Chapter 16

Step Into Darkness


"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Duel Points

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip


Last time on Rise of the Monsters:

She gave no answer and just climbed onto her bed. For the second day in a row, Noelle merely sat on her bed, holding her knees to her chest. The failure of her duel hung over her as her heart ached and her mind replayed Asta's sacrifice again and again.

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..."le!"

She looked up at her door. It was still closed.

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..."elle!"

She stood up and walked over to her large window. The royal looked out and found no one outside.

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..."Noelle!"

The water user turned around at the scream and her eyes went wide. Asta was standing in her room... sort of. His body flickered in and out of focus as he held an orb between his broken arms.

"Asta?"


Rising Hope - LiSA

Nigitta MESSEEJI, that's rising hope

The Black Bulls and Golden Dawn symbols appear before Asta and Yuno's robes are shown, with both of standing standing back to back. Asta grins as the shadows of Noelle and Leopold appear inside of him. Yuno merely smiles as the shadows of Mimosa and Shay appear inside him as well.

Yuruganai sekai hijou na genjou tsuzuku kabe wa nanjuusou?

Asta swings his Demon Slayer sword in the forest, with Virgil watching him. He then wipes away his sweat before he looks over to the sun as the light fills the screen.

Black Clover: Rise of the Monsters

IMEEJI toori nanka ja nai shizuka ni sawagi dashita honnou

Noelle is seen in her room, brushing her hair. She then widens her eyes as the shadow of what appears to be a monster stalks her.

Meiro mitai ikitomari nanda mou shikou wa DISUTOOSHON

Leopold jogs through the Crimson Lion Kings base as Tiger King floats next to him, giving him encouraging words.

Youshanai ne itsunomani miushinatta RUUTO, abaredasu

Yuno is finally seen taking a deep breath as summoning a tornado of wind as Lightning sits on his shoulder.

Pay attention! Hey what is it?

Magna swings his arm with a grin before he stands with the rest of the Black Bulls.

Watch your step now! Joushiki nanka iranai

Akiza and Tyranno let out smiles as they walk through a hall, with two shadows appearing behind them.

Are you serious!? no no no, don't worry 1,2,3

A shadowy person slowly opens their eyes, revealing the golden color as Shay stands behind them with a deep frown.

Fukikaesu shinzou no RIZUMU

Flashs of Asta, Yuno, Noelle and the Duel Spirits' lives are shown, with Virgil falling to his knees while crying.

Shikai mada kuranderu soredemo ikanakucha

Asta and Virgil stand in the middle of an empty battlefield, the wind blowing against their faces.

Kimi ga shinjiteru boku wo uragiru

Asta then turns to Virgil with a big grin, which Virgil returns with his own small smile before the two bump fists.

Wake ni ikanai tsuyoku KURAKUSHON ga naru

Asta then draws his Demon Slayer and Dweller swords before attaching his Duel Disk and running forward.

Kodoku na mama toki ga tattatte

Luck and Magna start fighting off several of Vetto's goons as the Beast Mage charges at the two.

Nigeru koto oboetatte

Kiato rushes it with his arm blades and clashes with Vetto, who grins wildly.

Atarashii kyou ga kichau kedo

However, he is then hit in the back by Kahono, who continues to sing in order to hold off Vetto.

Kono negai tatoe mahou ga nakutatte

Asta rushes in and rolls on the ground before he slams a card on his Duel Disk, summoning Virgil just in time to block a magic blast.

Kanaenakya, chikatta

Noelle, with a determined expression, screams as a large creature with red eyes charges towards another monster.

Boku wa kimi to mada mitai mirai arunda yo

Yami concentrates his magic before launching a Dimension Slash at a glowing portal, creating a blinding blast.

Nakisou demo kuyashikute mo tomatte irarenai

Asta and Yuno are then seen walking towards each other with determined faces.

Nigitta MESSEEJI. That's rising hope!

The two pass each other before drawing their cards, aiming them at one another. The final shot shows everyone together under the Clover Kingdom symbol with smiles.


