Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 19: Bad Company Part 3
Dungeon Depths, Forsaken Realm, Clover Kingdom (Afternoon)
Fanzell then charges in with his wind blade in hand.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Slashing Wind Emperor- Winter Wind]!" Fanzell swings out his sword in a fan-like pattern and smaller blades of wind shoot out towards the two out of its arc.
"Get down!" Yuno then rolls under the blades of wind with Noelle ducking under them. Yuno then opens his grimoire for his counterattack. "[Wind Magic: Crescent Moon Sickle]!"
A crescent blade of wind swings out of his arms and flies toward the red-haired man.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Slashing Wind Emperor- Autumn Rain]!" Fanzell does an overhead slash with his blade, causing a strong downdraft that swats the blade downwards, kicking up a large cloud of dust between Fanzell and the Black Bulls.
Out of the dust came out Yuno, now with his hand encased in a ball of wind.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Air Bubble- Repulsor]!" Yuno's fist of wind connects to the red-haired man's side hips.
The [Air Bubble] explodes upon contact, sending Fanzell sailing across the room and towards the wall.
"Oww..." Fanzell gets up with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. "That really hurt, you know..."
His grimoire opens up.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Dancing Wind Empress]." His broadword-like blade of wind transforms into a thinner blade, but its length was twice as long as his [Slashing Wind Emperor].
"And to top it all off, [Wind Recovery Magic: Dancing Wind Empress- Spring Breeze]." A small gust of wind surrounds the red-haired man, healing him, and applies a pair of small wings of wind around each of his feet.
"Ah. Much better." He then readies his blade towards Yuno. "Now come and get some."
"Wouldn't have it any other way." He then opens his grimoire. "[Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Hawk]."
A bird of prey composed of wind is summoned onto Yuno's forearm. He then flings his arm, signaling the bird to swoop towards the swordsman.
"Naive!" The bird dissipates upon being parried by his [Dancing Wind Empress].
But behind the [Swift White Hawk], came a ball of compressed air.
The ball makes contact with the man, causing it to explode into a dizzying gust of wind, sending him flying upwards towards the ceiling.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Dancing Wind Empress- Summer Draft]!" Fanzell swings his sword upwards, sending up blades of wind and causing an updraft that slows his fall back down.
He did not realized that he flipped Noelle's skirt upwards, much to his ignorance and the ire of the Silva girl.
"PERVERT!" She then opens her grimoire and readies her Aquila. "[Water Magic: Naga's Fang]!"
A sharp blast of water fires out aimed toward the suspended Fanzell.
... But the blast takes a sharp turn, heading towards Lotus.
"LOTUS! SHE'S AIMING FOR YOU!"
The blast connects, kicking up a cloud of smoke.
"LOTUS!" Fanzell roars out.
"Hey hey. Don't kill me off just yet." The man turns out fine. "[Smoke Creation Magic: Dummy Haze]."
In place of where Lotus once stood, a smoke clone with a hole in its torso stood.
"You could've really hurt someone, you know." Lotus chided at Noelle.
"ISN'T THAT THE WHOLE POINT ON WHAT WE'RE ALL DOING RIGHT NOW!?" She replied
"You have a point." Fanzell states as he lands back on the ground on his feet. "Which is why I'm giving you a time-out."
His [Dancing Wind Empress] changes back into [Slashing Wind Emperor].
"[Wind Binding Magic: Slashing Wind Emperor- Whirlwind]!" He swings his sword towards the girl, sending a gust of wind that eventually traps her in a violent vortex of wind.
"Noelle!" Yuno then tries to dash to her recuse, but his trail is cut off by one of [Winter Wind]'s blades.
"Sorry kid." He stated towards the youth. "You're facing me."
Yuno readies grimoire.
"That's more like it." He then readies his Estoc. "[Wind Creation Magic: Wayward Wind Fool]!"
His broadsword then transforms into a falchion of wind.
"Now come and get some." He states as he goes into a Nebenhut stance.
As for Lotus and Luck, the man was currently holding the boy hostage as the two [Wind Magic] users were clashing.
"So kid." Lotus tried to talk to the struggling boy. "Why do you act the way you are?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Luck responded in a deranged tone. "If I see strong guys that I can beat up, then why even bother resisting?"
"I get what you mean." Lotus replied. "Heck, I know a few guys who joined the Diamond Kingdom's Royal Legion for that reason. What I don't get however, is what's driving you." He then turns his gaze towards the youth as he strokes his goatee. "So what happened to make you the way you are?"
