Welcome to the next chapter.
Darth Simp; Thanks very much! We'll be discovering a little bit more in this arc about Venta's history and connection to certain characters. I'm glad you like that~ Yeah, it's gonna be quite a fun fight to see~ Yeah, that could be it with Mariella, we'll be seeing more of her pretty soon~
wellingtonlucas282; Thanks!
ShadowUzumaki55; Glad you liked it! Yeah, they managed to have a small date between them. It seems that he does yeah, what connections we'll soon be seeing~ We'll see how they react pretty soon~
Silver crow; Maybe he is yeah. We'll see how long it lasts. Yeah, seems they have great respect for him. He will do yeah with Asta. Klaus seems to have come around to Venta. That's Charmy for you. He encouraged them, believing that they can do it. Maybe he did pick up Sylph. Noelle has come a good long way. Yeah, Venta doesn't mind if people know of his connections with the Diamond Kingdom. Asta surely did. Yeah, Yami and Karna had a nice moment together. Luck's super eager~ Mariella seems to be yeah. Lotus could do yeah. Moris seems to be a bigger player than originally shown. Not many people know what his grimoire looks like. The Witch Queen could do. We'll see how it goes for that arc. I'm sure Nebra would be excited about it. Thanks for the harem suggestions. We'll see how it eneds with Mariella. His accomplishments will be shown. Nebra and Sol will do their best. We'll get more information shown as the story goes on about Venta.
Noelle fan; Yeah, we'll be seeing the full extent of his connections with the Diamond Kingdom pretty soon. Yeah, Noelle's doing pretty well. We'll be getting the past of Mariella and Venta pretty soon. Thanks for the harem suggestions!
djinn; It seems so yeah. Yeah, we'll see how this goes soon~
Fana is waifu; You never know, maybe he'll get such a grimoire or already has it.
makotoxvalerie; Thanks. Yeah, he could be. Maybe it does yeah. Maybe it could be like that with Venta. The history with his Devil is a spoiler. The Devils personality is something we'll explore in the future. Venta's got quite the stamina. Yeah, she could be quite like that. That would be a nice thing for Venta to have with his Devil, thanks for the suggestions.
Guest 1; Yeah, he could be~ Yeah, they'd be quite like that once finding out. I could see Mariella doing something like that.
Guest 2; Thanks for the attack ideas!
Guest 3; Maybe he did yeah, he and Yami have some history together.
Guest 4; Mariella's quite conflicted right now, with everything that's going on. The Spatial Mage has appeared in the anime, not the manga so far. We'll be getting some answers to those questions in the near future. Klaus is yeah, he's gone through quite a change since the last time he was shown. Mariella could yeah. Thanks very much, you as well, and yeah, taking breaks is important. Thanks for the harem suggestions. I'll probably rewrite that one in the future.
Andrew123456; I don't know, it will be interesting to see what happens next.
Guest 5; Yeah, could do. Maybe it is yeah. That would be cool for his grimoire. They could fuse yeah.
Guest 6; I could see Mariella being quite like that yeah. That would be a nice Demon Slayer fic to do, thanks for the suggestions!
Guest 7; In time probably. Yeah the girls and Venta's relationships are progressing forward as the story goes on. Thanks for the harem suggestions.
helios darkus; That looks to be quite an interesting weapon, with some interesting capabilities. Thanks for the suggestion. I've checked the image, and looks pretty awesome.
Guest 8; Yeah, I can certainly understand such things like that, it would make them feel like that.
With those reviews out of the way, it's time to start the chapter!
The Diamond Mage's
Having witnessed Noelle and Mimosa vanish before their eyes, Asta worked herself up into a frenzy, pounding onto the ground profusely while Luck kept up his perpetual smile, something that Klaus noted to be a bit odd, but at the same time, deep inside Luck wondered what was going on and how he should approach such a situation.
Nero stayed high in the air, and watched carefully. She believed in Venta, so whatever was going to happen, she knew that he'd have ideas on what to do next. Her role right now was to make sure that these people stayed alive, and didn't get dragged into things that could cause them problems.
Thankfully, she could sense where the others were right now, and could feel Venta a good few feet below them.
Yuno on the other hand sensed the presence of a new Mage, so she turned to see the Spatial Mage walking closer. As he did, from his grimoire that was glowing a blood red colour, the pages flipped, and from his surroundings, red creatures began to form with bladed weapons.
"Who are you?"
Yuno demands, but the Spatial Mage seems to be blasé about the situation before his eyes.
Asta and the others came to realize the presence, and she immediately took an aggressive step forward, aiming her blade forward, but the Spatial Mage simply waved his hand.
"There's no use, pointing that blade at me. I am not interested. But it should be appropriate for you to know the name of the man that is going to kill you. My name is Galleo, I shall be executing you and bringing Venta-sama back."
As he said it, several portals opened up around the Clover Kingdom Mage's.
One such portal opened up at the back area, and began releasing a near invisible smoke that was slowly spreading around the area.
"So he's the Spatial Mage from the Diamond Kingdom that attacked Nebra Silva from what I've read, those red creatures made of his Magic were mentioned."
Yuno murmured, Klaus nods.
"Tricky to deal with, we have to time our attacks, or he could turn them against us."
As Klaus says it, Luck notices from one, a Mage with flames shooting out came for him, so he dodges, and then shoots off a bolt of lightning through the portal, only for it to appear behind him, slamming into his body hard enough to send him flying across the room.
"Luck!"
