Chapter Thirty: Helping an Old Friend (Part 2)
"What!"
That was the word that left the mouth of everyone but Asta and Fanzell, their eyes all widening in complete shock.
"You're not from the Clover Kingdom, but the Diamond Kingdom?" Kenos asked once he found his voice.
Fanzell nodded. "That's right, the Diamond Kingdom is infamous for ruthlessly experimenting on their own citizens to create stronger mages,"
Asta, Noelle, Luck, and Kenos narrowed their eyes, remembering their battle with Andreas and Mars of the Diamond Kingdom back in the dungeon, and the dangerous power of their twin attributes.
"Yeah, we've seen the power of those experiments first hand," Asta said.
"Well I was disgusted by the fact that they cared so little for the well being of their own people, so Dominante and I left, the king didn't take too kindly to that and sent assassins to find and kill us, so we decided to split up, I retreated to Hage, but I'm not sure where she went," Fanzell continued. "Eventually, I was found by the assassins in Hage, but Asta helped me defeat them, it seems that they're sending another group to get the job done,"
"Okay then, this just got a lot harder," Yami groaned.
"What's our plan of action, Captain Yami?" Kenos asked. "Can't we just have Finral teleport us somewhere away from the base and move from there?"
"That's not a bad plan, but those Diamond bastards already have this place surrounded, if we move out, they're going to go on the offensive which can damage the base, worst-case scenario, they realize what we're doing and move further into the kingdom to find us, which will give them hostages," the dark mage replied as he blew smoke. "Which means the best option for us is to kick their asses here and now,"
"I like that plan, but first, we should see who our enemies are and where they're positioned before going into battle," Fanzell said as he crouched down and moved towards the window, hoping to get a visual of the threat. He peered out and saw about twenty mages, ten on the trees and ten on the ground he kept scanning, but stopped as he noticed something in particular.
Standing on a tree were two people, one was a tall man, he wore a hood, but his brown hair and beard were visible, and although he was wearing similar attire to most of the mages there, he had a red belt around his waist. The other one was a young girl, she was wearing an entirely different attire than the ones around her, she wore a short-sleeved white shirt, a short reddish-mahogany skirt, a long black fur cape, and strapped around her waist was her satchel and grimoire.
"Damn it, I didn't think they'd be here," Fanzell said.
"Who's here?" Noelle asked.
"Galleo, a spatial mage and the commander of the Diamond Kingdom's assassination squad, and with him is Mariella," the wind mage replied, his eyes growing more serious as he spoke the last name.
"Mariella's here?" Asta asked, his former master nodded.
"Who's that?" Kenos asked.
"She was one of old man Zell's students, a powerful ice mage, I met her in Hage when she and the assassins tried to kill old man Zell the first time," the swordsman replied.
"Okay, it's clear that out of everyone out there, those two are the biggest threats," Vanessa noted.
"We have an idea of our enemy and we know who we have to worry about, so should we engage?" the solar mage asked.
Fanzell shook his head. "Not yet, we may know all of that, but we still don't know our plan of action,"
"He's right," Finral spoke up. "He said that they have a spatial mage, I don't know if he has the same teleportation limitations as me, but if he doesn't, that could put us at a disadvantage. Think about it, if we try to just defeat them all and take Fanzell to the Black Market, Galleo can just teleport away when he sees he's losing,"
"And then he could possibly ambush us on our way to the Black Market," Gauche finished.
The spatial mage nodded. "Correct, and if we try to split up, with some people fighting here and some others taking Fanzell to the destination, Galleo can just send someone after them, like Mariella,"
"That makes sense, she or someone else most likely found out I was here, they could know where we're going," Fanzell finished this time.
"Those are all good points Finral, but those are all the options we have in this situation, is there something else we can do?" Kenos asked.
"I'm not too sure about that part," Finral replied.
"Wait, there is something we can do!" a voice exclaimed from behind everyone.
They all turned around, but their eyes widened once they saw who it came from, a person whom they thought a plan would never come from.
Outside the base, Galleo and Mariella looked around, scanning their forces, they then looked once more at the Black Bulls base in front of them, one of their mages sent a shot through the window, but there was no retaliation from their enemies.
"Why haven't they come out yet?" Galleo asked, he turned to Mariella. "You're sure he's here?"
