Chapter Eighty-Six: Beginning the Attack

The day had come.

There were still some minutes of darkness left as each of the Royal Knights individually awoke from their sleep, having not even removed their uniforms, quickly washed up and assembled in the main room, where Mereoleona and Nozel were waiting for them.

"Good morning all, hope you slept as best you could," their captain addressed them with her usual grin.

"I eventually fell asleep, but I had a little trouble at first, I couldn't stop thinking about how our fight would go down," Rama voiced aloud.

The woman nodded. "An understandable feeling, this will be the greatest battle we've ever had, as such, we can go into it stupidly," she snapped her fingers, summoning servants who lined a nearby table with platters and drinks. "We're keeping it simple, breakfast sandwiches and water, can't fight without food,"

"We're on the clock though, so eat quickly, we leave in ten minutes," Nozel added.

"Understood!" they replied in unison, making their way over to the table, grabbing the duo of choices.

Asta was the first to try it, his eyes becoming stars. "Holy crap, this sandwich is amazing, not to mention it's packed full of food,"

"It's got eggs, meat, and pickled vegetables, this is bound to hold us up for a few hours, and by then, we will have already won," Kenos observed, taking a bite himself, nodding at the tasty flavor.

"Quit yappin and keep eatin!" the flame mage comedically exclaimed, her mouth full.

As Noelle reached the table, she stared down at the creation. "Hm, never had one of these before, hopefully, they're as good as the others think," she grabbed one, but paused momentarily before grabbing a second one. "Better get one for Mimosa,"

She had what she came for and was backing up, but that's when she bumped into someone. "Um, sorry, are you-?" she turned to apologize, but stopped herself upon seeing the person was her brother.

"N-Nozel," she stammered, not knowing what to say, unable to make eye contact. The mercury mage, however, appeared unbothered, his gaze instead on what she had in her hands.

"Two sandwiches for yourself? Didn't I say we're on the clock?" his tone carried slight hints of harshness.

"W-What? No, this is for…for," she tried to explain, but the words refused to come out. "Y'know what? Just take it," she quickly said, putting the second sandwich in his hands just as fast.

Nozel looked down at the sandwich, and then back up at his sister, his eyebrow raised with some confusion, but his stoic face soon returned as he walked away. However, not before Noelle heard two words exit his mouth that, in the entirety of her life, have never been directed at her.

"Thank you,"

To say the royal was shocked would be an understatement. Her brother actually thanked her, no silence or backhanded insult in response to her action which was usually the case, even the way he said it was surprising, no sarcasm or underlying venom, merely a tone he used with everyone. But being her, she maintained most of her composure, only letting two words of her own slip.

"You're…welcome,"

Rama was silently enjoying his breakfast, his eyes focused on a certain figure. Taking one more bite of his sandwich, he approached the person respectfully.

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

The vermillion turned in his direction. "Need something?"

"Not really. I just wanted to tell you about Leo, I talked to him yesterday about the whole not passing thing," he answered.

She raised a brow. "Did he have anything to say?"

"He said he was worried about himself, that he isn't sure if he can get stronger, I told him it was just his doubt talking and that he'll be fine, he even seemed to agree. But…,"

"But?"

"Should I still be concerned? That's the first time I've ever heard him talk like that, he's faced failure before, but hasn't ever reacted like this,"

Mereoleona finished what was left of her sandwich and placed a hand on the tiger's head. "I'm glad to see you're showing worry, but no, you don't need to be concerned. It's moments like these where my little brother ignites that fire within him and shows us all what he's capable of, he's a Vermilion after all,"

"If you say so,"

From a few feet away, Nozel was eating his sandwich when he noticed the two crimson knights speaking to each other. "I wonder what they're talking about? Regardless, it's none of my business," he thought, walking their way absent-mindedly, getting close enough to hear the lightning mage say something else.

"Ma'am, is it alright if I ask another question?"

"Go right ahead,"

A little hesitation was growing. "When do you think…Fuegoleon will wake up?"

That managed to make both adults freeze, but Mereoleona wouldn't dare let a look of worry show itself on her features. She sighed deeply. "I don't know, maybe he might wake up today, maybe it'll be in a month, or probably a year. I can't really give an answer, but let's have faith, both of my brothers are strong,"

"Okay, I'll have faith then," Rama gave a melancholic smile before seeing the eldest Silva in his peripherals closing in.

"Sir," he politely excused himself, not missing the man's almost frightening expression.

Nozel straightened himself, eyeing the flame mage who eyed him back. No words needed to be said.

Eventually, the ten-minute breakfast came to an end and as it did, each knight quickly gathered back to the center of the room. "Good, I didn't have to call you, but I do need you to get yourselves ready, because in a few seconds, we're going past the point of no return," their captain told them. "No extra days, no retreating, nothing of the sort, once we get there, all that's left is to move forward. Failure is not an option, we must succeed!"

"We're ready, ma'am!" everyone yelled.

Mereoleona merely nodded, turning to the team's spatial mage. "Cob, you know what to do,"

"Yes I dooby do," he created a large gate that opened up, letting everyone walk through in double file.

"The hell?" Kenos muttered, the first thing that came to his attention upon arriving on the other side was the decent amount of fog around.