Asta yells, as some Magic comes for her, so she turns her blade, and repels it right back with a swing of her sword, only for it to come back around from up above, Asta however sees this coming and swings her sword upwards, cleaving the spell in half, but the remains of the spell erupt around her, and detonate flames, which causes some burns to appear across her skin.
Yuno looks on, before she turns her hand to Galleo, and creates wind blades in the air, firing them off for him directly.
"Naive little girl."
But before they could get in close, Galleo creates a portal in the air, and forms it to appear behind Klaus at the same time, with the wind blades shooting inside…
Or that's what Galleo thought, as Yuno moved them with her hand mid flight, and caused them to go around the portal, and bombard the Spatial Mage, or they would have if Galleo didn't create some red soldiers to act as a defence, blocking the incoming attacks.
"He's good, and skilled. He is also reacting fast to our attacks. Curious, I heard the last time Venta-kun managed to beat him with a swift punch, his Mana feels like something is different..."
Yuno surmised, Klaus pushes up his glasses, and keenly looks on.
"Indeed, it's tricky since he's a Spatial Mage, we have to be careful or this could go in directions that wouldn't be good for us."
Yuno nods, wondering what Galleo's agenda truly was.
They couldn't understand, but soon it would become apparent as the room was filling with an ominous smoke, which was affecting the ground more and more without them realizing what was going on...
Coming face to face with the Ice Mage, both Mimosa and Noelle wondered what her next move was going to be. Her skills were something that made them both nervous, while Venta watched from above, able to conceal his presence, and watched to see what was going to happen between them next.
"Pierce and freeze with my blades."
The girl said, raising her hand to the sky, and formed several blades of ice. They all were in dagger form, fitting her assassin like persona that she was displaying at this moment in time, Noelle stood forward, and caused her wand to go out.
"Water Creation Magic, Sea Dragons Nest!"
Creating a large dome of water with whirlpools within that were rapidly spinning, Noelle protected both Mimosa and herself.
Venta watches as the ice daggers shoot forward. The whirlpools of the large water dome and as Noelle predicted, the whirlpools were crushing the ice before they could do any significant damage, or so she thought.
As the ice daggers pierced the water dome, more and more of it began to freeze. Even the whirlpools themselves were slowing down and the ice was causing the whirlpools to freeze, which shocked both Mimosa and Noelle.
"What? My spell, she's capable of freezing it!"
Noelle was stunned, while the Ice Mage launched herself forward, creating an ice dagger, and swung it for the ice dome that had been made from the water dome, cutting it cleanly down, and got in close to Noelle.
She let out a cry and aimed her wand for the Mage, but she flipped back as a water sphere was released. Slamming into the ground, the water sphere broke some of said ground, while Mimosa caused plants to appear around said Ice Mage, trying to bind her limbs.
"I've got her!"
Mimosa exclaims, but the Ice Mage merely unleashes a cold wave from her body as the plants wrap around her. The coldness of the wave of ice particles froze the plants, and made them brittle enough for the girl to shatter them, as she launched her ice dagger for Mimosa's body.
Venta went to intervene, when Noelle stepped up, and took out the ice dagger with a water sphere.
"Fighting together, yes I can tell you've been trained by Venta-sama."
"Why do you keep calling him that? What kind of connection do you have to Venta-kun anyway?"
Mimosa asks, with Noelle adding on.
"You mentioned that he was your hero, but what does that actually mean? How can he be your hero exactly?"
"Venta-sama's gentle words, carrying us through dark times. We shall take him back to our side. And also, refer to him as Venta-sama, it is only right to use such proper respect when speaking about Venta-sama."
Venta furrowed his brows, trying to work some thing's out regarding Mariella.
"Take him back to your side…?"
Noelle murmured, Mimosa shook her head.
"I don't understand what you mean, but we're Venta-kun's friends, his comrades! Why are you doing this?"
"Venta-sama is supposed to be with us, not with you. So prepare to sacrifice your life, and also refer to him as Venta-sama, show respect."
Venta watched on, and then stared at the young girl.
"Mariella-chan, these words are not your own. She's not the same girl that detested the way that the Diamond Kingdom have been operating until now. Does that Spatial Mage have something over you? Is that why you're doing this? Because I know you...this isn't what you'd want to do."
Venta stayed silent as Mariella stared with conviction that didn't look genuine to Venta.
He could only assume of what has been happening and if he was right, then he was pissed at Galleo.
Back with Asta and the others, all Clover Mage's stared hard at Galleo, wondering what would be best to fight against him. As they did, the smoke from the small portal was spreading more and more, with Klaus first beginning to feel something was wrong.
"What's this feeling inside of me? Suddenly, I feel weaker...this isn't right...is that Spatial Mage doing something?"
Klaus couldn't put his finger on it, but he definitely knew something wasn't right.
Since he was one man, Yuno pondered the idea of shooting Asta close, and cutting through the portals, allowing Klaus and Luck to get in some attacks.
Asta however, with the Spatial Portals around, brought up her sword, and began cutting through them, one after the other, they were turned into nothingness before Galleo's eyes.
Galleo looked mildly surprised on what was going on, raising a brow.
"That's interesting, you're able to cut through my portals as if they're not there. What Magic do you wield girl?"
Galleo said with intrigue, but Asta refused to answer, and shot her sword for him, only for Galleo to leap back into a portal.
As he did, he aimed his hand forward, a Magic Bullet appeared, a red one at that.
"Uggh!"
Because of the close range of the attack, Asta didn't have time to cut it down, and ended up having the bullet slam into her upper body, propelling her backwards, while Luck tried to leap through the portal at high speeds, but couldn't get through as the portal closed up.