Luck snorts out a short laugh before he spoke. "I really don't tell anyone how I feel, but if you really insist, then you'll have to promise me to fight me once I'm finished!"
Lotus then comes to a fork in his mental road.
Should he take caution and heed the youth's warning? He was, after all, a runner, never a fighter. Also, his priority is to ensure that no deaths occur during his personal mission. His code of honor of never hurting the innocent has gotten him through over 20 years of service completely whole. It's because that he never strayed from his values that he remained wholly human in an inhumane reign in the Diamond Kingdom, and even managed to start a family with his childhood friend, now a mother who gave him three beautiful daughters that to this day, he lives for.
In short, he's got way too much to lose.
Or should he listen to this boy's tale and risk his life and limb? Because even though he needs to live in order for his family, his principals wouldn't allow him to abandon a child to his suffering, let alone, an internal one. If he can help this troubled youth in any regard, then yes, he might be labeled as a bleeding tank, but hey.
He's always been one since his first daughter was born, he had every right to be sentimental as possible, illogical as it may be.
But that's a doting parent for you. Fatherly instincts tend to curb logic, even if the kid in front of him wants his head separated from his neck out of pure sadism.
"Alright." He then uses one of his tendrils to raise himself toward's Luck's level. "I'll keep my promise then. Father's honor."
"Hehe~" The youth chuckled. "Then let's start with the fact that I never had a dad and the fact that my mom kept beating the crap out of me!"
Lotus's eyes open up wide upon hearing that statement. A boy from a broken home without a father and an abusive mother, three red flags for any developing child.
Strike one.
"But things kinda turned around when I beat up a Noble kid during a sparring match at my chapel school!" He piped. "After that, she stopped beating me, strange men no long came by my house to see my mom, and I can see mom at home more often!"
Another red flag. The boy's mother is heavily implied to be a sex worker from that boy's statement. No child-no.
No mother with a child deserves that kind of fate.
Strike two.
"Then one night, she took me out for dinner, and we got to see around town!" Luck beamed. "She then showed me a place where I can fight as many strong people as I want! There were a lot of people around me, but hey, I got to punch a lot of things during my time there! Plus I got to fight animals, other mages, and when I was finished, my earned a lot of yuls and more I won in those fights, the more better off we were!"
Okay.
MAJOR RED FLAG.
The boy's mother essentially turned this boy into her own personal gladiator, and it's also heavily implied that the mother didn't do anything to curb the boy's awakened bloodlust for his own good.
Rather, she profited from it.
The boy was way out.
"But..." The youth then adopts a slightly somber expression. "She died a few weeks after, and with the rest of the yuls that my mom earned, I bought her a coffin to bury her." He stated in a plain tone. "But after the service, all the money that my mom earned was gone, and when I saw one of them running off with the sack, I went after him, but all I've got was a half of a yul split right down the middle."
He then goes back to his cheery self. "But that all turned out good in the end~" He beamed. "I got to meet Captain Yami after he beat the crap out of me, and ever since then, I've got to beat up a lot of strong guys and I finally got a working roof over my head, so yeah! I'm all good~"
Lotus just stares at the boy in complete horror.
"So come on, come on!" The boy then begins to flail in his smoke bindings, with his face now bearing a crazed grin. "Fight me, fight me, fight me, fight me, fight me, fight me~ I need to bring your head back to mom so she can praise me!"
The bindings around the boy then begin to strain.
"So she can pet me!"
Lightning then begins to radiate around the boy.
"SO SHE CAN LOVE ME!"
The [Binding Cross Prison] explodes into a tempest, evaporating the smoke bindings in an instant.
"Aw shoot..." Lotus mumbled. "I might've goofed up real bad..."
"So I have to win..." The boy's voice echoed.
"I have to win..."
"I have to win..."
"Win... win... win, win, win, win, win, win, Win! Win! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIIIIIIIIIIIINN!"
The boy lunges towards Lotus like a starved wolf upon its long-awaited meal.
"[Lightning Magic: Over-Limit Form]!"
The boy disappears from Lotus's sight.
A stinging kick to his upper right arm sends him barreling towards the wall next to him.
"Oh crud." Lotus thought as he winced in pain. "... I'm going to most likely die here."
