Patry floated above the two boys, surrounded by a dark purple Magic. The malice and rage emanating from the Dark Elf caused Asta to shudder, 'I've seen this before!' he thought, remembering back to the time he and Yami fought Patry together, the battle that the older man taught him to sense Ki during, 'It's the spell that almost took out me and Captain Yami! Only this time it's even stronger.' A young man that looked like Drowa appeared and formed a mirror, reflecting Patry's attack back at him. 'Gouche came in and saved us with his Mirror Magic back then, but-' Asta thought, before the scene returned to the present. Raya watched his friend from where he still lay on the ground, "Pa-try" he rasped out. Yuno flew through the air, teeth gritted in tense determination, 'he's concentrating so much Magic! How?' he thought. "Hatred, hatred, Demon Light Magic: Ray of Divine Punishment!" Patry called, shooting off an intense beam of black light at both boys.
"Not good! Get out of there!" Lemiel exclaimed in fear for them.
"Perish!" the Dark Elf demanded. Asta pulled out his Demon-Slayer Sword and tried to deflect the attack. 'But still, together,' he thought as Yuno also placed his left hand on the beam in an attempt to help deflect it, 'we've got this!' he thought, both boys yelling in determination as they put their all into pushing back the massively powerful attack. Eventually they managed to deflect it into another wall, blowing a huge hole through it but not being disintegrated themselves at the very least.
The human Prince sighed in relief, "They did it!" he said. "That was incredible!" Fana exclaimed in awe. "Even if they're my Grimoire and Swords, I think young Asta is using them very well as Anit-Magic weapons" Licht added. Patry frowned and crossed his fingers, 'please, I don't want to kill anyone else! Please just stop me, even if it means that you have to nullify the Reincarnation Spell! I'd prefer having the chance to make up for what I did, but if I had to choose between redeeming myself or being stopped from causing anymore death and destruction, then I beg you, just send me to the Afterlife!' he begged, squeezing his eyes shut in nervousness.
Patry stared down at them as Asta panted, holding both the Demon-Dweller Sword and the Demon-Destroyer Sword in each hand, "okay, we managed to survive somehow!" he exclaimed, floating in front of Yuno, who still had his hand out. Suddenly his Black Form ran out of energy and he began to fall to the ground.
"Oh Asta!" Tettia exclaimed, fearful for the boy's life. Hey, he was still kind of her son's best friend along with being his Rival. Even if he wouldn't be able to meet Yuno in the future this time, she was still worried about the boy as a soon-to-be mother.
"Asta!" Yuno exclaimed in worry, before he held his hand out and a miniature Whirlwind formed under his friend/rival's feet, keeping him floating in the air as well. " 'preciate the save Yuno" the Ash-haired boy replied, sounding only slightly weak. "That was a close call" he said. "That Spell was strong, casting it should have depleted his Mana" Yuno decided. Patry let out a breath, "hate, hate," Yuno gasped in shock, as the dark Mana began growing again, "I hate you!" he exclaimed.
"Stop it! Just stop, please!" the current Patry demanded, crying out at the pain and guilt that kept assaulting him, holding his head in his hands and clenching his eyes shut. 'This whole thing is like a nightmare. The worst nightmare I've ever had! How could I let this happen?! How could I ever think Licht would want any of this!?' he thought in despair, tears beginning to form in his eyes again. He wanted it all to stop, for someone to tell him that this wasn't his actual future. True, Licht had told him many times that they could stop all of this from happening, but still. That wasn't what he needed to hear right now! Why could no one see that!?
Asta gaped, 'there's no way' he thought. "How can this be?" Yuno asked aloud, "that sinister Magic! It just keeps welling up!" he exclaimed, shocked.
"This is not looking good" Vetto muttered, everyone staring at the screen in shock.
'Okay, even if I can't take my Dark Form-' Asta thought, fists clenching around the handles of his Swords. Then he held them up in preparation to either attack or defend, "there's too much at stake for me to lose!" he said in determination. Patry drew in his Mana in preparation to attack. "He's attacking! Be careful!" Mimosa exclaimed, "now die" Patry stated, unleashing his attack again.
Everyone tensed in preparation for the impact. "Do you think they can deflect it again Brother?" Tettia asked in worry. Lemiel clenched his fist, not answering, 'please-' he thought desperately.
As the dark ray of light shot towards them, suddenly a huge silver disk appeared in the way, blocking the attack and deflecting it all over the room, blasting holes in the walls and ceiling. Debris rained down all over the place, and Mimosa had to shield both herself and the injured Elf on the floor before her. Then the silver substance moved to reveal a man, "your complexion has changed, but I'll never forget that face." He said, causing Yuno and Asta to gasp when they realised who had saved them, "leave him to me" the man ordered as the silver substance parted to reveal a man dressed in all black with silver hair done up spikey on top while the rest of his hair flowed freely to just past his shoulder blades. His long fringe was tied up in a plait and dangled down the centre of his face with a small blue cross tying it off at the end.
