Chapter 48: Intense! Yuno vs Kirsch!

Disclaimer:

Hi again guys… late again but uni work does come first. I finally had free time because of Spring Break so I thought I'd do some writing . Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

"Wind Creation Magic: Sharp Blade Slash!" Yuno summoned a plethora of sharp blades made completely out of his wind and sent them forward towards the Coral Peacock's Vice-Captain. One by one, the blades left the Wind mage's immediate area and started to strike near the royal.

"Cherry Blossom Magic: Beautiful Blossoming Petals!" The royal responded in a typical Kirsch-like fashion. He whipped up a storm with tons of pink and purple petals that rose up from the ground and somewhat became a shield for him, protecting him from the Yuno's onslaught.

"You're definitely good at what you do even if you're a bit odd", Yuno spoke to his opponent.

"Well, I am a royal of the great House Vermillion… even if we don't exactly have a 'House' anymore… but you get my point! You're not so bad yourself", Kirsch responded, complimenting his opponent as well.

The two, even though their match only just started, were stuck in a stalemate for a while. Yuno's wind blades continuously attacking whilst Kirsch's petals kept up their guard.

"This Yuno guy… he's gotten even more powerful since the Royal Knights Exam. His magic has gotten to be even more beautiful than it was. I guess it is my time to show him how far I have come too! Cherry Blossom Magic: Obscuring Field of Petals… plus My Beautiful Clones!"

As soon as Yuno heard which magic spell the Vermillion decided on using, he responded with a groan. "Damn it. This spell is quite annoying…".

As Kirsch's Beautiful Blossoming Petals spell subsided, it was replaced with a field of pink and purple petals. They filled the entire area and even Yuno's legs were beginning to submerge within the mass amount of petals there were. Once the entire area was filled, Kirsch Vermillion popped up in front of Yuno and smiled as he started to twirl.

"Hmph, are you mocking me? Wind Magic: Towering Tornado! That won't surprise m-!" As Yuno summoned his powerful spell to knock away the dancing royal but it looked like it was not the real Kirsch, but a clone instead. "Gah… his magic is playing with my senses".

One by one, clone after clone appeared and the Vermillion's face was plastered everywhere. Yuno's eyes darted around and saw one of the duplicates in front of him, to the right and left, behind him, above him, and everywhere else. Soon enough, there was not a trace of open space as all of Kirsch's clones were everywhere.

Yuno used as many of his base spells as possible to get rid of the clones, as well as the petal field, but it seemed to be futile.

As the Wind mage struggled, the captains and the crowd watched on.

"The wonder boy seems to be struggling, guess he's all talk", Mereleona returned from being restrained by Jack and Kaiser. One look behind her showed that the Praying Mantis and the Kingdom's Shield, as they're known as, were both left in a heap having seemingly been met with a Callidus Brachium fist.

"Oh, Mereleona, it doesn't seem like you'll play nicely… but I guess that can't be helped", Julius responded, smiling nervously at what just went on with three of his Magic Knight captains.

Nozel Silva pitched in this time. "You say he is all talk, but I don't see him receiving help from outside of the battlefield like a certain someone did. Maybe that Flame Mage was all talk as well?" The Silver Eagle teased, or rather annoyed, the Lioness with how her face turned from a cocky smile to an angered frown.

"Do you want to repeat that, Silver Bangs?" Flame started to engulf the woman's fist, representing her anger.

"Hmph", is all that Nozel replied with.

Just behind them and next to the Wizard King stood Marx who was taking in what just happened. "Nozel seems to be thinking about something or else he wouldn't have lashed out like that… is it, perhaps…?"

As these questionable interactions were going on in front of him, Julius thought about something important besides this mini tournament.

FLASHBACK START:

"You were heavily injured back during the attack from the Spade Kingdom, weren't you Damnatio?" Julius spoke to the man who was sitting upright in his bed.

The royal was bedridden for a month or so and had to recover from the invasion on the Royal Capital. The man, though not on the front lines of the battle, still had a lot to do within the internal affairs of evacuating and gathering a lot of the people who were trapped.

"Unfortunately, I was not that useful during the fight. We suffered many injuries and many deaths, my uncle included as well as Captain Vangeance. Maybe it is some form of karma? I was ruthless on that devil-possessed boy and now the devils from the Spade Kingdom do this to us…", Damnatio spoke. It was clear to see that he was blaming himself for a lot of what happened.

Upon hearing Vangeance's name again, Julius tensed up. The two were very closes even after the Elf incident. "Look. We cannot change the past, but we can influence the future. Once your injuries are healed, I have a job for you. Will you be up to the task?"

Damnatio thought for a few seconds. He thought about his failure as a royal and as someone who is supposed to protect the Kingdom. "Fine. I will comply".

FLASHBACK END:

"I wonder how he's doing on his task?" The Time mage thought.

