A/N: hello there! Sorry for the long time with no updates. But because of the Black Clover Filler and not wanting to dip into the manga too much I couldn't right too much anymore. So you get this short chapter, but I will warn you, this dips a lot into the manga, so spoilers ahead.

Chapter 15: Malice

Kurogo's P.O.V

A hardened criminal on one hand, and a family man on the other. That was what defined Yami Kurogo, and what gave him a major headache every time he thought about it. On one hand, he worked for a boss whose goal was to destabilize the hero society and eradicate all quirks, not to mention ruling over the criminal underworld, and on the other hand, the money he made here mostly went to his family and in particular, his daughter's education as a hero.

But regarding his boss, Kurogo wasn't sure anymore. It wasn't like he was a nice person before getting ambushed by Shigaraki and being admitted to Tartarus, but the person that came back was only a shadow of the former Chisaki. A completely deranged shadow of Chisaki.

The Chisaki that came back was even more hellbent on his goal, which was now blurred by his thirst for revenge on Shigaraki.

That's was why Kurogo wasn't surprised when they were given the order to rush forward with the "Blackbird Project". Because Chisaki's main goal was the development of the quirk-eradicating serum, and not the development of even more quirk-powered enforcement. The entire reason for the founding of "Project Blackbird" was Chisaki's understanding that in order to fight against a quirk-powered world, he'll either take away its quirks, or amass powerful ones at his side.

That's why today, after reuniting with his boss, he knows why he wanted the continuation of "Blackbird". For a shot at his revenge, which seemed like his main drive these days. It seemed like he had left his former ambitions on a backburner, focusing wholly on the development of a human that will exceed the twisted Nomus All for One commanded.

Their Plans took a real big turn once Chisaki ordered the newly reworked Kurogo to abduct an active heroine, which really put the authorities' sights on their backs. Which meant no going out of the estate, and endless complaints from his colleagues and his charge.

But after all, the thing that surprised Kurogo the most was Chisaki's new endeavors to obtain new allies from that place. At first, only a rumor, but by now, getting there was one of Chisaki's main goals.

´Things like that really make me question my life choices sometimes.'.

"Kurogo, I'm not done deleting everything yet!" Dr. Shiguma said, snapping Kurogo from his thoughts.

"I don't care. Are you done synthesizing our guest's quirk?" Kurogo asked.

"Yes, but what about all my research?" Shiguma asked in return.

"We don't have time for that." Kurogo said, putting a hand on the frenzied scientist's shoulder "According to Rei, the heroes found the hideout. So it's either we move, or we get caught.".

"But-"

"No." Kurogo cut the doctor off "we move now-"

An alarm started blaring inside the building. ´Shit!'.

Kurogo ran over to the security feed, seeing the source for the alarm. In the mansion's lobby, fire spread as a man came through the door, quite literally. The double doors burst into fire and made way for a muscular form to enter the building. The man looked straight at the security camera with conviction in his eyes, as several more alerts came on, alerting Kurogo that the motion sensors in several parts of the estate were triggered.

"What is it?!" Shiguma asked.

"Mr. number one" Kurogo said calmly, although his heart was racing "Wait for me to come here and regroup. I'll go get the girl.". Kurogo ran towards the lab's elevator, hearing Shiguma call out for him. "What about the others!?"

"We'll come back for them later, tell them what's happening!". Kurogo replied, running away from the scientist. ´No time to lose! We won't be caught, not today at least!'.

As soon as the elevator opened, Kurogo ran out of the library, running at an inhuman speed towards the mansion's living room. ´It can't only be Endeavor…there must be other heroes around. I need to hurry!'.

After racing through the halls, Kurogo soon reached his desired destination, and busted down the door to the room. "Girl, we go, now!" he called out to the surprised girl who was busy watching TV despite the alarm.

"what is going on, Mr. Kurogo?" she said, floating off the couch to stand in front of him. If he wasn't so busy with their imminent capture, he might have appreciated the ease in which she was using her newest quirk.

"Villains." He said "We must go, now."

"Villains? What are they even looking for here?" she asked "We can fight them off, right?".

"No, there's a really nasty one among them." Kurogo replied, avoiding her first question "We will take the "Emergency exit"."

"Emergency exit? We have one?"

"Yes, now run to the library, go!" Kurogo said, ushering the girl out of the room. The latter, realizing the scale of the situation, floated away from Kurogo and down the hall.