The Spatial Mage then appeared on the other side of the area, nearby Yuno, and shot off a Magic Bullet for her as well, only for Yuno to cause a large wall of wind to deflect the attack, as Klaus summons some steel drills in the air, shooting them off towards his intended target.
"We're of Golden Dawn, we shall not be defeated by the likes of you!"
Klaus exclaims, but Galleo shakes his head.
"I cannot say that I do believe in you. In fact, if this is the best that you have got, then I wont have to worry. You're weak."
But like before, Galleo summoned several portals, and the drills went through them, appearing around Luck to try and kill him in an instant with all of the drills that were spinning around deadly, and rapidly.
Luck parried the attacks, save for one which was going to go towards his upper body, but Nero briefly transformed back into human mode, and sealed the drill in the air, long enough for Luck to avoid it, then she shifted back to bird mode before anyone could suspect what was going on.
The four fighting the Spatial Mage were astounded that he was fighting all four of them at the same time, showing his level of skill. Though Yuno suspected that something more was at play here, that something about Galleo was different than the information they had received.
Nero as well was astonished, she didn't remember him being this good when he fought Venta for that brief moment. She knew that Venta was a Vice Captain, but this seemed a bit drastic on the levels she had thought that Galleo would be able to go now compared to before.
She would have estimated that Asta would be able to catch this man off guard, and take him out, or Luck doing a similar thing, on their own. But the fact that he was handling all four of them, she wondered if he was using anything to boost his powers…
That's when a realization came over her.
"I'll keep observing them, and if needed, I'll step in...but, something seems off, the way that they're moving seems to be getting slower for reasons I don't know...some kind of Magic perhaps, and then there's this Galleo's prowess, he seems to be better now..."
Nero thought about it, while Asta's eyes sharply went towards the enemy that was before her.
"What have you done with our friends?!"
Asta demands, only for the Spatial Mage to wave his hand.
"I don't have time for you peons. As soon as Venta-sama comes, then we'll not have to bother with you. For now, why don't you entertain me a little bit?"
Asta grit her teeth, and charged forward, swinging out her blade, and to the Spatial Mage's surprise, cut right through the red soldiers that had been formed, and dispelled them completely.
The Spatial Mage pulled away, and then scoffed.
"What nonsense sword is that?"
"This is the power that I have! Now I don't know what you're talking about with Venta-kun, but you will return our friends, immediately!"
"I don't bow down to the demands of people from the Clover Kingdom."
Galleo showed a stoic face, but then Luck charged forward.
The speed Luck went was so fast that the Spatial Mage was blind sided, having his upper body slammed with a lightning claw to the chest, sending him flying backwards, and smashed into the back wall, where he coughed up bile.
Falling down onto the ground, he winced as Luck zips in closer, and closer, his clawed hand going right for Galleo.
He manages to evade the attack at close range with a portal appearing and Luck's hand going through it.
Luck however stopped his hand inches from the back of his head, his smile beginning to make Galleo feel nervous.
"Why do you have such a smile?"
Luck tilts his head sideways.
"What's wrong? Don't you wanna keep fighting me? Guys, you can go ahead, I can fight this one by myself."
As Luck said it, visions of his Mother would run through his mind, praising him when he did fight and win against opponents, the only time that she really ever did such things, but then it snapped away as he thought about Venta, Yami and the others in the Black Bulls, remembering certain words from both Captain and Vice Captain beforehand.
Asta remained perplexed.
"But we can't leave you."
Asta exclaims, Luck blinks, he was surprised by such words, as he suddenly felt his body feeling a bit weaker than before.
He didn't get why that was as he saw the Spatial Mage slide through a portal, so he did the same thing, and appeared above the others, with Luck's hand aiming down towards Galleo.
"Have this!"
Luck, having fun with the fight, unleashed a condensed bolt of electricity up close and personal, but as he did, Yuno also fired off a wind blade in the shape of a crescent moon, hoping to cut down the enemy before it could do anything else.
However, Galleo saw it coming, and created a portal, absorbing Yuno's attack through it, and made it come out near Luck, who didn't stop with his attack, and blasted the wind, creating a shockwave which shot him up into the air, slamming his body into the ceiling.
"Luck!"
Asta yelled and rushed the Spatial Mage, pressuring the Mage as he came down, Asta's blade swung out, and cleaved right through the portal the Mage made in an attempt to escape the area, the man's eyes widening at the sight.
However, as Asta went to deliver a devastating strike, smoke suddenly slammed into Asta's right hand side, sending her deep into the ground, with Nero's eyes going towards the portal that was there.
"Smoke, but where did it come from?"
Yuno asked, her eyes shifting around.
That was until she saw Venta's bird land before her eyes, and extended her wing towards the portal that was far from the others.
As she looked, she saw that there was indeed a portal there, with Galleo landing hard on the ground.
Wincing at the feeling, Yuno's eyes shifted towards Galleo.
"There's a portal over there, you have an ally assisting you in this fight."
Yuno was calm, but did feel some apprehension.
Asta peeled herself off of the ground, and looked.
"Hey, you have!"
"If his ally fights like that...then this feeling in my body is..."
As Klaus was getting his thoughts together, Luck suddenly appears before Galleo.
The speed was so incredible that Galleo didn't have a chance to activate a portal to avoid it, so he did something else.
"Spatial Creation Magic, Crevice Men!"
Creating several red soldier with blades going for Luck's body, only for Luck to kick it out of the way, and then he cups his hands together, unleashing a discharge of electricity which blasts the creatures away, leaving an opening to Galleo.
Galleo looks at the smile on Luck's face, expressing some doubts as to what was going on with this boy.
