Chapter 77: All Is Not What It Seems

Disclaimer:

Mystic is back and we have a bit of what she can do in this chapter! There are quite a few flashbacks and stuff like that in this chapter but it really helps to characterise.

For her Japanese voice actor that I'd like/fancast, it would have to be…

Mystic - [Sanada, Asami] (Example: Kurumi Tokisaki from 'Date A Live')

By the way, if you're wondering, I haven't come to the decision for Ren's VA and I keep trying to see who would be right for someone like him. A lot of you have read what he's like so you could always recommend a VA for him if you'd like!

With that said, I hope you enjoy!


"Now this is quite the scene. Two humans fighting one another in the middle of the Witches' Forest. Well, I guess that is because of me, Mystic!".

The figure that came out into the open from the burning shadows clapped her hands together and near the side of her head. She smiled as she saw the argument that she created. Her grimoire was next to her, glowing with the colours of purple and white.

"Mariella, do you really want to fight me right now? You caught me off guard when you pinned me down but I'm telling you… I'm not going to back down!"

"Lucas, you nearly got me with what you were saying but now I see that I should follow my instincts. To trick an assassin of the Diamond Kingdom is shameful but I'll make it right!"

The two were in their own world of illusions, thinking the other was tricking and betraying them. They were just about to fight with their grimoires raised up right next to them.

Mystic took one more step forward as the two stopped talking. The shadow lifted from her face but instead of the smile she had on just a few seconds before, it was a look of shock as her purple eyes widened.

"No way… Lucas from the dungeon and… Little Mari? They're both here…?" She exclaimed in a way that she seemed to recognise both of them.

Then, her shocked expression reverted back into a smile and she clapped her hands together once more. She jumped back, giving space to the mages she recognised and raised her grimoire.

"Looks like this was fate. Seeing the two of you is just… fitting", she said before her grimoire flicked through multiple pages. Eventually, it landed on one and she cast her spell as the purple light from the spellbook illuminated her face.

"Illusion Magic: Transforming Battlefield!"

The purple smoke filled a larger area instead of just around Lucas and Mariella. The two looked around at what was happening and then the ground started to shake violently. It was changing shape and elevating different parts of itself whereas the trees and bushes around them changed positions and sizes. It was like a playground filled with different sized shapes that happened to be altogether.

"That purple smoke… Why is it so familiar and just what on earth is going on?!" Lucas shouted falling down on the floor with the amount of movement that was going on.


LUCAS'S POV:

"The whole forest is changing! This can't be Mariella's magic so just what is happening?!" Lucas shouted, looking all around at the shifting landscape. He looked at the Ice mage opposite him for answers but it didn't seem like she was interested.

Mariella crossed her arms in an 'X' shape down by her waist and casted a spell. "Ice Creation Magic: Killer Ice Slashes!" Her magic placed two ice daggers in her open palms and she ran ahead quickly, aiming for Lucas.

He jumped back but almost lost his footing as the floor was broken up into pieces. The heel of his right foot had nothing to step on and he fell backwards and into a ditch. Lucas looked down and around at what exactly the situation was.

"The ground is literally in pieces. There's platforms of land all around but nothing connecting them. It's as if I'll need to jump to each platform to actually stand up and have a chance in this fight…".

"Light Creation Magic: Energy Whips!" He flicked his left wrist upwards and pulled himself up with his magic, easily escaping the hole and landing on a free platform. He saw Mariella in front, on a different platform, staring at him as if she was just waiting for him to come up.

"You took your time getting out of there. I thought the Diamond experiments were smarter than what you're showing me", Mariella said snarkily.

"Why are you acting so weirdly all of a sudden? You believed me with the grimoire so why did you decide to attack me?!" Lucas shouted, clenching his fists in frustration.

Quickly, she ran ahead at top speed and jumped in the air to the platform that Lucas was standing on and went for two slashes with her weapons. Thankfully, the Magic Knight read her move and dodged to the side.

"Are you not even going to question the scenario we're in?! The whole forest is breaking apart and we're almost trapped by the gigantic trees and bushes around us!" He protested, trying to get into the assassin's head.

"The only thing I'm questioning is how you infiltrated the Magic Knights without them noticing anything", she responded. "So much for the best squad", she smirked.

Lucas sighed. "It looks like her mind just flicked a switch. She's completely different and I have no idea wh…! Hm, perhaps that oddly familiar purple smoke had something to do with it but I'm not sure what!"

"Killer Ice Slashes!" Mariella screamed as she phased forwards. She kept hacking and slashing and Lucas kept weaving and dodging.

"For now… I'll just have to fight!"

"Energy Whips!" He shouted as he flicked his left wrist again but right at the attacker this time. He sent his construct with a violent snap and it almost hit her but she dodged away in the nick of time.

"Killer Ice Slashes!" She repeated again, going for the same type of attack. This time, instead of jumping towards him, she threw the daggers with a flick of her own wrist right at him.

The first dagger came but Lucas batted it away with his creation spell but the second dagger came right after it which the mage couldn't use his spell to deflect. It was within inches of his left eye and he could see the sharp point heading right for him if not for the last second dodge that he made with his head to the right.

"Mariella! That would've taken my eye out! Are you really going to go through with this?!" Lucas raised his voice, rushing forwards with his grimoire glowing blue.

"For the safety of my teacher, Domina, as well as me… I'll do anything!" She replied, getting angrier.