The girl nodded. "Yes, according to my sources, he was seen here a little while ago," she replied.
"Well, if they're not going to come out, then we're heading in," Galleo decided as he looked down at the other mages. "Prepare to attack on my signal-," he was about to exclaim before another voice shouted out.
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair!" the voice yelled as a water barrier erupted around the base.
"What the hell?" Galleo and Mariella asked aloud in unison.
"Hey, Diamond Kingdom bastards!" multiple voices exclaimed, the enemy looked up to see Magna, Luck, Gauche, Charmy, and Yami in the air, their grimoires out.
"Prepare to face the might of the Black Bulls!" they exclaimed together as they landed.
"Fanzell is most likely inside, there's no other reason to create that barrier," Galleo muttered to himself as he pointed at the Magic Knights. "Attack!"
The assassins wasted no time charging towards the Black Bulls.
"Take this, you stupid bastards, Flame Magic: Explosive Scatter Shot!" Magna exclaimed as he launched the cascade of fireballs at a horde of mages.
The flame mage grinned. "Nice, there's no way you're laying a finger on the old man, not while we're here,"
Luck cheerfully ran over to Magna. "Not bad Magna, wanna have a competition to see who can take out the most?" he asked.
"What, no way!"
"That's alright, I know you're just scared that you'll lose to me, Lightning Creation Magic: Holy Lightning Armaments!" the lightning mage exclaimed as he became armed in his signature gloves and boots, he raced towards the enemy.
"Scared?! No way in hell, you get back here, I'll show you who's scared!" Magna exclaimed as he ran behind Luck.
"Hey look!" one of the assassins exclaimed, pointing at Charmy. "They let some little kid into the Magic Knights, she's most likely the weakest one here, let's get her!"
The cotton mage watched as three mages ran toward her, but fear was not present in her eyes, only anger as her grimoire flipped through pages. "Now that I'm sure Noelle isn't being assaulted by a pervert, I can unleash my rage. Because of you people, I didn't get to get to enjoy my late-morning breakfast, Cotton Creation Magic: Army of Striking Sheep!"
At her call, three medium-sized sheep appeared in front of her, they each zoomed with great speed towards a mage, punching them into either the air, or into the nearby trees.
"Mirror Magic: Reflect Refrain!" Gauche exclaimed as the mirrors appeared and reflected light as they struck mage after mage.
The mirror mage groaned. "I don't really care about all of this, I'd rather talk to Marie or look at her angelic picture, but I can't do that while you're all here,"
Six mages then surrounded him, their grimoires out, they all let out a scream before firing their spells simultaneously.
"Mirror Magic: Mirror Shift!" Gauche boredly exclaimed as he evaded the attack, appearing a few feet away from them, the mages were surprised and quickly dissipated the spells that came their way.
"If you're done, then I'll finish this, Mirror Creation Magic: Blade of Infinite Reflections!" Gauche exclaimed as three mirrors appeared, distancing themselves to form a triangle, one mirror then shot light, it reflected to the second mirror, and then the third mirror, the light kept going until it became a triangular stream of light. In between the triangle, a large purple forearm rose up, holding a large blade, the arm then did a sweeping motion, hitting the six mages at once.
Yami watched his squad members fighting, he nodded, glad they were holding their own, and kicking ass too, the dark mage then saw assassins approaching him too. "You wanna take me on? I'll tell you now, you'd be better off fighting one of them,"
They didn't stop their advance, Yami sighed as he unsheathed his katana. "Alright, it's your funeral, Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Blade Storm!" he exclaimed, firing the multiple slashes of darkness, slightly grinning as each one hit its mark.
Galleo and Mariella watched from the trees as their allies were being eliminated left and right, the former grit his teeth. "Who the hell are these people?! Our forces aren't standing a chance, that means it's our turn to get into the fight,"
"I'm not so sure about that!" a voice exclaimed from above them, they looked up to see Fanzell in the air, but before either of them could react, the wind mage landed on the branch right beside Galleo and turned, quickly putting him in a headlock.
"Damn it, you traitor!" Galleo exclaimed as his opponent tightened his lock.