"Noelle." She looked up and found him smiling as she lost her grip. Slowly, Asta began to fly out of Noelle's arms, inching closer to the portal. "You got this!" The portal sucked him in before the portal closed behind him, leaving only his Grimoire and Virgil behind.

Asta tumbled through the void, his arms utterly useless at this point. "I'm… okay with this." He told himself. "Noelle is safe. That's all that matters." Closing his eyes, he accepted his fate and waited for what ever may come.

'You monster!'

His eyes snapped open as he looked around, finding no one. 'The hell was that?'

'Go! Get out of here!'

'Aya, run!'

'But mama...'

'GO!'

'Pay the price for your deal.'

'It's okay... you're gonna be okay...'

"What is going-" He crashed into a hard rock, ending his train of thought. Turning onto his back, he looked up at the dark red sky, black clouds swirling in the air. "So… this is the Shadow Realm." He thought aloud, his previous question having been literally knocked out his mind. "It's very… grey."

An angry growl caught his attention before he rolled to the side, a heavy blow crushing the rock he once hit. Sitting up, he looked on in horror as the dust settled, Vetto hissing in anger as his arm glowed in dark magic. "You damned magicless brat!"

"Looks like Noelle beat you." Asta chuckled. "Guess we're both stuck here forever."

"Not for long, human." Vetto growled charging again. Asta nipped up and moved to the side, the claw barely missing him. He head butted the beast man in the gut, the weak effort making Vetto chuckle. "Not so tough without your swords, are you?"

A clawed hand gripped Asta's head, pulling him up. Vetto's free hand glowed as he held it up, pointed at Asta's neck. "I'll kill you, then find a way out of this hell hole. After that, I'll kill that royal brat. Then your whole squad! And ANY humans who get in my way!"

"Vetto, focus!" Heraklinos ordered, catching the terrorist's attention. "We have company."

"Impossible!" The hulking man snapped back. "This is a barren waste-"

*SHING*

Vetto froze in shock before a line of blood appeared from the top of his head before it went down his whole body. Asta was released from the grip and dropped to the ground to see Vetto's sides slowly fell apart and a trail of blood snapped apart, the halves falling apart. "Damn… I was hoping to spend more time in the human world." Heraklinos cursed.

Vetto's grimoire started faded into a withered husk. Heraklinos began fading away in a powder as he turned to Asta. "You are a brave soul, young warrior. Should you find a way out of here, I hope to see you again." The last of the monster vanished as Asta looked at what had killed Vetto.

"I sensed the new presence of humans in this world…" Asta blinked as the red eyes of the being turned to him. Most of the body was covered in a black mist, leaving only everything from his neck up exposed. Bat wings shot out of the back as a barbed tail slipped out of the end.

The mouth had a scar along the check as one horn curved down along the side of his face. The horn on the right side of his head was broken off, leaving only jagged edges. The nose was bull-like as a crude ring hung was pierced through. "But now, I can't sense any magic from you. What are you?"

"W-wh-what the hell was that!?" Asta shouted in horror. "You just killed him!"

"He was trying to kill you." The creature declared, wiping his hand clear of blood. "Should have I just done nothing?"

"You could have just knocked him out!" The human snapped back. "And what the hell are you, anyway?"

"Do you humans not speak of devils in your world anymore!?" The being shouted, scaring Asta backwards. "I am known as Orgo the Mad! Who are you?"

Backed into a large chunk of rock, Asta swallowed his fear and pushed himself up. "A-Asta…" He mumbled, confusing the devil. "My name is Asta!" He shouted before charging forward.

Orgo chuckled and backhanded Asta to the ground. "What could you possibly do in your state?" The demon questioned. "You have no magic, no arms, and no hope! Why bother fighting back!?"

"Not yet…" Asta growled, forcing himself up again. "I'm not done yet!"

"SHUT UP!" Orgo shouted before punching Asta in the face.


Groaning in pain, Asta awoke to find himself in some kind of dungeon, his legs clamped in an unknown metal as torches lit the room. His arms were covered in crude bandages as a bug/spider hybrid crawled away from him. "Now where am I?" He threw a kick and found the metal went taunt at very short distance. Asta stood up and tried to pull himself free, his legs turning red from the strain.

