Unease filled the atmosphere as there was a brief moment of silence following Asta's words as he looked down glumly to the floor, Mars himself even being throw into a loop of confusion as Asta's words felt like a punch to his gut as he couldn't fully comprehend how this would happen or come to be.

The excessing mana leapt from minimal to astronomical in a single instant as well as the tensions in the room as three of the idling mages took movement. Yami and Yuno both abruptly took a leap towards Mars as they both let loose their weapons to the threat's neck. Yami's blade was already coated in the darkest black as it's shining edge looked desirable to slice the opening. Yuno unleashed his Spirit of Zephyr too as he lined it just below Yami's blade, the two of them both full with the same boiling blood as they put all their weight into their swings in blind rage. Together though, they stopped, millimetres from Mars' skin molecules as the giant gusts of wind they created together, stirred up everything loose in the entire room and forced people out of position as the gusts were too strong to hold back against while standing so still.

Noelle clenched her fists as she shot a furious glare into Mars and stuck an arm in front of Asta while jolting her wand forth, "You best hope for your life that this is a mistake of some kind," a phenomenal amount of mana condensed at the tip of her wand as the blue light began to glow intensely and project her inner fury, "I'll kill you before you get to him, you bastards."

"Is that how it is eh?" Yami sternly said as the aggressiveness in his voice steadily grew as his mana intoxicated Mars, coupled with Yuno's, "are these all small steps just so you can work into crushing us all? If that's the case, and you even think about laying a hand on my little clown over there, I'll dice you apart."

"If any of you lot lay a hand on my rival-no...my brother, I'll never forgive you, and kill you myself," Yuno thundered too as it felt that his weapon grew even more intense and excessed an amount comparable to Yami, "I pray too that this is a mistake but I'd hate to take a chance at a time like this."

Julius sat there, unaffected by what was happening around him as he glanced towards the glum Asta, a hatred of his own building as he maintained control over himself and glanced slightly towards Marx who shifted closer. "This was the one prediction I desired to be wrong. With this vision though...things look a lot more hopeless. I can't manipulate the threads of fate as I am though...I must believe in these to change it themselves...and from the looks of it...he's got all the support behind him that he could ever desire."

Noelle turned herself more to Asta as she drew him close with an arm and kept the other one extended outwards as she dwelt on the events earlier into the day, "Even though I suffered a lot against Zora, and I was immobile for most of it...I still heard your words no matter how faint they were Mimosa… 'I promise...I'll take care of him too'. Those words resonated within me it felt and went straight to my heart… With you with me too...I know I can put my body on the line to protect him, knowing you'll be there for him to fall back on too, though, he's all mine still."

Mars gulped as he felt the immense pressure surrounding, seeming completely bewildered, "I...I don't get it?! This has to be false! Look at our dire state! Why would we spark such anger from your Kingdom when we are at the mercy of another?"

"To get on the Spade's good side cause you think they're stronger? There's plenty of different ideas," Yami growled as his blade edged closer.

"Even if it's just a vision at the moment, I'm not keen on taking chances, especially from a Kingdom that's had it's back on us before. It wouldn't be new for you to stab us in the back I suppose," Yuno grit through his teeth as his blade edged closer too.

Marx looked unsettled by the tensions, "N-now, now gentleman...can't we just-"

Yami and Yuno darted a ferocious look alongside each other towards Marx as their intensities only increased, "SHUT UP!"

"Both Yami and Yuno are normally so cool and level-headed people. To see them so angered..." Julius began to himself as he glanced towards the protected Asta, "I suppose it speaks to how far he's touched their hearts through all those layers clouding their most open selves. For certain, he's forged bonds with them like no other I've seen before," he then glanced more specifically at Noelle, "and not just with them too it seems. For these connections to blossom so deeply within the trio of children more specifically, they're are truly becoming what I envisioned of them the moment I laid eyes on them. Maybe...they'll seize our thin chance...and destroy the Dark Triad. Fate will, will it so."

"Are you ok, Asta?" Noelle nervously asked, glaring at her emotionless ally as he hadn't seemed to move an inch since everyone else let loose their emotions, "I never realised the threat to us was so close. We can't let you die, no matter what." Noelle held him even closer too her as her body began to quake more with each passing moment, "We may be acting a bit rash...but you understand right?"

Asta seemed emotionless as he held a hand to Noelle's arm that was guarding him, "Noelle...you trust me...right…?"

Noelle felt a moment of shock as she felt her nerves cool down, "O-of course…I've always done...! Wh-what makes you ask…?"

"Then please...stop protecting me and lower your wand..." Asta immediately followed as he maintained his his expression.

"Asta? What are you gonna do?" Noelle questioned as she didn't falter her grip on him.

"I'm fixing the situation...we'll get no where at his neck..." Asta mumbled as he felt Noelle ease her grasp and let him walk free towards Yuno and Yami. Confidently, he made his progression forwards in spite of their nature and clenched his fists as he bravely raised his voice, "Stop it already you two, this is pointless."

Yami edged even closer as he clenched his free fist, "What do ya mean 'pointless'? I could use him to test how sharp my blade is now. If this guy is part of the bastards that kill you, then sorry kid but I'd rather kill him first."

Yuno was constantly edging closer too as the wind intensity was constantly sharpening, even to Asta, it felt immensely more powerful than the last time he had the chance to see Yuno seriously act with the weapon, "How would you able to challenge me to become the Wizard King if you're dead? There's a very good reason in stopping your possible killer here."

"No...I said to stop," Asta thundered as he intensified his stare and rolled his eyes, his alternate form overtaking him as his right eye turned red and the darkness spread like an arrow diagonally through it. He exerted his own intense wind pressure as he stirred up the unease in the room further, the ground beginning to tremble as Asta held both his Slayer and Destroyer swords. To top it all off, his demon wing was extended wide, wider than it had ever seemed before as it seemed to have developed more since the last time, with more detail being apparent on it, "I don't care how my power pales to yours, I'll do what I must to slice you off myself if I have to, so unless you wanna be the ones that end up killing me, then leave him already."

"Asta..." Mars thought to himself, seeing the ferocious yet also saddened look on the boy's face as he tried to seal away his anxieties, "even with the rumour my people may kill him...he's defending me… Does he see the truth?"

Yami And Yuno glared back at the infuriated Asta, reading his fury that he was bottling beneath as they slowly, yet begrudgingly withdrew their weapons. They offered an intense stare towards Mars who slowly backed away as Asta still seemed angered, maintaining his transformation.

Noelle could sense his wild feelings as she slowly approached him, softly wrapping her left hand around his to avoid contact with the swords, "Asta...I'm sorry...but please calm down too..."

Asta let out a deep sigh as he cooled himself, his weapons returning to his grimoire as the darkness parted from him once more. He maintained his serious expression but still felt mostly at ease with Noelle so close to help control his actions, "Nothing is in stone yet...it may be that I die from the Diamond Kingdom, but we don't know who in the Diamond Kingdom will do that job...we can easily just search through his memories to make sure he isn't lying, and if he doesn't know, it limits things a little more. I can't trust them, but there's no reason we can't deduce those of them we can trust."

"You're playing with fire you know," Yuno groaned as his weapon disappeared from his hand, "I trust you to believe in the right people, so don't get yourself killed from being too kind."

"It's hard to think you'd defend a bastard like him after revealing this all yourself. Your nature is what will be the death of you if not this murderer...how in the hell do you think you're gonna survive this war?" Yami questioned as he rolled his eyes at the boy, "cause if you keep like this...you're as good as dead."

Wallowing in his darkness, Asta innocently looked up towards Yami, "I'll surpass my limits...and I'll change the future fate has in store for me. I'll surpass all my limits...to change the future into a light one...for us all."

A foreboding hand of the Captain of the Bulls came down upon Asta's head softly, "Sheesh, I hate how strong you are in your words sometimes, acting like a buzz-kill for my fun. Then again, I guess your confidence is partly why I picked you. Anyhow, I'm willing to trust you, you seem to know him better than me. Make sure you don't regret it kid and die, or I'll kill you."

"Yes Captain!" Asta exclaimed, maintaining his serious expression.

"For your own sake, I hope there's something new to you that I haven't seen since last time," Yuno hissed as he turned away from Mars, "if any of you even think about attempting to kill him, I'll wipe the floor with your whole Kingdom...one by one."

"W-we would never!" Mars stuttered, "I know it'd be a foolish move, so I'd never fathom even trying!"

Yuno huffed as he glanced towards his rival, "Just to be clear, if you die before you get to see me become the Wizard King, I'll never forgive you."

Energetically, Asta stomped his foot forth, "Don't worry, it's you who needs to look after yourself before I get crowned the Wizard King!"

Sylph drove into Asta's face as she puffed her cheeks, "What are you on about!? Yuno's gonna become the Wizard King you stupid! How many brain cells you missing up there that you could think with such little logic involved! Yuno would wipe the floor with you in a fight and will!"

"Eh? Get out my face you stupid fairy! Yuno's magic wouldn't get through my blade at all! You've not even seen my full power yet!" Asta groaned as he swatted the pest away.

"Like I need to see it! Your power couldn't stand a chance!" Sylph continued.

"Put a sock in it," Noelle sighed as she grasped a hand-full of Asta's hair and grasped the fairy with her other hand, "you're gonna give me a headache!" She flung the fairy towards Yuno as she kept Asta in hand, finding herself unwilling to attack him as her thoughts collapsed in on themselves and left him there squealing in pain as she didn't do a single thing to relieve him.