Lucas's Energy Whips dissipated as now only his Time mana was active. He reached ahead with his right arm and summoned; "Time Magic: Heaven's Time!"

A portion of the battlefield turned grey with it frozen in time, Mariella was supposed to be right under the attack but as Lucas casted his blue eyes onto the platform, she was nowhere to be found. Still, the platform turned grey and the secondary effect of the spell came forth, blasting a beam of blue energy downwards, destroying the ground she was just standing on previously.

The Dual mage looked around hastily, his eyes darting everywhere to see if he could see anything to pinpoint her location but it was pointless. She seemed to have disappeared. That was until his ears picked up on a faint whisper in front of him, near the tall trees and bushes.

"You really think you could get me with your Time Magic?"

A whisper emerged from the distance which his right ear picked up on.

"You know, I am an assassin… so why don't I show you the extent of my abilities?"

Another whisper came from the left which his left ear reacted to.

"Ice Magic: Frozen Mist".

The same voice now came straight from the middle where Lucas was looking at initially. Mariella had summoned a spell and it looked like its effects were already at play. The battlefield started to change once more with the large trees moving around in front of Lucas. The platforms behind him reverted back into a solid ground whereas the foliage in front of him turned into something resembling an obstacle course.

The forest had transformed with large trees in front of another with large spaces in between. There were poisonous thorns and spikes at the bottom with a purple smoke coming from them. Thin vines were dangling down from the brown branches and green leaves but the main thing that Lucas saw was…

"There's a cool mist everywhere…", he shivered. He saw the forest drown in a mist that made things barely visible. It covered some trees and left others exposed so you'd never know how many there are or the distance between one to the next.

"See if you can beat an assassin from the Diamond Kingdom…". Mariella's voice rang throughout the forest.

The Magic Knight dropped his shoulders as he looked at the tall task ahead of him but quickly clenched his fists and took a deep breath.

"I presume Mariella is at the end of this… obstacle course?" His voice questioned as he described what he saw. "I can't let things be and risk her attacking me when my guard's down so this is how it has to be!"

Just before he ran ahead, he noted how odd things were and how this was in no way related to Mariella's magic.

"Yeah, there's definitely a third party involved here. Ice Magic, no matter how powerful, cannot manipulate entire battlefields like this. Either there's someone playing tricks on us to see what happens, or they're leading us somewhere… That purple smoke down below, as well as it showing up earlier, is the indicator for that".

With that in mind, Lucas ran ahead with his left arm swinging in front and his grimoire shining a bright yellow.

"Light Creation Magic: Energy Whips!" He shouted as his magical construct wrapped around one of the first tree's branches, allowing him to swing towards it. Lucas easily made it past the tree and was looking to move onto the next when he realised a problem with his method of traversal.

"Oh no! I can only use Light Magic from my left side so I have nothing to swing with on my right!" He panicked.

Lucas kept hold of his left-handed whip and kept swinging back and forth with his speed and momentum increasing. Eventually, he went so fast that he launched himself up into the air, landing on the top of the tree.

As he landed, he couldn't break his fall very well and ended up injuring himself with his legs giving way.

"My Energy Whips were already in use so I couldn't use them to break my fall… I wish I could use both of my magics with both of my hands…", he sighed as he thought, clutching his leg as he felt some pain.

Suddenly, giving Lucas relatively no time to recover, Mariella appeared from the mist with her Ice Magic ready to attack with.

"Ice Creation Magic: Slicing Glacier!" She showed up from the right, behind Lucas and immediately went for the kill. The assassin summoned multiple pieces of ice in front of her and they were spinning in circles, giving them a spherical shape, similar to Mars' Harpe spell. As quickly as she formed the spell, they already fired and she was aiming to stab the Magic Knight in the back.

Lucas's ears twitched and he felt Mariella emerge behind him but it was a little too late as the attack had already bypassed his Ki detection. Some of the Slicing Glacier spell had stabbed into his back but he had the strength to turn around and deflect the remaining pieces of ice that were heading for him.

He fell to one knee with blood dripping from his wounds at the back. He looked up and extended his right arm forwards which began to have a blue sphere form around the wrist. "Time Magic Alter Deccel!"

The remaining ice pieces slowed down with a blue energy surrounding them. Lucas then shot his left arm up and summoned the same spell as earlier to deal with the leftovers.

"Light Creation Magic: Energy Whips!" He flicked his left wrist and the spell easily destroyed the small constructs until sparkles of ice fell onto the surface of the tree's head.

Mariella then disappeared into the mist once again, leaving Lucas on his own with the obstacle course still to get through and complete. Her voice still rang around the air, taunting the Magic Knight but Lucas was focused on something else for now.

He clutched his injured back, realising the damage that Mariella's attack inflicted was quite deep. He then stood up and put his arms into an 'X' shape across his chest, generating a bright, yellow light.

"Light Reinforcement Magic: Flashing Armour Ritual!" The left arm started glowing first which then passed on to the right arm. This light then travelled throughout his body, increasing his defence. "With this, I can carry on without worrying too much but… her attack was really strong there…", he winced as he stood up.

The Golden Dawn mage then looked at the rest of the obstacle course, worried as to how he's going to make it through considering his Energy Whips can only help him in a limited way.

"What else can I do…?"

Near Lucas, but masked through the Illusion Magic's defence, stood Mystic, observing everything that was going on with Lucas. She had her arms folded and her expression was of anger even though her plan was working to perfection.