"Is this someone's magic?" Asta wondered aloud.

"Sort of," Yuno answered. "I'm sensing some mana coming from it. They must have a mage who's creating fog to work in conjunction with the natural fog,"

"That could explain why it took a while to locate their base," Alice deduced.

Luckily for all of them, the natural fog didn't stick around for long as it began to dissipate, revealing the multitude of floating rocks in every direction, but their attention was immediately grabbed when another floating rock came into view. Its biggest quality was that it was, in fact, the biggest one there, dwarfing the others in size, and unlike the other rocks which appeared untouched, the largest one had six openings, each on a different spot.

Zora whistled to show he was impressed. "Damn, what a hideout, I won't lie, it doesn't look too bad,"

Nils took a good look at it, narrowing his eyes before shifting his attention to Nozel. "Sir, how do you suggest we proceed?"

The mercury mage, who had his back to his subordinate, slightly turned his head. "Why are you asking me? I'm not the leader of this team,"

"You don't need to worry, I already have a plan of action," their captain said aloud with crossed arms. "According to the information we were able to gather, each of those six holes is an entrance, as for where they lead to, that I don't know, but that information isn't as important right now, the first thing we have to worry about to getting inside,"

Noelle eyed the entrances, looking back at the group. "I suppose that means you'll be breaking us up into teams?"

Mereoleona nodded in affirmation. "Correct. Noelle, you along with Luck, Rama, and Kirsch will be Team 1, go in through the upper right entrance,"

"Yes ma'am," they clover-saluted.

She turned to the next group of four. "Nozel, En, Nils, and Shiren, you're Team 2. I want you to go in through the lower right entrance.

The quarter saluted silently.

"Our golden dawns will be Team 3. Yuno, Klaus, Hamon, and Mimosa, head in from the upper left,"

"You can count on us, ma'am," the steel mage passionately stated for the group.

"Nice enthusiasm," she praised, but continued no further as the picture mage shot his hand up.

"Can I be a part of Team 4?" he asked.

The royal shrugged. "I don't see why not. Okay Rill, think you, Ruben, Puli, and Fragil can take the lower left entrance?"

"Works for me,"

"Hold on," Kenos was the one to speak up this time. "There aren't enough of us for the remaining two openings,"

"True, that's why groups of three will enter the last ones," she replied. "Team 5 will consist of you, Zuka, and Alice. Your group will take the lower center,"

"You got it," they saluted.

"As for the last team," she placed her hands on Asta and Zora's shoulders. "I'll take these two with me and go in through the upper center,"

"You don't mind taking two commoners with you?" the red-haired man inquired sarcastically, digging in his pockets for his signature pranking tool. "Here, accept this as a token of my gratitude," he flicked the insect her way.

Unsurprisingly, she caught it with little difficulty using her flame paw, the surprise came when it released its foul odor and the flame mage made no movement to cover her nose, run, or anything of that nature.

"You can have it back, I don't wear perfume," she slammed the bug right up in his face, Asta jumping out of the way as fast as he could.

"Shit! I forgot how bad that smelled," he curled up in discomfort.

"Serves you right, ya jerk," the swordsman side-eyed him.

Mereoleona crossed her arms. "We shouldn't waste any more time," she said.

They all were about to move, but then she opened her mouth again. "Hold on," she started before pausing, looking for what to say. It was quite an experience for some of the knights who saw the woman as one to never hesitate or appear indecisive.

"Make sure…you all come back alive," she finally managed to say, her voice being the softest it ever has.

Many of them had the exact same thought upon witnessing it. "This feels weird, but it also feels really nice-,"

But alas, their mental voices were cut off, for the moment was a short-lived one. The woman quickly put up a fist, clenching it until its veins were visible, her eyes ablaze. "Because if you don't, I'll find your body, raise it from the dead, and send you back to hell myself!"

"Never mind,"

The captain shifted her gaze to the spatial mage with them. "Cob, I can't run the risk of you getting injured in the fight, we'll need you to get out of here once we're done, so stay at this spot,"

"No problem," he saluted. "I'm going to assume you'll need my portals to get you doobity butts up there?"

She nodded, so he commanded his grimoire to flip to a different page. "Spatial Magic: Gates a Plenty!"

At his call, gates similar to the ones he made appeared at the front of each of the six entrances, all of them different colors, as well as the same number of identically colored gates forming in front of them.

The flame mage gave her final command before the group ran through their respective portals, ready to face the challenge they've been preparing for.

"Royal Knights, move out!"

"My my, what a sight," a gray-haired young man from within the interior said, wearing the robe of the terrorist group, his voice smug.

As for who he was talking to? The mood took a dark turn, revealing the recipient of his words to be a young lady sitting down, her hands bound above her by her wrists, with her mouth gagged, a look of fear on her face.

"I'm guessing you never thought you'd be in this situation, aye Rina?" he asked, calling the girl by name, her only response was to struggle against her restraints.

"It's no use, we've known each other for years, you should know better than anyone that my binding magic isn't easy to get out of," he waved a single finger back and forth. "But now I suppose you're curious about why you're here? Long story short, I want to have a talk with you,"

"A…talk?" Rina's voice was muffled, but her words were still understood.

