Chapter 40: Confronted By Darkness

Disclaimer:

Hello again. There was a bit of a delay for this one but I made it a bit longer. Hope you enjoy.

"The leader of the Eye of The Midnight Sun… he's here!" Everyone who was in the cave thought as they looked at the shining figure whose presence seemed to overwhelm all.

Licht had dropped down and summoned Valtos who was right behind him. "Can you send Sally back to Headquarters? She needs to be looked after and the three we have back there will take care of her". The man handed the Gel mage over and smiled as he wished her a speedy recovery.

Valtos sent Sally back through his Spatial Magic and stood behind his leader once more.

"We need to get Max too. Valtos can you-", Licht began but was stopped by the person behind him.

Draien stepped forwards. "Master Licht. Don't worry about Max right now. I'll see to that he's taken care of. You should probably focus on the ones that are responsible", he said.

Asta, Lucas, Gauche, and Theresa were anxiously awaiting what was going to happen next. They all stood firmly, and their grimoires flipped to various pages.

"Licht. He uses Light Magic and just with what I've seen here when he hit Neige shows just how fast it is. I already know… my magic can't compare!". Lucas thought as he looked towards the man. "Daisy is out right now. Fighting took so much out of her so she's by the wall there. I can't rely on her to help me out", he looked to the right to see the Ice mage passed out.

Lucas then looked to his left and saw Asta readying for battle.

The mage from the Golden Dawn smiled. "Of course, he's ready for anything. I can't let my uncertainties plague my abilities. For now, I'll do all I can…".

"He's the one…", Asta said quietly at first.

"What do you mean?" Theresa asked, confused.

"Captain Fuegoleon… he's in the hospital because of that man there! He cut his arm off!" Asta shouted angrily.

Lucas knew that Licht was the one responsible, but this was a shock for Sister Theresa. She had a close relationship with the Vermillion and to hear that the Eye of The Midnight Sun was responsible for him being out of commission made her angry.

"How dare you?" Theresa exclaimed to Licht who remained indifferent.

Licht moved forwards. "Your words mean nothing to me. You better make sure you can evade this, or you will suffer the same conclusion as that tainted royal! Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!" The man shouted and a multitude of sharp, light swords emerged in the air and were shot at a high speed towards the four.

Asta, Lucas, and Gauche were at the front, whilst Theresa was slightly behind them. Or so… that was the case one second ago.

"Sister Theresa!" The three Magic Knights shouted in unison.

What they saw was the old lady jumping in front of them to save them from the on course attack. Her body was riddled with swords that had gone through the other side and as they disappeared, she fell to the floor back first.

Asta and Lucas knelt down to see if she was alright whilst Gauche remained standstill next to them. His eyes were wide as his whole body seemed to be in a state of shock.

"The old hag… no way. I always called her weak and even tried to fight her many times, but I never thought she was actually one to ever lose in a battle. Though… this wasn't a battle, but something she had to do to protect us…", Gauche thought as he looked down at Theresa.

"Sister!" Asta and Lucas exclaimed.

"I know I had to protect you four… The Magic Knights are the ones able to get through this. Hearing about what happened to Fuego made me feel terrible, so I couldn't let the same happen to you guys…", Theresa said as she closed her eyes and passed out.

Even though Theresa had protected him from the attack, what Lucas focused on was what she said at the start. "protect us 'four'?" He thought for a split second before realising.

Lucas immediately turned to see Daisy, who was now awake from shock, leaning against the wall. Above her was a sheet of Flame Magic from Sister Theresa which had saved her from Licht's attack. The three beside her weren't the only ones who were targeted.

"Daisy!" Lucas ran to his friend. "A-are you okay?"

The Flame Magic above vanished, and Daisy replied. "I'm f-fine…!" She said quickly to try and not show how scared she was.

"Her level of awareness was something crazy, how did she know that Daisy was going to get hit?" Lucas thought. He then turned to Licht and saw the unchanged smile he wore on his face.

"Licht! We will defeat you here!" Lucas shouted.

"We got this!" Asta said. He turned to Gauche and asked him for a favour. "Gauche, can you take the Sister, Neige, and Daisy back to the town for treatment? If they stay here, then it'll be difficult!"

