Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter. Like I said a couple of chapters ago, I have a surprise for Noelle and Luck before the dungeon arc ends, so stay tuned for it.

I don't own Fairy Tail or Black Clover.

"..." Character P.O.V.

'...' Character thought

"..." Spells

"..." Animal P.O.V.

'...' Animal thought

[...] Over-voice

Now then on with the new chapter.

Chapter 16: Mortal Combat

Asta follows through with his swing as he sends Lotus flying through the air as the Degenerate King's Smoke Prison continues to vanish. Lotus slams into a wall surrounded by water as he falls to the ground in a sitting position.

'Owww…what a thing to do to a poor, weak old guy!' Lotus thought as he coughs up more blood. 'My left arm's busted for sure. He took out a few ribs too. Yeah, I think I'm done fighting for today.' He thought looking at Asta as he moves towards him with Noelle and Luck waiting behind their fellow Magic Knight. 'How about that…the Clover Kingdom sure has some rare gems. Take this diamond in the rough, a kid with the appearance of having no magic yet somehow has two grimoires and is about to wield an enormous blade.' He thought observing Asta, finally taking notice of his two grimoires strapped to his waist. 'Even with my considerable experience, I've never meet anyone on the battlefield who could negate their magic or possessed two grimoires.' He thought as he looked upward as he gets lost in thought. 'Haaaaaaah…if I'm going to be taken prisoner…' He began to think as he grimoire flips open to a certain page. '…I'd rather die.' He thought. "Smoke Creation Magic: Bustling Lazy Vehicle." He says as the smoke surrounds him.

Lotus' shroud of smoke he generated changed into the shape of a vehicle similar to a cart. The cart has four wheels with the rear wheels being larger than the front wheels. The body of the cart is spacious enough to comfortable fit a least five people. It also has a rooftop that covers the rear-half of the body and a chimney that releases smoke. The cart had raised itself up and was traveling through the air carrying Lotus away from Asta, Noelle, and Luck.

'…or just run away.' Lotus thought safely escaping from the Black Bulls.

"Hey! Get back here!" Asta shout giving chase to the diamond mage.

"Wait up, Asta!" Noelle shouts chasing after her crush.

"You're not getting away." Luck says equipping his Thunder God Boots and shoots off the ground after Lotus as fast as lightning.

Unknown to the Black Bulls, the four diamond mages Luck defeated earlier were still unconscious but had smoke envelop them before it disappears.

"Hah, my handy Smoke Creation Magic: Bustling Lazy Vehicle. There's nothing like a lazy ride in it for quick escapes." Lotus says but then senses something behind him.

"Hah! I'm right on your tail!" Luck shouts closing in on the cart but then it puffs out a large amount of smoke causing him to loss sight of Lotus. "Awe." He groans in disappointment as the smoke clears to reveal that Lotus had successfully escaped as Asta skids to a stop beside him.

"We lost him, huh. That smoke magic of his has many uses." Asta says and looks behind him to see Noelle had finally caught up to them.

"You guys…" Noelle begins to say trying to catch her breath. "…are way too fast." She says.

"You really need to get in better shape, Noelle." Nero says landing on her shoulder.

"Man, that's too bad." Luck says turning to face his teammates. "I would've like to finish him off, but now's not the time. We've got to get to the treasure hall and complete the mission!" He shouts with a smile.

"You're saying that?! You're actually turning down a fight?!" Noelle asks in complete shock.

"Oh yeah! Let's get moving! We've got treasure to find." Asta says with a toothy grin on his face.

Suddenly, tiny sparks appear around Luck as he looks up and sees more sparks flowing across the ceiling leading in a certain direction.

'Oh, wow, so much magic power. He was keeping a lid on it until just a bit ago?!' Luck wonders. "That guy was strong but there's someone here who can give him a run for his money." He says.

[With Lotus on his Bustling Lazy Vehicle]

As Lotus' Bustling Lazy Vehicle continues to speed through the hallways of the dungeon, it was revealed that he managed to stealthily gather his subordinates and was have one heal his broken arm and ribs while the others were resting.

