Black Clover: The Darkness In Me

by FuseBomber

Time runs thin as the war against the Spade Kingdom draws close. But now more than ever, darkness resides and surfaces in Asta. The Devil inside is raining havoc upon him and twisting his dreams inside out, and presenting mental struggles he's never faced before. With such a troubled war on the horizon, will Asta contain the darkness within him, or will he lose control?

4. The Diamond Resistance

Asta launched upright as he found himself panting like a dog, his whole body tensioned and drenched in his own sweat as he couldn't catch his own breath. It felt like his heart was pounding like a drum too as it beat ever so slightly faster through each moment. The hairs on his arm too were pricked like cacti as each fibre of himself felt like it was under a constant aching pain.

When he analysed around himself, he saw nothing but a vast, empty void of darkness, no air, no light, no sense of life at all.

"Ah jeeze, I'm getting deja vu here! Am I about to start burning to death again or whatever soon? This isn't a normal space so it must be another nightmare. It feels...strange though...I feel more alive and aware...am I dreaming much at all?"

A sudden feeling of a shock-wave passed through him as his vision practically refreshed, a new detail appearing to everything around him as everything suddenly looked to be teeming disturbingly with life. As well as this, an ominous feeling began to grow, constantly oppressing him and filling him with unease. It felt like he was becoming more nauseas as his temperature began to rise.

"Wh-what's happening?" He thought as he held a hand to his head, feeling the rising temperature, "everything's changing and warping around me...there's no real sense of where I am...and things have suddenly exploded so much that I can hardly keep track of so many senses of ki. It went from nothing to too much so suddenly…! Even with how much I trained it, I never thought my senses could be so overwhelmed..."

"...my sweet boy..." A voice murmured in the disruption as Asta's senses heightened once more, him trying his best to be calm and keep aware as the phrase resonated within him.

He looked around in confusion as everything seemed to be a blur, slowly fading into reality as a bright light began to become more apparent, burning itself into his vision, "Th-that voice! I heard it before, I think I remember! Who are you!?"

"I-I'm sorry Asta," the voice began to sob as the sounds of blood-curdling screams engraved themselves into Asta's mind, the sound of chaos bloating the atmosphere as he still tried to simply understand the place at which he found himself.

"Sorry?" Asta pondered, "sorry for what? Who are you!? I don't understand! Something tell me what this means?!" His frustrations grew as he finally saw something clearly, within the white light, there appeared a grey figure, severely contrasting her surroundings as she seemed a bloody mess. Marks of blood seemed all around her and she seemed mostly lifeless, but with something seeming to be pierced through he chest.

"I'm sorry it had to end this way...but it was the only way," The voice continued to mourn as she sounded to break further down in her tears, "I wish there was another way, but…!"

Asta was getting more overwhelmed with confusion as he chased the light, feeing no sense of progression though as it seemed to only move further away, "Who are you I said! What do you mean!? What does any of this mean?! How do you know me!?" The vision ever so slowly crept closer towards him as it slowly became more detailed and clear, the visions of blood extending and worsening like fountains.

As the view became clearer the vision told it's tale. He could finally see the gushing blood excessing from her as the look of something demonic slowly detailed behind her, a malicious look that told of it's decrepit nature alone. "P-please! L-l-live for me! Please live!"

"H-HEY!" Asta yelled loudly as the image quickly faded once more into a ball of darkness as it began to take shape into something else, "HEY I SAID! WHO ARE YOU!? WHO WERE YOU!? BOTH OF YOU!" He knew whatever he saw his instincts detested. His unease began to peak as well as his worry as he began to feel light-headed to further his suffering. His mind couldn't keep up and comprehend what was happening as his train of thought ruptured and lost all focus on what was happening. Through all his mental commotion he saw through the cracks of what was happening and noticed something new take formation out of the strands of the last shadow he saw. It was a familiar face, but it carried a different aura to the last as the red eyes darted into his soul and struck the threads of his fragile memory, "Nero…?"

The image of his bird companion fully came into perspective briskly as she seemed to idle there in her casual feather dress with no emotion to her cold eyes. It was before her shadow suddenly kicked into life and she dawned a desperate expression as she tightly grasped different parts of her body where some blood seemed to flow, "Asta! Help me! Please!"

"Nero!" Asta kicked back into life once more as if he'd broken through the limitations he was bound by, he felt his blood pressure rocket in proportion to his heart-rate as he took a dive forwards towards his ally, reaching out for her with a great reach, growing close to her before she began to move further away from his perspective.

"It hurts...Asta...it hurts...everything does..." Nero mumbled as she looked down gloomily, blood flowing over her lips as she seemed a paler shade.

"Nero!" Asta exclaimed once more as he tried to propel himself further and faster, "reach to me!" He managed to get a clearer look as he felt like he was gaining some distance on her, seeing even clearer how deep her wounds seemed and how many there were, stretching across her entire body, "What the hell is this vision? Why am I seeing her? Why is she so hurt? What's this supposed to mean?"

Nero began to let out more wails of pain as she seemed to vigorously shake around in unease, "I-it hurts! M-make it stop A-Asta please! Please save me! I don't want this pain!" Her wounds seemed to be constantly becoming deeper and bloodier as her body completely teemed with blood, practically painting her a new colour.

Distress for Asta's mind kept swelling with unease as his mind was finding it hard to cope seeing such a dear friend in such a state, even if it was all in his head… None of it was real, but his mind kept tricking himself into believing it was, everything around him felt like it was happening for real and everything happening before him really was, "Don't worry! I'm here, right? Remember me, Nero!?"

He gained much more distance as he was closing in on being able to grasp her, "I-it hurts! Why does it have to be this way!?" Why am I hurting!?" Nero continued to yell in agony as Asta's frustrations grew as he was within grasping distance.

"It's alright! I'm here I told you! Reach for me!" Asta raged onwards as he prepared to grasp.

"GLADLY!" Nero demonically yelled as a devil's arm formed out of hers, grasping tightly around Asta as it seemed multiple times the size of Nero herself. From there, the body of Nero began to break down, moulding into the figure of a familiar, purely evil being, shrouded in complete and utter darkness, "THANKS FOR THE INVITATION KID! LET'S HAVE A CHAT!"

Asta let out a scream of agony as it felt like his entire body shattered and crumbled into small embers, "AAARGH! W-WHAT THE-"

The shadow figure's voice ran through Asta's mind as he boomed, "Been a while since we last talked, eh?" Asta was given a clearer view now as he recognised the figure as a devil, the devil which had been sourcing his power for so long… "I've been waiting so long for an interaction with someone I just had to have a little fun with you first!"

"W-what the h-hell?" The boy mumbled as he managed to squeeze an arm out of the devil's grasp, squeezing it into a tight fist as he tried to ignore the agony he could feel below.

"It's your good ol' devil pal! Yknow, the source of your power?" The Devil deviously chuckled.

"What? You wanna try and take over my body or something again? You must be haunting my dreams again for some good reason!"Asta murmured as he tried to free himself.

The Devil's faced moved closer to Asta, "Of course! Taking over your body is a pain in the ass because you're a stubborn shit after all. Think of the world you'd be in without my power! That devil you fought a while back would have killed you all and already have killed a good portion of the world, at least before those Spade Kingdom bastards you're against."

Asta released another arm as he managed to force himself out the grasp of his threat, simply standing opposite him as he looked up to his demonic face, "I'm never letting you take my body, it's for me alone. Besides, what makes these Spade Kingdom punks a much greater threat than the last one of you?"

"They're simply more powerful than the average devils that's why. Like with your fucked world, devils are categorised based on their strength. The threat you're against is pretty high up there, and to add to that the Dark Triad are pretty strong on their own, without the aid of their devil. To a normal bastard I'd say you're utterly fucked, but maybe you have a chance," The Devil explained as he let out a huff of annoyance.

"You're surprisingly knowledgable about my world," Asta analysed.

"I have to suffer in your body and have done for a long while so things catch on. Regardless, their devils are partly why I wanted to awaken you to me again."

"Eh? Why would you wanna co-operate with me? I thought you'd just keep waiting for me to get nearly dead enough for you to take me over?"

"Meh, you're not terrible as a host, you're unique I could say at the least, and seem oddly okay with a devil inside of you. But that doesn't change how much I'd love to take over you whole. All you'd have to do is surrender your body and I'd try and kill those bastard for you. Even with the witch bitch releasing the limits of my power on you, you still can't even use all my strength."

"Trust me, I'm not pleased to have you within me."