Daisy interrupted as she stood up. "I'm not… going anywhere!"

"Daisy, you're still out of mana, aren't you?" Lucas asked worriedly.

"That doesn't mean anything. It'll come back slowly… just let me stay here. If I go back… without these guys being defeated in front of me, then I don't know how I'll face Alice. After all, the leader is here, and Alice was involved in their scheme!" Daisy protested.

Her strong words rang through Asta and Lucas and they knew they couldn't tell her otherwise.

"Well, alright then!" Asta smiled.

Lucas was still hesitant. "I hope you know what you're doing, Daisy", he said to her.

Gauche knelt down to pick up both Theresa and Neige. "C'mon the both of you", he took out his broomstick. "Tsk. Why do I have to take this Snow mage back with me?!" He flew away.

Licht saw the Magic Knights yet remained calm. To him, he saw a bunch of foolish people think they had a chance against him. His smile remained the same and he sighed. He turned to his right to Draien.

"Draien. You wanted to come with me, so I assume you know what to do. Just don't go too crazy, you remember what I told you, correct?" Licht spoke in a tone that didn't match how he presented himself before. It was more serious, rather than only calm.

"Yes, yes. I get it, boss. Just let me greet those two mages and I'll make sure to remember what you said", Draien replied. He spoke quickly and it seemed like he wanted to get on with what he had planned.

This whole time, Draien was on his tip toes and bouncing backwards and forwards as if he was psyching himself up.

"Fine". Licht spoke with uncertainty but left Draien to do what he wanted. He, however, focused on Asta.


Draien, within a split second, reached where Lucas and Daisy were standing and smiled as he looked down at them.

The 6ft muscular man towered over the two Magic Knights and they struggled to react to him standing just behind them.

Lucas was facing Daisy and couldn't respond so all he felt was an enemy presence looming over his back. He slowly turned his neck to look at the mage who had made himself known. Sweat fell from Lucas's face.

"His overwhelming presence…! It's much more sinister than Max's and much more intimidating. Just who… is this man?" Lucas gulped as he finally managed to face Draien.

Lucas looked into Draien's dark blue eyes and saw they were different from his little brother's. Whilst Max's eyes were dull and brown, Draien's were full of life and this scared both Knights. His outfit was also slightly different to that of Valtos or even Licht. His sleeves were rolled back completely to show his muscles, but he wore a black-coloured belt around his waist as well and it held his grimoire in place. He wore light-brown flat sandals and they were open-toed.

"Yo!" Draien said as he raised his hand to greet them. "You heard my name earlier, so I won't repeat it, but I just want to say…", he put his hand down. "… Thanks for taking care of my brother…".

A wave of mana hit both Lucas and Daisy and it came from the muscular mage in front of them. He flexed his arms and got on his left foot whilst the right rested on the side of his left knee. His arms were out, and his hands were clenched into fists.

"So, who was the one that defeated him? Let his older brother show you what happens when you mess with him!" He shouted with a large smile on his face.

The two Knights gulped and looked at each other. "This guy… it seems he is unhinged. There's no telling what he's going to do. I'll fight him, whilst you focus on that Licht guy, Lucas-san", she whispered as she tried to step forward.

Lucas grabbed Daisy's shoulder and stopped her. "Are you crazy? You barely have any mana, and this guy is fully up for a fight. I'll go and fight him since I'm fine for mana", he protested.

"Is your Light Magic going to work, or your weapons?" Daisy asked, putting the question out which Lucas really didn't want to answer.

However, by this point and after all that has happened, he knew what to do. "Don't worry. The second I see that they don't work, I'll pull out my trump card", he smiled before walking past and readying to go up against Draien.

Daisy was confused. "Trump card? What is he referring to?"

"Oh, it was you that beat him? You're the guy from the Royal Capital, right? Funny how I saved my bro back then and now I get to face the guy who beat him!" He charged forwards.

"He's not using magic? What is this guy's plan?!" Lucas was shocked as he saw the mage run up to him in a flash of orange light.

