Chapter 23: The Blue Rose Knight

Lucas, who was almost hit with a barrage of zombie attacks, was saved by the Blue Rose Magic Knight. She had come in just in time with her Ice Magic and made it so the Light mage was never attacked.

The blue-eyed mage looked on and saw the girl in a heroic light, the remnants of her Ice Magic danced atop her skin, and it looked like she was glowing. The girl then ran towards the trio of Lucas, Charlotte, and Sol and tried to get information about the current situation.

"Wha-? Zombies?! I only read about them in scary stories but to think they were actually real? I mean, I did just defeat a bunch of them, so I don't exactly know why I'm acting surprised but then again they are ZOMBIES!" The girl rattled on, not even pausing for a slight gasp of breath.

Lucas looked in a peculiar manner towards the girl who wore a green ribbon on top of her head that acted somewhat similar to a headband.

"I remember. We spoke once at the Entrance Exam, but it was mostly just her talking while I was quite nervous around her", Lucas thought.

The area around the Magic Knights had grown quiet for the time being as all four of them had worked on clearing and protecting the citizens so they could afford some time to talk and relay information.

Charlotte walked forward and met the girl who had just appeared. "You love to make a grand appearance, don't you?" The helmet-wearing captain stated.

With a pout she responded. "Well, I don't mean to… it just kinda happened!" The Ice mage folded her arms.

Charlotte then turned to Lucas. "Let me introduce you to one of my top Magic Knights. This cheery girl here is Daisy Calor, I hope you two get along".

"Haha, there's no need for that Captain. Lucas-san already knows me!" Daisy laughed.

Lucas stepped forward and greeted her properly this time instead of running away like he did when they first met. "No, that's not true. I remember you from the Entrance Exam, but I never got your name… haha, my name's Lucas, though I guess you already knew that", he scratched the back of his neck.

The Light mage sort of shuffled towards Daisy as he got slightly nervous. He knew he had run away from her before but that was just due to the surprise that she gave him, but he also remembered seeing her as quite pretty, and this was the biggest reason as to why he was slightly awkward here.

"Oh… uh, it's nice to meet you… again". Daisy started smiling but it quickly changed to a look of confusion. Though that quickly turned back to her cheery and upbeat demeanour. "Well then, now that I'm here why don't we team up for the time being? The Captain and Sol are handling things over there so let's take care of our side of things!" Daisy winked to Lucas who responded with a slight blush.

"Y-yeah!" He replied, trying to emulate the same passionate feeling that Daisy was exuding. "By the way, you use your Ice Magic in a really interesting way! The Skater's Heaven spell earlier was like something I've never seen before…", Lucas added.

"Oh, did you like that? I was experimenting yesterday and found that if I cast my Ice Magic outwards like that then I can freeze anyone who gets caught up in it!" She looked up to the sky and cheered, hopping on one leg up in a bout of happiness.

Lucas looked at her and smiled, though that quickly turned into admiration. "She was just… experimenting and the spell is this powerful in one day? I've got to learn to do something with my Dual Blades too!" The mage looked determined.

The Ice mage turned to Lucas and put her finger to her mouth as if she was going to say something top secret. "Don't tell anyone but… when I was experimenting, it was more fooling around and I also found out you can dance on ice! I call it Ice Skating! Cool, right?" She smiled.

"Ice… Skating?" Lucas repeated, never hearing that term before.

"It's quite fun! I'll show you one day", Daisy replied.

"O-okay", Lucas added.

"It's funny though…", Daisy added.

"What do you mean?" Lucas replied.

"Well, when you think of the name Daisy, you'd picture flowers and nature… but my Ice Magic kinda opposes that. Most plants have trouble growing in cold temperatures, you know? So that's the reason why it's kinda weird I guess" She turned to Lucas.

"I guess that's true… but the way you use it should be the most important. I mean, looking at me you wouldn't think I use Light Magic, would you?" He laughed nervously. "When you think Light Magic, you think about the first Wizard King and other talented mages, haha".

