Chapter 10: A Devil's Contract

"Kid, we need to talk. Stop ignoring me" the distorted voice was clear now as he sneered. "You know me already, we've spoken before. Geh, geh" the voice was laughing in a weird, but scary way.

"Yo…You! Wait" Asta paused as he spoke in his sleep, trying to recognise where he had heard the voice before "…It was your voice all this time! Did you know what would happen to Sister Lily!" the boy shouted in his head.

"I could sense something was happening. I tried to wake you, but you wouldn't listen…" the voice was acting frustrated.

"Are…are you telling me I could've stopped whatever happened to Sister Lily…?" Asta's voice was soft, he sounded defeated.

"No, it would've happened anyway, it was inevitable" the image of the voice was becoming clearer now in Asta's head. He could clearly see who he was talking to, and it frightened him.

The Black Bulls boy was faced with an unsightly creature. It had a jet-black body with waves of Anti-Magic emanating from it. There were two huge, black wings on its back with drops of Anti-Magic falling down from its edges. The figure also had two sharp horns on its forehead, along with sharp, fang-like teeth. It had a long, thin tail as well. The main focus, however, was on its face. It had pale skin, with black lines across its two eyes and it had ashen-coloured hair.

"Now that you've seen me, I'll introduce myself. Geh, geh. The name's Liebe" The Devil laughed in an eerie fashion, striking fear into Asta.

"Liebe… Do you know what caused Sister Lily's death?" he questioned, not caring how scared he was on facing this Devil.

"I do… Another Devil's work… Megicula" When Liebe said this name, Asta swore he could see anger on its face. His Ki, however, proved Asta's suspicions. Liebe had intense hatred for this Devil.

"The Sister, she was cursed by Megicula… I said to you, I'll get her… I intend to" Asta's Devil was intimidating, but he was sure he was telling the truth.

"M…Megicula?" Asta wondered.

"Kid, it's a Devil from the Spade Kingdom. The ones you're going to fight soon… C'mon put the pieces together" Liebe was sounding annoyed that Asta didn't understand straight away. "I'm guessing their intention was to put you out of the fight… are you going to let them? Geh, geh" it sneered.

"I… I'll kill them!" Asta shouted.

"No. We will kill them. I have a bone to pick with those freaks anyway" Asta's Anti-Magic Devil responded coldly.

"Why do you want to help?" the boy questioned.

Liebe was silent for a moment, as if it was thinking about something. He shuddered and his facial expressions turned into an angry one.

"I don't need to explain. Just know, I hate them too" it replied with haste, as if it didn't want to answer Asta.

All of a sudden, a sudden burst of shouting came from Asta's mouth "Th-thank you for all you've done for me!" Asta then bowed towards Liebe in an attempt to show that he was grateful to him.

This startled Liebe, in his eyes he was only using Asta's body to wreak havoc on those that came up against the boy. Back in the Witches Forest, the Anti-Magic Devil went through a range of emotions. Initially, it was delighted that he could have the chance to permanently take over Asta's body, but then it felt anger due to Asta fighting back against him, mentally. As time went on, every time Asta went Black, the Devil was having the time of his life being able to use his power, and when Asta defeated the Word Demon, Liebe was quick to show his happiness at the sight.

But here Asta was thanking him.

A drop of sweat fell down from Liebe's face as he was bewildered by what Asta said to him. "S-sure" was all he could muster at that point.

"Anyway, geh, geh" the Devil composed itself and began speaking again. "With the way you're going now, you'll be dead in a few months." He laughed.

"WHAT?" Asta screamed, surprised at this revelation. "Why, who's killing me?" the screaming carried on.

"You'll kill yourself, geh. Haven't you noticed?" Liebe questioned.

Asta thought hard about any possibility, anything that he did that would be bad for him but couldn't.

Liebe sighed "the new Black Form you transformed into; it's taking a toll on your body. You're using way too much of my power and you can only maintain it for a short while, right?"

Asta then realised. The first time he transformed into the new Black Form was when he was training in the woods and Noelle and the others were watching. When he transformed, it only took a couple of minutes before his form went away and he lost his balance and struggled to breathe.

"Bu-but I've been able to use it for more than a few minutes since that first time!" Asta exclaimed.

"You're only speeding up your death, brat. Geh, geh. And besides, I never agreed to lend you all of my power. You're forcing it on yourself too much, your body isn't agreeing with it…" Liebe laughed "though, I have a way we can work around that"

Asta didn't say anything back, he only looked up at him and waited for him to continue talking.

The Anti-Magic Devil was startled, he expected Asta to ask questions. "We-well, let's make a contract. You can use my power however, and how much, you want. In exchange…" there was a short pause. Asta began to feel nervous "In exchange, I want to be the one to end Megicula… not you." Liebe laughed and sneered towards the boy. The Devil then thought "Once I'm face to face with her…I'll take control" and then grinned.

