Chapter 46: Preparation For The Arrival

Disclaimer:

Hi guys! I left the last chapter on a sort of cliff-hanger, I guess I could say :P. We'll get back to them, but I do want development for the other main characters too! Don't worry, I've got big plans.

The bright yellow sun rose in the Clover Kingdom. Its rays shining down on the land, making the trees and plant leaves glisten whilst they wave from the cool breeze running through. A new day had begun in the Kingdom and all seemed to be well.

In Hage Village, everything seemed very peaceful. The birds flew throughout the bright blue skies as the squirrels skipped from tree to tree on the ground. All of the animals were carrying on as normal until a clash of loud sounds and shouting from near the Demon Skull reverberated throughout the entire area.

"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Roar!" The familiar silver-haired royal shouted as she pointed her wand towards her opponent. The huge blue Sea Dragon forming from the tip and firing out at a high speed to attack.

Her opponent was ready for the incoming attack, however. He quickly flicked through his grimoire and summoned a spell to cause the opponent spell to be redundant. "Wind Creation Magic: Wind Blade Shower!" The powerful and sharp blade attack met the royal's attack head on, dissipating it in the process. Once the attack died down, he looked towards his opponent with a smirk.

"Don't tell me that's all you have, Noelle". He looked towards her. Although he was teasing her with the smirk, much like he used to do with Asta, Noelle did not take it in a friendly manner.

"Hmph, I was just stretching my muscles… I'll start being serious now so don't moan if you get injured!" The Water mage flicked her left ponytail towards the back, glaring towards the Wind mage she was facing off against.

"Like you'd ever do anything against me" Yuno deadpanned, annoying Noelle further.

"Water Creation Magic: Valkyrie Armour!" Noelle summoned one of her most powerful creation spells. She surrounded her body and enveloped it with a dress made of concentrated and dense mana, allowing her to soar through the sky at a high velocity. "So, Yuno… How'd you like that?" She smirked closing in on the Wind Magic user.

"Oh, I don't know… let me get serious too. Spirit Assimilation: Spirit Dive!" Yuno took in Bell's power and coated his whole body with the Spirit's power. A bright green wing formed on the left side of his body with a green half-crown on top of his head. His left arm also glowed a bright green with a circle of connected crosses surrounding his wrist. He pointed it forwards and shouted, "Wind Spirit Creation Magic: Spirit of Zephyr!" A green sword made out of Bell's energy and mana formed and was ready for Noelle's impact.

"Water Creation Magic: Aqua Lance!" The youngest Silva made the lance in her right arm rotate quickly making it more dangerous than before. She lept towards Yuno and the two's spell clashed with each other and cancelled them. The two, after clashing, flew backwards.

"Wind Spirit Magic: Spirit Storm!" Yuno summoned energy into his left palm and then fired the huge green beam of pure energy towards the opposing mage.

Noelle, however, tried to block it with a defence spell. "Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Nest!" The Silva tried to block Yuno's incoming attack as best as she could with her spell. "This is so… tough…!" she tried to hold on, but the Nest started to come undone with the force of Spirit Storm hammering away on the outside. Eventually, it broke into pieces and evaporated away, causing Noelle to undo her Valkyrie transformation and fly backwards into the ground.

Yuno undid his Spirit Dive and walked over to give the Black Bull a hand. He reached his hand out and she took it, standing up with the Wind mage's help.

"You're strong, I'll give you that. Just not as much as me". Yuno smiled, more in a sarcastic way but still meant to be friendly.

Noelle, now brushing off the dirt and dust that was on her clothes admitted defeat. "Next time, you won't get the best of me" turning her head away and folding her arms.

Unknown to them both, there was a certain excited little kid watching them from the bushes and using sticks to hide his face from their eyes. His knee twitching from excitement and breathing heavily.

"Woah, I can't believe I got to see cool magic like that!" He thought to himself with stars in his eyes and you could almost see him drooling. "Hmm, this gives me an idea… it's about time anyway…". The kid walked off, skipping, and humming to himself away into the distance.

The afternoon was nearly over. Yuno and Noelle had been training for a long time as they had been for a while now. They took a little rest before heading back to where the rest of their comrades and Clover Citizens were.

As they were walking back…

"I really miss them". Noelle said, whilst yawning looking towards Hage Village. The royal, obviously, had her mind set on when Asta, Mimosa and the others would surely return from the Underworld. Though she, and the rest of the people in the Overworld, did not know where the Spatial Magic took them.

Yuno, with his arms crossed behind his head "Can't believe it's already been three months since the attack…". He replied with a small frown, though he had a different outlook to the situation now compared to how he was before.

Bell fluttered out in front of them and turned to the two, screaming in her usual way. "Hmph! Even though I'm not close with that shrimp, even I know he'll come back with the others!" she glided towards Yuno's cheek and started to pull on it. "Then maybe you and I can go on a date?" she asked closing in on the Wind mage, eager to kiss him.

Yuno flicked her away, not giving her the time of day. Though, he did crack a smile after hearing the Spirit's words of positivity.

Elsewhere, in the snowy region of the Spade Kingdom, stood a lone and dark figure. He was walking, or rather, floating towards the start of the strong magic region that separated the four kingdoms.

"Ah, this will be a pain. Not like I can use 'his' devil who has Spatial Magic to cross this area. Looks like it will be a while before I make my way over". The man with a golden crown spoke to himself, or so it would seem like. He kept on mentioning the name 'Lucifero' as he spoke…

The scene changed back to the Clover Kingdom, specifically Hage Village in the Forsaken Realm. Although, now, you wouldn't even recognise the village to be how it was before. Through the diligent work of the Clover mages as well as help from the remaining citizens, the area had transformed and advanced from the quaint and poor town it used to be.