"You're plenty talented yourself, Lucas-san. I guess you could apply your own advice to yourself. It's the way you use your magic that counts!" Daisy winked.

Lucas was a very nervous person as well as someone that wasn't too confident. His Light Magic, for some reason, was much slower than other recorded Light mages and he didn't know why. Due to this, Lucas's confidence never too high since he was worrying about his own magic. His Time Magic also added to his nerves and worries since he never wanted to use it. However, the words that Daisy simply repeated to him made him feel like he could control his magic in a better way than before if he practiced enough.

"Haha, I guess you're right!" Lucas looked on as he heard an army of quick footsteps approaching Daisy and him. The rubble and dust on the floor started to move from the vibrations of the running footsteps. "Let's get ready to fight".

"You got that right!" Daisy exclaimed.


Just on the opposite side of the street, Charlotte and Sol were talking amongst themselves as well. The situation was quiet for the time being and they were taking the time to re-assess the situation. However, they too strayed from the topic just like Lucas and Daisy did.

"Say, Sis… why did you bring Lucas here? The Blue Rose Knights pride themselves with our female-only squad and the way we don't need any men. So why did you bring him?" Sol asked. This feeling of weird unease was building up in her because of the sudden inclusion of the Light mage.

Charlotte looked in the direction of Lucas and then back at Sol. "I suppose you're owed an explanation. Lucas just strikes me as a genuinely good person but with a past that he desperately hates - something he wants to get rid of".

The Earth Magic user tilted her head in confusion and that's when Charlotte continued.

"You weren't there at the Magic Knights Entrance Exam, but I was actually the first to put my hand up for Lucas", the Briar mage revealed.

Sol had a look of shock to her face. "The guy impressed you that much?"

"He used his magic like any other mage really, but you could tell how much heart he was putting into it like he had some goal he wanted to achieve. The main thing though is when that happened…", Charlotte added.

"That?" Sol questioned.


FLASHBACK - MAGIC KNIGHTS ENTRANCE EXAM:

It was time for the 1v1 fight that all participants had to go through. Lucas was left on his own as he tried to look for a partner to fight against. That was when a certain someone approached him.

Richard Kira flicked his light-brown hair. "I'm sure you wondered why a royal like me is even standing in the same place as you, let alone taking part in this stupid exam… well, I just wanted to have a bit of fun, but then I saw you…" he pointed his finger at Lucas who stood frightened "… showing off with your weirdly powerful magic. Then I thought I should beat some sense into a freaky looking peasant such as yourself… I mean, what the hell are those stupid scars on your face? Did you get beat as a kid or something?" He laughed to himself.

Some of the Magic Knight Captains had reacted to the horrid comment that the royal made to Lucas. Fuegoleon, Yami, and Dorothy were the few who made their anger known. However, one captain who didn't make a scene, yet was seething with anger, was Charlotte.

"How dare he say such a thing? It's clear from the deep scars and other injuries on his face that something traumatic happened to him. He wants to be a Magic Knight to move past that and achieve some sort of goal… he reminds me of myself. I have a past that I want to desperately move on from, I have regrets, and I have mental scars from being… cursed". Charlotte thought long and hard about her own experiences and she found similarities with Lucas just from the limited time she had seen him.

FLASHBACK - END


Sol had grown quiet from Charlotte's explanation about why she was interested in Lucas. It made sense to her now why she had brought him along with them, but the Earth mage still felt odd about the whole situation. She had been in the Blue Rose Knights for three years and only surrounded by women the majority of the time, so it was no wonder why she felt this way. Nevertheless, she understood her captain.

"For the time being, let's just see how things turn out. I understand your caution but trust me on this", Charlotte smiled.

The little smile that came from the Briar mage was enough for Sol to accept her captain's feelings. The black-haired mage had a soft spot for Charlotte and so she smiled back.


Back with Lucas and Daisy, the two had brought out their grimoires to get ready for the battle. They saw a group of zombies running towards them at high speeds.

"Okay, there are no civilians in the area this time so I can go all out", Daisy thought as she flicked through her grimoire. The Ice mage landed on a page and smiled. "I'll use this spell!"

