Chapter 42: Time To Do Something Different
"I've just seen two people die in front of me".
"Two people. Two enemies. Dead".
"All because I was too slow".
Lucas's mind was filled with unpleasant thoughts as he fought against Draien. The Kinetic mage has just got extremely powerful by killing his own brother.
Daisy looked from behind. Her fight was over with Max since he was gone. Now, she knew what she had to do.
"I just need the right opening if I want to help Lucas-san!" Daisy thought. "There's something that Draien does that I can use to our advantage!"
Draien continued his savage onslaught. "What do you think of my power now, Lucas?!" He laughed as he kept attacking.
His punches met Lucas's face, chest, and stomach. His kicks met Lucas's legs and feet. There was no defending against this man.
"I can't believe… you killed your own brother. Does family mean nothing to you?!" Lucas shouted.
Draien looked up in the air while still attacking. He wasn't even fully focusing yet his power was off the charts. "Let's see… Family is there for you through thick and thin, right? Well, Max was there for me and he helped me get this power!"
The smile of the murderer burned deep into Lucas's bright blue eyes. He recalled the instance where he saw himself in Draien's dark-blue eyes and he felt like throwing up.
"Kinetic Magic: Swift Elbow!" Draien jumped up again and with the increased speed he quickly hit Lucas in the ribs, sending him into the ground and making a crater.
Lucas seemed to be down and out, until his own ideals and convictions rung throughout his head. He lay with his eyes closed and yet all he could think about was beating the mage turned murderer.
"I… I have to use my Time Magic right now…", he opened his eyes and climbed up from the hole. The Dual mage stood up and his vision was completely narrow. All he could see in front of him was his enemy.
Asta was fighting Valtos during this incident and he got fairly close to defeating him at multiple times.
"The Demon-Slayer Sword and the Demon-Dweller Sword, hm? I'm easily slicing and deflecting each of the enemy's Spatial Magic orbs back towards him but he's dodging them with no problem at all", Asta said.
Valtos was looking at Asta but something else was on his mind entirely. "The brat is right in front of me. I can get the grimoire and swords but… what is that terrible feeling I just had?" He looked in the direction where Draien was.
The two fights were in different areas of the cave so they couldn't see each other. Though, the feeling of dread was definitely there when he thought about the Kinetic mage.
"This really can't go on for much longer", Valtos thought. He focused on Asta again. "I'll stop underestimating you now. You've had your fun and I've entertained you long enough! This is the end for you!"
With an open grimoire, Valtos manifested more of the spatial portals around the magicless swordsman. "Spatial Magic: Myriad Black! With more portals to think about, just how will you fare against these as well? Spatial Magic: Orbs of Removal!"
Asta took a deep breath and tightly held onto his Anti-Magic swords. "The only way I've been able to attack is through countering his spells. Ki has really helped and without it I have no idea what I would have done. I'll keep on using Ki… I have a good handle on it now so I'll be able to anticipate the right portal to target to finally get him".
Valtos fired his spell through the multitude of portals that he had summoned. With each attack, Asta would slice through them, saving himself and giving himself an opportunity to continue with his plan.
"This is good. I'll keep moving forward and make the right move when I know I can!" Asta decided.
More and more orbs were fired but this time Asta knew what he had to do. He looked ahead and another portal formed just as he predicted it would be.
"Yes!" Asta shouted as he ran for the portal. As he did, he threw his two swords away to the right and left and jumped through the newly-formed portal.
"What the-?! Your only weapons and you've discarded them?" Valtos questioned, sweat falling from his head.
"They're not my only way to victory!" Asta exclaimed as he appeared right in front of the Spatial mage's face. He then punched him in the face and propelled him backwards into a wall, making him faint from impact.
Asta stood where Valtos just was and looked in the direction where Lucas was fighting.
"How are you holding up, Lucas?" He wondered.
Yami and Licht were still fighting as well. With one attack from Yami, Licht would counter and the same would happen the other way too.
"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Black Blade!" Yami's katana extended its reach and he swiped at the Light mage.