"Lucas… the defeat I suffered against you brought me no positives when I returned to the Diamond Kingdom…".


FLASHBACK - A FEW MONTHS AGO:

"You failed?!"

The sound of glass shattering filled the dark room that had multiple people sitting inside. The weather outside was atrocious with winds at high speed shaking the trees outside violently. Rain was thundering down as a storm was passing and now the water was trickling inside and falling down onto the pieces of glass that were on the floor.

"We apologise, Ren. All three of us were met with inconvenience from the Magic Knights", Lotus explained with his head looking down at the floor.

All of a sudden, lightning flashed across the skies outside and the light illuminated the dark room very briefly. It showed a row of chairs with multiple people sat on with two others dressed in lab coats standing either side of the platform they were on. Below them, were three mages kneeling down, reporting about their mission just a day prior.

"We needed the treasure from the dungeon to help fund our experiments! I would have thought that sending two soldiers - the products of those very experiments - would understand the importance of the mission. But… you got beaten by some Magic Knights?!"

"Lotus…", Morris interjected, seeing as Ren was seething with anger. "Did you gather any information that may be useful to us in the long run? This… is not looking good for any of you three", he explained, correcting his glasses.

A pair of footsteps suddenly slammed down on the ground in front of Lotus and the other two mages behind him. They looked up and saw that it was one of the Shining Generals that had stood up from his seat.

"I say we kill the lot!" A man with a large, brown afro shouted with a huge grin stretched across his face. "I told you that a Shining General should've gone instead of the rookies, yet you insisted on seeing how the experiments fare! Well, it looks like you have your answer!"

Chills went climbing down the spines of the three who were kneeling. Mars was silent for the entire time and so was Mystic. Both of them seemed to have been dealing with something and it wasn't looking good for them if Brocks was going to have his way.

"No", Ren replied coldly to what Brocks said. "These two will have to redeem themselves in one way or another and Morris and I will see that they do. As for Lotus, you've proven yourself time and time again, but this failure weighs heavily. I hope you understand that", he said as he walked towards the two Dual mages with Morris right beside him.

He leaned down to Mystic and grabbed her by the neck, picking her up so she wasn't kneeling anymore. Instead, she was now kicking her feet back and forth, struggling to keep control as the pure, yellow-haired professor had her in the air with his tight grip.

"Mystic, you utter disappointment. From now on, if you don't succeed in every mission that you're assigned…", he put his lips close to the purple-eyed mage's ears and whispered. "... Your parents will remain hollow shells of their former selves. You do want your parents to get treated, right?"

Mystic's eyes widened with fear and then they clouded over with a layer of tears that had started to roll down her face. Ren released his grip around her and she fell down onto the floor, clutching and coughing as she tried to soothe her neck. The messy-haired professor started to leave the room but turned to face the soldier he had just strangled as she started to speak.

"You… bastard. Y-Y-You've been… saying the ex-exact same th-thing… for years and my parents… haven't g-gotten better at… all!" Mystic shouted, pausing in between words as she tried to open her throat up from the force it was put through.

Ren didn't respond to her but he did have an angered expression as he stared at the Illusion mage. He turned back around and said one thing before he left, ignoring Mystic.

"Morris, you can see to Mars and I'll be the one to take care of Mystic".

FLASHBACK - END


"I will defeat you… once and for all", Mystic declared.

Back with Lucas, he had started to run ahead to try and traverse the obstacle course once again. He flicked his left wrist and his conjured Energy Whips went to work immediately. It wrapped around the branches of the second tree but it was looking like he'd meet the same conclusion as before if he didn't switch up his method.

"Okay…", Lucas breathed heavily. "I can do this if I work on my coordination… I wrapped one of the branches with the spell with my left hand and now… I need to switch hands so I can use the same Energy Whip with my right…", he thought to himself.

As his momentum flung him forwards, he put the Light Magic spell in his right hand and was about to wrap it around the third tree to make progress but the same exact thing happened. He couldn't reach far enough with the spell and was going to fall if he didn't do something to stop himself.

"Gah!" He shouted as his left foot met the poisonous thorns and spikes at the bottom. His ankle was cut quite badly but he managed to do the exact same thing as he previously did where he used the swinging momentum from the Energy Whips to propel himself upwards and to safety. Yet, it seemed like every time he did this, he was injured more and more.

"The Light Magic isn't working and I have nothing with my Time Magic for this either!" He slammed down on the leaves he landed on.

With no time to rest, another attack from Mariella came forth as she appeared from the left. Her grimoire was glowing and she summoned her spell to strike the Magic Knight.

"Ice Creation Magic: Killer Ice Slashes!" Her two daggers went in for the kill but all Lucas could do to evade in time was duck to the floor. This wasn't good as one of her weapons nicked him in the shoulder, as he descended, and he screamed in pain.

Then, another attack from the assassin ensued. It looked like she wasn't going to slow down as she kept coming. First it was the dual daggers she used to attack and now it was the repeat of the Slicing Glaciers that came from right in front.

"Mariella, stop this!" Lucas shouted, bringing out his Dual Blades for the first time in this fight. He easily deflected the spinning ice spell but the assassin still wasn't done.

"Ice Creation Magic: Shadow Puppet Cluster!"