"Ice Magic: Shard Barrage!" Daisy's two palms started glowing in a bright light-blue colour and from them shards of ice started to form. They were in different sizes and when she fired them towards the zombie group, they were all at different speeds too.

The powerful onslaught of sharp ice hit the zombies, one after the other, and very quickly froze them on the spot upon contact. Daisy then closed her palms and the frozen zombies shattered and fell to the floor.

"She wasn't going all out when she helped me? Her magic control is amazing!" Lucas thought. He then turned to see the undead coming towards him and used his magic straight away.

"Light Creation Magic: Energy Whips!" In Lucas's left hand, a strand of light materialised into a physical form, and he used it to wipe out the oncoming enemies. He whipped his hand back and then quickly thrusted it forwards and the momentum from that swing increased the power in the Whips causing them to quickly destroy the zombie bodies.

Daisy looked towards Lucas and smiled. "Wow, his Light Magic has improved a lot since back then, I mean it was obvious it would". The duo continued summoning their spells and defeating the undead that were coming for them.

A few minutes had passed and the duo, as well as Charlotte and Sol, kept on defeating the never ending onslaught of zombies that were arriving.

"There must be a reason as to how and why these enemies keep appearing non-stop. It doesn't seem natural… like they're teleporting in from above or something". Lucas wondered about the attack and how it came to be. Suddenly, he stopped and thought about what he just said.

"…wait, 'teleporting… above'…?" Just as he repeated these words, he looked up and around to see if the enemies were in fact coming from above and to his frustration, he didn't see anything in the immediate vicinity.

"You alright, Lucas-san?" Daisy asked, walking up to the Light Magic user, and initiated a conversation.

"Yeah, I must've looked weird there", he nervously scratched his cheek. "I was just thinking where the enemies could be coming from and decided to look aro-!" Lucas stopped speaking.

"Huh? What's up?" Daisy asked, confused as to what made Lucas pause so suddenly.

As Lucas was talking to Daisy he stopped and saw what was behind her in the distance. It was in the sky a few districts over towards the North. A pitch-black and irregular-circled shape opened up in the air and from there Lucas's hunch was proven correct.

"Daisy look behind you! In the sky! The zombies are flowing in from that black mess… is that Spatial Magic? I heard it can have the capabilities to move and transport", Lucas pointed in the direction.

The Blue Rose Ice mage followed Lucas's finger and, just as he said, she saw the enemies pouring in from the alleged Spatial Magic.

"We have to go there and stop them! There must be an enemy mage causing this!" Daisy started to run off without the dual mage but then quickly stopped and face palmed.

"… Wait. Sometimes I get too headstrong about things like this. I'll have to let my Captain know about the situation", Daisy turned around and looked to Lucas in an embarrassed fashion.

The orange-haired mage sighed a breath of relief. "I was gonna say… we should probably let Captain Charlotte know. I wonder how long it'll take to relay the information though?"

To his surprise and with a lot of shock, Daisy quickly ran over to Lucas and grabbed him by the hand and started to run off in the direction where the zombies were coming from.

"Huh? W-wait? What about your captain?" Lucas struggled but her hold on his arm was too strong.

With a loud shout and without stopping her run, the Ice mage got Charlotte's attention. "Captain! We found where the zombies are coming from so we're gonna check it out! We cleared up our area, so I assume it's okay!" Daisy ran ahead further with Lucas in tow.

Charlotte's attention was on Daisy and Lucas who was being dragged away and without even responding to what her Knight said she sighed. "That Daisy… you have to act more professional, but I guess I'll let it slide for now. You've proven yourself in such a short timeframe that I have no need to doubt". The Briar Captain shook her head in a comedic fashion.

"Wait, that was it? I thought you were going to ask if we could go, not just storm off!" Lucas protested. The two had stopped running as they had gotten closer to their destination.

I mean… it was fun, wasn't it?" Daisy laughed.

"What was fun about that?" Lucas huffed, gaining his breath back.