"Hey there Galleo, long time no see," Fanzell greeted quite casually despite the circumstances, he looked down at the battle that had ensued. "Seems like your assassins are getting beat pretty quickly, you really need to change up your teachings, there's nothing worse than being a commander of a bunch of fodder mages,"
Mariella took out her grimoire. "Ice Creation Magic: Assassin's Dagger!" she exclaimed as a small dagger of ice appeared in her hand, she stood ready, facing the red-haired man. "Unhand him, right now," she said in a soft, yet cold tone.
Fanzell's tone, however, remained casual as he spoke to the ice mage. "It's good to see you too, Mariella, don't worry, I don't hold anything against you from what happened in Hage," he said with a small smile.
Mariella tried to move closer, but as she did, her former master's face grew monotone. "Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned as his grip around the diamond assassin tightened once again. "If you move any closer, I just might accidentally snap his neck,"
The ice mage stopped her advance and put her weapon down, Fanzell lightly grinned, but then noticed Galleo struggling. "Is something the matter?" he asked in a mockingly casual tone.
"You stupid bastard, you think you've won, haven't you?" Galleo asked back defiantly.
Fanzell shrugged. "You're not wrong, the Black Bulls have your assassins practically defeated, and I've successfully put you in a compromising position, ready to take your life if I so choose, so yeah, I think it's safe to say we've won,"
To the wind mage's surprise, Galleo merely laughed. "You always were a fool, you think you've beaten us, but I still have one trick up my sleeve, one that might genuinely worry you,"
Fanzell suspiciously raised a brow. "And what might that be?"
Galleo evilly grinned. "Your wife, Dominante Code,"
Fanzell's confidence fell a bit as he heard those words. "What are you talking about?"
"We know where she is, with my spatial magic, I can send anyone after her before you can reach her," Galleo replied confidently. "Did you really think I'd come here without some form of leverage, if I'm harmed, I don't think I can guarantee her well-being,"
It was Fanzell's turn to grit his teeth. "You bastard,"
"So, how does it feel, Fanzell, to have the tables turned on you so quickly, to have the life of the one you love in another person's hand, I'll make sure you regret turning your back on the Diamond Kingdom," Galleo said.
Mariella watched her former master, waiting to see how'd he react, but to both her surprise and that of the spatial mage, Fanzell grinned before he started laughing, it started off low, but then became a howl.
Galleo widened his eyes. "What the hell? Your wife's life is in danger and you're laughing, have you gone mad or something?!"
Fanzell released Galleo from his headlock and jumped down to the ground, the wind mage was then surrounded in a small puff of white smoke, as the smoke disappeared, a new figure stood in his place.
Galleo twisted his neck back and forth to remove the tight feeling he had been subjected to, meanwhile, Mariella's eyes widened as she looked at the new figure standing where Fanzell had just been. "Asta, is that you? I thought you didn't have any magic?"
"That's because I'm not Asta, allow me to introduce myself, my name is Grey, a transformation mage of the Black Bulls, I'm able to look like anyone I wish," Grey said.
Galleo gasped. "Wait a minute, if you were just posing as Fanzell, that means he isn't here, where is he?!"
Grey crossed his arms. "Like I'd ever tell you, just know that he's far away from here," he then ran towards the base, disappearing inside the water barrier.
Galleo slammed his fist into the tree trunk. "Damn it, he was playing us this entire time, these people were just a diversion!"
Mariella walked up to him, unlike the spatial mage, her eyes showed no worry or rage. "They might have gotten a head start, but I know where he's going, make me a portal,"
"Alright then, I'm leaving him to you," Galleo said as he created a red portal a few inches away from them, Mariella jumped inside.
"Fanzell, you won't escape us this time," the spatial mage thought.
While the fighting was going on at the base, in the town of Kikka, a group was running through the crowd, the group consisted of Asta, Kenos, Fanzell, Finral, and Vanessa.
"Alright, make a turn over there, that's where the entrance to the Black Market is!" Vanessa instructed as they did so, soon looking at the entrance, they wasted no time, however, as they immediately entered and kept on running.
Fanzell looked at the others accompanying him. "Are you sure your squadmates will be okay back there, the assassins are tough,"
"Don't worry old man Zell, the Black Bulls are way tougher than any groups of assassins, they'll be just fine," Asta replied confidently. "I'm actually more surprised that the plan worked,"
Kenos nodded. "I know, I'm even more surprised at the person who made the plan," he said as he thought back.
