Everyone was stunned into silence, while they tried to process the multitude of information that had been presented to them in this most recent viewing. The silence stretched on for what seemed like hours, and Bethany was just beginning to worry that that viewing had given them all heart attacks, when both Raya and Patry turned to her at the same time and demanded, in almost perfect synchronisation: "play the next one!" That seemed to break the shock the others were suffering from as well, because everyone began talking at once, all begging her to put the next clip on. Taking a deep breath and releasing it, the Mother of the Tsukuyomi Cards stood up, "while I would love nothing more than to play the next episode right away, there is a more important matter to attend to right this moment. Not once has anyone here eaten any of the food I made for you!" she exclaimed. "Who cares about the stupid food! One of our friends just had a giant hole torn through his chest! I think we can all agree that none of us have any kind of appetite at the moment!" Patry exclaimed, causing Raya to give him a confused look. Noticing this, the young Elf looked away in embarrassment, "you may annoy me all the time, but I still think of you as a friend Raya. Seeing that, whatever it was do that, it- I can't-" Patry muttered, but was unable to get the words out.
Seeing this, the Copy Mage looked over at their Host, "alright, how about we compromise. We'll go and bring our food in here and eat while we watch the next Veiwing. But you can't just stop at a place like that and expect everyone to be happy to wait. Not to mention, a huge hole was just blown into my chest, I kind what to know if I end up living or not" he explained. Bethany closed her eyes and sighed, "alright, I guess you have a point. I wanted to wait so that everyone could calm down after what they just saw, but maybe that was naïve of me to think it would work like that after that ending." She opened her eyes and stood, "alright everyone, the dining room is this way, you may choose whatever you want to eat and then return to your seat" The young woman explained as she led the group of humans and Elves over to another door labelled "Dining Room" and pushed open the door, to reveal a Japanese themed Dining Room with a table with eight chairs arranged around it. The table was piled with all kinds of food along with plates and cutlery.
"When you've each got what you want for your first serving, please return to the Viewing Room so we can continue, I'll be waiting" Bethany explained, before leaving to go to the other room again. Everyone was so worried and freaked out about what had happened in the last session, that they mostly just shoved whatever onto their plates, before returning to the other room. Bethany sighed as she watched the nervous wrecks that were the members of her audience. Maybe this would mean that they could change things, but it had also brought a lot of pain, and would bring about even more before this was over. Still, she had to start the next clips before she had a riot on her hands. "Okay everyone please remember to eat while you're watching. I know you are all very tense, but if you don't eat, you'll all be too weak when I eventually send you back. So please, at least try, okay?" Bethany asked. She received no answer and sighed again, 'well, here we go' the young woman thought.
"Okay, this is the one where the truth behind the massacre of the Elves is at least partially explained. We still have this Viewing and another to watch before we can get to the whole truth though, so please just be patient, okay?" The Master of the Tsukuyomi Cards asked. Receiving no response, just fast-paced eating sounds, the human girl sagged, "try not to eat too fast, you might be sick" she deadpanned, before resuming her normal spot and continuing on to the next clip.
The first scene was a black and white flashback of Lemiel talking to the Elves, and Raya's voice could be heard over the silent images: "Elves have long sought revenge for the betrayal that brought about our destruction," he began, as the scene of the Light Magic spell being cast was shown again.
Lemiel fought not to flinch. It hadn't been him, he reminded himself. They would all find out who had really caused such a horrible thing now and they would all work to prevent it. They would prevent it!
"However, because I can see through lies, I knew the truth" Raya continued. The screen showed Lemiel happily talking to the Elves, "he didn't actually betray us at all"
The human Prince perked up at this confirmation and sagged in relief. Tettia and Licht both turned to smile at their brother/soon-to-be-brother-in-law and smiled, "I knew you would never have done such a thing. I always believed that you had to be innocent" the Elf leader said, placing a hand on the blond young man's shoulder. Lemiel smiled, a few tears leaking from his eyes as the massive burden of possibly having killed his Sister, unborn Nephew, brother-in-law and all the other friends he had made among the Elves finally left his shoulders for good.
"But I chose not to tell everyone what I knew. Because the last thing I wanted was to see their hatred of humans diminished by that fact." The screen showed many different images, some they had seen and some they hadn't. The last scene shown was of Licht smiling, "no matter how many lies I had to tell, I wanted to see him one last time". The screen turned black, "that was my disloyalty" Raya narrated. Then the scene from the end of the last clip started, Raya with a huge hole punched through his stomach, 'and for that transgression, I earned a giant hole in my chest, but still!' he thought as he began to fall forwards towards the ground in slow motion, 'what in the world is this wretched thing that created the hole in the first place!?' he thought desperately as the possessed Ronne was shown as Raya fell to the ground. 'That thing is the biggest liar of all! How long has it been posing as Ronne?! How long has it blended in with us?!' Raya thought in a despaired pain-filled panic as his body finally hit the ground with a jarring thud that wracked his whole body in even more agony.
He fought to stay awake, despite every part of his body screaming to end the pain. He couldn't let himself die again! Not yet! "Noooo!" Patry cried in horror as he ran over, Grimoire already open to his healing spell, he had to move fast! Falling to his knees, the Elf held his hands over the hole, golden healing light concentrating into the massive gaping wound, "Raya! Raya!" he called desperately, trying to wake his friend up. Turning back to the 'Elf' who'd caused the damage, he began to demand answers, "what's the meaning of this! Ronne?" he cried angrily. 'Ronne' smiled and chuckled, "the three leaves of the Clover: they represent Integrity, Hope and Love. Within the fourth leaf dwells good luck,' he continued, as the screen showed Yuno's shocked face, before going back to the 'Elf's' mouth, "and, within the fifth, there resides a Devil".
Everyone's eyes widened in horrified realisation, "no, don't tell me that the one behind the massacre, who killed the Elves and my sister- was the actual Devil?" Lemiel asked weakly, but it was clear that he already knew the answer. All the Elves looked at each other, horrified that they had almost condemned an innocent young man with an atrocious act of evil, when in fact, he was completely innocent. But they knew that all this was purely speculation at this point. They needed solid proof of this Devil and his part in the massacre of their people first before jumping to conclusions again.
The creature in Ronne's body looked up, "that reminds me, of the day I took advantage of two Mages chosen by four-Leaf Grimiore's, and used their pain to create a Grimoire of despair" as the 'Elf' spoke, flashes of the past showed the meeting of Licht and Lemiel, and then the massacre, ending with the scene of Licht cradling his dead wife and her unborn child in his arms.
"Oh my god," Raya was the first one to speak up, "so it's true, this Devil, whoever he is caused the massacre of all the Elves and Tettia and her unborn Son" he said faintly. No one could say anything more, so the recording continued.
