Gamer Magic: Level Seven ~ ?/1600 XP
Strength: 11
Speed: 8
Agility: 8
Stamina: 9
Endurance: 9
Stealth: 7
Everyone turned and looked at the wielder of the weapon that harmed the Minotaur, and saw the mana-less teen Wilhelm. The sight of the teen put everyone off, from his ruined clothes, the scars with his first battle against the Minotaur, to the obviously fresh wounds that left ugly burns across his skin, topped with his own blood covering a majority of his face and the tears in his clothing. The beaten look of the teen, coupled by the look of rage in his eyes, gave Wilhelm a savage aura.
"I said your fight was with me." Wilhelm raised his sword and got ready to fight the beast once again.
The Minotaur searched for the attacker, and saw Wilhelm, and it filled with an equal rage at seeing the teen who had done more damage than anyone so far has ever done, and it disregarded everything else to focus on him, eager to kill the teen.
The Minotaur wasted no time once it recognized Wilhelm, attempting to slam down its fists on the teen and crush him.
Wilhelm was prepared, dodging to the side, pushing the girl away from the danger, before spinning and slashing at the beast with his sword. Sparks flashed as he struck it across the forearm, only hitting its mana defense and not the beast itself. Wilhelm cursed mentally but knew that this was inevitable, given that the mages in Crete had no way of knowing prior to this that the beast has a mana defense.
"Hey out of here!" Wilhelm shouted at the girl near him before he backed up out of he path of another attack from the Minotaur.
"You're hurt!" The girl looked at Wilhelm in shock and concern.
"No shit!" Wilhelm struck the beast with his sword across what was left of where it had lost the index finger on its left hand, making the beast roar in pain again. "Get out of here before he makes you look like me!"
"But you can't-" Ariadne tried to argue but was picked up by an injured guard who began to leave the area with her.
"I'll get Lady Ariadne out of here!" The man groaned/yelled to Wilhelm.
Wilhelm gave no response, both due to not feeling like it, and that the Minotaur got a hit on him. The beast managed to strike Wilhelm who messed up trying to dodge, and the fist that collided with the mana-less teen sent him crashing into a wall behind him. The teen gasped as he hit the wall, the air being sucked out of him.
The Minotaur immediately moved to attack Wilhelm again, but was interrupted as a brass wall rose up in-between it and the teen.
"I won't let you hurt anyone!" Ariadne had broken out of the guard's grip to try to help the teen who had saved her earlier.
The Minotaur turned and looked at the girl with rage, it gaining hatred for this girl who was keeping it from killing the teen who had marked it. The beast turned to kill the girl but was immediately stopped from his actions again by Wilhelm jumping over the brass wall and striking it across the face again. The teen's sword went across the beast's jawline, not able to cut through the mana shield yet but the force was enough to throw the beast's head to the side if not damage it.
Wilhelm landed next to the beast, near its legs, and quickly realized what wound he was near. Rushing to take advantage of his situation, Wilhelm thrust his sword back into the wound where he had stabbed the Minotaur in the foot earlier, and grinned wickedly as his sword pierced the beast's shield. His sword went right through the wound all the way, only stopping when it hit the ground below. The beast screamed in agony before trying to strike Wilhelm, who dived out of the way, leaving his sword in the beast's foot.
Wilhelm turned to face the beast and had to plan this quickly, he needed to keep his sword on that beast to take away the mana that the mages defending Crete unknowingly gave the beast, so he can actually damage the thing again. He can exploit the wounds he made on it before, but eventually the beast would catch on and begin guarding those wounds. The same thing mattered about his sword too, the beast may attempt to get rid of the weapon since it was what stood against the beast as the main offense.
"You're okay!" Ariadne said as she saw Wilhelm still standing.
The mana-less teen turned and looked at her in confusion and frustration. "What the hell are you still doing here?!"
"I want to help!" The girl protested.
"Leave!"
"But-" She didn't get to speak before the minotaur stomped on the ground, with its foot that didn't currently have a sword lodged in it, and made the girl fall over.
Wilhelm had stayed standing and turned back to the Minotaur. "You are in the way!" He yelled at the girl who had gotten on every nerve of his that wasn't ripped, broken or burned off at that point.
"Lady Ariadne!" The injured guard cut in. "Leave this to the mages."
Leaving the conversation Wilhelm dove forward under a swipe from the Minotaur, getting close to the thing's foot and grabbing his sword again. Instead of pulling the sword straight out, he instead pulled the blade downwards and began to rip apart the beast's foot. The Minotaur was caught off guard, screaming in agony as it tried to attack Wilhelm, who quickly released his sword from the beast and moved away again. The beast stumbled over as it tried to pursue Wilhelm, and crashed down to one knee.
Wilhelm turned and readied his sword to go back in and attack the beast, knowing the shield was getting closer and closer to completely taken away. However before he could attack, the other mages did.
"Attack now!" One mage shouted as he and the rest of the group in the town square began to all fire spells at the beast.
Only the first spell to hit the Minotaur did anything, getting through an opening in the beast's defense, a spear of wind that pierced it in the torso, not going deep but enough to cause pain. The Minotaur quickly absorbed the mana of the attack and made its shield recover enough to make the cracks be gone, and tanked the rest of the attacks which only added to the mana it had at use for its defense.
"No!" Wilhelm shouted. "Don't attack the thing with magic you idiots!"
"Why not?!" A mage shouted at Wilhelm.
"It absorbs mana and and makes itself stronger dumbass!" The mana-less teen pointed out.
"Than how are you damaging it?!" One of the guard's gave his question with frustration.
"My sword absorbs mana more than that thing does. Just stop hitting that thing" Wilhelm responded and had to stop speaking as the now reinvigorated Minotaur charged at him specifically.
The Minotaur had dropped to all fours and bull rushed Wilhelm, a tactic that Wilhelm know knew how to counter, and ran at the beast to counter. As he got close to the beast, the teen dropped to a rolling position, and raised his sword above him. Having moved below the beast's shoulder first, his blade scraped against the limb before being dragged down against the side of the beast's midsection, creating a flash of sparks the whole time. Before Wilhelm could've gone farther down the beast's being, it had skidded to a stop, and that meant Wilhelm had to move.
The Minotaur moved to stand up and stomp on Wilhelm, but luckily for the teen he managed to get away quick enough to avoid the falling foot. Wilhelm got to his knees and swung his sword again, striking the beast against the calf of the leg that the beast tried to crush Wilhelm with, sparks flashing from the attack.
The Minotaur moved to kick the teen, but before it could kick the teen, who had been ready to dodge, another wall made of brass rose up. The Minotaur's foot crashed into the metal, denting it.