Draien ran and unleashed a barrage of punches which started from aiming at Lucas's head to ending off at the bottom of his torso. Every single one of the fast-paced punches hit Lucas and he was pushed backwards.

"Lucas-san!" Daisy shouted but knew she couldn't get involved as she would only be an hinderance at this point.

"What the hell was that? He just used punches and they had this much power to them?!" The Light mage wondered. He was too slow to block any of the attacks and this left him with many wounds all over his body.

"Too slow!" Draien laughed. He turned his back and saw his unconscious little brother slowly falling from the ice cage he was trapped in. "This lad really beat you? I guess after this we'll have to do some more training!"


Meanwhile, Asta was having trouble of his own against Licht.

"I've had enough games from you. Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!" The leader shouted as he fired the familiar swords once again.

Asta looked in frustration. "How am I supposed to avoid these attacks? It's Light Magic… and his is the quickest!"

Before he could finish thinking, one of the swords stabbed him in his left leg and he let out a cry of pain.

"He keeps firing the same attack… wait, I can just dispel them as soon as they hit me with my Anti-Magic swords!" Asta took out both the large broadsword and the thinner sword from his grimoire and slashed at the sword that was in his left leg.

As he did so, Licht's eyes widened, and he stopped attacking the Black Bull. He floated down towards the floor and paused for a few seconds before speaking.

"You…", he began speaking.

"Me?" Asta replied.

"Why on earth do you have them?! That grimoire… and the swords that came out from it… How dare you touch both the Demon-Slayer Sword and the Demon-Dweller Sword?!" The four-leaf mage exclaimed. His eyes grew darker, and his once-calm expression changed drastically into one of pure confusion and anger.

Asta was perplexed. He looked at both of his swords that he was holding. "These have names for them? What the heck is wrong with my grimoire, too?!"

"What is the meaning of this? How did this brat end up with such weapons?" Licht tried to find an explanation.

"The Demon-Slayer Sword and the Demon-Dweller Sword. They do have some weird names but I'm going to use these to take you down!" Asta crossed the Anti-Magic swords and ran forwards towards Licht.

As Asta ran forwards, he was met with a flash of bright, yellow light.

"He d-disappeared?" Asta said as the man in front of him vanished.

"Your very existence cannot comprehend mine. I will be taking back that grimoire and those weapons from you". Licht's voice sounded out.

He appeared in the same flash of light, but this time behind Asta as he went to stab the Bull with a light sword once more.

However…

Another sword appeared between Asta and Licht. Its sharp metal was coated in darkness, and it deflected the attack from the leader of the terrorist group. The person holding it's tilt was someone who Asta knew very well as he turned to face the magicless mage.

"Nice, I made it just in time. Would've been creepy to see you dead if I didn't save you just then, brat", the tall and extremely muscular figure said to Asta.

"Y-Y… Captain Yami?! What are you doing here?" Asta greeted his captain with surprise.

Yami puffed the smoke out from his cigarette and grabbed Asta by his head, lifting him up. Asta squirmed around a bit.

"Is that how you greet the man who saved your ass?" Yami held Asta for a few more seconds before dropping him to the floor.

Asta held his head as he tried to brush the pain away. "Why is it that the Captain's hold hurts more than being stabbed by Licht?" He opened his eyes and saw Finral behind his captain and greeted him.

"Finral! It's good to see you", Asta slowly walked up to him.

"You too, Asta. Noelle told us all about what was happening but we never imagined it would get this hectic! We heard Gauche was here, as well as the children, but I don't see them?" He looked around.

"The Sister and another guy got badly injured because of Licht. The children managed to make it out but I imagine they're still making their way back to Nean with Gauche. If you could help them out, it would be really great!" Asta asked.

"That's what I'm here to do. I hope you keep yourselves safe!" Finral said before using his broom to follow Gauche outside.

On Asta's right, Lucas was still fighting but failing against Draien.

"You really are not who I thought you were. Weak. I can't believe Max lost to this guy and his girlfriend back there", Draien spoke with no sense of excitement for the first time. "I guess I'll give a final few kicks and you'll be on your way".

Just as he said, he unleashed a barrage of kicks to Lucas who couldn't defend at all. Draien sent him flying towards Asta's direction as he returned to Licht's side. Lucas was about to hit the floor head-first.