"hEyOlD fArT." The boy's voice becomes garbled and twisted beyond human comprehension. "you've got ten seconds before i coMe for your wrinKLY ass." The boy then gets on all of his fours, ready to pounce.
"Ten!"
"Nine!"
"Eight!"
"Seven!'
"Six!"
"Five!"
"Four!"
"THREE!"
"TWO!"
"ONE!"
The boy smiles.
"Time to die~❤ "
The boy comes toward the downed ex-general in a flash.
But just before the youth can maim the man, a diamond-studded youth blocks the fatal blow with a large round shield made of diamond.
"[Crystal Creation Magic: Pallas Aegis]." He stated as he shoved off Luck off of the shield. "General Lotus's safety... confirmed."
"Thanks for saving my hide, kiddo..." He sighed out.
"Affirmative." Mars then walks toward Luck. "New objective confirmed..." His grimoire then opens up in front of him. "New objective: eliminate the [Lightning Magic] user with extreme prejudice." Spiked crystal orbs then began to orbit around him. "[Crystal Creation Magic: Caucasian Hail]."
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about!" The boy cheered out. "I'm always up for a three-way!"
His whole body then begins to squirm and spasm all over in pure ecstasy.
"I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE!" The boy screeched out. "JUST THINKING ABOUT ME BEATING YOU UP AND YOUR MAGIC BEATING OFF OF ME GETS MY BLOOD PUMPING! I'M FUCKING HARD AS A DIAMOND, BUDDY OL' PAL! SO DON'T HOLD BACK!"
Luck then lets out an orgasmic moan as his eyes rolled to the back of his head and his spine arches backwards, leaving his head dangling down to his thighs.
"... Target neutralized." Mars states upon seeing the boy faint from his own perversions.
"Seeing that shaved off a good few years of my life..." He thought while he rubbed his temples. "Poor kid's very own soul is beyond destroyed-"
Lotus then hears a crunching sound.
And no, that's not his own aging spine.
But rather, the boy's.
Luck's arched back spine suddenly snaps itself back forward, his head creaks down back face-forward, and his rolled-back eyes now roll down back its pupils.
The boy's bloodlust has now reached an alarming all-time high levels of demented.
"Ready or not..."
The smile is now a perfect and blank-black crescent moon.
"HERE I COME~❤!"
At the gates, Jericho was still analyzing the gate's structure.
"12 feet thick, reinforced with nine different kinds of defensive magic, six different kinds of minerals composing this stone gate, and only 3 entry points where ki can only make a small dent of it..." Jericho mumbled out as he collected his thoughts.
He then takes in a small breath of air before placing his fingertips onto the masonry.
"I've only got one three chances at this..." Jericho takes in a sharp inhale into his lungs as he then begins to concentrate all of his ki into a singular path.
His blood in his vessels are now flowing his ki into the point of the gate's entry.
His muscles in his whole body begin to relax in order for him to properly push out his ki though a singular point and not just let it explode wildly.
His mind is now clear of all thought. No doubts, no hopes, no dreams, no reminiscence, nor aspirations.
In his new world, there are only three things.
The door.
The person in front of it.
And the ki.
With a resounding roar that echoed over the ensuing carnage behind him, Jericho coils his fingers into a ball against the stone gate.
The gates in front of everyone shoot up a massive fissure across its center.
"Jericho..." Mimosa watched in awe. "Y-You did it-"
The young man roars out in unbearable agony, his massive body now writhing on the stone floor, his right arm, now completely bruised purple and twisted into a bloody bramble of a limb.
"FUCK!" Jericho roared out in pain. "FUCK!"
"JERICHO!" Finral then runs toward the downed Black Bull Knight. He then stops upon seeing his arm. "Holy shit..."
"Yeah..." He gasped out through his pain. "I kinda underestimated the barrier's properties and it's..." Jericho stops for a moment grit his teeth.
"Finral!" Mimosa called out to Finral. "I need you to hold him down while I heal him!"
"R-R-Right!" The dandy then tries to hold down the undamaged parts of Jericho's arm, which is the size of both of his legs combined.
Jericho's arm was about muscular and well-built as Captain Yami, if not, more.
And that door reduced it to this.
"[Plant Recovery Magic: Dream-Healing Flower Cradle]!"
But the the basket was a size of an arm cast. Particles of mana surround the brutally-incapacitated arm in hopes of healing it.
"Are you feeling any better?" Mimosa asked in a concerned tone.