Wilhelm turned to behind him at the girl Ariadne. "Stop giving him magic to steal!"
"I'm trying to help!" The girl in all honesty thought she was helping the boy, too worried about his injuries for her to realize he was capable in that moment to handle what was being thrown at him.
"You're making it worse!" Wilhelm snapped as he turned back to the Minotaur, who ripped the brass wall out of the ground and crushed it. The beast then threw the wrecked metal at Wilhelm who had little time to dodge, and couldn't successfully dodge at that. The metal collided with his shoulder and threw him back several meters.
"You're in the way." Mariella spoke flatly to the Water Magic user. Selena didn't respond as she made her grimoire turn to a spell.
"Water Creation Magic: Cascade Destroyer." Selena used her spell as she rushed forward at Mariella. Large balls of water forming in the air around her, before each began blasting highly pressurized streams of their water at Mariella. The Diamond mage quickly made blades of ice appear and block each stream of water. Each blade getting broken after a single shot of the water hitting them.
As Selena got within two meters she used another spell. "Water Creation Magic: Sea Warrior's Spear." As she spoke, water appeared in her hands, before condensing itself into a spear made purely of water. As the magic weapon finished its form, Selena moved it into a thrust at Mariella's midsection, which the girl quickly blocked with her ice blade, striking the side of the spear to make it go past her right side.
To Mariella's shock, Selena spun with the hit, using her lower hand to reinforce the staff of the spear and striking the Diamond mage hard against her left side, throwing her off her feet and to the ground with force. Before Mariella could react to her new situation, Selena completely spun and placed the tip of the spear on Mariella's chest.
"Yield?" Selena asked as she pressed her magic-made-weapon into Mariella very lightly.
"You fight more interestingly than the other girl." Mariella commented, before her grimoire spun to page and she said a spell. "Ice Magic: Freezing Hailstorm."
A blizzard formed around the two and Selena's instincts made her move, effectively dodging large shards of ice that would've impaled her. Blocking a few shards with her spear, she spoke as her grimoire opened to her first spell. Balls of water formed without her needing to voice the spell's name and began to fire streams of water at the ice flying through the air, effectively protecting Selena.
Mariella got up from the ground and made space between her and the Water Magic user, planning on how to guage this Clover mage's skills before attacking again. If she had to say, this Blue Rose was just as dangerous as Wilhelm in close quarters. Possibly more but only because she utilized her magic and finesse simultaneously to remove openings against her, whereas the mana-less teen fought with ferocity and reckless ignorance of his wounds. Which left him open more often than not, but also meant he would always go on the offensive and use every little trick to win. This girl was more reserved than he was, but just as exciting for how difficult she made.
Before Mariella could decide what to do, Selena had already decided the next stage of the fight. Her grimoire spun to a new page and she spoke. "Water Magic: Uprising Aquatic Burst." The ground shook as cracks appeared across the ground, from Selena's position straight to Mariella. Before the ice user could react properly, a huge wall of water burst from the ground in front of and under her, the pressure throwing her up in a blur and pushing her straight into a tree. The wave kept her pinned for the remainder of the attack and she slumped to the ground as the water receded.
The Blue Rose moved closer and activated a new spell. "Water Creation Magic: Aquatic Entombment." A dome of water formed around Mariella before she could escape encasing her in a ball of water. "This spell keeps you locked in there with your magic unable to break though because of how dense the mana is. In a minute it will knock you out from the pressure. Tell me what this situation is before you pass out and I'll just leave you in chains, not unconscious."
The Diamond mage looked at Selena and thought about her options. "You made this interesting so I suppose I can tell you."
"Selena!" Gina's voice coming through a communication tool Selena had interrupted them. "I sent Wilhelm to Crete because a monster is there!"
"What? Why?" Selena thought the goal was to remove Wilhelm and Galgaria from danger, not give one of them a first class ticket straight to it.
"The Minotaur." Mariella added, giving the beast a name.
"Things got out of control and I need help." Gina requested while Selena heard the sounds of magic in the background. Selena chose to not panic over how stressed Gina sounded.
"I'm almost done here, I'll get to you soon."
"He is going to die." The Diamond mage randomly said and made Selena turn to her.
"What? Who? Wilhelm?" Selena asked all three things with concern. She removed part of her spell from Mariella to negate some of the pressure to keep the girl conscious longer.
"No one can kill the Minotaur." Mariella answered. "Morris made it to be a weapon and tool on the front lines in an invasion of Clover. The monster knows no fear, it only knows its rage and violence. It's a wild beast that couldn't be controlled so it was thrown here to cause issues along the border. No one has caused it more than inconveniencing damage in Diamond."
Selena narrowed her eyes. "It doesn't matter what Diamond failed to do, we won't fail."
Mariella didn't comment, but did speak. "Ice Magic: Breath of Winter." She let out a visible breath of thick snow that began to disrupt, and broke apart Selena's own spell. Mariella quickly pulled a blade from her cloak, the same type of knife she used against Wilhelm in their first encounter. Having drew the weapon she used the sudden breaking of her binds to get in close to Selena and slashed her blade at the Blue Rose.
Selena reacted quick enough to avoid any serious damage, but did gain a cut across her stomach. She made her aquatic spear reform and used the butt end to slam into Mariella's side, pushing through the motion to push the girl to the side.
The Diamond assassin took the hit, gripping the spear herself to stay close and swung her arm over and behind herself to yank Selena close, running the knife into the girl's stomach.
Not one second after Gina had taunted the two Diamond mages, had James tried using his flaming whip to strike the girl. With practiced ease the girl opened a portal in the path of the whip to throw it back at him. Before it could strike the man however a new portal, made by the Spatial magic user of Diamond who opened the other portal near Gina to make the whip go back at the intended target. The whip now too close for a portal to open quick enough, Gina used her Distortion and bent the space around her to make the magic-made weapon strike the grass next to her.
"For a kid you react fast with your magic." The other Spatial mage spoke.
"For a greasy old guy you suck if my portals are just as good." Gina taunter before using Distortion again to bend the space around the whip and force it back at James.
"Dammit you twit!" James spat as he ignored the burning gash across his side he had gained.
"Focus James." The Spatial mage kept a hard look at the girl. "That's a neat trick I don't think I've seen before."
"Thanks but it's not for sale." Gina kept her eyes on whatever they might try.
"Oh, I don't want it, as interesting as it is. However I already learned that it is useless now."
"Stop talking to the brat and let's kill her!" James swung his flaming whip again and Gina reacted with Distortion to bend space and make it swing at the Spatial mage, who made a portal to teleport the attack behind him.