Although the layout and area was largely the same, many more structures and agriculture were made available for people to use and work with. The schools had excelled through Captain Mereleona Vermillion's and Captain Rill Boismortier's teachings. They extended the building to be larger too.

The farmlands grew in size, tenfold. Captain Charlotte Roselei's handy work, coupled together with the already hard-working farmers increased their trade profit and overall harvest they had done within three months, compared to a whole year's worth beforehand. With the added profit, they were able to spend more money on soil, tools, and whatnot regarding farming.

The amount of Magic Knights had also increased in number, though it was more because of the lack of them than actually people working for the title. Even so, Captain Jack the Ripper's and Captain Kaiser Granvorka's work with shaping the young teens in and around Hage was something to commend. With more Magic Knights ready to go, their knightly duties could resume with helping around the Common Realm too. Before, during the aftermath of the Spade attack, Magic Knights could not do their jobs as much because of the sheer lack of numbers they had.

Captain Dorothy Unsworth, however, spent the majority of her time sleeping and dozing around. The only time she was really called upon was when there were injuries that needed her tending to. Kirsch Vermillion, the Coral Peacock Vice-Captain was busy doing the actual 'work' side of his Captain's job, although he didn't mind at all as he was allowed to keep on dancing and twirling around.

Captain Nozel Silva, however, was busy with setting something up with Julius, the Wizard King. It was something that would be welcomed wholeheartedly by the majority of the population around them. It was also something that would be very important moving forward.

"Wizard King, Sir. Do you not think that hosting something like this would be slightly insensitive for those who have lost their families and friends?" Nozel asked, confused at what the reasoning behind Julius' plans were.

"Ah, Nozel. I don't think it's insensitive at all! In fact, it's quite the opposite. The people need a way to escape from reality. They have done very well so far, reshaping and changing their ways since the incident. I feel they need a break from it and to indulge in something fun. We all have lost many people, but we have to move forward… and there is also something I want to see and decide upon". Julius smiled whilst speaking to the royal Captain.

"Very well… then let us make the announcement". Nozel bowed as the two, as well as Marx left the room.

Although there were frustrating times with not knowing the fate of the others, the Magic Knights, as well as the majority of the other citizens, had the same general thought that the people who got transported by the Spatial Magic would eventually return. Even if it had been months since they last saw them, they had the utmost belief in their abilities.

The sun had begun to set in the Clover Kingdom and many torches and lanterns were lit as the Wizard King called for a meeting with the Magic Knights as well as the Clover citizens. They all gathered in a huge group and looked towards Julius, Nozel, and Marx who were standing on a stage ready to address them. (Julius was in adult mode, courtesy of Grey).

In a clearing, just outside of the Hage Village town square, Julius started to speak:

"Good evening, everyone. I hope you are well. First of all, I would like to thank you all for how you have acted with and towards everyone since the incident three months ago. You are the reason why we can move forward, and so again, I thank you". The Wizard King applauded the audience and clapped his hands, smiling towards them.

There were a few murmurs in the crowd, but they were all positive and they couldn't quite believe what they were hearing.

"Woah, the Wizard King really is special".

"I wish the King was like this".

"Speaking about the King, where is he? I haven't seen him in a while".

"Who? Oh, the King. I'm sure he's around somewhere".

Julius carried on with the announcement. "To thank you all for the wonderful display of cooperation, it has been decided that we will reward you! This reward will involve most of the Magic Knights here and it will be a spectacle for all of you. Yes, to bring some excitement and a way to escape from the troubles you may still be facing… we are holding a small tournament where the Magic Knights will be competing against each other!" As the Wizard King raised his right arm in excitement, he was met with silence…

Or so he thought, after a second of utter silence, there was a complete chaos of noise erupting from the group of people. Each and every one of them were jumping for joy, maybe not Yuno as he's the certified 'cool' dude, but the rest were visibly showing their joy.

"A tournament… Looks like I'll win this one too". Yuno smirked with his eyes closed, seemingly calm and relaxed about the revelation, although he was genuinely excited to showcase and improve upon his skills.

"Maybe then we can go on a date, actually?" Bell floated towards the Golden Dawn member's cheek but was ignored, much to her dismay.

Noelle was with Vanessa, both jumping for joy and smiling a lot. "Wow, this is going to be amazing! Maybe when Asta comes back, he'll be impressed with me and then I can confess and then-" she stopped herself as she was getting way too excited and flustered. Vanessa was, as usual, her drunk self but she was happy, nonetheless.

Julius turned towards Nozel who was standing next to him and gave him a smile and thumbs up to show this plan was, in fact, the right move in order to improve the morale. The Silver Eagles Captain simply smiled and turned to face the audience. Marx, however, was sweating profusely due to the planning this whole event will take.

"I see you like the idea, everyone!" Julius laughed and carried on with the plans. "It will only be a 2v2 battle, the same way with the crystal back at the Royal Knights exam. This time, though, there will be an audience extended to you… the Clover citizens who we feel deserve this event". He finished.

After a few more details clearing questions up, the Wizard King left and everyone dispersed from each other, heading away back to their homes.

Yuno was on his own as he walked back towards the Church. He was smiling to himself whilst thinking about Asta. "Asta… you better come back quickly or I'm going to surpass you".

NOTES:

WE ARE BACK with Yuno and the others! Finally, it's been 15 chapters and also three months! Time is flying by…

More Spade Kingdom stuff! I debated on whether or not to add them for a while, but I feel like since I did add Vanica, I should really add the other two.

Now, a mini tournament arc! I'm going to have some fun with these battles and maybe a surprise at the end (could be a good surprise, could be a bad surprise) :P

Slowly, but surely… we are working towards Asta and the others returning!