"Yes. Do you remember the day we met? I remember every detail, a pack of rabid dogs chased me, and you came to my aid. We hit it off pretty well after that wouldn't you say?" he reminisced with a small smile, juxtaposing the ever-growing terror in the woman's eyes.

"Day after day, we spent time with each other and grew older, it was only natural that I started to fall in love with you. But once I mustered the courage to tell you, how did you respond?!" he said the last part with an angry yell. "You said that you'd rather die than be anything but friends with me, and that what we had was good enough for you,"

Rina just started slowly shaking her head as he continued. "It wasn't good enough for me though. You broke my heart, so I ran and ran. That was the worst day of my life, or so I thought. It was on that fateful day that I met Licht, he sensed my sorrow and welcomed me into the Eye of the Midnight Sun, and under him, I was taught something important: that we can do whatever we wanted, to whoever we wanted,"

Even though it was futile, the young lady just kept trying to break free. "I mean, look how easy it was to abduct you from the safety of your own home," he walked closer, his right hand transforming into a blade as he rested it beside Rina's neck.

At this point, she was audibly crying, fearing what would happen, the young man, however, only seemed to find pleasure in her despair. "Shh, I'm merely doing what you said, that you'd rather die than be anything other than friends, well, if that's what you want, then I'd be more than happy to grant you that wish!"

He reeled his arm back, ready to decapitate her, but his strike never came as Luck burst in out of seemingly nowhere, kicking him down, the other members of his team arriving.

"The hell was going on in here?" the blonde wondered aloud with his arms crossed above his head, and his foot planted firmly on the man's face.

Noelle quickly freed Rina from her restraints. "Are you okay, miss?"

The young woman began to calm down. "Yes, thank you so much,"

"It's our pleasure, allow me to assist you," Kirsch summoned petals and wind, lifting her up. "My blossoms will send you out of here and to our spatial mage, he'll bring you home,"

"Thank you again," she said before being flown out of sight.

Rama walked towards the room's only entrance. "It's a good thing we made it here when we did. For the time being, it doesn't seem like the enemy knows we're here,"

They all exited the room and trekked around, that is, until they reached a point with a lower level, said level a fair distance down from where they were standing.

Suddenly, a group of terrorist mages showed themselves from the lower point, completely oblivious to the quartet above them.

"You were right, Rama, they don't know we're here," the water mage whispered.

"Then it's time to make an entrance," he replied as the four jumped down together.

A mage quickly spotted them. "Intruders!" she exclaimed as they landed. "Get them!"

Rama and Luck were the first to charge forward, the latter wearing his iconic crazy grin. "I'm counting about twenty people we're up against, I'm so excited,"

"Make sure you leave some for the rest of us,"

"I make no promises,"

With two swift motions, the white tiger and the cheery berserker took out their grimoires, casting their trusty spells.

Lightning Creation Magic: Holy Lightning Armaments!"

"Lightning Magic: Force of Raijin!"

Upon powering up, the two part ways, each being followed by five enemies.

The white-haired teen grinned. "Looks like I'll get to partake in some action after all. Lightning Creation Magic: Voltage Polearm!"

"A polearm? This must be our lucky day!" one of them laughed.

"How so?"

"You just happened to be up against five of the toughest close-quarters mages here," he explained. "It's okay if you want to give up, we'll kill you as quickly as we can,"

"Give up? Nah, I have a better idea," Rama raised his weapon, lodging it into the ground.

The midnight sun mage was bewildered. "Have you lost your damn mind?! Why are you handicapping yourself?! You must really have a death wish!"

"Why, you ask?" he got into a fighting stance, his left arm reeled to his side with a balled-up fist while his right side extended forward with an open palm. "I want to see how good you really are,"

At this point, the man was growling. "Stop screwing with us! That'll cost you! Diamond Magic: Diamond Fists!" his two clenched hands became crystalized as he reeled one back to attack.

But there's no way Rama would let that hit him. Using his enhanced speed, he caught the punch with his open palm, positioning himself to the side before firing a punch of his own with his left hand, successfully getting him right in the jaw. And it didn't even end there, using the opportunity he bought himself, he wrapped both of his arms behind his back, causing the other four mages to stop in their tracks.

"W-What the hell just happened?" the restrained man mumbled before he realized the position he was in. "Damn it all. What now, you're gonna use me as a shield?"

In response to that, he was merely turned around so he could face his captor, but just two seconds passed before he was sent flying courtesy of a powerful kick.

"Use you as a shield? Of course not, even lowlife scum such as yourselves deserve to be utterly destroyed with at least a bit of honor," he said back, assuming a new stance, this time, his whole body was reeled back with his left leg outstretched.

"Get him!" two mages charged forward, brandishing swords of fire and ice respectively.

Rama remained in his stance, unmoving, it was when they were about three feet from him that he showed the purpose of his stationary position. Utilizing the potential energy of it, he launched a quick and powerful wide kick, unfortunately for him though, they were fast enough to dodge and resume their strikes.

But he too managed to dodge their attacks by throwing his body back into the first half of a kip-up motion, using the second half to thrust himself behind them, doing a wide sweep kick right after to trip them up.