"James, wait one minute and I can send you to that mana-less filth while I reveal how weak this girl is." He had gained a sneer while speaking.
Upon hearing mention of Wilhelm, James stopped to listen. "Go on."
"She only reacts, so this girl doesn't have offensive spatial magic." He explained. "She cannot attack either of us on her own, so far only using your attacks against us. She is nothing more than a distraction."
Gina didn't let her expression drop from the hard look she had gained upon once again hearing Wilhelm be referred to as filth. She knew the guy was right but didn't want to openly reveal that so that the hotheaded James would keep trying to attack her.
"How are you sure?" James looked at his partner.
"Absolutely certain. Or else she would've used that trick of hers to attack us, but only has used it on your magic. Whatever her ability is, it affects everything but people I believe." He explained his belief and Gina mentally panicked at the guy hitting the nail on the head. Her Distortion was perfect for bending space to bend attacks or weapons to her whim, but it on its own had no effect on people except when Gina could use it to make herself float.
However, Gina was definitely not going to let them just get away with this. "Or so you think. Maybe I am just that sure of myself and want to mess with you guys a bit for my own amusement."
"Or you are just running your mouth like a brat." James gave her a shitty look. "You Clover people are idiots after all."
"I may be stupid but at least I know I am better than the guy who got whipped by a little girl, almost got killed by the mana-less dude and had a bird peck his eye out. Clover might have some dummies but you're just a full blown loser." Gina pointed at James.
Her picking jabs at James worked, and the man angrily yelled as he swung both of his whips at Gina. Efficiently, Gina used her Distortion to bend one whip back at it's wielder, and used a portal to make the other one strike the spatial mage before he could react and stop the first whip.
Both men fell over from the attacks, and Gina gained a cheeky grin. "Gotcha losers again."
"Dammit James, I said she can only attack us with our own spells!" The Spatial mage cursed.
"I am not just going to stand here and let that little shit run her mouth!" James retorted in anger.
"Yea instead you'll get your ass kicked too." Gina chimed in.
"She is obviously goading you into attacking her!" The Spatial mage shouted.
"I am not just going to waste time standing here and not attacking her!"
"No you aren't. I am sending you to that town to let you get the killer of Jacob." The Spatial mage referred to Wilhelm.
James lit up at that statement. "I couldn't love that idea more if I tried."
"I'm not letting you leave here!" Gina showed concern for the first time in the fight, knowing it would be bad if James got to Wilhelm in Crete. She would have to use her magic to cancel out the other guy's spatial magic, but that would leave James open to attack her while she focused on containment. Either way, she had to keep them there because of Wilhelm.
"Then let's see who's spatial magic is superior." The other user of spatial magic stated. "James, don't even bother attacking, save your breath for vengeance." James nodded at the order.
With that said, the man quickly made a portal below James that he had fallen through, only up to his shins before Gina destroyed the portal from her position. Due to the nature of spatial magic, the clashing of it from multiple spells will make them explosively cancel each other out, meaning that the portal James was going through instead threw him up into the air. James would only be harmed from the force of being thrown around, since Spatial magic would always push people an objects through either side of a portal before closing.
"Come on George!" James snapped as he maneuvered in the air after being tossed upwards.
"She has less mana than me. At most this should only take a moment until her mana is used up." The now named George pointed out.
Dammit, Gina knew the guy was right, her being a commoner left her with less magic than these two, who had noble levels of mana. If she ran out of mana she'd be completely screwed. Quickly doing what was always a first thought in a no win situation, she grabbed her communication tool.
"Selena!" The Blue Rose called for her teammate, hoping her senior squad member was already on her way to Gina. "I sent Wilhelm to Crete because a monster is there!" As she spoke, she used her magic to cancel out another portal of George's.
"What? Why?" Selena asked.
"Things got out of control and I need help." Gina replied.
"Asking for help? I guess you were all talk." James tried his own taunt.
Selena responded through the device. "I'm almost done here, I'll get to you soon."
"You can't really say I'm all talk when you got turned into a cyclops by a bird that's like the size of an apple." Gina responded to James.
"Gina!" Another squad member spoke through the device, that being Puli. "If you can open a portal to your location from the base, please do so."
Gina honestly wanted to open the portal and also not open it. If she opened it, she'd have back up here to beat the guys up. However her opening the portal would give the Diamond mages the chance they wanted to send James after Wilhelm. Not opening it would take away their openings against her and give Wilhelm more time not bothered by this guy. However she would obviously be screwing things up by not opening a portal, because she would run out of mana first here and everything would go wrong from there.
"Yea, bring in back up because your weak girl." James tried to taunt again.
"I hope he kicks your ass." Gina replied and opened a portal next to her, while George got his chance to teleport James away to Kiten.
Coming out of Gina's portal and instantly taking control of the situation were two new members of the Blue Roses. Puli instantly making feathers shoot out from wings she had made from her magic. Sol was the other person to come out of the portal.
"Gina! Galgaria gave us the rundown!" Puli got next to Gina. "Half the squad is coming soon but Charlotte has them coming on their own to not strain your magic."
"It's already strained." Gina gave a laugh.
"Let's kick this loser's ass!" Sol pointed at George.
"Unlike your magic, mine is noble and offensive." George looked at Gina specifically. "I'll erase the space you all are on and go make sure James doesn't mess up killing that brat with the sword."
Gina looked at Puli. "We need to send someone to help Wilhelm. He can't handle both the guy who wants to murder him for vengeance and whatever monster is there."
"Sol should go. I am more mobile to help here." Puli knew that she'd be more likely to outwit a spatial mage than Sol, and wouldn't just rush into something reckless.
"Wait what?!" Sol looked at the two. "I'm not ditching you guys."
"No choice, help the situation in Crete!" Gina used her magic to make Sol fall through a portal. Surprisingly, George didn't try to stop the portal at all.
"Now that's just us, I shall take out both of you." George made his grimoire fly to a page. "Unlike you, I can actively use my own offensive spatial magic."
"Gina, focus on Distortion and don't overuse it." Puli made sure to say. She knew the situation now required her more than Gina but that it needed both of them all the same.
"Let's do it Vice-Captain." Gina gave a grin.
Wilhelm crashed down to the ground and bounced off before collapsing from the impact. The Minotaur roared in what sounded like satisfaction as it begin to walk towards the downed teen.
Before it could get close to him, the other mages attacked its back, and made the beast turned with an evil look at the people. Believing the teen who was its biggest issue was no longer one, it began to go after the other mages.
