Author's Note: Well here is the second to last chapter of the Royal Capital Arc. Only one chapter left until this arc is finished. Plus the last chapter for this arc will have the Asta x Noelle lemon in it.

"…" 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 36: Light

'He's my goal! The strongest guy there is! He's the strongest mage in the kingdom that I need to surpass!' Asta thought staring up at the man.

"Can you stand?" Julius asks offering his left hand to Asta.

Asta didn't seem to hear him as he continued his thoughts and rose to his knees on his own.

'I can't stop shaking after witnessing the Wizard King's power firsthand!' Asta thought shaking slightly as he stared at the hand in front of him and then rose his head bringing confusion to Julius as he watched Asta slam his fist into the ground, breaking the stone floor in the form of a small crater. 'Damn it, you idiot, get a grip! Stop shaking and stand up! You can't lose here!' He thought as he got back on his feet and trying to regain his breath as Julius watched with a smirk on his face.

"Well, it looks like you can stand on your own. Good. Guess you didn't need my help." Julius says as he turned to the enemy mages frozen by his magic. "All of you had some interesting magic. I was surprised." He says as he turned away from them and started walking further into the Eye of the Midnight Sun's castle. "Now then…while we're here, I have some questions for you all." He says walking past Asta, who turned his head to follow and saw something very strange; a big stone tablet with multiple jewels embedded in it was standing in the middle of the hall with a light shining down on it. "What are these jewels and this stone slab?" He asks, not getting answer due to the enemies being frozen in his time magic. "I've never seen these characters or patterns before. What are you trying to accomplish with this? Well, it's not like you can answer that while you're in that spell." He says walking back towards them. "I guess we can take our time back at the Clover Kingdom to talk about this." He says with a smile still on his face until he hears Asta sniffing the air. "What is it, Asta?" He asks.

"Sir, there's someone else here. I can tell by the smell as well as the magic power their giving off." Asta says looking over his shoulder.

"Yes, I feel it too." Julius says having lost his smile as the tablet behind them started to glow.

It was then a bright light shinned in the room and Asta had to cover his face with his arms so he couldn't be blinded.

"Urh! This light!" Asta shouts looking down as Julius didn't even cover his eyes.

As the light shinned, a mage in the similar yet superior robe than other members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun mages wore descended upon the tablet and looked down at Asta and Julius.

"What is this light?!" Asta wondered as he kept shielding his face.

The figure, who was a tall, slender-framed man with white skin, shaved eyebrows stylized as two red dots, red crescents with three buds framing the sides of his gold eyes, white hair is braided back into several long extensions with a Kippah covering the top of his head ending with a cross over his forehead with an eye etched into the center and wears jewelry, including looped earrings, continued to stare down at them with a small smile on his face, not showing an ounce of fear or worry at the sight of Julius and Asta. The light the blinded Asta but did nothing to Julius and kept shinning brighter and brighter until suddenly it stopped, allowing Asta to finally see but his eyes were meet with nothing.

"Huh? What the-?" Asta asks as he looked around and saw that not only was the tablet gone but the imprisoned members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun too. "Everyone's gone!" He shouts in shock.

"Yes, looks like he got away from us. He took all of his little friends back. Light Magic that's faster than my own…I wonder if that was the enemy's boss. He seems interesting…I mean, formidable." Julius says with a smile at first before shaking his head to regain himself. "But…we managed to keep one." He says as he looked to his right and saw that one of the Eye of the Midnight Sun members, George, was still in his Chrono Stasis spell.

The next instant a communication portal appeared between Asta and Julius revealing Marx on the other end.

"I finally got through." Marx says with a sigh. "Where are you, Wizard King?" He asks.

"Hello there, Marx. Sorry about that. I've been a bit busy, so I blocked the communication spell." Julius says with his smile.

"Never mind that. Please hurry to the medical ward." Marx says, causing Julius to frown and Asta to gasp in remembrance.

'Captain Fuegoleon!' Asta thought.

"Understood, we'll be there soon." Julius says as he ended the communication with Marx. "Well let's get going, Asta." He says.

"Hold on, sir, allow me to get us back." Asta says peaking the Wizard King's interest.

"Oh, is it one of your Dragon Slayer techniques?" Julius asks with sparkling eyes.

"Yes sir. Lightning Dragon Slayer Mode!" Asta shouts activating his lightning dragon slayer magic. "This style of dragon slayer magic allows me to transform myself and anyone I touch into lightning and travel great distances too." He says.

"Amazing!" Julius shouts in excitement and gathering the captured Eye of the Midnight Sun member. "Let's get going." He says placing his hand on Asta shoulder and the instant he does both disappear in a flash of lightning.