Everyone stared for a moment, before practically everyone in the room burst out laughing, "wh-what a ridiculous hairstyle! I mean, the top and back parts might be okay alone, but adding that plat down the front of his face just makes him look- ppppphhhh, ha! Ha! Ha! ha!" Lemiel laughed. "You know that he's a descendant of your family, right your Highness?" Bethany asked. He stopped laughing immediately, looking horror-struck, "what? no, that can't be right?!" the blond young man demanded. The Card Master smiled slightly, "I'm afraid he is, that man is the current head of House Silva, one of the Noble families" she replied. Lemiel faked being stabbed in the heart and dying very dramatically, including falling off his chair in slow motion. Tettia laughed, "come now Brother, it's not so bad" she replied, standing up and moving over to the still "dead" Prince.
Kneeling down, the human Princess grinned with mischief, "hm, I suppose if you're 'dead', you won't mind if I do this?" Tettia asked nonchalantly. She began poking his sides, causing the young man to shiver. He was insanely ticklish, even through his clothes, he could feel the pokes. But he fought the urge to smile and giggle, even though it tickled so much already. "Oh? That's not enough to 'revive' you? How about this then?" he heard his sister ask, before he felt scribbling fingers attacking his belly through his clothes. Lemiel began twitching harder, gritting his teeth to hold in his laughter, before someone else's laughter rang out; "is he seriously that ticklish?" Patry asked, giggling at his expense. "I wouldn't laugh if I were you Patry, if I remember correctly, you are just as ticklish yourself" Licht said, causing the teen to cut his laughter off, "you wouldn't dare!" he gasped, before being cut off by a yelp and then insane laughter began pouring out along with squeals and helpless pleas for mercy.
Lemiel was close to reaching his limit, when he suddenly felt soft, warm fingers attacking his skin directly, one hand going for his belly under his clothes, while the other stroked all around his left underarm. The blond Human shrieked and his eyes shot open, unable to take the direct attack on his worst spots. Thrashing helplessly, Lemiel laughed uncontrollably, before forcing his head to the side to find his future brother-in-law holding Patry in a bear-hug and scribbling his fingers in the 15-year-olds underarms, causing him to squeal and thrash around in his Leaders embrace. He, of course was faring no better, the tickling in his underarm may be driving him insane, but it was the tummy tickles that were pushing him over the edge into pure hysteria. The other Elves and Bethany watched this with amusement, "wow, I can't believe there's someone as ticklish as Patry" Raya teased. A few more minutes of this and the human Prince was crying with laughter, tears streaming down from his eyes as he laughed. Patry wasn't fairing any better, "Li-hi-hi-hi-hict! Pleeee-he-he-hease, stoooop it!" the poor boy begged, thrashing around and desperately trying to pull the older Elf's hands away from his underarms.
But unfortunately for the poor 15-year-old, Licht was much too physically strong for that to work. 'Damn it! Why do my clothes have to reveal my worst spot!' he thought, laughing uncontrollably, as he lamented how easily accessible his underarms were due to his shirt not covering them at all. By that point, Lemiel was truly over the edge and he shrieked hysterically, tears streaming down from his eyes, "mercy! Pleeeee-he-he-hese Tettia! I ca-ha-ah-ahn't taaake it any- eeeeeee! No! not my belly button! Please no! oh go-ho-ho-ho-hod! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Have mer-her-her-her-hercy!" the young man squealed, desperate for anything that would make the torture stop. "No more! Pleeeeeease stop! I'm be-he-he-hegging you!" Patry cried, thrashing and wriggling in Licht's hold. The Elf and human were in the same situation, and neither torturer would let up on their efforts until they were sure that their victims were good and ready for it. Bethany couldn't help giggling at the scene, but she sighed with a smile on her face, "okay guys, we have to get back to watching now, so as much as I love watching these two laugh and squeal on the floor, we have a lot more to watch before we're done" the human replied.
Both Patry and Lemiel sagged in relief when the tickle torture stopped, gasping for air, tears still streaming down their cheeks. Raya laughed, "I can't believe a grown man is just as ticklish as a 15 -year-old boy!" he mocked. The two blushed bright red, wrapping their arms around themselves protectively. "Tettia! You know I can't handle being tickled!" The blond Prince exclaimed indignantly. His sister laughed, "I know, you can barely even wash yourself due to how ticklish you are. Remember when Mother used to bathe you?" Tettia asked. Lemiel blushed even brighter, remember how much he used to thrash and squeal when their Mother would try to give him a bath, he dreaded those days more than any other. When he got older and learned to bathe himself, the cloth with the soap always used to drive him crazy, it would tickle so much. The human Prince shuddered, "that's not funny Tettia, we're here to learn how we can change the future, not torture me" the young man replied, sticking his nose up in dismissal.