"Now where are you going?" Yami said nonchalantly as he caught the flying Light mage who was heading for the ground.

"Wh-what…", Lucas said before looking up and seeing the Black Bulls Captain holding him by his squad robe. "Th-thank you, Captain Yami", he sighed as he realised that he was just saved.

"Don't mention it. If it happens again then I'm leaving you. I'm still thinking about how you rejected my squad for the masked weirdo", he replied as he let go of the mage.

"Oi, Lucas. Don't mind him, he's just like that", Asta whispered to try and tell Lucas about his captain.

"Now what was that you brat?!" Yami picked up Asta yet again by his head.

Daisy slowly made her way to where Asta and Lucas were too. She was still out of mana so she couldn't do much to help.

"I acted all tough and said I wanted to stay but I need to be useful! Whatever happens, I need to find an opening… until then, I'll let my mana build back up", Daisy thought.

"If it isn't the God of Destruction, Yami Sukehiro. I've heard your name around and have always wondered what sort of person you are. It looks like you're having fun tormenting those Magic Knights so I guess you're not a saint at all. I'm Licht, the leader of the Eye of The Midnight Sun". Licht smiled down towards Yami.

Yami blew out his cigarette and looked up at the flashy mage in white. "First of all, I never claimed to be a saint so you can forget about that. Second of all, I see you and your lackeys were having fun toying around with these Magic Knights. Lastly, you're the leader of that terrorist group, meaning you're the reason the Capital was attacked, as well at the state that Fuegoleon's in. I don't know if you've noticed, but that's three strikes… and that means… you're out!"

"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" Yami exclaimed. A surge of darkness covered the captain's blade and a slash of pure darkness shot out at Licht.

Licht quickly dodged the attack using his quick Light Magic and then went for the counter. He teleported in between each slash of darkness by using his Light Magic at high speeds. "Light Magic: Heaven-Splitting Flash!"

Licht summoned a barrage of light orbs that generated their own intense light. From them, beams of intense and quick Light Magic fired towards Yami.

A dark aura surrounded Yami and he slid across the cave floor to dodge the attacks. He then jumped towards Licht and tried to cut him multiple times with his sword.

"Man, you're fast. I guess that's the thing with Light Magic. Every mage who uses it is basically at one with speed", Yami commented.

"You're not so bad yourself, Yami Sukehiro. You're using your Dark Magic as reinforcement for your physical abilities and you have the perfect counter to my own Light Magic", Licht said.

Yami shifted to the side and slashed to avoid more of Licht's Light Sword's of Conviction. "Cut the compliments, I'm really not looking for a friend in you".

Asta and Lucas looked in awe at seeing Yami fight for the first time. Asta had stars in his eyes whilst Lucas's were more shocked than anything else.

"So, this is another way you can fight with swords?" Asta said.

"Licht's Light Magic is scary and quick as heck, too! It's definitely a contrast to mine. The Captain is crazy too… Dark Magic is naturally slow but he's using a reinforcement type to increase his own speed against the enemy". Lucas studied the battle to see if he could gain anything out of it.


The Captain of the Black Bulls and the leader of the Eye of The Midnight Sun continued their clash as another set of two people looked on.

"What happened with your fight against that Light Magic user? Why did you return so quickly?" Valtos spoke to Draien who had been standing next to him for a few minutes now.

"He was extremely weak so it was an easy fight. Besides, I can't exactly kill him since the boss told me not to. I don't know the reasoning but I can't go against orders", Draien replied.

Valtos walked in front of the mage and looked at him. "It doesn't mean you have to leave him alone since you're bored. What if he causes trouble for Master Licht?"

"If he does then I'll step in", he sighed. "I really wanted a fight that would excite me again…", he thought with an expression which irked Valtos.

"It's that same face again… Maybe it's good that he's not getting any satisfaction from that Golden Dawn Magic Knight. Who knows what he'll end up doing once he's in a crazed fighting state", Valtos thought as he stared at Draien with a look of worry.


"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Black Blade!" Yami coated his sword in darkness and extended its reach even further. "Let's go for some close combat now", he spoke as he got in close.