In the Clover Kingdom's Healing Ward, Fuegoleon and Leopold were currently unconscious on two round beds and being healed by the kingdom's healers. On the outside of the building were the Magic Knight that fought to protect the kingdom, all worried for the two Crimson Lions.

"Fuegoleon…Leopold…this is awful, please pull through you two." Mimosa said in worry as she stood next to Noelle.

"Poor guys, I hope they turn out alright and wake up soon." Sol said as she stood in between Siren and Charlotte.

"As do I." The Blue Rose Captain said.

It was then Alecdora and Hamon walked up to the group and gave some news.

"We've strengthened the Magic Barrier and repaired the Communication Magic. We've gathered more Magic Knights and are having them scout every inch of the town to ensure no enemies remain." Alecdora explains to the group.

"I'm sure the Royal Capital is fine now. We're also looking for that awfully loud—er, lively Black Bulls boy." Hamon said, choosing his words well and giving a hearty laugh.

This caused Noelle and Mimosa to gain worried looks as they still didn't know what became of their Dragon Slayer crush. It wasn't until Klaus spoke up to try and raise their spirits.

"He hasn't been gone long and we all know he's a fighter, so he won't die that easily." Klaus says to them before whispering to himself. "Curse you, Asta. When I see that boy again, I am going to punch you when you get back for worrying us." He whispers forgetting that Noelle could hear him causing her to smirk a little but then they all felt a sudden flux of magic in the air causing them to gasp.

"What is this huge magic power?" Alecdora asks.

"Above us!" Sol shouts pointing upwards as everyone looked above them to see thunderclouds forming.

"Another enemy, be prepared to attack." Nozel orders.

"No, Nozel wait, this power its…" Noelle begins to say until a lightning bolt strikes the area in between her, Mimosa, Klaus, Alecdora, and Hamon revealing Asta, Julius, and the Eye of the Midnight Sun prisoner.

"Amazing! That was truly a marvelous way to travel!" Julius says excitedly before noticing everyone surrounding them. "Greetings everybody, great work today." He says with a raise left hand and a smile.

"It's the Wizard King!" Mimosa says in surprise.

"And Asta too!" Noelle says happily as she saw the Wizard King's right hand on Asta's left shoulder.

However, Noelle notices that Asta hadn't said a word since appearing and could tell something was clearly wrong with her crush. It was then that Sol noticed the floating, blue sphere with an enemy in it.

"Hey, is that…an enemy?" Sol asks as Asta still stood in the same place.

Noelle and Mimosa were still happy to see him safe and sound but one of them just had to try and act like they weren't worried at all.

"Hmph! It's because you got in over your head once again, are always so reckless, and you still don't learn!" Noelle says as she turned away. 'Thank goodness!' She cries in her mind.

"Thank goodness you're safe." Mimosa says with her hands together.

"ASTAAAAAA!" Klaus yells knocking Noelle to the side a bit as he came running in and stood in front of Asta. "You're back, Asta! And you're safe! You worried us to death!" He says as he placed his hands on Asta's shoulders. "I never thought I'd see you again, my friend! Thank heavens you're okay!" He says as he then started to cry a bit and wipe tears from his eyes.

Asta, however, still said nothing as he just stared blankly in front of him which caught Julius' eye.

'I thought you were going to punch him.' Noelle thought as she watched the display.

"ASTAAAAAA!" Mimosa yells knocking both Noelle and Klaus away as she charged towards Asta and hugs him. "You came back to us! I'm so glad you're okay. I was so, so worried about you!" She says and it took about 3 seconds for her to realize the position she was in and broke the hug. "I-I'm sorry!" She apologizes as Nero came flying in and perched himself on Asta's fur jacket lining.

"Glad to see your back, Asta." Nero says but his partner doesn't respond. "Asta?" He asks and then notices he sways a bit and begins to fall forward. "Wow!" Nero says flying off his friend's shoulder and to Noelle's.

"Asta!" Noelle and Mimosa shout.

"Wow, there. Time Binding Magic: Chrono Stasis." Julius says casting his Time Magic on Asta before he hit the ground. "It seems his body and magic finally gave out. Surprising how long he lasted." He says as more healing ward mages come out. "Take care of this one…he's done amazing work today." He says releasing his spell as the mages carry Asta inside.

About two hours later, Julius was standing in front of everyone and had just been told about what had happened while he was gone.

"I see…despite how strong Fuegoleon is, even before he became a Lost Magic user, we don't know when he'll wake up. That was a miscalculation on my part." Julius says with a frown as he looked towards the sky.

"No, this was due to our inexperience." Charlotte says as she tried to ease the Wizard King's guilt. "Also, we've confirmed that the pendant Fuegoleon was wearing is missing." She explains.

