Kyandi: And here we are again!

Araceli: This chapter is going to show all of you what we meant by Belphegor acting like a dog.

Kyandi: It'll also give you a little bit more of information on Araceli's magic.

Araceli: Just a little.

Kyandi: Yep. We're going to go ahead and hop into the chapter, so everyone, enjoy and review.

Araceli: Kyandi-sama does not own Black Clover.

Chapter 3 New Life

"This is my friend, Belphegor."

Horrified silence filled the arena as wide eyes fixed in on the devil. Araceli, in contrast, smiled blissfully, as if she didn't notice the fear in those around her.

Asher finally found his voice to speak, pointing up at the devil. "D-demon!"

"Hey!" Araceli's hands flew to her waist. "He's not a demon, he's a devil! There is a difference. Demons are typically mindless, destructive creatures who only know how to kill and destroy. They are made, not born. Devils are born and are actually incredibly intelligent...when they want to be."

Belphegor let out a snort-like noise and growl as he looked down at her.

Araceli leaned her head back to look up at him. "No, I'm not talking about you, Belphegor. You're too sensitive. You're outstandingly intelligent."

The devil puffed out his chest, as if in pride at her words. Araceli rolled her eyes, turning her eyes back to Asher as he stumbled over his words.

"Y-you're talking to a devil..."

"Well, of course, I am. He can understand us and vice versa, and he heard your threat to me." Asher jumped as Belphegor bared large fangs at him and snarled. "You see, I haven't made it this far in life without a few scars. My friend here has no intentions of letting me get anymore. If I were you, I would yield now and apologize."

Asher, despite his fear, grew angry that she seemingly thought she could scare him into yielding. The captains weren't interfering, so he had to be safe, right? "Not a chance, gutter rat!"

"Well, that wasn't very nice and completely uncalled for." Araceli, smile still on her face, sighed. "Very well then. Belphegor...you have your orders."

Yells rose, Asher diving to the side as Belphegor surged forward, snapping his jaws at the spot where the boy had just stood. Up in the captains' seats, Fuegoleon rose to his feet, intending to call the match to a stop as Belphegor continued his attack on Asher, chasing the boy around the arena.

William stopped him with a raised hand. "Wait and look closer."

All captains turned back to the match. From up above, they finally saw it. Though Belphegor snapped at Asher and pounced at him, it was always just to the side of the boy, giving Asher the chance to escape and dodge.

Belphegor wasn't actually trying to hurt Asher.

All eyes turned to Araceli who watched with a smile on her face. From their seats, ti was obvious that Araceli's "orders" had been to scare, not hurt.

Asher, though, was too scared to realize the same. "Someone stop this monster!"

Araceli cupped her mouth. "Yield and he'll stop. Trust me...he has way more stamina than any human!"

That only scared Asher more, making him scream as he ran away from the devil. Araceli had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. He had been so confident just minutes ago and was now screaming like a child scared fo the dark.

Araceli's eyes widened when Asher turned, avoiding another pounce and, remembering finally that he had his own magic, came straight at her with a fire-based blast aimed right for her. Araceli didn't even try to move, the attack exploding in her face. Belphegor instantly came to a stop. Thinking he had won, Asher came to a stop, bending double to brace his hands on his knees, his breathing wheezing from him.

"Finally..." he breathed.

He yelped when something broke free of the issuing smoke to tackle him to the ground. Asher hit the ground and found himself staring up at a young, stunning woman. Long, black hair fell around her well endowed body, skimpy clothes barely covering her. A smile played on her ruby red lips as she looked down at him. What drew his attention, though, was the black, bat-like wings curling out from her back, the long, forked tail, and the horns that curled from her temples.

Coughing drew all attention to the thinning smoke as it was waved away to reveal Araceli, completely unscratched. "Well, that was close. Thanks for the save, Lilith."

"What the...?" Asher looked between the woman sitting on him and Araceli.

"Did you think Belphegor was the only summons I have?" Araceli dusted off her clothes. "That's Lilith, by the way. She's a succubus, and she's one with a preference for feeding off blond men."

Asher, being blond, freaked out when Lilith licked her lips. "Get her off me!"

Araceli smiled as Belphegor came back to her side, nose pressing against her to make sure she was unharmed. "Yield and I will happily do so."

Lilith leaned closer to him, flashing fangs as her tail curled. Asher whimpered. "Alright, alright! I give up! Get her off!"

Araceli chuckled lowly. "Enough, Lilith."

The female frowned, but with a flap of her wings, she lifted herself off Asher and drifted back to her mistress to drape herself from Araceli's neck. Asher scrambled to his feet and ran away, not looking back. As Araceli was proclaimed the winner, she thanked her two summons, both vanishing back into her grimoire.

Araceli returned to Yuno and Asta, a little worried on how they would react. She smiled when the two gave her a thumbs up, accepting her magic, no matter how odd it was. The other candidates, though, gave them a wide birth for the rest of the exam.