[Flashback]
A Few Minutes Ago. Black Bulls Hideout
"Wait, there is something we could do!" a voice exclaimed from behind them.
They all turned around, but their eyes widened once they saw who it came from, a person whom they thought a plan would never come from.
Charmy
"You have a plan, Charmy?" Asta asked.
"What are you talking about Asta, I'm over here," another voice said, they all turned around and saw...Charmy.
"Wait a minute, since when did we have two Charmys?" Kenos asked.
The first Charmy raised her hand. "We don't, I'm not the real Charmy, it's me, Grey,"
"Grey!" the solar mage exclaimed. "But how?"
"My magical attribute is Transformation, it allows me to shapeshift into whoever I want, I just chose to look like Charmy," Grey explained.
Kenos nodded. "Okay then, you said there's something we could do, lay it on us,"
"If all the options that Finral stated can't be done, we'll have to make our own option," Grey replied, he walked forward. "I like the part where some of us stay here while the rest of us take Fanzell to the Black Market,"
Magna stepped forward. "But didn't you hear what Finral said, if we do that, the spatial bastard from the Diamond Kingdom will just send someone after us,"
Grey nodded. "True, but that's where my plan will come into effect. Here's how it's going to go down," he said, pointing to the water mage. "Noelle, you'll create a water barrier around the base, at that time, Finral, you'll take Fanzell and Vanessa along with any number of us with you to Kikka and make your way to the Black Market,"
"Wait, if they're going to be leaving, why do I need to use Sea Dragon's Lair, the hideout has taken damage before, won't it just fix itself?" Noelle asked.
"That's just to maintain a front, if they see we're protecting this place, they'll most likely believe that Fanzell is still here and is just hiding inside," Grey replied.
"That's not a bad plan, but what if Galleo finds out that we're tricking him, we can't be too careful?" Fanzell asked.
"To make sure that doesn't happen, that's where I'll come in, I'll use my Transformation magic to pose as you and confront Galleo myself, that way, he won't even think that you left, because seemingly, you didn't," Grey responded.
"Wow, I'm impressed, Grey, I didn't think you could come up with a plan like that, we should really include you when we make strategies from here on out," Kenos said.
The transformation shyly shook his head. "Oh no, I'm no strategist, it just seemed like a plan that made sense given the situation we were in, I'm not really one who likes to talk a lot,"
"But that doesn't change the fact that we're impressed," Yami slightly grinned.
"Okay, this plan sounds foolproof, so who else am I taking with me?" Finral asked.
The solar mage quickly raised a hand. "Asta and I will go too, Noelle will have to stay here to cast her spell, and except for Vanessa, Asta and I are the only ones here who've been to the Black Market before, we'll have a better chance navigating our way around than the rest of you,"
"Alright then, I have no opposition to you going, that means the rest of us are going to stay here and kick some diamond ass!" Yami exclaimed.
"Nice, I get to stay here and fight!" Luck added with a cheerful grin.
"Alright then, we all know where we're going, are you ready?!" Asta asked.
"Yes!"
[End Flashback]
"I still can't believe that Grey is a transformation mage, and that he was willing to help us, especially since he's so anti-social," Kenos said, happy that he was getting to know more about the two members of the squad that spoke the least.
"I know, I was totally surprised as well," Asta agreed.
The group then came to a stop, Vanessa spoke up. "Alright everyone, something to know about the Black Market is that merchants won't always be in the same spot, so let's split up and look for Code, Fanzell and Finral, you're with me,"
"Okay, Asta, Kenos, take these communication devices, if you find Code, contact us and give us an idea of what the area around you looks like," Finral said.
Kenos grabbed the device. "Thanks, okay everybody, good luck," he said, they nodded as they broke off into three groups.
"Excuse me, do you know where I could find a merchant named Code?"
"I've heard of her, but I don't know where she is,"
"The merchant, Code, have you seen her anywhere around here?"
"Nope, but if you're interested, I have some stuff here that you might like,"
"I'm looking for Code. I stopped by her stand some time ago, but I don't know where she is now, do you?"