Mimosa gasped, "Captain Nozel!" she exclaimed in shock. Asta gaped, while Yuno was just as shocked, "how did he do that?" he breathed. "Fair warning," a scene of the red-haired older brother of Mimosa with his arm missing and blood flowing out was shown, "I'm not as kind as Fuegoleon" Nozel warned. "Hatred, hatred" Patry replied as dozens of dark Light Swords of Conviction appeared. "You have no chance of besting me alone," Nozel said. Then a voice over began: "A conflict between Wizards is decided by more than raw power. Some types of magic have intrinsic advantages over others. This is why Magic Knights work in teams, to cover for each other's weaknesses" it explained.
"That makes sense" Fana said, nodding here head, "after all, if I'm up against a powerful ice user, I might be able to beat them, but if their Magic I more powerful than mine, I might need help" she agreed.
"But Nozel Silva is an exception, his all-purpose Magic makes him a team unto himself. With his ever-changing Mercury, he's able to adapt to any situation, and compete with any foe." The voice over finished as the screen showed the silver substance, now known to be Mercury in a variety of shapes, like a shield, a spear and drops of Mercury. The screen changed back to Patry's hate-filled glare, "I hate you" he muttered, shooting out his corrupted Light Swords of Conviction again. "Your Light Magic is formidable, but my Mercury counters it perfectly" Nozel said calmly as the attack shot towards him. "Nozel's Magic is both powerful and sophisticated," the voiceover added, as the human changed his Mercury's shape into shields. "He creates a vast amount of Mercury, then hardens it into Mirror-Like shields" it explained as his Magic did exactly that, deflecting all the Light Swords and causing them to shoot all over the place, but not hit any of the humans of the half-Elf behind him. "That said, I don't exactly plan on losing to the man whose Magic counters mine either," Nozel added, as the screen showed Fuegoleon again. He shaped his Mercury into several sharp spears, "in the meantime, I've been sharpening my skills, waiting for the chance to avenge him" the man explained.
"Wait, he's not actually going to kill Patry, is he?" Raya asked, as everyone looked worried. The boy bit his lip. On the one hand, he wanted to make up for everything he'd done before he died again, but on the other, after causing and doing so many horrible things, maybe he deserved it. He had no idea which he wanted more.
The Mercury spear shot at Patry, going right through a Dark Light Spear. At that point, even as a Dark Elf who wanted nothing more than to kill every human in sight, the former teen knew to run. Using his Demon Light Magic, Patry shot threw the air, avoiding strikes from the Mercury, before forming more Demon Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction and shooting them at the Magic Knight Captain. But The spears only deflected the attack and continued on. Nozel made a gesture with his arm and diamonds made of Mercury began raining on the Dark Elf, even as he dodged with his Light Magic. "Captain Nozel's winning" Asta breathed, watching the battle closely. "He might be a cold-hearted jerk, but he's Captain of the Silver Eagles for a reason! His technique's incredible!" he exclaimed quietly, in awe. Patry continued to dodge the attacks as they watched, "still though, something's up with that Elf guy. How is he able to move that quickly after unleashing all of that power?" Asta wondered.
"Yes, I've been wondering that too. How can Patry still move at that speed Miss Yuki?" Lemiel asked in confusion. "Basically it's because Demon Light Magic, that he's using right now, is denser that normal Light Magic, so he actually has more of it than you'd think, it's just all been compressed, so there might seem like there's less at first" Bethany explained, causing her audience to nod in understanding, "Thank you for clearing that up" Licht replied with a smile.
"You're certainly a slippery rat, but my preparations are complete" he claimed, the screen showing that Mercury now floated all around the Dark Elf. The pages of his Grimoire began to flip as he spoke, "this Spell requires all the power and focus I can muster. I couldn't use it in the last battle because my Magic was being disrupted" Nozel explained as his Mercury began to change shape again. It began to form a cage around Patry as he stared in uncontrollable fury. Until finally its form was shown in full, "Mercury Creation Magic: Silver Star of Execution!" Nozelle called.
"E-execution? But I can't die yet, I have to stop that Devil and make up for everything I did! Besides, if I stop him, then I could avenge all of us so we could finally all rest in peace" Patry replied, shivering slightly.
Mimosa whimpered slightly. "Hatred, hatred!" was all the Dark Elf could say, as more Dark Light blades formed in the air. "This Spell will contain you and your Light Magic, while letting me attack from any angle," Nozelle said, as blades of Mercury formed and shot at the former Teen. "I hate you, die!" Patry cried, shooting off countless blades of dark light, screaming in a rage as he did so. But with a wave of his arm, the Captain of the Silver Eagles created more Mercury shields which deflected the attacks, before shooting off even more metal blades. Patry dodged each one, before flying towards Nozelle. "Just die, human!" he called, shooting off even more blades of Demon Light Magic. But the silver-haired human wasn't fazed, "let your unseeing rage, be your end" he replied, creating mirror's to surround the Dark Elf, deflecting every Light Sword back at it's creator, causing Patry to cry out in pain.
Those who were watching flinched at the scene.
