn't just an exaggerated skill name. He really does block all those flying attacks with his thick sand dome that is covered with his marks that strengthen it. Ajeel tried to break it down by trying to control the sand around Shukaku, but Shukaku is just much better at manipulating the sand around him, so Ajeel can't break down the wall.
Still, Shukaku doesn't want to just stay defensive like this. He can prove how good his Absolute Defense is, but it's not fun. He wants to have enjoyable fights, so he needs to find a way to attack them.
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Ch. 289. Alex vs Ignia