Chapter 42: An Unlikely Team

Disclaimer:

Day Two of the five-day update week. Hope you enjoy :P

"Ghost Magic: Spirit Saber". Esprit called out quietly as it traversed the open area, invisible from the three opposing mages' views. Without even a few seconds passing of the devil disappearing, it suddenly appeared in front of Nebra and swiped at her legs with the glowing spirit blade.

Nebra was hurled backwards and tumbled across the floor as she was struck by the enemy's attack. The Spirit Saber retracted back into nothingness and Esprit stood where Nebra was standing just a few seconds ago. "Well, that's one gone… time for you two" it spoke, tilting its head slightly to the Black Bull and the Golden Dawn members.

"You think we're just going to let you do whatever you want? Not on my watch". Langris extended his right arm backwards and a burst of Spatial Magic condensed and formed between his palm. He then swiped forwards swiftly towards the enemy. "Spatial Magic: Vanquishing End! You're done for…".

"If you think that can-!" Esprit chuckled but was soon made to eat his words as a huge chunk of the ground, he was standing on, disappeared out of existence. The Ghost Magic devil just managed to dodge the attack and it made him rethink a few things. "Spatial Magic, huh? It's not on the level of the Lord's… but this can still kill me. I need to be careful".

"Gordon, with me! We must leave Nebra to the recovery mages that will be here shortly… For now, lend me your power". Langris ordered the Poison mage who immediately agreed with the man.

Gordon ran up to the Spatial mage and stood beside him. "The way he said my name 'Gordon'… there was no hint of anger or sarcasm behind it! My friend is finally friendly towards me! I must not slow him down". He thought to himself as he readied his grimoire.

"Make sure you stay close to me. If he gets too close, I can protect you, but stay in my range". The Vice-Captain of the Golden Dawn spoke in a determined manner. "I need to protect this guy. He's my brother's friend and… it's the right thing to do". He smirked slightly.

"Ghost Magic: Undead Blast". Esprit stuck its two white-clawed hands outwards and started to gain energy from the environment. The condensed energy formed into a sphere that was crackling with energy and the devil shot it outwards towards the two mages standing side by side. "No way they can evade that spell. It uses the wandering souls of Megicula's victims as a power source which only means… it is packed with a punch and ominous power". He laughed.

Langris and Gordon stood where they were and eyed up the attack that was fired towards them. The two mages stood in a battle stance and were hastily thinking about what move to make to ensure they didn't get hit by the attack.

"Spatial Magic: Vanquishing End!" Langris, once again, swiped in a forwards motion to destroy and eradicate the incoming Undead Blast. The man managed to swipe and destroy the attack, partially. Unfortunately for the two Clover Kingdom Knights, Langris's attack didn't destroy the entire spell but only a large part of it. The remnants of it slipped past and hit the two mages and it sent them flying.

"Hmph. Spatial Magic is my only problem it looks like… Those two other mages are useless, so I'll just focus on that pretty boy". The purple-bodied devil thought to himself and discarded the importance of the other two mages that were on the battlefield.

Langris and Gordon were sent into a wall and a loud crack was heard throughout the area as they did so. The dust settled and what was revealed was a bloodied Langris and Gordon, standing side by side.

"Poison Curse Magic: Aufwachen Dachs!" Gordon summoned a herd of purple dogs that were filled with a variety of curses. They sped forwards and surrounded Esprit who was in the middle of the spell.

"Hmph. Ghost Magic: Disappearing Soul". The devil slowly faded into nothingness as it became invisible to the eye. As the enemy disappeared, so did the Aufwachen Dachs as they needed a body to track in order to curse it, but as there was no body, there was no goal for them either.

"I'm very sorry, friend. I thought that attack would work. Please forgive me". Gordon muttered, clearly annoyed and angry at himself for failing with his attack.

Langris turned and shouted at him. "What are you talking about?! There's no time to pout right now so keep the attacks coming, we'll figure something out". He returned to his battle stance once more.

The team of Gordon and Langris tried to keep up the fight, even though it was clear that they were in a losing battle. With the way the Ghost Magic worked, it easily countered Gordon's long-range attack and with Langris having to protect Gordon, and himself, as well as attack the enemy, there were limited options available in order for them to become victorious in the battle.

It was a battlefield filled with an abundance of offensive Spatial and Poison Magic versus a powerful foe using Ghost Magic. When one attacked, the other countered. Although this wasn't the case for the Clover Knights as some of Esprit's attacks still managed to pierce and hurt the two mages.

Whilst the battle was underway, Nebra had woken up. She was bruised all over her body with her two ankles both sprained. They had swollen and it looked like she couldn't even stand up properly. A slight bit of hope had arrived however with the arrival of Nero

Without even exchanging words, the two-horned girl started to seal the royal's injuries.

"Sealing Magic: Closed Sorrow!" Due to weeks of training that the Knights had undertaken, their mana had increased, and their mana had grown. The sealing took barely a minute and Nebra's injuries were closed.