"Light Creation Magic: Light Whip of Judgement!" The quick and strong light whip deflected each of Yami's strikes.
"I need to be faster!" Licht declared as he sped up. He used his immense speed through his Light Magic to seemingly teleport in and out of each of Yami's strikes with his katana.
Within a few seconds, Licht had surpassed Yami's speed and got in behind him.
"You're looking the wrong way!" Licht said as he shouted at Yami who had his back turned to him. He pulled back on the light whip and went for the captain's head.
However, Yami was one step ahead.
"I'm looking right where I need to be… Dark Magic: Black Hole!" The muscular swordsman turned his head and had his magic absorb Licht's.
Licht's eyes widened with shock. "Is this… your Ki at work?"
"You bet it is. How does it feel as your light gets swallowed up by my darkness?" The mage then lifted up his blade. "This'll end this. Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" Yami slashed at the enemy and cut through his shoulder, sending him backwards.
Licht landed on the floor and struggled to get up. As he looked around, he felt the same feeling of dread that Valtos felt when he looked in the direction of where Draien was. His muscles tensed up and his throat went dry.
"I don't sense Max's mana anywhere, yet Draien's power just went up. I told him not to go overboard and yet… Did he…?!" Licht wondered. He got angry at the mere thought of what the Kinetic mage may have done.
Suddenly, a flash of white went past his gold eyes. The mage turned to see what it was and he saw Valtos. He was unconscious and was dealt a damaging blow by Asta.
Meanwhile, Asta regrouped with Yami.
"Yo, brat. I see you did well with Ki. Keep that up in the future", he ruffled Asta's hair.
"Yes sir!" Asta replied.
"What about the other two. Did you get a look at what was happening with them?" Yami asked before looking in the direction where Lucas and Daisy were.
"Captain…?" Asta began.
"What is it?" Yami replied.
"You probably felt it too with your Ki, right? Something bad has happened over there", Asta gulped.
Yami shook his head and sighed. "I didn't want to bring it up but yes. The two kids are fine since I can sense their mana, but you're right. We can't leave here though since the battle is far from over. For now, let's keep at it here and quickly join up with them".
Licht immediately turned to Asta and Yami as he got up. "You two creatures will not be going anywhere! You magicless freak… you hurt Valtos again and I can not let you leave without teaching you a lesson. The two Black Bulls will die here!"
His four-leaf grimoire flicked through a few pages and stopped at one. Licht floated up into the air and an insanely bright light formed around him, blinding both Asta and Yami. The light was yellow and it was getting brighter and brighter by the second. "In a few mere seconds, you two will cease to exist".
"… And that's the last of them. Phew…", Finral yawned as he closed his Spatial Magic portal.
The other Black Bull had teleported all of the children that were walking back from the cave back to Nean, along with Gauche and the wounded Theresa and Neige. He had caught up with Gauche and the others and used his magic to help.
"Finral! You tend to the children while I take the old hag and this pale runt to one of the standby mages. They have an area set up for recovery!" Gauche quickly ran to the building.
Gauche's pace was so fast that it created wind and blew Finral's hair all over the place. He quickly corrected his hair and commented on the Mirror mage. "That's the first time he's been rushing around for someone other than Marie".
"Speaking of Marie…", Finral turned to see the child run after Gauche and the two wounded. "I guess its fine if she's with them, but I'll stay here with the other kids".
All of the children were back in Nean's town square. The church was on Finral's left and he was taking care of the large group of children.
Word got out that the children had returned and so the place started to swarm with parents and carers.
"Thank you so much for bringing back my son!"
"The Magic Knights really are great!"
"Mum… Dad… the Magic Knights saved us all!"
A plethora of gratitudes was given to the Magic Knights as the families started to return. The only children that were left with Finral were Daisy's siblings as well as Rebecca's.
"Finral, is Asta going to be alright?" Marco tugged at the Black Bull's leg.
"Our sister, Daisy… will she be safe?" Grace and Sonia whimpered.