Julius raised himself from his seat as he simply neglected the wailing Asta as Noelle's attention was brought to him, "Now that everything has smoothed back down, it'd be smart to take up on Asta's suggestion and check Mars' memories, if you don't mind of course."

Mars looked uneasy as he lowered his head, "If it proves my innocence...then I suppose there is no choice. I hope this is enough proof to you. I'd never dreams of betraying an ally to me like Asta."

"He seems to genuinely believe in this, normally they would be much more hesitant if they have something to hide but he offered himself promptly. I can't trust these people either...but within the rough, it does seem there are good men. I'll just have to use this chance to find out what they know of the Dark Triad," Julius pondered as he glanced towards Marx, "then let's begin."

After a short while, Marx had already accessed into Mars' unprotected memories as they stemmed upwards for all to see. Mars himself was passed out while his memories were accessed as everyone gathered around tightly for a clear view, a single memory catching most people's attention though…

"AH! Can't you let go of me already!? You're gonna pull my hair out!" Asta whined as he was victim to wherever her hand travelled as her fingers where tangled tight to the root of each stem it felt.

"Shut up, Stupidsta," Noelle coldly said, "this is serious, we need to concentrate but your whining is disrupting my thought!"

"And trying to dangle me like a bauble is being serious!?" Asta exclaimed as Noelle mentally neglected all his reasonable phrase that he tried to negotiate through his screams.

Yuno analysed the memories closer as he neglected the disruption behind him, "So that must be the havoc that Dark Triad member caused," he pointed towards a fracture of a memory as it enlarged for them to more clearly see, depicting a shadowy figure with a spade symbol on his back as flames coated the majority of the landscape, "their destructive power seems immeasurable."

Yami analysed too, sighting much less pleasant things as the blood-soaked floor turned his insides, "Looks like he was on one alright. More importantly though, there doesn't seem to be anything about a plan to kill Asta, is there? He's hardly even known by them I'd say from what I can depict."

"Indeed," Marx sighed in slight relief, "Mars appears to have no ties to any plot of the sort and there is no magic protecting any further memories. I could soundly say he's no threat towards Asta."

"So that means he's all good right? Ow, ow!" Asta questioned.

Julius let out an even deeper sigh of relief but looked further worried as he analysed the destruction of the Dark Triad, "While Mars is certainly not a threat, this would now mean that anybody in the Diamond Kingdom could kill you," a further look of anxiety overcame everyone, "Nero's vision was that a member of the Kingdom would kill you, with no specification, we've limited one of the many. We can't go around checking all of their memories, so the best we can do is take caution and value Asta as a high-priority asset to be extensively defended."

Noelle came forth confused, still not having released Asta, "Wait...what do you mean by that?"

"I've decided to stick with my instinct that this battle takes first priority to overcome in the war," Julius began as he threw an eerie and shocking feeling into the atmosphere, "Asta is in extreme danger, but we cannot falter, and must take down the threat that resides in the Diamond Kingdom. That's why I need every single one of you to be at your best in this battle, and given your deep bonds, I'd already expect you to do so."

"Yah," Yami yawned as he glanced towards his little Bull, "it's not like I'm just gonna sit around to watch him die, that'd make me quite the shit Captain if I didn't butt in on fate for the little bugger. You can trust us."

Without a single emotion to share, Yuno glanced at his brother and the memories on display as he gave into thought, "There are far too many unknowns. If we only know he's killed by a Diamond, we don't know where or even how soon in the war. In other words, he could die at any moment. Just exercising caution isn't enough to satisfy my worries. If this is the case then I'll just stay to his side and protect him myself, it's the best I can do."

Noelle lifted the ball of an Asta she had in hand as she blushed and puffed her cheeks, "You better not get carried away this time and get yourself hurt, you hear me? You can't afford unnecessary damage any more!"

"Right, right! I promise so just let me go!" Asta wailed continuously.

"Hmph! Fine," Nolle maintained her puffed cheeks as she dropped Asta back onto the floor, "so what do we do now?"

Yami was staring towards the memories too as he took a large puff out of his cigarette, "Well we're supporting the Diamonds it seems, so there's not much else we can do other than be prepared for the battle. Don't give up on the training you have, our battles will be soon," he glanced among the younger kids, "and you three will all be facing off if you all pick up your weight for the matches. I'll explain it more soon but you'll be facing off in the matches in another few days time, and I was thinking you'd want some time off after that to go see your family and all before the war."

"Thank you, Captain!" Asta bowed as straight as a plank of wood as he was brimming with joy at the possibility of returning to see Sister once more, "when I win this war, she'll be so proud of me that she couldn't resist saying yes!"

Julius drew attention once more as he concealed all his negative emotions, "Now everything is set, all that's left to complete is the organisation of our troops. No matter what, I will have you four on the front lines of the raid, as well as Mereoleona and Fuegoleon most likely. A swift victory is our best outlook, but we don't know how much it will take to thwart the Dark Triad who had controlled the Kingdom. But this is all for now, go on and finish you preparations, I believe in you all absolutely, so do your best."

"Yes, sir!" The whole group yelled together as they saluted in sync, taking their leave from there.

A short while had passed since the meeting as everyone had dissolved to different places as the sky turned a beautiful gold across the Kingdom, coupled with a soft breeze that was just light above to move hair and clothing but held no power beyond that like a light drizzle trying to dry a volcano.

At the time, Noelle and Yami had headed back to the Bull's base while Yuno had headed back to his own base, leaving Asta on his own as he stood upon the rooftop, looking down over the city as he let himself merge into his surroundings, a calm nature setting his uneasy mind back on course, "It's happening eh? There's no avoiding fate any more, I gotta tackle it head on, it's not child games now, we're against the most evil humans I could imagine at the moment, so I pray this is the worst set of people I ever have the burden of cutting down." Asta sighed as he held his right hand to his hip, "Who am I kidding...Yami shattered my delusions already...even with these guys, I bet there's much worse people in some far corner of the land...beyond my horizons… I'll fix them though just as I'll fix this Kingdom."

Some short moments of silenced passed as a gentle warmth overcame Asta, hearing the boisterous footsteps of a figure behind him as he didn't spare a second thought to look behind himself and focused on the beautiful flaming ball in the sky that had captured his attention. Given his numerous interactions, he immediately detected the ki to be Mereoleona's as she proudly stood alongside him whilst admiring the sun too.

"I told you too meet me outside the building, not on top of it you know, right?" Mereoleona lightly chuckled as she leant her arm on his head, "you're lucky the Wizard King informed me of your wanderings after your meeting. I'd have caved your head in if I had to wait for you for even a few minutes extra," she glanced down upon him as she read his more blank and serious expression, "so, I know you wouldn't be the type to be go on and defy me for no good reason, especially with picking such a peculiar area. That only leads me to reasonably believe that something is wrong, so cough it out if you wish."

"It's nothing but petty thoughts," Asta sighed as he tore his vision away from the light, "my minds been consistently hiccuping with the new pressure that it doesn't know how to handle or something like that. It's nothing important that should be distracting me so much. There's more important things for me to look towards."

Mereoleona pulled off her arm as she claw gripped around the top of Asta's head, "You can't call yourself healthy if your mentality isn't too. A healthy mind is just as useful as a healthy body in the steps towards victory on the battlefield. We can't control our dreams and nightmares, but what we can do is control how we suppress their impacts to us, that's why your connections are so admirable, connections are often a huge light in it all."

Asta looked more glum, "Then even with all these bonds I have, why am I feeling this way? Why can't I be who I was before?"

"Life changes the older you get kid," Mereoleona sighed as she changed her grip on him into a gentle hand upon his hair, "it's why they say to live out your youth to the fullest, because at some point, it becomes a long plummet into reality. The real world is a lot more brutal than what you envisioned not so long ago. To say harshly, you may never be able to feel the way you used too, but that doesn't mean you can't be as happy as you can be instead. It'll take time, so don't let it funnel into you too much, but use it to psyche up for what's ahead."

"Thank you, Mereoleona," Asta still lowly said as he glanced back up to the sun, looking for the light in this all as he reflected on the night prior to himself, "Nero...you said you'd be there for me whenever I need, but...look where you are now… I guess I'll have to stay strong for now."

"Now then!" Mereoleona suddenly burst with life as she parted from the boy, "let's get to training, this should keep your mind at ease for now as a distraction!"

Asta fumbled around slightly as he corrected himself and nodded before pulling out his Slayer sword, "R-right!"

"Oh? This seems to be getting interesting," A voice said as Asta turned to his side to see the tiny Wizard King stood there with a broad grin as he overlooked the two of them, "seems like you're really being pushed recently, Asta, I'm glad to see your efforts."

"Wizard King," Asta gawped, "what brings you here too?"

Julius shrugged as he began close to them, "I won't be able to watch your matches in your grouped battles, so I wanted the chance to see how you've grown right now. I heard Mereoleona was training you so I thought I'd be a spectator, though it will be difficult with those wounds on you still it seems, so allow me to handle them."

Asta was shocked for a moment as he felt all his wounds closing all at once, a refreshing feeling overcoming him as before he realised, all his wounds had completely recovered, including the burn on his face as his skin returned to being completely smooth and flawless while his bandages slowly unravelled away, "Wh-what? But I thought you hardly have a grimoire left!"

