"I will defeat you!" Mimosa confidently boasted as the mana around her intensified and the sparkle in her golden eyes grew brighter, "what do you even want? Who are you? Why try and kill me!?"

The opponent only snarled as the mana excessing off of them began to intensify in response, "Just die."

Mimosa's eyes widened in slight shock as she grit her teeth, "Fine, I've got no choice. I'll just have to be ruthless, even if I don't understand this power," she grunted in frustration as she felt more of the mana surrounding her, "why this triggered and how this triggered, I have no answers to, but I can understand how to use it at least it feels. It feels like an enhancement of my own magic power but to an extreme degree. What exactly are these sparkling lights though? What else has changed?"

Quickly, Mimosa snapped herself out of thought, "None of that matters at the minute, stay focused! I'll feel my way through this new power as I fight. I said it myself, I have unfinished business. So now I'll-!"

Before an action could truly be made, the situation suddenly turned on its head. Just as the Plant Knight was rearing to go, she dropped to her knees, shock pulsing through her entire body as each limb of her body became less responsive. The shine about her immediately dimmed and the lively colour in her eyes returned to the norm as the mana levels she exerted a moment ago diminished.

"Huh!? What's happening to me!? The enhancement...stopped!? Are these withdrawal effects from such short usage!?" Mimosa began to panic as she felt herself unable to move, "no, not now! Not now! I need to move! If I don't then-!"

"How amusing! DIE AS THE SITTING DUCK YOU ARE!" The figure screeched in a maniacal tone as they launched towards the vulnerable target.

"No! Not like this!" Mimosa cried in desperation, trying her hardest to move a single fibre of her being, but it was all useless. Not a single finger could lift within that moment as Mimosa closed her eyes to brace.

Before the collision of Mimosa and the threat though, another collision took its place.

Opening her eyes after hearing the sudden clash, a pleasant sight was before Mimosa. Asta flew in front of her, his Black form unleashed as his Demon Slayer sword slammed against the raised guard of the enemy. His gaze was the coldest it had ever been as he stared into the matching eyes of his opposition. All that was within him was fury, nothing else.

"Asta!" Mimosa awed in joy as the massive burden of fear was immediately expelled from her.

"Hey asshole," Asta gravely spouted, "stay away from my friend!"

Immediately, he followed through with his swing, slamming the enemy away and causing a harsh collision against a tree as he refrained further action, standing in a stern stance in front of Mimosa.

The blistering, yet calm rage of Asta was threatening enough to convey the severity of his words. A single glance was full of so much hatred and animosity.

That was enough though, upon recovery, the enemy instantly leapt away, sensing the immense threat. Within a moment, they were out of sight, their presence as a whole vanishing.

"They're gone," Asta huffed as he lowered his blade before immediately kneeling to Mimosa's side as she began to gain some movement back. Her brief collapse had killed her pre-existing vines, leaving her blood free to run away via the multiple open wounds, "are you alright? Can you heal yourself?"

As a substitute, Asta had firmly held his hand against her neck, the source of most wounds, whilst his blade had returned itself into his grimoire. It painted his hands red, but it was a simple trade-off to slow her blood-loss.

"Y-yeah..." Mimosa managed to slowly murmur as her vines began to sprout again, explicitly covering her wounds as a simple row of flowers too sprouted from below, creating a simple pool of healing.

Asta rested her across him, her head using his arm as a cushion and resting her back across his stretched out legs.

"Thank goodness I was on time," Asta sighed in relief as he had become more relaxed, but was never in a defenceless state, "I don't know what I'd have done if I took too long. Good job on hanging in there!"

Tears had been swelling in Mimosa's eyes, but they only became most apparent now as she latched tighter onto Asta, wrapping her arms tightly around him as she finally let her tears out freely, "Thank you...Asta… Thank you for saving me… I don't know what I was to do...I was just..."

"Don't worry about it," Asta cheerily smiled as he comforted Mimosa by matching her embrace, "what matters is that you're safe now. Just take it easy."

