Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and thank you to all those who reviewed. Don't worry, I do have a plan for Fuegoleon because personally I think him only appearing in one arc and then him not waking up until nearly 140 chapters later is just wrong. Another thing, I've decided to go back to call Leo by Leopold and just use Leo for when people use it in a sentence.

"…" Character P.O.V.

'…' Character thought.

"…" Spells.

"…" Animal P.O.V.

'…' Animal thought.

[…] Over-voice.

{…} Through Communication Device

Now then on with the new chapter.

Chapter 33: Adversity

Noelle and Leopold ran to the body of Fuegoleon and stared at it, wondering who could be strong enough to defeat a captain of such strength. Asta would have joined them if it weren't for the blood loss from his wounds he sustained earlier.

"He was…he was so strong, not to mention a Lost Magic user, and they just…" Asta began to say. "It can't be…that's impossible…" He says.

"H-His arm…it's been completely ripped off." Noelle gasps in horror trying to come to terms with this.

"Fuegoleon…this-this can't be happening." Leopold said in shock, seeing the one he idolized all his life dead before his eyes.

As he continued to stare as his brother's near dead body, Leopold could see all the time he spent with Fuegoleon flash before his eyes in his mind. Harnessing his old Fire Magic at a younger age, studying while receiving a scolding from Fuegoleon, flying a broom under Fuegoleon's tutelage, training with his brother, relaxing, all the moments they spent, and the smile on Fuegoleon's face as molded Leopold into the mage he is now.

"This can't be real." Leopold says as Asta finally manages to make his way in between him and Noelle. "My brother…wouldn't lose. There's no way…my brother wouldn't…!" He mutters starts to hyperventilate.

As they continued to watch him bleed, something else fell from the portal and caught Asta and Noelle's attention. It was a grimoire, Fuegoleon's grimoire.

"Captain Fuegoleon's grimoire…it's still intact, which means…" Noelle started as Asta caught on.

"He could recover. He could still be alive!" Asta says as he and Noelle bent down to the captain's right side where his arm used to be.

"We need to stop the bleeding!" Noelle says as their Dragon Slayer grimoires open to certain pages.

"I'll close up the wound to prevent blood loss like I did for my earlier wounds. Ice Dragon Slayer Mode." Asta says as he gains icy blue highlights in his hair. "Ice Dragon's Healing Hand." He says placing his hand next to Fuegoleon's wound as it is encased in a sheet of sheet stopping the blood from leaving the captain's body anymore.

"Nice work, Asta. I'll work on healing him. Sea Dragon's Healing Tears." Noelle says holding out her hands as a tear-like droplet forms over the enclosed wound.

"Impossible…that's impossible…" Leopold says still in shock.

"I'm not as skilled as Mimosa when it comes to healing…" Noelle begins to say.

Asta would've replied to reassure her but his voice halted in his breath as he look past her to Fuegoleon's grimoire.

"No." Asta says in shock drawing Noelle's attention as she turned to where he had was looking.

The Dragon Slayers were both stared in shock as the top left corner of Fuegoleon's grimoire started to break apart and disappear.

"Oh no, his grimoire is starting to disintegrate!" Noelle shouts in worry. "I was afraid of this. My mana is getting real low and I can't replenish it without water. Leopold, we need your help!" She yells as they both look at the young lion, they could see that he was still in shock at the sight and trying to deny it with all his might.

"Fuegoleon." Leopold muttered as he seemed to be in a trance.

"Snap out of it! You can't just stand there and let him die!" Asta said, trying to bring his new friend and rival back to his senses.

All attempts seemed to fail as Rades was now back on his feet and watching Leopold's mental breakdown.

"Well, well, well. Looks like somebody lost their drive, huh?" Rades says with a sick smile as he summoned some magic to his left hand. "But that's what you get for talking down to me earlier!" He says loudly.

"Please, pull yourself together!" Noelle shouts, still trying to bring him back to reality.

It failed once again as Rades blasted Leopold back, crashing into a wall before turning his attention to Noelle and Asta.

'A magic blast…he still has power left.' Noelle thought as she turned her eyes to Rades.

'Dammit! I thought he was beaten!' Asta thought as he got up and charged at Rades, cocking an ice-covered fist back.

Rades simply sneered as he dodged the attack and hit Asta with a blast of magic, sending him back and into a building beyond where Noelle was.

"Asta!" Noelle shouts in worry as Rades kept walking towards her and Fuegoleon.

As he made his way to them, laughing manically and recalled Fuegoleon's scolding about his life choices.

[Flashback]

"You were about to overcome adversity, but what you lacked…" Fuegoleon begins to say catching everyone's attention. "…was a righteous heart." He says making Rades grit his teeth.

[End Flashback]

"My hearts the problem, huh?! Well that no problem to me since I live my life just fine. I've always been true to myself! Looks like you and your preaching's will be put to better use in the afterlife, Fuegoleon Vermillion!" Rades shouts as he almost neared the downed captain, a voice stopped him cold.