"I do, I hardly have a single page still with me, as well as a minimal amount of mana in my capacity. Even a spell like that is quite taxing to me with your minor wounds," Julius lightly chuckled without a care in the world it seemed, "when I look to myself now, all I see in myself is the little child like yourself that I saw when we first met. Given your height, it feels weird to be shorter now."

For a brief moment, Asta died inside as a blank expression overcame him, as if his soul had clawed out of himself as the other two watched over him in confusion. He snapped back into reality a moment later though as he shuddered out those words, "Well, I-I hope I can keep soaring above what I once was!"

"I'm sure you will, now that you're healed though, don't disappoint, give it your all," Julius encouraged as he slowly stepped backwards to leave the two to it as he watched on, "Mereoleona will be on the Diamond battlefield with you so I suppose being more informed of her magic would help you too, I don't think I need to tell you though that she's stronger than Yami, so I wish you luck on even trying to land a hit."

"Right," Mereoleona interrupted as her fists became coated in flames, "we'll have a short spar so I can thoroughly gauge your power before we get into the improvements. I want to see your cracks on that surface and break you apart."

The Destroyer sword slowly came to rise from the grimoire as Asta grasped it and steadied his position with his Slayer firmly pointed forth and the Destoyer behind him slightly and to the side, "She fights a much more aggressive game than Yami by a long mile, even if I played a heavily defensive game, I would break too easily thanks to her Mana Zone that can keep her nearly as mobile as my demon form I'd assume. The only way to fight against her will be to counter and force her on the back-foot, there's not much strategy to it that I can add...I'm too weak to formulate anything too complex."

Mereoleona suddenly blast forth in an instant, suddenly having a wild fist blocked by the Slayer as Asta had read her ki fast enough. He had twisted his wrist a half a rotation so that the blade had the most surface area to block the attack as he was pushed back slowly through the tiles of the roof, a clear trail being left behind as he slowly solidified his position, seeing the flame in her fist had died.

"Just as I though," Asta confirmed to himself, "she was strong enough to destroy a pure model of the sword, when Rhya replicated it, with a full-powered attack, but the anti-magic nullified the attack so it was just her normal punch. Still though, her raw strength feels as immense as Yami's nearly, if not even better, my defence was hardly hanging on for a brief moment."

"Hm, I hardly ever see someone take an attack from her so easily, I suppose the anti-magic is quite good to nullify her normally destructive attacks as they start quite contained from her fists. He's a good opponent for her to challenge herself if he himself pushes beyond. Given her nature, he might find some greater liberties than he did against Yami to land a blow," Julius analysed as he admired both his knights.

"Try this!" Asta exclaimed as he found a moment to push forth against Mereoleona, subsiding his giant sword for a moment as he sliced upwards with his Destroyer cleanly. The Vermillion managed to dodge to the side as she admired the boy's effort before leaping backwards.

The fire mage cracked her knuckles and shook around a bit as she seemed to warm herself up more, "That was a good try, you used your brain there to work through the situation in a singular moment. Keep this up and I'll play serious with you, and crush you of course."

Asta launched forth first this time as he sliced a phantom attack in front of himself during his progression. It was easily dodged to the side though as Asta swung both blades together towards the left of her waist which had only just finished it's movements as the threat was close. At the last second, Mereoleona blasted fire from her feet as she leapt over the attack and shifted much further away so that there was long distance between her and Asta.

"Now, let's see how well your nullification can handle this!" Mereoleona yelled from afar as she held her right arm in front of herself, launching out an extensive column of fire that constantly twisted and coiled. "So far he seems good in his reactions and in planning a strategy, but with such heavy weapons, even his fastest reactions wouldn't counter me at close range. I suppose that's the purpose of his more slim sword, but it's being weighed down still by his heavy one. I suppose that's a weakness he couldn't rawly patch, but he seems to make up for that and avoid those situations with the longer-ranged arsenal of attacks he's developing."

"It's such a large and intense beam for her having put minimal effort into it, it seemed," Asta thought as he readied himself, "a full reflection wouldn't work since the flames could just move around it with the minimal concentration they have, meaning I'll just have to slice through the side of it like I did with the Silva siblings."

The moment before Asta affirmed his course of action, a wild ki suddenly came to his senses behind him as he glanced back to see a column of flame coming towards him at a slightly different angle, "Shit! She's already making use of her Mana Zone while I wasn't fully focused! But, it looks like I can slice it too!"

Elegantly, Asta spiralled around upon the approach of both flames, slicing his blades deeply through both as the sparks danced around him like twinkling little fairies. All flames around him promptly dispelled due to the anti-magic as Asta tensioned his whole body, "It looks like I don't have enough time to hold back, I've got to give it my all right here, right now."

The familiar look of Asta's Devil Form came into shape as he dawned the same look as before in the meeting, his devil tooth leaking over his lip as he pierced a look with his red eye towards Mereoleona, who responded with a pleased grin.

"I've only seen short moments with this form of Asta's, I'm excited to see a full on battle with it now he seems to have a wonderful control of it," Julius' smile gleamed as his eyes filled with the same wondrous awe that appeared whenever he saw new magic, "it's such an ominous and oppressive atmosphere, I can see the excitement building in Mereoleona too because of it! I'll get to see her unleash more power!"

"Good, now the warm up is over," Mereoleona was suddenly surrounded by an immense aura as she was engulfed completely in intense flames, "I can fight without worrying about knocking your head off. Don't hold back on me, 'kay?"

The Slayer suddenly was coated into darkness as Asta stabbed his Destroyer into the ground, solidifying his position as he felt extremely nervous from the immense pressure, his body quaking, but he still mustered out the courage yell confidently enough, "BLACK DIVIDER!"

Mereoleona raised an eye in interest at the weapon as she admired the new pattern she could depict through the flames, "So his sword can transform now too? Yes, I can feel he's exerting his full power now!" "Let's see how long you last!" Mereoleona proclaimed as she dived forth, already making contact with Asta's blade as he used both hands to reinforce his defence, but with so much pressure, it was too much to hold back against as he broke wide open.

"Shit!" Asta thought as he flew away from the danger, sweeping back to the other side of the building as his wing extended far and wide, "having the air now brings a whole new dynamic into things! I'm a lot more free, but all it does is give her more room to let loose!"

"What an intense battle!" Julius admired as he nervously chuckled to himself, "looking at things now it would have been better to force them to fight further out. Even so, I haven't seen Mereoleona this excited for a while, especially just to fight a young child. She must see as much into him as I for how much of a bond they seem to share."

Soaring like a bird, Asta flew forth at full speed towards his trainer, not hesitating at all as he flung a wild swing across her chest. Mereoleona leant back and easily avoided the attack as she grasped his arm with the sword before leaning forth to head-butt him harshly before charging another strong punch, aiming for a critical spot this time. Instinctively, Asta flung his free arm back as the Destroyer sword shot like lightning into his hand as he carried the momentum into an attack, faster than the Vermillion's own.

Mereoleona managed to react in time as she prevented the attack, wrapping her hand around Asta's and fiercely squeezing it while forcing away the blade, preventing contact with the blade itself as she subconsciously loosened her grip on Asta's other arm.

"This is my chance!" Asta exclaimed internally as he stabbed the Slayer into the ground directly behind him, retaining an iron grip as he used it as a pivot to swing around and cleanly kick Mereoleona, utilising all his momentum, in her face. With that, he managed to dive free of her as he distanced half a dozen or so meters, "I did it!"

"Impressive," Mereoleona chuckled in disbelief as she rubbed away the slight mark like it was nothing, truthfully, the attack hardly even turned her head from impact, but left the smallest of marks for Asta to boast at, "your anti-magic is quite troublesome that it made it even difficult for me to process what to do fast enough, and ultimately you didn't even scathe me with your weapons, I wasn't thinking broadly enough."

Asta sweat nervously as he gripped onto his weapons even tighter, "That didn't do a thing to her other than rile her to power up even more. She deduced herself aloud so swiftly too as if she's confident to rectify all those things in the next rally. I may have gotten a mark on her but I need to go further, her combat style is a lot faster and destructive it feels, so things are getting out-of-hand quickly."

The already dense pressure increased further as Mereoleona suddenly began exerting an even heightened amount of mana, "It's not every day I get to release so much, it feels refreshing to feel a hit like that. I never have even gone so far as to show this power to Leo yet so thanks for not letting me down yet. Looks like you made me loose that bet Yami set though, no wonder you actually managed to hit him. Now let's get down to the real business."

"He managed to land a hit on Mereoleona too! How spectacular! As I thought, the anti-magic is proving to be difficult to work around for even the likes of Mereoleona, he uses a rather different battle style as well as fighting with such a peculiar ability that it's like fighting a new being altogether. Mereoleona's magic is hindered a lot more in this compared to Yami's, so it was natural, especially with him being his main mentor, that he held off Asta so much easier. Even with all this against her though, she's seeming to start to adapt a lot faster now, in no time he'll be like a book to her. I'm not surprised that she's the most feared Captain still," Julius analysed as he raised his expectations once more before the rally continued.

"Firstly," Mereoleona began as she burst forth, approaching Asta head-on as she formed a flame blast behind the kid, forcing him forwards as he made the instinctive decision to duel head-on. Within a flash though, Asta suddenly found himself with his head grabbed as Mereoleona had used a tiny blast to swivel around Asta, promptly crushing his head into the ground before flinging him into the air, "you're too slow to react in situations where you're slower, you should be the one thinking a step ahead to make up for the chances where you can be out-manoeuvred."