On to the side of the battlefield, the rest of the crowd were stood eyeing up the match. A lot of them were surprised at some of the results that happened. Many thought that Magna would lose immediately because of him being a peasant, and many thought that Leopold would win because of him being a royal. It was safe to say that this tournament started off with a blast of excitement.

"Looks like your friend seems to be in a pickle, Water Queen", Zora spoke towards Noelle who was busy looking and analysing the battle along with the other Black Bulls.

"Best friend? No, we just bonded and trained with each other over these past few months ", the Water mage responded, still engrossed in the battle.

Vanessa then nudged the Black Bull as she drank. "Noelle, honey. That's what friend's do… hic", the Thread mage replied as best she could before she started to drool everywhere.

"Hmph. I g-guess we are f-friends! But anyway, I want to study this battle. My team is up after whoever wins this, and I want to know if I can take any of these techniques for myself".

"M-maybe we should all pay at-attention to the b-battle! After M-Magna did such a g-good job with his fight… we sh-should all follow!" Grey spoke out, much to the others' surprise. The Transformation mage had also grown in confidence through the time they had in the new environment.

As they spoke about the battle in front of them, suddenly something was flung at them from where they were facing. A gust of wind blew first and then a very familiar face appeared to be launched towards them.

"K-K-Kirsch?! Wh-what?" Noelle shouted in shock. The person that was flung at them with a barrage of powerful winds was none other than her Vermillion cousin himself. Or so it seemed like.

"No, l-look closely! He's fading away!" Grey added.

"Yeah, that wasn't actually him if you look properly", Gauche spoke up after looking up from his Marie picture. Even though Gauche and Marie were able to meet up due to the circumstance, Sister Theresa still made it so the two meeting up was still controlled.

"Then what was it?" Noelle pondered but upon looking at the battlefield again, she saw what was happening. "It's Yuno… using his wind to blast the clones away".

Back on the battlefield, it looked like that Yuno had enough of struggling. He sent out Towering Tornado after Towering Tornado and therefore propelled a Kirsch clone after clone, but it just looked like he wasn't giving up.

"Okay, my base spells aren't working in this situation, so I guess I'll try this", Yuno thought to himself. He closed his eyes and breathed calmly, which was ironic as the situation itself wasn't calming at all. Yet, he continued.

"He's closing his eyes? Is he giving up? Well, I guess this is my chance to get the final hit! Cherry Blossom Magic: Raining Storm of Petals!" Kirsch, along with his clones all fired simultaneous beams of pink and purple petals towards the tall mage in the middle of the field.

"I can't use Bell just yet… but I'll just have to do this!" Yuno opened his eyes and smiled slightly. "Mana Zone… Wind Magic: Rustling Battlefield Tornadoes!" Within just a few seconds, a multitude of powerful tornadoes formed all around the battlefield. With that, the clones of Kirsch all dispersed as well as the winds intermingled with them.

"M-My clones! Oh, my you're strong… and your magic is even more beautiful than before!" The Vermillion responded to the vast mana that Yuno was controlling.

Yuno then started to float as he used his wind to propel himself upwards. "The real fight starts now", he smiled. His orange eyes looked towards his opponent and his opponent's eyes met him.

"Let's go all out!" They spoke in unison.

"Well, that's different from what he had been practicing", Noelle commented on Yuno's new spell.

"Weren't you training with him this whole time?" Gauche responded, now engrossed in the battle, rather than the picture of Marie.

"Yeah, but he was trying some things out with that annoying Spirit! This is completely new to me", the Water mage responded.

Upon looking back at the battlefield, the powerful winds had removed all of Kirsch's clones and all that remained was Yuno one side, floating with his wind encircling him, and Kirsch on the other side, floating with his petals propping him up.

"Mana Zone… Wind Creation Magic: Sharp Wind Discs!" In the surrounding area, large discs condensed from the wind all around and flew at high speeds towards the royal Vermillion.

"You're not the only one who was training… Mana Zone… Cherry Blossom Magic: Magic Petal Destruction!" The petals that had fallen to the floor before had started to float once more. They all sharpened and pointed towards the Wind mage who was opposite. With a swipe of his arm, Kirsch sent them flying towards Yuno.

The Golden Dawn mage dodged and turned as best as he could with his wind but then decided he had to use another move. "Mana Zone… Storm Double!" Two huge tornadoes formed right in front of him as a protective barrier against the onslaught of attacks from Kirsch. The revolving motion of the tornadoes sliced the petals in half, and they fell to the floor once more.

"You're good!" Both Kirsch and Yuno thought about their opponent.

"If I can't defeat him head on, then I'll have to destroy the crystal he has behind him. Obviously, that will be hard but maybe I can get a sneak attack in…", Kirsch thought to himself.

Unsurprisingly, Yuno didn't have the same thought at all about the situation. He would hate to admit it, but he was a lot like Asta when it came to proving himself on the battlefield. He didn't want to admit to not being able to defeat his opponent so instead he added the pressure and force behind his attacks.