By now, Alice was awake. She was still weakened as her magic was gone but she was well enough to be conscious. "It… was all my fault", the seven-year-old said softly.
Finral knelt down and spoke to her closely. "Whatever happened and whatever is happening… none of it is to do with you. It's all because of the bad people, okay?" He rustled her red hair around.
"Everyone… you're here!"
All of the children as well as Finral looked towards where the voice came from and saw that it was Rebecca running for them.
She quickly knelt down and hugged her siblings. She also pulled in Daisy's siblings to help them out with not feeling lonely.
Mimosa and Noelle also came running from behind and greeted Finral.
"You came! Does that mean…?" Noelle said.
"Yeah. Captain Yami is with Asta and the others", he replied.
"Um… how are Lucas and Daisy doing?" Mimosa asked. She seemed agitated and worried for her friends.
"I'm not sure. I didn't see Lucas or Daisy but things seemed quite bad when we got there. The leader of the Eye of The Midnight Sun showed up as well as another two strong mages… But I'm sure they'll be safe!" Finral tried to alleviate the worries but only managed to add to them.
Noelle stepped forwards, confused. "Wait, I requested for a few captains to show up. Is Captain Yami the only one?"
"To my knowledge, yes. I didn't see any others", he responded and sighed.
Noelle furrowed her brow. "Are you kidding me?"
The group eventually headed into Rebecca's restaurant and she quickly put her siblings to bed. They were extremely tired from the entire ordeal and needed the rest.
The ground floor was Finral with Noelle and Mimosa, as well as Alice, Chloe, Grace, and Sonia.
"Oh, it's you, Alice! How is everythi-!" Mimosa stopped talking. As everyone else has done so far, she recognised that something was different about the seven-year-old. "She's like Asta… her mana is gone?"
Alice turned around from her chair and replied with anger. "Yes, yes… you can say it. I know my mana's completely gone and it… it's… all m-my fault. All the ch-children, they were h-hurt because of me!" She started to cry.
Her other sister's didn't know why she was blaming herself and neither did the Magic Knights in the room.
Finral reached for her. "Hey, I said it's not your f-!" Alice slapped the Black Bull's hand away from her.
"I know I'm a kid but I also know when I'm at fault. If I didn't… If I didn't force everyone to play Hide and Seek last night, Lucas and Daisy wouldn't have been as tired and they could've prevented all of this! I mean... my older sister can do anything! She's amazing! But... it's also not just me… a few other kids had their mana effected. I was the only one that fully lost it though". Alice grinded her teeth and more tears fell from her eyes.
Mimosa knelt down to Alice's level. She gently touched the girl's cold shoulder and gave her a smile. "Even if you did all that, kids make plenty of mistakes but at the end of the day they're just kids. You didn't bring the bad guys here and you didn't hurt anyone. You just played a game", she said.
The Plant mage's words brought more tears to the young girl's eyes and she started to bawl freely. Mimosa brought her in for a hug and also reached for Chloe as well as the twins.
Finral nudged Noelle in the shoulder. "Your cousin's really good with children. Who knew?"
Noelle smiled at what she saw and then blushed. "Hmph… I could be good with them too but I figured this was something Mimosa could handle herself!"
Finral face-palmed.
Chloe tapped the Vermillion on the head. "Is Sister Theresa and that other guy going to be okay?"
"What do you mean?" Mimosa asked.
"The Sister and another person were badly injured by the bad guy", Grace mentioned.
"They were stabbed…", Sonia added.
Mimosa turned to Finral. "Why didn't you tell me? I could help them!"
"They're already being dealt with by the other recovery mages that showed up with us. They're a few houses down the road", Finral explained.
Mimosa stood up and let go of her hug with the children. She quickly ran out of the house and headed for the destination where Theresa and Neige were.
Finral looked surprised and turned to Noelle. "What just happened?"
"That's Mimosa for you. She's been feeling absolutely helpless this whole time so when the time came to help, she acted immediately", Noelle smiled. She looked away from Finral, "then again… I haven't done much either…", she clenched her fists.