Wilhelm, still conscious, made a grunt of pain as he rolled to his front, and used his left hand to try pushing himself up. He stopped as he was on his knees to feel the condition of his right arm. His entire arm was numb, feeling more static from it than anything natural. Wilhelm knew the issue after a second of checking, his shoulder. The brass thrown at him had pushed his shoulder most of the way out of its socket, and bruised the area around it horribly. It was luckily in a spot where he can push it back into place.
Wilhelm grabbed his shoulder and tried to pull it into place, and pain reverberated through him. He released his shoulder and cursed, frustrated that he couldn't push it in easily. He looked up to see the Minotaur swipe a mage, sending the person flying, and cursed again. He couldn't waste time worrying about his pain when that damned thing was still alive. Wilhelm pushed himself to his feet, holding his arm as he tried to breathe and work himself up to get it into place without the pain stopping him.
"I'm sorry!" The girl Ariadne spoke as she got near him. "I wanted to help!"
"Help by leaving now." Wilhelm didn't look at her as instead he looked to the light pole near him, gaining an idea from seeing it.
"But your arm..."
Without responding to her, Wilhelm bashed his shoulder into the pole, forcing the limb back into place and filling him with agonizing shock. He released a pained breath and ignored the tears welling up in his eyes from his action. "My arm is fine, leave so you don't get hurt. Now!" He didn't wait for a response and moved over to where he saw his sword on the ground.
Ariadne looked at Wilhelm with shock and awe. His disregarding his pain and focusing on her safety making her image of this boy grow immensely. He was awesome and she realized he hadn't even used a spell yet in this entire situation, making him seem even cooler. That display finally made her listen completely to his words, and began to get out of the area.
As Wilhelm grabbed his sword he turned to look at the Minotaur, the beast throwing a steel magic attack back at the mage who cast it. The teen cursed at seeing the mages use magic on the beast but knew they did need to defend themselves all the same. Rushing back at the beast he prepared to once again began cutting down its shield with his sword.
"Out of the way!" The mana-less teen shouted as he leapt past a mage and slammed his sword into the back of the Minotaur's left calf. Sparks flew and from the amount Wilhelm knew that all his work he did earlier was pretty much undone now. Cursing he struck the beast again with his weapon as the Minotaur stopped giving attention to the mages of Crete and turned back to Wilhelm. The beast growled in anger at seeing the sword wielding teen and tried to swing its arm to strike him, but the teen was ready and dodged underneath the arm, pushing his sword against the back of the limb, scraping along it and taking away part of the shield.
Before the beast could correct its aim, Wilhelm spun to get closer to the monster's already wounded foot and slammed his sword down in an arc. Breaking through the weaker shield over its wound with a show of sparks, Wilhelm's sword ripped open more flesh across the top of the beast's foot. The Minotaur yelled in pain and moved to reflexively kick Wilhelm, who once again dodged the attack and moved backwards as the beast slammed its foot into the spot he had just been in. Once the Minotaur's foot hit the ground, Wilhelm thrust his sword forward, right back at the hole he had made earlier that night. Wilhelm's sword caused sparks as it went through the weakened shield of the wound before piercing back through the hole. Before the beast could give out a full yell at the attack, Wilhelm pulled his sword back out moved away. He had to be careful about how close he kept to the beast because he could run out of breath in the motion of attacks and leave himself vulnerable.
"It's safe to attack now?!" A mage, the one Wilhelm had just yelled at a moment earlier, asked in confusion.
"No!" Wilhelm instantly gave her a glare. "You'll only make it harder to attack!"
"How?! You just stabbed through the bastard's shield with your sword you mana-less brat!" The woman shouted back.
Instead of replying, Wilhelm gained anger at the venomous way the woman referred to him. He turned back to the Minotaur who didn't stop for their conversation and was rushing at Wilhelm. Wilhelm had to plan which direction to go, but before anyone could do anything, a giant wall of fire erupted across the town square. The flames rose up higher than the Minotaur, stopping the beast from getting to Wilhelm.
"YOU!" Wilhelm heard a hatred filled voice shout before the teen was grabbed from behind by a burning object and yank into the air. The teen was thrown with force twenty meters away from where he had just stood, slamming into the ground hard. Before he could do anything, the flaming object whipped him into the side of a building.
Wilhelm was released and collapsed to the ground, picking himself up as quickly as he could before that happens again. He looked up and saw James the Diamond mage.
"Nothing now is going to stop me from making you beg for death." The man glared at the teen.
"It's a Diamond mage!" One of the mages of Crete shouted. That same mage made a spell and made to throw it at James, before the man responded by slamming his foot into the ground and making another wall of flames erupt and block off Wilhelm and James from the others.
"Those weaklings will have to deal with the Minotaur before even thinking of crossing that fire and trying to do anything about this." James stated as he rolled his forearms. "Meaning I have plenty of time to turn you into a corpse you piece of filth."
Wilhelm didn't speak as he got up, his side groaning in pain from being thrown into the building. Thankfully he had kept his grip on his sword so he wouldn't be fighting an even more uphill battle here. As he readied his sword he locked eyes with the bastard who kept calling him filth and planned to make the asshole die.
Mariella gained a disappointed look as her knife had gone through Selena. The Blue Rose had frozen up at the stab, so Mariella pulled her weapon out of the Clover mage and pushed the girl backwards.
"You are just as disappointing as the others." Mariella sighed as Selena began to fall backwards.
Before Selena could fall over she suddenly moved into a low form, spinning and slicing at Mariella's calf with her spear.
"A simple stab isn't enough to end any Blue Rose!" Selena declared as she did a second soun to slash the blade of her aqua spear at Mariella's hand, leaving a large gash and forcing the Diamond assassin to drop her knife.
Selena moved to stab her spear into Mariella, only for the ice mage to catch back up to the fight and catch the weapon with a quickly formed ice sword. Batting the spear away she stepped back and had to keep stepping back as Selena's attacks kept coming and coming. The Blue Rose kept going for quick stabs with her spear, fighting with a level of ferocity she hadn't fought with before. The new level of the fight made Mariella realize she felt something from this fight that she had only felt one time before this.
Fear.
This girl pushed Mariella to have to be on the defensive, and right on the edge at that. A level of fear that gave Mariella excitement as she realized she was wrong. This was not disappointing, it was the opposite.
"Just like that!" Mariella shouted as she made ice erupt from the ground where her foot had just been, freezing Selena's spear in place. "Fight just like that!"
Selena didn't respond as she released her weapon to make a spell activate. " Water Magic: Uprising Aquatic Burst!" Cracks appeared across the ground that water burst from, before a massive burst of water blew up from the ground behind Mariella, forcing her forward towards Selena.