"Yeah!" Mimosa confirmed through her tears as she burrowed deeper into him as her wounds, at last, began to completely seal. The deeper into him she leant, the greater grasp she felt around her.

"Asta! Mimosa!" A voice called from afar as the Vermillion raised her head, not separating even an inch from her saviour

"Oh! Yo, Noelle!" Asta called, spotting the glide of the girl in her water armour. She briskly came to a halt as soon as she reached the pair, "It's all ok, I promise! I forced him to retreat, and she's in a stable condition, things could have been a lot worse."

As she arrived, Noelle's form withered away as she wrapped her arms tightly around both Mimosa and Asta together, "Thank Heavens!" she panted as she gripped to them tightly, "I know to never doubt your hunches, Asta!"

"You can always rely on me," Asta chuckled as he wrapped an arm gently around her, though it wasn't in place for long as Noelle immediately pulled away, the mana around her intensifying.

"Whatever bastard did this, I'll hunt them down," Noelle thundered as her fists clamped tight, "if that grunt thinks it can get away with this, then it has another thing coming!"

Lowering Mimosa back down to heal, Asta stood and turned Noelle back to him, "No, don't be reckless."

"Huh? But you saw what it did! We can't ignore this! If it wasn't for you...there'd be more blood on our hands!"

"We don't know enough about this...thing...yet. I'm sure we can handle it, but it's not suitable to go now. We need to look after Mimosa first."

"Then help take her back! We can't let it slip away! I'll tackle this solo if I have to!"

"And I won't let you do that," Asta sternly set things straight as he stared fiercely into Noelle's eyes.

Sweating slightly in nervousness from his certain attitude, Noelle backed off slightly and turned her head away in concession, "A-and how come you get away doing that?"

"Because Yami told us to stick together."

Noelle was left with little to argue back with as she pouted, crossing her arms with a slight blush, "I mean, you have a point...but..."

"I don't want to let this by either," Asta made his intentions clear, "but we just can't do it as things as they are. I promise we'll find that freak and cut him down, but just have faith in my choice for now, please?"

Watching the slight uncertainty arise within his expressions, Noelle solemnly bowed her head, "Fine..."

"Great," Asta immediately bloomed as he sighed in relief at getting her on-side while turning back towards Mimosa, "I suppose we can get on the move them, as long as you feel comfortable enough. I'll carry you back, then we can figure out what to do from here."

"I'm...fine..." Mimosa nodded gently, "I'd hate to hold you back any further from enjoying the fights...especially with your next so soon..."

"That's the least of my worries. You lot come first," He calmly responded as he prepared to move.

Mimosa seemed a bit mellowed still as she thought a brief moment, "Asta, how did you know to come to save me?"

"Yami returned just after you left, so I thought to go after you. On top of that, I felt a strange sense of ki about that I wanted to find out."

"I...see..." Mimosa sighed with a slight smile, "you really are always reliable. Well then, I can move now."

"Hold it," Noelle interrupted, suddenly kneeling down to Mimosa's side, "don't think I'd let you go back in that mess of a state. Let me clean you up quick. Watching you bleed so much is...unsettling..."

"Thank you, Noelle," Mimosa managed to smile, "I don't want to raise too much concern among others, so please keep this between us and the captains."

"Sure..." Noelle accepted, but not a single word followed as she cleaned out all stains of blood which scarred her vision.

In no time, Noelle already finished up, rising from her position as she observed her work, "That's that. Let's get moving then."

"Hold it," Another voice called, catching the trio's attention just as Asta had begun helping Mimosa up, causing her to simply lean against him as the figure entered the scene.

"Captain...Vangeance?" Mimosa questioned as he came into focus from her perspective, feeling herself stabilise more as Asta helped her stay straight.

"Why did you come all the way out here, Captain?" Noelle followed as she lowered her guard slightly, feeling more at ease with such a high-stature figure around, "I assume you must have seen us before?"