"I would reassure you on saying that I'm alright, but as you can see, I might want take a step back." Jericho winced out.
"Well on the bright side." Finral then looks at the dented gates. "At least it should be a lot easier to break down the gates-"
"About that." Jericho cut in. "That's not the case."
"Eh?" Finral sweatdropped. "What do you mean by that?"
"After I dented the gates, the rebound sent my ki back into my arm, causing the force that I applied to the gates to be sent back into me." Jericho stated.
"What does that even mean!?" Mimosa asked.
"You see what I did to that gate over there?" Jericho points towards the cracked gates with his still intact left arm. "That happened to my right arm."
"Oh my god..." Mimosa gasp upon such horrific revelation.
"They really don't want us to go in there, do they?" Finral stated grimly.
"But however, that doesn't mean it invincible." Jericho pointed out.
"What do mean by that?" Mimosa asked.
"The kind of magic it used." Jericho continued. "Calling it a longshot, but I think it might be the long-lost [Corporeal Magic: Lifelink]."
"What does that do!?" Finral asked.
"That magic allows the user to pass on its injuries back onto the person who inflicted it." He stated. "Simply put, any damage we do to that gate will immediately be inflicted by us."
"But when Klaus tried to batter it down, why wasn't he injured?" Mimosa asked.
"I think I might've triggered it." Jericho replied. "Klaus couldn't even get past the first line of defense, am I correct?"
The redhead girl nods.
"Me on the other hand, I managed to break through five layers with my ki." He stated. "Considering my state of injury, I think that magic was triggered after the fourth layer."
"So when you're all healed up, you'll be able to break it down, right!?" Finral asked.
"About that..." Jericho trailed off.
"Oh no." Finral and Mimosa both thought.
"If I go in and even so much as touch the damn gate, I'm going to re-break my arm, or something even worse will happen to me."
"SO NOW WHAT!?" Finral yelled out. "HOW ARE WE EVEN GOING TO GET PAST IT IF IT'S GOING TO LITERALLY COST AN ARM AND A LEG TO BREAK THROUGH!?"
"A relatively simple solution, actually." Jericho answered. "But you're not going to like it."
The [Dream-Healing Flower Cradle] releases Jericho's now healed, but heavily-scarred arm.
"It's all healed now." Mimosa stated.
"Thanks." Jericho then gets up, and heads towards the gate.
"WAIT!" Finral cried out. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT WE'RE NOT GOING TO LIKE YOUR PLAN!?"
Jericho then looks back at the two with a solemn expression.
"Mimosa, get ready to heal me back up should my whole body be destroyed from the backlash."
"Wait, WHAT!?" Mimosa cried out.
"The other option is to have someone else do it, but they might die because they might not do enough damage while taking on my own injuries." Jericho stated.
"Well..." Finral trails off. "... If you say so-"
Suddenly landing on the fractured gates, was Mars.
The gate's [Corporeal Magic: Lifelink] activates, wreaking a thousand fatal injuries onto the [Crystal Magic] user's body.
The mage is then sent plunging back to the earth, with his body in shambles.
Upon landing on the stone floor, Mars immediately gets back up on his feet, covered in a robe of flames.
"[Fire Recovery Magic: Phoenix Robe]." Mars's injuries heal up in an instant.
"GET BACK HERE!" Luck screeched out from his bloodlust. "I AIN'T DONE WITH YOUR ASS YET!"
The two then get back to their fight.
"Of course..." Jericho surmises. "That's it!"
He then turns to Mimosa. "Mimosa!"
"Y-Yes!?" She stutters out.
"I need your help." He stated.
"O-Of course!" She replied. "I'll do what I can to help you!"
"Good! Then here's my plan..."
Back to Yuno, Noelle, and Fanzell's confrontation, the whole fight was nothing short of an endless back-and-forth stalemate.
... Except for Noelle, who's still trapped in the [Whirlwind], which is lifting her up into the air and spinning her around, guaranteed to make anyone go through the world's most brutal case of motion sickness.
Within the funnel cloud, Noelle now severely regrets on eating eggs and sausage for breakfast this morning, for they've already come out and just now stained her clothes and face.
As for Yuno and Fanzell outside, the two were still at it, now both of them bloodied and gored beyond human limits.