"Three down, two to go," the white tiger informed himself, breaking into a sprint to confront another mage who was coming at him with a similar speed, however, he was faster though, performing a set of cartwheels that transitioned into five backflips.

On his fifth one, he boosted himself up, elevating him above the ground and above his opponent, his body not yet reaching the halfway point of the flip.

One would think he was trying to get behind them like he did a few seconds ago, but they would be wrong. In a graceful motion, he latched his feet onto their neck, lifting the mage with him as he completed the flip, slamming him on the ground with a thud.

"One more," he muttered before his head suddenly shifted upon detecting someone closing in. His reflexes kicked in, allowing him to evade the would-be successful attack, he turned, just to be met with a flurry of punches that Rama blocked perfectly before weaving around them, launching a strong backhand to take them down.

"Hm, I guess they weren't that good after all," the knight walked back to where his polearm was, retrieving it.

"Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction!" Luck let loose a barrage of projectiles, in response, the five who opposed him all blasted projectiles of their own, canceling his out.

Despite that, his grin didn't vanish. "Okay, it seems you aren't total weaklings, good," he sped forward, jumping into the air, fashioning his legs into a dropkick.

Rather than make a move to dodge, one of the enemies flipped through her grimoire, creating a sledgehammer out of iron, opting to engage his attack directly, resulting in a stalemate.

"Ooh, I've never seen anyone try that before, but gravity is on my side!" he exclaimed, his weight overpowering the weapon and forcing it down, he followed up with a quick upper kick to her chin.

"Flame Magic: Burning Rage!" an intense arc of fire was sent his way from behind.

"You didn't actually think I'd let that hit me, did you?" he asked aloud, back still turned, his grimoire flipping to a page. "Lightning Magic: Thunder Fiend!"

He transformed into a stream of electricity and zoomed backward, swerving around the spell in a zig-zag fashion, reverting back into himself upon being a single inch in front of two mages before proceeding to pummel them both with an array of fists.

The two hit the ground hard, their faces covered in bruises, regardless, Luck looked down at them with some dissatisfaction. "Hm, that wasn't as fun as the last one, I need something to make this more exciting," a thought then came to him. "I have an idea,"

Not wasting a second, he grabbed one of the defeated foes' legs and sprinted forward with them in tow.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"You'll see," the blonde answered, electrocuting her before throwing her at the remaining two. "Behold! The Throwing Firecracker!"

His plan went perfectly, taking down all three of them. From afar, Kirsch smirked, he and Noelle standing side by side against the last ten. "Those commoners did a pretty good job, as royals, we can't disappoint,"

The girl did the same. "That has the be the least annoying thing I've ever heard you say,"

"What can I say? Asta and Zora had quite the impact on me,"

"I can attest to that,"

Unlike the other ten, this dectet decided to come all at once from the air, but the royals were ready.

"Cherry Blossom Magic: Torrent of Petals!"

"Water Magic: Sea Dragon's Waterball!"

The two spells, in such proximity to one another, managed to blow every enemy away. The older man whistled. "That was rather quick,"

"Luckily for us, we got some time to enjoy our fights," Rama and Luck exchanged a high-five.

Noelle flicked her ponytail. "Regardless of how long they took, it was obvious they didn't stand a chance against us. We should get moving,"

"No, don't count us out yet!" the four turned in somewhat shock to see all twenty mages back on their feet.

"I suppose ruffians like them never learn, we'll just have to beat them again," Kirsch sighed.

"Actually, there's something I've been meaning to try out," Luck raised a hand. "The thing is, it's kinda dangerous, so you may want to distance yourselves from me,"

"Alright," the coral knight replied, using her magic to propel the three twenty feet up. "You're good to go!"

"Nice, I've been waiting to use this in a fight," he said as electricity danced across his body, but that didn't discourage his adversaries from coming at him together, various spells ready.

"Nighty night, Lightning Magic: Indiscriminate Discharge!" with a single motion, he slapped the floor with his hand, and immediately as he did, the ground came to life with radiant light blue, electrocuting everyone except for the caster. They all dropped down, unconscious, bodies pulsating from the shock.

"Holy crap, Luck," Noelle commented as the cherry blossom mage brought them back down. "That was pretty powerful, it's a good thing you're on our side, I personally wouldn't like to be on the receiving of it,"

"You won't have to worry about that, now let's go,"

"Magic Knight trash, die!"

The golden quartet traversed through their section of the base very quickly, running into trouble rather fast, and were now facing a powerful spell.

But it wasn't powerful enough as Klaus confronted it. "Steel Creation Magic: Full Metal Fortress!"

He created the defense, stopping the attack in its tracks. "Yuno, now!"

"I'm on it!" the wind mage flew from over the wall, zooming at high speeds. "Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Hawk!" he summoned the avian that slammed itself into the mage and crashed his body into the ceiling, knocking him out.

"Impressive work," the steel mage praised.

"Thanks for the opening, Specs," Yuno returned the compliment, but then he heard footsteps approaching.

"Klaus, Hamon, move in, I'll cover you!" he summoned a powerful gust of wind and blasted it ahead in a wide fashion while his teammates closed in by the edges of the area.

"What the hell?! I can't look straight, and where did all this wind come from?!" a trio of midnight sun mages yelled as they did their best to trek through the room.