After fading to black again, the view returned of Patry kneeling down beside Raya as he tried to heal his friend. 'Ronne' floated into the air and up onto the raised platform as Patry watched, "now I can finally obtain what should have been mine all along" the 'Elf' spoke as he rose through the air. Yuno watched, sweat dripping down his face as he fought to stay composed instead of crying in terror, 'this Magic, it doesn't belong to an Elf' he thought. "Here in the Shadow Palace, a place that resides between one world and the next," 'Ronne' began as he landed on the stone platform, right in the centre, "I can use this to bring me what I want, out of the land of the dead" he spoke to himself as he looked down at Yuno's Stone, before bending down and placing it in the centre of the platform, where a divot that fit it sat. Once the Stone was in place, a black mass began to rise up from it before it coalesced into a large cocoon-like shape, seeming to be lashed to the ground by more of the same black mass that it was made of.
The form glowed with an ominous dark blue light. 'Ronne' laughed and raised his arms, as though he was going to embrace a long-lost friend. "At long last, I have returned" he said, before a small shapeless black mist rose up from the Elf's head, after which he toppled to the ground at the bottom of the raised platform. "Ronne, no!" Patry exclaimed in worry. After the mist had joined the black mass, it started to pulse and beat like a heart, drawing the blond-haired Elf's attention again. The 'tethers' broke and the mass started to change shape.
"Oh dear god!" Fana whispered in awed terror. Patry was trembling again. Their he was, all alone with the Devil, and only a dead Ronne, a nearly dead Raya and Yuno there with him. "I- I'm gonna die again, I know it. I don't wanna die yet, I need to make up for all the horrible things I've done!" Patry began to cry in sheer terror, he was only 15 damn it! Why the hell did all this bad stuff have to happen to him!? Was it that Devil's fault for that too? "I can't take this, I can't, I'm scared, please" the poor teen cried, clinging to Licht as tight as he could. Licht was the strongest! Surly he had come back by this point as well, right? Surly he would come to save them from that Devil? All the Sword Mage could do was try and soothe the terrified boy in his arms as he shook and cried against him. But, truth be told, he didn't even know what to say to try and help in this situation.
There the future version of his young friend was, all alone against a being of pure evil, with only the Reincarnation of his half-Elf Son to try and help him. In a situation like this one, what could he say? 'Oh, don't worry, I'm sure if we work together we can beat the Devil!' With nothing to say, all he could do was rock the teenage Elf in his arms, while his terrified cries tore at his heart.
Yuno was frozen in horror, "what is this? A pitch-black magic? And why is it so cold?" the half-Elf asked. He'd tried to move any part of his body already, but just the feel of this power brushing against his senses paralysed him with a cold fear. The fear that he knew was true: whatever this thing was, it was going to kill them all. As the pulsing sounds grew louder, the black mass began to take on a humanoid shape, growing claws and horns, thin black wings and a long-barbed tail. Patry was even worse off than Yuno, being even closer to the evil Mana than the half-Elf. His breathes came in laboured and short gasps as though his body was trying to limit his breathing within the proximity of this thing, like he could die just from breathing in it's evil.
Wings formed and Patry's eyes widened in terror, "don't tell me- is he-" he paused, voice shaking as a truly creepy laugh rang out, the kind that children might have nightmares about from living dolls chasing them, and it sent shivers down the backs of those present. The creature was then fully revealed. Grey skin, that was so close to his bones that it made him look like a walking corpse. Blood-red eyes within sunken eye sockets, pointed ears and two long black horns sticking out the top of his head. The rest of the Devil's body was covered in a black substance that also made up the long and thin barbed tail sticking out in the air from the being's tailbone. Over his face were black vein-like lines. All-in-all the Devil really looked like a horror character, something that couldn't possibly exist in real life, right? Well, he was all too real now.
All the Elves and humans in the theatre were frozen to their seats in pure terror. That was the Devil. The actual Devil! How could they possibly beat that! "Even though right now probably isn't the time, I just thought I'd let you know that that Devil's name is apparently Zagred" Bethany explained. No one commented, which didn't surprise the young woman at all. Without any ability to deny it, the viewing continued.
"This creature, what is he?" Yuno asked, still terrified.
Suddenly realising that her reincarnated baby boy was still in the same room with that monster, Tettia's eyes widened, and she broke out of her terror due to sheer Maternal love and worry, "no! Yuno! Get out of there, run, fly away, do something! You can't die, not again! I can't watch you die again!" the human Princess sobbed. It was bad enough to watch him die when her baby was just a bump in her womb, but Yuno was a person now, a young man with a promising future. She didn't care that this boy wasn't actually her son, but his Reincarnation instead- as far as she was concerned, Yuno was her baby boy. And her baby boy was stuck in a room with a monster. The monster that had most likely killed both of them and all the other Elves. "Oh please don't die, not again, please!" Tettia begged with tears still streaming down her face. Her brother wrapped his arm around her, as Licht was still busy trying to take care of a terrified Patry. She didn't blame the poor boy. If it had been her in the same situation, she would have been utterly terrified as well.
The Devil spread his wings and laughed again, "ah! Though it's still incomplete, it's been Centuries since I've been in my own body! And it's, such a wonderful feeling!" he exclaimed in jubilation. Zagred's eyes moved down slightly, spotting the still frozen form of Patry kneeling on the ground above Raya, focusing every bit of magic he had, trying to heal the other Elf faster. Every instinct in his body and mind was screaming at him to run. Despite being in the body of an adult, the Elf felt like a child again, terrified and alone in front of a horrifying monster. "You've used your Four-Leaf Grimoire well Elf, I commend you. I praise you from the bottom of my black heart," the Devil praised, as Patry could only stare in confused horror, "for all that you've done up to this moment, and the results you've shown me." He said as another flashback began. Licht, cradling Tettia in his arms brokenly, "and now, you will taste the depths of despair, just as another did all those Centuries ago!" Zagred added.
"Another?" Patry asked weakly, his hands trembling as he fought to maintain his concentration on healing while the rising tide of pure terror rose up to engulf him, "but who?" he asked, unable to keep the fear from showing through his body language. 'What is going on here?' he thought, mind swirling with so many conflicting desires that he couldn't keep up his strong grown-up persona anymore. A sick grin twisted the Devil's lips, "that day, the one who tricked the humans into betraying the Elves was none other than- why me of course!" the evil creature taunted the boy.