As soon as he left the room after her, he could see a hero come around the corner, and without hesitation he kicked him into the nearest wall. ´It'll be unwise to fight them because I don't want them to see my face…'. he ran to the library, quickly catching up to his charge, and opening the lab's elevator.

"Mr. Kurogo, what is going to happen to this place?" the girl asked.

"You shouldn't worry much." He answered "I'm sure the heroes will be here soon."

As the elevator's doors closed, he could see a figure bust through the library's doors. ´He's already here!'. Cold sweat washed over Kurogo as he could feel the heat radiating off Endeavor, even in the elevator. ´Come on!'.

Kurogo ripped apart the elevator's doors to provide a faster exit, and could quickly see his colleagues all wait around their special guest.

"Took your sweet time!" Dr. Shiguma yelled, frantically typing on a computer console.

"Oh, shut up." Kurogo said, running into the room "They're right on our tail!".

"Okay! Okay! We're going!" Shiguma said "I hope you took what you needed, because that's it, we're gone.". he pressed a button on a strange remote controller, and soon, their guest's quirk activated.

The last thing Kurogo saw before the mist swallowed them whole was Endeavor crushing down into the lab through the elevator shaft, parts from the elevator flew into the lab aflame, and kurogo let himself take a breath of relief.

Endeavor's P.O.V

It's been about three days since their raid on the Nine Harbingers' hideout. It's debatable whether it was successful or not, but although the villains all got away with the girl, they were able to retrieve Mr. Iriguchi and doctor Shiguma's files, which Tsukauchi said will clue them even further into the group's activities and members.

However, that was not what Endeavor cared about today. Because today Iriguchi could finally function again, and as such, Endeavor could go retrieve the young interns who were probably transported along with some of the villains during the previous raid.

"Why do I need to go and help find Deku?" Bakugo asked.

"Because we know that place well" Todoroki answered.

Bakugo, finally back in action, grumbled to himself. "I hope that at least we'll find the villains too, so I can blow them to hell.".

"That's not what we're going to do" Endeavor said "We're strictly going to retrieve the missing interns. Although I don't worry much for their safety, their families do. And we can't just have young heroes going missing every two months."

"Step inside the chamber, please" Dr. Kairi instructed, as the transparent chamber's door opened with a hiss.

They all entered the room, seeing the tired looking Iriguchi sit on the chair in the back end of the chamber.

"I hope you're ready" he said, and mist started materializing around them.

Midoriya's P.O.V

Midoriya dodged away from another one of Asta's swings. Ever since he proposed his underwater training idea to Lolopechka, Asta wanted to participate as well. and it wasn't half bad.

Midoriya's days in the heart Kingdom were mostly spent training, for lack of better things to do. His day would mostly go like this: in the morning, he would train his mana control with his friends under Gadjah's supervision. Later, at about noon, he would go on to train his combat skills with Asta while trapped in Lolopechka's water magic. Although the water offered different maneuvering options than in the air, the drag of the water made it very hard to try and swing kicks at his adversary while at a lower percentage of One for All.

Midoriya dodged above a swing that headed for his midsection, but could soon feel the water around him fall, as the large sphere that contained them fell apart. ´I wonder why she stopped.'.

"As much as I'm sure you enjoyed your training, you have visitors." A smaller version of Undine notified them.

"Visitors?" Midoriya asked.

"Yes. I called over the others to the castle. They are waiting for you over them." She said.

"Visitors? I wonder if it's the rest of the Black Bulls" Asta said "Anyway, great work today, Deku!".

"You too, Asta." Midoriya replied.

"Race you to the castle!" Asta said as he got on to his Demon-Slayer sword as if it was a surfing board, and flew away into the sky.

"That's not fair!" Midoriya called out to him as he started running after his friend.

Not long after, they reached the castle, and Asta landed in the entrance. "I win!" he exclaimed.

"For today" Midoriya said, and they both entered the castle.

In the throne room, he could see a couple of familiar people. Tokoyami, Iida holding his hero suit in his arms, Lolopechka who was sitting on her throne, Endeavor, and both Bakugo and Todoroki.

"Guys!" Midoriya called out to his friends as he ran over to greet them.

"Midoriya, it's good to see you're safe" Todoroki said with a stoic expression on his face "But you have to stop disappearing on your own.".

"Now that you are all here, we can leave." Endeavor simply said, scanning all the young heroes with his eyes "Thank you for keeping an eye on them, Lolopechka.". the queen just stayed silent, thinking about what was happening. They offered their help to her, after all.

"Endeavor, I-" Midoriya spoke "I can't come back. Not yet, anyway.".