"Indeed," Vangeance affirmed, "that, and I felt a great fluctuation in mana. I've been quite good at keeping my nose out of things today, so I decided to face things head-on this time and chip in as I should to help out. It seems you have helped to resolve things yourself though. I have a slight understanding of what has happened, and so, Noelle, Asta, I thank you for helping to save her before things got too late."

"It's...no problem..." Noelle slowly spoke, still in slight awe at the Captain's sudden appearance, "but it was mostly down to Asta, I was a late arrival."

Taking a moment to think, Vangeance nodded, "I see. Well then, I suppose we should group back up with the rest."

"Let's be quick then," Noelle urged as she tugged Asta slightly before beginning away. He quickly began to follow with Mimosa in tow, at least until the Golden Dawn's Captain was suddenly in his way.

"Eh?" Noelle's confusion peaked as she turned back, noticing the interaction.

"Actually, I'd like a moment with you, Asta. I have some questions to ask. Please, Noelle, take Mimosa back, we won't be far behind," Vangeance explained and assured as he glared back at her.

Asta hesitated for a moment as he glanced back at Mimosa, seeing the unease in her face still as he bit his tongue, "As long as it's quick. I'll be no time at all, so just keep yourself safe, Mimosa, though I'm sure you'll be fine now."

Unwilling to speak out against it, Noelle sighed in disappointment as she approached, shifting Mimosa onto her back as she read the integrity in Asta's eyes as he read the uncertainty in hers, "I'll take her from here then, just no idle chatter."

With a simple nod, Noelle began away as Vangeance retained a focus on Asta, observing him with a keen eye

"So, what did you want, Captain?" Asta questioned.

"What was that threat that you encountered before I got here? I sensed another presence, but clearly you had driven it away. More importantly, what was that change of mana I sensed from Mimosa?" Vangeance cut straight to the point.

"Change...in mana...?" Asta repeated in slight confusion, ignoring briefly the former part of the query. "I suppose his mana sensing is that advanced, he is a Captain after all. I thought I sensed some wild power levels through my ki detection, but did Mimosa exert an even greater level than I realised? Normally I'd be able to differentiate easily, but I guess I focused on just getting to them more."

"I guess...I sensed it too, but by the time I got here, she was already on the floor struggling. I never got to see the source of it all. On top of that, the enemy I ran into had just as monstrous magic from the looks of it, but I never got to even have an impression since they fled on my arrival. With the injuries Mimosa gained, they seemed to be a physical fighter though," Asta relayed his thinking now aloud.

Vangeance followed on from his thoughts, "So you believe their magic gave physical enhancements? Quite the primitive figure. Not many have methods of fightings such as those within the Capital. Logically, I'd believe we're dealing with a figure of uncommon stature."

"The way you're talking...you don't mean to-?"

"I have no plans on an immediate pursuit. The most likely case by now is that they are too far away, adding to that, they seem skilled at masking their mana. Neither of us, through both ki and mana sensing, could detect them before the attack. Afterwards, they became hard to sense again when they stopped engaging in combat, did they not? Whoever this is, is trained and perfected for an attack like this, but why attack Mimosa?"

"It was a non-specific attack."

"Is that what you believe?"

"For sure," Asta confirmed, "she was an easy target out here on her own, that's why they backed off as soon as I arrived because the odds weren't then with them!"

"A good observation, that would fill some of the gaps," Vangeance grinned as he observed Asta, mentally lapsing to himself, "I never knew this boy to be so observant and intuitive. You really have a jack of all trades, Yami."

Thinking back to the brief moment he was faced with his opponent though, Asta tried picking out every little detail he could, "His grimoire..."

"Did you get to see it?"

"No...it wasn't a detail I looked at, at the time. If only I knew what it was..."

"Well it doesn't matter for now, what does is that we prevent him victimising anybody more, an issue I doubt will come to be with all that's been said and done. Still, we cannot lower our guard, no outcome can be ignored. I'll relay this information we've discussed to the other Captains, I'd like you to do as Yami asked of you before and stay by Noelle, Mimosa and the rest."

"Oh, sure. I'll catch-"

"But before that," Vangeance intervened for one last time, "I have a final question to ask of you."