Furious and horrified voices rang out through the theatre, "I knew it! I fucking knew it! That sick bastard!" Raya screamed furiously, standing up and continuing to yell obscenities at the Devil on the screen. Fana began crying, while Vetto had gone deathly pale, eyes wide as he shook his head over and over again. Lemiel was equal parts relieved and furious, relieved that he hadn't been the one to kill his sister and Elf friends for some reason, and furious that this sick, twisted bastard had destroyed everything he'd ever loved, and, for some reason, he hadn't been strong enough to stop him. Tettia had tears streaming from her eyes, both out of relief that her brother hadn't been the one to betray them and at the same time, she'd literally lost everything on that day, from what she'd seen. And this creature was the one at fault. Patry was still crying in terror, shame and guilt burning his heart at the same time. He just wanted this all to stop! Licht was furious, but also horribly disappointed in himself. If only he'd known about this in the timeline of the Clips past- he shook his head, they all knew now, and even better that damned Devil didn't.
They had the element of surprise on their side. All they had to do when they got home was hunt down that heartless bastard and tear him apart then vaporise what was left. If they could destroy the Devil, none of this would happen, right?
"They were so easy to manipulate, humans will do anything for power," The Devil continued, as Patry once again remembered Lemiel's words to them about his desire for both races to one day understand each other. "And then you lot made it even easier, letting me trick you in most amusing way! The revenge went exactly as planned," he revealed before Patry's horrified face, before laughing again, "I might have known! You're nothing but a bunch of fools!" Zagred taunted. The Light Mage had just about reached his limit and shot light spears at the monster, "how, dare you!" he screamed in a fury as he did so. But the Devil just grinned maliciously and spoke one word: "Return". Just as Patry's attack reached him, the light spears stopped in mid-air, before turning around and shooting back down towards the two Elves.
"Patry no!" "get out of there!" "use your movement spell!" were just a few of the things screamed at him in fear by his friends. The current Patry was breathing fast and hard again, wondering if this was it. This was where his life was going to truly end.
Suddenly, before any of the light spears could hit their mark, a gust of wind scooped up both Patry and Raya and carried them out of the way of the attacks before depositing them back on the ground again. "Hey!" Yuno snapped in anger, causing the full Elf to look up at him in shock, "that body belongs to Captain Vangeance!" he called, looking back at him, "your carelessness will get him killed" the boy chided. The Devil chuckled, causing Yuno to turn his full attention back to their mutual enemy "I'll deal with you later, I have things to do" he said.
Before his spiritual parents could breathe a sigh of relief however, Yuno spoke up.
"I don't think so, you'll deal with me now!" the orphan demanded, "whatever kind of monster you may be, I won't let you have your way!" he replied. "If all I have to do to end this nightmare is destroy you, then so be it!" Yuno growled, but you could see that he was dripping with sweat, still struggling to combat the oppressiveness of the Devil's aura. A horizontal Hurricane came shooting at the Devil from behind as the Half-Elf cast his strongest spell, "Mana Zone: Spirit Storm!" he cried. Zagred wasn't worried at all though and smirked, "Vacuum Barrier" he said. Yuno's attack hit an invisible wall and got sucked into thin air.
Everyone could only gape at this. Yes, they knew that the Devil could make things happen just by speaking them aloud, but still!
"What?" the half-Elf demanded in shock. "All your attacks are meaningless in the face of my Word Soul Magic" The Devil declared. Yuno gaped at him, 'Word Soul Magic? His power is insane!' he thought, 'now that I'm stronger I understand. I can't beat this guy' he thought as the remains of his attack were drawn into the vacuum. "Well, I can't do it alone at least" Yuno continued out loud, as the view panned up through the hole behind the Devil, to show Asta still falling with Mimosa on his back, Demon-Destroyer Sword out and ready. "Yuno!" he called as they fell. "About time, Asta" his rival remarked. Before they could fall too far, Mimosa held up her hand, using her plant magic to attach them to the edges of the hole as well as wrapping around Asta's waist in order to slow them down. Taking in the situation, she gasped 'hold on a second, what's happening? And what is that strange creature?' the girl thought in confusion.
"Woah, freaky! What the heck is that thing down there?!" the grey-haired boy demanded in confusion. Suddenly his grip tightened on his sword, "wait, I have a weird feeling that I should know the answer" he said lowly.
"Is he referring to the Anti-Magic Devil that possessed my Grimoire and Swords that you told us about before Mrs Yuki?" Licht asked, causing the young woman to nod.
Zagred looked back at them with disinterest, "some uninvited guests have crashed my party, but, I suppose they can stay" he decided, before returning to his original target, "more importantly, approach me now Elf" he said, and suddenly Patry was no longer kneeling over Raya and trying to heal him, but crouched before the Devil. He spun around to stare at the monster before him, 'Word Soul Magic, which means everything he says becomes reality.' He thought, eyes wide in fear, 'could that also be what he used to recreate Ronne's Switching Magic while posing as him?' Patry thought. The Elf grit his teeth in anger, "that's enough! Light Creation Magic: Light Whip of-!" he began, the golden whip appearing in his hand, before: "Vanish" The Devil said, and the whip faded into thin air. "Iron Lances" suddenly the blond Elf was lifted into the air while being impaled in multiple places by the attack.
Patry screamed in agony.
Everyone flinched at the scream. The boy himself whimpered again and wrapped his arms around himself. He couldn't even imagine just how much that would hurt, nor did he want to. Licht held him protectively, "it won't happen, no matter what, we will stop this" he told Patry gently.
Raya forced his eyes open to look up at his friend, "Pat-try" he whispered weakly. He was losing way too much blood. He knew that he wouldn't last the day. "Asta! That creepy horned monster is behind all of this!" Yuno called, Wind Magic propelling him back into the air. Asta, for his part quickly took on his Black Form, "I got it!" he called back before flying up into the air in a streak of black.
"Um, excuse me?" Licht asked in confusion. "You know how I explained that an Anti-Magic Devil had taken over your old Grimoire and swords?" Bethany asked. Licht nodded, "well, at one point, Asta managed to tap into a greater amount of that Devil's power, causing him to gain that form, which he calls his Black Form" the Card Mage explained. Everyone nodded in understanding and returned their attention to the screen.
The two of them headed towards Zagred, but were intercepted, "Tempest of blades!" the monster called, causing a huge portal to open up in the air and hundreds of blades of all kinds to come shooting out. "I can get rid of these easy!" Asta cried, swinging his sword. One of his strikes however, knocked a sword out of the air instead of erasing it. 'Some of them are physical weapons! My Anti-Magic can't erase those!' he thought in slight worry. He started to dodge as many swords as he could, while also using his sword to erase the magical constructs and deflect all the real ones. Yuno, for his part was using Mana Zone to it's limit to try and avoid all the weapons. 'Grr, damn it! It's all I can do just to evade them!' The half-Elf thought in annoyance. The screen showed the two boys dodging, weaving and slashing their way through all the weapons while the Devil watched with an amused grin.