Endeavor turned around to look at Midoriya, a questioning look on his face.

"I…I can't leave. Endeavor, I saw what is going on here…there are people that need help here." Midoriya looked up at the number 1 hero "I can't turn my back on people that need to be saved. So please, until this is over…I can't leave them behind.".

Endeavor's look softened, if only by a little bit. "Midoriya, we can't simply leave you here. You have people back home that await your return.".

"I know, but there are also people here that will need me." Midoriya said.

"You remind me too much of All Might…" Endeavor replied "I'll give you the time you need, Midoriya. But I will come back for you, and when you are back home, the burden of explaining everything will be on you."

"Thank you very much, Endeavor." Midoriya said.

"I will be staying too, damn it." Bakugo said, before turning to Midoriya "Don't think I don't know you've gotten stronger. It's not like I can let you surpass me."

"I will be staying too." Tokoyami said.

"Me too." Todoroki said "after all, someone needs to make sure you lot don't get hurt."

"I wish I could share your passion," Iida said, giving them a resolute smile "but I will go back home. I'll fight the villains back there until you lot come back. So, don't you dare die until then".

"Iida…" Midoriya replied, smiling back at his friend "don't you worry. We'll for sure see each other again after this is over!".

"All of you better think how you're going to explain yourselves when you come back" Endeavor said, turning around to exit the room "Anyway, I can't just let all of you stay here unofficially like this. You'll come back with me, and will right this off as an official mission under your respective agencies. When that's done, you can return here."

´It's better than nothing. And I would like to tell my mother and All Might about this before coming back to stay here.'.

Overhaul's P.O.V

Chisaki was following his newest allies through the halls of their dark castle, it was cold, too cold to Chisaki's taste, but the weird woman that accompanied him gave him a black fur coat that had a gray fur mantle as a sign of friendship.

Some would say it wasn't it easy to earn their interest in his alliance, but honestly all it took was demonstrating his quirk's ability on one of their Dark Disciples and they were hooked.

"So, where is your grimoire?" the girl asked, looking at his waist as if she was expecting to find something.

"My what?" Chisaki asked in annoyance. He was asked to leave his two subordinates behind and was now stuck with the weird woman and the two silent guys, who both looked like they were used to her behavior.

"Did your mom drop you on your head or something?" the woman asked with a childish grin, as if she wasn't insulting him.

´she's really getting on my nerves…'

"You shouldn't belittle our new ally" one the men, with a crown on his head, said "We should make the most out of this strange opportunity."

"Not only that." The other man spoke "Our intel suggests the Clover Kingdom has its own Grimoire-less warriors".

"Oh, really? Are they strong?" the girl asked, and the man sighed.

"Excuse my ignorance" Chisaki spoke up "but you'll have to clue me in about those Grimoires."

"Don't worry" the man without a crown spoke "for the sake of a long running alliance, I'll teach you about grimoires and even more" they all came to a stop before two wooden doors "If you can pass our test."

"A test?" Chisaki asked.

"Yes." The man with the crown spoke "You will show us your strength, and send a message to our opposers." The man turn to look at Chisaki with a smile "If you can do it, we'll get into an alliance with you."

Chisaki was slightly unnerved 'Are they all psychos?' he looked at the man without a crown 'At least he looks normal.'.

"Oh, that's right!" the girl said, as if remembering something important "Birdie, You haven't even told us what you need us for.".

Chisaki was annoyed by the comment, but kept his composure "I need you in order to kill the man who stole my arms and my dream."

"Oh…Great Malice…" the crowned man said "I think we'll get along just fine. If you can pass the test that is."

They finally entered the room behind the closed doors, and the other man spoke up. "You said you had more people on your side than the two who came with you." He gestured towards the circular room, which had several doors along its walls. "If you are to be our allies, you can stay here. Each of the room around this center one is a living quarters. You stay here for now, and I'll come to give you instructions for your test later."

"What about my subordinates?" Chisaki asked.

"I'll have the servants guide them here." The man with the crown said.

"I have one last question." Chisaki spoke again.

"Ask away." the man without a crown replied.

"your names?"

"Dante Zogratis" the man with the crown said "these are Vanica, my sister." He gestured to the girl "and Zenon, my brother." He gestured to the other man before they all walked away. "Consider this an incentive" he suddenly stopped "If you do become our allies, we'll give you great power."

Later that day, heart Kingdom border

Overhaul was standing on a cliff overlooking the fog-ridden forest which was his current target. Well, not his, but his new friends' target.