Asta steadied himself into the sky before already finding himself dodging around as endless amounts of beams shot directly for him, all appearing out of thin air as he did his best to dodge them all, drawing his attention away from his trainer though as he suddenly found himself narrowed, with Mereoleona lined up to attack him directly with no more space to avoid, "Secondly, you're too easily overwhelmed by numbers! Smaller attacks you seem fine with handling, but in large quantities, you're no match for such larger-scaling attacks!"

The Vermillion promptly aimed a punch for Asta's face, the attack being blocked though by the Slayer blade as the anti-magic boy nullified her attack and blasted away as his frustrations piled, "She's cranked up her power a slight bit and suddenly she gotten multiple times stronger it feels! I'm hardly getting moments to breathe!"

"And lastly," Mereoleona grinned as by the click of her fingers, multiple strong blasts occurred around Asta, causing significant damage as he fell harshly to the floor, managing to maintain his form though as he struggled against the ground, "you're incredibly vulnerable to Mana Zone attacks."

"Dammit!" Asta grunted as he struggled against the floor, a few dozen more marks appearing all over him as he even smelt a slight burn from a place where he had only dodged the attack by a few hairs, "she's too much to handle! I'm still too slow and limited compared to her!"

"So," Mereoleona began again as she landed in front of the boy and adjusted his chin to look up at her, "how are you gonna start fixing those issues? You need to know how to grow before you truly can grow properly. It's like a plant, if you don't know what it needs and feed it random crap, it won't grow properly and blossom as bright as it has the potential to, but if you give it what it needs, and nurture it's growth properly, then it can blossom to it's fullest."

Confused, Asta dug through his sea of thoughts, trying to muster an idea, but it was useless, "I...don't know… With no mana, I can't create attacks out of nothing like you can with Mana Zone...I'm more limited and get easily overwhelmed..."

Mereoleona picked the boy up using her flame claws as she confidently stared eye-to-eye, "You're only as limited as you let yourself be. Let's think about the Mana Zone, you're weak to attacks that use it right? How can you counter that?" She dropped him lightly as she looked down on him with her hands on her hips.

"Counter...Mana Zone?" Asta slowly thought as he looked towards his Slayer sword, momentarily powering back down alongside Mereoleona, "Mana Zone allows her to control the mana in the area...so I suppose the only way I could stop that is by disrupting her control of the area...or controlling the area with my own anti-magic." "By disrupting your control of the area's mana or by controlling the mana myself," he answered allowed to be confirmed with Mereoleona's broad grin.

"Correct, now how can you do those things? What can you do to the area yourself?" Mereoleona kept egging him on.

"Well, I can already send out controlled waves of anti-magic like an attack," Asta began aloud as he thought deeply before each phrase, "so I just need to be able to manipulate my waves so that I can emit those anti-magic waves into the area and nullify your control of the mana!"

Getting a slight sense of deja vu, Asta felt a hand upon his head, "Right!" Mereoleona proudly boasted as she parted and began charging up some mana for an attack, "now do it."

Asta punched his fist into the air, "Yeah! WAIT WHAT!?"

"Nullify my Mana Zone, or make your own Anti-Mana Zone if you will," Mereoleona fiercely said as the mana she excessed intensified, "I don't expect you to master it now, but I want to see this begin so you can go and master it alone. If you don't get it, I'll keep hitting you till you get it, until it kills you."

"Well I suppose I could take some mentor notes off of her, but not all notes," Julius nervously chuckled to himself as he attentively watched the nervous Asta, seeing his growing nerves, "being challenged to perform a new technique on the spot seems to be a challenge to him too, but he's gauging it well, especially for being under the pressure of such a captain. He's developed real strong nerves over the years, especially for the situation he's in. I suppose this will give me another good chance to see how he performs with his back against the wall, Mereoleona seems to be enjoying this too much to end it soon."

Quaking, Asta steadied his sword in front of himself begrudgingly as he felt the immense pressure of his trainer's glare and her growing power, "When I tried unlocking my Devil form…I channelled the energy into myself for it to flow deeper, but this time, I need it to excess outwards." He couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu once more, with him trying to delve deeper into his power as Mereoleona watched over him. He held both hands to the blade's fine handle as he confidently held it ahead of himself, feeling the flow of anti-magic within the blade as it felt to bounce against the boundaries of it's container, being the sword.

Slow, deep breaths were taken as the blade resonated within the young boy, the anti-magic current strengthening as it ebbed and flowed faster throughout, "I can't muster enough anti-magic energy in my base form like I should have expected," he sighed sadly to himself, "that means I can only do this with as much anti-magic flowing through me as possible to conduct the current even more intensely and specifically."

Suddenly, Asts was fully powered in an instant as his Devil form overcame him while his Slayer slowly was engulfed into the Divider form. His red eye shone brightly as the anti-magic flow intensified by several times while Mereoleona slowly began to power back up again too as her flames consistently became hotter and more irritating, even to Asta mildly.

"I can feel it," Asta thought as a complete calmness overcame him, "the anti-magic flowing through and out the sword, seeping into the environment… I can feel a connection...I can feel the ki of the land it feels, of everything around me...and I can feel my anti-magic seeping through it all. Is this the ki of nature itself? No…the spread is still quite compact and rigid, lack of concentration alone would break my connection and I'd be back to square one. I need to remain at full concentration whenever I do this till it becomes second nature and I can do it naturally, but it feels impossible to hold it even now for such a short period."

"He seems to be getting it slowly," Mereoleona thought to herself as she stretched a hand forth, "let's see it's impact at the moment, if he's doing it right, my attack should be a bit smaller at the least. It may be impossible to completely nullify my attack but given what his anti-magic has shown thus far, I should notice something at least."

The Vermillion's fist closed tightly ahead of her as a pillar of flame shot towards Asta from behind, however, her move was unaffected, looking just as powerful as last time, "So he hasn't got it quite yet then...given the immense concentration he already seems to be giving, this must be a nightmare for him to do."

Asta swiftly turned to the side as the flames ran through his blade, promptly nullifying as they cried their last flickers of embers, "Shit, no where near what I was hoping for. Even this much of my power and focus struggle so dearly to connect, though I suppose it's hard to connect my energy into an environment that's overrun by a different type," he swiftly returned to his stance as he continued his same concentration and manipulation, trying to ease his energy deeper into the plain, "overwriting the mana present isn't a problem, but connecting my energy to the environment is. It feels like each molecule of the area is full to the brim of mana in this state, it's like my energy is being constantly rejected and forced away. All I can is have patience and wade deeper...until my anti-magic gains some control."

"It certainly must be a lot more difficult than Mana Zone," Julius thought as he used the little mana he had left to feel the shifting environment, "it's like he's constantly being rejected, while with Mana Zone you already have a connection. During the time he has to practice forming a connection, his ability will be useless. When he expands upon this and turns it into a staple ability, such as what he did with his Black form, then it will add a completely new dynamic upon himself."

"Ah, so this is where she's been," Fuegoleon sighed as he slowly walked alongside the Wizard King, "she's been entertaining our little friend then has she?"

Julius drew his focus away from the observed as he turned to Fuegoleon, "Indeed, they've had a bit of a head-to-head and now she's trying to help him use a new technique," he briefly summarised, "she certainly seemed to be enjoying herself before, I would I assume I'm right in saying she's taken quite the liking to him."

Fuegoleon sharpened his eyes on the duo ahead, "Indeed, as had I and Leo. He's strange boy, that's for sure, but never before had I seen her so joyous around another person like him, normally she's quite grumpy most of the day, but the little boy lightens something in her, just like Acier did. I suppose it's a refreshing sight every once in a while." The Crimson Lion heightened his detection though as he too felt the surrounding mana as it began to shift, like a new energy was piercing through, "Now let's see how much he can draw her out."

"This time...let it flow deeper...and deeper… Build up all of what I can muster...and flood it into the environment...penetrate through the binds of natural mana and make this space my own," Asta thought as gave all the concentration he could. Suddenly, a strange feeling overcame him as he eased himself slightly, still maintaining a strong current in his blade, "What's this feeling? Everything is suddenly less tense. I feel...more at ease...like some pressure was released that I was burdening… Everything feels different even, the ki I'm detecting from the environment feels more familiar now. It's...a feeling I can't describe, like I'm feeling refreshed… Don't tell me-"

"Again!" Mereoleona eagerly exclaimed, feeling the mana shift for herself as she didn't hold back at all, releasing multiple blasts at once, "if you want to win in this war, you're gonna have to be ready before you realise it! Now nullify my attacks!"

Suddenly, multiple pillars of flame all blast towards Asta at once, however, this time they were different. Each single one was half of their original size, each boasting a widely less dangerous ki as they seemed slightly faster than before though, "I did it!" Asta grinned as he let loose at last, spiralling around confidently now as he cut each attack in the single swing, completely cutting them off mid-air as a gust of wind from the powerful spin rose like a gentle tornado.

Mereoleona immediately powered herself back up to the higher-reaches of her strength, looking greatly more pleased as an immovable grin overcame her, "That's it! Now I see he can do it, I can let loose a bit more! No more chatter, I've not been able to release all this stress for a while now, and I'm savouring every ember!"

"I can't hold back anything, I've got to let all I have in store out to avoid a massacre. With the Wizard King and Fuegoleon watching, I can't afford to embarrass myself," Asta sweat as he spared a part of his mind to keep his anti-magic controlled.