Asta stopped briefly and felt his nerves settle in slightly more as he awaited the next words to come from the Captain's vocal cords.

"What do you know about the Devil inside of you?"

Huffing and puffing, Noelle finally saw the immense congregations of people ahead as she began to kneel down, putting Mimosa down softly as her vines slowly began to detach from her, "Will you be alright now?"

"Yeah," Mimosa mumbled as she finally felt herself on her feet again, "I'm just more worried about Asta..."

"Don't be," Noelle immediately advised, "trying to worry for that bigot all but weighs us down. Besides, he's with your Captain, isn't he? Nothing will go wrong with that context in mind." Slightly though, she mumbled under her breath, "I hope..."

"I know...but..." Mimosa began. Before she finished her sentence though, she was interrupted by a huge wave of wind, caused by a massive exert of mana, "huh? This is Langris'-!"

Noelle broke ahead with pace to see the scene with Mimosa just behind, not letting her delayed start leave her in the dust, "If I remember rightly, that Langris freak was against Gauche! I have a bad feeling about things if I'm feeling such extreme levels of mana! Dammit...if only Asta was here! He has a greater counter to that freak's magic than any other, besides spacial magic still I suppose… If he was here, I could rely on him to sweep in so easily!"'

Quickly, Noelle broke the lining of trees, trampling alongside a few wandering knights as she was gifted a clear perfect vantage point over the battlefield. From this distance though, all she could do is grit her teeth and stare down at the battling figures as Mimosa wandered alongside her.

"Dammit," Noelle spat as the answer of the outcome was straight in her face.

On the floor was Gauche, hardly beaten and scratched, but still at the complete mercy of his opponent as his hand was stretched forth.

"This is my victory," Langris grinned, a mass of spacial magic in the palm of his hand. Every little particle which wandered into the path of the magic was disintegrated in its entirety; Gauche knew what danger blossomed before him.

"Tch, I concede," Gauche rolled his eyes, releasing his clenched fists, "like I give a damn about winning this stupid game anyway."

"It's not a game," Langris bit back as his cold gaze shot a chill even into Gauche's spine, "this determines the fate of many lives, after all."

"Gauche gives in! Langris wins! Now the final battle of the first round, Zora vs Grey!" Mereoleona yelled aloud before immediately stepping back though as she flicked her gaze sharply to Yami, "where's your little rut vanished to? He's the next match. With this pairing too, I wouldn't wager he has any time at all."

Yami closed his eyes and thought for a moment, "I don't know. Vangeance is probably holding him up or something, but he won't let him be late. He doesn't pitch in with that sort of foul play."

"You better be right," Mereoleona snapped as she flicked away again, "I'm not missing out on another spectacle in such a lame manner.

"Sheesh," Yami chuckled as he glanced back slightly, "I guess you don't even care about hiding your adoration at this point. However, Vangeance, you better not be doing anything fishy. I like to think all the elf nonsense is behind you, but I can't help but stay cautious of you."

Watching as intently as an owl stalking its prey, Vanessa rolled her eyes seeing Gauche return from the battlefield, lifting herself from her post against the tree as she pressed up using Finral's conveniently placed head, "Seems like you drew a short straw, hm? I remember that freak you were against. He had a square-up with Asta too those distant memories ago. Or in other words, your brother, right?" She looked down on the spacial knight as she began to stretch a bit more, surveying her surroundings a bit more for her next opponent.

Thinking momentarily, Finral glared in wonder at his brother, "Yeah. It seems he's gotten a lot stronger..."

"He has," Gauche spat, "he gave off a much greater level of mana than what I once saw at those other stupid games. I...didn't stand much of a chance as I am on my own. I trust Asta will be seeking a rematch with him, assuming he blitzes the rest of his competition that is."

"I'm lucky he's a great distance away from me," Vanessa huffed out all at once as she loosened herself, "it's not as if I have an easy draw myself anyway though."