Nebra stood up and got used to her surroundings once more. To the right she saw Mimosa who had went to Klaus and Sol to heal them with her recovery magic, and to the left was where the intense battle was taking place between Gordon, Langris, and Esprit. "Quickly… go to the other two who are injured… Hurry!" As Nebra ordered, Nero ran to Klaus and Sol.

Nebra took a step but stumbled back down. Nero's magic had only closed the physical wound to stop it bleeding, but the damage had already happened, and she struggled to get up. On one knee and her face looking at the battle, she started to analyse.

"Es- Esprit… just how can we beat this enemy…?" The silver-haired royal looked around. "Langris seems to be the best bet in our victory with that offensive power and Gordon's magic is deadly when used right. My magic is mist and can cover large areas…".

As the royal tried to think of a solution, she spotted another person who had started to move amongst the crumbled rock and rubble. It was none other than the man with Bronze Magic, Sekke.

He was also bleeding badly and had not had any treatment of his injuries, but he was standing up, grimoire ready.

"He… he's fighting, and I'm stood here not being able to move…" Nebra felt frustrated.

"Fuhha! Fuh-ha, ha-fuh! I only stood up because I didn't know what else to do, I can't hide, or I'll be seen as weak again… but I am weak! There's nothing for me to do against someone, no, something like that". He wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead.

Nebra deadpanned "… of course…". She shook her head and looked around again. "H-hang on a minute. If we combine my magic with… yes okay, that might just work and then with the other guy…!" She tried to stand and made her way to her teammates.

Back with Gordon and Langris, they were continuing to fight back but also being pushed backwards due to the overwhelming strength of the devil they were facing up against.

"The Lord told us to wipe these humans out because they put a hole in their plans of taking over their Kingdom… I couldn't care less about the plan, but if it allows me to kill, I'm fine with that… This is dragging on a bit, so I guess I'll use this spell to take a breather".

Esprit jumped into the air and expended its mana outwards. There was a ball of light above everyone and it shined a luminous purple light. Suddenly, rays of the mana started to spread all around and the ground started to rumble and vibrate with violence.

"Wh-what is going on?" Gordon spoke in a worried tone.

"Ghost Magic: Undead Army". Esprit shouted out and as he did, a few figures appeared from the cracks in the ground. They were all mirror versions of Esprit and they had risen up from the ground and all started to charge at the Knights.

"More of the devils?!" Langris shouted, clearly getting more angrier as the time went on due to them not making headway with defeating the devil.

"Poison Curse Magic: Aufwachen Dachs!" Gordon summoned his spell once more and a herd of curse-carrying dogs hounded the enemies. "I assume they're only clones of that devil, so I'm hoping they're not as strong as the original".

"That's actually a smart idea… Black Bulls, huh?" Langris thought to himself.

"A simple spell will not work against my spell… though they are clones of myself, they actually are inhabited by the cursed souls that wonder the Underworld… and they're out for revenge". Esprit licked his lips.

Suddenly, one of the poison dogs exploded and also took an Esprit clone with it.

"Y-Yes!" Gordon pumped the air and Langris looked bewildered.

"That actually worked?" Langris thought, clearly surprised with the outcome. "Those clones aren't as tough as the original… once we take them out, we can go for the original" the Vice-Captain said to the mage beside him.

Esprit, upon witnessing what had happened, stood up from its rest. "Wh-what… the man can use Curse Magic as an addition to his Poison… I should've known. Since my spell uses cursed souls, his Curse Magic nullifies them. Shit…".

Gordon and Langris continued with their combo play and started to wipe the clones out, one-by-one. They all got destroyed by the Poison Curse Magic, or the Spatial Magic. Regardless, it was looking positive for them.

Until suddenly…

Esprit himself appeared right in front and between the two mages that he was up against. Without even a second passing, the purple-coloured devil grabbed Gordon by the robe and threw him far away from Langris. "That should take care of the problem. It appears I underestimated these humans". He made himself invisible once more and escaped Langris's range.

Whilst the devil threw Gordon, Langris was shocked at what happened. "Did the bastard use that invisible spell he used at the start? How quick!" He then immediately looked at the hurling Gordon who was about to hit a spiked rock behind him that had formed in one of the lavafalls. "N-no… No!"

Upon instinct, Langris swiped his right arm in Gordon's direction. He wasn't even thinking about what he was doing, he was just trying to reach out to him even though it was useless. In the split-second he moved his arm, he thought "wh-why did I do that… my own Spatial Magic is going to kill Gordon… my brother's friend. Tsk!" he cursed at himself. However, without realising or paying attention, his grimoire had started to glow a few short seconds ago, indicating that a new spell was being written.

As Langris's arm swiped forwards, instead of removing Gordon from existence, he actually removed the space in between the Poison mage and himself causing the Black Bull to warp back to where Langris was stood.

"Huh?" Is all Langris could manage to say out of his mouth as the sheer shock of what just happened took a toll on him. Without thinking, he hugged the Poison mage but then immediately retracted himself from the embrace.

"I did not mean that. I apologise… but I'm glad you're safe". He fixed his robe and looked away.