Suddenly, the powerful gusts came to a standstill, making them breathe a sigh of relief, but that relief was short-lived.

"Steel Creation Magic: Spiral Lance!"

"Glass Creation Magic: Verre Epèe!"

Before they could even begin to process what was happening, they were already defeated by the duo of spells.

"Nice job, you two," it was Mimosa's turn to give some words of praise as she checked her guidepost. "From the looks of it, we're making great progress, we might even run into Rhya at this point, or even Licht,"

"Do we stand a chance against either of them though?" Hamon asked.

"Apart from the Mereoleona and Nozel, I'd say we do," Klaus answered. "We are the Royal Knights that come from the Golden Dawn, the kingdom's best squad, if we work together, we can do it,"

"I hope you're right," Bell commented, but then, footsteps were heard once again, however, it sounded like those coming from a single person, and it ended up just being one person, a man that had the robe, but with the sleeves rolled up and the hood off, his arms and legs adorned with jewelry-like objects.

"Hm, if it isn't a couple of magic knights. Nice getup, is it new? his voice was confident.

"You're certainly quite full of yourself," Yuno said to him. "Who are you anyway?"

"I'm so glad you asked, I'm Raien, the Eye of the Midnight Sun's resident Magic Item aficionado,"

"Aficionado? I could've sworn it was that girl who kidnapped Asta during the Capital attack," Mimosa recalled.

"Sally? She's the expert on dark magic items, which are her own modified versions of them, I specialize in the regular kinds, and with them, you're done for,"

Klaus confidently pushed up his glasses. "A bold claim when it's four against one,"

Raien grinned. "I'll enjoy wiping that look off your face," he opened his grimoire. "Copper Creation Magic: Bommy Knocker!" a medium spiked club. "That's not it," he pulled out a bracelet of sorts and cuffed it around the base of his weapon, making it surge with magic.

"I take it you used a power-boosting item?" Hamon inquired.

"Correct, I don't have to spell it out for you losers," he flashed right behind them, reeling back his club. "With speed-boosting items on my legs, and strength-boosting ones on my arms, you don't stand a chance!"

"You'd be wise not to underestimate us!" Klaus cast his defense spell once more, but this time the result was different, cracking his wall and sending him back.

"Sorry, couldn't hear you, I was too busy kicking your ass," the copper mage smirked. "Take this!" he became like a tornado, spinning the bommy knocker in his hand before letting it go, turning it into a rocket of force.

"Let me handle this!" Hamon rushed forward. "Glass Creation Magic: Mur de Verre!" he conjured the wide glass wall.

But nothing changed as the club broke through it too, albeit with more of a struggle, creating a multitude of shards. However, despite the failure, the glass mage had a backup plan.

"Yuno, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Way ahead of you!" the boy summoned another gust of wind, this time blowing the recently-broken shards at Raien.

"Cool plan, just not a good one," the copper mage responded by doing nothing, merely waiting for the shards to get closer, and once they did, he narrowed his eyes and a big circular shield formed in front of him, its appearance a translucent purple, keeping him unharmed.

"Another magic item?" Mimosa gasped.

"And this bad boy is my best defensive one. It concentrates my mana in front of me to repel attacks," he explained. "So far, only the Third Eye and Licht himself could get past it without difficulty,"

The royal quickly regained her composure. "Then after this, you can add us to that list!" she prepared to attack, and as she did, the spectacled and chubby knights joined her.

"Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!"

"Steel Magic: Guillotine Assault!"

"Glass Magic: Verre Shards!"

The trifecta of spells quickly neared their target, hitting the defensive force head-on, but it was nowhere near the point of faltering.

"Damn it, this isn't good," Bell was beginning to worry.

Without any hesitation, Yuno stepped up. "It's okay, everyone, I'll handle this once and for all,"

Raien started chuckling, but it soon turned into a burst of loud laughter. "Hahahaha! Oh shit, I'm too weak, hahahahaha! What could you possibly do on your own?"

"Why tell you? Showing you would be better,"

The fairy pointed at the proud man. "You better watch out, one Sylph's Breath, and that guard of yours will be history!"

"Actually, I was just going to use my own power," he revealed.

"You're what?!" she screamed. "B-But,"

"C'mon, have some faith in me,"

"Oh alright, but if it doesn't work, I'm stepping in,"

"Deal,"

With that, Yuno raised one arm to the ceiling, and a powerful burst of wind accompanied him, spiraling like a cylinder around him.

The copper mage raised a brow. "Powering up, aye? It won't do you any good, all it does is waste your mana,"

"Confident talk from a guy that's going to lose," the black-haired teen fired back as his hand went from the ceiling to being stretched in front of him, the cylinder of wind drawing itself into an orb ahead of his palm. Then, his fist dramatically clenched itself shut.

Raien braced himself for what was on its way towards him, but that waiting soon became five seconds, which then became ten seconds.

"You can't be serious!" he exclaimed, laughing soon after. "All that for nothing, I guess it was just an act to intimidate me,"

To his absolute shock though, Yuno smirked, and it was a proud one at that. "The hell's up with you? I saw through your charade, and now you're-!"