Mimosa arrived at the house in no time at all and rushed in. There she saw two white beds with three recovery mages shining their Recovery Magic at them and slowly healing their bodies. Gauche and Marie were knelt down next to Theresa and anxiously waited for her to wake up.
"I'm here as well! I'm a Magic Knight with Recovery Magic too so I know I can help!" Mimosa knelt down next to Theresa as well. "Can we have two mages at each patient, please? It will make things much quicker and easier to handle", she ordered.
The three standby mages looked at each other and nodded. One of them got up from Theresa and went to Neige to start healing.
"Plant Recovery Magic: Princess-Healing Flower Robe!" Mimosa covered herself with green vines and pink flowers to form a dress. The wings on her back extended outwards and from she gained the ability to heal through this spell.
Mimosa put her palms over the injured Theresa who was unconscious at his point and started to heal her. A bright-green light formed from her hands and the room became warmer from it.
"I didn't realise how bad these injuries were. Her mana is gone too but it's only been drained. It's not like Alice's so I guess I don't have to worry about that", Mimosa focused.
Gauche looked at Mimosa and then back at the nun. "Please be alright you stupid hag… I know I say a lot of stuff about you, and a lot of it I genuinely mean with how annoying you are… but it's no secret how much you care for Marie".
Marie hugged her older brother's side as she kept faith too. "You can do it, Sister!"
Theresa's body was filled with different-sized holes. Licht's swords had stabbed her all over and there was no telling how damaged the inside of her body was. At the start, there was still blood pooling out but through Mimosa's and the other mages' help the flow of blood had stopped.
The other mages tended to Neige. His injuries were not as bad as the Sister's but he was still badly injured. As opposed to Theresa, there was only one stab wound and it was on his back. Within a few minutes, they closed his wound up and covered it with bandages.
A few small and quiet coughs were all Theresa could let out as she regained consciousness. Gauche, Marie, and all of the others in the room immediately looked to see what was happening and they saw her eyes open.
"My, my… just what is this warm light?" She said as she tried to fully open her eyes.
"It's Lady Mimosa! Her magic is healing you right up so don't worry", Marie answered.
"Oh, right. I forgot there were royals in the town…", she smiled. Theresa then turned to Gauche who was looking down at the floor after seeing the Sister was fine. "And what… about you… you idiot? I remember you came back to help at the cave. I'm… proud of you, Gauche".
Gauche slowly looked up but still diverted his line of sight away from Theresa's. "I don't care about your praise. I only came back because Marie asked me to".
Marie then elbowed Gauche in the hip causing him to let out a slight groan.
Sister Theresa smiled. "Well, I know you're a freak that's obsessed with his sister… but I guess it's fine when it doesn't get in the way… of who you really are", she said weakly.
"Who I really am?" Gauche questioned.
"You're a fine… Magic Knight when it comes down to it. Your magic is strong… it's just a shame that you don't show it off too much…" Theresa answered.
Gauche's eyes slowly widened and then relaxed and a very small smile formed on his mouth. "I'll show off a bit more then…", he said softly.
Mimosa kept the healing up and smiled. "Thank goodness she'll be alright", she sighed with relief. "Finally, I feel like I'm being useful… I wish I could've gone to the cave to help out since my Recovery Magic would've been useful, but then I wouldn't have been able to help the people here".
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Theresa closed her eyes again and it seemed like the healing spells weren't enough. Her voice started to weaken and worry and panic set in once more.
"You… will be just… alright…", she stopped speaking.
The Mirror mage started shouting at Mimosa. "Oi, you royal brat! Add some more power to your spells or something… she's dying here! What the hell is wrong with you? Aren't you from the Golden Dawn, the best squad or whatever the heck you call yourselves?! Fix this!"
Mimosa closed her eyes and a vein popped out from the side of her head. Sweat started to fall and she clenched her teeth.
"If you would wait… just one second, Gauche, you would see that the Sister is just playing a prank – an uncalled for prank may I add", she said slowly, but definitely with frustration. Mimosa stressed and emphasised on Gauche's name suggesting she was extremely angry with what he was saying about her.