But it didn't stop Luck who managed to smash his fist into the upper body of Galleo, sending him flying away, his body bouncing off one of the walls, and ended up hitting the ground in a harsh manner, blood began to leak from his forehead.
"Ooh yeah Luck!"
Asta cheered as the Spatial Mage lifted his head up.
Galleo pulls himself off of the floor, and snickers despite the pain that he was in.
"You poor children, believing that you have the ability to take me out."
"We got a hit on you, didn't we?!"
Galleo stared with intrigue in Asta's direction.
"I've taken into account that-"
"This is a waste of time."
Yuno scowls out, Galleo's eyes turn towards her.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't need to pretend, you're stalling us here. Is it to take out Mimosa-san and Noelle Silva?"
Galleo played it professional, and shrugged his shoulders.
"What does it matter?"
As Yuno was going to speak, a feeling came over her, and she began falling down to her knees.
Even Luck, Klaus and Asta began doing the same thing.
"What...my body is..."
Asta began, with Luck peering down at himself.
"I feel weaker all of a sudden..."
Yuno's eyes went towards the portal and connected the dots.
"The smoke...it must have some kind of weakening magic within it..."
Galleo shows a superior look in his eyes.
"Even knowing wont save you from us." As he said it, the portal opened up even more, and stepping outside was a man that looked to be in his thirties, a tired looking expression on his face. "Lotus, I'm going to go ahead, and prepare for the next wave. It seems that Mariella might need some assistance."
"Yeah, yeah."
With that, Galleo begins walking away, to the anger of the others.
Lotus who had thick black smoke coming off of him gave the same tired expression that he had beforehand.
"No, we can't let him escape..."
Yuno begins, as Klaus nods.
"We have to do something..."
Luck's eyes go towards Lotus, and his maniacal smile grows even more.
"Leave this one to me...I'll take care of him, promise."
Yuno and Klaus weren't sure, so Asta nods.
"You go, we can deal with this guy!"
Yuno and Klaus look to one another, before Yuno nods, and uses his Magic to create small twisters beneath him and Klaus, which they use to ride on out of the area they were in, leaving Asta, Luck, Nero, and Lotus alone together.
Back with Mariella, Noelle and Mimosa, plus Venta, the girls all stared at one another, with Mariella quickly shooting across the ground, befitting her status as an assassin, Venta watched to see that Noelle was beginning to react to her, by firing off multiple balls of condensed water.
"Not good enough for me."
Mariella dodged each and everyone of them, allowing her to get in close, but Mimosa creates a plant shield before her, blocking the ice dagger within Mariella's hand, slashing at the plants.
Noelle goes around, and aims a point blank range water sphere right for Mariella.
But to Noelle's surprise, she avoids it gracefully, and then launches her ice dagger for Noelle who pushes Mana through her legs, and jumps out of the way, only for Mariella to appear above her, having done the same trick, and flipped in the air, sending her foot right for Noelle's body.
However, as it was going to hit Noelle, Mariella's foot was suddenly repelled, like it had hit an invisible wall, Noelle didn't get it either, but she used this time to place her wand right in the centre of Mariella's chest.
"Sea Dragons Water Ball!"
Concentrating her Mana as strong as she could, Noelle summoned a water ball that was massive. Twice the size of Noelle by the time that it had fully grown. And on the other side of it, Mariella was stuck with the water pressing all against her body.
"Your water Magic is strong, I wager due to you being a member of House Silva, you would be blessed with Mana. But Mana isn't always the deciding factor in any battle, and so I shall show you a few tricks."
Mariella pierces her hands into the water ball, as Noelle fires it off.
The giant sphere came crashing down, but as it did, Mariella caused the water to freeze. More and more of it, froze until it became a massive sphere of ice, which Mariella controlled perfectly, and using the ice, she created a giant hand of ice, which was sent towards Noelle who gasped.
Mimosa however places her hand out, and summons a giant plant with a flower at the end, opening up with all of the pretty pink petals dazzling the likes of Mariella, with some kind of energy gathering at the base of the flowers opening.
"Plant Magic, Magic Cannon Flower!"
The energy sprang out of the giant flower, and the beam went flying by Noelle, piercing the giant hand of ice, shattering it out of existence, with Mariella letting out a gasp, the shockwave of the destroying ice propelled Mariella down towards the ground with her body hitting the ground hard.
Venta was proud of the girls managing to do that, since he knew Mariella was a tricky enemy to deal with.
As she did slam into the ground, from her robes, some kind of doll came flying out.
Mimosa noticed it first, and saw that it looked quite like Venta, only a chibi version.
Venta also noticed it, gaining a slightly embarrassed look on his face.
Mariella on the other hand groaned as she got up from the ground.
"You girls, have good combination skills. You work off one another quite well. And being royal, your Mana is indeed high. I can see that you've been taught rather well."
"Now, are you going to tell us what your connection with Venta-kun is?"
Mariella looked offended how casual both Noelle and Mimosa spoke about Venta.
"I believe you should call him Venta-sama."
Mimosa giggled awkwardly.
"Erm...Venta-kun..."
"Venta-sama."
Mariella corrected, Mimosa looked at Noelle who shrugged.
"He's Venta-kun though."
Mariella's eyebrow twitched.
"He is Venta-sama."
"Eh...but I know him as Venta-kun."
Noelle murmured, unsure of what to say.
But with serious eyes, Mariella speaks with a strong voice.
"I suggest you refer to him as Venta-sama as a sign of respect."
Venta slapped himself in the forehead, seeing how serious Mariella was, though he did find it a bit funny how Mimosa and Noelle had such a back and forth with Mariella.