"Regardless, and as much as I hate to think it, even if I took you whole, I'd get massacred myself worst-case scenario, they aren't a threat you can casually tackle. For now I'm playing the long game, if we don't co-operate then we both die, it's that easy. I can't have my host body dying before I take it, right? You're special cause you're the only bastard compatible to handle my power."

Asta rested down as he let out a deep sigh as he refreshed his mind, "And how can I trust you?"

The Devil shrugged, "You can't."

Thoughtfully, Asta stared into the eyes of the devil but he was impossible to read, he practically always expressed the same look and sly grin at all time and never changed from the same dead-beat tone, "Alright then. And how exactly are we gonna co-operate?"

"I give you advice and lend you my strength, you crush those Dark Triad bastards. How's that? It's the only method other than letting me take you over."

Asta pondered for a moment before taking another deep breath, "For you to be so adamant about killing your own kind, you must have some bad blood from the past that's still pissed you off."

"Perhaps, but that much means nothing to you. I hate the classing of devils just as you hate the classing of humans based on how many coins you got in your pocket."

Asta reflected on Yami and Mereoleona's words from the meeting the day before, "I guess you can't escape discrimination wherever you go. I never would have imagined a society like yours could be so split."

"You always did seem like the kind to assume things. Don't remember any of your childhood phrases? Don't judge a book by it's cover was one right? At any rate let's stop dwindling, you know there are three main devils in the Spade Kingdom, right? Well they're all considered higher classed ones in a devil society. Their hosts are probably being used for some other selfish goal of incarnation, it's a goal for a lot of devils."

"Is it special or something to you? I wouldn't think you could have enough hosts in the world for you all to incarnate."

"There aren't enough, which is why the higher class devils are usually the ones leeching to incarnate themselves, or at least do so first. Many don't care but it gets boring to be stuck in the body of another person or to just act as a wandering soul for so long. I've been stuck here for a year and whatever and you've already driven me to boredom."

Wearily, Asta pulled himself back up once more as he slowly trod up the Devil's arm, wandering in thought as he glared at the fiend's eyes, "So they're a bunch of strong guys that want to incarnate themselves? They're not in my world, so if I kill them, they can't incarnate themselves. Kill the bad guy, sounds simple."

"This kid would do anything it seems. He hasn't got a shed of fear within him. Either he's really easy to manipulate or his will really is so strong." The Devil thought to himself as he zoomed his eyes in on him, "that's it, but killing them is easier said than done. Since they can't fight you, they'd probably flood the hosts with all their power to kill you, and me. Once you kill their host body though, that's them finished. Their soul won't have anywhere else to go realistically and it should die with them."

"If you've watched me for so long then, you should know more than most that it'll take a hell of a lot for me to fall to them," Asta fiercely said, "I'm not afraid of you or any of these other devils that lurk below."

"Sure, sure. But fear ain't a deciding factor, let's just call that a bonus, eh? Then again, after your beginning time in your world, I'm not surprised the like of you don't get scared easily."

Asta immediately deduced them words as he fiercely gazed into the devil, "You saw into me as a baby? Are you saying you can see into my past?! Do you know who that bloodied woman was then!?"

"Whoops!" The Devil sarcastically gasped, offering some of the only change in his tone, "maybe I said a tad word too many!"

"HEY! ANSWER ME!" Asta raged as he rushed towards the Devil's face, only for his efforts to be thwarted as he got caught once again in the fist of the creature, it crushing his bones to molecules of dust as he let our constant wails of pain.

"I'll leave you to claw after your past by yourself, I ain't bothered much about a shitty teen's story like yourself. It's waking up time for you, you little bastard! Go and get stronger," The Devil coldly said as he dropped Asta as he began to plummet into an endless abyss of complete darkness, it felt like the darkness itself began to envelop him too as he felt his movements die down.

"YOU BASTARD!" Asta raged as he felt his eyes closing forcefully, like the darkness was controlling his body. He mentally couldn't track everything that was going on as the light and any semblance of life died once again. Before he knew it, reality returned with a single noise.

'THUD!'

With a feeling of a sudden impact, Asta launched up in the real world, the light had crept between between his eyelids as his senses returned to him at last. He only held himself up for a brief moment though as he felt his body's energy levels surrender to drop him back on his back. He didn't fully grasp his situation as his vision slowly became clearer.

He could feel warm, dry streams of tears had flowed down his cheeks and still were every other moment or two as his breath was constantly being drawn away in constant gasps and pants for fulfilling air. Everything began to ease though as he felt his systems return to familiarity and process as they should. The whole time his mind had wandered, he had been trembling in terror without even realising as he drew his attention to it, but it began to slow, as well as his heart rate, as he cooled himself. It took a short while to process all of this and by the time he did, his vision returned as he stared aimlessly upwards, spotting the concerned faces of both Vanessa and Yami overlooking him.

"V-Vanessa? Yami?" Asta questioned as he drew a long breath.

"Eh? You really know how to make some people worry ya twerp," Yami sighed as he took a puff of his cigarette, some of the embers twinkling down towards Asta like fairy dust.

"Little boy!" Vanessa exclaimed in relief as she immediately hugged him tightly, squeezing out all her worries as she gently bumped heads with him, "was it another nightmare? You started to act out in your sleep and your body started reacting oddly, like something was happening!"

Asta was feeling her warmth now more than ever as he relaxed, "Yeah, it's nothing to worry about. It's just in my head I guess."

Vanessa backed away slightly as she stared into him, having an iron grip on his shoulders, "Nothing to worry about? There clearly was something wrong because you were crying again!"

"Meh," Yami groaned, "just acting the tough bastard again. It's alright to cry you idiot, especially if you saw something that flipped your insides."

"Says the guy that doesn't looked to have cried in his whole life," Asta sighed, "I saw the same image as last time...but I got a better look this time. There seemed to be some other guy there, but I haven't the thinnest memory of him. When I saw him though, I knew I hated him, it filled me with more unease. That coupled with the bloody figure...only makes me imagine the worst."

"You poor thing," Vanessa sadly sighed as she pat his head softly, occasionally twirling her finger in his flaky hair, "the darkness must love to plague you. Don't worry though, we're here! Right?" She glanced back to Yami while still comforting Asta at the same time.

Yami was lost in thought as he snapped back in to see Vanessa's irritated face as she waited for his response, "Oh, yeah right, right. It's not like we're disappearing any time soon."

Noelle had stumbled in on the conversation as she slowly approached, catching a slight glimpse of the light reflecting off of where Asta had his tears flow. She was rather confused as she timidly spoke, "A-Asta? Wh-what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I just had a bad dream, that's all," Asta sighed as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, slowly being helped up by Vanessa as he made way to Noelle, stretching his more stiff joints, "I promise it's nothing to worry about!" It wasn't the first time he knew he was lying to himself, the words of his devil engraved deep into his mind.

"W-well that's good. I-I'm glad you feel well after yesterday and all, it was...intense at times I guess," Noelle nervously tried to make conversation as she twiddled her thumbs.

Yami keenly looked on as he recalled the previous day's events, "If you ever wanted a chance to smooth things with Asta, I suppose now is the best time, she seems to recognise that fact as well. Nervous also seems to be an understatement for how she seems to feel, this really must have thrown the spanner in her thinking."

Asta acted as casual as he normally would as he seemed to recognise the embarrassment in her expression and nervousness, "Is something wrong? You've been pretty quiet since yesterday afternoon and all. Are annoyed at me for the fight I had with your brother and sister or?"

"I-I wanted to s-say something," Noelle mumbled out of her lips as she seemed to be trying to fight every instinct she'd developed towards Asta.

"Say something? Say what?" Asta questioned.

Noelle shifted in embarrassment around the spot she stood, "I…I…!" she suddenly lurched forth and wrapped her arms around the peasant and hugging him tightly as her cheeks blushed brighter than they ever had done before, "I'm sorry for yesterday! I wasn't thoughtful in my words and upset you! Please forgive me!"

There was a brief gap of silence as Noelle only clutched him tighter, her thoughts stemming wildly as she prayed for the best outcome, "I can't believe I'm begging for forgiveness from a peasant! Have I fallen or am I getting over the rift between us!? If he doesn't forgive me now then I've made myself look like a fool!" Off to the side she did see Vanessa satisfied with a grin, and Yami maintained his constant bland expression.