"[Wind Magic: Vacuum Grenade]!" A ball of compressed air is slung towards the red-haired man.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Wayward Wind Fool- Blowback]!" Fanzell does a backhand swing with his sword, sending a gust of several small crescent wind blades to intercept the bomb of air.
The two are sent back flying upon the explosion of air.
Both Yuno and Fanzell get up slowly.
The red-haired man wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his lip with his sleeve.
Yuno places his headband-wrapped wrist onto his temple.
"Asta..." Yuno then looked at the sash wrapped onto his wrist. He then wipes his eyes with it as he stands up.
"C'mon kid..." Fanzell, not looking any better then Yuno currently, struggles to stay on his feet. "Quit making it worse for yourself already..."
"... I refuse." Yuno heaved out as he stood his ground.
"Fine." Fanzell then releases Noelle from [Whirlwind].
The Silva girl was a mess, to say the least, let alone even in a state to even fight.
"Have it your way." He then opens his grimoire with whatever waning strength he had left in his body.
The shape of his wind blade then begins to change once more.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Relentless Wind Justice]." The falchion then transforms into a large xiphos.
Yuno then opens his grimoire once more, ready to make his last stand.
"[Wind Creation Magic: Wind Blades Shower + Swift White Hawk]." Several blades of wind and a white wind hawk appear around him.
"Huh." Fanzell gasped out. "One last stand?"
"No." Yuno gasped out. "I'm ending this once and for all."
The red-haired man smiles. "You took the words out of my mouth."
"Enough bullshit." Yuno then sends the blades flying towards Fanzell.
"THEN HAVE AT YOU!" Fanzell roars out as he runs towards the [Wind Blades Shower] with his grimoire open. "[Wind Creation Magic: Relentless Wind Justice- Sundowner]!"
A strong breeze of hot wind blows against Yuno, sending the blades off-course and making the falcon of wind dissipate.
"GAME OVER KID!" Fanzell then charges towards Yuno, blade-first.
"NOT YET!" Yuno then summons another [Swift White Hawk] to his side. "GO!"
The hawk then swiftly soars towards Fanzell.
"TOO EASY!" The hawk dissipates upon being struck by [Relentless Wind Justice], and behind the hawk was another ball of compressed air.
He merely sidesteps the coming [Vacuum Grenade]. "THE SAME TRICK AIN'T GONNA WORK TWICE-"
In front of Fanzell's line of sight, the youth was nowhere to be found.
"Where the hell did that kid go?" While Fanzell himself was still running forward, his thoughts then begin to race.
He looked to his left. Not there.
He looked to his right. Not there.
He looked downwards. Not even in the slightest.
He then stops to look behind. Not a soul but Lotus, Mars, and that [Lightning Magic] user, still having at it at one and another.
"Well shit, then that only leaves...!"
He then looks upwards.
Nothing.
"Wait, then where the hell did he go-"
His head is then jerked downwards upon being hit by something onto the top of his head.
Above Fanzell's downed head was Yuno, with his fist swung back from him punching Fanzell's head, but partially invisible.
The youth then tumbles and rolls back down to the hard stone floor.
"Oww..." Fanzell groans as his sword goes back to a normal estoc. "Where the hell were you?"
Yuno weakly smiles while lying on his back. "... I was here the whole time."
The red-haired man weakly laughs. "... So you figured out that little trick, huh?"
"... What trick?" Yuno asked.
The man just lets out a small snort. "... Forget what I said kid, you're on your own from there."
A portal is then opened from below Yuno, sending him away from the firing lines and back to where Finral was.
"... Thanks." Yuno said.
"No problem." Finral reassured. "It's my job as your senior to make sure that you don't die."
Next to Yuno, Noelle appears from the portal above.
"... Somebody stop the world..." Noelle moaned out from her delirium. "I want to get off..."
"Hang in there." Mimosa then approaches the two and puts the two of them in the same [Dream-Healing Flower Cradle]. "Sorry. I'm kinda running a little low here..."
"Here." Yuno then pulls out a vial of Moguro Leaf Juice. "Drink this. It'll help you restore mana faster."
"Thanks." Mimosa then takes the vial, pulls the cork off with her teeth, and down the pasty-green liquid. "Oh my..." She exclaimed. "It's rather bitter..."
"You'll get used to it." Yuno then closes his eyes as he then lets the healing basket do its job.
Meanwhile, Lotus and Mars were fending off Luck in his [Over-Limit Form].