"Feel free to take notes, brother!" Mereoleona boasted as she dived forth, noticing her sibling off to the sidelines, "I'll even let you have a go if I don't finish him too nastily!" From there, she leapt straight for Asta, raging, "Calidus Brachium!" The impact only blasted him higher into the air as she controlled her position, cynically shifting the pages in her grimoire as an intense mana began to arise, "Let's see just how well your guarding can handle this all now! Calidus Brachius Barrage!"

Shock shot through Asta's heart as he only distanced further to provide more room, "This attack virtually ended Rhya, I need to find a way through!" He was gifted with a short while to process everything thanks to the distance he was extended. He could immediately deduce how much smaller and lighter the attacks seemed to be, though still monstrously deadly each. The ki of each was much weaker, but slowly expanded as Asta felt himself losing his concentration and grip on the excessing of his anti-magic.

The Slayer sword and Destroyer collided tips as Asta dived straight forwards, straight into the barrage and spun around wildly, effortlessly dicing through all attacks thanks to the measly power in comparison to before. Now, his blade was slicing through much easier. He burst through to the source of the attack at full speed with both swords outstretched. As he blast through though, he caught vision of his target's easy evasion as he glanced up to see a smug Mereoleona looking down on him, unscathed.

"If your reaction time there was slightly better, you may have hit me. There was a window there for you to attack, but you missed it as you concentrated getting through my attack. You need to start seizing all those opportunities, no matter how minor," Mereoleona beckoned as she leapt down, head-first, cocking back her fists as she prepared to strike at full force once more.

"Drat, I need to use every half chance I get, dammit! If I want a good attack, it's not going to be gifted to me with an easy opening! I need to work myself into a good position like I did with Yami, but she seems impossible to overwhelm so simply given her flexibility...I have to find a way to catch her out in another way. Where can I have an advantage?" Asta tried to deduce as Mereoleona collided her fist against his guard, blasting him into a nearer spire as she quickly followed, leaving him singular moments to recover from the rubble as she pieced a strong blow into his gut, blasting completely through the spire as he scarcely managed to control himself.

The onslaught was not over though as the lioness endeavoured still, piercing through the spire herself as her right fist was charged once again and the other arm was outstretched, surrounded by a lowly flame as Asta felt the ki presence appearing behind him, "Come on, Asta! You're sitting back too much!"

Fuegoleon sighed with a disappointed look, "I'll apologise on my sister's behalf about the damage."

"She's attacking from both in front and behind me, my Anti-Mana Zone should still be in some effect so I shouldn't worry about it as much, but the ki Mereoleona's emitting from her upcoming attack feels greater than any other she's done so far...I can't afford to drop my guard, so what can I do to hold her at bay?" Asta thought to himself as the pressure around him multiplied consistently, before he realised it though, a grin overcame him, "I've got an idea!"

Some moments soon flashed by as Asta let both fronts be closed in on before suddenly jolting upwards and releasing his control of his Zone ability, suddenly enlarging Mereoleona's attack back to it's original size as it blasted straight for her at extremely close range. Her senses saved her in time though as she scarcely turned herself to her side, the blast flashing right before her, "What a cheeky move. He's trying to manipulate the use of his ability to trip me up."

"Here!" Asta yelled as his sword was already most of the way down on it's swing to crash upon Mereoleona. She blasted a little fire from her feet though as she evaded the swing, swiftly spiralling around as she delivered a fierce kick against the back of his head, blasting him back through the spire again as he tumbled against the floor, meeting the concerned glares of the Wizard King and Fuegoleon as he began to push himself slowly back up, his body feeling well battered now as cuts and bruises dotted around him with blood flowing down all different parts where he had any wound.

Before he had time to recover though, he felt an intense pressure against his back, pushing him back down as he felt the flames burning against his skin, irritating him as he resisted the pain, "You finished? I thought you'd be offering me a lot more than some petty effort like that. Use that brain of yours to conjure something before I end this."

"Come on," Asta mustered the words through his tightly grit teeth, "you know me better than for me to settle with that!" He reignited the high-flow of anti-magic through him as he managed to break free and dive away from Mereoleona, immediately raising his guard as she soon approached, "This won't work. I can't brute force my way though this...and she's far too ahead of me in order to out think her and methodically break through. As much as I hope Yami would never hear me say these words, but Mereoleona is far smarter and strategic, even given her head-strong methods. Her knowledge of the concept of mana as a whole is astonishing, and she can see through me, just like that! If there was ever a field I could exploit..." his eyes lit up as he stabbed his Destroyer into the ground, progressing forth with only his Divider, the anti-magic flow within him swelling to a maximum as his body began to glow a strange, eerie, dark aura, "it's mobility!"

"Oh? Have you finally come up with something worthwhile? I'm sure in your seas of imagination there's something decent up there," Mereoleona grinned as she casually began forth towards Asta in a normal stroll, noticing the change of Asta's exterior as his red eye seemed to only shine brighter and brighter, menacingly staring down Mereoleona too, "give me your all already!"

Julius kept sweating even more nervously by each second as he tried to shrug it all off, "She certainly seems eager, who would have thought a simple child could excite her battle instincts so."

Fuegoleon looked deeper into Asta, noticing what he was doing, seemingly Mereoleona had deduced it too, "She only gets like this when she knows there's more power from her opponent. She's not a big fan of her opponents holding even a little bit back against her, and Asta seems to have something more in store. She wants a taste of his full strength because of how unique he is most likely, it's given her a new situation where, for once, her attacks can be made to feel weaker."

"I see...she's quite the in-you-face fighter...enhancing her abilities with her magic often. However, Asta's swords can nullify her enhancements, making it so she's just regularly punching him, which doesn't serve as well for her as Asta's still physically stronger. Though, that's only an issue for her if she's blocked," Julius observed too for himself, "I certainly found it unusual to see her using more ranged attacks, but if she didn't, this would be a much more inconvenient match than it could already be."

"Everything feels like it's coming together," Asta slowly breathed as he felt his joints loosen and his body become more agile, "I've spread my anti-magic even further than I have before...more externally than internally for once. My body should be enhanced by connecting with my energy more, I'll be enhanced in general, primarily in my mobility. It makes my ki more blisteringly apparent and makes all I do so much more predictable, but that'd only be a death-sentence against Yami...against Mereoleona, she shouldn't detect me since I'm not using mana. This could be the edge I need to make the distance...but it's ridiculously taxing on me it feels, I won't be able to even remain conscious for long if I strain myself so much."

Mereoleona dived at full speed as she engulfed herself completely in her flames, firmly feeling her assert her control of the area's mana as it battled against Asta's Anti-Magic Zone. She stretched an arm out forth as the coat of flames formed into the shape of a claw, completely engulfing her arm as it only continued to burn brighter with each passing moment, "Controlling my Mana Zone is a fair bit more challenging with his interfering, this is ending out being good practice for me too! His ability is constantly oppressing my control of the area's mana even for how amateur he is at performing this. For now, it's easy enough for me to suppress and use my spells at most of their strength, but in the future, I'd have to be going all out just to try and overcome it if he nurtures this ability to it's best."

Asta dived forth too as he faintly left a black trail in his path as the sky began to darken ever so slightly, "I feel even more powerful than what I did against Yami, but it's so much more exhausting than when I faced off against him. Realistically, she should be a slightly easier match in some light to me compared to Yami, yet, she's holding me off so easily and not even fully set onto fighting! This whole time, she's been analysing and testing me, and learning more about my abilities instead and focusing on herself secondly. I was proud of landing a hit at all, but reflecting now..." his aura only tensioned further, "that's not something I can settle with. I need another blow while she is actually trying more, I need to exhaust it all!"

"Since you've done such a good job," Mereoleona chuckled as she pulled back her clawed arm, "I'll let you see some of the power I was yet to show most of you all! I hadn't even shown this to the rest of the Captains!"

"Those claws..." Asta analysed as everything slowed down in his mind, "they're growing massive, so they will have a giant area that they'll effect. I can't simply cut through them or block them as I am, I need to think of another way..." The knight glanced towards his weapon as a thought came across him as well as a grin. For as much anti-magic he was exhausting, he only added onto his deficits as his weapon rapidly began to enlarge to dozens of times it's size, anti-magic concentrations within becoming more intense and multiplying along with the expansion of the weapon, coated in the same aura as his body.

Fuegoleon raised an arm in front of the Wizard King as his Spirit came out in order to cloak and protect him too from the mayhem, "Asta's expanding upon his own power still in response to Mereoleona's...he recognised his divider couldn't even save him as it was, and so he's giving it a greater area."

"So Mereoleona's been growing too? Just as I thought she was at her pinnacle, she goes beyond!" Julius awed as he analysed her new clawed arm, "from the looks of it, she's shaped her own fire into that pattern. Either way, her flames would just burn usually rather than create an impact, which means the concentration of mana in those flames, is so concentrated that it gains a slightly more physical property."

"Just as I thought I'd firmly caught up too," Fuegoleon lightly chuckled, "she did seem to be working on her concentration quite a lot over the six months, she was saying how she wanted to be slightly more versatile and wanted perfect manipulation of her mana...looking at it now, I suppose it was for attacks like this."

The Divider multiplied in size tens of times as it finished expanding, being dozens of times the size of Asta as he finally swung inwards, "Take this! Severing Slice!"

The target's eyes tracked the incoming attack as her flaming claws swelled even larger, colliding with the swinging blade as her claws stopped it in it's tracks, gripping and stabbing into the flat edges of the blade as she proclaimed, "Devil's Claw!"