"Light Magic: Light Sword of Conviction". This time, a singular sword formed in front of Licht and he picked it up from its edge to use as his own sword to fight.

Yami and Licht's swords kept countering each other and none of them would back down.

"Tell me, why are you even doing all of this?" Yami asked whilst fighting.

"I'll tell you a fable of old. In a certain village, not too far away, a group of people once lived in peace and harmony. They were pure and were loved by mana so were extremely strong. It's said that their power could even rival Gods as well as Devils. Other than that, they were loved and respected by humans, but eventually were betrayed by them as they got scared by their power. Trickery ensued, a massacre happened and their powers were stolen. The same story can be applied to the current time. This kingdom houses such ill-willed people and the rise of them is what us, the Eye of The Midnight Sun, seek to prevent and correct", Licht replied.

Yami increased his speed to try and land a hit on Licht as he thought he may have let his guard down through talking about the story. Though, that wasn't the case as Licht easily deflected his strike.

"Ah, since you blocked my attack, I'll tell you a fable of my own", Yami spoke. "Once upon a time, a young boy went fishing just like his parents had taught him. At a very young age, he was bringing in food and helping the family out. One day, he went about his normal day fishing but ended up shipwrecked and in a completely different country. The people he met hated, and were even scared of him so he beat them up and became their boss… The end".

Licht stepped backwards. "A great story, but what was the relation with what I spoke about?" He asked.

"Oh, c'mon. With how I was talking you should be able to realise that I was on about myself. It was half of my life actually, you know?" Yami responded.

Valtos responded to this in anger. "How dare you make fun of Master Licht?!"

"You can shut up!" Yami became more animated. "The hell is up with your freaky face? You have some weird lines down your eyes! Is it makeup or something?!"

Just as he finished insulting the Spatial mage, a beam of light quickly passed and cut Yami's shoulder.

"Shit. He's gotten even faster now… I managed to react to his attack but it was slightly off. I guess I'll do the same and get a bit more serious!" Yami sped up and closed in on Licht who seemed to teleport each time the Dark Magic user would swing his metal blade.

Yami exerted more of his mana into reinforcing his body and increasing his speed. Eventually, he managed to keep up to the speed of the enemy Light mage.

"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" After a few normal slashes and counters from the 'God of Destruction', he quickly unleashed a surprise attack with his magic spell. It managed to bypass all of the Light Magic swords and cut through, hitting Licht, and slicing a bit of his cheek.

"What the…?! He actually got him!" The three Magic Knights shared a thought as if they synchronised together through seeing what Yami was capable of.

As the Dark Magic hit, Licht's expression grew to that of shock. "He actually managed to keep up and injure me? I guess that's Yami Sukehiro for you…". Licht felt his face and looked at the swordsman. "Good job doing all of this, but our levels are far too different. Light Recovery Magic: Healing Light Particles".

Licht surrounded himself in a see-through orb of light which seemed to emit warm and yellow dust particles that touched the skin. After a few seconds, the injury that Licht sustained was healed up completely.

During this, Asta, alongside Lucas, walked up behind Yami and spoke to him.

"Captain Y-Yami… that was amazing! How'd you manage to do all of that… and what the hell kind of sword is that? It's so different to mine", he asked rather impatiently but with an interested spark.

Yami turned around to face the two mages. "This sword is called a Katana and it originates from my own country, the Land of the Rising Sun. You don't realise how hard it was to describe this sword to the blacksmiths in this kingdom. I had to threaten them to take me seriously!"

"Threaten?" Daisy thought with interest. "Captain Charlotte described this man in such horrible detail, he does seem a bit crazy... but he's also quite cool".

"The Land of the Rising Sun? I haven't heard of that place before", Lucas mentioned.

"Weren't you listening to my story earlier, brat? The person was me and that's the name of the place I'm from", Yami answered. "Besides, what you saw me do against Shiny-Face, is what you two will be doing against those other two enemy mages behind him.

Asta and Lucas paused for a moment. Their faces grew dark with worry and their heads turned quickly from each other and back to Yami.