Both girl's reacted at the same time to the new positions, pulling out their signature weapons made of their magic. Selena's spear collided with Mariella's blade, before the sword of ice cut through the aquatic spear, and Mariella got a clean cut at Selena's arm before the girl could move out of the way.
Selena made her spear explode with high pressure, blasting Mariella a few feet back before she took her own step back to clutch her stomach where she was stabbed.
"With that wound you won't live long past this fight." Mariella pointed out. "Physical exertion will make it worse and you'll bleed to death."
"I know. I don't need you trying to get in my head." Selena replied while taking a breath, and making her grimoire's pages fly to a very needed page and spell.
"I am just trying to request that you still give the fight everything." Mariella responded. "I am enjoying this."
"It's not an issue. Water Recovery Magic: Aqua Bubble." She quickly used her healing magic to make water wrap and and fill the stab wound, the magic working to undo damage.
Mariella realized that her opponent was healing mid-fight and leapt forward to stop that from happening. As the diamond mage went in for a thrust from her sword, Selena dropped using her recovery magic and used what was left of her spear to bat the sword out of the way. Shifting more magic into the spear and effectively repairing it, forcing the bladed end into Mariella's stomach.
Selena pulled the spear out of Mariella and with a yell swung the flat of the bladed end as hard as she could at the girl's temple. With a cracking sound she struck the diamond mage and the girl was thrown to the side and collapsed to the ground.
Selena sighed and dropped to her knees, but keeping her self facing her opponent. She raised her arm to her stab wound and began healing herself again while breathing hard. "Be knocked out now please." She groaned and hoped she was not heard speaking at all.
Luckily for Selena, Mariella was unconscious, knocked out completely. The Blue Rose let out a sigh of relief and continued to apply her healing magic to her stomach wound. She needed just enough to not have it limit her. Pushing herself back to her feet she looked at Mariella and then at the trees heading south. She knew that she really couldn't just leave the Diamond mage out here in the middle of nowhere, but at the same time had a dreadful feeling that made her believe she had to rush to Crete. Going with that feeling of dread, she left the clearing and began to make her way to Crete, as fast as her wound could let her go.
Moments later, as if confirming her dread, she felt a wave of mana blow past her, coming from Crete. The mana felt cold and... evil. This dark energy stopped her from moving, a feeling of momentary fear making her not want to keep going forward, afraid of seeing what gave off that mana. Instead if retreating she pushed herself back to moving forward. Whatever it is that was in Crete, she had to stop before things got worse.
"On your right!" Gina shouted as she opened a new portal for Puli to throw feathers through, making them shoot out of a portal behind George.
The Diamond mage swiped his hand at the feathers, a wave of his magic erasing them from existence. Only a sole feather got past, one that Gina used her own magic to bend away from the path of erasure. This feather went through his defenses and stabbed right into George's thigh. Barely affected he moved and fell through his own portal to appear several meters on the other side of Gina, and immediately throw another wave of his mana to try and erase the girl from existence.
Gina bent the space around her, picking herself up from the ground and throwing herself right over the attack. As Gina dodged that, Puli used the moment to use a spell the second the magic had been thrown at her teammate.
"Wing Magic: Angelic Entombment!" Puli shouted her spell's name and created over a hundred feathers that all flew around George, surrounding him before they all began to fly at him with speed, with the intention of impaling him from every angle.
The Diamond mage grinned as he made his grimoire open to a page. "Spatial Magic: Spatial Dome." His magic shot out from him in a sphere that grew, blocking the feathers and destroying them, none reaching him.
"Dang it." Gina reacted as she landed on the ground.
"I admit you have good teamwork. However my magic outclasses yours." George spoke calmly, so sure of himself that he could just act calm during the fight.
"Don't you boring Diamond mages have some better way of trash talking?" Gina asked. "It's always some generic Oh I am sooo good and I think you suck. It's lame. You could at least say something like how my shoes are wack, or that my hoodie is out of season."
"You run your mouth a lot." George looked at the girl with an exasperated expression. "I pity your parents."
The second he said that, both Blue Roses gave noticeable reactions. Puli became worried and looked at Gina, who's grin had disappeared completely.
George had also noticed this. "What? The one thing that makes you stop acting cocky is when I point out that your parents are disappointed in-"
"SHUT UP!" Gina shouted, tears actually appearing in her eyes. The man had hit a highly sensitive subject.
"Gina..." Puli said slowly, hoping her teammate wouldn't lose all of her composure.
"Use Angelic Entombment." Gina spoke with anger.
Puli didn't question it, and figured there was a plan to her spell, and used it again. "Wing Magic: Angelic Entombment." Once again, feathers appeared and quickly surrounded George, who looked unamused.
"This won't work." George commented before using his spell again. "Spatial Magic: Spatial Dome."
As his magic burst forward from him, beginning to erase the feathers, suddenly it stopped expanded. Puli and George both looked confused at the magic stopping before it began to reverse in motion. Puli looked at her squad member and realized it was Gina using Distortion.
George caught on a second later, seeing the girl using her magic to bend space and make the spell begin to get closer to him. The man cursed as he began to push more mana into his own, only for it to explode against Gina's bent space. "I won't have my spells used against me!" The man cursed and opened a portal that he moved through to avoid being erased by his own spell.
"Heh that almost worked." Puli remarked.
"Just make him use his magic and I'll put it through his stupid head." Gina spoke flatly, all of her humor gone.
"I won't fall for that trick again." George made his grimoire open to a different page and got ready to attack, waiting on the other two to move first.
Puli immediately made more feathers appear and sent them at different angles to attack the Diamond mage, who kept making portals to throw the wings at either Gina or Puli, or just away from himself. Every feather thrown at Gina was thrown through one of her own portals and back at George, who could barely work against the onslaught of attacks that the two kept throwing at him.
George cursed as he realized he would actively have to use spells now, that Spatial magic using girl losing her temper made their fighting against him more aggressive and harder to counter without spells. What was more irritating was that the spatial magic girl was making smaller portals, showing her losing mana fast, but still just as dangerous as she actively would make the portals have optimal placements against him. He gained an idea and quickly used his spell again. Once the wave of magic stretched out and began destroying the feathers around him, Gina once again tried to use Distortion to reverse the magic's path.
George moved through a portal and ended up behind Gina, and moved to throw his magic through the girl, believing she wouldn't react in time. She obviously was running out of magic and he doubted she would be able to muster anything up that mattered. He threw the erasing magic at her, right as Both girls became aware of where he had moved to.