"Haha… got you good, didn't I?" She laughed.
"Gauche, you owe the nice lady an apology!" Marie flicked her brother's head with her finger.
The Black Bull stood up and scratched his head. "Hmph. I guess you did a good job", he said to Mimosa.
Though the Vermillion wasn't listening. One reason was that she was that annoyed with him, but another was that she was just happy with what she accomplished. "Thank goodness…".
Straight away after this, the door opened and Finral walked in. Everyone turned to him and he began to speak. "Didn't know I'd get an audience like this…", he sorted his hair out. "Well, all the children are safe and sound with their families. What do you want to do now, Gauche?"
Gauche looked at Theresa and thought about what she said. "She asked me to show my magic off a bit more, so…". He stood up and looked at his teammate.
"Let's go back to the cave", he said.
Finral's shoulders dropped. "Wh-wh-why on earth would you want to go back?!"
"There's something I have to do!" Gauche exclaimed.
"Can't you do that something here?" Finral asked.
Gauche walked up to Finral and dragged him outside by the robe. "We're going back. I've said so".
Finral's last words as the doors closed after him; "But I have… seniority…", he said defeatedly.
As things settled in Nean and before Finral and Gauche arrived, Licht was about to finish off Asta and Yami with his powerful spell.
"C-Captain Yami, aren't we going to attack him?!" Asta waved his swords around.
Yami took a puff of his cigarette and sighed. "I mean we could, but I don't think we should".
"What does that even mean?!" Asta shouted confusedly.
The huge swordsman sighed again. "Really? I'll let the glowing guy answer you". He turned to Licht and shouted. "Oi, what would happen if we fought you at this exact moment?"
Licht looked down at the two. They seemed like mere insects to him with how much power he was generating. "I can answer that since you two will die anyway. This spell takes in extreme amounts of mana and energy and if something, even as little as a twig, touches it… everything will be destroyed. So, either you die in a few seconds, or you die now. What's your plan?" He said rhetorically.
"Well, there you have it, kid", Yami turned to face the scared Black Bull.
Asta's face was completely pale. "What am I seeing and hearing…?" He walked up to Yami and spoke again. "Wait, what if I deflect the magic back with the Demon-Slayer Sword?"
"Nope. Nada. You'll die from impact", Yami said plainly.
Suddenly, a white and grey portal opened right in front of the Black Bull Captain and he started to smile.
"Backup's here", he said.
Finral and Gauche emerged from the transport spell and the two looked exhausted.
"Gauche would not stop bullying me into taking him back here… phew!" Finral wiped his sweat.
"It's only because you wouldn't listen, you stupid taxi", Gauche replied.
Finral's face dropped. "My seniority…".
The two turned and saw just what was happening with Licht and his magic.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wh-what have we just got ourselves into?!" Finral screamed.
Licht looked down and smiled. "More of the Black Bulls? Well, I guess it really is 'the more the merrier'!" He floated even higher and the light became more intense.
"Did you have time for your final prayers?! Light Magic: Ray of Divine Punishment!"
As he said, a huge and powerful beam of light came down and headed for the targeted group.
"I've got this!" Gauche shouted. He stood right in front of the others and faced the enemy. "Mirror Magic: Full Reflection!" A huge mirror appeared in front of him and the incoming beam of intense light hit the mirror and was reflected right back at Licht.
"So… it was you…", Licht said as he was hit with his own magic at a high speed.
The reflection tore a massive hole in the cave. At this point it wasn't even a cave anymore but a huge crater in the mountains. The light travelled further and further until it dissipated into nothingness. Licht fell from the air and hit the cold hard ground.
"How was that?!" Gauche shouted. He turned to smiling faces and thought about Sister Theresa. "Maybe you'll give me more respect now…".
Just as Finral and Gauche appeared, Lucas battled on with his own enemy in another part of the cave.