"H-how are we supposed to do all that? Lucas doesn't have Dark Magic and I have no magic!" Asta pleaded.

Yami grabbed the two teens by their heads and looked at them with disgust. "The hell do you think I am? Obviously, I'm not saying to use Dark Magic. I'm saying to use Ki".

"Ki?" Lucas asked, not knowing what it was. The same thought was shared with Asta.

Yami puffed on his cigarette again and blew it out before replying. "Ki is a technique from my homeland. As you've seen, Dark Magic is pretty slow so just using that wouldn't work in a fight where speed is important. I use Ki alongside my magic to even the playing field".

"So, it wasn't just Dark Magic he used to reinforce his skills, but also… Ki?" Lucas gathered.

The Black Bulls Captain carried on. "Ki lets you analyse your opponent's and your own senses. The way someone looks at you, how they breathe, their smell, the movement of their muscles, body language, are all part of Ki. You have to use all of them to be able to utilise Ki".

"What the heck? This sounds so complicated", Asta spoke.

"You're right… but if it gives us a boost and a fighting chance…", Lucas added.

"… we're in!" The Black Bull and the Golden Dawn spoke together.

Yami smiled as he took out another cigarette to smoke. "Go on. My brat, you take Creepy-Lines and Vangeance's brat, you take Creepy-Muscles over there".

"To think they have the nerve to idly chat in the middle of battle!" Valtos spoke up.

"No, it's quite fine. It gives me time to talk to you both. Valtos, would you please retrieve that person's grimoire?" Licht pointed towards Asta.

"Of course, Master Licht", Valtos teleported through his Spatial Magic to go against Asta.

"As for you, Draien. Rough up the Light mage but don't go too crazy", Licht asked.

Draien stood up from leaning back against the wall but still seemed to be slouching. "Really? With how Max talked about him, I thought he was worthwhile but he's so weak! Can I go up against the Dark Magic user?"

"No. My orders are final. You do a lot of whining when it comes to orders but then you're confused as to why I didn't let you enter the Third Eye. Do this for me and we can re-evaluate some things", the four-leaf mage asked politely.

"Tsk. Fine… I'll warm myself up once more", Draien rushed forwards, leaving Licht alone.

"Just don't go too overboard. Once you get in your emotions, there's no telling how disastrous the outcome could be", Licht shook his head.


Asta saw Valtos emerge from a pool of dark, Spatial Magic. His head came first and then his body from the floor.

"I am here to take your grimoire, and those swords. You cannot have them", Valtos said.

"Fat chance! No way in heck I'm listening to you or your boss!" Asta replied.

Valtos sighed. "Fine. This is the end for you… Spatial Magic: Orbs of Removal…". Valtos summoned an arsenal of pitch-black portals around Asta and started to fire balls of Spatial Magic through them, obscuring which path the attack's would take.

Asta stood still and closed his eyes. "I need to focus on my senses… is this the way?"

"I can hear the Spatial Magic being used…", Asta thought.

"Closing your eyes in the middle of battle? How desperate are your strategies? Well, here goesyou're done!" Valtos exclaimed in his head.

Asta suddenly opened his eyes and swung his Demon-Slayer sword to meet the Spatial Magic. However, he failed as the orb bypassed his weapon and shaved away a part of his skin on his arm.

"Ah! That hurt… why didn't that work?" Asta complained.

"Brat! What the hell was that? All you did was close your eyes and relied on your ears! Ki is every one of your senses working together… Just feel it and you'll see", Yami shouted from the middle of his own battle.

Another phase of the battle between Asta and Valtos played out. He summoned the same spells and waited to attack Asta once more.

"The attacks are coming again… I can do this. I can do this!" The magicless Black Bull hyped himself up.

Valtos looked again and saw Asta doing the same thing as before. "Again? I guess he's just doing whatever at this point… here goes the final… strike!"

The Anti-Magic user turned around and swung the Demon-Slayer Sword once more, hitting the orb of Spatial Magic straight on and reflecting it back through the portal it had come through. The orb travelled faster than before and hit Valtos, knocking him out as he flew into the wall from his platform.

"Yes, I did it! Did you see that, Captain?" Asta shouted.