"He deflected every last blade of light," Yuno said, impressed, while Asta's jaw was practically on the ground. "Such incredible precision." He added, while Nozelle captured Patry with his Mercury. "Woah" Asta said shakily. "Asta, Yuno, those are your names?" the silver-haired man asked, keeping his eyes firmly on the Elf in front of him. He then turned to look back at them, "the next Wizard King is going to be me" he said. Asta remembered back to something Captain Fuegoleon said to him: "earlier, you said you planned to become the Wizard King. Asta, it seems I that am your rival as well". The boy grinned, "cool, then I guess you're my rival too!" he replied happily, "the tittle of Wizard King is still mine" Yuno replied, "nuh uh, mine!" Asta replied back childishly, "mine!" Yuno demanded.
"Girls, girls, you're both pretty, can we move on now?" Bethany remarked, causing Vetto to spit out the water he'd just drunk as he barked out a laugh. Coughing, the Elf, still couldn't help but laugh, even as Raya had to pat his back to help het the water out of his lungs, "s-sorry about that" the Beast Magic user replied sheepishly as Bethany used her Magic to clean up and dry everyone. "No, I'm sorry, I was the one who made you laugh" she replied, blushing. "It's fine, it was a funny joke" Licht replied.
Nozel brought Patry back down to where they were as the other two continued arguing in the background, "mine!" Yuno insisted, "yeah, keep talking, you'll see" Asta replied flippantly. Down on the ground, Raya whimpered weakly in pain, "Patry," he whispered, barley able to keep his eyes open, "if I had just spoken up, about everything," he began, focusing on his friend, "then maybe your fate would have been different". His vision began to go dark, "hey, Patry? Can you hear me?" he asked, consciousness fading, "it's too late, I think I'm done for. Goodbye Patry- Licht" he muttered as darkness claimed him. All of a sudden warmth flooded his body. Opening his eyes, a bright green light was the first thing Raya saw, "It's so warm" he whispered, as he tried to see what was happening. Mimosa was using her Princess-Healing Flower Robe Spell to heal his injuries.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, "That was too close" Licht muttered, looking at the Vermillion gratefully. "She's technically your descendant too you know" Bethany pointed out to Lemiel, who smiled, "well, at least one of my descendants doesn't look completely ridiculous" he said happily.
"Why?" Raya rasped, "I don't need a reason to save somebody's life, even if you're my enemy. When it comes down to it, our differences don't matter!" Mimosa replied hotly.
Licht smiled, "I like this girl, I think if she had been born in this time, she would have gotten along very well with all of us, don't you agree?" he asked his friend. Lemiel smiled and nodded, "true, her ideals line up with our own" he replied, glad that some of his descendants took after him.
'Damn it! After all this, I end up saved by human Royalty?' the Elf thought in dismay, as he recalled Tettia, 'that's why I didn't want to get involved with them. They've always been like this, and they always will be' he thought.
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Tettia demanded as she crossed her arms. "Hey, this is a future me, I don't know what else I'm thinking, do I?" Raya asked, shrugging.
Meanwhile as Nozel held Patry in his Mercury, Asta remembered the Devils words to the Elf: "Well, you were chosen, that's true. But not by the Four-Leaf Grimoire. By me my little puppet!" and then how the Elf had screamed in horror at the revelation. He reached into his Grimoire for his Sword to undo the Reincarnation- "Now then, time to die" Nozel stated, as he formed his Mercury into a blade.
"Wa! Wait, you can't just kill me! I have to make up for all that stuff I did! I don't wanna die again yet!" Patry exclaimed in shock, flinching back.
"Hold up! I don't feel like that's how this is supposed to play out, there's gotta be another way to set things right!" Asta exclaimed, while Yuno looked very put off by the other Captain's actions, "the idiot's right" he replied. The silver-haired man turned to look back at them, "and how do you suggest we settle the matter? That criminal is the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. His actions have thrown the Clover Kingdom into a state of chaos and confusion, resulting in a multitude of senseless casualties" he said. "Yeah, I know that, but-!" Asta began, before being interrupted by Yuno, "please wait. This sound odd, but that isn't his own body" Yuno explained as the image of a man with a strange mask was shown, "it's actually Vangence's" he explained.
"Who? And what's with the ridiculous mask?" Patry asked in confusion. "He's the human you shared a body with in the future, and, by your own words, your first and only human friend" Bethany explained. "As for the mask, William Vangence was cursed while he was being conceived and so had these scars on his face from birth," she said, showing two pictures side-by-side, one of a young boy with white hair and burn-like scars over his upper face and the other of an adult William dressed in his Golden Dawn Captain's outfit who was holding his helmet-like mask in his hands. "It was actually a younger Julius who first convinced William that his Magic was so amazing and asked him to join the Magic Knights. When William said that he couldn't due to his looks, Julius gave him the mask he then wore all the time. Julius was a great friend to William, so much so that when he had to choose between the man and you Patry, he couldn't do it and let himself be repressed so that he wouldn't have to watch the two people he loved most kill each other. Or, as it turned out, watch you kill him" Bethany explained. Patry turned ashen, "oh, I-I didn't know. I didn't mean what I said before, if I had known, then I wouldn't have called William or his mask ridiculous" he replied, frowning sadly, 'Why does everything I do have to hurt somebody, even the people I care about?' he thought in regret.