"My Time Magic spell that I unlocked back in the dungeon against the Diamond Kingdom would be the best bet. The way it works is the only suitable way of defeating Draien and then regrouping with Asta and Captain Yami. I just need a couple of seconds to use it but he is relentless!" Lucas thought to himself, gripping his Dual Blades, and fighting against the deranged mage.
"You know, on top of the added power of my Kinetic Magic, I also got a new trick up my sleeve if you want to see it? Well, I won't wait for you to answer… so heads up!" Draien jumped backwards and showed off the new addition to his arsenal.
"Kinetic Magic: Maximum Press + Double Uppercut!" Draien's body glowed intensely with an orange light and he rushed forwards. His hands were rolled up into fists and it looked like they had a plate of armour on with how hard they looked. His speed increased as well as his power and he hit Lucas with two strong uppercuts into the chin.
"I was too slow… again!" Lucas shouted as he flew into the air and back down again. "Just a few seconds of time is all I need!" His head slowly lowered into the ground as he felt some of his strength go.
Suddenly, he felt the cold footsteps of someone plant themselves right in front of him. Lucas looked up from the ground, his face covered in cuts and bruises and saw Daisy stand tall.
"Lucas-san, I've figured something out but I'll need an opening. We're going to work together". She turned her head back and smiled at him. "You want to defeat this guy, right? Well, I'm going to help you out".
Lucas stared into the big blue and violet eyes and accepted their invite. He quickly got up and stood beside her.
"Your mana, is it good?" He asked, slightly hunched over but nonetheless ready.
"I have enough for what I need to do", she said calmly. "Besides, you've decided what you need to do as well, haven't ya?" She winked.
Lucas held his weapons tighter. "Yup!"
"So, the two Magic Knights decided to pair up against me? I guess that was the only way to do so. You're faced with power as great as mine so there's no wondering why!" Draien laughed. His muscles tensed more and his veins popped out.
"Kinetic Magic: Maximum Press + Gatling Punches!" He boosted his physical capabilities and sped up his punches. He quickly got into both Lucas's and Daisy's faces and went for the strikes.
"Ice Creation Magic: Crystalised Barrier!" Daisy formed a quick protective wall to separate herself and Lucas from the incoming attack but it was easily broken by Draien's strength.
Draien laughed again. "Ice Magic won't do anything. My strength can easily break past. I have no idea what you think you'll accomplish anyway. Let me focus on the real treat!"
Lucas felt a cold stare from Draien. Ironically, it gave him more chills than Daisy's own magic suggesting that the Kinetic mage really was a force to be reckoned with.
"Kinetic Magic: Energy Reversal!" A bright orange light exploded around Draien and he targeted both Magic Knights.
Lucas and Daisy both fell to their knees and they were panting from the effects of the attack. Draien quickly retreated and was about to start another set of attacks.
Daisy saw the mage retreat and quickly started to act. "After every attack, he has a habit of backing up and jumping up and down. When he first arrived, he was jumping on his tip toes as if he was psyching himself up. My hunch is that since his magic revolves around movement, he needed to create some energy to be effective. It is kinetic energy after all. No matter how strong he is now, he always needs to be charging up". She focused on his movements but doing so left her exposed to his attacks.
Lucas saw Daisy analysing the opponent and sacrificed his defence to help her out. "Light Reinforcement Magic: Flashing Armour Ritual!" The ginger-haired teen surrounded Daisy with an added layer of defence which also powered her up.
However, this version of his spell was much weaker than prior since he was extremely worn out. His stamina was taking a hit as well as his magic efficiency.
"Sorry, Daisy. This is the best I can do for now so make sure you make your plan count!" He said.
Lucas had switched from Time Magic to Light Magic quickly but since Draien was already with him, he took the full brunt of the Gatling Punches to his body. He was sent backwards but used his Energy Whips to balance himself once more. Blood fell from his mouth and his vision was becoming slightly blurred.
"Thanks, Lucas-san… with this I have my opportunity! Keep up with my movements!" She said to Lucas who ran behind her.
Daisy ran forwards, and as she predicted, Draien had retreated once again and was charging his magic through kinetic energy.