One would think that the person who taught Asta this new technique would be happy, but his reaction didn't show it at all.

"You really did it? Freaky…", Yami spoke dispassionately.

"Wait, what?!" Asta exclaimed.


Meanwhile, on the right side of the cave, Lucas tried the same.

"I come here and you end up closing your eyes? What the hell is wrong with you…", Draien asked. "Whatever the case, I'll do what I was told", he ran ahead.

He saw Lucas in front of him, but instead of charging he was simply stood in the middle without making any movement. In his hands he had the Dual Blades, but that was it.

Lucas tried to analyse anything to do with Draien but he was basically unreadable. At one point he would fake to go one way, but actually go a different way. The enemy made a lot of these feints which threw the Dual mage off.

"I'm trying to use Ki, but it's too hard! How can I close my eyes when I know the enemy is coming for me?!" Lucas tensed up.

He eventually opened his eyes and went to fight normally, without using Ki.

"I should focus on what I can do at this moment. I can't exactly learn a new technique that isn't even magic in the middle of a battle!"

"Oh? You opened your eyes… does that mean you feel like facing against me now?!" Draien laughed as he reached Lucas. The mage looked at the Lucas's pitch-black weapons. "So, these are the weapons that beat Max last time? Let's see how you fare with them against me!"

"I'm not giving you a chance!" Lucas shouted as he took the front foot this time. He ran ahead with his weapons in each hand, gripping the hilts tightly.

Lucas got to Draien and swung the Time-infused Blades at the opponent's body, feeling the contact and hitting him straight on. The dust that generated from the quick motion of the weapons covered Draien.

"Yes, he did it!" Daisy cheered as she looked at the battle from behind.

"I hit him. I definitely felt contact with him…", Lucas gathered.

However, with the dust settling, what Lucas and Daisy saw was an unaffected man who simply looked down at the Light mage with a face of disappointment.

"That was it? Man, you're weak. I guess I'll show you just what I can do…", he began as his body started to glow an orange light. Traces of mana started circling around from where the Dual Blades hit him, and eventually covered his whole body.

"I couldn't get him and yet… what is this feeling? He's about to-!" Lucas started to think but was met with a counter.

"Kinetic Magic: Energy Reversal", Draien sighed as he expended a large amount of magic power which blew Lucas backwards.

The mage managed to break his fall by lodging his Dual Blades into the ground and also stopped him from going any further. However, the initial force of the magic blast injured Lucas further.

"What sort… of magic is that?" Lucas breathed heavily. Although he had plenty of mana, he could not use it in an effective way. His Dual Blades seemed to be useless too.

"Kinetic Magic…? That means he uses movement as part of his power, right? How do we beat a guy that's strength is movement?!" Daisy wondered out loud.

"It's… not just that. His Kinetic Magic is terribly strong, but his general strength is on another level too. Is this guy really brothers with Max?" Lucas replied. "They are on completely different levels!"

Just as he finished talking, Draien seemed to almost teleport to where Lucas was with how quick he was. "Comparing me to my little bro? Now, that's insulting! You see what they think of me and you, Max?" He shouted to where Max was.

"What the-?!" Lucas tried to turn but was met with a flurry of punches, sending him hurtling towards the cold floor.

As this interaction was occurring, Lucas was failing to land any hit on Draien that would damage him. Even if he actually did hit the mage, the Kinetic Magic would come into play as a defence and an offence mechanism.

"I have to use it then. There's no shying away this time… I have to do this!" Lucas said as his grimoire turned a page.

However, every action Lucas was making was way too slow.

"Kinetic Magic: Knee Strike!" The Kinetic mage quickly went above Lucas's head and struck his back with a magically powered-up strike from his knee and Lucas was sent into the floor.

Daisy started to move ahead. She couldn't take watching from the background anymore and knew she had to help. She didn't have enough mana but when she saw Lucas in this state, her body moved on its own.

However, her movements were stopped by a wall of Dark Magic in front of her.