"Gina!" Puli tried to make feathers of her magic block the attack in any capacity.
Gina however wasn't able to react at all, the wave of magic hitting her in the side and shaving off part of her side. She winced in pain as she lost a few inches of her body there and blood began to pour out from the wound. She had barely gotten to stumble and gave her enemy before he spoke again.
"My magic is superior here." George spoke as he used a spell to kill the girl. "Spatial Magic: Destructive Beam." He pointed two fingers at the girl's heart and a dense, high powered beam of purple magic shot at her.
In that moment, everything felt slow to Gina. She saw the beam that she knew was moving at a speed where if you blinked, you'd miss it, but instead it was moving so irritatingly slow. Everything was slow except her head, her thoughts were very much the opposite as they were all so fast she was barely noticing some of them. However she saw important things all the same, memories of the Blue Roses and her captain. It didn't take long for Gina to know what was happening though.
Her life was flashing before her eyes.
There was no way that beam wouldn't hit her and once it hit her, that part of her would be erased and she'd die. From blood loss if not just the removal of a vital organ. Her mind knew that and so it was playing memories for her.
A feeling kicked her focus back to the fight and she realized she was distracting herself, wanting to give up. Not wanting to let down anyone anymore, she looked at the beam and processed the situation once again, and knew the only thing she could do with the magic she had left, and prepared herself mentally for what was about to happen.
For Puli, everything moved at a normal pace of time, so she watched in horror as her teammate was struck with the beam right in her chest. Almost instantly however, the beam of destructive magic flew back out of Gina's chest right back at the man who cast it. It shot back with newfound force that made it pierce the man in his heart before he could even realize it had been thrown back at him.
George looked at his chest as blood rushed from the holes in his chest and back. As his life was rapidly leaving him he looked at the girl. "H-how?" How did she react that quickly, and make his spell stronger on the rebound?
"Distortion... let's me bend space and magic to my whim..." Gina regained her playful smile for a moment. "I can't use it on other people... but my own body... is free game." She had used Distortion to bend and funnel the beam through her body, around her heart and through a smaller exit that increased the pressure as it shot back at the man. Her heart was mostly undamaged but she still had to allow part of her insides to be erased for this attack to happen.
George gained a smirk. "It seems your Spatial Magic was better." He took his lose well, being outplayed by someone who had superior abilities was just how things happened in life. "Your growth surely will be great if you live past this." At that, George collapsed to his knees, and finally completely to the ground as his time ran out.
"I don't think I will." Gina spoke to the wind as she fell forward, falling to the ground.
Puli caught her squad mate. "Gina! What's the damage?" She had no way to check Gina's wounds internally and hoped the girl was aware of it herself. Instead she found Gina to already be unconscious. Puli had to get Gina to help immediately.
As she grabbed her communication tool to call for more backup, a sinister wave of mana blew over the field. Puli dropped her device to her side as she looked to where the malicious mana came from.
Crete. It came from Crete.
The situation had definitely escalated beyond anything that was expected and she had to make sure this was properly dealt with. However she had to make sure Gina would pull through at the same time. Making plans she decided to call the squad for Crete and then find Selena for Gina's case.
"Captain Charlotte!" Puli spoke into the device with an edge of panic, calling the captain directly. "We have a dangerous situation in Crete and we need possibly the entire squad now!"
"We are on our way!" Charlotte responded in half a second.
Puli looked in the distance at the horizon where she could see the flames lighting up the sky where the town was, unsettled by whatever evil mana had announced itself in the town.
Moments earlier.
Without another word, the fight between Wilhelm and James started. The mana-less teen rushing straight at the Diamond mage.
James swung the whip in his right arm at Wilhelm, who maneuvered his sword to catch the weapon on the blade. He twisted his blade and ripped through the whip, taking away the mana that created it. The second whip from his left hand was swung at Wilhelm at a lower angle, and the teen jumped over it as he continued towards James. Once in range, Wilhelm swung his blade at James, planning to cut the man's torso in half, however James made an explosive burst of fire from his chest that blew Wilhelm back a few feet.
"You can't do anything against my magic now. I know to keep you and that damned sword out of range." James spoke and waited for a response from Wilhelm but got nothing past the teen charging at him again.
Wilhelm blocked another swing of the whip with his sword, and made it so the whip couldn't be easily removed from wrapped around his sword. Before James could pull it back, Wilhelm weakened the whip and cut through it. James cursed and made two new whips of flames to replace his ruined ones and swung both at Wilhelm at the same time, intent on striking the teen with the whips on both of his sides.
Wilhelm had no choice but to have drop down, getting below the attacks by diving to the ground. Getting low meant he had to act fast to not be left open to another attack, so as Wilhelm dived to the ground, he immediately pushed off and to the side to roll up to his feet away from the whips, and rushed back at James and got within five meters of the guy. Instead of waiting to get in closer and attacking then, Wilhelm threw his sword at James with an overhead motion.
James looked confused at the action before realizing the blade would strike him, and made another burst of flames to blast the sword away. Instead, due to the sword's weight, it pretty much ignored the force of the blast and continued at the man. James barely raised an arm up to block the sword and the blade lodged itself into his left forearm, and the weight made James begin to fall over. Before he would fall over, the Diamond mage freed his arm from the attack, however he didn't get a second to recover before Wilhelm got within striking distance.
Wilhelm struck the man had with a fist to the jaw, his left hook actually jarring the man and making him fall to the ground and onto his back. Wilhelm followed the man down, slamming his knee into the man's chest before grabbing the man's neck with his right arm, and slamming his left fist into the man's temple. He punched the man twice before James regained his senses and made his magic explode from his chest, blasting Wilhelm off of him and to the ground several meters away.
James held his neck as he steadied his breath and got up. "You... animal! You filthy animal!" He cursed at the teen, who groaned and struggled to get up also. "I should've expected filth to use barbaric tactics."
Wilhelm didn't speak as he stood up and faced the man, he looked at his sword that was next to James on the ground and cursed at the realization that he was pretty defenseless at the moment.
"I'll show you how a proper man fights now." James made his grimoire open to a page. "Fire Creation Magic: Hellfire Bolt." At that he held up an open palm towards Wilhelm, and a bolt of fire shot at the teen.
Wilhelm barely had time to dodge, but luckily got out of the path of the bolt that flew past him and crashed into a building, making a fiery explosion where it struck. James fired off another bolt of the spell, which Wilhelm also dodged barely. This process repeated for three more bolts before Wilhelm was unable to get out of the path completely.