"Well, anyway, rest up with us, Gauche. We've got a long haul left!" Finral cheered as he pat his hand down on the hairs of grass.

"Shut up, let me be in quiet now. All I want to do is think about Marie, so let me fawn in peace!" Gauche immediately spat at him with the gaze of complete and utter discontent.

Sweating in his nervousness, Finral simply shifted slightly away as he turned towards Vanessa, who had just set off her movements, "Hey! Where are you going?"

"To look for my opponent," Vanessa waved without looking back as her eyes were already fixated on the stagnant Noelle and Mimosa.

"Ahhh! Gauche! What do I do!? I don't wanna fight!" Gray came panicked at Gauche, every limb on her body shaking and waving around profusely in nervousness, "I don't like fighting! Never mind fighting one of our own! What do I do!?"

"Just get out there and fight!" Gauche immediately yelled as he watched her shrivel up more in her nervousness, "it doesn't matter if you win or lose, just do your best and get back here. Stop folding in on yourself and do something already."

Gray kept clawing away though as she latched her hands to her face, "B-b-b-but how can I fight!? I can't do a thing!"

"Of course you can," Gauche sighed as he shooed her away, "fight in whatever way you want. I'm sure you'll find your own methods."

"A-a-are you sure?" Gray made one final query.

"I know. Yami didn't recruit good-for-nothings like us without believing in our ability. Just stop clawing yourself back, and fight already," Gauche gave one final, less murderous glare.

Finally freeing herself from her anxieties a bit, Gray parted her hands slightly as she pulled a rather frail smile, "O-o-ok! I'll t-t-try!"

Noelle remained in her position at the vantage point above most as she breathed a long exhaust, "Only a match left...that little ant better make it here on time."

"Noelle!" Vanessa called from a little distance below, perfectly capturing attention as her target hopped down a little distance below, her companion in Mimosa having strayed on her own path in the meantime, "where on Earth have you been this past while? I saw you scuttling off that little while ago."

"Oh," Noelle began as the question processed through her and she pondered on what to answer, "there was just a little...issue we had to deal with. Everything's alright now though."

"Oh? Are you sure about that?" Vanessa grinned slightly as she edged closer to Noelle, making her quiver slightly in nervousness as she set herself straight, "I sense there's a bit missing to your telling. Let's start with this then, there's the little boy?"

"Vanessa's always so attentive! What am I supposed to say about that enemy that attacked? Mimosa wanted it private!" Noelle sweat in her nervousness as she then found the courage to speak aloud, "he's with the Golden Dawn's Captain! He should be back in time for your fight though! You know Asta wouldn't miss the chance to fight!"

Glaring deeply into Noelle's eyes, Vanessa eventually relaxed and huffed, "And I also know he's becoming quite the liability at times. Well, I suppose it can't be helped at this point...that boy will be the death of me..."

Internally feeling relief at her acceptance, Noelle relaxed in relief.

"Noelle," Vanessa began one last time as she stared more seriously, "Yami entrusted both of us to take care of Asta. Make sure you don't take your eyes off of him when you can. There's something more going on with that boy than even we know. It'll all be apparent in due time I presume, but until then, we have to make sure he's in line."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Noelle questioned.

"Asta's a devil user, there's a lot about his power that we don't know yet, and that he doesn't know about yet. We're going into a battle against devils, there'll be plentiful amounts that we'll all learn along the way, but there's no doubt that this will affect Asta in a big way. Whatever happens to him, keep him close."

Noelle was left there rather perplexed, digesting the words that ran through her as she could only mumble a few noises. Before she could question further, Vanessa had turned away, leaving her to reflect only to herself.

"Asta's devil..." Noelle pondered a brief moment, feeling a wave of unease wash over her as her small fists clenched as tight as they could. Her mind cast back to seeing its power oozing off of him for that first time in the Witch's Forest, "I always had an underlying unease about that power of his. Knowing we have to kill one of those things that are inside of his grimoire...that are apart of him now… These devils aren't good beings...what will the malice of that devil inside do to taint Asta…? How much more will it..."