"Your purpose has been met here, Rades. We've completed our mission." The man, who had still been on top of the building and watching this whole time, says.

"Huh, Valtos?" Rades says in confusion, turning his attention to the Spatial Magic user.

"We're leaving before the other Magic Knights come back, Rades." The man, now known as Valtos, says as he held out his hand towards his associate as a black portal soon opened under him and was about to be his route of escape.

"Not so fast!" Asta yells, drawing Rades attention as he removed himself from the building and walked towards Rades.

"Asta, wasn't it? Don't worry, I'll eventually kill you on a later day." Rades said as he rose his right hand. "And then, I'll make a fine puppet of your corpse! A moment we can both look forward to, you brat!" He shouts.

Asta growled as he started running to Rades with plans to finish him but saw that the black portal had begun to cover him and take him to safety.

'This distance…I'm not gonna make it! It's too far!' Asta thought as he watched Rades' escape as blood slowly leaks from his encased wounds onto the ground.

'He doesn't have the energy to make it, he must've use too much!' Noelle thought in worry as she continued to try and stop Fuegoleon's bleeding.

'The captain of the Crimson Lions just taught me…I need to think calmly.' Asta thought remembering Fuegoleon's words of wisdom. 'How can I stop him? That Spatial Magic…' He thought before realizing what he just said in his mind. 'Not giving up is my third magic! And my swords can…' He thought as his Anti-Magic grimoire opens and the handle of his smaller sword sticks out as he reaches back and grabs it. "Cut through magic!" He yells throwing his sword as it impaled the ground and destroys the portal cutting off Rades escape route.

"What the…" Rades and Valtos ask in shock.

"RAAAARGH!" Asta roars as he pulls his Anti-Magic broadsword out and slashes Rades leaving a large gash on the right side of his face.

"Ah…!" Rades says in shock realizing what just happened. "YAAAAAGH! OWWWWWW! What the hell are you doing, you little shit?!" He screams holding his wound.

"Not good…" Valtos says as he attempts to create another portal underneath Rades but Asta uses his broadsword to stab the ground, destroying the Spatial Magic once again while tossing a few iron screws into his mouth.

"You have the nerve to say that after hurting all those people?! Iron Dragon Slayer Mode!" Asta yells changing his Dragon Slayer Magic element to iron. "Iron Dragon Scales! This…" He begins to say cocking his left fist back as it was covered in iron scales. "Is pain! Iron Dragon's Hard Fist!" He yells delivering a powerful punch to Rades' face. "This is what you did to innocent people as you laughed about it!" He yells punching Rades again with his right scale covered hand this time.

"Stop! Getting hurt and bleeding are signs of being weak! Those who lack magic should just get their asses beat by those who are more powerful!" Rades yells as he lift his right hand, summoning more of his magic to kill Asta. "And you! You are no different, you swine!" He yells as he tries to blast Asta but he using his Anti-Magic sword to slice through the magic blast.

"I'm here to make sure…" Asta begins to say as he headbutts Rades in the face. "That doesn't happen! And…" He begins to say panting heavily. "You say you're strong but I'm proving to be stronger! Iron Dragon's Club!" He yells as his transformed arm extends and slams Rades into the building behind him. "And I'll keep getting stronger until I become the Wizard King!" He yells glaring at Soul Corpse Magic user with the eyes of a dragon.

"Valtos! Do something!" Rades yells to his accomplice.

"If I could, I would've by now. That Anti-Magic is more troublesome than I'd imagined. And his Elemental Dragon Slayer Magic, it's like nothing I've ever seen and it's tricky to understand. Looks like we're going to have to take care of him first." Valtos says as he then raised his hand and formed a portal above him.

Noelle continued to heal Fuegoleon's wound as best she could until she turned her attention to Valtos' other hand and saw it was full of magic energy.

'He gathering power for something but what? What's he up to now?' Noelle wonders as she heard something and looked back and saw that another portal was opening behind Asta and put the pieces together. 'He's going to attack from behind using Spatial Magic!' She thought. "Asta, behind you!" She yells as Asta turned his head and saw the black portal start to expand, about to consume him.

"Too late! This is the end!" Valtos says as he raised his left hand full of energy but paused as his attention was drew to a light.

"Fire Phoenix's Spiral Flame!" A voice yells launching a spiraling blast of blue fire that Valtos quickly dodged to his right, landing on the neighboring building.

Valtos look towards the source of the attack and found that it came from Leopold, who had finally snapped out of his shock and was ready to rejoin the fight.

"How can I be panicking…? Getting emotional won't save us." Leopold said as he breathes heavily. "I always need to remain calm…right, Fuegoleon? Now, let's do this, Asta!" He shouts to his friend and rival.

"Yeah." Asta says grinning as he tossed a few more iron screws into his mouth while grabbing his smaller Anti-Magic sword that was still impaled on the ground.

"Please, both of you, be careful!" Noelle shouts in worry.

"This isn't good…what should I do? I'm running out of options and we can't afford to lose a valuable piece like Rades just yet." Valtos says to himself as he looked down and saw Asta and Leopold walking towards him.