Wilhelm watched as the final bolt flew at him and knew he had no chance to get out of the way, and began to feel a mix of negative emotions at this point. Knowing that the spell would be pretty much a lethal hit upon contact made him know this was it.
To his surprise though, the ground shook and rose up in a wall that blocked the bolt from hitting him. Wilhelm was about to question what was going on until someone dropped next to him.
"Hey dipshit!" It was Sol, who had an uneasy expression as she saw the condition the teen was in. "Gina sent me to help with a monster. Is that jerk-off the only problem now?"
"What? No it's the-"
The wall that was made by Sol was destroyed at that moment, James looking at the Blue Rose with irritation. "Another bitch here to get in the way of justice."
"The hell did you call me?!" Sol shouted as she instantly used a spell in response. "Earth Creation Magic: Raging Mother Earth!" She created a golem and made it charge the guy while she had stayed near Wilhelm.
"Sol!" Wilhelm smacked her arm to get the girl's attention.
"I'm getting you out of Crete, you look like crap." Sol ignored Wilhelm hitting her because his physical condition was more important at the moment.
"The Minotaur is somewhere here still attacking the town!" Wilhelm stated in a tone that meant he wasn't leaving Crete at all.
"Where in Crete?" Sol had figured at first when she got here that it was gone or something, since the fight in the town square was just Wilhelm and that Diamond mage.
As if being summoned, the Minotaur announced itself with a roar as it crashed through a building and back into the area. No longer fighting the other mages in Crete it was now searching for Wilhelm.
"That's the Minotaur?!" Sol looked at the giant beast.
"It has some sort of shield that absorbs magic. My sword so far is the only counter." The mana-less teen informed his ally.
Sol looked down at Wilhelm's hands and saw the lack of the mentioned weapon. "Where's your sword?!"
"Over by your rock thing."
Sol looked over and saw the weapon, and made her golem ignore James for a second and made it pick up the sword and throw the weapon over to the duo before refocusing on James. "Not anymore."
Wilhelm picked up his sword and nodded. "Thanks."
Before they could say anything else, James used his magic to destroy the golem and smacked one of his whips between the two, breaking the ground between them. "Hey ass-wipes!"
"Shut up you aren't important right now!" Sol responded.
The Diamond mage gained a scowl and pointed at Sol. "Get out of here girly. That teen is being killed here."
"Who are you calling girly?!" The Blue Rose shouted in frustration.
Wilhelm grabbed Sol by the shoulder before she could try rushing at James. "Sol! You are the only one here who can actually get the Minotaur out of Crete!" He pointed at the beast who at that moment saw Wilhelm. "Get it out of here and protect the town, be petty later!"
Sol glared at Wilhelm for a second before speaking. "Fine. It is the best option. Don't die to this loser before the other Blue Roses get here." At that the girl turned her grimoire open and used her signature spell. "Earth Creation Magic: Raging Mother Earth!" She stood on her new golem, which was bigger than the other one she had created, and made it rush at the Minotaur. Her golem punched the beast in the jaw before grabbing it by the shoulders and throwing it to the ground.
Wilhelm turned his attention back to James and readied his sword for the fight to restart, and the diamond mage stopped looking at Sol to look at Wilhelm.
"No more interruptions. Right here and now I will kill you and avenge my brother." The Diamond mage immediately opened his grimoire and repeated his last spell. Pointing his open palm at Wilhelm he began firing the bolts.
Wilhelm raised his sword to block the spells, each one hitting his weapon and almost throwing Wilhelm off his feet. However he caught each blast and his sword absorbed enough magic to negate each attack. The teen lowered his sword partially when James stopped firing the spell, and moved to get closer to the man. Now that he knew the guy would shoot those bolts of fire at him he had to be ready and definitely close the gap as soon as possible.
James brought back out his flaming whips and began swinging the weapons at Wilhelm, who caught a whip with his sword. The swing of Wilhelm's blade cut right through the whip and he jumped to the side dodging the other whip. James instantly created a new whip to replace the one Wilhelm broke and kept up his attacks.
As Wilhelm got close to James again, several meters away, he pulled the same tactic he had before. He threw his sword right at James and the man this time began to swing his whips to catch the sword mid air. Before he could catch the sword, Wilhelm threw a rock he had grabbed earlier right at the man, striking in in the eye Nero had scratched beyond recovery. James grunted in pain at the rock hitting his eye, and again yelled in agony as the sword hit him straight in his left shoulder. The weight of the sword took the man's balance away and brought him to the ground, slamming onto his back.
The man tried to pull the sword out quickly but was stopped as Wilhelm got to James. The teen slammed his foot into the man's chest and grabbed his sword with both hands, pushing it farther into the man's shoulder and began to go through the ground below him with the blade.
James's screaming in pain had not stopped, the blade ripping apart his shoulder an ordeal he could barely handle the shock of. However James was a man guided by twisted justice and rage, so he bit his own tongue and tightened his grip on his whips, forcing them both up and grabbing Wilhelm by his arms. James used all the strength he could to swing his weapons and throw the boy off of him, throwing Wilhelm away just a few meters. It was however enough of a distance to give the Diamond mage time to use his weakening magic and his one arm to yank the heavy sword out of himself. Groaning he got to his feet and held his wounded shoulder.
"Now I see why Mariella couldn't just kill you the first time." James spat out some blood as Wilhelm moved to his feet and the teen eyed his sword on the ground close to him. "As filthy as you are, you have an animalistic, a savage skill to fight. I thought you were just plain filth but no... No no no, you're savage filth, an animal." He looked at Wilhelm and knew he was right as he saw Wilhelm moving sideways, closer to his sword. Not because of that, but because of that cold look in the teen's eyes. A look of a savage beast in its element, hunting and fighting its prey. A look that angered James because he knew how far above this brat he was, but that savagery made the teen unpredictable. James moved his grimoire back to the Hellfire Bolt spell and pointed it at Wilhelm. If the kid was an animal he'd put the kid down like one.
Wilhelm again didn't respond to the man and instead dived for his sword, grabbing it and rolling upwards to block the bolts before moving at James. In a fluid motion Wilhelm dropped, spun and swung his sword, the tip of the blade managing to rip through James' thigh. The man staggered before firing another bolt at Wilhelm. Because of his getting attacked, his attack was poorly aimed but still did damage enough to matter. The bolt struck the ground next to Wilhelm, destroying the pavement and throwing Wilhelm to the side. The spell was close enough for the flames to burn Wilhelm, his pants leg on his right calf ignited and the flesh below it getting burned.