"Yanno, just acting on impulse! We saw danger and we acted on it straight away. If I see something wrong and wait for the formalities, then that danger could escalate even further!" The Ice Magic user brought up an interesting way of viewing things.

"What do you mean we? I just got dragged along", Lucas thought to himself. However, her explanation did make sense to him. "She's got an interesting way of viewing things… definitely always cheery and upbeat from what I've seen", he smiled, "I quite like that".

"Let me introduce you to one of my top Magic Knights. This cheery girl here is Daisy Calor".

Lucas remembered Charlotte's words and it made him think.

"She's one of her top Magic Knights already? It's only been a month or so since the Entrance Exam and she's climbed the ranks that fast?" Lucas smiled and clenched his fists. "I'm going to try harder!"


The two newly-acquainted Knights made their way through the rubble and smoke and saw a clearing. It was a large open space with a wall opposite them that separated the other districts and areas.

"There's… nothing here?" Lucas thought. He looked around for that Spatial portal and saw that there were multiple ones scattered throughout the Royal Capital that were similar to the one they saw here.

The place they were in was eerily silent considering what was happening around them

"Did we run to the wrong place?" Daisy asked.

"I mean… you just kept on running without checking where you were going so…", Lucas cheekily commented.

"Hey!" Daisy pouted.

Just then…

"Well, well, well… what do we have here? Two rookie Knights squabbling amongst themselves?" A voice emerged from above the two.

Lucas and Daisy looked around and eventually spotted where the sinister-sounding voice came from. It was floating in the air above.

The figure had a light-coloured and hooded cloak on his body. There was a black pattern that went down the middle of the cloak and, in the torso area, there were three yellow, eye-shaped ovals that were attached to what looked like a key at the bottom of the three eyes. Other than those details, the outfit looked pretty basic with another notable feature being that it was pretty baggy and loose.

"Who are you?" Daisy asked, her tone shifting to that of complete seriousness as opposed to her happy and bubbly one. "Are you a Magic Knight that went rogue?"

"A Magic Knight? Maybe once I would've liked to be called that but that was in the past… I'm not part of your brigade. I act as part of a more… clear-sighted group, shall we say?" The man giggled in ominous fashion.

"So, you're an enemy group of mages wreaking havoc", Lucas tensed up. It reminded him of the Diamond Kingdom warriors that were set on their own goal, but this seemed much more sinister.

"Ding, ding, ding! I won't tell you our goal but you two in particular are annoying me much more than the other Knights have been. Your magic actually destroyed the zombies instead of merely incapacitating them for a few moments. The undead are supposed to keep carrying on but if they're destroyed just as you've been doing, it's not exactly fun", the enemy spoke. "There was one other Magic Knight who managed to fully destroy a few zombies and he weirdly had no magic!"

"Asta! I'm glad to hear he's doing fine on his end then", Lucas relaxed slightly.

"To pay you back for your insolence, boy and girl, why don't I show you… something… like another horde of the walking dead!" The man cackled.

Suddenly, from above, a large Spatial Magic portal opened and from the eerie magic the zombies came falling through, making large dents in the floor as they landed.

"More of these!" Lucas shouted, readying his grimoire.

"We can handle these!" Daisy responded.

"Light Magic: Angelic Strike!"

"Ice Magic: Shard Barrage!"

The duo used their spells in sync and tried to defeat the zombies just as they had been doing. However, there was something different about this particular group.

"My magic… it isn't getting through them!" Daisy became agitated.

"I can't disintegrate them with my spell? This usually works!" Lucas worriedly commented.

The hooded figure started laughing. He was enjoying the scene that was unfolding in front of him and found it amusing.

"Those zombies before were just the start. These ones are much stronger, faster, and more durable! Let's see if you two can keep up the confidence you had from earlier!" The man shouted.

"Ice Magic: Shard Barrage!" Daisy fired off her sharp ice attacks once more but this time they actually managed to penetrate and freeze the undead in their tracks. There was something different about them.

"What…? How did you manage that? You just used the same spell again!" The hooded figure was perplexed.