"And that marks the end of the examination," William called after the last match was over. "Now, each examinee will come forward when their number is called out. The squad captains will raised their hand if they wish to have you join their team. It is up to the examinee to accept the offer or not. And if more than one captain raises their hand, it is up to the examinee to choose. However, as mentioned before, if there are no takers, the examinee will not be able to join the Magic Knights. Examinee number one, please step forward."

Araceli stood back, watching as person after person stepped up. Some received one or two offers while others received none at all. It wasn't until Yuno stepped forward that every single one of the captains raised their hands. She wasn't surprised when Yuno chose the Golden Dawn. She congratulated him when he rejoined her and Asta stepped up.

No offers.

Not a single captain raised their hand. When Asta just continued to stand there, Yami spoke up. "I'm not surprised. No matter how high your combat skills are, if its based on suspicious powers, no one will want a part of it. In the end, the most important thing about a Magic Knight...is his or her magical powers."

Araceli shivered as the mana in the air increased, Yami flexing his magical power as he jumped down to the arena floor below. His presence was oppressive.

"No one wants you because you have no magical powers. This is the harsh reality!" Yami told him, stomping forward until he towered over Asta. "You said that you wanted to become the Wizard King. So you're saying you're going to surpass us captains. But how about we me in front of you now? Can you still say that, even though you don't have any magical powers?"

Araceli turned her eyes to Asta, watching his lips tremble before he straightened up. "Even if I can't join the Magic Knights today, no matter how many times I fall, no matter what anyone says...one day I will become the Wizard King!"

Yami laughed at his declaration, but it was Asta's spunk that won over the captain. He demanded that Asta join the Black Bulls, telling the boy that he didn't have a choice in the matter. Not that Asta would turn him down.

Yami returned to his seat and Araceli's number was called. She stepped forward, a smile on her face. She could see the debating on the captains' faces. Yami laughed once more when they all remained silent, though he was laughing at his fellow captains, making Araceli tilted her head to the side in questioning.

"None of you are gonna take her just because she summoned a devil? How big of a chicken do you have to be!?" Yami roared in laughter. "The girl has more magical power than most of the others combined!"

"True, but...a devil?" Araceli blinked up at the Silver Eagles' captain, Nozel, as his face twisted in disgust. "That kind of magic has no place in the Magic Knights."

"You think so?" To their surprise, Araceli's smile grew instead of vanishing. "No offense, Captain, but...I believe your judgment is highly flawed."

Gasps sounded from all around her, many shocked that she had dared to say such a thing not only to a captain, but a royal. Not that Araceli seemed the least bit apologetic for her words.

Nozel's eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You're excused," Nozel stared at Araceli in disbelief. "I'm not saying that your judgment is always flawed, but in this it is. My friends and I are just as capable of protecting the kingdom and its people as any of you are. To make a judgment based of the species of my companions? No offense, but you should never judge a book by its cover...it could make for a very dull read."

Yami burst into laughter as Nozel's eyes grew wide at her reply. Araceli, no malice or disrespect intended, just smiled brightly. None of the captains could believe how open with her thoughts she was. It was like she didn't fear any kind of punishment they could bestow upon her.

"That said," Araceli continued. "It's not as if I particularly care about yous, or anyone's, opinion of me. Others will think what they want regardless of what I say or do. I can't please everyone, so I might as will just please myself. If none of you want me this year, fine. I'll be back next year, and the year after that for as long as I'm able to walk. Who knows what kind of friends I can make in that time. I'll prove you wrong, or I will die trying."

Jaws actually dropped at Araceli's declaration. Yami's laughter only grew louder. "I like you, kid! Come join the Black Bulls!"

"Now, hold on -"

"Alright!" Araceli accepted, cutting Nozel off.

The Silver Eagles' captain was left silently fuming as Araceli walked away, brightly smiling as she joined her friends. Once it was over, Asta took off to find the bathroom, leaving Araceli and Yuno alone.

Araceli laughed as she turned to look up at Yuno with a smile. "Well, take care, Yuno. Work hard, and don't forget to write, okay?"

Yuno gave her a smile. "Will do. Keep an eye out for Asta."

Araceli nodded. "I will. Write as soon as your settled. I want to keep in contact."

"I will."

Araceli waved as she walked away to join Yami, Finral and Gordon. Yami looked down at her. "Where's the runt?"

"He had to go to the bathroom, sir.," she told him.

They waited for Asta, Finral hitting on Araceli who basically ignored it. When Asta finally showed up, Yami glared down at him.

"You've got some nerve making me wait," Yami said darkly. "How much of a crap did you take?"

Asta seemed to think that he was honestly asking the question. "But seriously, it was epic! It was about thiiiiiis huge, and - "

Yami cut him off, grabbing him by the head once more. "Who asked you to describe your crap, idiot?"

"He didn't actually want you to answer that, Asta," Araceli told him, shaking her head.

Not releasing Asta, Yami turned to Finral. "Let's go, Finral."