"I'd really like to use Bell about now, but I can't right now… Mana Zone: Wind God's Pressure! I guess I'll use the most recent spell I've unlocked with my Mana Zone…", Yuno said to himself. Though it took a lot out of him, this was the strongest spell he had within his Mana Zone, excluding his Spirit Dive form spells.

As Yuno summoned his spell, the force around Kirsch started to vibrate and made him stop in his tracks. He had begun to move forward to get a good look at Yuno's crystal but now he was stuck in place.

"Wh-what?! How is this possible? It's definitely Wind Magic but it feels as heavy as a mountain!" Kirsch struggled to break free. It was as if someone was holding Kirsch down as hard as they could with a great force and heavy pressure.

Yuno's move had utilised his vast Mana Zone use and added weight to the air and wind that surrounded the battlefield. The wind within Yuno's Mana Zone had began to trap Kirsch under with excessive force. The royal turned and struggled but this only added to Yuno's plan as he had found an opening. Kirsch was also guarding a crystal and he had left his flank wide open.

"N-No… this is bad!" The royal thought. However, his thinking was useless and Yuno closed in on the crystal. The Wind God's Pressure spell had no effect on Yuno, and he simply flew through the air.

"Wind Magic: Tornado Fang!" With a simple spell, the Wind mage managed to break the crystal that Kirsch protected so well. It was at the very last moment where his victory had slipped away from him and he realised that himself when he was rendered immobile.

"The match is now over. Team A wins! Both teams please leave the battlefield and let Team C and Team D enter!" The announcer spoke loudly.

Yuno relaxed his Mana Zone and walked up to Kirsch who was still on the floor. With a soft and warm smile, he extended his hand forward towards the royal and helped him stand up.

"I hope I didn't go too rough on you", the Golden Dawn member smirked.

"Hmph. I never knew you got this powerful… it is really beautiful", the Coral Peacock Vice-Captain responded in turn, brushing his clothes off, and fixing his hair.

In the distance, Letoile came running and saw the result of the battle. "Damn it… I won my battle and came running to see if you needed any help, but I guess you were fine. Beating a Vice-Captain? Nice job, Yuno!"

"It definitely wasn't easy at all. I need to get stronger, but this is good progress. Do you have an idea where Magna is?" Yuno asked.

"I'm not sure but I heard a lot of cheers from the other Black Bulls so I'm thinking he's fine", the Compass mage smiled.

After the exchange of words, the mages left the battlefield. The ones who were unconscious like Magna, Fragil and Leopold were taken by Recovery mages and the battlefield was reshuffled once more.

"The next match will now begin. Team C vs Team D! Please make your way towards the battlefield!

"Noelle, that's you! Hic…", Vanessa cheered.

"G-go show them what you've got!" Grey shouted.

"You better show them the Black Bulls are still powerful even when we're missing some members!" Gauche spoke up.

"H-hey guys, it isn't just me from the Black Bulls you know", Noelle turned her face to one of her teammates that will be on the battlefield with her.

"Tsk. Yeah, yeah. I don't really care for all of that hyping up. Just look and see what we can do". The other teammate was Zora Ideale, the masked mage.

"Well, we weren't going to hype you up anyway but since you mentioned it… does th-that mean you actually do want some cheers?" Vanessa wrapped her arm around the Trap Magic user.

"Hmph. Let me go you drunkard…", Zora giggled. "Where is our last member…?" He looked around and then found him down onto the battlefield already.

"Him?"

"Ugh… yes".

Noelle and Zora made their way down to the ground and walked up to their third and last teammate. He slowly turned his head towards them but responded in a way that was completely abnormal for him. He was slightly respectful.

"Hello there, let's make sure you don't get in m- let's make sure we win this…", the Sand mage spoke.

"We sure will win this!" Noelle pumped herself up.

"Will we really be fine?" Zora thought as he scratched his neck.

The three got ready in their battle stances. The crystal behind them and they looked onward towards the direction of their opponents.

"Let's go!"

"Team C vs Team D… Commence!"

NOTES:

I wanted Yuno to standout here simply because he's one of my favourite characters. Although I think he can be a bit more… 'interesting' I think his demeanour is still interesting and the way he handles things. Also, it's because it's his turn to shine since we got 15 chapters of an Asta focus :P

This chapter I wanted him to be without his Spirit Magic powers. A lot of the fandom think Yuno is only good because of Bell which I think is wrong. I just wanted to highlight that fact this chapter with him only using his own magic. There's also another reason why I didn't use Bell but that's something entirely different… :P

I'm introducing Damnatio here because he's going to be important soon enough. I did want to introduce him wayyyyy earlier, but everything got so intense within the chapters and I simply forgot t.

There's also the impending danger of a certain Gravity Magic user coming as you noticed from last chapter… what will happen? xD