"I would stop that if were you." The sudden voice scared him to his butt as he listened to a metal door creek open. The clip-clop of hooves alerted him that the new comer wasn't human as he turned to the barely visible stairs. The new devil was female, as evident by the long white hair coming down. Most of her appearance was the same as Orgo, but her horns went sideways and her nose was like a humans.

"After all, we don't want you any more injured than you already are." She chuckled, crouching down with a bowl of what Asta HOPED was food. "I am Lilia the Dissent. Are you hungry?"

Leaning over, Asta was expecting the bowl to be filled with live bugs or maggots. Instead, he found it filled with a pale mush that resembled bashed Pop-Potatos. He gave a cautious sniff and found the smell wasn't vile. "You needn't worry. It isn't poison." Lilia reassured him, lifting the spoon out.

She offered the food and Asta slowly opened his mouth, taking a bite. "Not bad." He confessed as Lilia smiled, showing off her sharp teeth. "So where am I? Why are you doing this?" Asta questioned, taking another spoonful into his mouth.

"We call this palace Pandemonium." Lilia answered. "All five of us lost Shadow Duels and ended up here. Coming together, we came to an agreement to never turn down those who are lost here. Besides, you are a human. Us Devils have use for your kind here." The last of the food was finished off as she stood up. "I suggest you get your rest. You'll need it for the ritual."

"Ritual? What ritual?" Asta questioned.

"Oh, you needn't worry about it." Lilia chuckled, closing the door behind her before locking it.

It took less than one second for Asta to decide to break out. "Come on, Asta… think!" He mumbled to himself. "There has to be a way out of here…" Forcing himself up, he moved around as best he could, feeling with his face. Moving his body, he heard a clank as he moved his legs.

He pulled as hard as he could and watched one of the chains snap in half, freeing his right leg. "Okay, one down."

For the next hour or so, Asta worked on breaking the rest of the chains, with some being stronger than others. He was glad the food Lilith gave him was decent, or he wouldn't have had the strength to break free.

"ALRIGHT! I'M FREE!" Asta shouted out before he quickly shuts his mouth. He looked around to make sure no one was around before sighing. "Next: the door." He looked at the door before slumping down. "I don't have a key..." Defeated by the outcome, Asta nonchalantly banged his head on the door...

Only for it to creak open.

Asta blinked a few times. "... She left the door open... AWESOME!" As quietly as possible, Asta snuck out of his cage before exiting the room. He found himself in a rather creepy hallway, with torches and even some skeletons. "Okay... that's not creepy at all."

Taking a deep breath, Asta began to sneak through, making sure to look both ways in case there were any guards around.

"Arishen, did you hear? We have a human here."

"Ahhh. Fresh meat?"

'Crap!' Asta saw a pillar nearby and quickly moved to hide behind it as two demonic-like guards began to walk through the halls. One had barbed horns that emerged from the back of his head, wild black hair and a missing eye.

"I wish. Orgo said no one is allowed to eat him." The second of the guards, this one with undulating horns, a braid of red hair amongst the grey mop, a boars nose, and forked tail explained in disappointed.

"You know how long it's been since I've tasted a human, Solga?! I'm staving!" Arishen growled in anger. "I need to eat more magic users."

"Actually, this human DOESN'T have any magic." Solga told him, much to his surprise.

"Really? Bleh. Nevermind." Arishen scoffed as the two got closer to Asta. "That ruins the flavor."

'That's it. Keep walking...' A nervous sweat ran down Asta's head as he heard the guards reach where he is.

"Anyways, is that communication crystal set up?" This caught Asta's attention as the guards passed by him.

"Probably." Arishen mumbled in annoyance. "I still don't get why we need it. There's no devils in the human realm we can contact. If you ask me, we should focus on escaping this hell hole."

"Agreed. But, that's what Orgo wants. And whatever he wants, he gets." The two guards then turn the corner, escaping Asta's sights.

'A communication crystal, eh? I can use it to call someone.' Asta thought with a determined look. 'Now I just need to find it...'

With that, Asta began searching Pandemonium for the communication crystal. Though, it was pretty hard considering he had NO IDEA WHERE IT WAS! Not to mention, his arms were still messed up, so if he had to fight, he'd need to use his head... literally.