... Well, more like only Mars was fending off the prepubescent-looking berserker. Lotus was slowly dragging Fanzell back to the back lines.
"You okay there, buddy?" Lotus asked the brutalized Fanzell.
"These kids are fucking brutal man." He then takes out a yul and places it inside Lotus's swear jar. "... So no [Phoenix Robe] anytime soon?"
"We'll simply make do then."
Lotus then takes out a white roll of tourniquet, a vial of clear liquid, and a swab of cotton from his shoulder bag.
Meanwhile the other two ahead of them were now having at one and another.
The word "brutal" doesn't even describe the ensuing carnage.
Mars's [Caucasian Hail] was down to two satellites, and Luck was still moving despite his numerous ripped tendons on his arms and legs, his nose and eyes spewing out blood, and in short, not even in a state a mere semblance of proper bodily function at this point.
He was now a literal puppet of his own bloodlust.
"[Lightning Creation Magic: Thunder God's Blade]."
A sword of pure lightning spikes towards Mars.
Mars intercepts it with the last of his [Caucasian Hail] surrounding him, causing the sword to explode in a blinding flash.
"[Lightning Magic: Flash Burn]."
A flash of light shines towards Mars, causing a few cuts and burns to form onto his now-scarred skin.
Out of the light, Luck pounces towards Mars.
Mars coats his arms with diamond and drives his fist into the boy's face, sending him barreling towards the fractured door.
"LUCK!"
The youth hits the gates.
[Corporeal Magic: Lifelink] activates.
The gate's structural damage is then translated into Luck's body into physical trauma.
Blood gushs out of the youth's chest as he plummets towards the ground.
"LUCK!" Jericho roars out.
A portal opens beneath Luck's falling path, with Finral catching his broken body before the earth could.
"Oh my god..." Finral gasped. "MIMOSA-"
Suddenly, Luck's broken body then begins to float on its own.
"... Luck?" Finral asked.
His eyes then open, glowing in a pale aquamarine light.
"Win..." Luck droned out.
His broken body then puts itself back together, on its own.
"WIN!" His grimoire then opens up its pages, inscribing a new spell.
"[Lightning Spirit Magic: Spirit Dive, Fulgora]."
A goddess of lightning appears behind the puppet-like Luck. Strings of lightning then shoot out of her fingertips, turning Luck from a literal puppet to an actual puppet.
"Win." The goddess orders. "I mandate thee."
Luck then bolts toward Mars like a bat out of hell.
Mars simply punches his face, sending the youth flying back to his back.
"Stand."
Luck stands as his fractured face puts itself back together.
"Kill him."
Luck opens his grimoire, summoning forth an army of himself made entirely of lightning.
"JERICHO!" Finral yells over the storm created by the goddess. "WHAT'S GOING ON!?"
"I DON'T KNOW!" Jericho roared out. "BUT I THINK LUCK CREATED A FAKE LIGHTNING SPIRIT OUT OF PURE WILL!" He stated. "BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S CREATING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE!"
"IT'S HIS MOTHER!"
The two look towards the front, with Lotus cupping his mouth.
"THE MEMORIES OF HIS ABUSIVE MOTHER!" He yelled out. "I THINK THE COLLECTIVE TRAUMA RESURFACING TO HIS BRAIN IS WHAT'S CAUSING IT!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!?" Mimosa yelled towards the other side. "ARE YOU SAYING THAT SO-CALLED GODDESS IS ACTUALLY HIS MOTHER!?"
"LOOKS LIKE IT!" Jericho stated. "AND THE PUPPET IMAGERY IS GIVING ME REALLY DISTURBING IMPLICATIONS!"
"Oh god..." Mimosa gasped horrifically. " Even I don't think I can ever heal that wound..."
In one of the [Dream-Healing Flower Cradles], Klaus and Corrin wake up to see pure hell in front of them.
"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Klaus roared out.
"Uhh, yeah. Permission to go back to being unconscious, commander?" Corrin stated.
"PERMISSION DENIED!" Klaus barks over the hellscape. "THE GOLDEN DAWN SHALL NEVER RETREAT-"
The [Spirit Dive]-possessed Luck crashes towards the wall next to the basket that the two were currently in.
"Stand." The goddess's booming voice commanded.
Luck slumps back forward, right before shooting back towards Mars.
"... If we get out of here alive, drinks are on me tonight." Klaus states.
Corrin wordlessly nods.