The mage was cut off suddenly, as something crashed into his back out of nowhere, and that something was Tornado Fang. "What the? It can't be, that move he did earlier, it wasn't meant to be direct, it was meant to be an attack…

..From behind!" he finished deducing as he was sent hurtling into a wall face-first, the blow knocking him out.

Yuno let out a deep breath. "And that's how it's done,"

"That was incredible," Mimosa congratulated, but she soon quickly realized an action that couldn't be overlooked. "But how exactly did you shoot Tornado Fang from behind him? Hold on a moment, I vaguely remember something that could explain it. Did you just use-," she was about to ask, but the wind mage beat her to it, saying just two words.

"Mana Zone,"

She nodded. "Yeah. If memory serves me correctly, Mana Zone is a technique that gives you command of mana within a certain distance of yourself, allowing you to utilize it how you wish, either offensively or defensively. I wasn't aware you knew how to do it though,"

"Three weeks ago, I wouldn't have been aware either, but Specs told me about it,"

"It's true," Klaus spoke up. "Back during his first fight during the exam, when he casted a tornado in Alecdora's spell, I got curious, so we did from practice the following week. It turns out he was using Mana Zone back then, he just didn't know what it was,"

Hamon held his chin. "Strange, I was always under the impression one had to consciously train to learn Mana Zone,"

Hearing that made Yuno smirk ever so slightly. "I guess I'm just a little lucky,"

The other chuckled. "That you are, but we should continue, more enemies await, let's just hope that luck of yours doesn't run out,"

"Hm, it's been three minutes since we split up, and so far, we haven't run into anybody, odd," Kenos thought, the three of them running as fast as they could down a straight path.

True to what his mental statement said, they had yet to encounter a single terrorist mage. He had resorted to looking around and behind him, wondering if any were just on the higher levels, waiting to ambush them.

However, he didn't find what he was looking for, instead, he found someone looking at him.

"Is everything alright, Zuka?"

"O-Oh yeah, I'm fine," she replied with a stutter.

"Okay then," he turned his head forward, beginning to feel a little self-conscious. "Now that I think about it, I never learned when she developed feelings for me. How often has she stared at me like she did earlier? I guess that must mean…she also finds me pretty attractive. That's not a bad thing to know, I mean, I know I'm not ugly, but a girl finding me cute is a nice…hold the damn communication device, this is certainly not the time to get sidetracked,"

"Y'know, there is actually something important on my mind," Zuka suddenly said, pulling the solar mage out of his thoughts.

"And that is?" he asked, totally composed.

"If Annalise is here, this may very well be our final battle,"

Alice raised a brow. "Final battle?"

"Yeah, I've run into her on three separate occasions, and each time, we've fought directly. She's basically my arch nemesis,"

"Do you think you'll be able to take her out for good this time?" Kenos asked curiously.

"I'm pretty confident I will, even if she managed to get stronger after our last bout in Hiroka," she answered before sending a wink the boy's way. "After all, I've got a new trick up my sleeve,"

"Is that so? Then let's see how this trick of yours fares against us," the trio came to a halt as five robed mages emerged, standing some meters away,"

"Just when I was wondering where you lot were, time for a beatdown," the Rossiu took out his grimoire. "Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!"

"On the contrary. Rock Magic: Rock Blockade!" he countered by creating a large slab to protect them. "My turn, Rock Magic: Pebble Pandemonium!"

At his command, the blockade broke apart into an innumerable amount of pebbles, firing them all at once.

Kenos' grimoire flipped to the page of his defense spell. "Girls, get behind-," he was cut off by a powerful gust of wind that blew the pebbles away.

"No way in hell am I letting these bastards lay a single finger on us!" Alice exclaimed, her fists clenched as she advanced with a grin. "Kenos, what do you say we teach these shits a lesson they won't forget?"

In response, he punched his palm. "Why not, it's what we came here for anyway. They need to learn that there are consequences for messing with the Clover Kingdom and its Magic Knights,"

The wind mage then turned to Zuka. "Sparkle chick, I saw your fights during the exam, you're good, but you better pull your weight, or else you won't have to worry about these guys kicking your ass, because I'll do it myself, and it won't be pretty,"

"You don't have to worry, Alice. I'm a Royal Knight, am I not?"

The woman nodded approvingly. "That you are,"

"There's just three of them, we can win," one of their foes said with confidence.

Alice snickered. "You can…win? You losers aren't even worth using Battlefield Dancer on, we're the ones who will end up on top. Wind Creation Magic: Ventus Hunter!" The beast swirled into life, charging at its targets.

The rock mage stepped up. "This will end up like the last time! Rock Magic: Rock Blockade!"

"Wrong!" Kenos retorted. "Solar Creation Magic: Sundial Buzz Saw!" he launched the weapon, moving faster than the beast, managing to cut down the defense in time for the Ventus Hunter to crash into the rock mage.

With one enemy down, the trio of knights ran at top speed, not wanting to give their opponents a chance to fight back.

"Sparkle Reinforcement Magic: Rampage Force!" Zuka pumped herself up as she neared two mages, subjecting one to a quick one-two combo before launching an uppercut.

The second one tried to sneak up behind her. "I got you now!"

"Think again, Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" she ducked at the attack, quickly rotating to slam the side of the lance into their face.