Before her thoughts dwindled too far, Noelle shook her head violently, "No, I don't wanna think about that. Thinking of Asta as anything but well, as the pure soul he is, is...sickening… I'll take this as it comes, I don't want to have to think so ill of Asta for now..."

Invading her mind though were the explosive words the lioness, setting her focus straight, "Final battle of the first round, Zora vs Gray, begin!"

"Well then, got any tricks up your sleeve?" Zora sighed as he eyed down his opponent, "I know your innate magic doesn't have much offensive potential, so I'm just curious if you planned anything."

"I-I-I wouldn't tell!" Gray shivered nervously as her grimoire slowly opened, "I'm not f-f-foolish!"

"Heh, good, so you are taking this seriously," Zora chuckled before his brow furrowed, "the Gray from earlier would have been sloppy in her shyness and spewed some other nonsense out."

Gray found herself slightly confused as she felt her quivering slow, releasing her hands from her face, "H-huh…?"

"Hey, you want to prove yourself to him, right?" Zora began, glaring slightly over towards the unsuspecting Gauche, "that's why you're fighting right now. You want to prove your worth, but it's hard to show a dazzling display without much offensive ability. If that's the case, then you better start going and surpassing your limits, because I don't intend to hold back and lose."

"Prove...myself..." Gray lightly mumbled under her breath, the cogs turning in her head as she glanced over to gauche herself, "yes...I want to prove myself to him! I...need to show my worth to him, and show that I'm worthy of standing alongside him! However, how can I do that against an opponent like Zora?"

Zora eyed down Grey, seeing her deep in thought as he began to slowly build up his mana, "I don't give much of a shit about this tourney of sorts, but that doesn't mean I won't try to win. Still though, she has much more to gain than I, so I'll do the courteous thing and try to help her to shine as she desires."

Grey began to build up mana of her own though as she thought as efficiently as she could, "Being realistic, he has to be the one to attack me first, and by that mana I can sense growing, that will be the case. As long as I can transform his attacks, I can ensure my own safety and put things in favour, but how can I attack him?"

"Well then, let's get things moving already before our heads are cut off by the lioness," Zora grinned as he swiped his hand in front of himself, a trap appearing before him which instantly spewed out a wave of fire.

"I can't let any attacks get near me!" Grey instantly reacted as her hands flung forth, transforming the approaching fire into a cotton substance which dropped like a feather to the floor.

As it fell, Grey's eyes locked on to the transformed magic, her eyes widening in realisation as some excitement brimmed from within her.

Seeing this slight excitement and eagerness arise within her, Zora grinned, "It seems like she found some sort of idea. I guess it's time to start the real combat!"

In a swift motion, Zora swirled a portal into life in front of himself, preparing to activate it. Before he did that, his ears were full of his opponent's voice, "Y-y-you know that's a w-waste of time! Such straight forwards attacks c-can never land on me! All you're gonna do is deplete yourself o-of mana!"

"Oh?" Zora rolled his eyes, "trying to push me into a different style of attack?"

"I-I know you were thinking about it too! We both know y-you'd be losing more mana of the two!"

The masked knight couldn't help but snicker slightly, "She's brighter than she looks in fairness; she's right, crafting and activating these spells takes out a lot more from me compared to what it takes for her to transform them into a safe substance. I assume the greater the mass of the attack, the more mana it takes for her to transform it. Despite all this though, I equally have a greater pool of mana to consume, even with basic spells, I might outlast her anyway."

Anxiously, Zora glared down at his right fist, "Disregarding magic on the whole, a physical fight would render all her magic useless, and I could use my abilities at close range, so close that she couldn't transform it. I don't like that idea though, that little brat was the only one I'd feel comfortable with playing hand-to-hand against. That blithering idiot is made of obsidian. My best bet though won't be one big attack..." Zora swiped his arm in front of himself again as dozens of magic circles began to form around him, "it'll be a ridiculous number of individual attacks!"

The sheer number of attacks which formulated shocked Grey as she felt mana swelling all around her. Accompanied by the decrepit expression across Zora's face, this had suddenly become a much more worrisome situation.