That was the condition for talking about an alliance. He'd do that one thing for them, and they'll arrange an alliance with him.

As much as it irritates him, he understands their way of thinking, and now, here he is.

"Spade Kingdom, Heart Kingdom, Diamond Kingdom, Clover Kingdom…" Overhaul muttered "Who the hell named these countries?".

"What's the plan, boss?" Hebira asked, flashing him his serpentine smile.

Overhaul looked at the "Magic Item" in his hand, the one he had been given by his "friends".

"The lord's instructions are that Kai needs to do it alone." The dark disciple that Zenon sent with them said.

"Sir, I have been contacted by the others." Kakuzo said "should we wait for them here?".

´Once I obtain the power the Spade rulers spoke off, I'll kill Shigaraki with my own bare hands.'.

"I'll send them our location then." Kakuzo said "The doctor's equipment sure is handy.".

"Yes. And now, after he got what we needed from our captive, he's even more valuable to our operation.". Overhaul said, looking at the tailor-made claws the doctor had given him to replace his arms. "Tell them to get here ASAP. I'm not in a mood to wait.".

"Yeah, no problem boss." Kakuzo replied.

"What a bummer". Hebira said, sitting down on a rock and inspecting one of his throwing knives. "I was really looking forward for some action.".

"By any means, take this." Overhaul handed each of them a "Magic item" the Spades gave them. "It's supposed to conceal your location from the enemy."

"Good luck boss" Hebira said, and Chisaki departed.

Asta's P.O.V

After Endeavor took Asta's friends away, he got back to the thing he was best at, working out.

"997"

"Asta?"

"998"

"Hey, Stupidsta"

"999"

"don't ignore me!" Noelle said before blasting Asta away with her water.

"Why?!" Asta asked.

"You shouldn't ignore people who are talking to you!"

"OK, sorry, sorry." Asta said, getting up "What did you want to talk about?".

"I just wanted to know if you wanted to-".

"Asta!" Leo called out as he ran towards them.

"What is wrong, Leo?" Noelle asked, as the boy came to a halt before them, taking in short breaths.

"I finally found you." Leo said "Me and Luck were just wondering if you wanted to come spar together.".

"Of course! Why didn't you just said so?" Asta said, getting up filled with energy, even after his intense workout.

"Are you sure-" Noelle said.

"Yeah! It sound amazing!" Asta said "you can come too Noelle".

"I'll pass. I'll go find Mimosa." Noelle said, walking away.

"That sure was weird…" Asta said "I thought she wanted to spar with me when she came here…".

"Never mind that" Leo replied "Let's go!".

After they reached their destination, they stopped at a forest clearing and Asta could see Luck sitting on a rock waiting for them.

"Hey there! Leo, Asta!" Luck greeted them with a grin on his face "I hope you're ready for our deathmatch!".

"Deathmatch?" Asta asked.

"I meant sparring!" Luck said, rubbing the back of his head, before jumping off of the rock.

"Sure! Bring it on!" Asta replied, grabbing his Demon-Dweller sword out his grimoire and prepared to swing it at Luck. In retaliation, Luck brought out his grimoire and conjured gloves and boots made of lightning magic.

As the both of them were about to clash, a sudden shriek pierced the air, stopping them both in their tracks. "What was that?!" Asta asked, looking around the forest. "It sounded far, but not too far from here."

"Are you sure?" Luck asked "We came here because it's far away from everyone. So we can go all out!"

"No, Asta's Right!" Leo said, remembering something important "close to here is the village where Lolopechka houses the refugees we saved from the Spades!".

"Are you sure?" Asta asked.

"Yeah," Leo replied "Anyway, let's go check it out. We can spar later."

"Ohhhh…Really?" Luck said, disappointed "Do we really need to?".

"Of course! We're magic knights!" Asta said with vigor "if someone's in trouble, we need to help them.". Asta began speeding of in the direction of the scream, into the forest, with his friends on his tail.

stopping in another forest clearing, Asta lowered it's paste, not hearing anything else from the direction they were going in.

"No please, mister, please don't!". a woman screamed out pleading with someone.

Asta's paste hastened, turning into a sprint soon enough.

An earsplitting cry pierced the forest usual calm, and birds flew away from the origin of the sound.

As Asta and his friends emerged from the tree line, a horrifying scene was laid out in front of them. In the settlement, the people of the Spade Kingdom stood in front of a singular man.