Wilhelm groaned as he tried to get up and do something, but before he could get past his knees James made a whip grab the teen by his injured leg. James yanked the whip to the side and made Wilhelm skip across the ground, crashing against the pavement multiple times before James raised it up and slammed Wilhelm hard into the ground. Wilhelm had fallen face first into the ground and didn't move, making James release the whip holding the teen, his calf now covered with burnt flesh. James stood there for a second and waited to see what the brat would do, and the mana-less teen still didn't move.
"Now..." The Diamond mage raised his arm again and pointed it at the downed teen, who only then was beginning to move. "Now I get vengeance..." His arm began to glow with intense orange flames. "Fire Creation Magic: Hellfi-" Before he could finish making the spell, a small object flew at him and struck him in his ruined eye. The man yelped and fired what was made of his spell at the ground near him. He held his eye with his injured arm and began to curse as he looked around for what caused that, and saw the damned bird that had scratched out his eye in the first place.
Nero had indeed attacked the man again, seeing that Wilhelm was in no position to protect himself. Wilhelm had seen it also as he was struggling to get back up. At this point Wilhelm was beyond grateful that the bird was around. Wilhelm saw his sword close to him, by sheer luck being slammed into the ground near it, and tried to crawl towards it.
James yelled in frustration before pointing at Wilhelm again. "I am tired of you animals making a fool of me!" He began to power up his spell again and had a plan to handle everything. As he was about to fire again, the bird showed back up and he dropped his attack against Wilhelm liked he planned. Before the bird could get away, realizing it was baited, James released a burst of flaming magic from himself that the bird was caught in.
The small bird was sent flying away by the blast and crashed into the ground right in front of Wilhelm. Wilhelm looked at the bird in shock, the bird still alive but it's wing now broken and the feathers half burnt away.
"No one else!" James shouted. "Nothing else can save you from dying here. No more having your ass saved by everyone around you!" He cursed this damned kid who killed his brother, and all the luck that kept the kid alive as long as it did.
However, past this moment, something far from luck would be what kept Wilhelm alive.
As Wilhelm looked at Nero, his originally unwanted companion on his travels, injured because it tried to protect him from danger for what was one of many times this night, he experienced a new feeling. It was rage, a level of rage he hadn't known before, rage at the attacks against someone he actually cared for. His rage grew, especially when James spoke and said Wilhelm couldn't be saved by anyone anymore. It made him realize that ever since he got to the Clover Kingdom, he had always been saved by others. At every turn he had needed to be saved by others and couldn't finish his own fights. He really was weak. Fully realizing this fact, and how he was too weak to protect the bird who had thrown itself into danger to save him, only made his rage worse, and now aimed in part at himself. This growing hatred in him triggered a memory, from that stone Fuegoleon gave him. It made him relive that moment, of moving through all those bodies, of all the dead people that the memory gave him the feeling of despair at the inability to prevent the slaughter. That memory and despair made Wilhelm's rage at the bird in front of him being hurt even worse. How could he expect himself to uncover the tragedy that happened to them, when he couldn't even protect a bird?
All the mix of intense negative emotions mixed together, and pulled something from deep withing Wilhelm, something dark and sinister.
With a loud boom, the town of Crete shook as those still in the town felt dread as an explosion of mana erupted from the town square. James almost fell over but kept his eyes on the source of the evil energy, that teen that before this was mana-less. James saw as the teen's blood began to stop bleeding from his wounds, and they began to slowly heal. Wilhelm began to stand up, slowly, but no longer struggling like he should be from all his wounds. Wilhelm had grabbed his sword as he stood up, and the clean, silver metal began to take on a blackened look, beginning at the point where Wilhelm's hand had touched it. As he finally stood up, Wilhelm looked at James and the man felt a new kind of dread.
This evil energy that had come from the boy had changed him. His naturally blue eyes that held a lack of emotion had become yellow, glowing and filled with an almost gleeful rage. His dark brown hair had began to look white and straightened out, dropping around his head. Under his eyes strange markings had grown, red markings that went from his eyes to his jaw. Similar markings had appeared across his open chest, a thick line going from his collar bones down to his waist, with horizontal lines going through it. Around his eyes the skin began to blacken, as did his fingers. His already savage imagery from when he had entered Crete had increased, especially because of the twisted smile he gained as he looked at James.
What had happened was negative mana, the twisted version of mana that belonged to the underworld, had entered Wilhelm's soul because of his rage and the despair he felt from the memories of that other life. Luck was no longer keeping Wilhelm alive, instead a curse had taken hold of the mana-less teen.
James took a step back as he looked at the teen, put off by the bloodlust that was coming from him. "What are you?"
"Filth." The corrupted teen replied, his twisted smile never leaving his face. "Nothing but a filthy animal."
A/N: That's the end of page 11. Now I know you all have questions now, so I say one of three things; 1.) Wait for next chapter I guess, or 2.) Go farther down these notes for spoilers I guess, or 3.) Go to Discord for questions.
Honestly, the intention was originally for Selena to be who got hurt to trigger that in Wilhelm, but she was the farthest person away from him, and Nero was right there. So if anyone is upset I had the birb get hurt, I apologize but you should already know that James is about to have his ass kicked for doing that.
I enjoyed writing the different fights, each were fun. I actually had to use plot armor for Mariella tbh because I almost actually wrote it into having her straight die and I still need her around. So remember if not for plot armor, Selena would've "iced" her. (laugh at my joke.) Gina I liked making use of Distortion, she really has a useful ability and can become a goat after training.
If anyone has questions about Wilhelm, I am gonna answer what happened here. This first part is non-spoilery so I won't put the warning yet. Wilhelm calling himself filth kinda messed with me at first, but given that his soul is being corrupted and he is grinning like a sadist right now, he clearly isn't completely himself right now. Now I am putting the spoiler warning, so if you don't want spoilers, stop reading this paragraph and skip to the next. What had happened was Licht, I admitted last chapter's author's note that Wilhelm is Licht's vessel, and his rage opened part of Licht's soul just now at the end of the chapter. Remember that the last thing going on with Licht was that he turned himself into a demon, so his soul was pretty messed up upon his death and now Wilhelm has to deal with some of the consequences of that, such as the negative mana that he pulled into himself from Licht's soul. Spoiler talk is over now.
Now I answer a review, one by a certain copas438; Yea, Wilhelm is replacing Asta completely in Black Clover. Asta just straight isn't a thing here in the story and sorry if that displeases you. I figured it was for the best given that they would both serve the same purpose and this story is about Wilhelm, so Asta would just get in the way. Glad you like the story and hope it continues to please.
Speaking of which, as I say at the bottom of every chapter, I have a discord server with the link in my Bio.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter, let me know how it was and have a good day!