"Pendant?" Julius asks with a surprised look on his face.

"Indeed and it's possible that the attack on the Royal Capital was a cover to acquire it." Charlotte explains. "Any ideas of who in the world could they be, sir?" She asks as Julius gazed to his left.

"Afraid not, but from what they said, they appear to be a terrorist group with a grudge against the Clover Kingdom." Julius says as he recalls the message his knight told him.

[Flashback]

"Remember this, Magic Knights. We are the Eye of the Midnight Sun…the one who will destroy the Clover Kingdom." George says closing his grimoire.

[End Flashback]

"But it doesn't seem to be that simple." Julius thought as he remember the giant stone tablet and all the embedded jewels in it. 'The jewels embedded into that stone slab…was Fuegoleon's pendant a part of that? It had several holes that were still empty, but what happens when they gather all of them? There is still the possibility that Fuegoleon was targeted because of his pendant, but there's also a high possibility that his strength and ideals would've gotten in their way. I've been investigating various dissidents in secret, and this is the first time I've picked up their trail. But to think they were planning something that extraordinary and powerful. Maybe I shouldn't have left the capital.' He thought looking over his left shoulder at the still time frozen George. "We'll get the details from our captive later." He says before turning back to the gathered Magic Knights. "In any case, people look to the Magic Knights for one thing…peace in the Clover Kingdom. In order to preserve that, we'll keep fighting with everything we have.

"Yes sir!" All the Magic Knights say together until Nozel spoke up gaining their attention.

"If you'll excuse me sir." Nozel says turning to leave.

'There he goes again…off on his own like always.' Noelle thought crossing her arms under her breasts and looks away from her approaching oldest brother.

However to her surprise, he halts right beside her.

"As much as it pains me to admit it, you did a good job today Noelle." Nozel says shocking his siblings. "But you still have a long way to go until I truly accept you." He says glaring at her.

At that moment they all heard commotion coming from the Healing Ward.

"Sir, please wait!" A voice on the inside shouts.

"I told you I'm fine!" Asta shouts as he kicks open the door off its hinges causing it to come flying towards the Magic Knights who step to the side to avoid getting hit.

Unfortunately, there was only one who did move out of the way in time and ended up taking the door to the face; Solid Silva.

"Man, it feels so good to be out of there." Asta says rubbing the back of his head walking towards the group while cracking the knots in his neck.

"Good to see your back on your feet Asta. You had some of us worried there for a moment when you passed out." Julius says patting the young Black Bulls shoulder.

"You!" Solid yells pushing the door off of him. "HOW DARE YOU HUMILIATE ME LIKE THAT!" He screams about to attack.

"Enough, Solid." Nozel says glaring at his younger brother. "We're leaving. Let's go, you too Nebra." He says walking off with Solid following.

"Well I better be going. I'll see you later Noelle." Nebra says smiling at her younger sister before smirking and turning to Asta. "And you as well, Asta." She says cutely and waves bye to him causing Noelle and Mimosa to gasp in shock as they watch Nebra walk after her brothers.

'Great now my own sister is interested in my Asta.' Noelle screams in her mind gripping her hair.

'Nebra might have feelings for my Asta?' Mimosa wonders in her mind.

"Yeah see you later." Asta says waving back but catches a glance of Nozel's face. 'What's with him? From what I heard after I woke up we're supposed to be showing solidarity right now. Read the atmosphere, man.' He thought.

"There's a saying," Julius begins to say, gaining Asta's attention. "Don't wake a sleeping lion but it appears our enemy has awoken a sleeping eagle instead." He finishes.

It was then Asta sort of understood why the Silver Eagles left in such a hurry, their captain, Nozel, saw Fuegoleon as a friend and was hurting to find out that he was gravely injured and couldn't do anything about it sense he wasn't there to fight. And it looks like Nozel wasn't the only one.

'Pathetic. What an appalling spectacle. Never let this happen again, Nozel.' Nozel thought to himself. 'And Fuegoleon, I will find the scum who did this to you and slay them myself.' He thought leaving through the Healing Ward courtyard entrance.

The group watch as the Silver Eagles leave as Hamon lets out a sigh gaining Sol's attention.

"Oh, wow is me. To feel this useless leave a sour feeling in my heart." Hamon says as he lost his smile. "I hope I never feel this useless again." He says.

"Right, and it won't because we won't let it." Sol says as he clenched her left into a fist.

"Indeed, for we shall become stronger." Charlotte says as she and everyone gazed at Julius.

"Indeed. That's good to hear." The Wizard King says as he regained his smile.

It wasn't even 3 seconds later that the remaining door to the Healing Ward open and out came a nearly recovered Leopold, drawing everyone's attention with his shout.