"Not a clue, her stand changes from place to place just like the rest of us,"
Everyone was searching through the Black Market, but nobody was succeeding. The solar mage sighed in partial defeat as he walked by another stand, but didn't bother asking at the time.
"Is something the matter, Magic Knight?" a female voice asked, Kenos turned to see a woman of good height behind a stand, she wore a cloak, the hood of it covering everything but her mouth, but she sounded pretty young.
Kenos walked over to the stand. "No, I'm just having some trouble finding someone,"
"Oh, who exactly are you looking for?" the merchant asked.
"I'm looking for a merchant named Code," Kenos answered.
"Code, she's well known here in the Black Market, is there an item you want from her?" the woman asked again.
The solar mage shook his head. "No, I'm looking for her for somebody else, someone she's supposed to know,"
"I see, are others with you searching for her as well?" she asked as Kenos nodded.
"That's right,"
"Okay then, tell you what, why don't you call this person here, I know where Code is, but I'd like to tell you all at once," she said.
Kenos' eyes brightened. "Really, that'd be great," he said, taking out his device. "Hey, does anybody read me?"
"We hear you," Vanessa replied.
"Same here," Asta added.
"Great, I found a merchant who knows where Code is, tell Fanzell," Kenos said, not noticing a slight reaction from the woman behind him. "I'm on the west end of the Black Market,"
"Okay, we'll meet you there," Vanessa said as the transmission ended.
Ten minutes passed before the others arrived, Kenos waved. "I'm over here!"
They ran up to him. "So where's the merchant who knows where Code is?" Asta asked.
Kenos nodded. "Yes, she's over here," he pointed to the woman.
Finral walked up to her. "So, where's Code?"
Vanessa and Fanzell, however, widened their eyes. "Wait a minute," they both thought.
The female merchant grinned as she jumped out of her stand. "Where's Code you say?" she began before pulling her cloak off, revealing a young woman with orange hair tied in a ponytail, she wore a medium-sized violet dress. "Well, she's right here, Dominante Code at your service,"
"Domina, it's you!" Fanzell exclaimed as he ran up and hugged her, happy to find his beloved wife.
"Zell, I missed you too!" she exclaimed as well as she returned the hug, they then released. "But…,"
"But what, what's the-," Fanzell was about to ask before he was met with a barrage of punches.
"What the hell took you so long to find me, it's been almost a year, damn it!" Domina exclaimed.
The others sweatdropped as they looked at the pair. "Ya know, she almost reminds me of Oxanna, her personality can shift from one to another pretty fast," Kenos stated.
"Sorry, the Diamond Kingdom was hot on my trail, but luckily, I had some help from the Black Bulls," Fanzell explained.
Domina turned to the Magic Knights present. "Thank you very much for helping Zell,"
Asta gave her a thumbs up. "No problem,"
"Great, Finral, let's head back to the hideout and see if anyone needs help, Asta and Kenos, you stay with these two," Vanessa instructed.
"On it," Finral obeyed as he made a portal before he and the thread mage then jumped into it.
"Alright then, what do we do know, this mission has been accomplished?" Asta asked.
"I wouldn't say that just yet,"
The group heard a voice and turned to see Mariella, an ice dagger in her hand.
"I knew you'd come here, but I wasn't expecting what you people did back at your base," the ice mage spoke.
"Get behind me, Domina," Fanzell said as he stepped up, his grimoire out. "Don't do this Mariella, I don't want to fight you, but I will if I must,"
To everyone's surprise, however, Mariella made the dagger disappear and boredly put her hands into the air. "Don't worry, I'm not here to fight either, I came here to help you escape,"
"And why should we trust you?" Kenos asked suspiciously.
"Because Fanzell was my master, he taught me how I should use my skills, I only became an assassin and killed people because I was afraid of dying myself, the Diamond Kingdom doesn't do kindly with people who can't be ruthless. So I saw this as my chance to escape that life, and I'm willing to take it," she explained.
Kenos raised a brow. "I don't know, this could be some sort of trick, I say we don't-," he was going to say before the swordsman rested a hand on his shoulder.
"No, she's telling the truth, I can feel her Ki, it's genuine," Asta said.
The solar mage sighed. "Alright, if you say so,"
Mariella gave a small smile as she put her hands down. "Now, let's get you two out of here,"
"Yeah, that's not happening,"
Mariella's eyes widened in shock since she recognized that voice, she and the others turned to see Galleo.