He is a pale man of narrow build with short, shaggy auburn hair, parted to the left. His eyes are thin, their irises small and gold. He possesses a small scar on the left side of his forehead, he has three piercings in his left ear. His mouth is covered by a black plague doctor mask which is tipped and embroidered in silver. Kai wears a black dress shirt with matching dress pants, a blood-red tie around his neck and a belt with a long, thin buckle around his waist. Over this, he wears a pale grey bomber jacket, its collar lined with thick blood-red fur, and black dress shoes. His most noticeable features are his forearms and hands, which are both black, and have the appearance of claws, with purple, glowing areas spread around his forearms in swirling patterns.

Next to him, a large puddle of blood laid on the ground.

´That must be him!'.

"What do you think you are doing to those people?!".

"More brats…" Overhaul said in annoyance "Take your example from him". He pointed at a certain house, which has its wall splattered with blood.

When they saw Asta, the people ran over to hide behind him, distancing them from Overhaul.

"Who did he kill?" Asta asked, trying to stay calm in the face of his enemy.

"We...We don't know" A woman said "Someone tried to defend us, and he killed them!".

"Don't worry." Overhaul said "You'll join them soon enough.". He crouched down, reaching his hand to the ground.

"Don't worry, we'll defend you-!"

Beside Asta, the ground formed into spikes, quickly skewering several people that were standing next to him. ´Wh-What just happened!?'. Asta could only look on as the defenseless people died fast enough, their blood seeping down the spikes and into the soil.

"You bastard!" Asta yelled as he charged Overhaul, but the man didn't look amused at all.

"Demon-Slayer!" Asta called out, and the sword flew out of his grimoire and straight into his hand.

He brought the blade down on Overhaul, but the man simply swiped his hand along the blade, and it disappeared into black mist, leaving Asta holding the sword's handle.

´My sword!'

"That's it, you can disappear now too" Overhaul said, reaching for Asta with his other hand.

Asta was grabbed by Luck, who jumped back, putting some distance between them and the masked man. Looking down at his handle, he saw raging Anti-magic emerge from the handle, rebuilding the blade. ´I didn't know it could do it, but still…if he can destroy my sword this easily, how can I fight?'.

"Demon-Dweller!" Asta summoned another sword, before swinging it at Overhaul. Demon-Dweller Sword: Black Slash! The constant slashes sent black, crescent shaped attacks at Overhaul. ´Let's see you destroy this!'.

Instead of destroying them, he touched the ground again, forming a thick wall that blocked the attacks.

"I can keep this up all day!" Asta declared "You better surrender now-".the wall in front of Asta formed into long spikes, and two small spikes pierced Asta's stomach. ´Even though he didn't see me…'. Asta tasted copper as blood filled his mouth, trickling down onto his chin.

"Asta!" Luck and Leo cried out.

"You can keep this up all day?" Overhaul asked, coming out from behind his wall "I don't think your body will keep up much longer.".

Asta took the spikes of his stomach, the blood soiling his clothes.

"You must be the anti-magic brat I heard about…" Overhaul said, slowly approaching Asta "…too bad for you.".

The people behind Asta let out shrieks of terror before running away towards the forest.

"It's rude to leave early" Overhaul said, touching the ground again.

"Don't you dare!" Leo said, preparing to shoot flames at Overhaul, but he was too late.

A split-second later, all the people got skewered, some even multiple times.

"No!" Asta cried out, blood splattering from his mouth "You monster! How could you!?".

"That's how I make business" Overhaul replied "I've been assigned to kill those, well, "traitors"."

"How can you just act all cool after killing all those people!?" Asta dropped his Demon-Slayer sword, before using the Demon-Dweller Sword to activate his Black form.

"You won't kill anyone else!" Asta said, charging his opponent.

"You never learn, do you?" Overhaul asked, reaching his hand for the ground again.

´He's going for it again!'.

"Demon-Destroyer!" Asta called another sword to him, and put both of his swords in a cross guard.

Spikes sprouted from the ground around Overhaul, and Asta curled his body, hiding behind his swords' cross guard as the spikes shot up around him, shattering on his sword and scratching his body.

"Not yet!" Asta swung his sword, launching a Black Slash that hit Overhaul, launching him into a house.

"Asta!" Luck landed next to him "I wanna fight real bad, but…" Luck composed himself, a grin on his face "His power is terrifying.".

"We should try a different approach, or we might end up skewered too." Leo said.

"You filth!" Overhaul came out of the rubble, his dress shirt destroyed, showing his chest. barely scathed. He stepped out of the building, getting rid of all the dust that clung to his clothes. "Filthy…disgusting…".