"Noelle? What are you on about?" Asta asked as he seemed at a loss, filling the girl with a barrel-full of anxiety, "you don't need to ask for forgiveness because I was never mad at you! My tongue slips a bunch of the time too, we all say things we don't mean so I don't judge you differently! I wouldn't let a rift form between us just because of one thing, our friendship means a lot more to me that to be hindered by that," he hugged her back, "I don't want you worrying about breaking our bond. If I'm ever actually mad at you then I'd let you know upright, I'm not a cold-shoulder guy."

"Thank goodness," Noelle sighed in relief as she relaxed into his embrace, her anxieties withering away as she suddenly felt contempt to know that no friction had come between them, "I read into things too much again..."

Asta pulled a full smile as they backed from each other slightly, "Friends who bicker are closer, right? If we never had a slight conflict, we wouldn't be close at all!"

Noelle nodded with confidence, "R-right!"

"Also kid," Yami interrupted, "sorry to charge in on your nice moment, but we're heading out to the Wizard King again after, turns out that guy turned up sooner than expected. You're wanted for the meeting too, Noelle, so get any errands out the way sooner rather than later."

"I-I'm wanted!?" Noelle exclaimed in shock as she shuffled nervously.

"Woah!" Asta awed, "that's amazing! We get to see the King so soon again!"

Vanessa sighed with a sly grin, "Oh my, you better look after them Yami, I'm not special enough to get to visit the king too."

Yami groaned as he began to the kids, "You're on child-watching duty for the rest of it then. You two, now that you're all lovey-dovey buddies again, I need you to run an errand for me. And you don't have a choice in the matter of doing it.

"What is it then?" Asta questioned as he released Noelle, her blushes finally dying down as her mentality returned to normality.

"Zora wandered off on his own at early hours without letting anyone know. I think we both know why, Asta, and so I want you to check up on him and Noelle to be there as more support and company during your little trip. I'd get going before too many hours pass because we're going to meet Julius in a few short hours, you've not got a lot to waste away," Yami thoroughly explained as he looked down on the two, "got that ye twerps?"

The two unanimously nodded their heads as they boomed, "Yes, Captain!"

Before things truly got moving though, everyone's attention was drawn to the hallway, hearing a voice of panic and trembling with fear. The pitter-patter of tiny footsteps stood out amongst the sounds of all as Nero appeared before all with Mimosa chasing a short while behind. Her face was meandering with sweat and was a more pale tone as she seemed to be panting constantly like a dog, seeming hardly able to even hold her place, "A-Asta!"

Asta instinctively began towards her as Mimosa came into clearer view, "Nero! What's wrong!?"

"Nero! You shouldn't be out of bed, never mind running! You're in bad shape!" Mimosa yelled from behind as Nero already seemed like being on the verge of collapse, constantly stumbling in her place.

Slowly, Nero began to collapse forwards as Asta rushed to catch her, hearing her mumble as tears flooded down her cheeks, "I saw...who kills you..."

---

A short while passed upon Nero's collapse as everyone had time to absorb her words. Noelle and Asta's departure was delayed as Asta submit himself to Nero's bed-side, waiting for her to arise as her words plagued his mind and borderline his sanity for a brief while.

"She saw who kills me? Does that mean the Wizard King was right? I was hoping all this time that he was wrong, but if she really did see something...I can't take it out of my mind. It's going to drive me insane without knowing. I know I need to go after Zora too, but I can't think straight...how can I let a few words burrow so deep into my head?"

Mimosa looked down in worry at them both, "Asta...he seems so down...his tough exterior has been crumbling recently, things seem to be etching themselves into his mind a lot more easily than they used too. Normally he'd be so defiant and dismissive, but, he's becoming more submissive to them...I need to help move him into a better mentality! Maybe all the words people have abused him with were more affective they seemed...maybe he was just putting them on the back-burn until they swelled too far..."

"Now, now, little boy," Vanessa sighed as she wrapped an arm around him while kneeling beside him, "there's no reason to worry so much, she must have had a little nightmare like you! She's been sick since last night, right? Don't let it influence you, it could have easily just been a hiccup!"

Noelle was peering around the corner anxiously, leaving him plentiful amounts of space as she held her hands together over the centre of her chest, "Asta…don't tell me the King's prediction is actually right? I never really took the words deep enough at the time...but I think I'm becoming scared of the possibility of it being true..." She tightened her fists as she held them even closer to herself, "B-but I don't want that to happen...I don't want Asta to die! He's saved me so many times, he's twisted fate to save me so many times that...I can't let this happen so easily! Right!" she felt herself brimming with determination as she began away for the outside of the base, her body tense as Yami gave a grin seeing her pass, "as a friend, I have to save him! He's twisted the spine of fate so I will too! I've grown strong over the last months, but I'm not done yet!" Noelle rushed at full speed as she felt her blood flowing faster as her heart beat faster too, "No matter what, I'll save Asta, and make him proud! The future hasn't been decided just yet!" She felt her body's resistance to those words but ploughed through the resistance in determination as she set her own will once more, her eyes set on a new horizon.

"It's hard to blot out," Asta sighed as he glanced sadly towards Vanessa, tugging the band out of his hair which had seemed to be with him at all times as he flung it to the bedside table. Portions of his hair that had been held up there for so long released forth elegantly as his fringe extended and thickened, covering his eyes slightly from Vanessa's view as they were shadowed, "it just makes me realise how fragile everything is. I may have trained my body for so long, but in an instant, things could come to an end. I suppose...nothing's guaranteed, at least for the manaless me."

"Hey, Yami said tears and such didn't suit you, he wasn't lying. Who cares about a vision or two? Nothing's guaranteed until it happens for real. Being honest, there's the very likely chance things don't work out for us quite as we hope, but that's one of many futures. You want to become the Wizard King, so why the hell are you worrying so much about just one of the many? You've got your eyes set on your destiny, so go forth and cut down the rest of them! Besides..." Vanessa forced him in for a hug for the umpteenth time of the day alone as she wrapped her arms delicately around him, "I won't let you die. You're like my little brother, so what shitty big sis would I be to let you die like this?"

Asta relaxed a bit more as he let out a huff, "Relish every moment like it'll be the last," he thought to himself, "no matter how far I've been trying to drag myself out of the whole I'm digging, I keep finding excuses to wallow in pity at myself. This isn't good enough, I can't change the threads of fate without action!"

Mimosa clenched her fists as she felt a spread of determination run through her, "Everyone's doing their best to keep Asta happy and to win this war. I can't let myself fall behind, I'll do my best for Asta too! I'm going to do everything I can to save him! I'm going to grow my own roots of fate! Asta, please believe in me!"

"Anyway, boy, I've got to set off now before it's too late," Vanessa groaned as she parted from him and stood up to look down on him, "have a fun time with the Wizard King for me, and take good care of yourself."

"Where are you going?" Asta questioned in confusion.

"You don't need to worry about that," Vanessa cheekily giggled as she pat the boy on the head upon her leave, "and take good care of Nero too!"

Mimosa blushed at watching the two interact, "She's so friendly with him...I wish I could be so confident around Asta too! Being able to give him hugs and pats...they're all just things in my fantasies but they're so close that it's commonplace. I've got a long way to go to have Asta's trust so dearly!"

Asta looked more glum once more with Vanessa's leave as he despairingly stared at the unconscious Nero, realising her drastic change in the last day as he ran his fingers through his hair and closed his eyes to think deeply to himself before looking towards Mimosa, "Thank you, Mimosa...for looking after Nero. She's not even of your squad but I guess your heart's that big, huh?"

"I-it's nothing! I wouldn't be a good person at all if I used my powers for the people of my squad alone! My r-responsibility is greater than that!" Mimosa insisted.

"Right..." Asta sighed to himself, "and now...I've got to grow strong enough to be able to protect you all too. I won't stop growing till I reach the end of my line."

"Y-you can already do that Asta! You just need to remember to not work yourself too hard...otherwise you'll just overwork and hurt yourself..." Mimosa worriedly stuttered.

Asta could feel his strained muscles himself just by sitting there still, "Aye...I guess the likes of you are always great people to save me from myself too, Noelle does always say that I overwork myself so I guess I never heed her word seriously enough."

Before Mimosa managed to muster up a single word to respond, their attentions were both drawn to Nero as her panting became louder and her body began to shift where it laid, "A-Asta?"

"I'm here!" Asta assured as he leant forth in relief at seeing her awake once more, "you're ok! Mimosa's taking good care of you! I wanted to make sure you were still ki-"

"P-p-please don't leave me..." Nero stuttered as tears began to swell in her eyes for the first time Asta had ever truly seen so severly as he found himself feeling bewildered at what unfolded before him, "I...I never want that vision again! I don't want to be alone again! I don't want you to die! You can't die!"