"Galleo, what're you doing here?" Mariella asked with a bit of a frantic tone.
"I tracked the location I sent you to and decided to come here myself to see if you got the job done, but it seems that I just walked in on another traitor, prepare to die!" Galleo exclaimed as his grimoire came out. "Spatial Creation Magic: Unopening Red Room!"
At his call, he slammed his hands on the ground, sending a red trail in Mariella's direction.
"Look out!" Asta and Fanzell exclaimed as they jumped in front of the girl, but it didn't succeed in protecting her as all three were suddenly transported.
"What did you do to them?!" Kenos exclaimed.
"I sent them into my Unopening Red Room, a dimension ruled by me, they can't escape until I'm defeated.
"Is that so?" Kenos said as his grimoire came out in front of him. "Then I'll just have to beat you,"
"Wait a minute, I think I can help," Domina said as she quickly ran to her stand, bending over and grabbing something out. It was her grimoire, solid purple with intricate dark violet linings, and a three-leaf clover in the middle. It was surrounded by a purple aura as it floated up. "Now I'm ready,"
"It doesn't matter how ready you are, you're dead!" Galleo exclaimed as he launched a cascade of red spatial orbs.
"That's nothing, Solar Creation Magic-," Kenos was about to say, before another voice spoke up.
"Leave this one to me, Vortex Magic: Whirlwind Guardian!" Domina exclaimed as a cylindrical whirlwind appeared around her and Kenos, completely blocking the attack.
The solar mage looked at her with surprise. "Vortex magic?"
"That's right, it's an attribute almost fully dedicated to defense, helps when merchants decide to get violent around here," Domina replied. "Say, what's your name?"
"Kenos Rossiu,"
"Nice to meet you Kenos, if we want to get Zell and the others out of his spell, we have to beat him, so let's work together, I cover defense, and you cover offense, that work?" she asked.
Kenos grinned. "No complaints here, let's do this,"
Meanwhile, in the red room, Asta, Fanzell, and Mariella looked around, seeing nothing but red walls. "Damn, I didn't think he'd pull this spell on us, Kenos and Domina are going to have to beat him on the outside if we want to escape," Fanzell stated.
But then, on the other side of the room, a red mass came from the floor, rising up to become an army of red figures, each holding a weapon.
"Holy crap, what are those?!" Asta asked.
"Those are Crevice Men, a spell that exists within the room that creates figures," Fanzell replied as he searched into his coat, pulling out a sword handle, but with no blade on it, his grimoire then flipped to a page. "Wind Creation Magic: Emperor of Slashing Winds!" wind gathered, becoming the blade of the sword. "You ready for this, Asta?"
The swordsman nodded before he pulled out both of his swords. "You know it, Mariella, stay behind us,"
"What, no way, I was Fanzell's student too, I can fight, Ice Creation Magic: Assassin's Dagger!" she exclaimed as her dagger appeared.
"Okay then let's take these guys down!"
"Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!" Kenos exclaimed as he fired the spell.
"Futile," Galleo mocked as he quickly jumped into a portal, evading the attack, he appeared on another side and fired orbs.
"Oh no you don't!" Domina exclaimed as she ran up to Kenos and created another whirlwind to defend him.
"Damn it, that magic of hers is really hard to get around, but it must have a weakness...that's it," Galleo thought as he jumped into another portal, this time appearing above the two.
"Let's see how well that vortex of yours does against aerial attacks!" Galleo exclaimed as he fired more orbs.
"True, Whirlwind Guardian isn't really good against aerial attacks, but all that means is that I need a new spell," Domina stated as her grimoire flipped to a page. "Vortex Creation Magic: Encompassing Barrier!"
At her call, the whirlwind disappeared and two barriers appeared in its place, blocking the orbs.
Galleo grit his teeth. "Again!" he exclaimed as he prepared to enter a portal.
"Oh no, you're not getting away, I'll finish this fight as quickly as possible, Solar Binding Magic: Sunbound Shackles!" Kenos exclaimed as Galleo's hands and feet became shackled, he then fell to the ground.
"This won't stop me, I'll just make a portal below me," the spatial mage said.