"Ice Magic: Skater's Heaven!" She skated forwards as both of her boots became small ice blocks to glide across the floor with. As she moved, the floor became ice and it started to travel to where Draien was.
"Stupid girl. I'm fighting against Lucas here. Do not interrupt!" Draien shouted, jumping in the air to avoid being trapped. "Kinetic Magic: Energy Reversal!" The enemy exploded a large amount of energy and it damaged Daisy a bit. Her arm became entirely bruised and she struggled to stay up.
He landed on the floor, away from Daisy, and spoke to Lucas.
"Fighting alongside someone to beat me… just where is the fun in that?!" He roared.
"Obviously you wouldn't know the positives of being with someone for a common goal. You killed your own comrade…", Lucas replied, looking behind Draien and seeing the dead corpse of his younger brother.
Draien shrugged. "Hmph. It means nothing to me. Perhaps once there was a bond between us, but after my horrid time with the Magic Knights, everything started to change".
"You were in the Magic Knights?" Lucas asked.
"Oh yes, and my dream was something alright! Though, that is a tale for another time. I'm not going to bore myself rehashing the past when I can have fun right here and right now!" He ran forwards, surrounding his arms with orange light.
Lucas span his Dual Blades in his hands and pointed them at the incoming mage. He gripped them tightly and met the foe's charge.
The two exchanged blows for a few minutes and through their battle, Draien picked up on something.
"You know what? You are extremely annoying when you do that", he said.
Lucas was confused. "What do you mean?"
"Just now, you had the chance to stab me through the chest. Why didn't you?" He asked.
"Why didn't I?" Lucas repeated, getting angry. "Look, I have no idea why you're so obsessed with fighting and killing. I'm not like you! I will not kill!"
The Kinetic mage stopped and relaxed his shoulders. Though his face contorted and his anger made him grind his teeth. "See? That's the problem with you and that's why this isn't the ultimate battle just yet! I've spoken about you not willing to make sacrifices or do what's needed… yet you want to become the Wizard King? What a stupid ideal you have!".
The Golden Dawn mage looked in anger towards his enemy. "You clearly have a twisted interpretation of what it means to be the Wizard King. Well, so be it. I'll be a different kind of person and a different type of Wizard King!"
"Shut it. Lucas…", Draien surrounded himself with the same orange aura as he had done numerous times. He looked dead into the Dual mage's eyes and shouted. "You'll realise how flawed your thinking is soon enough!" He charged forwards.
"To achieve your dream… you will kill!"
"I will not!"
Lucas and Draien both clashed again. The Light mage used Ki and Time Magic to speed up his weapons even more and slow down Draien as well. Lucas's entire body language was different and sparks of blue magic seemed to be escaping his grimoire and his eyes.
"I am not like you. I will not be like you. I have people I can rely on and we will beat you!" Lucas's determination increased and he managed to use his Dual Blades to send Draien into the air to fight.
Draien looked at Lucas who sent him up but then, just next to him, he saw someone else down below. "You… again?!"
"That's right!" Daisy used her Skater's Heaven spell and froze the entire ground with ice. Wherever Draien would land, he would be trapped and surrounded by the cold magic. She looked to her right and gave the all clear. "Lucas-san… go for it!"
The Kinetic Magic user, at this point, was tunnel-visioned and too focused on Daisy and her intruding antics, that he didn't realise what Lucas was doing. He turned his face and that was when he saw, just in the corner of his eye, the opponent he wanted to fight. Lucas had jumped into the air with the help of his Energy Whips spell and he was slightly above the falling Draien. They both looked into each other's eyes and, again, saw themselves.
Lucas clenched his teeth in anger. The sight of Draien disgusted him and he had to beat him.
"Light Creation Magic: Energy Whips!" He used his magic to wrap around Draien's legs, sending him down to the floor. Now, that his tunnel-vision switched to Lucas he didn't pay attention to his landing.
He crashed on the floor but as he did, he became stuck in ice. Using Skater's Heaven allowed her to make a makeshift version of her Crystalised Barrier spell since it was easier to do and she had no more remaining mana.