The frozen mist in the air started to shift and materialise into a set of figures that were floating in the air. As the seconds went by, each figure turned out to be clones of Mariella, all with their own grimoires and ready to attack in clusters. They were all heading for Lucas as his field of vision was filled with multiple assassins going for the kill.

"This is the end for you, spy. I hope your betrayal was worth it". The angered voices of the clones sounded out, surrounding the Dual mage down below.

"I can't counter them all with Heaven's Time or Energy Whips. The only thing I can do in this situation is use these weapons I have and destroy the clones from a distance!" He figured, clutching onto his Dual Blades.

As they homed in to attack, Lucas swung his left blade at the first one, destroying it quite quickly as it was only a weak clone. Once the weapon hit the clone, it shattered into sparkles of ice, turning the surface of the roof of the tree a bright blue where they fell.

Lucas turned around and whilst the left blade was out of his reach, he used the right blade to destroy the other as easily as he did with the first one. He had wrapped the chains that were on the ends of the blades around each wrist so he could fling the weapon away from him and also bring it back close.

"You can't defeat me!"

"Death is the only answer for you!"

"Take this!"

Mariella's voices were now screaming insults and other threats to put Lucas off but he wasn't having any of it.

"What does she think? I'm in a squad with Alecdora for crying out loud… insults like that don't faze me anymore". He light-heartedly chuckled as he destroyed the last clone in his way.

Once again, the scene was just Lucas on top of a tree with the rest of the obstacle course in the way. He knew the real Mariella would be at the end, or ,at least, the third party that was responsible for all the manipulation on the battlefield.

"The trees again with the mist everywhere making it hard to see. Light Magic won't work but now… I think I have a way forward!"

Lucas ran and jumped forwards once again. Right before his feet left the leaves, he swung his left Dual Blade forwards, wrapping it around the branch of the tree in front. Like a carbon copy, he started swinging just as he had done with his Light Magic but now he used the right Dual Blade to swing onto the other tree after it.

"Haha, yes! Instead of using Energy Whips and worrying about switching arms and whatnot, I can just use my Dual Blades to swing forwards and through the forest. The chains are perfect for extending my reach, just as how I defeated those clones a few minutes ago!"

Lucas kept swinging and making progress and once he properly got the hang of it, there was no hesitation or doubt in his mind that this was the right thing to do. Then, he heard Fanzell's words in his head once again.

"Those metal chains that connect the ends of those blades… They can stretch out quite far, right?"

He landed in a clearing with the mist now completely gone. The area was clear and Lucas saw the fire all around him showing that he was somehow back where he started. However, as he turned back around, the obstacle course of the trees was now gone, as if they had never been there in the first place.

"What the hell?" He asked himself.

Though, there was no time to ponder the question as Mariella appeared from the shadows in the distance. She was twirling an ice dagger around her right hand's fingers as she walked up slowly, revealing her angered expression.

Lucas asked no questions as, quite frankly, he was tired of trying to get through to her.

"If it's a battle you want, it's a battle you'll get. I won't be holding back!" He declared as he got in a battle stance with his Dual Blades lighting up a blue colour.

"Finally, no more trying to talk things out. It just isn't my style", she replied and quickly ran forwards with her dagger to the side, ready to slash.

She motioned ahead with her hand and was about to slash at Lucas's chest but he held his weapons to protect him, sending himself backwards with the force of her attack but he was still protected. Mariella came again but Lucas flung both Dual Blades at Mariella, knocking her backwards as they hit. He reeled in his weapons by pulling on the chains and they came back to him, ready for the next move.

"Woah, using my weapons like this unlocks a whole new realm of possibilities. If my magic isn't working at short-range then I can switch to long-range like this. Even if that isn't the case, I can still incorporate this new method of fighting!" He thought as he looked over his pitch-black and blue weapons.

"Ice Creation Magic: Killer Ice Slashes!" Mariella materialised another ice dagger, making a total of two, and she shifted to the side, disappearing with how quickly she moved.

Lucas tried to keep up but his Ki detection just wasn't quick or good enough to pick up on where she went. He kept turning from side-to-side to see where she would show up but he didn't realise just how close she had gotten.

He felt the cold and sharp sensation of a dagger right at his neck as she phased in again, shifting from the left and reappearing right behind Lucas, pressed up against him and about to violently slash through his skin.

"Light Binding Magic: Coils of Trapped Light!" Lucas quickly spoke as strings of light emerged and held Mariella in place, preventing her from moving.

Lucas jumped back and away from the assassin. He breathed heavily as he was inches away from dying but now he was safe for the time being.

"I've seen that move from you before so I knew what to expect", Lucas said as he saw his binding magic tighten on the Ice mage.

Mariella didn't respond but, weirdly enough, she just smiled.

An eerie feeling consumed Lucas and he was on guard once more but it was going to be too late as he saw a crystal-blue colour come for him in the corner of his eye. He couldn't even turn around with how close the attack was but all he could think in the split-second that he had was to firm the attack and try not to let it affect him too much.

There was another Mariella that appeared, courtesy of her Shadow Puppet Cluster that she must have had still active and it threw an ice dagger that was heading straight for his chest. Lucas braced himself as he knew he could take it due to his defence from his Flashing Armour Ritual aiding him.

"AH!" He shouted as blood started to pour from his stabbed chest. Coupled with the wounds on his back and foot from previous damage, it looked like this was going to be it but he latched onto his strong mentality that he told himself to have in that split-second.