At the other [Dream-Healing Flower Cradle], both Yuno and Noelle slowly wake up to also find the hell that was opened before them.
"Eh!? YUNO!?" Noelle screeches out. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEXT TO ME... OHMYGODWHATTHEFUCKISGOINGON!?"
"... We're in hell." Yuno replied.
Meanwhile, Mars was now visibly struggling.
The lightning clones/suicide bombers were down, but that still left him with a goddess-possessed lunatic who is causing more wounds then his [Phoenix Robe] can heal him.
Luck on the other hand, was vastly different.
He was no longer even alive.
Yet his mana is burning like the sun itself.
No longer he was known as "Luck".
No longer he was even a puppet of his own bloodlust.
No longer he was even remotely a human.
He is now [Lightning] itself.
"Target's performance is currently 500% higher then normal." Mars analyzed. "Commencing-"
Before Mars can finish his order, the [Lightning] strikes upon Mars's gem embedded on his forehead.
The burnt gem falls off of his forehead, revealing a gaping hole on his forehead.
"... Did he just remove Mars's limiter?" Lotus spoke out.
"Wait, limiter?" Fanzell asked.
Mars's mana then skyrockets beyond its normal threshold.
"Oh fuck..." Jericho cursed. "Somehow, I think the situation has gotten even worse."
"SCREW THIS!" Finral then opens his grimoire, opening a portal back out. "WE'RE OUT OF HERE-"
He then notices that his portal was barely a size of a needle's eye.
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Finral screeched out.
"I THINK ALL THE MANA AROUND THE WHOLE DUNGEON IS BEING CONCENTRATED TOWARDS MARS!" Jericho roared out. "WE CAN'T USE MAGIC LIKE THIS!?"
"NOW WHAT DO WE DO!?" Noelle screeched out.
Before anyone in the chambers can do anything, the room's temperature then begins steadily increase.
In one of the entrances, a bright blue glow was emitted from the other side.
"FIND COVER!"
Everyone then scrambles to get behind whatever natural cover was provided.
And out of the entrance, came out a dragon.
And on its back was a woman with blank eyes of pure hate.
"Humans..." The woman hissed out.
The blue flames around both the woman and her mount dragon then begin to melt the masonry around her.
"... I hate hate hate hate hate hate... hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate HATE YOU!"
She then opens her grimoire.
"[Fire Spirit Magic: Salamander Meteor Inferno]!"
A giant sphere of bright blue flame forms over the Salamander's mouth, right before it plummets towards the ground below.
The whole room explodes into a heavenly flash and hellish conflagration of blue flames.
Once the whole room goes quiet, Yuno, Noelle, Jericho, and Finral peeks from the corner to see the landscape.
The whole room was now reduced to a gaping pit.
And Mars and Luck were somehow alive, not even remotely burnt.
"Holy crap..." Finral gasped out. "I don't I'll ask her out anytime soon..."
The other three nod without uttering a word.
As for the two ex-Diamond Kingdom Knights, they were faring just fine.
... Except for Fanzell.
"... Fana?" Fanzell muttered out.
"Wait, that's her?" Lotus whispered out. "But I thought you told me that she was dead!"
Fana then torques her head towards the two.
"... We're boned, aren't we?"
"Somebody tell my family that I love them..."
"Die-"
Before the flames can be fired, a gigantic crystal hammer pounds onto the Salamander's stomach, jerking it upward.
The hammer returns to Mars, but now his eyes are now glowing red.
Upon seeing the [Crystal Magic] user, Fana's head then goes into a brutal ache.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Fana screeched out. "WHY ARE YOU CALLING OUT FOR HIM, YOU DAMN HUMAN!?"
Inside her head, another Fana was tearfully calling out to him.
"MARS!" She cried out. "MARS!"
"SHUT UP YOU DAMN INSECT!" "Fana" then smacks the other Fana upside the head.
Mars however, was faring even worse.
"ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE ELIMINATE..."
His grimoire then opens up.
"[Crystal & Fire Compound Creation Magic: Herculean Arsenal]."
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: From bad to worse, anyone?
Gave Fanzell's sword-related magic Tarot motifs.
Jericho goes through Deku-levels of physical trauma.
Luck is now a literal zombie of his mommy's ghost.
And two childhood friends are reunited in the worst way imaginable.
Good times.
So what do you think of this chapter?
Leave a comment or a review, for I'd like to know what my audience is thinking.