"I am really starting to hate that stupid Devil! Putting our Son in danger and torturing and tormenting innocent creatures is not funny damn it!" Tettia growled, causing everyone to stare at her in surprise. The Princess noticed the looks and turned to them in confusion, "what?" she asked. "Well it's just that, none of us have ever heard you talk like that about anyone" Her brother explained. Tettia huffed, "well, no one has ever made me this angry before! I assure you, that's not the only thing I have to say about this monster!" she exclaimed, crossing her arms and glaring at the screen. There was a moment of silence, "um, let's just continue, shall we?" Bethany asked, and she would have had sweat dripping down her face had she not been specifically working to keep calm at all times.
"Vacuum Barrier" he added, and an enormous amount of force slammed the two boys to the ground instantly. Both groaned under the weight pushing them down. "Be crushed to dust" more pressure slammed onto their bodies. "Smashed to powder" This time they were both driven a few inches into the ground. "Broken to bits" the roof began to crack, "riddled with holes" the roof finally collapsed, right on top of the two helpless boys.
This time it was Tettia's turn to scream: "Yuno! No!" she cried, eyes wide in horror, Licht no better beside her. Bethany paused the viewing and moved to the front, "it's okay everyone, both Yuno and Asta are fine, they're very tough, trust me, and both have survived far worse than this. Okay?" she asked the distraught future mother. The woman looked up at her with teary eyes, "a-are you sure?" she asked. Bethany gave a small smile and nodded, causing both the boy's past life parents to sigh in relief.
"Asta! Yuno!" Mimosa cried in fear for both her teammate and the boy she had a crush on. Dust from the impacts continued to fall back to the ground, but the boys were nowhere to be seen. Zagred laughed, "I won't let anyone stand in my way!" he exclaimed, before walking back over to Patry, who was drifting between unconsciousness and staying awake. He was still in massive amounts of agony, and he was doing his damned hardest not to let tears form in his eyes from the pain radiating throughout his entire body. He was still hanging impaled on the Iron Spears, sweat dripping down his body. "Are you still awake!?" the Devil called, rousing the Elf from his current half-unconscious state as he weakly forced his eyes open to look up at the approaching Devil.
"Man Patry, you do not look good at all" Raya said in worry. "Well he's only hanging in the air from the stakes that are being used to torture him the whole time. I think he's allowed to look pale and exhausted" Fana pointed out a little testily, while the current Patry shifted uncomfortably as the monster walked closer to his future self.
"I must thank you, as a direct result of your efforts, time will start moving for me again! Without you we wouldn't be here now Hero" the Devil praised, as another flashback began. Licht's first meeting with Lemiel and his sister, the three of them talking together while the other Elves watched. "Five Centuries ago, they got in my way, and though I came close, my incarnation failed" he explained. The scene changed back to Patry's once again dismayed face as he was forced to listen to the explanation, "what are, you saying?" he asked fearfully. "Rather than admit defeat, I selected you to be my next unwitting pawn!" he continued as the young Patry was shown sitting with the other Elves as they watched Licht talking with the human Prince and Princess, "a new sacrifice, loved by Mana, still young and oh-so-easily swayed" the scene changed to the massacre again, "tragedy, a sense of purpose, a mission to fulfil. That's all it took to turn you to Forbidden Magic that would reincarnate the Elves Souls in human form" Zagred said as the flashback ended.
"No you have it wrong! Not me, Licht was the one who reincarnated us in human bodies. It's true he delved into Forbidden Magic, but he did it for us, he gave us a chance!" Patry denied desperately. "You're incorrect!" the Devil replied, "truth is, he had nothing to do with your Reincarnation. All me I'm afraid!" he explained. Patry looked utterly horrified by this fact, eyes widening in complete and utter dismay, and he felt something shatter within him. The evil creature laughed gleefully at the look on the boy's face.
"What! He Reincarnated us too! It was no wonder that we seemed so different from how we would usually be acting!" Vetto whispered to himself fiercely, unable to make himself speak above that volume. Patry couldn't take anymore. His emotions were utterly shattered by this point and he just felt numb to everything, leaning against Licht without even noticing that he'd gone boneless in his leader's arms.
"You don't understand your Leaders wishes, he doesn't want to exterminate Humanity," The Devil continued as Flashbacks showed more of what Patry had done in his belief that it was what Licht had wanted, "the restoration of the Elves, the revenge you so longed for, false goals all of them! You merely followed the path that I laid for you, and led the other fools along the way. You did a truly splendid job, I couldn't have asked for a more useful tool" Zagred stated as the scene returned to the present time, moving up from the bottom of Patry's body as he weakly fought to convince himself that everything the monster was saying was wrong, "and in the end, it brought about a future Licht would never want!" the Devil continued, "no Licht. It's a lie, all of this." "all for the sake of returning me to my body" "It's not true. He's lying. I'm like him, I am just like Licht. The Four-Leaf Clover chose me" he replied, desperate to believe that there was more to this than what the evil creature was saying.
After all, why would he have been chosen by the Four-Leaf Clover Just like Licht had otherwise? "Well, you were chosen, that's true, but not by the Four-Leaf Clover. By me my little puppet!" The Devil replied gleefully. Patry's eyes went as wide as they could go, while his pupils shrunk as the absolute horror of all of it slammed into him like a tidal wave, nothing he could do could stop the intense emotional agony that speared his heart like the lances in his body. The monster laughed gleefully at the broken look on the Elf's face, "excellent work" he praised. Patry screamed again, but this one was louder and filled with even more agony than before as his heart shattered in his chest and his mind twisted, unable to cope with the truth that he had been presented. He screamed and screamed as despair consumed him, body, mind, heart and soul. It was too much, it was all too much for him to take and he just wanted it all to stop, to run away from all of this and never feel anything ever again.
Tettia and Fana were both sobbing as the young Elf lay unmoving in Lichts arms. He couldn't take it either, but unlike his future self he simply locked his emotions away in the deep recesses of his mind until the Viewing was over. Licht looked down to check on the boy, and gasped, he looked lifeless. He gently yet urgently moved Patry to a standing position and looked him over worriedly, "Patry? Patry, what's wrong?" he asked, trying to sound gentle and soothing still, but he couldn't keep his urgency from leaking into his voice. Everyone looked over at the two, all worried, but leaving it up to them, "nothing's wrong," the younger Elf replied, but his voice was flat, utterly emotionless as he spoke, "I'm fine now, thank you" Patry answered. After another moment of staring, Licht's eyes widened in horror, "oh Patry, no! what is this?! what have you done!?" he demanded, gripping the boy's arms tighter.