´What is that guy made off?!'.

He touched the ground again, and it exploded into much bigger spikes, the reformed earth swallowing the settlement whole and forcing Asta into the sky.

´If I let him touch me, I'll die.' Asta dodged around a spike ´And he can destroy all physical attacks, including my swords.'. Asta reached a height the spikes didn't reach anymore. ´It's just as Deku said… this guy's power is really troublesome!'.

Beneath Asta, he saw Overhaul defend himself from the ranged attack of Leo, before dodging away one of Luck's attacks. 'But it's not entirely like he told us…this man's physique is just incredible!'.

He put his both his swords back into his grimoire, before calling back his big, Demon-Slayer sword. He condensed the pulsating Anti-magic energy the blade was emitting, making it increase in size. Demon-Slayer Sword: Black Divider!

Asta brought down an enlarged blade on top of Overhaul, cleaving through one of the spikes, but missing Overhaul. Overhaul dodged, before creating a platform from the ground that raised up, bringing him towards Asta. "You are really persistent…" Overhaul said "…Even though they are already dead. There's no one left to protect.".

"Shut up!" Asta yelled back, slashing at Overhaul and splitting his platform.

But again, he missed as Overhaul jumped away, towards Asta.

´He's going to touch me…' Asta thought as Overhaul came closer, reaching out his right claw to touch his face. ´I'm going to die.'.

To Asta's surprise, he could suddenly feel another Ki incoming, and soon after, Overhaul was slammed away from him, and into his own spikes.

"Asta! Are you okay?" Luck asked.

"Not really" Asta said, looking at the wounds Overhaul inflicted on him "But I can still fight!".

"You filthy…How dare you dirty me?" Overhaul muttered, pulling himself up from the spikes that impaled him "…I will cleanse you". He touched his own stomach, and to Asta's horror, it disappeared for a second, before reassembling in a perfect condition. Even his clothes were fixed as if he was never hit.

´Did he just use that power on his own body?!'.

"If he can heal like that…" Luck said, readying two lightning orbs in his hands "We'll just need to take him out as fast as we can.".

"Be careful, Luck." Asta said "if he touches you, he'll kill you instantly!".

"Don't worry, I Know that already" Luck replied, a grin still plastered on his face.

"I don't have to fight you, since I already killed everyone here." Overhaul said, proudly gesturing at the bodies impaled around him. "Can't you see when you can't win?". He turned and walked away casually, as if there weren't any opponents right in front of him.

"You bastard! Don't you think you can just away like that!" Asta charged his opponent, readying his sword. Behind him, he could sense Luck charge as well.

"You're way too persistent. You remind me of that one kid…" Overhaul said, quickly putting his hand on the ground, forming the ground into spikes that got in their way.

Asta and Luck dodged and weaved around the spikes, quickly approaching Overhaul.

Although he sensed it, he wasn't quick enough to escape as several pillars of earth formed, ramming into him and pinning him in place. ´His disassembly and reassembly powers are crazy fast, we can't fight him close range like that!'.

"I'm ending this here!" Luck declared, and the man on the ground looked up at him. Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction! Luck fired a barrage of lightning orbs at the masked man. "I'll join you!" Leo said from the side. Fire Magic: Spiral Flame!

Overhaul formed the ground into another wall, but the young knights' spells broke through and hit the surprised man straight on. "All right!" Asta exclaimed "A direct hit!"

When the cloud of mist leftover from the spell disappeared, Asta could see he was, well, not okay. In a trench, laid Overhaul, blood pooling next to his body which was covered in severe lacerations and burns.

"Filthy…" Overhaul muttered, sitting up to Asta's surprise.

To Asta's horror, Overhaul placed his right hand on himself, and his left hand closed around the head of an impaled woman next to him.

Both of them quickly disappeared, a red misty vortex swirling around where they both stood just a split second ago. ´What…What is happening?!'. Inside the vortex, a dark shape started to take form. A human form.

As the dust clouds settled down, a horrific sight appeared before them. It was Overhaul. Completely healed. his shirt and jacket were gone, exposing Overhaul's muscles. When Asta looked at him, he couldn't even see the slightest sign of scarring on his skin.

"What kind of monster is he?!" Asta asked.

"Asta…I think he fused with the woman" Leo said, and true to form, the woman wasn't anywhere to be seen. "he's completely healed as well…if he can heal even from such severe wounds…how can we defeat him?".

"Not yet!" Asta charged

"Too bad, you pest!" Overhaul said, pointing his right claw at Asta.