"Well then, let's see what you can do about this!" Zora yelled as he pointed his arm forth, all attacks launching at once directly towards Grey. The flames were ready to engulf her.

"Alright..." Grey slowly breathed as she felt the presence of mana growing tenfold.

Before the collision of attacks, out of the blue, Grey sprung into the air, managing to raise herself above all attacks as she suddenly pointed her hands down towards the ground, where a wave of fire, which had once approached from behind, passed under her.

"Transformation Magic: Fire to Water!" Grey yelled as the substance quickly began to shift. Within a moment, what had instead clashed was the flickering fire and the waves of water.

"Huh? She cancelled it out by transforming some of the attack rather than all of it! And now it's…!" Zora began to think as his ongoing thoughts came into fruition.

As the fire and water collided, a giant cloud of steam was released, expanding across both combatants.

"Did she do this purely to counter the attack? Or is she plotting something? Maybe concealing herself? Even so, my mana detections can-"

"Transformation Magic: Steam to Cotton!"

Zora's eyes widened in shock as he came to the realisation of what was happening, feeling suddenly engulfed in an ocean of cotton, his vision completely obscured as he could only rely on his sensing, "There's a lot more of this junk than there was steam in the atmosphere a moment ago! I can sense so much of this stuff! Normally, I'd just sense for the greater intensity of mana, but she's already suppressing herself!"

By this point, Gauche's attention had been caught, his keen eyes glaring at the masses of cotton which had come into existence, "What the hell kind of strategy is this?"

"So this is how her magic works," Zora huffed as he quickly began to try and break free of the surrounding fluffiness, "I'd never really paid much attention to it, but now it's in my face, it's painfully clear. When she transforms substances, they've always been reforming in different amounts it seems. The reason being is that the transformation works like a reaction! The mass remains constant throughout! Since everything she makes up has different densities, it must mean that they always come out at different sizes! However, fire doesn't have a mass, does it? That idiot Magna would know. In that case, it must be transforming it based on the area it takes up, or some sort of nonsense like that! I'm thinking too hard here!"

Taking a moment to cool his mind from the overload of thinking, Zora simply tried to funnel out of the annoying material as he kept his mana-sensing alert, "If what I've deduced is anything to go by though, then…!"

A sudden spike in mana caught Zora off-guard. With how suppressed Grey had been to entire time, he wasn't expecting a sudden spike, far above what she had so far displayed.

Quickly, the shy knight uncharacteristically belted out, "Cotton to Fire!"

Shock pulsated through every single soul who heard the words as the cotton quickly formed into flames. Engulfing Zora completely as Grey stared on with a stern gaze, for once, full of complete, unadulterated, confidence.

"She tricked me! She got out of the magic far faster than me by positioning herself far further out of it! This is the plan she had conjured!" Zora felt the full realisation glooming over him to an equal proportion to the flames which were coating him.

"To think that shy girl could come up with something so tricky," Yami chuckled, "she really has grown in her own way. But..."

"I did it!" Grey huffed in relief, "my strategy actually worked! Now I can-!"

"Honestly, to think you'd get me in this position," Zora suddenly pulled his usual menacing smile as he stared through the flames into Grey's eyes, who was now quivering in fear herself, "unfortunately for you, I prepared a countermeasure far, far in advance."

Yami finally finished his thoughts at seeing the events before his eyes unfold, "She's up against the ultimate trickster."

"Huh?" Grey could only gasp in her shock as Zora seemed unaffected by the flames. The reason was quickly made clear though as the patterns of his traps faded into existence.

"It was a good effort," Zora grinned as the flames surrounding him began to absorb into the trap, making him glow with a magnificent red aura as the mana surrounding him intensified, "but I was just too far ahead!"

Grey instantly raised her guard as a reflex, "This amount of mana, this is a ridiculous intensity for me! The trap multiplied the force of the attack! I need to change its state again, but it's going to require a lot more mana out of me!"