"My emotions couldn't take the strain. If I had kept going at this rate, just watching would have broken me. I needed to give them a chance to recover, so I put them away for a while. I will retrieve them after the viewing is over. There is no need for concern on my part, I assure you, I'm fine now" he assured in the same flat tone. Licht tried to find a way to convince him that this wasn't the right thing to do, but with everything that was happening in the current Veiwings clips, he couldn't see a way to bring Patry back out without causing him to break, as the future version of him had. The Elf Leader sighed heavily, "alright fine, but your emotions had better come back, do you hear me? Your Mother is going to kill me when we get home" he muttered the last part to himself. After another moment of everyone staring back at them in concern, including Bethany, Licht waved them off and told them to restart the recording. The human Card Mage frowned in worry, but did as he requested.
Patry continued to scream, while the Devil cackled in amusement. Meanwhile, two human men were shown to be hiding in the spiral staircase going downwards. Both looked terrified as the broken screaming continued, 'what the hell is this creature of darkness? And is it saying that it used Licht? In the same way that Licht used all of us?' one of them thought in confusion and horror. The Boy-turned-adult kept screaming in absolute agony, while the Four-Leaf Clover on his Grimoire began to turn black.
"Oh god no! his Grimoire!" Fana sobbed at the sheer pain in her young friend's voice. Horror showed on every face in the theatre at the realisation of what was happening, "it's turning into a Five-Leaf Clover, just like mine did during the Massacre!" Licht realised; eyes wide. Tettia gripped his hand hard, desperate to give him as much support as she could. For the first time in his life, Licht had no idea what to do or how to comfort someone. How do you comfort someone who had basically regressed into his own mind to hide from his agony?
Raya weakly raised his head from where he still lay on the cold stone floor, his friend's agonized screaming breaking his own heart, "Patry, I'm sorry," he whispered, as the screams echoed around the room, intermixed with Zagred's laughter, "everything that we had accomplished". Finally, Patry ran out of energy and his screams stopped. The broken Elf's head fell forwards as exhaustion overtook him, he had no strength left to fight back. He didn't know what the Devil's plan was now, but he didn't care, all of his willpower was gone. He could only pray that whatever it was, the evil creature decided to kill him now that he had his body back. That way he couldn't end up making everything worse. Unfortunately for him, this was a being who delighted in causing all kinds of torture and to whom the word "mercy" meant nothing. Eventually the Devil calmed from his laughing fit, "ah, it's so amusing, Elves and humans, so alike. Your dreams and ambitions make the most excellent playthings for creatures like me!" he exclaimed joyously.
Then he began laughing again. "I've heard enough!" a furious voice called firmly.
"Asta! Oh thank god, he can save Patry, I'm sure of it! And if Asta is okay, then I'm sure Yuno is too!" Tettia exclaimed in relief.
The Devil turned his head completely to the side to look back at the one speaking out of the corner of his eye. The rubble from the collapsed roof shifted to reveal both Yuno and Asta standing and looking furious. "You think you can just show up out of nowhere and make a mess of things!?" Yuno demanded. "Okay, sure, you're super strong and scary, I'll give you that, but who do you think you are?" Asta asked. "Whatever you are, it pisses me off!" Yuno growled, as the crown-like part around his Right arm lengthened due to his anger. "You're nothing but an ugly, stupid piece of trash!" Asta exclaimed, Anti-Magic reacting to his rage and flowing around him furiously. "And I won't lose my dream because of you!" both boys exclaimed at the same time as Wind Magic and Anti-Magic worked in tandem to shove all the rubble away from the two boys.
Mimosa thankfully wasn't hit by any of the debris, but she was pushed back a few steps by the power of the wind. Then she smiled with renewed hope, "I knew it! They're okay!" she cried happily. Raya watched all of this from where he lay prone on the ground. He stared at Yuno in awe, "the magic that's welling up from within him, it's transforming the objects near him into wind! Could it really be true? could Licht's child be waking up within him?' he thought.
"That's my boy! Go get that damned Devil Yuno! You're amazing baby, Mommy loves you!" Tettia cheered in excitement. Everyone sent her looks and she realised that she was talking to a screen. The Princess blushed brightly, "um, can we just forget that ever happened please?" she asked quietly. "Tear him apart Yuno!" an equally enthusiastic voice from next to her cheered. This time everyone turned their attention to Lemiel, as he turned to smile at everyone, "what? I can cheer my future reincarnated Nephew on, can't I?" the blond man asked. The Elves all turned to look at each other before shrugging, if you can't beat them- "Go Asta! Go Yuno! You can do it!" Vetto exclaimed. "Yeah, as long as you work together, that thing is going down!" Raya called. "Don't give up Son, we believe in you!" Licht cried. The only one who stayed silent was Patry, who was still stuck in his own mind.
'Oh? His Anti-Magic is overflowing! Erasing all Magic in his vicinity. Is it possible it's resonating with my own? How very remarkable!' Zagred thought, watching Asta with interest. Then he laughed, "Tempest of Blades" the multiple weapons came at them again, but this time the two boys had a plan ready to deal with that, "Asta!" Yuno called, "yeah!" the grey-haired boy replied, before both leapt into the air at the same time. Flying parallel to each-others chests, the two began spinning rapidly at the same time.
"Incredible, pulling a move like that off without having prior knowledge or the chance to talk about a plan beforehand takes years of teamwork, precise timing and intimate knowledge of each-others weaknesses and strengths. Asta has to be able to keep his Anti-Magic from erasing Yuno's Wind Magic, or even undoing the Spirit transformation unintentionally. Not to mention Yuno has to know exactly how much Magic he's using and avoid it clashing with his friends Anti-Magic so that the Spell isn't erased or broken as they're doing it. For both of them to show the ability to control their powers to such an extent in the midst of battle- even I could never do that with such little warning!" Lemiel exclaimed in awe, feeling humbled by seeing the strength the two boys from the future possessed, and both were only 15!
The combined power created a whirlwind of Wind Magic and Anti-Magic, that worked together rather than having the Anti-Magic erase Yuno's Wind. When the weapons hit the whirlwind, each and everyone was deflected, the physical weapons by Yuno's wind and the Magic constructs erased by Asta's Anti-Magic. Mimosa watched in awe of their combined power, 'Yuno's taking care of the physical blades, while Asta deals with the magical ones! They're combining their powers to block them all!' The young Royal thought. 'Together, you and I-' Yuno began the thought, 'can beat 'im!' Asta finished. As all the blades were taken care of, the two boys broke their combo attack and lunged towards the Devil, "If you're going to stand in our way, then we will break you down!" they cried as one. The Devil turned and blocked his face with his hand, as the two boys shot past.