"Erm...do we have to?"
Noelle asked, Mariella nods.
"It would be wise if you did."
Noelle cringes while Mimosa smiles with the same awkwardness that she had beforehand.
"But...shouldn't we ask him what he wishes to be called?"
Mimosa wondered, only to see Mariella exhale.
"As students of him and within my presence, I strongly advise you to call him Venta-sama."
"Ugh..."
"Erm..."
Noelle and Mimosa both weren't sure.
Mariella exhales.
"It seems my words aren't reaching you. Then, let us continue this battle."
Mariella charged forward, as she placed her hands on the ground.
Quickly reciting a spell, a large mass of ice erupts forward. Usually as an assassin she'd go for more secret, and hidden tactics, but when she didn't have the luxury of doing that, so the giant ice wave with sharp ends came at the pair in high speed.
Noelle had to fight against it, so she placed her wand out, summoning her giant dome of water.
Mimosa prepares her spell, allowing the flower cannon to appear, as Noelle blocks against the destructive form of the attack, but the heavy duty ice was something that even Venta had to admit was something that he was surprised by.
"Seems like she's gotten stronger since last I saw her. Mariella-chan..."
He was happy she had, but also didn't want the girls to become damaged either, and kept thinking of the best way to approach this. He knew this kind of fight would be good for both Mimosa and Noelle as it would strengthen them, but also knew that Mariella could prove to be an enemy that might be a bit too much for them right now.
As the water dome continued to protect them, Mimosa's spell finished, and she fired off a destructive beam that clashed with the ice, breaking it apart, but due to the sheer size, caused Mimosa to have to draw upon more power as a result.
Mimosa's attack managed to get through, but Mariella couldn't be seen.
"She's gone..."
Noelle murmured, but then saw the dome she had was freezing once more.
She looked around, but couldn't see anything.
She sensed around as well, but like before, she couldn't sense anything.
Even Venta looked a bit perplexed, but then smirked.
"That girl really is a smart one, but this could also prove to be deadly, I'll have to become involved if it gets anymore dangerous than it is. At least right now, I can sense the others are okay, and with Nero there, she'll protect them should anything happen."
Venta watched as he picked up Mariella's Mana signature, and saw that she was going around towards Mimosa. Even Mimosa hadn't realized it, so Venta tightened his fist, causing the earth around Mariella to suddenly sink a few feet, throwing her off balance and landed on the ground on her hands and knees.
Both Mimosa and Noelle heard the noise, so they turned to see the girl, Mimosa held out her hand and caused plants to come out.
"Noelle!"
"Yes, lets do it!"
Noelle shot off a sphere towards Mariella to stop her, while Mimosa's plants went towards her as well.
Mariella grimaced, before she placed her hands down.
"Ice Magic, Freezing Wave."
From the ground, ice shot up like a wave as the name of the spell suggested. This spell wasn't fully solid ice, which when things touched it, began to freeze. Including the spell of Noelle's, and the plants that were also around as well that Mimosa had summoned.
She pulls back, and swings her arms out, shooting off several sharp shards of ice for the ladies.
Mimosa and Noelle both channel Mana through their legs, and leap away, with the ice shards piercing the ground.
Noelle and Mimosa both land together, and pant.
"She's tough, what are we going to do?"
Mimosa asks Noelle, but she didn't have an immediate answer.
But Mariella merely waves a hand through her hair.
"Are you ready to be defeated yet?"
Noelle, still unsure of what had happened, pulled forward.
"We don't want to fight you, if you stop, we can talk about what's going on. Like, we can contact Venta-kun, and..."
Mariella broadened her eyes for a few moments.
But then she pulled her head back, shaking said head.
"No, that wont be necessary, he'll come, I'm sure of it. He has seen my calling card."
"Calling...card for Venta-kun? What was that?"
Mariella didn't reveal anything as she thought about the ice rose that she had left.
"Venta-sama, as he should be known and addressed by even from those of different Kingdom's, knows of my calling card."
Mimosa and Noelle could feel the sting in her words when they hadn't called Venta, Venta-sama, yet it seems Mariella took it seriously.
"And what do you intend to do to with Venta-kun?"
Noelle asks this time, Venta was also intrigued.
Mariella didn't answer for a few moments as she wiped her brow.
"That isn't a concern that you should have. What is important is Venta-sama and I meeting once again. And you Mage's shall give me the opportunity to deal with that. But, it seems that you are stronger than I had given you credit for. Also, refer to him as Venta-sama."
Noelle looks at Mimosa who struggled to think of what to say as they saw how serious Mariella was.
Mariella pulls back, as Venta sees her place a hand to her ear.
As if she's hearing something they weren't, she silently accepts something before staring at the duo before her eyes.
"Maybe it would be best if you're dealt with like this."
"Dealt with like what?"
Noelle was about to gain her answer when behind her, red energy was forming.
Growing bigger and bigger.
Almost to the size of the room they were inside, it was that big.
Venta watches as a red portal appears behind her, and emerging from the portal was a large creature, that came for both Noelle and Mimosa, as Mariella goes through the portal.
Venta could feel where her Mana was going and it wasn't that far away, so he decided to fly down to the girls first, as the portal closed.
Getting between them and the beast, both girls were shocked, while Venta's eyes went for the beast.
It kept charging forward, faster and faster, as Venta began releasing his Mana around him.
Not taking any shape, but releasing it, allowing the beast to get a good look at the Mana.
When it saw Venta and the Mana, it came to a grinding halt, and stopped in front of him.
Venta dialed down the Mana, and moved closer, raising his hand.