"Everyone doing alright?" Lotus asks as his teammate continues healing him. "At this rate we're going to have to forgo the treasure hall." He says groaning in slight pain. "Oh well, I'm sure that young Mars is more than capable of handling it without me." He says. "Let's not forget he is the Diamond Kingdom's secret weapon after all!" He says.

[With the Golden Dawn and Mars in the treasure hall]

The diamond mage, now known as Mars, pulls his hand back as the enormous crystal blade mimics his hand's movement.

"Crystal Creation Magic: Laevateinn." Mars says in a low tone.

'What ominously sinister magic.' Klaus thought feeling the power of Mars' magic. 'Even at full power, Yuno can't touch him.' He thought looking over to a heavily breathing and injured Yuno. 'Those embedded jewels…' He begins to think noticing the jewels on Mars' forehead. 'I've heard of those! There's a rumor that the Diamond Kingdom is raising mage warriors with artificially amplified magic! They choose young children with powerful magic, put them in fierce competition…' He thought as silhouettes of children appear in his mind. '…embed magic items in them to enhance their powers…and in the end…make them kill each other.' He thought grimly. 'The last survivor of that death match…was this guy?!' He thought tightening his hand into a fist. 'No matter who the opponent is…this isn't acceptable!' He shouts in his mind. 'What is this?! I'm a noble! A member of the Golden Dawn!' He thought. 'I let my comrade be wounded easily…' He thought looking over his shoulder at Mimosa in her Dream Healing Flower Basket. 'I'm being shielded by a younger member! A peasant!' He thought gritting his teeth. "This…" He says placing his hand on the ground. "…could never be all right! Steel Creation Magic: Violent Rotating Lance!" He yells as he summons a huge lance with a spiral head that rotates at high speed and launches it towards Mars.

"Klaus!" Yuno yells surprised by Klaus' sudden attack.

Mars just stares at the incoming lance as his grimoire flips a few pages.

"Crystal Creation Magic: Talos Puppet." Mars says creating a puppet, which is composed of crystal and in the shape of Mars himself.

The Talos Puppet holds it's hand out and due to its hardness and density it was able to the Violent Rotating Lance.

"What…?!" Klaus asks in shock. 'A crystal…copy?!' He thought as he watches as the puppet leaps towards him and uses his Steel Castle's Armored Wall to protect himself. "Rrgh…!" He grunts as the puppet manages to punch a small crater in the wall.

"Rgh…" Yuno grunts but then notices Mars' Laevateinn swinging down towards.

As the crystal blade slams into the ground and kicks up dust. Mars, however, remains neutral as he senses Yuno behind him using his wind magic to fly in the air. Mars changes the direction of his sword and thrust it forward at Yuno, but he uses his wind magic to barrel roll to the side and dives at the diamond mage. However, Yuno couldn't get near him as the crystal sword continues to slash at him and then thrust itself into Yuno and slams him into the wall causing him to cough up a little bit of blood. Yuno managed to use his wind magic to protect himself from being impaled by the sword and when it tries to slash him again he quickly flies away as it destroys part of the wall causing water to flow into the room a little. Yuno flies high into the air and his grimoire flips to a certain page.

"Wind Magic: Crescent Kamaitachi!" Yuno shouts as he extends his arms outward and forms a crescent shaped thin blade of wind and sends it at Mars.

As the wind blade heads towards Mars and upon making contact causes dust to kick up. Yuno not wasting a moment creates two more Crescent Kamaitachis and sends them at Mars causing more dust to kick up. Yuno then sets himself on the ground and falls to his knees in exhaustion.

"Crystal Magic: Nemean Armor." Mars says as the dust disappears around him.

After the dust settled, Mars was revealed to be wearing a set of armor consisting of a breast plate, spaulders, gauntlets, and graves. The armor is composed of crystals with some of them protruding from the surface, thus creating a rough and amorphous surface. The armor is strong enough to withstand all three Crescent Kamaitachis spells and didn't have a scratch on it.