Lucas looked at how she used her magic this time and analysed as to how if was different. "Daisy took longer to use her spell than the other times, was she condensing her magic further to make her ice even stronger and powerful? Maybe I'll try the same with another spell of mine".

"Light Magic: Spark-Charged Beam!" The spell that Lucas unlocked from his time fighting against Mystic was the one he'd use. His left arm started to shake as he brought about the little pockets of light that were peering through the dark, ashen atmosphere. He collected them together and they formed a large and powerful sphere of light in his left hand. With that, he shot it towards the group of undead and they burst and disappeared with a few sparks of light flying about in the aftermath.

"Woah… you're so cool, Lucas-san! I see you tried to do the same trick I did with my spell just now and put more power into it… but I'll let you take the credit for it", she winked towards the Golden Dawn member.

"Tsk. You kids just keep on annoying me in different ways. I'll ask for more zombies to attack but if this doesn't work then…", the enemy mage thought.

Just as he had thought, more and more of the undead spewed through the Spatial Magic and the duo of Lucas and Daisy kept on fighting with their stronger spells. Lucas with his Spark-Charged Beam and Daisy with her stronger Shard Barrage.

Many minutes had passed and the two were growing tired with the continuous appearances of the enemies. They defeated the recent wave of enemies and with a slight break in between, they conversed for new strategies.

"Tsk, this is a pain. Lucas-san, do you have any suggestions on getting through this?" The Ice mage asked.

"I have a few spells that I can use with that trick you did. I also have a… weapon that I haven't used yet", Lucas replied.

"A weapon…", Daisy poker-faced. She did not look impressed at all and her eyes regressed to a pair that didn't look like they had any hint of emotion in them.

"What's the matter?" Lucas asked, noticing the change in the Blue Rose.

The girl slowly moved towards the Light mage, but kept her poker face the whole time.

"You… have a weapon… and you thought it would be good… NOT to use it? I mean, I get confidence, but this is serious, Lucas-san! Have I hid anything from you about my magic? No". Daisy got even closer to the point where her and Lucas's faces were very close to each other.

Lucas was feeling very flustered from the extreme closeness of Daisy to his face. "I… I don't really know how to use them, so I haven't reall-", he was interrupted.

Daisy turned around from him and looked up to the sky. "No, no! I understand… you… didn't want to help me… *sniff*… after everything we've been through *hic* Lucas-san, I thought you were better than this".

"Ah! Fine, fine!" Lucas flicked through his grimoire and pulled out the Dual Blades from a page. The pitch-black and sharp weapons that were connected by the handle with a chain were out to finally use.

Daisy was smirking to herself. "I guess he needed that little push. I can't believe I had to fake cry though", her body warmed up with a flush of embarrassment.

"After everything we've been through? We just met!" Lucas added, still recovering from the pressure that Daisy had put on him, albeit it was just to encourage him.

"Haha, perhaps I got a bit carried away with my performance", she smiled with her teeth showing in a cheeky manner.

"Huh, that was a performance?" Lucas repeated.

"Nevermind!" She quickly answered back.

"Those blades. It seems like they will work if you infuse them with your mana".

Julius's words echoed in the mind of the dual mage. Lucas looked to his two connected blades and gulped with worry. "I think I know what I have to do in order to use these weapons… last time, I was using my Light Magic but that didn't work so I guess I'll have to use my Time Magic. Perhaps the Wizard King was hinting at that. I guess that chest really was waiting for me then", he thought back to when he opened the treasure chest in the dungeon.

The mage concentrated hard. He hadn't used his Time Magic properly since he was five-years-old back in the Town of Missbrauch. Though he didn't realise he used it back in the fight with Mystic as that was more of a subconscious move from him. Nevertheless, he tried to access his Time Magic once again.

"I have to concentrate… if I use it through these blades then it wont actually be revealed that I have this Magic. I want to keep it under wraps. I can just say I was using my Light Magic to activate these blades if anyone asks". Lucas worriedly thought.