A purple, translucent sphere was created from the claw, and was shot at Asta. The sphere collided with him head-on and exploded, sending him flying into a tree.

"Asta!" Leo cried out to him.

"Now…do you really want to pick a fight with me, you worms?" Overhaul asked.

"Not done yet!" Asta recovered, dodging another barrage of spikes created by Overhaul, flying high enough so the spikes won't reach him.

'I'm nearing my limit…if I don't finish this quickly, I won't be able to fight like this.'.

"Asta, what do we do?" Luck asked "We can't get close, he can heal, and can now use that other weird power."

"I…" Asta tried replying, racking his brain for an answer, but he had none. "I don't know. If only Gadjah or Noelle were here…".

"It doesn't matter how many of you come to help…" Overhaul said "…You're still mere filth. Look around you. What have you done? You couldn't defeat me, you couldn't help those people, the only thing you can do is keep on flying around.".

"You talk too much." Luck said, approaching overhaul with a lunge.

"Luck! Look out!" Leo and Asta called out, and charged in to help their friend.

With speed he hasn't shown earlier, he caught Luck by the head.

´That's it…' Asta's brain said 'He's done for…'.

The sudden realization of the situation made Asta freeze in place.

´He's dead.'.

In his head, Asta saw Luck exploding into a cloud of blood, tainting the soil and overhaul's arms.

But instead, Overhaul grunted in annoyance, before sending Luck flying with a powerful punch instead. ´Not dead. how?'.

"Good news. I'll let you off the hook for today." Overhaul told Asta while looking at his right claw.

"You're not going anywhere!" Asta yelled, charging in.

Suddenly, a familiar feeling hit him. ´I'm out of time!'. The black energy covering Asta disappeared, leaving him unshielded, but the momentum he had carried him forward towards his opponent.

"Then I'll leave you with this." Overhaul put a hand on the ground.

´I won't have time to guard-' Asta thought, just before being pierced by the spikes that erupted from the ground beneath him.

A sharp pain shot throughout Asta's body as the spikes impaled him in front of Overhaul, restraining his movement. "That's a better fit for you." Overhaul said before walking away.

Asta felt as if it was an eternity before his friends arrived and got him off of the spikes.

He could hear them calling out to him in worry, but couldn't decipher the words.

His vision started going dark, and the last thing he saw was his friends' faces looking down at him.

Overhaul's P.O.V

"I'm guessing it is done?" Arata asked as Chisaki came back to where his subordinates waited.

"I'll vouch for your success." The dark disciple said "good job".

"Yeah…" Chisaki replied, looking again at the claws which now replaced his stolen arms. ´Back then…I couldn't use my quirk…'. He remembered grabbing that blond boy, before his quirk failing on him. ´I'll have to speak to the doctor once he gets here.'.

"Is everything good boss?" Hebira asked, still playing with his knives.

"Yes" Chisaki replied "Are the others close?".

"They did get our message, and sent out their location." Arata answered "Should we go meet up with them?".

"You go do that" Chisaki said "I'll go back to report my success to our new allies."

Asta's P.O.V

When Asta came to, he felt like he was floating, his back was touching something soft, and dim light shone on his face. barely opening his eyes, he could see green vines surround him and create a sort-of cradle around him. ´Mimosa's spell…so I'm not dead after all.'.

"He's awake!" he heard Mimosa say from somewhere beside him.

Asta fully opened his eyes, seeing Mimosa look down at him as the vines around him became undone. "I'm so glad, Asta!" Mimosa said with joy "I almost thought…we lost you there.".

"What are you talking about? he's too stupid to die anyway" Noelle said, joining Mimosa.

"Noelle was really worried for you too" Mimosa said "In her own way.".

"I-I wasn't worried…" Noelle said before crossing her arms, her cheeks slightly red.

"Thank you very much!" Asta said, his vigor returning to him, and he tried to sit up.

Although the wounds were gone, pain stung everywhere on his body. "You shouldn't do that" Mimosa said, gently pushing Asta down on to the pile of petals that served as his bed.

"What happened to Luck and Leo?" Asta asked.

"Leo was pretty much fine, he was just hit in the leg with a smaller spike." Mimosa said "And Luck had several broken ribs, but he recovered."

"Luck told us you continued to fight after being stabbed twice in the midsection" Noelle said "How did you even manage that?!".

"I work out!" Asta replied, flexing his arm, before his ace suddenly turned grim. "Are there…are there any survivors?". In his head, Asta knew there couldn't have been, he saw them all die in his own eyes, but he still held onto the faint hope that some made it out alive.