Trembling is what could only describe Asta's insides as he took a large gulp. He felt the soft feeling of Mimosa's hand connecting with his too as she recognised his growing terror, "Who...who kills me?"

The three of them were all trembling with the same worry as Asta felt himself panting faster and shaking progressively more. No matter how solid he built himself and how strong his will is, nothing rocked him to his core more, than facing with death.

"You...you are going to be killed by..."

---

"Noelle!" Asta cheered as he poked round the corner of the tree, spotting her arms outstretched in front of her with multiple trees with targets on ahead of her, "sheesh, I spent way too long looking for you! Why did you come so deep into the forest on your own? We gotta find Zora!"

"U-um I was just bored! I didn't want to interrupt you while you were waiting for Nero so I came out here to do a bit more training," Noelle shrugged as she lowered her wand, reading Asta's expression as he approached closer, "sorry, I guess I should have said something."

Asta shrugged as he approached, putting a hand to Noelle's shoulder as he passed with a slight smile, "Ah well, I was just worried for a brief moment but I guess I was overthinking it all again. You're well more than competent enough for me to not worry about you. Guess maybe I'm the one becoming overly cautious eh?"

Those words went straight to Noelle's heart as she blushed up slightly, but she read straight through the false smile as she watched his back as he passed, "Asta..." she caught his attention as he glanced back slightly, his dense fringe shadowing his eyes, "I heard what Nero said before of course when she collapsed earlier...I just wanted to check you're ok..."

There was a brief silence as Asta's smile washed away, Noelle looking down sorrowfully as she recognised now his true feelings. He turned to her, not even attempting to show a false version of himself, "It's just a lot to think about, that's all. As long as I have you all...there's no reason for me to despair, because I know we'll all get through this all together."

"Right...it's just that..." Tears began to slowly flow down Noelle's cheeks like rain down a window, "if this doesn't work out...if we lost you...I don't know what I'd do. I'm scared, Asta...I don't want another day to pass because I'm scared of the future. I-I don't want this war...why can't we just have a peaceful world? Why can't lives like yours be safe and secure? Why do we have to be on the brink of despair at all times?"

A void of silence filled once more as Asta stood in front of Noelle, watching her tears flood down as he pulled the smallest of smiles, lifting a hand to the back of her head and gently put their heads together, "There's no need to despair. I won't let you despair. No matter what...I'll protect all of our lives to my last breath. My future is uncertain, but it's a future I don't want to dwell on. For now, look towards yours and grasp it. We'll work towards a bright future together, no amount of Dark Triad bastards will stop us, right?"

"Asta...you've grown up in a struggle your whole life..." Noelle began as she wiped the tears from her eyes, "I'll never understand how through all those years, you kept so strong in your resolve… but I'll work us towards an equal future too! I'll work us to a future where we can unite all! I promise, as part of the Silva family, to win us a bright future! I won't let these feelings chain me down!"

"That's the spirit!" Asta cheered as he backed away from her. I've seen enough tears today already, so we're gonna stay strong!"

Noelle clenched her fists, "Yes! Also," she pointed towards his hair, "what the hell happened to your hair!? Where's the band gone?!"

Asta felt the top of his head, "I left it back at the base, guess it ain't often you see me without it."

"It looks so soft and fluffy!" Noelle thought to herself as she tried to distract her mind from the sadness, "he's in a dire need of it shortening though."

"You judging my hair or somet?" Asta observed, seeing her stare at it for an excess amount of time.

Noelle tugged on some of it as she neglected his clear, irritated expression with every pull, "You need a cut Stupidsta. You've got too much hair that you'll end up looking like a girl."

"Back to the insults already!?" Asta wailed, feeling his head constantly shake from her tugging before tugging away himself, "well, at least you're already back to you, guess you never stay sad for long. Now…!" he stomped his foot down as he returned to his cheery self, "let's go onwards!"

"Let's go!" Noelle cheered, feeling her spirits completely brightened.

---

Vanessa, on her little errand for herself, found herself deep within the heart of the Witch's Forest within no time of leaving the hideout. It felt a much more comfortable journey than the time before she had visited the forest, a time which changed the life of many as a whole, including herself.

Taking a deep breath, she forced open the doors blocking her way from seeing the old threat which had tormented her friends so. Slowly, the view of the old enemy came into view as she saw through the blinding light on display to see the towering person above her, the eyes fixated upon her already as they were darted down towards her.

"Oh? I didn't expect such a visit today, what sparked you to come and see me so suddenly," The Witch Queen said in surprise.

"Maybe I was just inspired to be kind today," Vanessa shrugged as she remembered back to Asta and Noelle earlier in the day before she thought to herself, "besides, this is the last chance I'll probably get to see her before the war...and if things don't really work out for me, the last time I'll ever get to see her."

"You came also because you're worried, aren't you? I'm thoroughly aware of the war ahead, the Spade Kingdom are quite the tough opponents," The Queen observed, "I presume you've been training well."

Vanessa looked down slightly, fully enveloping herself in her worry, "I suppose. It's a daunting task, and I don't really stand much of a chance against the tough guys no matter how much I train myself, I'm just not as versatile. I guess that's why I'm always the support rather than the front-runner. I'm nothing like Asta..."

The Witch Queen began downwards to be level with her daughter as she gently fanned herself, "You're only that way because you made yourself that way. You may never be able to be as flexible as Asta, but it doesn't mean you can't nearly be as flexible. I believe your power has the potential, you've just not believed in it enough, you subjected yourself to think it couldn't be so flexible."

"What do you mean?" Vanessa asked in confusion.

"Your power is perfectly capable of offensive, defensive and support. Your fighting style has never been so up-front though, and you've never experimented enough with it that you became simply a support mage. You still have time before the war, yes? I'd take advantage to practice more offence-based attacks. The first thing you need to be able to thoroughly defend, is yourself," The Witch elaborated.

Vanessa took the moment to think deeply, "It's true that suppose in most fights I've ever had with Asta around and all, I simply supported him and others rather than fighting myself. That lead to him getting so injured, like with Vetto… We won because of our strategy, but I guess I neglected how that left him...if I'm more offensive too, and become more competent as a whole, I can make sure that never happens."

The Queen let out a huff, "If you still had trust in me I'd train you myself to be able to do so, but I suppose I squandered everything when I tried to kill you."

"N-no! I wouldn't be here if you weren't worth visiting still! Regardless of what happened then...you still matter to me… Please can you train me..." Vanessa stuttered.

"Oh?" The Queen looked in surprise, "I'm surprised at your compassion despite this all. I suppose this a chance for me to attain some redemption for being a terrible parent. I suppose I can train you, I wouldn't want you dying in this war." She lifted Vanessa's face slightly and looked into her eyes, "Asta certainly seems to have been rubbing off on you, he was quite the unique, peculiar boy. I wish I got to play around with his powers a little more, they were the likes I'd never seen before."

"He's my little boy to toy with, not yours. He's like a little brother," Vanessa puffed her cheeks.

The Queen grinned as she released her, "I suppose you've been around each other long enough. You've taken quite the liking to him then, treat him well."

Vanessa pulled a determined look, "I intend to do more than just be kind to him. I'll get stronger so I can protect him. I'll throw away the days where I just sit back on the sidelines watching him bleed."

"Remember though to look out for yourself, you'll be at your best between you two when you protect one another. I can see the terror you have deep down for the events ahead. You're scared, and it's natural, but know this: whenever you're in the deepest of dark places, or on the verge of death, I'll be there for you, no matter what," The Queen firmly said as she began away to leave Vanessa to absorb those words.

"She'll be there for me? I suppose giving another chance was the right choice. Thank you, Asta, you helped me see the good in others. Now, I'll help to keep you alive. The words Nero said frightened me, it could just be a hiccup but my instincts are telling me otherwise. I can't take any chances in such uncertain times, no matter what, so I'll get stronger, and keep you alive, Asta," Vanessa clenched her fists

"Now then," The Queen grinned, "let us begin you training."

---

"And we're here!" Asta proclaimed as he burst his arms outwards with a grin.

"W-W-W-W-WHY ARE WE AT A CEMETERY!?" Noelle screamed in fear as she covered her eyes as she shuddered, "ZORA ISN'T DEAD! THIS PLACE IS TOO CREEPY! AND IT'S RAINING HORRIDLY!"

The entire cemetery was clouded in a thick mist, looking so poorly maintained it was practically a bog. Even though it was bright out, it was like the place was clouded in a snow-globe of darkness itself, the sun being blotted out by the leafless trees. Compared to a noble's cemetery, it was like a garbage dump, standard for a commoner's cemetery.