"Well, I'm glad that you eventually ended up making a human friend too Patry, even though if we succeed, you probably won't end up meeting him at all" Licht replied, partly happy and partly melancholy. "Oh yeah, we won't end up being reincarnated if this works" the boy realised, sadder. "Actually, I could probably help with that" Bethany replied. "Huh?" the boy asked in confusion. "I can use my Magic to Reincarnate others as well as myself. I could set a Spell on your Soul to activate when you end up dying, weather you stop the Devil and end up dying of old age eventually, or if you fail, since you'll have future knowledge, if I set the spell to Reincarnate you into Williams body, you could use that knowledge to try and help everyone combat the Devil this time. But only if that's what you want" Bethany suggested. Everyone's eyes widened, "wait, you can do that?" Lemiel asked. Bethany nodded, "Both my predecessors who had the Clow and Sakura Cards when Sakura was their Master, were able to Reincarnate themselves into new bodies when they were on the verge of death," she explained.
"Once the Veiwings are over, I can set the spell so that you can meet and befriend William either way" Bethany said. Patry looked down in thought, "can I think about it?" he asked. "Of course, we'll wait until the end of the Veiwings when the time comes for me to send you back, okay?" Bethany asked. Patry nodded, "okay, I should have decided by then" he replied.
Nozel narrowed his eyes, "that can't be possible. His appearance and his Magic Power are completely different" he replied disbelievingly. "I can't explain why, but I'm positive that I'm right," Yuno replied, "I can sense Captain Vangences presence, so, this is my suggestion," he began, pointing to Asta as he waved his Sword around, "let this absolute fool save the Captains life". "Yeah, I can do that easy!" the Ash-haired boy replied earnestly. "What? that's ludicrous, he'll destroy you" Nozel replied. "Did you not hear a word of that!?" Asta replied incredulously, "man you must really wanna kill 'im huh? Can't I at least try? Come on, please?!" the boy begged. Nozelle closed his eyes in acceptance, "be my guest" he replied. "Thank you" the grey-haired boy replied. He walked towards the bound Elf and touched his sword to his chest. Suddenly massive amounts of dark Anti-Magic began to flow out. 'Woah. I've never felt this much Anti-Magic in one place before!' he thought as it surrounded both him and Patry completely.
"Wait, this- Asta!" Yuno cried in fear as the two were completely swallowed up by the darkness.
Black Clover
Asta flew through darkness, nothing but Patry's 'Licht' voice surrounding him: "Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate" the word repeated over and over again.
The current Patry clenched his eyes shut tight and pushed his palms into his ears, desperate to block out the word, "no! no! no! that's not me!" he cried, shaking.
"Where am I?!" Asta cried, as scenes from the Elf's memories began showing, including scenes of Patry as a boy, "I must be inside his memories or his Soul or something like that! Maybe everything the Sword sucked outta him is flowing into me!" the orphan said. "Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate! Hate!" "So loud!" Asta exclaimed, trying desperately to block out the words by covering his ears, but it wasn't enough. 'My head's killin' me!' the boy thought as a more recent memory appeared. "Your Time Magic was enough to save them. Impressive. Though it would appear you have used all the time and power you had saved up," Patry said, "you would have seen this attack of mine coming. But unfortunately, you weren't able to call off that last Time Magic Spell in order to get out of the way!" the memory showed Patry having stabbed Julius with his Sword of Light.
The young Elf shut his eyes, "it won't happen, I'm not going to kill him!" he swore, shaking his head. Everyone watched the boy with empathy and pity.
Blood pooled from the man's mouth, "because you're, the Wizard King!" Patry exclaimed with a sick grin on his face. "Wizard King- Wizard King!" Asta screamed in horror at what had happened to his leader, the man he admired more than anything, who he wanted to be like. "Hate! Hate! Hate!" Patry's Licht voice thought again, before the mental voice changed to sounding like Patry's instead. "Hopelessness, sadness, hate, pain, frustration- it hurts!" the boy cried in mental, spiritual and emotional agony. Suddenly a vision of the Word Devil appeared, forcing all of these feelings onto the poor boy and causing Asta to scream as he tried to take all of this in in order to reach the one in control of the body. The screen went dark again as he continued to fall down, down, down to where the Elf had isolated himself, trying to deal with everything that that Devil had told him, but it obviously wasn't working.
Black Clover
The scene returned to Patry sitting on a single chair in a circle of light. All around him was darkness and in front of him was a tree, inside of which, William was shown to be sleeping. The young Elf clutched his head in horror as he tried to come to terms with everything, 'I allowed myself to be deceived for Licht's sake. It was a mistake to resurrect the Elves!' he thought, shaking in agony, 'so many sacrifices that he didn't even want. I made a mistake! I was never chosen in the first place!' the agonised boy thought. 'Humans are evil! Or is that just what I wanted to believe? If it's true, then that means… no, William and I understood each other!' he thought desperately trying to convince himself as the man himself was shown.