"Don't think so, Dominante, thrust him up!" Kenos called.
"On it," Domina replied, using her basic attack to propel him into the air.
"I'll finish this, Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Gauntlet!" Kenos exclaimed as he equipped the weapon and hopped onto Domina's vortex, sending him into the air.
"This fight is over!" the solar mage exclaimed as he punched Galleo dead in the face, launching him to the ground.
"Nice shot!" Domina called as she gave Kenos a thumbs-up, the solar mage returned it as he landed.
"Wind Creation Magic: Emperor of Slashing Winds - Winter Wind!" Fanzell exclaimed as he fired a barrage of wind sword constructs at a horde of Crevice Men.
"Take this!" Asta exclaimed as he jumped into the air, crashing down on two Crevice Men, using his swords to cut them in half. "How are things on your end, Mariella?"
"I'm doing just fine, no need to worry," she replied as she used her dagger to launch quick and concise attacks on the enemy.
"Great job you two," Fanzell congratulated as he cut through more Crevice Men, but just then, the spatial figures dropped their weapons and fell to the ground, becoming the red mass again.
"What's going on?" Asta asked.
"Kenos and Domina must've beaten Galleo, the spell is collapsing," Fanzell replied as they were suddenly teleported back, they immediately looked around and saw Galleo, unconscious on the ground.
"You're back!" Domina exclaimed as she ran up and hugged Fanzell and Mariella.
Meanwhile, the swordsman walked up to the solar mage, the two high-fived. "You did well, I don't think we were even in there for ten minutes,"
"Thanks, but Dominante was a big help, her magic was awesome," Kenos said back as he walked to the three. "I think it's safe to head back to our base, the other assassins most likely have been taken care of,"
"Yeah, we can do that," Fanzell replied.
"Just wait, there's something I need to do," Domina said as she took out a remote-like item and pushed a button on it, her stand and all of its contents transformed into light before shooting into the remote. "Now we can go,"
Kenos smiled. "Great, then I'll contact Finral," he said as he took out his communication device and called the spatial mage.
A portal appeared almost immediately, Asta went over and picked up Galleo's unconscious body as they walked through, appearing at the base, everyone was outside, and as Kenos expected, all the assassins were unconscious.
"Hey there, we're back, and we found her!" Asta exclaimed as he put Galleo's body with the others.
"So captain, what do we do with these guys?" Gauche asked.
"We're going to call the capital and have some mages take them, but if they ask why Diamond Kingdom mages are here, don't tell them we were helping refugees, we can just tell them that the Diamond Kingdom tried to attack the Clover Kingdom and decided to come this way since we're close to the border between the kingdoms," Yami replied.
"And we'll just say we beat them before they could move in," Gauche said as the dark mage nodded.
The group of five walked over to the other Black Bulls, Yami spoke up again as he looked at the new face among them. "I take it you're Dominante Code?"
She nodded and bowed respectively. "That's right, I want to thank you so much for helping us,"
"No problem, we don't mind," he said before noticing Mariella beside her, he quickly drew his katana. "And what is she doing here?"
Fanzell moved quickly in between them. "Don't worry, she's with me,"
Yami looked at the wind mage before sheathing his weapon. "If you say so, but the capital mages will be here soon, I'd get moving if I were you,"
Fanzell smiled. "Right. Hey, Asta,"
The magicless mage approached his former master. "Yeah?"
"Thanks again, I would've never gotten to reunite with Domina if it wasn't for you and the others," he then pulled something out of his coat pocket. "Domina, Mariella, and I will retreat to a house I have near the outskirts of the Clover Kingdom, here's a map of our location,"
"Thanks," Asta said as he took the map.
"I really owe you one, if you or any other of the Black Bulls ever need help, you know where we are," Fanzell said with a smile.
Asta smiled too as the two bumped arms. "You bet, take care, Fanzell,"
"Same to you," Fanzell said back as he and the other two backed up, his grimoire then came out. "Wind Creation Magic: Emperor of Slashing Winds - Hovering Swords!" he exclaimed as three wind swords appeared.
The three stepped onto the swords as they flew into the air. "Bye!" they exclaimed as they waved.
The other Black Bulls waved back, all with smiles on their faces, but none were happier than Asta, who was glad he could help an old friend.