Asta began forth through the entrance as Noelle watched him in horror, "Zora's not dead, but he'll be visiting his father's grave. Judging by what's going on and all, I think it's the anniversary of his death, I can't in good conscience leave him alone without at least checking up on him, besides, Yami wants us to check him too."

Noelle calmed herself slightly for the moment, "B-but this place gives me the chills! I'm too scared! This places isn't where I belong!"

"If you don't wanna come, then be my guest and stay until I'm done. I'm not gonna drag you in by your hair," Asta huffed as he bravely entered without faltering.

"D-dammit! I don't wanna be left alone, that's worse!" Noelle realised as she sprinted to catch up to Asta and walked alongside him, "f-fine, I'll come. W-we wouldn't want you getting s-scared out your s-skin!"

"Sure," Asta groaned as he got a sense of someone ahead, "that doesn't matter now anyway, I think he's near. I'll do all the talking for you, you just have my back or whatever."

Noelle puffed her cheeks, "Fine, not like I had anything to say to him anyway." "I hate this atmosphere, I'm shuddering constantly! How can Asta be so cool in this!? At least he'll probably take care of things if something scary showed up…like a zombie rising from the graves, or a ghost!" Noelle thought, "who am I kidding, I sound so childish! Ghost and that aren't ever real!"

The dysfunctional pair waded through the bog-like cemetery together as they grew closer to their target. Noelle was constantly stumbling and begging for help as she struggled to drag herself through the armoury of trees, gripping to Asta constantly to have him pull her through what he easily could slice. Soon enough, they'd reached where they needed.

"Asta!" Noelle called as she got caught by the guarding branches, leaching to get dragged through once more. Asta seemed still though on the other side as Noelle found herself distracted suddenly by his expression, the branches supporting her collapsing as she tumbled alongside Asta, "ouch!" When she looked up from the floor, she saw their target before them, standing in front of a grave.

"Why are you two shits here?" Zora coldly asked as he didn't even glance to see them.

"Yami sent us to check on you...and I wanted to check on you," Asta replied as Noelle was still picking herself up and dusting herself off.

Zora deeply sighed as he turned an eye towards Asta, "Meh, since you both knew then I'd have thought you'd know to leave me alone you bastards. Today isn't the type of day I like having a shitty bug like you around that jumps around like there ain't much of a problem in the world. A mournful time like this isn't aided by having a happy-go-lucky fucker around," he turned an even fiercer eye towards Noelle, "never mind the likes of her."

Noelle stepped up slightly as her aggression grew, "Hey! Y-you don't know what-"

"Shut the fuck up," Zora groaned as he stamped his right foot against the floor, "I don't give a shit at all about what a little brat likes you has to say."

Asta stretched his arm in front of Noelle as he saw her recoil slightly from those words, recognising their effect on her as she looked down glumly, "Leave her out of this. You should know yourself that she's not just like the royals and nobles you hate. I thought you cut back on the blind hatred but maybe I was wrong. You can hate as many people in the world as you like," he clenched his fist as his glare intensified too, "but don't treat our allies in such a way."

"You're shittin' me? Since when did you fall in love with royals and nobles so much again? I get you've always had respect for them but it's like you wouldn't know evil if you saw it. Of all things I thought you'd be inclined to hate them nearly as much as me," Zora groaned as he began intimidatingly towards Asta.

"He's being irrational due to his emotions," Asta thought as he strengthened his position, "I won't falter him much for him being rawly upset, but I can't just absorb all his hatred for him. He's already upset Noelle, I won't let his irrationality get through me too." "You know I've always been like this to royals, the only ones I hate are ones that I have a real reason to. I don't hate irrationally just because of their status, otherwise I'm as bad as them if they judge me on my status."

Zora abruptly grabbed Asta by his neck and lifted him up to his height, "You really just compared me to those bastards you little shrimp?" Asta struggled slightly as he refrained from attacking Zora directly. "I don't even need a response," Zora grunted as he smashed Asta against the ground at full force as his body tumbled against the floor before colliding with a tree.

"He's not thinking straight...I can't reason with him like this!" Asta thought as he held a hand to his neck, feeling the strong pressure that had suffocated him, "I don't want to attack him but I might have no choice at this rate. With how he's feeling, he's not just gonna take it out on me. Can I really risk him hurting someone else because of the day?"

Noelle immediately lurched to intervene, "Hey! Cut it out you two! We shouldn't-"

Zora swiftly turned as he back-handed her in the face before grasping her by the neck tightly too as he constantly increased his pressure, her face beginning to even change colour faintly, "I thought I told you...to SHUT THE FUCK UP!" With that he blasted her through the ground too, but with much more vigour as she slammed against a tree opposite to Asta, letting out a slight scream of pain on impact as she passed out in the next moment against the floor.

Asta's blood immediately boiled as he disregarded his aching pains and blasted towards Zora while he was still turning back to him, "LEAVE HER ALONE!" He struck the red-head fiercely across the face as he funnelled all of his physical strength into the single blow, he stared at the impact of his fist as he felt like he was slicing through the air in that instant before Zora was launched far away, crashing through the boggy floor himself for once as Asta rushed down to Noelle's side.

Noelle was completely out of it as she rested there with no movement, "Hey...hey!" Asta exclaimed as he gently shook her body to receive no response. She had formed into a sleeping princess as there left a clear mark of where she was strangled, "That bastard. Damn it all! I'm not holding back, I'm not letting him off the hook for this!"

"As...ta..." Noelle murmured as her eyes were very slightly creeping open.

"Noelle!" Asta cheered, "you're gonna be fine! I'll han-"

Her eyes began to portray a look of fear as her eyes locked onto something behind Asta, "R-run!"

Asta felt a strong hand firmly grasp around his head as he was lifted up from the ground. He got a glance back to see a crazed Zora's face before he felt a strong fist across his cheek, knocking him back to the floor as he landed on all fours and recovered quickly, the mud embedding between his nails. He gave a deadly look towards Zora as each impact of the rain began to batter his body like rocks as his hair lowered from being drenched in rain.

"I was a thug on the streets yknow bastard. Don't underestimate me at and-to-hand!" Zora raged as he plummeted towards Asta with a swinging right hook that connected against Asta's wrist which he used as a guard, "you chose your day already to be a pain in my ass, SO WHY DON'T YOU GO DANCE ON HIS GRAVE ALREADY!?"

"STOP BEING SO ARROGANT!" Asta raged as he ploughed a punch against Zora's stomach to force him away as he then leapt towards him again as Zora raised his guard, "YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO'S IN PAIN!"

Asta punched straight through Zora's guard and connected another confident blow against his head, stunning him completely as he spun out to the floor with his opponent looking down on him, "I'm sorry...for all that's happened...I'm sorry you hate nobles and royals so much...BUT DON'T TAKE IT OUT ON US! THIS ISN'T YOU! THIS ISN'T ME!" He felt a hot stream of blood slithering down his face once more as he let out a deep sigh, "My wounds still aren't absolutely healed, Mimosa had to focus on healing Nero yesterday so she never had the chance to completely seal my wounds."

"DON'T...LOOK DOWN ON ME!" Zora raged as he leaped to try and uppercut Asta who simply backed away from the attack and punished him with another blow to the gut.

"I'M NOT LOOKING DOWN ON ANYBODY!" Asta raged too as he struck another clean blow across Zora's face, making him dizzy as he stumbled back light-headed, "WHY WON'T YOU JUST LISTEN TO ME!? I DON'T WANT TO HURT YOU!"

Zora stumbled around aimlessly as he got a feeling back for his surroundings, "As decent as my hand-to-hand is, he's more experienced at it, it seems, and he's trained his muscles to a point where they rawly overpower mine. I won't let that stop me though...I'll stomp him back into the turd he is no matter what!"

A trap ring suddenly appeared in front of Zora as a beam of flames blasted towards Asta in a flash, a beam he scarcely managed to dodge to the side of as he was left off his guard. Using the moment, Zora leapt through the flames without being affected as he gave his all into a single swing, "JUST DIE!"

Scarcely, Asta managed to block the blow as he was left in the same place with his back constantly bending further backwards as he hadn't the same pressure and momentum to completely counter the blow it seemed. Regardless of that, Asta was instead hit by a strong blast of wind at point-blank range with Zora's fist as he was flung a dozen or so meters away, nervously returning to his feet soon after though, "He's implementing more of his magic now he knows he can't out-punch me so easily. Even so, I won't draw my blade on an ally, only my fists."