"I'm the one who'll become the strongest!" Leopold shouts as he leaned against a column near the door.

"Leopold!" Mimosa says, worried that he isn't ready to be up and moving yet.

"You need to be resting." Noelle says, feeling the same way as Mimosa.

"No need to worry, as a Phoenix Slayer, I have the ability to regenerate from injuries depending on how sever the wound is." Leopold explains his new Lost Magic to the group. "Asta! I'm relieved that we both pulled through! I'd expect no less from my rival to escape death as well!" Leopold shouts as he got off of the column. "And as my rival we both must become stronger and become greater Magic Knights then those before us!" He yells as Asta continued to stare at Leopold, silently agreeing with him, as he continued his speech. "I swear on this day, I will become even stronger than my brother and surpass him! And then I'm going to be the next Wizard King!" He shouts with a smirk on his face. "And this…" He begins to says as he raises his left thumb and ignited it in flames and he then placed the flaming thumb against his head as he remembered his brother's words towards the mark on his forehead.

[Flashback]

"Fuegoleon, what is that mark on your forehead?" Leopold asks his brother.

"Ah, this? This mark is handed down in the Vermillion family as a sign of a personal oath. It's worn only by those prepared to conquer themselves and become king." Fuegoleon explains to his younger brother.

[End Flashback]

"This…is the mark of my oath given form." Leopold says as he took his thumb off of his forehead and revealed a diamond with lines curved inward which makes Asta smile at his oath as he made his way towards Leopold.

"Great speech and an even greater oath but I have to disagree with you on one thing." Asta says as he stopped in front of Leopold. "We're not friends." He says shocking everyone but Asta then continues. "Fuegoleon gave the last of his Fire Magic before he became a permanent Lost Magic user and that makes us something more than friends, it makes us brothers." He says holding his clenched fist up causing Leopold to smile as he bumped fists with his new 'brother'. "But I'm afraid you won't be the Wizard King because that job is going to be mine!" He says.

"If that's the way it's gonna be then may the best man win, Asta!" Leopold says as he then unclenched his fist and held out his hand. "But that man is gonna be me, Leo! Your rival!" He says.

"Hm! We'll see about that, Leo!" Asta says as he took Leopold's/Leo's hand and shook it as their bodies burst into flames taking the forms of a dragon and phoenix.

"Well this is what I like to see." Julius says as he and everyone smile as the sight before them.

"Sire!" A Healing mage yells as came out of the Healing Ward.

"Yes? What is it?" Julius asks.

"Its Captain Fuegoleon! He's awaken!" The mage says shocking everyone as they made their way inside and gathered around Fuegoleon's bed.

"Its good to see you're awake my friend." Julius says with a smile on his face. "How are you feeling?" He asks.

"Well, sir, considering I'm missing one of my arms, I'm doing fine." Fuegoleon says and looks towards Asta, Noelle, and Leopold. "I'm glad to see that you three survived. You all did very well today. And I see you finally found your own path as well, Leo." He says noticing the diamond mark on his forehead.

"Fuegoleon, I hate to ask this so soon but do you recall who stole your pendant?" Julius asks.

"I'm afraid not sir, after I allowed myself to be transported through Spatial Magic to that strange place I met someone there but I can't remember their face or anything after that." He says.

"It's alright, the only thing that matters is that you survived." Julius says.

"Thank you sir, but I'm afraid I have to resign a Captain of the Crimson Lions." Fuegoleon says shocking everyone.

"But Fuegoleon why?!" Leopold asks shouting.

"In my current state I'm not about to do much until I have fully recovered." Fuegoleon explains.

"That's alright, you take all the time you need to recover Fuegoleon. But in the meantime, I think you know the squad can't be without a captain, so you know what do." Julius says as he, Marx, and most of the Magic Knights minus Leopold, Asta, Noelle, Mimosa, and Klaus leave.

"Yes sir." Fuegoleon says with a grim look on his face. "Well, Leo, I guess its time to track her down." He says sweating heavily.

"Wait you can't possible mean having her lead the squad!" Leopold yells sweating heavily as well.

Meanwhile in a deep forest sitting on a large boulder was a person whose body was completely shadowed from the trees. The person takes a deep breath as their body bursts into white flames as it began melting the boulder they were sitting on beneath them.

Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and what I did for Fuegoleon. Stay tuned for the next chapter that'll have the Asta x Noelle lemon in it as well as a few surprises. Also recently someone asked who the alpha mate of Asta's harem is and its pretty clear that its Noelle. One more thing the result of the poll have been calculated and Vanessa in now a part of Asta's harem. Be sure to review and tell me what you thought of this chapter, please.