Abruptly though, the magic concealed within Zora suddenly expanded outwards, spiralling back out of him and towards Grey like a bomb destroying the entire area, "This is the end of things!"

"Huh!? It's coming at me far faster than I expected! I can't change it in time!" Grey felt her panic taking a sharp increase, "it'll reach me before it can transform! I'll be-!"

Just as the flames prepared to overrun her though, Grey stared on in awe as she saw a mirror suddenly form before her, the flames which were approaching now just ran around her, not moving anywhere near or beyond the mirror.

"Mirror magic?" Zora flinched slightly, seeing the mirror fade slowly along with his flames, leaving Grey on her knees, completely shell-shocked and vulnerable. As he glanced out towards his immediate left, the figure responsible for that magic stood tall, full of guts and no hesitation, "of course. That thick-head would be the one to break the rules. However, I guess this is a surprisingly great outcome, for some."

"That bigot interrupted," Mereoleona snarled as her fingers began to curl, "what the hell does he think he's doing?"

Before the lioness acted though, Yami swiped his katana across her, catching her attention as they glared with intrigue into another's eyes, "Don't bother, it's already over."

"G-G-Gauche!?" Grey glued her hands to her face as she noticed him, "w-w-w-why d-d-did you save m-m-me!?"

"I don't want you getting needless injuries when I'm the one that persuaded you into battle. I wouldn't feel good about that, and I don't need guilt on me, I only have space for Marie in my thoughts," The obsessed sister-lover explained as he turned away, not wasting a moment, "you did well to fight on your own, so you better fight even better when we all end up back-to-back."

"Y-yeah!" Grey cheered more confidently in joy as she glanced up towards the Captains before immediately scrambling after her ally, "I-I-I sur-r-render!"

Zora was left with his hands on his hips as he quickly pivoted on his foot to face the alternate direction before strolling away himself towards Vanessa who had begun his direction, "I guess that was a simple enough affair, but next..."

"Grey surrenders, Zora wins!" Mereoleona belted out, almost in a tone more of relief rather than anything, "that is the end of the first round battles! Now commence round two, beginning with the first group! The first battle of group one: Asta vs Vanessa," she hesitated slightly, seeing the absence of a certain figure, but still steeled herself to continue, "combatants step forth!"

"Good going, and good luck in the next battle, I think you'll need it," Vanessa smirked as she and Zora stopped among one another.

"I think you need it more."

"Assuming the dummy turns up."

"He will. He'd never miss out a chance to go against power like that."

Vanessa stopped a brief moment as Zora continued past, glancing down slightly at her arms. She missed her opportunity to say a word more to him as she continued to stroll on herself, placing herself on the battlefield as she patiently stood in wait, but still, she had no opponent.

"Where the hell is that buffoon?" Noelle rolled her eyes as she stared onto the battlefield, "he's walking on a thin line right now!"

There was a constant murmur about as no other figure appeared to take the stage on the battlefield, and things quickly grew to be a drag as Mereoleona prepared to raise her arm to continue proceedings.

"Yuno! Where's Asta!? He can't miss his fight!" Klaus began to panic, his emotions fluctuating all across the scale.

"Don't worry, he's just being a show-off," Yuno grinned slightly, and upon his words, a blistering wind soon cut by.

A streak of black cut through the atmosphere as it curled and met with the ground, at the source of it was Asta, his knees bent in his landing position with his Demon Dweller already drawn as he glanced with a huge grin towards Vanessa, who finally cracked up another smile herself.

"Sorry for being late! You know I'd never miss out on the chance to fight though!" The shrimp chuckled.

"Just on time actually," Vanessa grinned with a more sinister gaze as she gripped the top of her right glove with her alternative hand, "it's finally time to kick out this new power!"

Thanks for reading!

It's another shorter chapter of sorts, but school is a pain so it would have taken much longer to produce much more, plus, there's hardly any more I'd have wanted to cram into this one!

I don't know how long the next chapter will take for me to produce, but I'll do my best to conjure it up ASAP! Take care until then!

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