'Come on... WHERE THE HECK IS IT?!' Asta screamed in his head as he kept looking around. At this point, he'd get captured before he could even find the damn thing!

Soon, Asta reached yet another door before opening it (ignoring the pain coming from using his arm), only for his eyes to widen.

"What the..." The room was filled with multiple cells, each seemingly empty. But what caught Asta's attention was the horrible smell that came from the cells, making him gag. "UGH! THAT STINKS!" He lifted his arms just enough to cover his mouth as he walked past the cells.

Some were empty...

Others had what looked like corpses of various creatures, each rotten to the core. Hell, he even some what looked like a wolf eating the carcass of a dead wolf with no shame.

'Seriously. What is all this?' Asta thought as he eventually made it to the end, where a large steel door was placed. He then pushed it open... and came face to face with Orgo.

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*SLAM*

Asta quickly slammed the metal door shut. "NOPE!" With that, he began to run as Orgo kicked the door down.

"HE'S FREE!"

Asta turned around and found Orgo pointing at him. Both broke into a sprint down the hall and Asta turned a corner as fast as he could. Throwing a kick, his chain went taunt at the right moment and caught Orgo, tripping him to the ground. Asta found a door and ran for it, only to fall over.

Looking back, he found that Orgo had grabbed his chain and pulled. "You won't get away, human!" With one pull, he yanked Asta back towards him. "You belong in-"

"SHUT UP!" Asta shouted, using the momentum and kicked the devil in the face. The force snapped the chain at his ankle as Asta stood back up. Orgo grabbed the right chain, but that also broke off near the ankle. Running down the hall as fast as he could, Asta burst into a room at the end and looked around, finding only a crystal ball on an alter.

The door closed behind him and he turned to find a crude metal structure filled with spikes next to it. Running as fast as he could, he slammed into the side head first. The splitting head ache was a small price to pay as the spiked casket fell over, barring the door. He turned back to the alter and stared at the ball in confusion. "Please tell me this is it."

"You can't escape with that human!" Orgo shouted, pounding on the door. "So say good bye to your miserable life!"

"If I'm gonna say good bye to anyone, it'll be my friends!" Asta snapped back, unaware that his words made the crystal orb glow. "The heck?" He picked up the orb in his broken arms, the orb glowing even brighter.


Present

"Noelle?"

"Asta!?"

Both were in shock that the two could even see each other. "How are you even here right now?" The water user questioned.

"Technically, he isn't here." Virgil said. "It's more a projection, similar to how we spirits interact with this plane. However, I do question how this is even possible…"

"It's a long story." He confessed. "Honestly, don't even know how to explain it myself. Anyway, how are you guys?"

"How are WE!? How are you!?" Noelle shouted back. "Your arms are broken! You look like you've been beaten half to death, and what is that on your ankles?"

"Again, long-" A loud bang caught the trio's attention, scaring Asta. "Crap, the door won't hold much longer…"

"Asta, what's wrong?" Virgil asked in concern.

"Some devils want to use me in a ritual." The teen explained as another bang hit the door. "Look, don't worry about me. I'll be fine here, just take care of Nero for me, would ya?"

The door burst open and the vision of Asta faded away, leaving the two alone in Noelle's room. "We have to go and save him!" She declared. "We can't just leave him there!"

"Calm down." Virgil was stoic in his response. "We need to think this through carefully. He did say not to worry about him…"

"So you're saying that we should just leave him there!?" Noelle snapped back. "I thought you were supposed to be his partner! Don't you care about him!?"

"Of course I care about him!" Virgil declared. "But we'd need to find a way into the Shadow Realm. And that is easier said than done."

Sighing in defeat, Noelle sat on her bed. "I know… I know." Looking out the window, she saw Posiedra looking in. "So, do either of you have an idea to get there?"

"Not at all." Her duel partner confessed. "Honestly, the Shadow Realm is a place we duel spirits try to AVOID at all costs."

"It's a shame we can't just use Finral and make a portal there." Noelle huffed. "As always, he's useless."