After a few long seconds, he opened his eyes, and they were glowing a brighter blue than their normal colour. He slowly looked down to where his hands gripped the handle of the Dual Blades and he saw that a faint blue glow was flickering in and out of the weapons' sharp edges.

He was surprised with the outcome but then recognised that it only made sense since his Time Magic had a blue colour, along with the back cover of his grimoire being blue too.

"Phew… looks like I've at least activated them", the dual mage sighed with a breath of relief. He gripped the handles with a strong hold and looked towards the enemy mage. "I'm ready…".

Daisy walked up and stood by Lucas's side. "Looks like you do know how to use them!" She stuck her tongue out in a teasing fashion.

"Yeah, yeah… are you ready, Daisy?" He smiled.

"Of course!" Daisy replied.

As they got into battle stance, the Dual mage and the Ice mage looked on towards the enemy and his, now appearing, zombies below.

As they were about to fight, they heard a shout from behind. To Daisy it was an unfamiliar shout that she didn't recognise, however to Lucas, he recognised it as the person he had just recently come into contact with.

The two looked behind and saw a black-haired Magic Knight that had their backs to them and was fighting another group of zombies on his own. He wore a dark-green shirt and brown trousers with some brown, ankle-length boots, and a Purple Orca squad robe around his neck and top of his shirt.

"That's...!" Lucas began.

"Flame Magic: Apollo's Burst!" The man shouted.

He had burnt the zombie group to ashes as they all fell to the floor. The spell generated a large sun-like orb around his arms and shot a bright red light to the enemy and immediately rendered them immobile as they had darkened from the sheer burning effect.

"Flame Magic… oof. It doesn't exactly go with my magic but, then again, the entire Capital is surrounded in flames, so I don't even know what I'm saying", she sighed.

The Purple Orca Magic Knight turned around and saw a familiar face that he had met just earlier on in the day. He waved and ran towards him. "Hello there, Lucas. Nice to see you again", he smiled.

"Aiden! Are you not with any other Magic Knights?" Lucas asked.

"I was sent to help out with a Noble house, the Sharandales. It turns out that their area was up in flames, along with the rest of the Capital. Thankfully, their house is still intact but the area around them is in disrepair", a look of sadness fell on Aiden's face.

"The Sharandales?!" Daisy let out in a burst of shock. Quickly, she corrected herself and regained her composure.

"Oh, hello there. Sorry to not introduce myself but my name's Aiden. Nice to meet you", he bowed.

Daisy protested the bowing with a blush and slightly stepping away. "No, no, there's no need for that! I'm Daisy and it's nice to meet you too", she waved.

From behind them in the air, the hooded figure was growing impatient. "Have you three finished with the introductions? I'm growing tired here", he yawned.

"How nice of you to wait for us. I'd assume a member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun would seize their advantage and attack when their opponent's guard was down but perhaps, you're just a newbie?" Aiden mocked, making the hooded enemy grow angry.

Lucas and Daisy looked at each other and then back to Aiden.

"Eye of the Midnight Sun?" The two wondered.

"I met another one of those hooded cloaks earlier. I beat them but not before they gave some long speech about 'correcting' the Kingdom and whatnot", The Purple Orca mage added.

"Hmph. Well, I guess since it's out in the open I can reveal a bit more to you people. As this person revealed, we are a group that aren't in fact out to 'correct' the Clover Kingdom, but to completely destroy it!" The hooded figure shouted, raising his voice and anger. "Enjoy yourselves while your lives last. Though, it wont be long since I'm going to kill you all right now!"


NOTES:

Finally, the FULL introduction of Daisy, the Blue Rose Ice mage. I wonder if you guys like her bubbly personality? I always liked girls like that in anime where they're just a breath of fresh air. Not saying that the other characters are dull but just having another happy character is always nice.

Her 'inventing' Ice Skating was pretty cool. Since Black Clover is set in a medieval era, I wouldn't think there was anything recreational like Ice Skating, so I just thought I'd make her the creator of it, lol :P

We had a few battles too, but now the Eye of the Midnight Sun have been revealed. What will happen next?