Kenos didn't face much difficulty either. His opponent made the mistake of trying to beat him with an array of magic bullets, so he switched from straightforward running to weaving, getting closer with each step. Once he got close enough, he focused mana into his feet, jumping into a front flip, not even waiting to touch the ground on the other side before making a move.

"Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Whip!" he reeled it back and launched it, tying it around their leg and pulling with all his strength, bringing her to him.

"Then Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Gauntlet!" the whip disappeared just as the gauntlet appeared, not being in use for long as he launched a single decisive blow to the jaw.

Alice was last up, and like the others, she also found herself in a winning position, her beast currently sinking its teeth in a mage's leg, diverting his attention from her.

She blitzed forward, ready to attack. "Wind Magic: Cyclone Slam!" she exclaimed as wind circled and condensed around her right arm, going from her hand to about six inches below her wrist, performing a quick spinning backhand, taking down the last of their enemies.

"Nice work, team, a quick first victory," Zuka cheered with a smile, walking up to the older woman and patting her on the back. "Those were some nice moves on your part too,"

"I, um, thanks," Alice said back, reverting to her base persona. "Um, sorry about what I said to you earlier about hurting you, I-I didn't mean it,"

"No harm done, Kenos and Ryusei already told me about the whole personality switch thing,"

"Oh, that's a relief,"

The solar mage approached them. "We did good here, but our fight is far from over, we should keep going,"

"Right!"

Following both Teams 2 and 6, despite being in different areas, the groups led by captains faced very similar circumstances.

It started with complete silence upon entry, if one didn't know any better, they'd say the whole place was deserted. Both teams broke into sprints from the get-go to cover the distance, but it then devolved into silent walking, not knowing what lay in every corner, opting for precaution.

But in either group, that precaution ultimately led to nothing as a lone mage would spot them, using their magic in some way or another to call for reinforcements, and would soon be joined by what seemed to be forty or so extras.

Regardless of the numbers, the Royal Knights didn't fear. "Okay, it's time to battle," Asta advanced ahead, about to pull out both of his swords.

On the mercury mage's team, it was En who stepped forward. "You don't need to worry about them, I'll summon some of my fighting mushrooms to fight. Mana conservation is important, it's like Captain Mereoleona said yesterday, we don't know how much we'll be battling on this mission.

The two were ready to engage against their respective foes, but just like before, something similar happened between them.

Asta was stopped in his tracks as the flame mage moved with blinding speed, appearing in front of him. At the same time, Nozel put up a hand to halt En from getting any closer.

With an air of powerful seriousness, they spoke the same words.

"I will handle them myself. Do not interfere, under any circumstance, just follow behind me,"

Choosing not to challenge their orders, the swordsmen and the fungus mage fell back. Once they were out of the way, the two royals rushed ahead with no hesitation, spells blazing, plowing through whoever was in their way, all the while, identical thoughts spoke in their minds, alternating from one to the other.

"Licht, I know you're here somewhere," it began with Nozel.

"And no matter how many of these weaklings I have to go through, I'll find you," it then transitioned to Mereoleona.

"I'm going to make you regret what you did,"

"You will pay for it with every single bone in your body, and then, with your life itself,"

"Both you and your insidious group end today,"

"That much is certain,"

"Then I will have had revenge for my rival…,"

"Then I will have had revenge for my brother…,"

"Fuegoleon!" they finished together.

Just like they were told, the five knights followed behind as fast as they could, all of them witnessing the rampage, one word entering their minds.

"Damn,"

Darkness. Nothing but darkness was visible, but that wouldn't last for long as eyes suddenly shot open, revealing a luscious meadow from a man's point of view.

"Hm, crap, how long was I out for?" he mumbled groggily before rising from the tree he was resting under, stretching his arms. "No doubt they're all waiting for me,"

With one last stretch, he began walking, as he did, he couldn't help but look around, seeing the beauty in every corner, flowers wafting their sweet aroma through the air, and children playing together. The place was no short of paradise.

In a short ten minutes, he reached his destination: another part of the meadow, this one with a large wooden table sticking out, and people sitting at it.

With a sigh, he approached them, taking a seat at the last open spot, to where he was met with grins and greetings.

"Looks like sleepyhead finally decided to wake up," a male adolescent joked, his appearance on the strange side, his face was a little pale, and he was dressed solely in a white tunic, his hair white as snow. But there was one feature that stuck out more than the rest.

His pointy ears. In fact, almost everyone at the table had that special feature, there was only one exception: a woman sitting on the other side, her hair a vermilion color.

"Cut me some slack, Lira. It's a beautiful day, the perfect time for a nap," the man defended himself.

"He does have a point, Lira, a day such as this is so peaceful, it just makes me so happy," an older girl came to his defense.

"Thanks, Yurim, good to see someone agrees with me,"

"While I can understand that, I would prefer it if you came on time, our training session is over," a man politely scolded him, he sat next to the vermillion-haired woman, his own hair in a short ponytail.

In response, the man sighed again. "Sure thing, Licht," he said, it was then that he noticed another male adolescent looking intently at Licht, having the same ponytail.