"Oh Patry!" Fana cried, tears streaming down her face, the same with Tettia as they watched the poor boy being tormented by the Devil and his own thoughts. Licht held the whimpering boy, rocking him back and forwards as he sobbed and shook, "shhh, it's okay, everything will be okay" he soothed. Even Raya was horrified by everything the young Elf was going through, "man, that Devil really lives up to his name!" he exclaimed. Bethany herself shivered, this scene was always one of the hardest to watch.
All of a sudden it was like a miasma of dark thoughts and hatred had over taken everything, forcing themselves onto the young Elf, who's face showed utter despair and a broken will, "We can't have understanding! Humans did this! That's why I hate them! We won't forgive them! All humans are monsters!" they said, in Patry's voice. The poor boy's eyes showed the pressure the hatred put on him, how broken he was that he didn't even try to fight back: 'that's right. Everything, is their fault!' he thought in fury and hate. Just then the screen panned up, and the sound of footsteps could be heard. "I knew I'd find you eventually." Asta began, the screen showing him with a forced grin on his face and veins popping out on his face as he fought his way through the veil of hatred in the boy's Soul, "you and I need to talk, okay pal? Name's Asta. I'm surprised. On the inside, you're just a kid who's about my age. I never woulda guessed it." He said.
"Thank god, please Asta, save him!" Licht begged, tears in his eyes, "I can't, watch this anymore!" he sobbed, surprising most of them, except for Bethany and Lemiel, who knew his friend's kind heart and knew how much this was hurting him too.
"Stay back, you human!" Patry growled furiously, "what do you want!?" he demanded to know. "I get it! You were tricked. You couldn't protect the ones you loved, and everything you once believed it was lost. You're dealing with so many crazy feelings, you can't stand it anymore! But that's why, I have to tell you this!" the screen panned up to show the boys glaring eyes, "don't you dare give up again!" he exclaimed, causing Patry to gasp in shock and fear. "All you've ever done is give up! Instead of facin' your problems, you locked yourself away and hid in the darkness, because you thought it was the easiest thing to do!" Asta exclaimed. Patry whimpered, "no, stop! Don't talk to me!" he demanded, "shut up! I don't have to listen to a thing you say! You could never understand! stupid human!" Patry screamed, his hatred enshrouding him like an aura. But Asta simply snarled and continued to force himself forward, even more veins popping as the fought against the Elf's hate.
"Enough with this 'human' crap! I told you, my name's Asta!" he yelled, reaching out and grabbing the boy's shirt, forcibly lifting him up so they were eye-to-eye as Patry gasped in shock, "answer me! How dare you kill the Wizard King?!" Asta yelled, furious. An image of the man smiling was shown, "he was a great man and everyone respected him! I wanted to be like him one day. We all did!" he exclaimed, before knocking the young Elf to the ground, causing him to groan in pain, before staring in fear at the human on top of him, "and you took control of all those Magic Knights! When you brought back the Elves, you hurt tons of innocent people!" Asta yelled as Patry stared in shock and fear, "you say you can't forgive humans? Well, I can never forgive you!" he exclaimed. "But that's why… we…" the teenage Elf began. "And now, after all you did, you're actin' like this!?" the human asked, causing the boy under him to gasp in confusion.
The scene showed when Patry turned into a Dark Elf, "just because you made a mistake that you can't fix, that doesn't mean you're allowed to run away and cry! Think about it! Shouldn't you be tryin' to defeat that creepy Devil guy too?!" Asta yelled, "you had the guts to make everything else happen, right?! You did that!" Patry narrowed his eyes in pain. "Maybe you weren't chosen, maybe no-one wanted you and maybe you can't be forgiven, but you still have to stand your ground without making excuses for yourself!" the human exclaimed in anger. "What? I don't understand you at all." Patry replied as he clenched his fist, "why are you trying so hard to change my mind? I know you're wrong! Leave me alone!" he screamed as he tried to punch the human, but unfortunately for him, Asta was used to getting hit, so the punch did nothing. The young Elf whimpered as he stared at the human boy pinning him to the floor.
"I wasn't chosen. No one wanted me. I've screwed some stuff up! But I've made up my mind!" he yelled, causing Patry to gasp, "I'm gonna be the Wizard King! That's why…" he began, as he grabbed the boy's wrist, "…as long as you're alive, I won't give up on you!" Asta yelled with conviction. The young Elf stared up at the ash-blond haired human with wide eyes, "you sound like… him" he said softly, before once again remembering Lemiel's words to them: "let's foster understanding". The 15-year-old began sobbing uncontrollably as light flooded his mind.
"Awe, you thought of me? I'm touched Patry" the blond Prince replied sincerely. Patry flushed bright red and turned away from him, causing both Lemiel and Licht to chuckle.
Black Clover
In the real world all the darkness began dissipating from the air and both Asta and Patry were shown standing there.