"Did that do anything?" Vetto asked as they all watched intently.
Asta and Yuno stopped on the other side of the Devil and turned to see if they'd managed to do anything at all. His Left arm had a small scratch on it.
"That's all! Seriously?! How strong is this damned thing!" Raya cried, gripping his head at the sheer impossibility of their mission. "Raya, calm down! These two, despite only being boys and with no knowledge of this Devil's powers are doing exceptionally well. Now, we are neither children nor have no prior knowledge of our enemy's abilities thanks to these viewings. Once they are over we will devise a plan based on what is revealed to us, before taking that monster by surprise and destroying him completely. For now though, we have more clips to watch and more intel to gather, so please just sit quietly, watch the veiwings and gather as much information as you can about our enemy while you have the chance, just like we are all doing, okay?" Licht asked. The Copy Mage sighed, "I'm sorry, it's just, this whole thing is stressing me out. If that Devil is so powerful, I don't know if we can stop it" he replied.
Licht smiled at his friend, before a shifting in his arms brought his focus down to his lap, where Patry was beginning to come out of his stupor. Everyone made to speak, but the Elf Leader shushed them. The young white-haired Elf blinked, before looking around then up at Licht. He smiled at the boy, but on the inside he was worried, "are you feeling better now Patry?" he asked gently. Patry blinked again and shook his head, "ah, yeah, I'm okay. Did I miss anything?" he asked, shifting into a better position on Licht's lap. The older Elf allowed the boy to once again get comfortable on his lap before speaking, "well, Asta and Yuno are okay and they are working together to fight the Devil at the moment" he explained. Patry nodded in understanding, "okay. Um, also, sorry about freaking out again everyone" he apologised to all those present.
"It's fine, the knowledge that that Devil was revealing to you was meant to break you. So you don't have to apologise for anything. Besides, he's the freaking Devil, it would be pretty hard for even one of us to not break under that torture, okay?" Lemiel asked kindly. The teenage Elf nodded in understanding, "yeah, thanks" he replied, before everyone turned their attention back to the screen again.
While looking over at them from over his shoulder, Zagred spoke: "Heal injury". The small scratch instantly healed itself.
"Oh, come on! What the hell!? How is this damned thing so overpowered! Even if he is a Devil, he has to have some weaknesses, right?!" Raya exploded in frustrated worry. Patry scrutinised the screen and tilted his head to the side, "wait, can't he only heal himself and do everything else with his Word Soul Magic, if he has time to speak?" he asked. Everyone looked at each other in confusion before turning back to the boy, "yes, and this matters, why?" Raya asked. "Well, I was just thinking, all his power seems to come from his words, and recently in School, we learned about how light is faster than sound. So I was thinking that maybe-" as he spoke, Patry turned to look at the only Light Mage they currently had- until he got his Grimoire at least- Lemiel lit up as he understood the implications, "if we find and attack him before he has any time to speak, like with Light Magic for example, we might just be able to destroy him!" the young man exclaimed, beaming so brightly that it was like he was using his magic.
"Patry! You're a genius!" Lemiel cried in excitement, jumping up and dancing around in happiness, "we might have really found a way to stop this all from happening! ha! Ha!" he laughed. Everyone watched the human Prince with a small smile on their faces, before Bethany coughed to regain their attention, "if we could continue?" she asked. Lemiel stopped dancing and cleared his throat, "oh, yes, of course. Please excuse me" he replied before taking his seat again.
Yuno and Asta gasped simultaneously, "damn it, what is going on here?" the half-Elf demanded. "He can heal himself?" Asta asked incredulously. The Devil started laughing again, "you wounded me, I'm impressed!" he began, before turning to look at each boy in turn, "You possess the power of a Spirit and are beloved by Mana," he said, addressing Yuno, before turning to regard Asta, "and you, the power of a meddlesome Comrade dwelling within the Five-Leaf Grimoire that should have belonged to me" he added.
"No it's not! That's Licht's Grimoire, and you'd better keep your filthy hands off of it!" Patry cried in anger, glaring at the Devil on the screen. Raya scoffed, "well, you seem to be back to normal" he commented. "Shut up" the boy replied. Licht smiled sadly, "it's okay Patry, that Grimoire belongs to Asta now and he's using it to save our people. Maybe we can change things so that Asta won't even need anti-magic anymore in the new version of the future we'll create. Lemiel has told me that he's creating and testing magic items that basically work just like a regular Grimoire, in that it holds and releases spells whenever you desire. If we can change the future, maybe in this new timeline when Asta is born without Magic, he'll be able to use one of Lemiel's by then mass-produced Magical Tools and he won't even need Anti-Magic anymore. But for this timeline, I am glad that, if anyone was chosen by my then Anti-Magic Grimoire, it was Asta. Okay?" he asked. Patry sighed, "I know, I just, it was yours, and it should never have been corrupted in the first place" he muttered.
After that, when she was sure that there would be no more outbursts, Bethany resumed the recording again.
The Devil turned to face both boys fully, before speaking again, "I don't know where you came from comrade, but it does not matter, you may have that Grimoire" he called. Just then, the Four-Leaf Clover on Patry's Grimoire became fully black, causing Zagred to smile, "when the owner of a Four-Leaf Grimoire is engulfed in deep despair, a miracle happens! A Five-Leaf Grimoire is born out of the darkness within!" he exclaimed.
"I-I don't see how that's a miracle" Fana replied, looking uneasy as the golden glow was replaced with a grey cover. No one spoke, too horrified to make any intelligible words come out. Patry held his head as he stared at the horrifying sight. His amazing and beautiful golden Grimoire, corrupted and turned into a tool for that Devil to use to hurt and kill more innocent people with, just like he had with the Elves. And this time, it was all his fault. The young Elf closed his eyes, repeating the words in his head over and over again: 'this will not happen, we're going to stop that monster from causing any of this. Licht and Tettia are going to get married and have Yuno and their will be peace between the Human's and the Elves!' After taking a few calming breathes, Patry forced himself to relax, 'it's okay, we know the truth this time. We'll stop every bad thing from happening in our future. We just have to do the best that we can!' he thought in determination. He opened his eyes and returned his attention to what the Veiwing was showing.