"Y'know, Patri," he started, earning the boy's attention. "You may have looked up to Licht for most of your life, but you'll have to let him go, he's going to be a married man soon, not to mention a father,"

This warranted laughs from the others, Patri slightly blushing from embarrassment. "Whatever,"

"Aw, don't tease him, I think it's sweet," the woman giggled.

Patri nodded his thanks. "I appreciate that, Tetia,"

The woman called Tetia nodded back. "You're welcome, and tell you what," she placed a hand on her belly. "After the wedding, how would you like to be officially appointed as our child's godfather?"

His eyes widened. "You mean it?"

Licht nodded. "I agree. If anything were to happen to us, I completely trust you to watch over our son until he is of sufficient age,"

"I-I'd be honored,"

Tetia held her fiance's hand. "Hopefully, that day never comes to pass, I want to see my son grow into a fine man,"

Her betrothed gripped it tightly. "As do I. God and the Sacred Ones have blessed our union, our son will be the bridge between us, uniting humans and elves in harmony,"

"Hold on for a minute!" a pink-haired elf exclaimed. "Speaking of the wedding, it's just a week from now, and I have some suggestions,"

"What kind of suggestions, Fana?" Yurim asked.

"Well, elven wedding traditions are fine, but they are a bit on the plainer side, but Tetia told me human weddings are really exciting. They even have other people doing stuff in it,"

"Yes, we have roles like a best man, a maid of honor, groomsmen, and bridesmaids," Tetia explained.

Fana grinned. "We should do that then!"

"I don't see why not," Licht shrugged. "I already know who my best man will be, I just hope he accepts,"

"Nonsense, my brother would be honored to receive such a role," the vermillion said. "Now, who should be my maid of honor?"

"Ooh, can I do it?" Fana eagerly volunteered.

"Hm, I was actually thinking of having my brother's assistant do it, if you don't mind,"

"Her? Alright then, it's your wedding," she pouted. "But I'm definitely going to be a bridesmaid,"

"Of course,"

An older man raised his hand. "I'll join as a groomsman,"

"That's the spirit, Vetto, Lira and I will join in too," a teen boy spoke up. "And I have two great candidates for bridesmaids,"

"They are?"

He faced the girl to his right. "The lovely Yurim," he then turned to another girl on his left. "And her sister, the equally lovely Yoveen,"

Yoveen smiled goofily, playfully punching his arm. "Be serious, Romit, I'll probably be too busy making Tetia's dress. Making clothes is my specialty, no way I'm passing up this opportunity,"

"We'd better go ask others if they'd like to join," Lira told them.

"I know someone to ask, and luckily, he's close by," Vetto looked out at the meadow, spotting a teen boy playing with what looked like a young animal. "Den!"

The boy heard his name and ran over with the animal. "Need something, Vetto?" he inquired, the animal licking his face.

The beast mage smiled at the sight. "Things are going good for you two,"

"Yeah, those taking tips you gave are working like a charm,"

"Good to know. Anyways, would you like to be a groomsman at Licht's wedding?"

Den held his chin with a raised brow. "I don't really know what that is, but if Licht is alright with it, I accept,"

"Awesome. Can you ask your cousin if she would like to join it too?" Fana requested.

"Sena? I suppose, at least, once we know what this is,"

Patri finally spoke up again. "What about your other cousins, the twins?"

"Not a chance," Den shook his head vehemently. "I love them, but Garo and Argo are agents of chaos through and through. Invite them at your own risk,"

"I see, then I know another we can ask," Licht looked straight at the man, who had stayed relatively quiet.

But as he did, everything began to shake violently, the man darting his head in every direction to find the source, strangely finding nothing, however, what was even stranger was the fact that no one else seemed to perceive it, they all just directed a static smile his way.

Licht opened his mouth again, ignoring the shaking. "So, what do you say? Will you do it for me…Rhya?"

The copy mage's eyes shot open a second time, but now he found himself lying down on a bed in the center of a large room.

He sat up, a hand on his forehead, wiping off tears that formed. "That same dream again, damn it,"

Once again, the area started shaking, forcing him to jump out of bed. "What is all that racket? I better find out,"

He took out his grimoire. "Copy Crow Creation Magic: Blackbird Espionage," a familiar crow materialized. "Check the base's eastern hemisphere," he created a portal which it flew through.

"And to check the western hemisphere, Copy Insect Creation Magic: Spy Fly," a crimson fly spawned into life. Giving it orders, he sent it through another portal.

Rhya sighed deeply, sitting down on his bed. "I keep having that dream every few nights, and I always wake up crying," he talked to himself. "I guess it makes sense though, I got to see them again, got their hear their voices again,"

He let out a short sigh. "I miss them," just as he said that, the crow and the fly returned, both creating projections he surveyed.

"Intruders, and they're making quick work of our soldiers, I don't recognize them though," he switched from the crow to the fly, and that's when his eyes widened, seeing a familiar face. "The swords thief! If he's here, they must be Magic Knights, but they don't look like them,"

He thought about it for a second before it clicked in his mind. "These must be those Royal Knights we heard about, the ones formed to try and stop us. I could've sworn our intel told us their attack wouldn't be for another two or three days, but it's of no consequence,"

He slowly marched to the exit of his room, a grin on his face. "This will be a pain, but I have to deal with it, after all…Licht isn't here, someone has to hold down the fort,"