Restlessly, the two both let out a roar of rage, one was of joy, one was of frustration. The area itself became restless as the ground shook vigorously beneath them, Asta giving his all as Mereoleona only ever sought to equal his output, forcing her opponent to keep pushing further as she easily matched him.

"This is still a child's play...even with my enhancements! My raw strength is greater...which means the flames are managing to overwhelm me, even against the anti-magic current! Her raw magic power and mana...they're beyond insane!" Asta awed as he put his full body weight into his swing as he screamed louder and louder, "All I need to do it break through her flame's grip and slice into the claw itself!"

"You're not thinking broadly enough!" Mereoleona proclaimed as she released her grip on the Divider, letting the blade suddenly slice through it as if it was thin air as Asta suddenly had too much force, swinging with extraordinary force as he lost his balance from not stabilizing himself enough. As Mereoleona had released her attack, she had dived ahead to avoid the blade, leaving Asta exposed on the side he over-reached himself.

Panic set into himself as Asta hadn't enough time to save himself, his momentum was too far in one direction to even propel himself another direction and his blade was too far to his left to make a full rotation back or to reverse his swing back to hit her before she hit him, "Crap, if she he hits me now with so much force I'll be done for! I can't avoid damage it seems, but I must find away to lessen her attack!"

The attacker plummeted her fist forth at full power as it was like her flames surrounding her fist wanted to reach and burn their opponent themselves.

"NOT YET!" Asta raged as he released his left hand from his Divider, the Destroyer sword suddenly meeting his palm as he sliced it ahead of himself, cutting off Mereoleona's momentum as she managed to barely halt herself, "I won't fall yet!" The kid quickly followed up, slamming his divider downwards upon Mereoleona as she blasted herself clear of the attack before continuing her momentum to strike Asta with serious force in the back of the head with her foot before bringing it downwards to slam his head against the floor. It was surely not as taxing to take compared to what would have been, but still immense.

"Good," Mereoleona nodded as she kept her foot stomping him into the ground, "I definitely would have knocked your head off back then if you didn't react, I got a little carried away. It looks like you're about done though. Feel free to pass out or whatever." There was a slight murmur from the rubble as she looked down intrigued, feeling a pressure repelling her foot as it slowly raised.

A bloodied face had arisen as it's eyes darted fiercely into the flame knight's soul, "I'm not gonna pass out unless my body gives in, which it won't until I'm finished! It's not over till I say so, dammit!" He seemed to be widely fuelled on adrenaline now as blood meandered down his face more and more, slithering free from the cuts gained every time his face slammed against the floor, "I could fight for another decade yet!"

Mereoleona let out a deep huff as she reverted her grin into more of a frown, "Is that so?" Asta was suddenly kicked in the stomach to blast him further away as he groggily dragged himself back up, "I don't expect you to last much longer though, you'll end up thrashed in another minute," Mereoleona coldly said, noticing how beaten he seemed as she reflected to herself, "he's finished deep down, I'll end him swiftly to prevent furthering his pains. It looks like he couldn't muster another hit on me after all, though his display has still be fantastic I suppose."

"Of course I-"

The Vermillion suddenly appeared in front of Asta in a flash as she fiercely stared down on him, refraining an attack as she saw his bewildered expression from her abrupt movement and speed, "You've grown weak now Asta, this is only training so you shouldn't push so far."

"Are you kidding?" Asta grit his teeth as he was suddenly surrounded by his anti-magic layer again, "I give my all into everything! If I just settle now, I'd be going against everything I've done so far," he steadied his feet as he tried to get everything back to it's peak performance once more, "I'd rather die than give up now!"

"Then I'll have to put you to sleep for you," Mereoleona sighed as she couldn't help but pull a very slight grin in the wake of her serious persona at the moment, "I'll end you now."

Abruptly, several mini spheres appeared around Asta as they looked ready to burst, he had quickly stepped to the side as he evaded the decent explosion, then diving in to attack himself with both blades together. "So he's still even managing to make use of Anti-Magic Zone...it slipped my mind, I thought that blast would stop him regardless but the nullification made it's affect far less threatening."

Asta's swing was easily evaded as Mereoleona punished with a strong punch to the back of his head as he passed by. She glanced back to the fool who had stayed on his feet miraculously, "Just how badly are you going to injure yourself just to land a mediocre hit? The longer you go on now, the sloppier you're becoming, and the less likely your odds become of hitting me. You should at least recognise when your goal is unattainable."

Blood slithered and dipped off of the wincing child, "By the time I beat Vetto, my arms had hexes placed upon them and their bones disintegrated essentially. On top of that, I was drenched in my own blood on top of being absolutely strained and exhausted, I've got a long left to go if you think this measly damage will stop me!"

"So you consider this damage measly then?" Mereoleona sinisterly grinned as she felt her coldness already overrun but anticipation and excitement, "dear, how you're such a provocative boy! If you push too many of my buttons then you'd end up flattened in a few seconds, it's already an unideal situation as it!"

"Oh trust me," Asta sternly said, "I've got you right where I want you." The knight looking down at his tattered body, "As much as I ramble on, I really haven't got much left in me, I can take as much damage as I like, but exhaustion now is much more of an issue than it used to be. If it isn't the amount of blood a spill, it's the amount of stamina I have in tow that stops me. There's no point conserving now, if I get a hit, I get a hit and if I don't, I don't at this rate, I have enough left in me for a final rally, she probably has enough for a dozen at least."

"You do eh? Let's see what the trickster is planning!" Mereoleona shot a flaming sphere from her hand as she dived soon after it, "I hope I don't shatter you before you finish!"

Asta pulled a nervous smile as the sweat slithered down, along with his blood, "I can't afford to take any damage, I have to be decisive! Given the ki level I'm feeling from her attack, I should be able to reflect it, but she's gone just behind it to squeeze in a hit while I deal with her other attack! Though I need to use my area more now to avoid some claustrophobic situations, I need to use all that I have left for an aerial assault!"

"It seems that things will be ending soon. Asta seems at his wits end, it's not new for him though," Julius sighed, "what do you believe is coming next?"

Fuegoleon closed his eyes and bowed his head in thought, "He is a miracle child after all, I wouldn't quite count him out. When backed into a corner, the unpredictable often happens."

Julius nodded to agree as he reflected on the boy's feats, "Most certainly, I feel it will take some force to firmly put him down in a state like this, even if it's not the most pleasant experience for his body, it's not a situation new to him."

"The boy has a habit of pushing himself too far," Fuegoleon sighed, reflecting on what he told the boy about checking his conditions before fighting so long ago, "I suppose he hasn't learnt much in that regard, but I suppose resisting the urge to fight on is impossible for him."

"Try out this!" Asta yelled as he kept himself as far wide of the attack as he could while retaining range. He slammed his Divider against the flame attack as he moved himself further wide, the reflected attack ruining Mereoleona's plan as she was forced to dodge out the way of the attack, losing her focus on Asta. By the next moment that she had given her attention to him, he was suddenly on the approach from behind at a rapid rate, his body and weapons as a whole kept low as he gave his target no time to turn and counter his movements.

"Another tricky move," Mereoleona thought as she leapt over the slash as Asta had tried a diagonal cut, "he used my attack against me to create an opening, though he was far too obvious to land a blow, what's his aim? To get me in the air?"

Asta's eyes tracked his opponent's position as he surrounded himself in as much anti-magic as he ever had done before, maximising his mobility, "This...is where I go beyond!" He abruptly changed directions as he began a rapid aerial assault, coming at Mereoleona at every moment her could as he slashed for her constantly, getting continuously faster.

Mereoleona however, remained calm as she constantly evaded his attacks in full concentration, dodging around completely as she never seemed on the ropes, "Come on, these attacks are too obvious and readable!" She suddenly managed to grasp Asta as she spun and flung him towards one of the spires.

"She saw through me so quickly and easily!" Asta internally panicked as he managed to prevent himself from colliding with the tower, using an attack to slow his impact as he rested his feet back on the ground.

"Well if you want an aerial dual..." Mereoleona began as she plummeted towards Asta with a simple punch at the ready as she flooded her flames into it, "you've got it!" Meroleona finished as she blasted her fist against the Divider, blasting him through the spire once more as they found themselves in open air, the only ground to land on being hundreds of meters below.

The two immediately jolted towards one another as Asta slashed his blade several times, shooting out multiple waves of anti-magic as Mereoleona shot out multiple blasts of small spheres before clashing together. The anti-magic knight had swiped straight across as the fire knight leant beneath it before kicking her threat far upwards with a medium-powered kick.

"Don't worry, I'll catch you if you fall!" Mereoleona teased as she distanced slightly, holding her right hand outwards as she needn't even look to aim for her opponent, "Mana Zone: Calidus Hell Blaze!" A wide, intense flame blast out of her arm as it shot like a bullet up towards Asta, it flooding out like an endless stream as it constantly grew more fierce and intense as the rate at which it shot out did too. To further that, his Anti-Magic Zone had minimal affect on the attack as it was already so large.

"I managed to pierce through the salamander breath way back in the Witch's Forest...I'll just do it again!" Asta boosted his own confidence as he held both swords together, closing his eyes as he shot at maximum speed into the blast, swiftly slicing through it, aiming directly for his target, "it's working! I'm not dead!"

Meroleona realised soon enough as she cut off her attack, twisting herself out the way of Asta who slashed by. Unexpectedly though, the young mage quickly turned back, only just beyond her as he swung a fierce punch her way. The attack was blocked, but maintained it's force as it blasted her against the wall, causing rubble to drop all around her as she saw the sight of another incoming attack. She dodged her head to the side, causing the attack to miss as she punched Asta in the gut herself, quickly following after him.