"D-Damn you all! Get away! Stay back! Stay back, I said!" Rades yells as Asta and Leopold close in on him as he walked backwards until he and everyone heard a random male voice.

{"Pathetic."} The voice says, causing everyone to stop and listen. {"We received orders from the Master to come her, and look at you…you're struggling against this lot. How pathetic."} The mysterious voice says a he ceased his words as a white steam surrounded Asta, Leopold, Noelle who was still by Fuegoleon's body, and Rades.

The steam soon disappeared and revealed several people in white hooded robes with a design of a long black line going down the middle with three eyes and a key going through the eyes, surrounding them.

'This magic, it's freezing!' Asta thought as he felt it.

'I've never experienced something so cold, so piercing…' Noelle thought as she felt it as well. 'Not even from Nozel.' She added.

'So, five more of them have joined the battle!' Leopold thought as he looked around.

'This is bad, especially with this curse on my cheek and scratches on my body. They won't heal. No they're starting to leak through the ice.' Asta thought as he look at his body. 'If I get anymore injuries or lose too much blood, I'll be in deep trouble.' He thought.

"Ugh." Rades says as he broke the silence. "I don't recall asking or wanting any extra help!" He says to the mysterious figures.

"Really? You might want thank us instead of complaining." A female voice says.

"What was that?" Rades asks as he turn to the female, who had short black hair and black framed glasses.

"Because if we hadn't arrived to save you, you'd have been captured, cut open, gutted, and skinned alive." She says, giving her own disturbed version of what they would do to him while giving a crazy laugh. "And if you do get dissected, I want to be the one to do it!" She says.

"Just shut up, you crazy woman!" Rades says as he got his second wind. "Anyway, it looks like the tables have turned, you shitty brats!" He shouts but when he expected them to run for cover but what he got was Asta laughing a bit.

The dragon slayer then brought his Anti-Magic swords to his wounds, destroying the ice covering them and slashes the wounds really fast.

"Huh? Asta?" Noelle asks as she saw this happen.

"What are you doing?" Leopold asks in confusion.

"A small repair job for the curse cut! Now, I can fight without having to worry of it growing bigger!" Asta says as he prepared his Anti-Magic swords with his magic power flaring as he glanced at Fuegoleon a bit. "Just watch and I'll show you more of what I can do." He says and unknown to any of them Fuegoleon had heard Asta's words and grinned a little as he focused his magic into the palm of his left hand.

'What the hell?! This brat…he just struck himself with his own swords to get rid of the curse? Unbelievable…he's so stupid!' Rades thought as he stood dumbfounded at Asta's latest action and couldn't form the words as he continued to stare with his mouth slightly open.

"Wow, he's fun. I've never seen someone do that before. This kid's also got some interesting magic as well. Can I dissect him later?" The woman from before asks as she giggled a bit at the display and took a step forward, pointing to Asta.

"Focus, put your habits aside and remember the mission." A fellow hooded mage says.

"Boo. You're such a spoilsport." The woman says as she raised her hand and summoned some magic energy.

The other four hooded mages soon followed suit, planning to kill them all in one fell swoop

"Let me tell you something, I've been fighting against the world since I was born." Asta says, drawing all their attention. "It doesn't matter what you throw at me or how many you've got on your side, I'll cut through all of you!" He shouts.

"Asta…" A weak voice says gaining Asta, Leopold, and Noelle's attention.

"Fuegoleon!" The three mages shout in shock as they saw the one-armed captain had managed to roll himself onto his back.

'He's still alive?!' Rades, Valtos, and the five hooded mages thought in shock.

"Here…" Fuegoleon says weakly holding up his left hand that had a small fire in his palm. "This is the last of my old Fire Magic. When I saw you create Water Dragon Slayer Magic it intrigued me how you are about to create new magics with the right element." He says weakly. "Now I want you take these flames to help you grow stronger." He says.

Asta was shocked for a moment at the words Fuegoleon just said and what he was offering him as well. He then steeled his nerves as he kneeled beside the captain and gripped his raised arm with both his hands and began ingesting the flames. Everyone stared in shock as they watched the young Black Bull mage eat the fire provided by the Crimson Lion captain and then they noticed his Dragon Slayer grimoire flip its pages to a blank one as it began filling itself in with a language that only Noelle could understand.

'Fire Dragon Slayer Magic?' Noelle thought in shock.

"Thank you, sir and please continue to watch over me." Asta says gently setting Fuegoleon's arm down. "Hope you bastards are ready, hope you're ready, cause I'm all fired up!" He yells as flames surround his body and his hair gains red highlights. "Fire Dragon Slayer Mode!" He shouts as silhouette of a red dragon with black markings appeared over him, with giant wings, and glowing yellow eyes. "All right! Come at me! Show me what you've got!" He yells as the dragon silhouette roared into the sky.

Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, especially with how Asta gained Fire Dragon Slayer Magic. Can you figure out what dragon that was at the end? Stay tuned for a surprise that will appear in the next chapter that deals with both Asta and Leopold.