"Your magic…doesn't work on me!" Mars says and waves his hand causing his Laevateinn to return and try slicing Yuno.

Yuno quickly evades the sword as it swings and thrusts at him. He then creates another Crescent Kamaitachi and sends it at Mars only to get the same result as before, no effect.

"It's no use." Mars says as Yuno creates two more Crescent Kamaitachis and sends them his way. "I'm telling you its no use." He says.

[Flashback]

A young Yuno was using his magic against a young Asta as he is sent towards the ground.

"It's no use. Let's just forget about training, okay?" Young Yuno asks his foster brother.

"I'm not done yet! I'm not quitting until I land a hit on you!" Young Asta shouts getting back on his feet and picking up the medium sized stick he was using. "No way am I gonna quit now!" He yells charging at Yuno, who uses his wind magic to send him flying. "Agwaaaah!" He screams hitting the ground hard.

"Asta." Young Yuno says watching him struggle.

"Not yet! I'm not done!" Young Asta yells.

"Come on, can't we just-" Young Yuno begins to ask.

"No way! I am never ever going to give up!" Young Asta shouts getting back to his feet and holds the stick out in front of him.

[End Flashback]

Yuno remembers Asta's words and calms himself as he creates another Crescent Kamaitachi.

"It's useless. Just stop." Mars says as his Nemean Armor protects him.

"I'm not stopping." Yuno says sending another Crescent Kamaitachi at him.

"Move." Mars orders withstanding the attack once again.

"I'm not moving!" Yuno shouts as Mars raises his hand causing his Laevateinn to mimic him.

"Give up." Mars says.

"I'm not giving up!" Yuno shouts and Mars swings his hand downward causing the sword to mimic his movement.

"Yunooooo!" Klaus yells being blocked by the Talos Puppet from aiding his teammate.

Finally, the Black Bulls arrive at the treasure room and see the sight before them. Asta sees the crystal sword closing in on Yuno and bolts forward and his Elemental Dragon Slayer grimoire opens itself.

'I've never tried this before, but I hope it works.' Asta thought closing in on Yuno. "Iron Dragon's Scales!" He shouts covering his body in iron scales as he runs in front of Yuno, holding his left arm up to stop the attack. 'Okay, here it goes.' He thought as his Anti-Magic grimoire hovers on his left and opens allowing him to summon his broadsword with his right hand and slices the crystal sword in half causing the tip to be embedded in the ceiling.

The Golden Dawn members were shocked by this turn of events. They had a hard time trying to withstand Mars' attacks but Asta managed to stop it with one hand and destroys the large crystal sword with a much smaller broadsword.

"Hey, you, freaky looking pale dude, keep your hands off this guy. Yuno's not yours to fight…" Asta begins to say as his broadsword return to his Anti-Magic grimoire. "…he's my rival!" He yells as his eyes become slits.

"You must be kidding…" Yuno says with a small grin on his face. "…just when I'd finally paid back that favor…" He says.

"Yuno, I finally catch up and what are you doing?! Don't you dare lose on me, you jerk!" Asta yells in anger as his younger foster brother. "Were you just going to let that sucker beat you?!" He asks as Nero lands on his shoulder.

'It's hard to believe that he's the one who has the four-leaf clover grimoire.' Nero thought.

"Mind your own business, Asta." Yuno says getting back on his feet. "I was this close to taking him down." He says.

"That's a lie and you know it! You're a wreck! You were totally about to die!" Asta shouts.

"I was just about to unleash a furious counterattack." Yuno says with a blank look in his eyes.

"You're so completely lying! You always do that, you know!" Asta shouts but then calms down and gains a smile on his face as does Yuno.

Mars just stares at the two brothers as images begin appearing in his mind.

"I'll tell you what, little brother." Asta says turning towards Mars. "Let's see which of us takes this guy down first." He says as Luck and Noelle enter the scene.

Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I tried to detail the battle scene from the anime as best as I could. Please review and tell me what you thought of this chapter.

Stay tunes for my surprise for Noelle and Luck in a few more chapters.