"You can take this, Lucas. It's a little stab… you've gone through worse. This isn't going to hurt… This isn't going to hurt… This… doesn't hurt?"

Lucas stood up all of a sudden, free from the pain that he thought he was feeling. It wasn't just the stab in his chest that was gone, but the wounds on his back and foot were gone too. He looked around back at the trapped Mariella that also started to disappear.

"Huh?! I'm not hurt at all… Was everything… an illusion?" He thought for the first time. The last thing he saw was purple smoke filling his vision as his eyes glazed over.


MARIELLA'S POV:

"The forest… it's changing?" Mariella said aloud, seeing the environment shift right in front of her eyes.

All of a sudden, as the movement stopped, a bright flash of purple came out of nowhere, almost blinding the assassin. She shielded her eyes with her right arm but when she reopened them, things were very different as her blurry vision got used to what was around her.

"Where am I?" She asked, looking at where she found herself.

The Ice mage was confused with the turn of events. First, she was in the Witches' Forest and at odds with Lucas and now she was somewhere different with the Dual mage nowhere to be seen. What she saw before her was a mountainous region that spanned the horizon with a castle in the distance, surrounded by guarded walls and soldiers patrolling the outskirts.

"The Diamond Kingdom…", she realised as she dropped her shoulders. She turned around to look behind her and saw just what she expected. "And, of course, the graveyard...", Mariella thought to herself.

The flash of purple light had seemingly transported her from Witches' Forest all the way to her own kingdom.

Shaking her head as if this was going to be a huge pain to go through, she saw a lone figure materialise opposite her. It was the same person she had just been arguing with but he was already charging for her.

Mariella sighed and shrugged before her grimoire came floating right next to her. She opened her palms and set her arms in an 'X' shape in front of her chest as a crystal-blue light surrounded her.

"Ice Creation Magic: Killer Ice Slashes!" She summoned as she got ready to fight the incoming Lucas head on. "I guess I'll humour her for the time being. I'll get a few hits in and then confront the culprit… that's sure to piss her off".

Lucas's grimoire was right next to him as well and he summoned a spell with his left hand. He extended it and shouted; "Light Magic: Angelic Strike!" He got close to the assassin and went to punch her with the full force of his clenched fist. He swung but Mariella was expecting it and she dodged by doing the splits, easily evading the attack.

"Too predictable but I guess it isn't really you, right?" She said with a whisper which only agitated Lucas. Mariella lifted her right arm upwards, sending an uppercut his way with the ice dagger pointed sideways which was sure to make a deep slash on his looming chest that she was directly under.

Surprisingly, her prediction was off the mark as Lucas countered the slash to his chest with his Time Magic. Even before she went for the uppercut, there was a blue sphere formed around his right wrist which showed that Alter Deccel was already activated. He had slowed her slash down and backed away from harm.

"Looks like that's her Memory Magic in play…", she said to the side. "Lucas used that spell against the Witch Queen but she wasn't there to witness that so it's the only viable answer".

"Light Creation Magic: Spark-Charged Beam!" Lucas shouted as he lifted his left arm into the air. A yellow glow started to come from his palm as he collected the dregs of light from the shining sun high above. He brought his arm down and shot the collected light energy right at Mariella at a high speed.

"Ice Creation Magic: Spinning Shadow Shield!" Mariella shouted as a shield made out of ice formed right in front of her. It started to spin quickly as the Light Magic hit it, deflecting the ray of light elsewhere.

When the light deflected, it was going to dissipate as the distance it travelled increased but that was where Mariella's shield came in handy again. The spinning shield in front of her disappeared and reappeared in the direction of the reflected ray of light, deflecting it again as it changed direction. She continued this procedure with her shield that kept changing places in the air at will, reacting to the Light Magic.

"This spell is perfect for an assassin like me since it can disappear with no trace and then reappear as if it was never gone in the first place. I can't remember the amount of time it's come in handy", Mariella thought to herself.

Her spell eventually reflected the Light Magic back at Lucas and it looked like he was going to get hit. All this happened in a matter of seconds so reacting to the turn of events was going to be difficult. However, just as he had done previously, Lucas had an answer to his own spell coming right back at him.

He took his Dual Blades out and threw them at the incoming light, breaking its path quite easily. However, that was exactly what Mariella wanted from him as when he did this, she had seemingly disappeared into thin air.

"Where are you, Mariella?! You figured out my secret even though I was sure to be completely undercover… Don't you want to finish this?" He shouted, trying to taunt the mage from the Diamond Kingdom.

Her voice replied and it came from all around him. He looked up into the air and saw five different shadows emerge that surrounded him.

"Ice Magic: Frozen Mist!" A set of voices called out as the area around Lucas turned foggy. "Yeah, I'll finish it right now", she replied plainly. "Ice Magic: Shadow Puppet Cluster!"

Each Mariella formed a dagger in their hands and fired them straight at Lucas's chest, stabbing him thoroughly until he fell onto the floor in a bloodied mess. Four of the assassins disappeared with only the real Mariella landing on the mountainous floor.

"I apologise for not listening to you earlier and jumping to conclusions. It was my fault... but the good thing about illusions is that you're not real so you won't actually hear me being sorry", she smirked. "I know this isn't really you, Lucas, with everything around me but I guess I can count this as a win against you?" She walked away from the body and stared right at the distant castle.

"How was that performance for you, Mystic?"