As he did, the beast bent its head down, allowing Venta to scratch behind its ear.
Mimosa and Noelle looked on, perplexed by what was going on.
Meanwhile, Luck and Asta stare at Lotus who gave an uncaring look towards the pair of them. His eyes shift towards Asta first, then to Luck, and could see the capes the pair were wearing, the insignia that was on said capes.
"Black Bulls, so you're with Yami then."
"You know our Captain?!"
Lotus runs his finger across his right ear, as if he was cleaning said ear.
"Fought him before. But listen, I don't really care about these kind of things. I'd much prefer to go and find Venta-sama, than this. So if you don't mind, can you go quickly so I can get out of here?"
Asta was perplexed by this being, while Luck's grin became even more wild.
"You don't want to fight us?"
"Not really, I wanna go now."
Lotus tried to turn, but Luck wouldn't have it.
Increasing his Mana output even more, he charged right through, surprising Lotus and got to his right hand side, so Lotus summons his smoke, and propels himself away as Luck swings a claw for him, but to no avail.
"You're fast. I'm happy!"
"Great, but I don't want to fight so be stopped already."
Lotus seemed bored as Asta begins pulling herself up. She uses her sword around her, slicing again and again, dispelling whatever spell was around her. Though she couldn't see the smoke, she presumed that was what was happening right now so she did her best to get out of it, which began working for her.
"Don't run away, we have to keep fighting."
Luck said as he came with a flurry of swings of his claws, as he zipped around Lotus.
But Lotus kept dodging out of the way, and then places his hand forward, creating a veil of smoke which blinds Luck's eyes.
Fortunately for the blonde boy, he could feel Lotus coming from the right, so he turned, and sent off a bolt of lightning, only for Lotus to block the lightning with his smoke, then used his smoke to blast Luck away.
Luck's body skidded across the ground, stopping close to Asta.
"Luck, lets work together!"
Thoughts of his Mother filled his mind once more, as well as the Black Bulls, he leapt forward.
But Lotus was deceptively strong, and was agile, being able to avoid all of the attacks that Luck was giving him. Either that, or he would block using his smoke which was thickening more and more, while Luck felt curious about how he was going to fight this opponent.
When Luck got in close, Lotus dodges out of the way, and then sends his smoke out, clouding the eyes of Luck once more, and then tried to escape, only for Luck to shoot closer, zipping around and then got before him, swinging out his claws, only for Lotus to dodge out of the way.
"Tch, you are a troublesome one kid. I didn't really want to fight you, even if you're Yami's brat." Lotus crouches in front of the target and touches the ground with both hands. "Smoke Creation Magic, Smoke Binding Cross Prison."
Clouds of smoke then gather and start enveloping the target until they form into a shape of a cross, and he did that both with Asta and Luck.
Luck tried to escape, but the smoke came in fast.
The cross holds a rough and bulky surface upon forming with additional parts protruding from the corners, creating a thinner additional x-shaped cross. The smoke then solidifies to render Luck immobilized by restraining his limbs and torso.
"Good, one down..."
Lotus breathes out, as he turns towards Asta.
However, while Luck got bound, Asta was going to be in the same situation, however as it did, it suddenly had stopped, as if it had been paralyzed or something, with Lotus confused by what was going on, not realizing that Nero had switched back to her human Secre form, and used her Magic on it to seal it for a small time, before switching back to bird form to keep from using all of her time up that day.
As she did, Asta looked perplexed, but didn't waste the time, and cleaved through the smoke with her Anti Magic Sword, cutting it down and then turned towards Luck.
"Luck!"
Charging forward, Asta comes from behind, and slices through the capturing smoke, dispelling it all around Luck, who was astonished by what was going on.
His eyes danced over Asta, who aimed her sword forward.
"You know, you don't have to do it all by yourself!"
"Eh..."
"We're fellow Black Bulls! We're comrades, friends! Lets fight him together!"
Luck was profoundly astonished, as Asta takes a swing at Lotus, but he flies away.
Landing on the ground, Lotus looks on at the two Mage's, as Luck's eyes shift towards Asta.
His thoughts of his Mother, telling him to always win did fill his mind.
But so did thoughts of his comrades, the Black Bulls.
The members that he had come to know more, and more.
Like Magna, Yami, Venta, and the others.
Now even Asta, a newbie, jumping in to fight beside him.
Lotus could see that the two Mage's would be troublesome to deal with, so he clapped his hands together.
"Even though this is going to take a good deal of Mana, I don't want to have to deal with you guys anymore, so I'll do what I can here..."
Lotus's hands began to cloud with smoke.
More and more came around him, thick and strong, it looked suffocating to the likes of Asta and Luck.
"Smoke Creation Magic, Degenerate King's Smoke Prison."
Lotus, pouring his Mana out before him, generates clouds of smoke that start swirling around both Luck and Asta, forming a dome, entrapping the pair. The clouds were thick, and they couldn't see through it, while Lotus circles around them.
Even he couldn't see them, but could sense Luck.
Asta on the other hand he couldn't feel at all, due to possessing no Mana.
Nero looked down from above, and furrowed her brows, wondering if she should call Venta to come back and help out. Though she also knew that she could do something if it became too dangerous.
"This is...it will be cut down!"
Asta rushes forward, and slashes at the thick smoke.
Indeed, it did dispel some, but not all, and more smoke took its place. Like it was replenishing itself, the ultimate trap, since Asta could feel smoke being blasted in their faces, making it more difficult to breathe as a result.
"I can't see a thing, Luck can you do anything?"