There was silence. Asta didn't respond straight away to the offer, but instead was thinking about the deal. It's true Asta wanted to get stronger, not only to become the Wizard King, but to avenge Sister Lily and make sure no one close to him ends up the same way. Asta wanted to be the one to kill whoever did this to Sister Lily.

"If this is the only way I can become stronger with using your powers… I'll accept" Asta said confidently. He was clenching his fists.

Inside, Asta was annoyed that someone else would be the one to kill Megicula but knew it didn't really matter as long as the threat was gone.

Liebe smiled, but then was startled quickly by the boy.

"BUT" Asta shouted. "No funny business. Don't force your power on me or anything! I've read stories when I was a kid about Devils being horrible and mean. Don't be like that!" Asta was acting like a child here, but Liebe understood what he meant.

"What are you, a kid? Keh, keh. Getting your information from children's books… But, fine. My power is yours only when you summon it…" Liebe stood up and walked towards Asta.

The Anti-Magic boy was being confronted by the Anti-Magic Devil. Liebe stopped just as its body was inches away from Asta. Suddenly, the Devil put out its jet-black hand to shake the boys hand.

"Come on, don't be rude…" he laughed.

"Wait, before I do… how are we able to talk. I've been hearing your voice every so often, even without holding my grimoire" Asta wondered.

"I've become a part of you… you just didn't realise it before" he smirked.

Asta put out his hand to shake Liebe's clawed hand, and they had finally made the contract.

In a sudden flash of white light, the Black Bulls boy was now beginning to wake up from this weird scenario. The dark space Asta and Liebe were in, was now disappearing.

"There's one thing you need to know, kid…" the Devil spoke.

"Good luck…". This was the first time Liebe spoke in a serious tone, which was completely different from how he was usually. Liebe had now disappeared and went back to reside in Asta's five-leaf grimoire.

The dark space was now completely gone, but when Asta opened his eyes he was in another, more familiar dark space. He recognised it though, the area was made of his Anti-Magic and surrounded him. On closer inspection, he was still in his room in the Black Bulls HQ but encased in this Anti-Magic field.

"I- I must've exerted the Anti-Magic when I was speaking with Liebe, in my sleep…" Asta thought, and then tried to calm himself to get rid of this predicament, after all the talk with the Devil had scared him.

Just as the boy started to make his Anti-Magic disappear, his bedroom door opened. It was Noelle and she looked worried.

"Ba-Bakasta! Everyone's sleeping all I could hear was weird, and loud, mumbling from your room. What's wrong with…" Noelle then focused and looked at the weird black mess disintegrating in front of her.

She tried to walk closer to Asta.

"Wait! Noelle don't come closer!" Asta put his arms out in an attempt to warn her, but it was too late.

"What do you…" Noelle was cut off by a sudden wave of Anti-Magic. It was more powerful than ever before. It hit the Silva straight on her body and forced her back, crashing into the wall, causing her to faint.

By now, the Anti-Magic had dispersed, but what was left was Asta trying to wake Noelle up, from the effects of his power.

"No-Noelle!" Asta rushed towards the girl and had her in her arms. Thankfully she was breathing fine, but this didn't help Asta in blaming himself. "Get up, Noelle. I-I'm sorry!"

Asta's door burst open once more, and Vanessa was stood there looking at what had happened. It was just the witch, however. The others had not woken up, which was surprising considering how loud Asta was mumbling and shouting in his sleep. The witch then looked down and saw the royal in Asta's arms.

"N-Noelle, what happened to her Asta?" The purple-haired lady questioned, as she kneeled down to their level to comfort Noelle.

"I-I-It was my Anti-Magic; I lost a bit of control in my sleep and she happened to get hit by it when she walked in…" Asta spoke as he trembled. He blamed himself.

Memories came flooding into Asta's mind. Sister Lily's death. The way he promised himself he would protect the people around him. The way Noelle said she would be there for him. He froze in disbelief at himself and the situation at hand.

Vanessa put a hand on Asta's head "It's not your fault, like you would ever intentionally hurt Noelle" she smiled at him, before picking Noelle up and heading out the door. "Let's get her in her room so she can be comfortable while she rests up, okay?"

The Senior Magic Knight was dealing very well with the situation, completely different to how Asta was dealing with it.

The two said their goodbyes as Vanessa walked back to her room to finish her sleep. She had been woken up by Asta's mumbling as well and wanted to get back to her comfortable room.

Asta was left in Noelle's room. He thought to himself that he would make this better. He would learn to control his power better.

"Noelle, I'll make it up to you somehow. I'm sorry for this…" Asta clenched his fists and then walked out her room.

NOTES:

When we got to see Asta's Devil in the anime, he always did that weird laugh. I didn't know how to show that in here, so I put it as "geh". Let me know if that's okay because I'm not too sure myself.

BUT… yeah Asta and Liebe finally come to an agreement, but will he actually take control of Asta like he hinted? Who knows…. (Me)

Also, sorry Noelle but I know where I'm going with this little plot point so bear with me.