Knowing that her illusions were seen through, Mystic started to lift her magic and Mariella's eyes glazed over as if she was going unconscious. The same purple smoke filled the area until the assassin opened her eyes again.

"Back here, huh?" She commented before seeing who was right next to her.


Both Lucas and Mariella exchanged a few glances with each other. There were a few seconds filled with confusion, mainly from the former's perspective, but the two regained their composure eventually.

"None of that was real, was it?" Lucas asked, reaffirming what he gathered.

"That would be correct. The only thing that was real was the fact that I could beat you in the illusions. I guess reality wasn't so warped at that particular moment", Mariella stretched her arms, trying to put one over Lucas.

"Well, if you're gonna be like that then I beat you in the illusion as well. Looks like we're at a stalemate", he teased right back, earning a slight twitch from the side of Mariella's head.

"Hmph", she turned her head away. "But, did you know that it was an illusion from the get-go? I knew it as soon as it took place", she smirked.

Knowing that she was right, Lucas couldn't really respond. "Uh… well…", he tried to say but the Ice mage interrupted.

"Looks like the score's 2-1 to me", she chuckled.

Stopping their exchanges, a voice emerged from the shadows once more but the source didn't take as long to reveal herself this time as her trick had been foiled. Her face lit up from the flames in the distance but it wasn't a surprise to Mariella to see just who it was.

"I thought so. Such basic illusions had to be your doing, Mystic", Mariella shook her head.

"Basic, huh? I only went easy on you but if you weren't challenged enough, we can certainly go for another round, Little Mari", Mystic said as she rolled her purple eyes to the side.

"I did tell you that if you ever called me that again, I'd break your fingers", the assassin said in anger.

"Oh, cry me a river. You can't do anything to me now", the enemy retorted.

Lucas was watching the exchange go back and forth for a few seconds, wearing a shocked expression. He didn't realise that the two knew each other but in hindsight, it was entirely plausible since the two would've worked together before Mariella's defection.

"I didn't realise how friendly the two of you were… but since it's Mystic, I understand how she can get under your skin", Lucas added. He remembered his last encounter with the Diamond mage back when he explored his second dungeon. She had invaded his memories with her Memory Magic and used them to taunt him with her Illusion Magic afterwards.

"Missed you too", Mystic mocked, not having the time of day to feel bad for the other Dual mage anymore. She did when they first met but after the consequences she suffered at the hands of Ren because of her failure, she knew she couldn't linger on those feelings anymore.

"Sounds like you've been hated everywhere you go. Seems about right", Mariella added before her grimoire came close to her.

"Now that we know it was an illusion, her magic can't affect us anymore. Mariella, I'll join you for this battle!" Lucas exclaimed as his grimoire shot up right next to him as well.

"We'll make this quick. You do remember that Teacher is counting on us to join him again, right?" She reminded the Magic Knight to which he nodded. "Mystic could never handle my strength…", the assassin reminded with an intimidating smirk on her face.

As the two got ready to fight the enemy, Mystic and Mariella remembered the day they first met all those years ago. The Ice mage remembered the one opposite her to be shy and hesitant, whereas the Illusion mage was reminded of the not-so calm and collected person the person opposite her used to be.


FLASHBACK - FOUR YEARS AGO:

It was a cold day in the Diamond Kingdom. The wind was howling and the trees were dancing as the breeze swayed past. The rising moon had started to illuminate the land around whilst the clouds did their best to cover the rays.

A group of hooded figures were travelling through the mountainous region outside the castle's walls as if they were on a mission to find something important.

"Now, Mystic, are you ready for your first real test?" Fanzell Kruger asked, leading the group towards the mountain's peak.

The red-haired commander was wearing formal attire, contrary to his present-day appearance. He donned a black cape with a tight, dark-purple shirt underneath. He wore black trousers that complimented his long, flowing cape. To end his attire off, he had dark-brown boots on.

Behind him were the trio of recently modified mages that won their death battles a few months prior. Two 15-year-old boys were the last of the bunch. One had spiky hair whilst the other had medium-length, blond hair. In front of the two was a 16-year-old girl with short, violet hair.

"I… I'm r-ready!" She replied, pumping her fists enthusiastically.

"Calm down, Misty. You're a year older than us, yet this is your first mission outside the watch of Ren. Talk about being pampered towards…", Ladros chuckled. He gave a sly look at the girl in front, knowing that his teasing can easily get to her.

"My name's Mystic, weirdo. At least my eyes didn't turn a horrid colour when they implanted the gemstones. Talk about turning uglier than before", she retorted which was much to the surprise of Ladros who wasn't expecting such a rebuttal.

A short giggle ensued from Fanzell who was the last to make a noise out of the four. Mars and Ladros stared at him and he felt like he was being stabbed with their dagger-like eyes seemingly piercing into his soul. The latter was only annoyed since he didn't like spending time with other people and only did so for a common goal, otherwise he would be as far from these people as possible.

"Hey, leave each other alone, you guys". Fanzell ordered as he turned around, despite the fact that he found the argument amusing. He made one last step forwards and had reached the summit of the mountain that they journeyed towards.

He stretched his hand out to help the others out but none of them took the offer. The three all climbed up by themselves, showing that they didn't need as much help as they did in the years gone by.

"You do remember the mission, right?" The commander asked Mystic who jolted at the question. She seemed to be fine when there wasn't talk about the task at hand but whenever it was actually mentioned, she seemed to stiffen up from the nerves.