"Portal…" Virgil mumbled before his eyes went wide. "Wait… this could work."

"What could work?" Noelle asked.

"It's a radical idea, but it's the best I can come up with." Virgil declared. "The problem is… we'd have to convince your squad to help us."

"How is that a problem?" The royal questioned.

"I highly doubt they're going to listen to you with this crazy idea." He answered, looking at Poseidra. "Alone, anyway."

"You're saying we should reveal ourselves to them?" The sea dragon asked. "I thought we were trying to minimize the amount of people who knew about us."

"If we don't, we might lose a great warrior forever." Virgil reminded him. "In the end, there are risks and rewards for everything in life. Our options are before us, Noelle. What will you do?"


Noelle marched down the stairs into the main hall of the base, finding everyone with a drink in their hands. Vanessa seemed to have a hundred bottles around her while most of the men had a beer in their hands. The only one who wasn't drinking was Charmy, but she was stuffing her face with more food than usual.

She reached the table and wiped the drinks onto the floor. "How long are you going to act like drunken idiots at a party!?"

"We aren't drinking for fun, Nolle." Magna slurred out. "We're drinkging to forget… We loved that lottle ball of energy."

"Maria will never be able to forgive me for this…" Gauche growled out before punching the table, scaring Grey. "Damn him!"

"Cans you thnk of somfin other than heer?" Vanessa croaked out.

"I-I-I never got to show him m-my true form. But... h-he seemed so n-nice." Even Grey spoke up with a timid, but sad tone.

"He wasn't the first Magic Knight to fall in the line of duty, but he meant a lot to us." Finral added. Charmy mumbled something, but no one could understand her stuffed face.

"How many times do I have to say this?" Noelle asked the drunken mass. "Asta is still alive."

"Yeah, you keep saying that, but we all know that it isn't true." Yami said, pouring himself a new cup of sake. "Just cause you're in denial about it doesn't mean it isn't true."

"I know where he is." She declared, making some scoff in dismissal. "Fine, if you won't listen to me… Maybe you'll listen to my friends." Virgil and Poseidra appeared behind her, scaring Vanessa sober. Gordon fell over in shock as Grey jumped behind the nearest barrel.

Every Grimoire in the room flipped open and was readied for a fight. "Calm down, all of you." Virgil requested, only for a fireball to fly through him. "Well, that went about as well as expected."

"I knew this was a bad idea." Poseidra huffed, Luck drunkenly flying through him.

"I don't know what kind of trick this is, but I'm not having some monster wreck my base." Yami warned as he began to coat his katana with dark magic.

"All of you, SHUT UP!" His roar echoed through the base and knocked them to the ground. "Virgil, use the stupid guitar."

"It's a lyre." Virgil snapped back before strumming on the instrument. A blue mist slowly flowed off of Noelle as her memories played for the squad. From his lesson with Noelle and Asta to the fight in the capital ending with the Shadow Duel against Vetto. They flowed into the others as the song slowly ended.

The spell came to an end as the Grimoires slowly closed. "Wow… that's a lot to take in." Finral mumbled.

"Who would have thought the two new recruits would be fighting a war like this?" Magna asked aloud. "That's freaking manly!"

"I wanna duel! I wanna duel!" Luck demanded, only for Yami to grip both their heads.

"Focus, you idiots!" He ordered, squeezing the craniums.

"So we need to get Asta out of this 'Shadow Realm'?" Finral questioned.

"Glad someone is actually paying attention to all this." The poet said with a smile.

"Okay, so what do we need to get there?" Yami asked with a raised brow. "Cause from what you told us, no one can go there without losing in a Shadow Duel."

"We will need three things." Virgil answered. "We have two of them here; you and the spacial magic user. The last one is a bit more tricky… We will need more duelists."

"How many do we have?" Vanessa asked.

"Here at the moment? Noelle." Posiedra proudly declared. "But there are others out there…"


Golden Dawn Squad Base

In the training yard of the Golden Dawn, Yuno held up his palm and blade of wind launched forward, slicing a wooden dummy in half. Lightning sat on his shoulder before flapping his wings, a pair of tornados blasting more dummies into the air. Yuno turned and fired off some aerial avians and they slammed into the targets, causing them to explode.