"That was sloppy!" Mereoleona exclaimed as she boosted herself towards him, however, Asta recovered in time as the two began to swiftly fly in the air, Asta using his wings as Mereoleona constantly boosted herself. They flung around in wide shapes, clashing with each other every other second as neither party took damage from another, their defences staying firm as they made an effort to wear each other down.

"I can't find an opening!" Asta raged to himself in frustration as he felt his frustrations getting the better of him, his actions becoming more rash and hasty as he knew time ran low for him.

All of a sudden, things took a turn for the worse for Asta, feeling a warm hand on his shoulder as he turned to meet it before suffering a great punch across his face, blasting him back above the roof as Mereoleona made it there just as fast as him, "Dammit! I lost my concentration for a single moment…!" He couldn't recover.

A confident look overcame the fire knight as she pulled back her fists all the way, coating it in intense flames before blasting it suddenly with a great jolt, "It's finished! Calidus Brachium!" The fist cleanly struck Asta across the face as he blasted against the floor, causing a faint rise in dust and rubble as he laid on the floor on his stomach side, his eyes seeming closed with his blade still in hand and wing slowly shrinking.

"A brutal way to finish a child," Julius nervously scratched the back of his head, beginning forth slowly towards Asta to check him as Mereoleona slowly began to lower herself, still being a decent height and looking down on Asta.

"She never holds back, not for anyone..." Fuegoleon disappointingly sighed as he began towards Asta too.

However, everything was turned on it's head so suddenly as a chilling word was murmured, "Black..."

Julius looked in confusion as he noticed the tight grip Asta maintained on his weapon, "Asta?"

Everything came to an end in a single moment, Asta, within the blink of an eye, suddenly shot at full speed from the ground to past Mereoleona in the sky, only a few meters or so ahead of her. Everyone was full of the same shock as Asta seemed confidently past his target, a slither of blood flowing down his sharp edge as the chilling phrase received it's ending half, "METEORITE!"

"What did he just…?" Fuegoleon thought in utter astonishment as he glared up to his sister, seeing the long, deep cut through her right cheek, about level with her nostrils, "I thought he was down for the count!"

"Impossible..." Julius thought in disbelief, "he landed a clean blow like that on Mereoleona too? It was a faster movement than I could have conceived! Was that the chance he was waiting for, for so long? Even so...he seemed down and out! Was he conserving something all this time for a last-ditch attack?"

Elegantly, and slowly, Asta passed out some moments after his attack, knowing what he had done, as he murmured just before, "I...made you...underestimate me..."

Peacefully, Asta entered his slumber as his Devil form faded away, and his swords returned home at last. As he fell though, Mereoleona floated there, completely lost in thought and shock as she raised her hand to her right cheek, feeling the blood pass over her finger as she pulled away to see the substance she didn't expect to shed to such a youthful child, "Unbelievable...he made me lower my guard...by enabling me to expect no more of him. He pulled out something when I expected nothing… To think he made me bleed in such a way...what a miraculous child!"

Exuberantly, Mereoleona swooped around to catch the falling star of a child as she looked down on him, barely able to contain her joy as she laid his body across her arms, "What a star you found, Yami!"

"Sister, are you ok?" Fuegoleon asked as the respondent turned to express her sudden jubilant expression, "you were cut deep by his blade!"

"Indeed! I never expected him to hit me, I understand now why he never gives upon in a situation as such, I couldn't read him at all!" Mereoleona exclaimed, "in that attack he seemed to purposely attack me in a non vital area too, to avoid really damaging me, the cheeky bug."

"Well, I suppose he once again performed a miracle that even I never saw coming," Julius sighed with a smile as he internally reflected, "From a magic-less 'slum rat' to wounding one of the greatest knights we've had...the boy has no limits..."

The group collectively glared at the boy as he slumbered in Mereoleona's arms, coated in wounds. "You know I'm going to push Leo even further now that this has happened," Mereoleona lightly chuckled, "though they've both got a long way to go."

Fuegoleon observed his sister's unusual mood, "You seem overly joyful, you're never usually this way."

"It's not every day a little twerp like this wounds you, you know. It's exciting to face a strong child, it's the strength of our next generations!" Mereoleona exclaimed, "but I suppose I'm rather eager to see more of his power, it's unique after all."

"Well, he's a one-of-a-generation I suppose," Julius intervened as he observed the unconscious child, "now this is finished though, he seems like he won't wake up for a long while. I can rest him here and let him recover overnight since his condition isn't too bad, a basic healer could handle him even. A message to Yami could be done in a jiffy."

"No, it's fine I think," Mereoleona assured as she cradled the boy, "I'll take him back to the Black Bulls and rest him there, I owe Yami a visit regardless and Mimosa is over there too, she should get him all checked out in no time with her ability."

Fuegooleon bowed his head solemnly, "I have no objections. I'll be awaiting your return soon then."

Mereoleona finally turned around as she began away from the two of them, "Sheesh, you're too worrisome, brother, go spend some time with Leo, I'll be back in no time. While you're at it, if any of the other captains question Asta's strength," She pulled a smug grin, "let them know Mereoleona laid her own bet alongside Yami too."

Julius began away himself, seeing all he needed too as he simply glanced back and gently waved off his allies, "Well, it's time I got back to work myself before Marx harks on at me. Take care, you two, and take care of Asta, Mereoleona." The two he had signalled towards saw him off as Fuegoleon saluted as stiffly as a statue, and Mereoleona bowed her head, leaving Julius in thought, "I've seen all I need to of Asta now...but what of you, Yuno?"

Soon after the antics of the afternoon, the night swept over the sky, engulfing the Kingdom in a beautiful dark blue that was decorated with oceans of stars, all glistening down into the eyes of those that admired as the chilly breeze bit their cheek to keep them grounded from their mind wandering off into the realms of the unknown. One of those admiring the scenery was Noelle, who sat atop the Bull's Base in the shape of a ball as she nestled her head on her knees.

"Noelle? Why are you all the way up here?" Mimosa questioned in wonder as she strolled calmly towards her cousin, gently placing herself next to her as she began to feel her vision encapsulated by the stars too, "it's a bit too chilly to stay here for so long, don't ya think?"

"Asta..." Noelle murmured, "he's still not back yet… He left on his own at the end of our meeting but Yami convinced me to leave him be after what happened and all...I can't comprehend what's going on in his stupid head..."

"Right," Mimosa lowly said as she remembered back to Nero's words so much earlier in the day, "there's too much uncertainty for my liking, knowing there may be a traitor in the forces we're supposed to be allied with… It makes me upset too, that's for sure at a minimum, I mean...where would I be without Asta? Probably buried in the ground thanks to Mars ironically."

Gently, Noelle raised her head slightly as she felt her right hand around her neck, reflecting herself on the events of the day, "I suppose me too..."

Mimosa glanced over Noelle for a second before feeling her gaze caught by the stars once more, "You're worried for Asta then, aren't you? That's what's made you this way..."

"W-worried? F-for Dumpster? Like hell..." Noelle resisted, but in a much less boisterous tone than she normally would as she blushed slightly, feeling a hand over her heart, "dammit you little fool...you really know how to tug at the most delicate strings of a girl's heart… He stood for me in such a way...and let himself get so hurt just so he didn't have to raise his blade… Yet...when I finally stood for him...I was only increasing the barriers between the person he wanted to understand..."

"Ah, well, I'll worry for you then."

"Worry? You look too joyous for that..."

"Sadness and anxiety aren't my favourite emotions to express," Mimosa sighed, "besides, I know a smile is what Asta loves to see most, so when he's back, I can offer him no less than that. I'll take the most minute steps necessary to cater his emotions."

Noelle grit her teeth slightly as an irrational feeling stemmed from within, "No, I'll greet him with my smile first! I'll make him happiest!"

Mimosa shrugged, "You'll just have to prove that. We both know our hearts have been dawn to the little Bull...but I'm set on making him my own first. Once the time is right, I'll grasp for him before you!"

"Tsk!" Noelle puffed her cheeks and folded her arms as she turned away, "Like hell I care about Stupidsta in that way! He's an ally, a good friend, no more!" Her body settled to those words much better as she caved into her instinctive neglect for the boy, her deepest feelings twisting and turning in anxiety as she knew what a threat Mimosa was to her ultimate feelings.

"I suppose that makes attaining him all the easier, all I need to find is the confidence," Mimosa sighed as her cheeks swirled with a rosy colour too, "I won't be holding back until something stirs in you, proving myself to Asta is my priority now, as well as keeping him alive."

"Also Mimosa..." Noelle began as she swayed the topic to ease herself, "thank you...for saving both Asta and me...we would have been bones maybe if you lot hadn't turned up for us."

Mimosa embraced Noelle with a similar warmth she always wished she could embrace Asta with at every moment of the day, "It's no biggie! I'll always be there for you too if you need...you're my dear cousin after all..."

Noelle was shocked briefly by the warming feeling as she let herself settle into it, "I guess so...I'll always have your back on the battlefield too..."

"Of course!" Mimosa continued to gleefully exclaim as they left in an uninterrupted silence, truly recognising the feelings of one another once more as they read through one another. Now, they had a similar goal in their minds...Asta.