"Uhhh, y-yeah… Wasn't it to respond to a distress call from one of the villages around here? Someone was interfering with construction work and we've been asked to see to it, right?" She responded, nodding her head as what she said seemed correct in her head.

Ladros covered his mouth and whispered to Mars at the back. "The two of us get missions like stopping rebellions and other important things. Mystic gets maid work to do…".

"Hey, leave her alone. When we started out it was all cleaning jobs and then the difficulty increased. Maybe you're just jealous of her since she gets the easy things whilst you find our current jobs a bit too hard", Mars said plainly.

Ladros was silent after that, fuming quietly to himself.

Fanzell nodded in agreement. "Correct. Attenta Village reported some sort of disturbance occurring and Ren thought it was best to finally send you out on the field. Let's see if you have what it takes after your training", he smiled.

Mystic now led the group with the three males following closely behind. She reached a fenced off area with a closed, metal gate preventing access. Looking through the silver bars, it looked like it was a small graveyard with only two headstones in the middle.

"That's odd. Why is there a graveyard on the top of this mountain? Attenta village is down below, not up here", Mystic asked, confused.

Suddenly, a dagger flew right from inside the gated area towards Mystic's face. Thankfully, Fanzell was alert to the danger and used his Wind Magic to hold the weapon in place whilst shielding the 16-year-old.

"Mystic, you should've been alert. If Ren was here then…", he stopped as he didn't want to scare the violet-haired mage.

"I… get it…", she sighed, hand on her beating chest. She focused closely on the eerie graveyard and a little girl started to emerge, walking up slowly to the group of four.

She had long, messy, black hair that went down to her shoulders. Her purple eyes seemed to be shining and the dirt and grime on her face helped with that. All she was wearing was a dirty, white rag that she dragged across the stoney floor.

"Leave… me… alone".

The 11-year-old ordered with a raspy and broken voice. It was clear that she was homeless with how she looked but it was a mystery as to why she came from the graveyard of all places. Still, neither of the four backed down.

"I'll handle this, everyone". Ladros said as he took a few steps forward. However, his advance was stopped by Fanzell who didn't even glance at him. Instead, he looked at Mystic and she took the incentive to do this herself.

She opened the gate to the graveyard and this made the little girl extend her arms as if she was protecting the headstones behind her. The air around her started to turn cool as a crystal-blue aura began to emanate.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, little girl. You see, you've been causing a lot of problems for the locals and we have the duty of sorting it out", Mystic replied, getting closer to the girl.

"Don't call me that. My name is Mariella and you… should… leave… me…alone!" She screamed as the cool air shot outwards, all towards Mystic and the trio behind her. Quickly, she ran up with her right fist rolled up as if it was holding something.

"Illusion Magic: Dragon's Roar!" The violet-haired girl opened her palms as a purple glow came off them. She motioned her arms forwards and the glow became brighter until it was big enough to materialise into an entire dragon.

Mariella stopped in her tracks, gasping at the legendary creature in front of her. She took a step back as if to analyse it but this meant she stopped moving.

The red dragon opened its mouth and an ear-piercing scream shot towards the little girl, making her drop to the floor and clutch her ears. As she was being attacked, she managed to look up and saw that the trio behind the one attacking her weren't affected at all even though the scream was very loud.

"Why are they… not hurt?" She questioned. Slowly, she got up but her hands were still covering her ears though she slowly started to uncup them to see what would happen.

"It still… hurts! But why… are they fine…?" All of a sudden, another scream shot towards the girl making her fall to the floor once again.

Mars and Ladros were surprised with how well Mystic was doing whilst Fanzell didn't really like what he was seeing. He always hated the way the Diamond Kingdom went about their ways but he couldn't exactly rebel against them.

"It's just a little girl and Mystic is clearly winning this. Ren and Morris… why are you obsessed with this crusade of yours?" Fanzell shook his head.

He saw the mismatch and was about to raise his hand to have Mystic stop but what he saw next was shocking, to say the least.

Mariella got up again, blood dripping from her ears due to the dragon's attack but she still tried to uncup her ears.

"Those people behind… they're not hurt - maybe because it's not real?" She realised and as she did, the illusion started to waver, disappearing from her eyes.

"Holy Shit. A kid had the mental fortitude to withstand the attack and realise the trick to overcome the illusions?" Ladros praised, nodding his head.

The little kid, dressed in white ran forwards now that the dragon was gone. The blood was gone since she figured out the trick and aimed for Mystic's neck with the weapon in her hand.

The cold breeze covered the entire area, making the soldiers all shiver all of a sudden and Mariella used this to her advantage. In the split-second that they were distracted, she jumped forwards and put the weapon across the short-haired girl's neck, ready to slice it open.

"Wind Creation Magic: Emperor of Slashing Winds - Mountain Wind!" Fanzell shouted as a wind sword materialised in his hand. He slashed it forwards and a strong gust of wind separated Mariella from Mystic, preventing her from killing the soldier.

"Teacher, wasn't that a bit overboard? She's a little kid". Mars spoke up, seeing that the commander used a strong spell.

"She's a little kid, yes, but I don't believe I went overboard. There's something about her that screams danger and besides, Mystic's life is priority, no matter what", he replied.

Mystic was on the floor, clutching her neck as she was seconds away from dying. She crawled backwards in a haste but just before she exited the open gate, she saw the little girl begin to stand up.