"That was a bit… much, don't you think?" Thunder Lord questioned, floating above his partner.

The human ignored the duel spirit, panting in exhaustion. He turned to the side and found hanging dummies dropping down against the wall. "Wind Creation Magic: Wind Blades Storm!" Daggers of wind flew forward and punctured the targets, going into the wall behind them.

He dropped to his knee and panted as sweat dripped from his face. "That's enough, Yuno." Mimosa rushed and helped him up. "You used up more mana than you needed to. That can't be good for you."

"Mind your own business." He brushed her aside and walked into the base, Lightning following behind him.

Marching through the halls, Yuno entered his room before closing the door. "Yuno, we need to talk." Thunder Lord ordered, appearing out the window. "The way you're acting isn't helping anyone."

"Don't talk to me about helping anyone." Yuno snapped back, scaring Lightning. "Asta needed my help, and I wasn't there. And now… he's gone for good."

"He's not gone." Yuno looked up to see Virgil appear in his room. "As I'm sure your partner told you, he is merely in the Shadow Realm."

"Yeah, and there's no way to get to him." The Wind Mage replied. "So if he isn't dead now, he will be."

"And you're just fine winning like that?" Virgil questioned, catching Yuno by surprise. "Asta dreamt of his final, decisive battle with you. And yet you seem content to just win without much of a whimper of complaint."

"I'm not happy about it." Yuno replied, Lightning nuzzling into his leg. "But there's nothing I can do about it. Like you told me, there's no way into this Shadow Realm to save Asta."

"There might be a way…" Virgil declared, catching the human off guard. "But it is very dangerous, and we all might perish. The Bulls are planning a raid into the Shadow Realm. We cannot force you-"

"I'm in." Yuno cut off the poet mid-sentence. "Whatever it takes to save Asta."

His familiar sniffed the air on his shoulder before turning to the door. Without warning, Lightning took off and hit the door, a yelp coming from the other side. Confused, Yuno opened the door and found Mimosa on the ground, rubbing her butt. In less than a second, Lightning flew towards her, latching onto her face as he proceeded to scratch her.

"OWWWW! STOP IT!" Mimosa stumbled forward as she tried to pull Lightning off her face.

"Lightning!" Yuno went over and pulled the dragon spirit off his squadmate's face. The little dragon whimpered as he saw the frown on Yuno's face. "She's our friend. No scratching."

"Well, I didn't see that coming." Thunder Lord chuckled a bit as Mimosa looked at him, despite the scratch marks on her face. "A pleasure to finally speak to you, miss Mimosa."

"Miss? Yuno, what's going on here?" Mimosa asked in surprise. Yuno looked over to the Duel Spirits, who gave him a nod.

"Close the door. I'll tell you everything." Mimosa did as she was told as Yuno and the spirits explained everything to her. "Now, we're working to find a way to save Asta from the Shadow Realm."

"It might be our last mission. But Asta's my partner, so I owe it to him." Virgil added with a deep frown.

"... Let me go with you." Mimosa spoke up, surprising everyone.

"This isn't just any mission." Yuno told Mimosa, only for her to give him a serious look.

"I know. But... this is about Asta!" Mimosa clenched her shaking fists. "I... I owe so much. So I HAVE to help save him! Please."

The two duel spirits looked at each other before Thunder Lord spoke up. "Well... we could use two healers on this mission."

"And I do sense some potential from her..." Virgil added before he looked at Yuno, who nodded. "Very well. Welcome to the fold, Mimosa Vermillion."

A smile grew on Mimosa's face. "Thank you. I promise not to be a burden." A thought then occurred as she widened her eyes. "Oh! We need to tell the captain to give us the day off!" With that, Mimosa left the room, with Thunder Lord and Virgil chuckling a bit.

"She's definitely spirited." Virgil commented before a more serious expression grew on his face. "Now let's hope the others can come too..."


Blue Rose Squad Base

Charlotte stood in the middle of a garden, her eyes closed to the world around her. The wind blew flower petals around as her grimoire floated next to her. Black rose petals shot at her from behind and she turned, swatting her vine sword. The black petals stuck into the vines before she flicked them off.