"Phew, he did it. Well, if that wasn't nerve-wracking, I don't know what was!" Raya said, trying to lighten the mood a little. It worked, because a few people chuckled slightly.
"Asta!" Yuno exclaimed in relief as the half-Elf was shown standing there with the Wind Spirit Sylf, or 'Bell' as he'd named her floating above his shoulder.
"So that's the Wind Spirit, I'm still so proud of my baby boy!" Tettia exclaimed. Vetto looked confused, "I thought you said you'd met the Wind Spirit before?" he asked. The human Princess flushed slightly, "well, it was a while ago now, I'd almost forgotten what she'd looked like" she replied sheepishly.
Raya gasped as he lifted his head, now much stronger than he'd been earlier, as Mimosa continued to heal his wound, "you're okay!" the Vermillion exclaimed happily. But Asta looked very much shaken, "barely! That was so close!" he exclaimed in shock at the close call. Raya stared in complete amazement, 'I don't believe it! That runt brought Patry back!' he thought in relief. Said Elf smiled with his eyes closed, but it was a true and sincere smile of gratitude, "honestly. You must be the most foolish human I've ever met." He said, with a slight laugh in his voice.
The current Patry pouted, "yeah, I mean, he risked his own life for a practical stranger and one who'd tried to kill him multiple times." He looked away, so no one could see the slight blush and smile on his face, "stupid human" he muttered. But Licht noticed since he still held the boy in his arms and smiled.
"Say that again, I dare 'ya!" Asta exclaimed. Nozel hmphed at the scene. 'Okay. Looks like we'll have to wait to bring captain Vangeance out' Yuno thought. The Elf placed his hand on his chest, 'right now, there's one thing I can do.' He thought. Then he opened his eyes, showing that one sclera was still black, while the other one had turned white, "if you help me, we can end this once and for all." He said determinedly. "I'm in," Asta said immediately, as an image of the Devil was shown, "no way am I lettin' that evil lunatic get what he wants!"
Black Clover
Meanwhile, said evil lunatic had just made it to the top floor. He chuckled, "I guess this is it. The door to the outside" he said to himself as he looked at it. "Now then, heh, heh" he continued, as he looked at his opposition: one lone Elf who stood before him bearing a single sword in hand.
"Yay! Licht is finally here! He'll stop that bastard!" Fana cheered, making everyone turn to look at her, "what?" she asked, "it's true, he is!?" the pink-haired Elf defended herself. Licht smiled humbly, "thank you for the vote of confidence Fana, but as strong as I am, I don't think I can defeat the Devil all by myself" he replied.
"Not yet, face me, Devil" he said, eyes still blank. "Look at you, lobbing threats at me when you're not even fully awakened! It seems someone's holding grudge!" Zagred replied, before laughing, "I suppose I can't blame you. We have quite a tumultuous history, and now I've taken the Grimoire of someone very dear to you and made it my own." He replied, holding it up.
Patry deflated again, "look at it, my beautiful golden Grimoire was turned into a weapon for that sick, twisted bastard to hurt even more innocent people with!" he mourned. "Don't worry, that won't happen this time, and if you do get the same Grimoire, I'll be happy to teach you" Lemiel replied reassuringly. That cheered the boy up a bit, and he smiled at the blond young man, "I think I'd like that" he replied softly, before they all turned their attention back to the screen.
Licht adjusted his grip on his sword slightly and narrowed his eyes the tiniest bit. "Oooh! I didn't expect you to have so much fight left in you, since your soul's still unstable after spawning that demon." The Devil laughed. "I'm impressed! As a reward for your hard work… I'm going to give you a proper death!" he growled. Electricity sparked behind him as he gathered Magic, "Lightning Lance!" Zagred cried, forming it into a bolt of lightning that shot towards Licht. Despite not being at full power, the Elf Leader blocked the attack with his sword and sent it back. "And Earth Shield, hah!" the evil creature called, a huge slab or rock rising from the ground to block the attack. It shattered the wall, but still kept the lightning from reaching him. "Now Tempest of Blades!" he said, the swords and other things shooting out of the portal.
Licht blocked each one with the Demon-Dweller Sword..
"Go Licht! Get him! Get him!" Patry cheered, along with pretty much everyone else. Said Elf blushed slightly at the cheers.
"Split him open" Zagred said as the ground crumbled and broke apart, forcing the Elf Leader to jump around the shifting battlefield as he kept deflecting the blades thrown at him. "Next up, a-here's Bind!" the creature of darkness said, black tendrils wrapping around Licht and restricting his movements and sword. "That sword can absorb magic, but sadly, I imagine it doesn't offer much protection against more concreate attacks! Like this 'Iron Lance!'" the Devil called, one being formed out of the same black substance that held the Elf in place. "With the use of Word SOUL Magic, I can make anything happen by speaking it into existence, and I can summon physical matter!" he explained.
"Boo! You suck! Go back to Hell already!" Bethany booed, everyone else agreeing. Lemiel frowned, "please be careful Licht" he muttered, glancing at his friend worriedly, who smiled, "don't worry, I'm sure everything will be okay" the blond Elf replied.