"WHAT'S WRONG ASSHOLE? IS MY MAGIC NOT WORTHY OF YOUR ANTI-MAGIC!?" Zora raged as he held his arm out with multiple trap circles forming around Asta.

"Not good! From my immediate detections, I can sense all of them are coming straight for me. That means I gotta get out their line of sight. What I don't get though is how they're all around me. He shouldn't be able to place them around me really unless he was using mana zone. Unless...he planted these before-hand...but he didn't know I was coming, did he? So when did he plant these?" His memory suddenly struck as he noticed another set of sliding marks on the ground before performing a backflip over the traps all at once, "I attacked him over here earlier! He planted these when I wasn't focused!"

Asta's cheek was suddenly met with a ferocious fist as he was blasted across the floor, unable to control himself as he found no room to recover. As he laid on the floor, he immediately felt another kick to the gut as he rolled even further away. Zora tried to seize Asta's vulnerability once again but failed as he had recovered fast enough this time, piercing Zora in the stomach with a full-body tackle as he brought him down into the ground.

Asta held down Zora as he resisted his battle urges to continue fighting while he had the chance to stop it, "Come on Zora! This solves nothing! Stop fighting!"

Zora freed one of his arms and pushed his hand against the bottom of Asta's chin as he let a trap loose, "I won't be satisfied unless I beat you into nothingness! This is all my anger you punk!" He released a flaming trap at point-blank range as Asta was blasted of of him and landed on his back some distance away.

"Th-this isn't him!" Asta exclaimed as he felt the left underside of his face, feeling a strong burn that was absolutely sensitive to any contact at all, even the air and rain pelting against him constantly irritated it beyond being bearable, "I know Zora has it in him to have a freak out, but never would he have it in him to go so far! Something isn't right, I don't get it! He's really trying to kill me it feels, he hardly restrained that attack at all." He stomped one foot ahead of the other once more as he slowly began forwards, "At the least, Noelle is safe for now. He's completely focused on me, and we should be a decent distance away from where we began. What am I supposed to do though? I don't wanna have to slash him but that chance is only diminishing, his magic power is too much for just raw strength to overcome. He's become incredible at hiding and placing powerful portals that I always need to be as sharp as humanly possible, but even then, even with my advanced detection...I can't pick up a lot of the portals, they're too hard to detect!"

"Mind your step!" Zora exclaimed as a trap appeared beneath Asta, shooting a sudden bolt of lightning which was dodged but still blasted him away from the sheer pressure, "AND I GOT YOU RIGHT WHERE I WANT YOU!" Asta was suddenly shot by another blast of lightning, with it connecting this time as he was already off of his balance."

"No good! I've got no control at all!" Asta worried as he couldn't find any momentum to change things around, "what can I-?"

No time was given to consider any recovery as a long chain of beating began, Asta being mercilessly beaten by punch after punch by the enraged Zora as he didn't hold back at all, bloodying his fists and Asta all at the same time as they were both stained a deep red. Asta didn't retaliate the combo at all, finding hardly any room for defence as he knew any defence would be futile anyway while he was stuck on the back-foot so much. Every moment he was pushed back inch by inch, as streams of blood flowed down and dripped with the rain. He could practically turn the puddles of rain red.

Zora threw punch, after punch, after punch in a blind rage as each blow felt to sink deeper with impact, quaking Asta's whole body as he was left bruised and wounded from so many consecutive blows, "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" The window to counter was most certainly glaring at him, but he never decided to take it. With one last punch he was blasted further back than all before as Zora ran in for a finishing-blow.

Asta's eyes refocused though as he went onwards like the blows he took before nothing to him, "NOBODY..." he ducked under the incoming blow as he blasted Zora into the stomach with all of his strength in his right arm, "IS DYING..." Zora blast far away with his single arm left outstretched as some magic seemed to be excessing off of it, "TODAY!" His frustrations were beyond average as his beaten body continued onwards with no signs of slowing down, "WHY CAN'T YOU WAKE UP!?"

"What is his body made of!?" Zora thought in bewilderment as he dug his fingers into the ground, "but no matter how durable your exterior is," a trap suddenly appeared around Asta as he suddenly went down, streaming in pain as he collapsed to his knees, "OUR INSIDES ARE ALL THE SAME!"

"A paralysis trap!?" Asta exclaimed in shock as he felt himself unable to move at all, all his wounds freely oozing with blood and his muscles contracting in uncomfortable ways as he couldn't help releasing a few grunts and yelps of pain, "could he have gone more underhanded!?"

"FINALLY! FINISHING YOU OFF WILL FEEL GREAT!" Zora manically laughed as Asta looked up at him in horror, not recognising the threat before him as the person he knew, "SWATTING A FLY AFTER TRYING TO SQUISH IT FOR SO LONG IS A WHOLE NEW SATISFACTION!"

Asta struggled as he couldn't find it in him to move anything more than his neck upwards, "Who the hell are you? This isn't the Zora I know! There's something wrong here! Snap out of this Zora!"

Zora kicked Asta's head as he was knocked to his back, "SHUT UP ALREADY...! At least die quietly for the headache of a voice you have plagued me with hearing." He pointed a hand down towards Asta as he prepared to blast a close-ranged attack, "EAT UP SOME DIRT, ASSHOLE!"

Asta closed his eyes tightly upon the blast of the attack, expecting a strong impact, but receiving nothing, "Huh?" He opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by a decaying water barrier, slowly withering away around him as the entire attack had seemed to be absorbed. Zora looked as confused as he gave a deathly stare towards the drowsy looking Noelle. She looked hardly able to stand as her legs looked on the brink of collapse at all times. She looked a lot more frail and out-of-it as a whole, as she clearly had only gotten on her feet recently.

"I'll...protect...you...Asta..." Noelle mumbled as she stumbled forth.

"YOU LITTLE SHIT! STOP GETTING IN MY WAY!" Zora outburst as he flung a wild punch against Noelle's gut, seeing every bit of shock building up within her as his attack took motion. She was immediately rendered immobile from the single blow, once again, and she was left there, sleeping with the floor.

"NOELLE!" Asta exclaimed as he tried to force his body to move, finally feeling his arms free up as he began to push himself up, before he even had time to begin crawling, he found Zora close by already, charging up an immediate second attack, this time without Noelle to save him, "I knew it...this circle was made quickly so I'm recovering faster than I expected. I can't let Noelle's suffering be in vein. As much as I hate it, I'll need to kick out my blades, then I can turn this on it's head."

Zora held the beam straight to Asta's head as he tried to recover, looking on the brink of releasing it already as Asta began to reach to redirect it, "Say buh-bye. No fucker to save you thi-"

Swiftly, everything resolved in the very next moment, a blistering wind ploughing past Asta as Zora was suddenly blasted back by a fierce punch. He looked upwards from where he kneeled as he saw, who else, but Captain Yami before him, his blade drawn and cloaked already as he held it out to the side for all to admire.

"Yami..." Asta huffed in relief but disbelief at the same time as his brain fully processed everything little by little.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long, and I come out to find you lot on the brink of killing each other. Just what in the hell do you bastards think you're doing?" Yami sighed in disappointment, "I never anticipated things ever getting this messy."

Shamefully, Asta hung down his head as he looked disappointed in himself, "I'm sorry Captain. I should have resolved this better. I ended up letting everyone get hurt..."

"There's not much of a fault for you to take so don't worry," Yami assured as he analysed the beaten Zora, noticing the zero cut marks he could find, "for how you seemed to have fought, you did so courageously. I get you didn't want to hurt him and all, but he's the type of mage you can't beat rawly, that's what you should have realised sooner and just taken the sour pill to cut him."

"Yes sir..." Asta sighed in disappointment as he glanced off towards Noelle, noticing roots growing from the ground as a Flower Basket formed around her before feeling a pair of arms wrap around him, "M...Mimosa…?"

She tenderly wrapped her arms across one another around his neck as she held her right hand to his left cheek, where he had suffered the severe burn as she concentrated a large portion of healing to the heavily damaged area, "Flower Robe," she muttered as she was enveloped in vines and flowers in the form of a dress, looking down sadly at his bloodied body, the blood itself blending into her robe and slithering across her pure hands, "Asta...you're in even worse shape than before... You aren't looking after yourself..."

Gently, Asta leaned backwards into his healer as he released all tension and pressure in his body, his bloodied vision becoming clearer once again as she wiped the blood from his eyes herself, further tainting herself with his deep red fluid, "Guess I messed up again… Sorry for causing you hassle again...I got too careless..."