Charlotte ducked a leaf blade and threw a punch, forcing Akiza to slide back. "I think you finally got Ki sensing." Her sister said, walking over with a smile. "Wouldn't surprise me if Yami actually notices-" Charlotte quickly covered her mouth as Sol walked by.

"Hey, Char. Hey, Akiza." She waved as she walked over. "Doing some morning training, I see. Mind if I join you two?"

"Actually, we were just about finished here." Charlotte declared, putting her hilt back into her Grimoire. "I have a meeting with a noble family who wish for their daughter to join our ranks."

"I have a book that I want to finish reading." Akiza spoke up, putting her Grimoire onto her hip.

"Oh, I almost forgot." Sol spoke up. "Akiza, there's a guy from the Black Bulls waiting for you at the front door."

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"HUH!?" The sisters were in total shock of the statement before they were in the Earth Mage's face. "What you talking about!?"

"One of the Black Bulls is waiting at the front door for you." Sol repeated.

"Which one?" Charlotte repeated, her mind instantly thinking that Yami had fallen for her sister.

"The guy with the messy hair who thinks he's hot shit." Sol answered. "He makes portals, always trying to flirt with women, even if he's just meet them."

"…You mean Finral?" Akiza asked, making Sol nod. "What's he doing here?"

"Dunno. Just said that it was really important for you to see him." She answered.

"Akiza…" The two slowly turned around and stared at the murderous glare Charlotte was giving her sister. "You remember what it means to be a Blue Rose Knight, correct? So why is a male here for you?"

"I don't know." She fearfully replied.

"Find out what he wants and then send him on his way." The Captain ordered, marching away in a huff. Sol raced after her as Akiza rushed to the entrance.

It wasn't too hard to find an annoyed squad-mate walking away from a Finral-shaped crater in the ground. "Are you… okay?"

"Yeah, never better…" He groaned out, pushing himself up. "Anywho, bet you're wondering why I'm here?"

"Do I really need to answer that question?" She asked back.

"Long story short, we need you to help us save Asta."


Crimson Lion King Squad Base

In the infirmary of the base, Leopold stood over his sleeping brother. "Hey, brother." The youngest sibling smiled as he sat down next to the bed. "I know you're going to wake up soon. And when you do, I'm going to show you just how much stronger I've become. Not just as a wizard, but as a Duelist.

"I can't really explain what it is right now, but I'm getting better and better at it. Just the other day, I flawlessly won a practice duel against a Spirit."

"It is not warrior-like to exaggerate about victories." Tiger King stated as he appeared next to his partner.

"I'm not exaggerating." Leopold said back.

"Really? You call winning with 500 life points left flawless?" Tiger King questioned, making Leo look away in embarrassment.

"Okay, okay… Flame Swordsman was tougher than I thought." The youngest Vermillion confessed. "But I still think it was a pretty even battle."

"You tried to summon a monster on his side of the field." The Spirit pointed out. "During HIS turn."

"Alright! I still have a lot to learn!"

"How long are you going to talk to your partner with the door open?" The Fire Wizard snapped up and turned to the door to see Noelle standing there. "If someone who wasn't a duelist walked by, they'd think you were crazy."

"Noelle, what are you doing here?" Leopold asked.

"I'm here to get your help." She declared, walking into the room. In the window on the otherside, Poseidra peeked his head into the room. "We're putting together a rescue team and we need your help."

"I see you've found yourself a partner, Poseidra." Tiger King said. "Tell me, have you forgiven her for kicking over your team?"

"We don't have time for that." The sea serpent growled in annoyance.

"Rescue team? Who do we need to save?" Leopold asked.

"Who do you think? Asta." She snapped back.

Leopold's eyes widened in shock before he gave a serious look, standing up.

"Where?"


4 Hours Later

Black Bull Squad Base

Standing in front of the base, the squad awaited the return of their two members. "You realize there's no way this is going to work, right?" Gauche said to Vanessa. "No one is going to come help the worst squad in the kingdom."

"Did you already forget about that battle in the cave?" The drunk questioned. "Asta has the amazing ability to bring people together. If anyone can bring a team together, it's him."