Luck places his hands out, and shoots off bolts of electricity.
But it does nothing as well.
"Seems like we're stuck here. What to do...?"
Luck murmurs, with the same perpetual smile on his face.
Asta however shook her head again and again.
"There has to be a way out of this! Eerm...eeh...ugh...I don't know, I'm not so good at this...come on Asta, think...think..."
Asta folded her arms, as she thought deeply.
Nero flew down, landing before Asta's eyes.
When seeing the bird, Asta nearly jumped out of her skin.
"Aah Nero! Future husbands bird! Is he here?!"
Nero shook her head, and directed her wing towards Luck, then towards her head, and made it look as if she was trying to expand her wings.
Asta remained clueless, while Luck smiles on at the bird.
"What are you trying to say little bird?"
Nero exhales, landing on Luck's shoulder, and covers his eyes with her wing, then uncovers them.
Luck remained confused…
But then snapped his fingers.
"Got it! I know, this birds smart! I can still sense, let me sense him out...maybe Asta-san, he can't sense you, lets surprise him. I'll lure him, you attack him when he least suspects it, okay?"
"Y-Yeah, tell me where to go, and I'll do it!"
Luck nods, and aims his hands into the smoke.
Generating balls of lightning, he shoots them into the smoke.
Lotus, unaware of their plan, went to make his own move…
When he saw the spheres of lightning, so he began riding on his smoke to avoid the blasts.
"Firing blindly into the clouds isn't going to make you hit me. If anything, you're gonna end up being-"
As he spoke, cutting through the cloud, was Asta herself.
His eyes widened when realizing what was going on.
Asta had pushed off the ground and used her strength to close the gap between them.
Nero stayed on Asta's shoulder, as she looked on towards Lotus.
"Oh damn..."
Lotus looks nervous as Asta swings out her sword, cutting through the smoke as she did, and slammed into the right hand side of his body. Widening his eyes, and spitting out some blood, Asta continued the swing of her blade, and propelled him at high speeds.
His body went flying through the area, smashing deep into the ground, where he spat out some more blood, while Asta lands on the ground, collapsing to one knee due to the effects of what spell he used beforehand to weaken them, the same with Luck who felt the effects also.
Lotus grimaced, as he began pulling himself up.
Realizing his disadvantage right now, and the fact that he was injured a good bit by Asta's attack, he begins making his way away, while Asta and Luck pull themselves together.
"It seems that he wont be coming back to fight us. Darn."
Luck murmurs, Asta raises a brow.
"We should go! We still need to get to the girls!"
"Yeah, lets go! If we follow him, it might lead us to where the enemies are as well!"
"Right!"
Together with Nero, both Luck and Asta venture deeper into the dungeon, managing to earn a victory this time.
Back with Venta and the others, the girls watch as the creature nuzzles against Venta's hand, seemingly docile compared to the wild and dangerous look that was on the creatures face when it first appeared.
Noelle and Mimosa pulled closer, standing on both sides of Venta who took a look at each of them.
"What's wrong?"
He asked, seeing both girls trying to work out what was the best response to give.
At first, neither said anything.
But then, Mimosa couldn't hold it in anymore, and let out her voice.
"Y-You're here Venta-kun! You're really here!"
Mimosa exclaims, hugging Venta tightly.
"I'm here."
Venta replies, petting the back of her head.
Mimosa soaks in the warmth of the hug.
But reality soon hits her, and she pulls back, her eyes going towards his own with a lot of perplexity forming on her face, equally within her eyes as well.
"Lots of crazy things have been happening, with that girl, and us falling through the ground, and then fighting that girl, and her saying some wild things. I have so many things that I want to ask, but I don't know what to start with..."
"I know, must be a bit confusing. I promise to explain when we have the time."
Venta smiles, as Noelle pulls closer.
"I thought you weren't coming with us this time?"
Venta chuckled as he began explaining.
"Technically, I didn't. I had another mission for the Clover Kingdom that happens to be here."
"You did? What mission did you have here?"
Noelle pondered, so Venta began explaining.
"The Spatial Mage, we didn't know if he would be here, but some had sensed his Mana around, so I came to detain him should he show up. It shouldn't take that long, though it seems things have been getting complicated, with the appearance of other Mage's, and more reinforcements of the Diamond Kingdom. Plus Mariella-chan and all."
Venta spoke the truth, regarding what his actual mission was.
He was also sent to watch over them.
Noelle tilts her head, and wonders how to say what was coming to her mind.
"By the way, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what?"
Noelle inhaled and exhaled several times.
She kept wondering how to say it.
She had so many questions for him, and she didn't know where to begin.
However, even before she could make up her own mind on how to say it, the words suddenly came out of her as if she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"You're apart of the Diamond Kingdom?! Are you like royalty or something?! I knew something about you was different! So this is it huh!?"
Noelle wanted to put it more elegantly, but it got the job done.
Mimosa nods her head.
"Venta-kun, she kept calling you Venta-sama, and the way she spoke in reverence of you, and how she insisted on us calling you Venta-sama as well, could it be that you're royalty or nobility of the Diamond Kingdom?"
Venta scratches his cheek, as he pets the head of the large beast.
"That's...complicated."
"Complicated how?"
Mimosa mused, with Venta smiling softly.
"Haha, well it would take a little time to get into, time which we don't have right now. Suffice to say is that...the Diamond Kingdom, that girl, it seems that...okay. Short version is that I do have history with the Diamond Kingdom, the practices they do with people, involving Mage Stones and other things, I could never agree with."
"What about that...beast there? What is it exactly?"
Noelle continued on, so Venta answered quickly.
