Nero was dumbfounded.

"That was…"

What the hell were you supposed to say to a story like that?

"...brutal."

Asta chuckled a bit, then sighed.

"I guess you could say that. Afterward, even with Vanica's death, the Triad's plan succeeded, and lots of people died as a result… that's when you died, Nero."

Nero's eyes widened.

"That's… bad..."

"Hahaha! Ya think?"

Asta leaned back on the tree and continued,

"In the end, the Clover Kingdom was decimated."

Asta closed his eyes and slouched forward.

"Hard to imagine, right? The Clover Kingdom falling?"

"Not really," Said Nero, responding with a nonchalant tone.

Asta paused for a bit, then chuckled dryly.

"Hahaha! I forgot- you've been around a while, huh."

Nero sneered at Asta in response, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing much- just that you've probably seen a lot of shit," responded Asta while scratching an itch on his face.

An awkward silence settled in between the two. The light filtering through the leaves suggested that it was about time for everybody in the Bulls to wake up.

"So…" said Nero, breaking the silence, "Now that you've told me what happened, what's the plan? How do we avoid all of that from happening?"

There seemed to be a slight pause in time right before Asta started to talk.

"There's nothing you can do. As I said, it's all much bigger than you think."

Asta's face showed no emotion when saying those words. It was almost as if he was used to saying them- and that scared Nero, sending shivers down her spine.

"So you told me all of that, and I still can't help?", asked Nero a bit apprehensively.

"You'd be a liability."

Nero gasped at the gall of Asta's statement.

"...What? And after all I said about teamwork, you-"

"I just don't want any of you to die again," Asta interrupted, "You, Noelle, even Yami- nobody can have anything to do with this. I do this alone."

"But-"

"I appreciate the sentiment, I really do," Asta interrupted again, "But the only reason I told you about any of this is so you'd understand to not dig any further."

Asta paused, and continued with a sigh,

"I thought at the very least that you'd understand, given how long you've lived. You do understand, right?"

Asta walked down the stairs to the main room of the Black Bulls.

Everybody was there except for Finral, who was probably still sleeping, and Nero, who had left earlier in the morning. Understandably, Noelle was the first one to notice Asta's presence.

"Good morning, Stupidsta. You were so late getting up that I was starting to get tired of waiting for you."

Realizing what she had said, Noelle started to go a bit red.

"B-by waiting, I wasn't worried about you or anything! I was just waiting, ok?"

Vanessa, who was sitting on the sofa next to Noelle, was visibly on the verge of laughter.

"Good morning, Noelle! I'm doing fine now, thanks!", Asta said, beaming at Noelle. However dense he may have been, he knew that Noelle meant well. It was a strange, but good feeling.

"Vanessa," Noelle whispered, with a panicked expression, "I really messed up there… I- I wasn't conscious of what I was saying and then…"

Vanessa was at her limit already. That last remark was the last straw, and she burst out into laughter, to the frustration of Noelle.

"SHHHH! Be quiet, they'll hear!", whispered Noelle loudly, index finger touching her lips.

"HAHAHAHA! ...JUST-" Vanessa then remembered that she was supposed to be whispering.

"Just the fact that you said a classic tsundere line… and without even thinking about it? That's just-" Vanessa snorted, "That's just a-"

"What's a 'tsundere' ?"

Noelle seemed genuinely confused.

"You're kidding… right? You've gotta be kidding."

Noelle shook her head. She wasn't kidding.

Vanessa was just… done at this point. She started to howl with laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU- YOU OF ALL PEOPLE! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Noelle started to panic again.

"SHHHHHHH! Stop laughing! They'll hear!"

Vanessa forcibly held her breath for a second to try to stop laughing. It worked, sort of.

"Okay, okay, I've stopped laughing…"

"So could you tell me what a 'tsundere' is?"

Vanessa was about to start laughing again, but this time, she stopped herself, causing Noelle to sigh in relief.

"I feel that…" Vanessa let out another snort, to Noelle's dismay. "I feel that you'd be better off finding that out yourself, Noelle."

"Okay, sure."

Noelle obviously wasn't really buying it, but Vanessa continued anyway.

"Also, about you saying that you messed up- I don't think you did. Look,"

Vanessa pointed at Asta, who was still positively beaming and was now greeting Zora, who was making some weird gesture with his hands.

"Just look how happy he is! My bet, Noelle? I think it's because of you!"

Nero just stood there dazed looking at Asta's expression. She couldn't put her finger on it- the expression he was making did not fit the Asta that she knew… well, nothing about this man really fit the Asta that she knew, but this expression of… pity? That was really not the Asta that she knew.

Asta suddenly sighed deeply, startling Nero out of her inner thoughts.

"Well… do you understand or not?"

"What's stopping me from telling the others?", retorted Nero hurriedly.

Asta chuckled.

"You don't understand shit, do you? "

Nero's eyes widened as she stood up, offended.

"No, Asta, you're the one that doesn't understand shit. We'd all die for you, over and over again, as many times as it takes."

Asta stood up in response, his massive figure eclipsing Nero.

"And I'm saying that's exactly what I don't want you guys to do."

"I'm already involved, Asta," said Nero, not intimidated by Asta's stature, "The moment you said you were Asta, the moment I knew, I was already involved."

Asta's gaze hardened as he looked down at Nero, a mix of frustration and concern etched across his face. He was starting to lose his patience.

"Nero, you don't understand the scale of this. This isn't just me being protective. If you get involved, all of you will die. I've seen it happen, and I don't want to see it happen again."

Nero, however, remained steadfast, her eyes narrowing as she met Asta's intense stare.

"But it's different this time, right? I've seen kingdoms rise and fall, Asta. I've witnessed countless tragedies, and I've survived through them all. You think your burden is something I can't handle?"

Asta's frustration deepened, and he took a step closer, towering over Nero. "It's not about handling it, Nero. It's about preventing unnecessary sacrifices."

Nero looked up at Asta, completely unfazed.

"Then why did you tell me? Deep down, isn't it true that you want my help? Our help?"

Asta's expression wavered, caught between conflicting emotions. He sighed, a mixture of defeat and acceptance evident in his demeanor. However, he stayed silent, the weight of his unspoken thoughts lingering in the air. Nero, undeterred, took a step forward, closing the gap between them, and put her hand on his chest.

"Just think about it, alright? I'll go tell the others what I heard. Don't worry, we won't do anything rash."

Nero smiled, and in a puff of white smoke and black feathers, turned into a bird and flew away.

Once he was sure that Nero was out of range, Asta unsheathed the katana strapped to his back.

"Come out. I know you're there. You've been there for quite a while now."

Although his voice seemed calm, Asta was nevertheless releasing killing intent all around, causing the wildlife around him to retreat frantically in fear.

A voice sounded in response.

"Can't underestimate techniques from the Land of the Sun, huh..."

A man- the source of the voice- stepped out from the shadow of a tree behind Asta and smiled, waving.

"Long time no see, Grand Duke Astaroth," said the man while bowing in a sarcastic, mocking tone.

The man was tall and slender and was wearing a satin black suit jacket over a black collared shirt, black slacks, and black shoes. He had jet black hair matching his attire, and clear, porcelain-white skin, that definitely did not match his attire. His facial features were decidedly feminine, so much so that if it weren't for his deep voice, he could be mistaken for a girl. He had no weapon or grimoire to speak of, but his bright red eyes still radiated a sense of danger.

Asta turned around to face the man.

"Long time no see, Laplace."

I know I haven't updated this in a while, but I'll try a bit harder. Next chapter might be tomorrow :0