Mariella was also knocked over from the Wind Magic and the weapon in her hand had fallen to the floor. It disappeared as if it was nothing, showing that it wasn't a physical dagger.

"Creation Magic? But she doesn't even have her grimoire yet!" Mystic was gobsmacked at seeing the level of prowess this 11-year-old girl was at already.

As the soldier left the graveyard, Mariella said a few words before turning back to sit at the headstones.

"I will not let anyone build here. My parents will rest peacefully!"

Seeing that this was more complicated than they originally thought, the soldiers all retreated with Fanzell despite Mystic's insistence of staying and finishing the fight.

"We can't deal with this the way that we usually do. It's a kid and it's not right to go all out. I'll protest against this mission to the higher ups and try to figure out a way around it". Fanzell said to the trio behind him.

Mars and Ladros were talking between themselves with the latter finding the transpired events amusing.

"Wow. The great Mystic couldn't even handle a 11-year-old girl. I wonder what the two professors will have to say to that", he said as he raised his voice to make sure that the defeated soldier could hear.

"You saw how strong she was and Commander Fanzell is right. We can't just kill the problem like we've been taught to since it's not the typical enemy", Mars said in defence of his co-soldier.

Mystic, however, wasn't bothering to respond as the fight against Mariella was playing in her mind over and over again. She was humiliated by a little girl and the fact that this was her first real test made the result of this mission a bitter pill to swallow.

As expected, Ren and Morris were disappointed with the result and made sure to punish the enhanced soldier through rigorous and vicious amounts of training. Yet, the defeat against Mariella was a fresh wound and it might have been the one of the only two things that were constantly on her mind which helped pull her through.

The following weeks after that, Mystic returned to the graveyard on her own despite Fanzell telling her not to. She kept on challenging the little girl over and over again and the result remained the same over the course of the first few weeks. Eventually, things started to change but it would be months before a breakthrough happened.

FLASHBACK - END


With a little nod to her side, Lucas knew what she was planning to do. After all, it hadn't been too long since the two got acquainted with each other's attributes - courtesy of Mystic's illusions.

"Time Magic: Heaven's Time!" Lucas quickly summoned as time came to a standstill between Mystic and himself. It caught the Shining General and Mariella made her preparations whilst the time spell was active. "You've got to be quick, Mariella!"

"Yeah, I got it", she said calmly. The assassin swiped her arm outwards and a cool mist followed. "Ice Magic: Frozen Mist", she said as the area became covered in a hard-to-see fog. "Now, Lucas", she ordered.

"Don't need to order me since it's about time!" Lucas clicked his fingers and the secondary effect activated. A blue beam of Time Magic fired down from the air, hitting the frozen space and subsequently hit Mystic.

As time started moving again, Mystic found herself on the floor confused as one moment she was fine, and the next she was on all fours, panting from the damage she was dealt.

"So, that's Time Magic… but I knew that since I saw it in the illusions and in his memories… Why am I always hesitating against this kid?!" She cursed, slamming her fist into the ground.

"That was a mistake, Mystic. If you didn;t waste your time feeling sorry for yourself right there, you could've countered, yet… this is the end", Mariella's voice spoke from within the mist.

The Shining General looked around but saw no assassin. It was only her and Lucas together and the black-haired mage was nowhere to be found. Yet, she also knew the reasoning for this and hesitated all the same, just as she had done with Lucas.

"Ice Creation Magic: Shadow Puppet Cluster!" A multitude of voices called out, all in a circle around Mystic.

The clones of Mariella were surrounding the enemy and they all had ice daggers in their hands. Despite the fact that she and Mystic knew each other, the Ice mage did not hesitate at all before firing her attacks that all hit, sending the Shining General flying into the air and far away from anyone.

The Frozen Mist spell lifted and the environment returned to normal with the flames looking like they were no closer to being doused or dying down.

With Mystic not a problem anymore, Lucas and Mariella knew where to head as had been discussed previously. However, what happened next altered the plan.

Another blast of fire hit down on the forest and when the two looked over, they saw a bigger Salamander shooting off fireballs all over the witches' home. Asta and the Black Bulls, along with Daisy were all there and it looked like a losing battle from where Lucas and Mariella stood.

"Mariella, I -!" Lucas began but was cut off by the person he was talking to.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Go to them and I'll go to Teacher and Domina. You'll only get in my way", she said before turning away.

"It's not like I need you to attack my friends after a little misunderstanding like you did to me so it's best we split", Lucas replied before turning towards the raging flames.

The two separated but there was no bad blood between each other like their parting words would have suggested. The mages ran to their destinations but they both wore a determined expression on their faces. Their final thought was…

"You got this!"


NOTES:

Like I said in the disclaimer, I did add a lot of flashbacks for Mystic here just to really characterise her since it helps. The fact that I haven't used her since the second dungeon that Lucas visited was a big factor in that. Also, we'll see her again, don't worry!

I hope you like the new way Lucas started to use his Dual Blades. It helps in combat and also with navigating and traversal since only having one-handed Energy Whip isn't the best thing when it comes to that. Also, it was heavily influenced by Kratos's Blades of Chaos and how he uses them. (The games are amazing, hehe).

This chapter was going to end with going back to what Fanzell was doing with Mars and Ladros but I didn't want to make it even longer than it is already so we'll see that soon.