A blacked-out image of the Devil was shown while he spoke over the top of the picture, "finally, I enjoy both my precious body and my pitch-black Grimoire! Now I can rule this world, a Devil in possession of my true form and full power!" he exclaimed, causing both Asta and yuno to grit their teeth and glare in anger, "Five Hundred years ago, I successfully manifested a Grimoire of despair." Zagred began, as the image of the massacre of the Elves was shown again, but this time it was only Licht cradling the dead Tettia in his arms, "but ultimately, I was met with resistance" he mourned. "That won't happen again though!" he said as the image of the past Licht, changed to the figure of the broken Patry, eyes vacant and dull, not seeming to care that his Grimoire had been turned into a weapon to be used by the Devil to ravage the World. In fact you couldn't tell by his gaze if he was even still conscious or not.
"Oh Patry, no" Licht moaned, looking down at the depressed young Elf who had a look of exhaustion on his face. Shaking his head, the man turned his gaze back up to the screen once again.
"This time, I used Reincarnation Magic to sew seeds of wicked thoughts in their very Souls, making them far easier to corrupt!" Zagred continued cheerfully, obviously quite pleased with his plan and how it had gone, "I needed my stepping stones to do their job, to allow themselves to be stepped on!" he explained. Raya, who was weakening, but still furious enough to keep himself awake glared daggers at the bastard who had ruined both their lives and then stollen their opportunity to go to the afterlife as well. They had never done anything wrong, their Souls had been pure and good. But thanks to this damned Devil, all of them had been corrupted and caused horrible atrocities and suffering. Would this mean that they were damned now? Raya really hoped not, they had all suffered enough, he was sure of it.
The Devil laughed and reached for the new Five-Leaf Grimoire, "empty hearts are so simple and predictable" he said, before closing and taking Patry's Grimoire. He sighed in happiness that the job was finally done after 500 years. "All for the sake of this moment, I have deceived, killed and plundered!" Smiling, he laughed again, holding up the Grimoire, "it was a delight!" Raya growled in fury, but still barely had the strength to keep his eyes open, let alone stop the Devil. But luckily for him, there was someone else who was just as furious and more than willing to fight to destroy him, "you monster," Asta growled furiously, "I'll make you pay! You'll never get away with this!" he promised. Their Demonic enemy laughed again, before lifting his hand to cup his chin, "unfortunately for you, I'm not the one you have to deal with, sorry~!" he replied.
The humans and Elves frowned to themselves, what did he mean by that? Patry shuddered, "I have a really bad feeling about this" he muttered.
He leaned in close to the broken Patry's ear, "rampage as you please. Allow your fear and despair to be your guides" he whispered, before chuckling darkly. As he leaned back, the whites of the Elf's eyes began to grey out. Asta gasped, eyes widening in recognition, as his memories of a couple of the Elves he'd fought and freed earlier that day came back to him as he sensed the familiar Ki. "No, no!" Raya begged weakly, knowing what was happening to his friend and also aware that he could do nothing to stop it. Patry's once pale skin slowly turned grey, his blond hair becoming ashen coloured, as Zagred chuckled, "the final form of an Elf overflowing with malice!" he began gleefully, as Patry raised his head, and his muscles struggled against the lances stabbing through his body. Before long, the boy-turned-adult broke through the metal completely, turning around in the process, revealing to everyone exactly what had been done to him.
Grey skin and black sclera, his body was practically oozing with negative Mana.
Eyes wide in horror, Patry once again fell to the floor and threw up all over it, "oh god, no, no, no!" he begged, "I don't wanna be a monster!" he cried, just like before. This time Licht was faster and wrapped the suffering boy in a soothing embrace before he could do something stupid (or try to) again. "You won't be, this will not be our future, I promise you" Licht assured, while Bethany again cleaned the mess on the floor. "Why?" Patry whimpered, "why do all of these horrible things keep happening to me? What did I ever do to deserve so much suffering? Please, someone just tell me why" he begged. Licht rocked backwards and forwards with the crying young Elf. He had suffered so much while watching these clips, and who knew just how much more his alternate future self had suffered? But that was the reason they had to endure this. It was the only way to keep all of this from happening for them and to create a truly peaceful and beautiful future for both humans and Elves.
They had to be strong and endure all of the pain until the end. Just like it was with life at times. "That is not you Patry, nor will you ever become that. We will change this, but we must endure all of the pain we are feeling until the end. Otherwise, if we give into the despair and pain, the only thing that we'll have in our future is more of this. Okay? We must remain strong" Licht explained softly. Patry sobbed softly, coughed and rubbed his eyes. He'd cried so much today, it was a wonder he had any tears left. 'I have to be strong, otherwise we'll never be able to make things better and then all of this will have been for nothing!' he thought to himself furiously.
"A Dark Elf!" the Devil exclaimed joyously. Asta and Yuno gaped in shock, while Raya's eyes widened in horror. Patry floated in the air for a moment without doing anything. Zagred's grin widened. The former Light Magic user stared vacantly ahead, 'Demon Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction' he thought, mental voice dull and with no tone or inflection at all. Suddenly and without any warning for the human and half-Elf, hundreds of blades made of black light began shooting out at both Asta and Yuno, even faster than his previous Light Magic Spells had been.
"My God that's- that's even faster than my Light Magic can move!" Lemiel exclaimed in disbelief, eyes wide in shock.
They tried to block the multitude of attacks, but they were still blown back into the walls, the force of which blew large holes in the stone as they hit. Mimosa gasped in shocked worry, even a bit of horror. Soon Yuno was shown to have managed to evade, 'black light. And it moved so fast! Even with Mana Zone I couldn't evade it all!' he thought in frustration, before turning back to the wall, "Asta! You still alive?!" he called, hiding his worry with anger. Suddenly the rubble was knocked away, and the grey-haired boy was shown, still in his Dark Form, "of course I am, who do you think you're talking to?!" Asta demanded, but he was clearly shaken as well, as his lips were shown to be trembling, 'that was a crazy number of swords! And they came at us so fast! If my Anti-Magic hadn't softened the blow, I'd be totally dead right now!' he thought.
'Not good. He's gotten even stronger than before!' Meanwhile, the Devil simply watched, 'the destined one, who carries the hybrid child of the Elves and the humans. And the other, who lacks Magic, but is still able to handle the Five-Leaf Grimoire. They'll both meet their end in this fight.' He thought, before his gaze rested once more on Asta, 'I'm not sure who you are Devil, but if you don't steal that body soon, you will die along with it' he thought. Patry stared blankly ahead as Asta studied the Dark Elf closely. "I'm confused. I don't feel any Ki coming from him at all!" he exclaimed. Zagred laughed, "perhaps because this is a heartless, burned-out shell, merely casting scorched shadows of the Spells from it's Grimoire. But you might as well try to have some fun with it" he replied. Asta bared his teeth in anger.