"You just s-saved me… Vice-Captain Langris, you really are someone that's worth a lot. You are my friend". Gordon teared up and unknown to him, Langris had smiled genuinely at what he had just said.

In an opposed feeling, Esprit had saw what just happened and grew angrier. "Th-these humans! Screw this, I'll get them myself!" He charged at the two.

Also, during this, Nebra had saw what happened and commented on the fact. "A new spell from Langris… this could definitely work. After I spoke with him too… we could do this!" She walked up to the Black Bull and Golden Dawn member.

The three had a mini exchange but Nebra outlined her plan quickly and assertively to the other two mages and they agreed. Though, they really had no choice to disagree due to the situation at hand.

Esprit charged but was wary of the distance between himself and the three mages he was up against. The devil was summoning an array of Spirit Saber attacks and Undead Blasts. However, Langris was doing his best to counter them with all of his strength.

"Not yet… let him get his guard down a bit and we'll start" Nebra whispered.

Minutes passed of attacking and defending and Esprit managed to slip up once by getting a yard too close to the three mages and that is when Nebra told them to commence their plan.

"Langris, now!" She shouted

"Yeah, yeah… Spatial Magic: Space Erasure!" He swiped his arm in the same way he did when he saved Gordon and, so, instead of swiping at the devil, as he knew he could just evade the attack, he removed the space from in between the pair and caused the devil to warp right in front of the three mages.

"Wh-what?!" He shouted and tried to run back, although this move was countered as well.

"Now, Sekke!" The royal shouted.

FLASHBACK START

As Esprit summoned his Undead Army attack that caused clones of himself to emerge from the ground, and as that happened…

"Oi you. Sekke, was it? I need you to do something for me and we could win this battle". She ordered.

"M-me? I'm only a commoner, what could I do to beat a devil, fuhha?!" He worriedly spoke.

"It doesn't matter about your status; your magic is useful for this plan to work. I need you to use that one attack you did earlier against Langris, but only when I call out to you".

"N-no, I can't!"

"You can hide as far back as you want, but make sure you're in range of us, okay? I'm royalty, and you will listen and partake in this plan". She stood tall above the Bronze mage.

FLASHBACK OVER

"Bronze Binding Magic: Chain Link! Fuhha". The Bronze mage suddenly appeared and used his magic to form four separate shackles that attached themselves to the arms and legs of the Ghost magic devil. "The chains had formed from within the ground and shot upwards, suspending Esprit mid-battle.

"Thanks, Fuhha". She spoke.

"The name's Sekke, fuhha!" He shouted.

"Okay. Thank you, Sekke fuhha". She then turned around to Gordon to begin the final attack.

"Th-these chains… I can break them easily!" Esprit thought as he started to wriggle out from the restraints.

"Not so fast! Gordon let's go".

The two mages started summoning their own spells. The royal started to form a deep mist that spread across the environment, whilst Gordon formed a poisonous ball and fired it into the mist.

"Compound Magic: Poisonous Mist!" They did a team spell towards Esprit. The poison ball dispersed into the wandering mist that had surrounded and engulfed the devil. The mist also managed to skewer the devil's vision so that it couldn't escape the Bronze shackles that were tied to it.

"N-no!" He shouted.

The Poisonous Mist started to work and was beginning to suffocate the devil as it entered its throat. Not only that, but the mist entered from every crevice possible. From the eyes, ears, and mouth, the Compound Magic attack had started to do what it was intended for.

Esprit had started to suffocate, and it threw up black blood in the process. The chains that were tied to it had become such a problem that the devil had started to scratch at its own arms to get out of the bindings. His arms were breaking apart due to the ferocity of how he was gnawing and scratching them. In his suffering and urgency, he broke down and gave up.

"We… we did it!" The three mages gathered and jumped in unison. They all high-fived but quickly stopped and walked forward to the devil who had broken down.

Langris stepped forward and ordered the devil to talk. "Tell us what you know".

"He… hehe… hehehehe! He has a bone to pick with all of you humans…". The devil chuckled to himself.

"He? You've been calling someone a 'Lord' and now you say 'he'?" Nebra asked.

"Hmph. "Our Lord is different from 'he' but I won't tell you more. Just kill me".

"Are there any more of you here?" Gordon also asked, worried about his friends.

"Well of course. Do you think we didn't have a plan? If I fail, then the others will succeed! Of course, they're probably in battle now… do you think you can save them? You three are nothing but a bunch of-"

Esprit was cut off, or rather cut in half. Langris had activated his Spatial Magic and swiped the Devil in two and its body faded away.

"Sorry guys. We need to go and not waste our time". Langris ordered and the other two agreed.

They ran towards where Asta and the others were.

NOTES:

Well, we got an unlikely team up with Gordon, Langris, Nebra and of course Sekke.

What do you think about this unusual set up? I had the original three as a team up because of the fact that they were together when they first arrived in the Underworld, but Sekke is also there because… well it's Sekke.

I wonder what happened with Asta's group? Maybe they won, maybe they lost…