"Dark Magic: Veil of Darkness". Yami put up a small wall between Lucas and Daisy to make sure she wouldn't interfere with the battle. "I've been watching him try to use Ki for a brief moment and he couldn't figure it out, but I bet he'll try it again. You, on the other hand… you have drops of mana in your body and aren't going to be helpful in this fight. You'll only be in the way", Yami spoke seriously.

"B-but… Lucas-san is…!" Daisy tried to speak but from the corner of her right eye, she saw the Dual mage standing back up to fight.

"Did I… give up on using Ki so soon? Wh-why did I think I could use something like that so quickly. Asta seems to have managed it, but I'm no Asta. I couldn't save Alice from her mana being removed, I couldn't save Sister Theresa, I saw death with Baro… just what sorry excuse of a Magic Knight am I?" He thought in his head all the troubles he had gone through and everything he had failed to do.

"But… that's all in the past and now I have to focus on the present. It's just as Daisy says, you have to act first or your chances disappear. I will try Ki again and I will make it work…", Lucas gripped his Dual Blades and started to concentrate.

Daisy looked in awe at the bruised body of the person who wasn't giving up. He faced plenty of problems but he wasn't letting that stop him. The Ice mage bit her lips and drew blood. Her frustration was showing.

"Lucas-san… you got this!" She struggled to compose herself but tried to give motivation.

Yami looked towards Lucas and shook his head. "Oi, Golden Dawn Brat! Remember, I said you can use Ki in two ways. Don't narrow yourself to one way of thinking!"

Lucas's eyes widened in realisation. "You can use Ki on your enemies, but also yourself. There's a reason as to why I can't use my Time Magic… so will Ki help me figure it out? I don't have the time to think about it… I'll just do it!"

The Dual mage closed his eyes and focused on himself. He could feel his heartbeat, as well the sound of his own breathing. In a deeper scale, he heard each droplet of blood hit the floor from his wounds, and he also heard the Daisy's lip quivering from behind him.

"I can see… some blue mana shackled behind yellow mana. Is there a way to unlock it? There are traces of it coming through but not enough". Lucas pictured his body and saw the flow of Light Magic in a yellow colour. It swelled throughout his body but not all of it was there. There was also some sort of blockage around his soul which stopped the flow of his Time Magic.

"I'll have to analyse more another time, but this is all I can do in such a short space. The blockage symbolise my unwillingness to use Time Magic, but I can't risk it anymore… I will use it… I will beat him!"

Draien charged ahead and covered his arms in a bright orange light. "It's over… I won't kill you but you won't be able to walk…!" He lunged ahead to Lucas who still had his eyes closed and looked to end the battle.

In a quick blue flash, Lucas swung his Dual Blades once more. Just like last time, he managed to hit the enemy straight in his torso.

"Wait! There's something different about those weapons now… they're… they're glowing much brighter than before!" Daisy commented.

Lucas's Dual Blades were coated in blue mana. Previously, they were just barely lit up with a faint glow, but this time you could clearly see the difference. A bright blue light was emitted from the edges of the weapons and they sunk into Draien's torso.

"I will… defeat you!" Lucas shouted as he put his whole body weight into slashing and hitting Draien backwards. He managed to do so and sent the Kinetic mage flying behind Licht. Valtos was in the same position too and they both hit the wall.

Draien looked at Lucas as he began to fall to the floor from his swing. "Man… this just got really interesting!"

"Hahahaha! Well done you idiots, you managed to learn a bit of Ki!" Yami laughed loudly as he slapped both of their backs.

As Yami laughed, Licht did quite the opposite.

"What the… How dare you hurt my comrades?! Now, I will not hesitate to destroy you!" Licht shouted as his expression grew fearsome and he floated in the air with his grimoire flicking to another page.

Licht looked down at the three mages who were involved in hurting Draien and Valtos and saw hatred.

"This won't kill you… but it sure will damage you vastly! Light Creation Magic: Light Whip of Judgement! It's time to be judged!" Licht shouted as he swung the ferocious whip.

NOTES:

We finally have Lucas accessing bits of his Time Magic. It was bound to happen one day and it happened through Ki was something I think works well.

Poor Lucas, he's seen so much mess and this is very early in his Magic Knight days.

Licht showing up with Valtos and Draien… what did you guys think of the Kinetic mage?