Licht strained against his bonds, the black substance not breaking at all, "goodbye, Leader of the Elves!" the monster growled, shooting the attack off. Licht, still unable to move, could only watch as his second death loomed closer.
Tettia whimpered slightly and clutched her future husbands arms tightly. Licht smiled and placed his hand comfortingly over the human woman's, causing her to look over at him, "I'll be okay, I promise" he whispered, smiling gently and warmly, causing Tettia to relax slightly.
As the Iron Lance got closer, it was suddenly wrapped tightly in vines, another Elf shown to have stopped it, before lifting it up a bit then releasing it.
Everyone sighed in relief. "That was too close" Lemiel commented. "Yeah, but who saved him?" Fana asked.
The Lance slammed into the wall behind him with a *boom*. "Oh my. Seems we have an Elf who wasn't an Apostle of Sepherah." Charla moved her Briar Sword out of the way, 'I noticed Baval heading into the Shadow Palace, so I decided to follow him. When I got inside and found him unconscious, I knew that something must have gone wrong' she thought. "Devil! I'll stop you!" she called.
"Thank goodness for that" Raya sighed. Everyone else agreed with him.
"Did you say Devil?" Yami asked as he walked up, "I'm not so sure. I mean, if Devil's are even a real thing, he's not one. He's way too wimpy" he said as the Devil chuckled. 'Looks like Nozel went toward that other strong Magic I sensed, so I'm glad I came this way. Something crazy's goin' on with his Ki' the human thought. Zagred chuckled again, "so many of you. We've got ourselves a party!" he said, grinning maliciously. 'Man, this guy reeks of malice!' Yami thought. "Human. You came this far just to get in my way?' Charla asked in annoyance. "Can we skip the playful banter and get this done?" Yami asked as he sent a slash of Dark Magic from his sword at the Devil's bindings holding Licht, freeing him, "I don't have time to listen to you flatter yourself, you're obviously not the biggest baddie in the room." The man said. Charla 'humphed' and ran forwards to attack, Yami following, "if you can't keep up with me, I'm letting you die" the Elf said.
"Hey, now you're starting to sound like the prickly Princess I remember" The Dark Magic user replied. "Try to keep her body in one piece till she get's back" he added. "Now, Wave of flame!" The Devil called, causing, well, a huge wave of flames to appear. Charla used her Briar Magic to push through, while Yami used a Dark Magic Spell: 'Dark Magic: Black Hole,' he thought, forming a hole in the fire, before shooting off another attack with his sword, 'Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!' Zagred dodged it by flying upwards. "Tempest of Blades!" he called, shooting out countless blades once again. Charla growled and used her Briars to wrap around each of the swords, before they all got stuck in the huge plant wall to formed. "Wither, vines!" the Word Devil cried, causing them to turn black and crumble away. Yami cut through them, 'Dark Cloaked, Dimension Slash!' he thought, aiming his most powerful attack at their enemy. "My!" he exclaimed, before laughing, "what masterful teamwork!" The creature of darkness exclaimed.
"And here I thought you two wouldn't be on the best of terms right now." The Devil added. "I'm as shocked as you are" the Black Bulls Captain replied. The viewing then ended.
Everyone sagged in relief, "well, at least you're not a Dark Elf anymore" Tettia said kindly to Patry. "Yeah, I'm glad about that, but that bastard still has my Grimoire!" the boy cried, upset as he clenched his fists. "Don't worry, we'll all make this right" Lemiel assured. Raya yawned, "hey, how long have we been here for anyway? I'm starting to get pretty tired" he asked. "I have bedrooms set up for each of you, but just before I let you go, we have one last short clip to watch for the day" Bethany said.
A young man was being healed, while another young man, soon seen to be an Elf was enshrouded in darkness.
"Hey wait, isn't that-" Patry began before his eyes widened, "it is! It's my cousin, Ratry!" he exclaimed in shock. "That's right, he's currently inhabiting the body of that young man's younger half-brother. The older one is Finral Roulcase, and his little brother is Langress Vaude" Bethany explained. Everyone nodded in understanding and turned back to watch the screen.
"Here we go, Clover Cli- no, no, I keep telling you ladies, we're supposed to do it in unison! Here goes!" the boy muttered, "Yeah, I think he's fine." one of them said as he stopped healing Finral. "He's our savior- we need to be careful with him" another of them replied. Suddenly an Anti-Bird flew in , "hmm? What's with that bird?" the man asked as the boy continued to ramble. Suddenly the bird began pecking Finral's head aggressively, making him scream as he woke up.
Everyone sweat-dropped, "um, why is that bird trying to attack the boy, Finral, was it?" Lemiel asked in confusion. Bethany smiled, "you'll see tomorrow" she replied secretively.
"Okay! Okay! We can take a quick break!" the young man exclaimed, sitting up, as the bird landed on his chest. "Huh? Nero?" Finral asked. "The old Demon's bones. Take me there" the bird, Nero ordered.
To Be Continued