Far beneath them though, all the way at the bottom floor, the average commotion was in full swing as the Black Bulls never swayed far from their usual antics. As per usual, Magna and Luck were darting around the room, constantly at each other's necks as they thirsted for one another's blood it would seem to an outside viewer. To add to that, Gauche sat centrally in the room, along with Charmy, one admiring the picture of their sister, the other filling themselves to the brim with delicacies.

"Where have you been all of today?" Gauche questioned, willing himself to draw his attention away briefly for a few moments.

"I went out early and played with Rill! He'd seen Asta recently, so I got inspired to share some yummies with him! He's always loved my delights and he did so today as well!" Charmy cheered in joy, "my sheep's cooking only gets better!"

Gauche sighed as he drew away his attention in lack of interest once more, "I don't even understand your interest in him, he's an annoying brat."

Charmy slammed her miniscule fists against the table, "He's not either! You're the annoying one! Rill's nicer than you'd ever be!"

"Well congratulations to him," Gauche groaned as he rotated himself to blot her out of view, suddenly leaving Grey visible to his right as he couldn't help but have his attention drawn yet again, "now what do you want? I only wish to see my Marie at such a turbulent time."

"I-I was bit bored because there's nobody to t-talk to..." Grey shyly said as she held her hands close to her face, "a lot of people are tired too!"

"Well unfortunately, as you can see, I am preoccupied. You are welcome to admire my my sister though," Gauche coldly said, shoving the picture into the innocent girl's face as she quietly complied.

Finral casually strolled through the mayhem without a care in the world raising a slight wave to the Gordon in the corner, who uttered completely unreadable words, "Hey Gordon, waiting for Asta I see."

Gordon continued muttering completely unfathomable words as he received no recognition from thereon from the spacial magic mage.

"Yami, Zora's still resting upstairs, along with Nero, Noelle and Mimosa are on the roof and the rest are here, still, I haven't spotted Asta though, he's been gone a long while," Finral reported with a concerned look.

Smoke flooded from Yami's mouth as he withdrew his cigarette from his mouth, relaxing deep into his seat on the longer sofa, "That so, eh? I doubt anything got to the kid, he's just got a lot on his mind so I'd leave him be for tonight at least. The poor bastard has his plate stacked higher than most."

Finral looked down more glumly, "I wish I could do something more for him...but I suppose it'd be best to give him time to take it in on his own."

"That's right!" Vanessa cheerfully exclaimed as she wrapped an arm around Finral, already overtaken by her alcohol, "let the boy beeee, I'll take care of him when I need be! He knows better now than to let this get to him!"

"You sound rather carefree for the person who was missing most of the day. Where did you even go to?" Final questioned as his attention fully diverted to the drunk.

"Oh, just a bit of training by myself, it'd be impossible to do it seriously with you loud-mouths around me!" Vanessa heartily chuckled, "believe me, I was a good girl out there!"

Yami waved his hand in dismissal, "Yeah, yeah, now clear off you lot if you don't intend to be useful. Go find Asta even if you're that bothered and leave me in peace." Peace was the last thing he received though as the front door came caving in on itself once more due to an excessive force, one which Yami immediately deduced, "Damn, not even trying to knock this time. She must have no time extra to waste."

All eyes were drawn to the door as Mereoleona casually strolled through with Asta laid across in her arms, not seeming to have a care in the world as she made her way over to the seated Captain, "Yami, I'm sure you was wondering where your little Bull was."

"Aw man, don't tell me you killed my little bastard," Yami sarcastically said in a rather monotone expression, not paying much attention to either his wounded or the one who delivered him, "I've been having to put him back together multiple times a day at this point, of course a beast like you would put his nail in."

"Stop being so dramatic," Mereoleona lightly chuckled as she gently lowered herself, spreading Asta's unconscious body across the rest of the couch which was left bare from Yami, "you've got one hell of a child in your hands, you know that? Keep treating him well."

In that moment, a sudden shock hit Yami as the realisation came to him, eagerly turning to his squad to dispel their attention, "Get back to your own stuff, you nosy bastards have no ear here," immediately reigniting the chaos that was ensuing. He analysed Mereoleona and spotted the deep cut upon her cheek, suddenly feeling a weight in his hand as he looked down to see a dense bag, full to the brim with money.

"I lost your bet," Mereoleona grinned, "and I keep to words like yours. He hit me fair and square, your miracle boy, so I suppose karma came to hit me for mocking you."

Yami was looped in a momentary shock as the realisation dawned upon him in sync with his smug expression, "He's full of surprises still. I suppose I'll be a bit more lenient to him for helping me get some cash. With your salaries I may even get out of debt soon if I'm lucky!"

"Just don't gamble away what that star of yours has earned for you," Mereoleona grinned as she smashed her hand upon the Bull Captain's head, "I wouldn't want his efforts wasted."

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Yami groaned as he waved her away, "I'll take care of the little shit so don't worry about how much you pummelled the poor guy. Besides, he's built like a tank so he'll survive."

Mereoleona stood tall once more as she overlooked the kid, her tone lowering greatly, "Yami, I know a fair lot of what's happening with Asta since Julius took the liberty of informing me. It would greatly hurt me too if something were to…'happen' to him, so please, keep a good eye on him. I myself will be second look-out for him, Leo's a lot to handle as is."

Yami glanced off to the side at his unconscious ally, "Don't worry, I'm normally a lazy bastard, but with my little knights, I've got my eyes hawked on them, even if it doesn't look like it."

"Well I trust him in your hands then, I hope to see him with you at the banquet tomorrow," Mereoleona sighed as she slowly began away from the muscular Bull, "I'd need some more company for such a dull affair."

"WAIT THAT'S TOMORROW?!" Yami exclaimed at the top of his lungs as he was looked down on with a pitiful look, "man, I wanted to do some gambling tomorrow, why did that King bastard have to put on another just so he can give disgusting looks to people for a few hours."

"I don't fancy it either, truthfully. That's why I want some more appealing people to brighten the day. It's the last chance for one we have before the war, so of course it was on the top of his priority list with his ignorance," Mereoleona groaned once more.

Yami burnt out his cigarette in the nearest ashtray, "Noelle, Mimosa and that will be there of course so I guess there's no harm in bringing Asta, he's been shifting onto the good side of more of the Captains so he'll have us behind his back. Just don't try and kill him on the night like today."

"Likewise," Mereoleona cheekily remarked as she swiftly began away with nothing else left on her mind to discuss, "have a good night, I'll have to return before Leo starts worrying again."

"Byeeee scary lady," Yami waved away without a care in the world as he received no response, the flaming knight leaving peacefully back through the doors which she had demolished herself.

Vanessa's drunken self finally swayed back into the fray as she looked down on Asta, "Oh dearie, looks like he got into a mess once again, he's soooo reckless!"

Finral stumbled over too, looking down at the drunk in embarrassment as he watched her shoving Asta around just to make space for herself, "Vanessa, aren't you suppose to be looking after him? How are you gonna do that drunk?"

The witch cosily wrapped herself around Asta as she had set him upright, and leant his head onto Yami's lap, "What do you think I'm doing? I'm hitting the hay while looking over him! I get to kill two birds at once!"

"You're a real drunk, you know that?" Yami groaned as he glanced upon the mischief laid next to him.

"Hey, I could have done one better and not returned tonight. I wanted to make sure Asta was ok though and not leave him to you savages, that was a good choice at least!" Vanessa lazily waved her hand around as she seemed to try and point her finger into Yami's face.

"Finral, go hide her booze, it's confiscated for a week," Yami groaned as he laid his head back and shut his eyes while he rested a hand upon Asta's head, "then ship off people for sleep, I'm stuck here and I want sleep so you can have fun elsewhere."

Seeming outraged, Finral waved his arms around, "You're not stuck, you're just lazy! Getting rid of the booze sounds like a good idea though..."

Vanessa waved an aimless hand towards Finral's general direction once more too as she kept her head down against Asta, "You take my booze and I'll tear your head off! I'll get Asta to cut you into two!"

A nervous laughter filled the void as he parted from the trio of sleepy Bulls, swiftly clearing the room too as before long, an infrequent silenced had enveloped the room, and base as a whole. Of the bulls still left downstairs, Yami and Asta were deep into their dreams, while Vanessa dwindled there, an arm wrapped around Asta as she held the other slightly up to admire in her now less drunken state.

On her arm seemed something new and unusual...a strange glowing pattern that spread from the very tips of her fingers to the top of her arm, a short while under her shoulder. The pattern itself was glowing a beautiful hot-pink, a constant glow emitting from it during the time at which she admired as well as the smallest of energy particles it seemed. The shape of the pattern seemed to be like that of a mound of vines, overlapping with one another as flowers, particularly roses, seemed to bloom over them and within them.

Vanessa clenched her fist with a confident grin, "With this power, I'll protect you...Asta..."

Hey! Thanks for reading all the way to here! It's been a longer wait that previous chapter I apologise but I'll do my best to stay on track, got a bit carried away and got the platinum trophy for Infamous Second Son ;D

I'll do my best to balance out but these are honestly quite time-consuming to knuckle down to but I'll keep doing my best to provide!

Furthermore, sorry if this seemed rather tacky compared to other chapters, it probably reflects how crazy I screwed my schedule the last week or so though I'm still proud of this chapter. I'll hopefully smooth things out again for next week and I hope that little tease at the end builds some anticipation for more because these really are a joy to write!

Any feedback is appreciated and I hope the contents of this were satisfactory of any expectations. I hope to see you next chapter, and I hope you have the greatest of days in such a difficult time. Thank you for all your support!

NEXT CHAPTER: Your Hero...