"I'm not bothered about having to heal you!" Mimosa exclaimed as she hugged him even more tightly to her, "I'm worried just about what you're subjecting yourself to! I'll heal you as much as it takes to make you whole every time...just don't hurt yourself so bad that I can't put you back together again..."

"R-right..." Asta sighed as he felt the warm sensation of her healing all across his body as his wounds began to heal once more, "I guess you're a blessing to have around...I'd be dead if it wasn't for you..."

"Right, right," Yami dismissed, "you can have fun later or whatever but I'm trying to clean up your mess so pipe down a bit. Good thing I saw you sooner rather than later, otherwise you wouldn't have enough time to heal before we see the Wizard King, assuming you wouldn't have died here without me."

Groggily, Zora pushed himself up, struggling greatly after receiving that single blow, "You bastard...why are you in my way!?"

Yami stared blankly as he puffed on his cigarette, "I didn't want you to kill our ally? I think that's a good enough reason."

"Tch! I suppose I'd cut through even you if you stood in my way," Zora grunted.

"Ooo. Very villain-like. Yeah you're definitely not the proper Zora," Yami said with no expression to share, "the Zora I know is real would be walking away with his tail between his legs. Despite that, you're giving off completely different ki levels than to the normal Zora, and I mean waaaay different so there's no way that's him. I suggest you get out before I get my anti-magic bud to actually fight serious and use his weapons."

Zora strengthened his ground, phased slightly in worry, "I'm not worried about that weak twerp. I don't even know what you're talking about anyway because I'm me, I'm the same Zora."

"If you're calling him weak then you really aren't the real Zora, cause the one I know recognises his power and isn't an ignorant asshole like you. We're gonna have to put you back in line because that weakling you see is our ally, and if we don't all work together, he's gonna die soon enough. Besides, the 'I'm still me' argument is a good ol' cliché isn't it? That's like how to take over someone's body in the basic steps, at least come up with something creative."

"Guess you're quite cocky and observant. Either way, I'm not gonna give in and release myself to you anytime soon," Zora sighed as he prepared himself mentally for battle.

Yami sighed with a grin, "I know you don't intend to, and I don't fancy wasting strength on fodder, I was just buying time. Now, Finral!"

The threat was left bewildered as a portal suddenly opened behind them, which they had no time to react to as Asta came blasting out the portal with Demon Destroyer in hand and Slayer in the other. He was left even more bewildered at seeing the weapons as Asta approached rapidly.

"Sorry, did I forget to mention I brought another?" Yami grinned as Final appeared alongside him, admiring Asta with both weapons in tow he he went forth to end the threat.

"You always let him hog the final blow, don't you?" Finral lightly chuckled.

Yami grinned widely, "I dunno, I already paid him back for killing Vetto by him killing the Devil so I'm doing what I please at this point."

Mimosa admired alongside them too, "I healed him so little and he received so much energy back...what's his endurance like truly?"

"WE'LL BE TAKING OUR FRIEND'S BODY BACK!" Asta screamed, slashing his Slayer sword downwards to bury Zora into the ground, shattering the ground beneath him as he exhausted some of the last traces of his energy, constantly digging the ground up as it burst due to his power, at the same time he gave all his force into his Slayer, he forced his Destroyer downwards too, exorcising the darkness out of Zora as he let out a long, painful scream as the darkness released into nothingness, as a long, meandering stream.

There was a lengthy silence as the pressure dropped in the area as a whole, Zora was passed out on the floor for good and Asta dropped his weapons to the floor as they disappeared back into his grimoire.

"Asta!" Mimosa exclaimed as she rushed forth, stretching for his wavering body as she caught him in time, beginning to heal his wounds again once more as she nestled his ragged body into her, giving her all to heal his wounds as fast as she could as she glanced back towards the unconscious Noelle, "I promise...I'll take care of him too."

Mimosa couldn't help but shudder once more upon thinking about the possibility of Asta dying, it was a reality impossible to grasp or conceive, "After all...you're the light for this world Asta, no matter how much darkness comes for you, we'll only make you brighter…" She felt Asta's body give way slightly as he collapsed upon her, her lowering herself to let all his body's weight rest against her as his consciousness slipped, "Rest easy for now...you're safe in my arms...I promise..."

"Job well done then?" Finral asked.

"It was a job we should have never had to do in the first case really, regardless I think best case scenario would have been we don't have three unconscious allies. Other than that, yeah sure, just perfect," Yami bluntly said.

Finral nervously laughed, "Not in the best of moods then..."

"That doesn't matter," Yami even more bluntly replied, "anyway taxi, get all of them back to base."

"I'M NOT A TAXI!" Finral raged as he was cruelly ignored.

As the darkness faded from Zora there, the darkness faded elsewhere too as a projection slowly died out, parallel to the rate the darkness faded into nothingness. Around the projection sat three, shadowed figures, all seeming rather smug and confident in themselves.

"Hm, he had quite the keen senses," said the head of the table, "he immediately sensed the darkness dwelling in him like it was painted on him. Then again, the darkness resonated with that 'Zora' child so much that I suppose it drew him from his normal character more than I anticipated. I knew it would increase his aggression, but to think he'd go to try and kill his ally is bewildering."

"Meh, he's nothing special. I bet he'll go down so easy if you let me have a crack at him!" A female boasted.

The other boy of the table looked unimpressed as he maintained half his face in shadow, "Knowing you, you'll lose and we'd be down a Triad member in the first leg of this war."

"There isn't gonna be more than a single leg because we're gonna take them all out nice and swiftly!" The girl continued to confidently say.

The head of the table had keenly observed as the light faded before them, "So that was Yami, hm? He seems like the biggest challenge they have to offer to us. A lot of their forces there seemed to be relatively younger kids, it'd be like crushing ants."

The female wailed in over-exaggerated sadness, "Aw, but I like ants kinda! Besides, that grey-haired boy looked kinda interesting, he didn't show any magic to us and still held off a powered-up version of his friend ok. Adding to that, I think he's the one that killed a devil in their Kingdom, he could be a challenge maybe! God knows I've been waiting for one of them for so long.

"Don't be ridiculous," The other boy said, "that child stands no chance against us. I'll just crush him so simply."

"No, I'll crush him!" The girl whined back.

"I'm not challenging you to kill him, I'm just saying I'd kill him before you," The boy sighed.

The head of the table interrupted as he pulled a devious grin, "Kill however many you must to capture the target. I shall go for this Yami myself."

---

An hour had passed since Asta and Zora's clash. Everyone had awoken and recovered without fault and those who were needed set off for the headquarters together. By now, it had passed into the afternoon and the rain had died down into a gentle, golden breeze with a slightly clearer sky in the air.

Noelle had been badly damaged during the encounter, but never suffered as many wounds as she found herself less wrapped up than Asta, who looked slightly less like a mummy than he did after fighting Yami. Mimosa had tended to him intensely and turned his looks from a zombie to an average person once more as he hid most of his bruises and other injuries under his clothing. Most notably, the burn on his face hadn't completely gone, but with the time she had, most of it had faded, leaving a graze. Similar to once before, she had tried to balance her healing between the three injured with Asta constantly insisting for her to treat the rest as his usual self, leaving him the most battered still.

"Asta...you got so bloody I heard," Noelle said shyly, "sorry I wasn't useful in the fight, I don't remember much of what happened at all because I was passed out a lot of it," she scratched the back of her head nervously as she glared upon some of his still visible injuries such as his burn, "if I wasn't useless then you wouldn't have had to get hurt..."

"Don't worry about it," Asta shrugged, begrudginly feeling the burn for himself as it still felt extremely sensitive, "I only got injured so much because of my refusal to attack. I nearly wasted the chance to fight on you gave me. I should be thanking you though, if you hadn't defended me, things may not be as they are now."

Noelle blushed slightly as she spoke rather lowly and quietly, "D-don't mention it. You saved me too...and I appreciate you defending me..."

Yami dropped his hand on the smallest one's head as he gripped him tightly to lift him to his height, "How many more times are you gonna get into fights eh? If I didn't intervene, you would be a ball of blood in a likely scenario. You're gonna exhaust yourself if you're not careful, which is why I'd love to force you onto a day off, but there's not enough time left before war to be idle."

"Ouch! Ouch! Yeah, I know! I had no choice though! You even saw it yourself, that he had darkness dwelling!" Asta clawed.

"Darkness?" Noelle questioned, "what are you on about?"