"You would be correct, Lady Vanessa." The Witch dropped her bottle of wine in shock as Virgil appeared behind the two. "I believe we have four potential duelists joining us in this endeavor."

Finral's portal appeared before them before the wizard stepped through. Noelle followed suit, followed by the others joining the cause.

"This is our army?" Magna asked in disappointment.

"Look, it was what we could cobble together, alright?" Posiedra growled in his face. "You have a problem with it, street punk?"

"What you call me!?" The Fire Wizard shouted, getting in the sea creature's face.

"Enough bawking like a chicken." Yami snapped back, scaring Magna into submission. "And you!" He turned to Posiedra and drew his sword. "Mess with my crew again and I'll turn you into sushi. Got it!?"

"I'd like to see you try." The sea dragon dared back.

"Hang on, where's that guy Asta fought with?" Luck questioned, referring to Shay.

"We haven't been able to find him." Virgil confessed with a sigh. "Honestly, I wish he could join us. His skills were impressive and Force Strix would've given us an aerial advantage."

"It can't be helped. At least we have something." Tiger King told his fellow spirit.

Having sheathed his blade, Yami let out some smoke as he turned to the four guests. "You four sure you're up for this? We might not make it back than this."

"I'm saving Asta." Yuno declared. "And this is the ultimate way of evening the score."

"What kind of rival would I be if left him to suffer?" Leopold added. "And I'm sure my brother wouldn't forgive me either."

"I may not know much about what's going on with 'dueling', but Asta needs my help." Mimosa spoke up, a blush on her face. "And… and he needs me."

Akiza nodded in solidarity as Yami took a hit off his cigarette. "Alright, let's get this over with. Finral, do your thing."

"Yes sir." His Grimoire floated up and a portal opened up. "What now?"

"The plan is simple: Yami is going to use his Dark Magic to cut a breach through your portal." Virigl began to explain as he gestured towards said portal. "By infecting it with Dark Magic, we can cut a way into the Shadow Realm."

"And what are the chances this will actually work?" Magna couldn't help but ask.

"About 10,330,227 to one." Thunder Lord added with a shrug, though this didn't help. "Even I think it's an insane plan."

"Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained." Yami unsheathed his katana, dark energy floating off it. "I learned this spell when that furball almost killed the two newbies. Never figured this is how I'd use it for this. Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash!" He swung the blade and the wave hit the portal. An explosive force shot out and the portal turned solid black, wind sucking in anything lose enough.

"Into the portal! Now!" Virgil shouted, rushing forward into the swirling mass. The others raced into it as the portal started imploding on itself.

"Get going!" Gauche pushed a nervous Gray into the shrinking spiral. She spun into the portal just as it closed, leaving Gauche behind.

The group flew through the swirling tunnel of energy, all sharing the same look in there eyes. "So what's the Shadow Realm like?" Leopold asked, as if reading everyone's thoughts.

"I know of it only through rumors and legends." Virgil answered. "It is said to be a desolate place, where only the strongest survive. A hellish landscape of fire and suffering."

"Sounds like the sooner we get Asta out of there the better." Finral said with a nervous gulp. "And let's try and avoid any fighting if we can. Who knows how strong these residents are."

"No matter how strong they are, they won't stop us." Noelle declared, leading the group. 'Hang on, Asta. I'm coming for you.'

"I think I see the other side!" Tiger King shouted as a bright light entered their view. "Everyone, get ready! We don't know what we'll be facing!"

The large group moved as close as they could to each other before a large bright light appeared, swallowing them whole.

That was the last thing they saw.


Sorry this took so long to come out. Original content like this always stumps me, but I hope it came together well enough. From Asta's arrival in Pandemonium (not the Yu-Gi-Oh! card) to some original demons lurking about to even the big reveal of Duel Monsters to the rest of the Black Bulls.

I know a lot of action didn't really happen here, but this was more about setting the stage. Besides, I think the character interactions here were pretty freaking funny. Hopefully you guys did too. I will try my DAMNEDEST to get another chapter out as soon as possible this year.

Beta read by The 3rd Dragneel