"This is a beast created from abundance of Mana, basically a magical lifeform. It happens in some areas, like the Ultime Volcano Mountain Trail, that comes to mind. It seems the Diamond Kingdom are using them as weapons, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a few more around in case, they seem quite determined after all."
As Venta said it, Mimosa saw the doll Mariella dropped, Mimosa walked over, and took it in her arms.
Peering at the doll, and then holding it up towards Venta, she could see that there were similarities.
More than simple similarities.
It was deadly clear that the doll was supposed to be Venta.
"Wow, it looks so much like you Venta-kun. Right down to the hair colour, and the eyes as well. I really like it, I wish I had one~"
"Yeah, how about that huh~ Seems that she did have a doll of me haha~"
Venta laughs it off, as he could see the questions the girls had, he wished to answer them, but knew time wasn't on their sides, so he pulled himself onto the large beast.
He offered his hand towards Noelle and Mimosa, the latter took it and floated to the top, while Noelle went green in the face.
Venta noticed it, raising a brow.
"What's wrong Noelle-san?"
Noelle's eyes shot for the monster before her, and could see the creature snarling.
Smoke coming out of its nostrils.
Sharp teeth and claws.
It looked terrifying to someone like Noelle.
"T-That creature! It might try and kill us!"
Noelle yelled out, Venta blinked several times, before shaking his head.
"Naah, he'll be all good. I promise, it will be fine."
Noelle wasn't sure, she watched the beast who's keen eyes went towards her.
She didn't know what was going to happen next, but she was curious so she lifted her hand.
As she did, the beasts eyes whipped towards her, and she let out a low growl.
"Aaaah!"
Noelle cries out, with Venta chortling.
"Don't worry, it's all good. I promise, it wont attack you while I'm here."
Noelle shuddered, and hugged Venta tightly, as she got up towards him.
Sitting beside him, with Mimosa on the other side, Venta had the giant beast begin running through the corridors at a high speed.
With the air flowing through their hair, both girls had many question for Venta.
They knew time wasn't really on their side, but some of the smaller questions they both hoped to have answered.
Noelle beat Mimosa to asking, so the young girl observed her Water Mage cousin speak up.
"So while we're riding like this, Venta-kun. Can we ask you some questions?"
"Sure, go for it."
"Okay...well, that girl. Who is she?"
Noelle wondered, she was becoming more and more curious as time went on.
Venta thought about how to answer that as they continued on.
"Her name is Mariella-chan, she's an assassin from the Diamond Kingdom, she's rather skilled at what she does, I'm sure you girls saw first hand her skills."
Noelle nodded, she definitely remembered that.
"She said something about you being her hero? Did you save her from something maybe? Or, maybe you did something for her that makes her see you that way?"
Mimosa wonders.
She could guess on some reasons why Mariella could say that.
But she did wish to know from Venta's side what was going on with that.
"Yeah...well, basically I was able to protect her from something cruel happening. She's an assassin of the Diamond Kingdom as I said, but the Mariella-chan I know, doing things like this doesn't feel right to me, so I can only conclude that she is doing this because she has little choice. Probably the Spatial Mage is forcing her hand to do this, or someone else I'm not aware of. Whatever the case, I know that something is going on, and I intend to find out what is happening and help her."
Mimosa nodded slowly, as she cast her mind back to the fight.
While it was difficult.
She did sense something wasn't normal about it, and she conveyed that quickly to the others.
"She did seem half hearted in some of her attacks. Maybe even all. It felt like she was going to disable, rather than actually try and take us out. She felt different to what an enemy usually would, Venta-kun. Though she seemed adamant about us calling you Venta-sama hehe~"
Mimosa mused with some playfulness at the end.
Though she did wonder about Venta and what he was thinking about when it came to Mariella.
How close they had gotten.
Where they...lovers?
She wished to ask.
But she didn't know how to go about it either.
"So if she isn't our enemy in the traditional sense, but still is attacking us, what are we going to do about her?"
Noelle wondered, Venta furrowing his brows.
"You both still have a mission to do with the dungeon here. We can't let the Diamond Kingdom get it after all. Don't worry about Mariella-chan, I'll be meeting with her pretty soon, there's a few things we have to speak about."
Venta's words seemed to be as if he was in deep thought.
Mimosa and Noelle wondered if he was indeed from the Diamond Kingdom, how hard it would be to do these things.
To fight against the kingdom that he had grown up in potentially or at least hailed from or something akin to that.
And even if it wasn't that, still Venta had a connection to the Diamond Kingdom.
Whatever it was, it was enough for the Diamond Kingdom to see him as someone important.
Someone that they were risking to get back, and not allowing anything to get in their way either.
They wondered what his feelings were when it came to the Diamond Kingdom.
How tough...this truly was for Venta.
End chapter!
So this chapter focused on the fights with Mariella vs Noelle and Mimosa for a brief period, and the Spatial Mage, Galleo, briefly fighting and seemingly has gotten a bit stronger since the last time he fought with Nebra, then Lotus appeared, fighting both Asta and Luck, with Nero/Secre also adding her own help into it, and it seems that Venta's connection with the Diamond Kingdom has been found out by both Mimosa and Noelle who were quite intrigued by what's going on, and Venta's now going to be dealing with Mariella personally so we'll see how that goes!
Well, until next time, thanks for reading!
Venta; Mimosa, Vanessa, Secre, Dorothy, Rebecca, Asta (fem), Yuno (fem), Noelle, Elf Fana, Mereoleona, Nebra, Sol, Sally, Grey, Charmy, Charlotte, Mariella, Lolopechka,