Meanwhile, everyone in the room in the present growled at the screen. "That bastard! I can't believe that he did that to Patry!" Raya snarled. Patry gripped his shirt over his chest, feeling his heart shattering at seeing what he'd been turned into, 'I really am a monster now,' he thought in despair, 'please, don't kill anyone else, I can't take it!' he thought desperately, clenching his eyes shut tight against the threat of fresh tears.
The Devil looked up, "so the exit's above?" he asked nonchalantly. He then floated into the air, "now then, if you'll excuse me, I must bid you farewell!" he called back as he disappeared into the shadows above. "Where do you think you're going!?" Asta demanded to know, before his attention was diverted as the Dark Elf Patry appeared before him with no warning what-so-ever, already swinging a sword made of black light. Asta looked down in shock as the blank-faced Elf swung his sword with incredible speed and strength and sent the boy shooting up into the air with a cry of shock. The former Light Mage caught up with Asta in no time and the two began exchanging sword strikes, the force of which created a shockwave with each clash. The Anti-Magic wielder put as much strength as he could into each attack, but his opponent was so much stronger physically, and for some reason his Anti-Magic was having no effect on the Black-Light Sword.
As he tried to block another blow, Patry twisted his grip so the strike was angled. Thus when the boy tried to block it in mid-air, the attack send him skidding along the wall horizontally instead. Just as the Dark Elf was flying in for another attack, something hit the wall in front of him.
"What? did anyone see that?" Fana asked in confusion. "I didn't, what just hit him? Or the wall if not Patry?" Vetto asked, scratching his head in confusion.
When the dust cloud cleared it showed Patry floating in front of a hole that had been blown into the wall right ahead of him. Looking to the side, he found Yuno with his 'crowned' arm out-stretched towards him.
"Oh, it was Yuno, I wondered what he was doing while Asta was fighting" Licht smiled at the boy who had been his Son. Who would be his Son.
Patry pushed himself out of the wall and shot into the air after the Half-Elf. There was a close-up of Yuno's serious face, before he raised his Crowned arm slightly and a huge tornado instantly formed around the Dark Elf.
"Go Son! Yeah!" Tettia cheered again. "It's not over yet" Licht said, watching the screen intently, his level of focus the same as if he was fighting a powerful opponent.
Suddenly the tornado was torn apart, and Patry was shown to be unharmed, wielding a black light whip, which had used to break up the raging winds. When the wind had fully died down, the Dark Elf lashed out with the whip, forcing Yuno to dodge the many attacks his opponent was sending his way. Then Patry dissolved the whip and started shooting swords of black light instead. It was all the black-haired boy could do to keep dodging. Just the Asta lunged back into the fight, hoping for a surprise attack. Unfortunately for him, the Dark Elf did notice and turned to face the new threat before forming a Black Light Sword that resembled the Demon-Dweller Sword in his hand and blocked the strike.
Asta struggled against the Elf's raw physical strength, before Patry noticed the multiple Wind Blades heading his way and kicked out at the Ash-Blond so-as to disengage. In doing so, both managed to avoid the attack Yuno had sent the Dark Elf's way. Looking up Patry found the Half-Elf.
Tettia's eyes widened in awe at the Wind Magic construct the boy had created. It was a giant Crossbow with 11 more Wind Arrows loaded and ready to fire at any moment. "Oh my gosh! Look at that Wind Magic construct Licht!" the Princess all-but squealed, gripping her Fiancé's arm tight in her excitement. "I never even thought of doing something like that! Of course, I probably don't have the Mana reserves to do it, but still! That's incredible!" Tettia beamed with pride, "I wonder if our Son could learn to do that too?" she wondered out loud.
Yuno shot the whole volley at once, but Patry avoided them all easily and flew up to where the teen was waiting. Yuno created a Wind Shield to block the Elf's strike, but the Light Mage teleported behind the Half-Elf instead. Sensing this, Yuno tried to turn in time to block, but the black Light sword cut through the shield easily and the backlash was all thrown back onto him, knocking Yuno back down through the air. "Yuno!" Asta cried. But the dark-haired half-Elf wasn't about to give up so easily. Holding out his crowned hand as he fell, the teenager cast his strongest spell once again, "Mana Zone: Spirit Storm!" he called. As the attack shot towards him, Patry turned and enlarged his Black Light sword to block with, despite the fact that he was still propelled at a high speed downwards through the air.
Looking to the ground below him, Patry found Asta waiting with his Demon-Destroyer Sword.
"Yes, please turn him back, I can't stand to see the brat like this" Raya begged, shocking most of the people around him. Raya noticed this and sighed, "look, being forced to watch him tortured and then turned into a Dark Elf is something I never want to have to go through again, okay?" he asked. Everyone accepted this answer fairly easily and returned their attention back to the fierce battle still raging on.
Instead of this however, Patry turned around against the Sword and then propelled himself off of it, allowing his construct to fade. As he lunged, the Elf created another Black Light copy of the Demon-Dweller Sword, aiming to stab Asta in the chest. However, he was able to block with the Demon Destroyer Sword, creating sparks between them. Asta struggled as he was pushed back, "I wish you'd stop," he ground out. "I doubt you can forgive me since I'm a human, and I can't forgive you either. But still, I know this-" the boy increased his grip on his sword before screaming out his frustration: "we should have been able to understand each other! I'm begging you please stop!" he cried. At first it seemed like Party had listened to him, because he backed off from his attack.
"That, worked?" Tettia asked softly, hopefully. But things were in fact about to get much worse.
As he did his Sword faded and Asta leapt back to stand at Yuno's side again. "Hatred" Patry said, before being engulfed in a purple light. The centre of the light then became black, as the Dark Elf held out his arms. Both boys gasped in horror, but none more so than Asta, as he had actually faced this Spell once before, and he and Captain Yami had barely survived it. His Light Magic was even stronger now, so how would they survive this time? "Oh no! this Spell!" he said in horror. Soon Patry's entire body was engulfed in darkness and the screen faded to black.
Everyone sat in horrified silence as the Veiwing ended. Bethany noticed the tense atmosphere and waited patiently. The silence didn't last long because soon everyone began freaking out at once and talking/yelling over each other. The young woman kept an eye on everyone, but there weren't any hostilities to speak of. They were just talking very loudly and panicking. As things began to reach a fever pitch, Bethany took out The THUNDER and, using the Card, let off a huge crack of Thunder, making everyone cover their ears. "Everyone, please calm down. We will get to next Veiwing momentarily, but not if everyone is freaking out like this. Understood?" she asked firmly. It took supreme effort, but everyone eventually managed to calm down enough for the young woman to be satisfied. She returned to her seat, "good, now, let's continue" Bethany said.
To Be Continued