"Long story short, Zora for some reason had some dark magic of sorts implemented into him which made him act as he did, Asta's knocked it out of him though," Yami straightly explained.

Noelle had a hand soothing around her neck as some of the feeling of being strangled was still there, like it had soiled into her, "I see...I guess thanks again Asta, I don't know what we'd do without your abilities."

Asta slightly nodded, acknowledging her sadness as he reached a hand to her shoulder, "Noelle, I have no business barging in on whatever thoughts are bugging you, but, I'll be here for ya if you need it. Just think of me like those massive columns in buildings, I'll help keep you standing!"

Softly, Noelle nodded her head as Yami observed the water mage before flicking her out of mind, "I'll leave her to you, kid. Grumpy bastards like me aren't best with those more complex emotions. Though you don't seem to realise it, you're more than one pillar in the many to her, you're the main foundation, holding things together," he took another puff of his cigarette, looking ready to soon head into the neighbouring room, "you already mean a lot more to her than you realise."

"Asta, beaten up already so soon?" Yuno sighed as he approached from behind the group, standing opposite his rival as he glared upon the burn on his face, "you can hardly go a day without getting into hot water."

"If it isn't the Golden Dawn Vice-Captain!" Asta gleefully exclaimed as he held a fist ahead of himself which was met with another, "we haven't gotten to go head-to-head for ages now! I'm calling you as my opponent in the next fights! Right, Yami?"

Yami gave a half glance to them both as he refreshed his lung-killing goods, "I can't promise anything. Besides, if you both just win all of your matches then theoretically you should end up against one another, right? You're serial winners and fighters so nobody should pose a gargantuan problem...well...except for a few people."

Asta pumped his fist in the air, "No problem for me! I'll surpass everyone and get on the front lines, win the war, and become a vice-captain!"

"Over my dead body," Yami huffed, "only reason pretty-boy became a captain was that Langris messed up and he was next strongest. Only way you'd get to such a role is if ours becomes a real douche for some reason or ends up dying. Keep dreaming a while longer kid, maybe if you prove your worth over him, it'd be considered at best."

"There, there," Yuno pat his rival on the head as he shook his head, "it's ok I know the gap's getting larger, but I can't help being so powerful."

Asta waved around in blind anger, "Hey asshole, I don't care if you're vice-captain of whatever that doesn't make you more powerful! I'll beat you and prove I've moved ahead! You've been blind to all my progress from not looking down enough!"

"There, there," Yuno continued to provoke as he sadly shook his head.

"Alright asshole! When we go back to Hage after the exams, I'll beat you there using my new techniques and fight you at the demon skull!" Asta challenged.

Yuno groaned as he shrugged, "I'll take the race as enough, wouldn't want you embarrassing yourself too much."

Yami began to open the doors as the teens behind all positioned themselves slightly more orderly, "Shut it now, we've got business to handle." The group began behind the captain as Asta, Yuno and Noelle all recognised the leader of the resistance as he stood there confidently, recognising them back as he stood to the left of the Wizard King, who seemed as level as ever.

"Mars..." The trio thought as Asta clenched his fist, reflecting an expression juxtaposing that of the boisterous one most were used to seeing.

The resistance leader seemed without an ally as he was relatively pristine, not seeming to have seen much of the battlefield recently. He was unchanged in Asta's mind from the last time he saw him, the same applying for Noelle who was seeming the least reactive out of the group upon the revealing.

"This bastard," Yuno thought to himself as he resisted his instincts, "I remember him from the dungeon, now he's the leader of their resistance? I guess he must be all they truly have left."

"Ah! Welcome, welcome!" The Wizard King cheerily said as everyone found their place, Yami standing behind the King while the trio of young knights stood grouped together with Asta in the middle, Yuno on the right and Noelle on the left, all opposing Mars, "I thank you all for attending at such a vital time," the King immediately recognised Asta and Noelle's injuries, "and I see you've been staying rather active too."

"Too active," Yami huffed.

Observantly, Asta noticed Marx off to the side too, but relatively out of the way, "So he's there to ensure the truth is being told possibly. We've no reason to believe him off-the-bat."

Julius shrugged off Yami's comments as he raised himself in his seat, "I suppose some things still don't change after so long. Still, it's good to see you all alive and sound in these uncertain times," keenly looking towards Asta's new injury, "we must take the utmost care of ourselves before the real battles begin though, so mind your own condition and allies." He could practically feel the friction between the two halves of people before him as he maintained his level head, "Now then, Mars, what's the current position of the Diamond Kingdom."

"We're down to our last limbs," Mars sighed, "the Dark Triad proved to be beyond anything we could handle, and tore us apart easily. Fortunately, they haven't taken all of the Kingdom, leaving some parts bordering the Clover Kingdom relatively untouched. Even being cut down so much, we still have wildly powerful members of our forces left. I believe with the Clover Kingdom's support, taking back land and eliminating the Dark Triad occupying the area is possible, it'd serve as a large benefit to us all."

"Right, many of us have agreed that taking back the Diamonds is the first major plan of action. We've already formulated how our troops will be devised, it'll be also from there be wildly influenced by which captains we decide to send to all our different fronts. In terms of the retaking of the Diamond Kingdom, I currently plan on sending Mereoleona and Nozel as a minimum," Julius continued as he noticed Asta's tightly clutched fist, beginning to devise suspicions, "now there's only one-"

Yami stepped forth, "Sorry to intervene King, but I think there's some more vital information that needs to be shared involving this Dark Triad," he began, holding firm in his suspicions as he caught the recognition he desired to progress his point.

The Wizard King glanced behind him and stared up towards the interrupter, "Oh? And what is this?"

"Earlier, me, Asta and Noelle were involved in an altercation with Zora," Yami began as he glanced towards the two and thoroughly absorbed the King's attention as he recognised the name for what it was immediately, "it's why those two buggers are more injured now, but also, we discovered that some spell was having an effect at minimum on the kid to influence him. Asta managed to dispel it with his anti-magic, but it leads me to a suspicion that the Dark Triad implemented that on him in some sense. It was a foreign sense of mana and definitely an advanced spell, which leads me to believe they were using the body of the kid as a means of some information leakage or spying."

"I see..." Julius sighed in anxiety as he thought things through deeply, "there must be some reason they used a child like Zora...he would have no hope of attaining information from the likes of me, which means he was after something else. In the moment, there's nothing more I can pull from that, but it definitely puts a screw in the works."

Noelle stepped up slightly as she remained cool and collected, "I can confirm, also, though I was out cold for a long while of it, it did more to him than simply manipulate him. I believe it may have even enhanced his abilities and raw magic power, so they may have the power to control other enemies if we're not careful."

Julius absorbed that information too, slowly, as he fixed his mind's focus, "Thank you for the report, that information will be vital for our approach. Anyway, back on track. The main problem we are suffering between our Kingdom's is the lack of trust. Given our battle-congested history, there's much mistrust between our forces, which would make working together impossible on the battlefield if not resolved. I understand many of us are on different levels at the minute in terms of our trust for one another, so I need to establish where we are," he turned firstly to Noelle, "where is your stance?"

"I think we could trust them for the most part, they are set in the right direction and they don't seem to be in the position to resist our aid," Noelle explained as she focused her vision on Mars, "we'll only be at our best to fight Spade with full trust in each other."

Yuno stepped up next, "I don't think we can trust them yet. I've only encountered them attacking us and with no support for us. Without a clear showing, there's no reason to trust them...they could just stab us in the back.

Asta's body quivered slightly as he kept constantly clutching his fist tighter, his nails digging into the palms of his hands. He gave a ferocious look into Mars' eyes as Asta stood level with his allies, "We can't trust the Diamond Kingdom...I can't trust them at all..." Noelle was caught rather surprised by this as well as Mars himself as everyone looked towards the smallest boy in wonder.

"And why is that?"Julius asked in wonder as tensions began to rise.

"Nero had a thorough vision involving me. She said she saw the person who would kill me, just as you predicted would happen," Asta began as Yuno began to swell with anger and rage irrationally. His body immediately detested those words on gut instinct.

"The person who kills me...is of the Diamond Kingdom..."

---

Thank you for reading this chapter! The length of these chapters are constantly swelling above what I predict but I hope you really enjoyed this!

Thanks for the continued support and I look forward and hope for it to continue even further because I've been blown out the water from what I expected already and I'm very appreciative of that!

Have a wonderful day! (P.S-Gap towards next chapter might be slightly longer this time as things cool down but I'll do as much as I can!) :D

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NEXT CHAPTER: What's The Big Idea?