It was as if time had slowed down for Lucas as he was still in the air. Daisy had given Lucas this one-in-a-thousand chance to defeat Draien. He slowly fell towards the ground but as he did, his eyes glowed an intense blue colour, more than when he was using his powered-up Dual Blades.
"It's time… time to use the Time Magic spell. Magic that I've refused to properly use is the only way to defeat him. For the first time in 10 years, I'm going to do it!" Lucas started to fall towards where Draien was stuck in the ice. He saw him struggling to get free but was making small movements to try and break through.
"Thank you for this opportunity, Daisy…!"
Lucas used his right arm and pointed it towards the Kinetic mage. A bright-blue light surrounded his arm from his shoulder to his fingertips and blue sparks kept forming around. He opened his palm and summoned his spell.
"Time Magic: Heaven's Time!"
The small area around Draien's body was targeted by the time spell. As Lucas cast it, the space where the enemy was became a dark-grey colour which stopped all movement. Since the cave was breaking apart, through Licht's previous attacks, as well as through Lucas's and Draien's battle, there were still pieces of debris falling.
Debris was still falling when Lucas cast the spell, however they all stopped in space when Heaven's Time was cast on Draien.
Daisy started to sweat with immense nervousness. The droplets fell from her head and her body felt hot. A part of her was scared with what she just saw but another part of her felt relaxed since it was Lucas who cast the spell.
"T-T-Time Magic?! Just what the… how is this p-p-possible?" She said softly as she saw the Time mage fall to the ground after trapping Draien in time.
As Lucas landed, he struggled to maintain his balance and his legs were about to give way. With the last amount of strength he had, he walked up to the frozen Draien and clicked his fingers.
"The secondary effect…", he said as he formed a beam of blue light to shoot at Draien from his right palm. "The spell freezes the target within time and since they can't move, there's a sure-fire hit on them with a beam of blue light". He looked at Draien and his spell was lifted. It looked like he was finally defeated.
His legs gave way as the last bit of strength left his body. He then sat on the floor with his body looking at the doubly frozen Draien. The mage looked at his right hand and opened and closed it.
"So, this was Time Magic?" He thought to himself.
Suddenly, he started coughing intensely as he relaxed his mana. Lucas covered his mouth with his right hand and when he looked at it, he saw blood. He started to feel faint and his face went pale with exhaustion. However, he managed to stay conscious.
"The fallout of using Time Magic? I guess I need more practice with it…", he thought.
The Time mage looked at Draien and he was completely motionless. He then also saw Daisy completely gobsmacked, standing right next to the enemy, and wasn't even looking at Lucas.
Lucas opened his mouth. "I guess I have some explaining to do…".
However, elsewhere and quite far away from where the Magic Knights were, a group of three spoke to themselves in darkness.
The three looked at Sally who was floating in a tube of green liquid and unconscious from her fight with the Magic Knights.
"They really got her good, didn't they?" A man said. He scratched his black hair that was covered in white patches.
"The despair Sally felt as she lost… how I'd love to inflict it on them!" Another male spoke. This one towered over the other two and he bore his fangs.
"Unforgivable. The hatred I feel for these people… Sally, I will take revenge". A woman with pink hair declared. Her eyes stayed open the entire time implying she was completely focused on her task.
The three looked at each other and then at Sally. "I think it's time we make our entrance".
NOTES:
The conclusion of Licht (for now) and the conclusion of Draien (for now?) Let me know what you thought!
The first appearance of Lucas's Time Magic and what better way to show it that against someone he's grown to hate. Heaven's Time is his first spell and it seemed to work, albeit through Daisy's help.
What will Daisy think about this? What will others think? Remember what Julius said, that Lucas should've told his squad? Hm…
Btw, when Lucas spoke about his spell, it was because he saw what it said in his grimoire. He didn't just randomly know.
Anyways, Licht is down, Valtos is down, and Draien is down. Three people gone, and another three to appear soon. Keep tuned!