That same hope was instantly crashed by Noelle's expression. She didn't need to say anything in order for Asta to understand.

"I…I see" Asta said, getting up despite the pain.

"Where are you going?" Noelle asked.

"To train" Asta replied "I still…We weren't strong enough." He turned back to look at Noelle and Mimosa "But, next time, I'll be strong enough to protect everyone! After all, how can someone who can't protect the weak become Wizard King?". Asta headed for the door, opening it will full force in a display of excitement.

"Asta, you really shouldn't do that right now" Mimosa said, getting up from the stool she was sitting on.

Asta turned to look at Mimosa "Why not? I feel just fine-".

From behind him, something grabbed his, head.

"No, you're not." A familiar voice said from behind him.

"Captain Yami?!" Both Noelle and Asta exclaimed.

"why are you so surprised?" Yami exhaled some smoke "I was in the neighborhood, so I decided to drop by." He started putting pressure on Asta's skull.

"Captain Yami, that hurts-"

"I heard what happened, so your going to take some time off." Yami said, a dark expression on his face "If I hear you were training, I'll kill you.".

"Yes, Captain Yami!" Asta replied, and Yami let go off his head before walking away from the room.

Overhaul's P.O.V

"Magnificent job." Dante congratulated Chisaki as he reported the success of his test.

The four of them sat around a table in a dark room, lit only by candles.

"I think we should make proper introduction." Dante said, looking at Chisaki "after all, we wish for this alliance to prosper, no? we should share our intel and plans.".

"Well, as I already said, I'm Kai Chisaki. And my power lets me disassemble and reassemble everything I touch." He looked towards the place where he previously killed one of their men, now it was clean, and no blood remained in the corner of the room. "Now to things I haven't disclosed…" Chisaki gave his new allies a look "I have with me 9 people who work for me, and each one of them has his own unique ability." Chisaki stopped himself from telling where he came from. he'll keep that information to himself.

"I believe that with your magic and our technology and special abilities, we could create a very strong alliance." Chisaki said "I already told you of my plans". 'Well, only the part you need to know about at least.'. "What about you?".

Dante smiled a nearly psychotic smile. "Let me tell you something." Dante looked Chisaki in the eyes "You should be able to understand me very well after all." He got up and looked at the window behind him, turning his back to Chisaki. "Evil…a supreme emotion that only humans possess. I consider being called evil a compliment, after all, animals have no malice, only instinct. Being called evil, is like being called human." He turned back to look at Chisaki "You, one who has lost everything, knows evil. And better than that, the power you get by unleashing your most supreme emotion.".

Chisaki kept his cool composure, listening as Dante continued his speech. ´He probably has some whacky plan…but that doesn't matter, as long as I have achieved my goal.'.

"That's why we will unleash devils from the underworld into the world…" Dante said "and create a world full of malice!".

"And how do you plan on accomplishing this?" Chisaki asked.

"Very simply, in fact." Dante replied "As Zenon explained to you, each person is born with a magic attribute. Water, fire, earth, wind and countless combination and derivations of the original four." Dante finally sat back down "for the ritual to open a gate between our world and the underworld we need two mages who possess two unique magic attributes. Dark Magic, and World Tree Magic. Fortunately, the Clover Kingdom has two mages who possess those exact magic attributes."

"And those will be William Vangeance and Yami Sukehiro, two Clover Kingdom Magic Knights." Zenon added. "We plan to take them by force, from inside the Clover Kingdom, that is the only option. And that's where you come in. We will need your specialists to infiltrate the Clover kingdom and discover the locations of the two of them, since you people seem to have no mana, this mission is tailor-made for you, because you're undetectable by mana sensing."

"I have a guy that can do it." Chisaki said "But what do we do once you know their locations?".

"The plan then goes like this:" Zenon answered "I will retrieve William Vangeance, Dante will retrieve Yami Sukehiro, and Vanica will attack the heart kingdom.".

"Why would you need to do that?" Chisaki asked.

"Because of the queen of the Heart Kingdom." Zenon said "Lolopechka, a woman who is the hostess of the water spirit, Undine. Their involvement could be troublesome.".

´It seems more like a throw away reason to give that girl a job' Chisaki looked at Vanica 'She's probably more like Rappa's type, a person who likes fighting strong opponents.'.

"I think that's everything we needed to go over." Dante got up from his chair and walked over to Chisaki, who got up as well. Dante shook Chisaki's hand. "Now…let's find a devil that is suitable for you."