Finral opened his grimoire and used his magic to open a portal. Asta freaked out while Araceli stared in fascination. "Whoa! What is that?"

"If you can't fly on broomsticks, you should learn another form of magic in order to move about. Oh, right," Yami laughed. "You don't have any magical power."

"Um, Yami? Hellooo." Final struggled with keeping the gate open. "It's a lot of work to keep this gate open, so can you hurry up and go through?"

Yami turned a glare on him. "Hey, who do you think you're barking orders to? Tough it out and surpass your limits."

Araceli, who stood between Yami and the gate, squeaked and ducked as Yami suddenly threw Asta through, the boy sailing over her head. Her face lit up as Asta vanished through it. With a wide grin, she quickly followed him through without questioning it or being ordered.

Araceli landed on her feet beside Asta who had landed on his face. The building before her was unlike anything she had ever seen. It looked like a jigsaw puzzle that had been put together all wrong. She and Asta stared in wonder at the odd hideout.

Then the door blew off it's hinges, the wall around it caving in to reveal the room beyond and its occupants. There was yelling and chaos, a woman in her underwear, two guys fighting, a girl stuffing her face, and a guy staring creepily at a picture frame. Araceli didn't know what to make of the whole thing.

Yami appeared at her side then. "Welcome to the absolute worst Magic Knights squad, the Black Bulls."

Asta tried to introduce himself to the people before him, but went ignored. Then came a stray magic blast. Araceli dived behind Yami while Asta got caught in the blast. The noise and everything only ended when Yami yelled, slamming a heavy fist into a wall.

"Would you people quit breaking stuff!?"

Araceli was tempted to point out that perhaps he should lead by example instead of just yelling. That said, all activity and yelling stopped. Everyone turned to look at Yami before rushing forward to happily greet the man with wide smiles.

Yami laughed. "I see, I see. You guys like me that much, huh?" Yami's expression did a one-eighty, going dark as he glared down at them. "But you're annoying. Can it." The reaction was instant, everyone sitting in a row in front of him. Once they were silent, Yami continued, jerking a thumb towards Asta. "This shrimp is one of our other new members. Don't haze him so hard that he dies."

Asta stood straight. "I'm Asta from Hage Village! It's great to meetcha!"

"And this one is..." Yami cut off, looking around or Araceli. "Where'd she go? Celi!"

Araceli popped out from behind him, smile on her adorable face. "Right here, Captain."

Yami dropped a large hand on her head. "This one is last new member."

Araceli smiled brightly in greeting to her new squad mates. "I'm Araceli Cruxia. Please call me Celi. I'm from the Barret Mountains." She gave them all a polite bow of her head. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I hope we can work well together."

Yami gave her head a pat. "We've got other members, but the rest are out on missions, on breaks, or slacking off. Try to get along with 'em."

Asta and Araceli agreed. The woman in her underwear spoke then, her eyes fixed on Asta. "What you lack in height, you make up for in volume. Hage...you mean that teensy place way out in the sticks?" Araceli thought Asta's nose would sprout a blood waterfall when the woman got super close to him. "You're from the boonies, and yet you got into the Magic Knights...you must've worked hard, kid. How about I reward you with a special treat...?"

Araceli covered her mouth to stop a laugh from leaving her when the woman suddenly barfed. Clearing her throat, Araceli offered the lady a handkerchief to wipe her mouth. The next person to say anything was a punk-looking guy with attitude written all over him.

He sneered as he looked down at Asta and Araceli. "Hey, hey, hey, hey. You're new Black Bulls? A wussy, little runt from the back end of nowhere and a tiny, mountain girl who looks like she couldn't hurt a fly? I dunno how you sucked up to Captain Yami, but if you want to wear our robe, you gotta earn some respect from, Captain Yami's top underling, man among men, Magna Swing!"

Araceli merely tilted her head to one side, but Asta was star struck by the robe in Magna's hand. "Gimme! Please!"

Magna smirked. "I see. I get it. You want it that bad, huh? In that case...You joined the Black Bulls, so...come get baptized!"

"Baptized?" Araceli blinked in confusion.

As an answer, they relocated outside, Magna explaining. "I'm about to launch attack magic at you. Block it or avoid it, anyway you want! Do that, and you're a Black Bull, free and clear. And I'll give you these robes." Magna held up the two robes.

Asta happily agreed, being the first one to step up. Magna summoned forth a ball of fire that he pitched at Asta. As the ball came flying for him, Asta instantly knew he couldn't cut it in half and his body took over. Instead of cutting the fireball, he batted it back at Magna with the flat of his blade. Araceli winced as the fireball exploded in Magna's face.

Magna appeared from the smoke, beat up and looking, at first, like he was angry. "You little runt...I was this close to getting offed by my own magic...Yooooooo...completely rocked!"

Asta stared blankly as Magna smiled. Araceli chuckled lowly as Magna hurried over to Asta, patting him hard on the back.

"You didn't just block my magic, you sent it right back! How 'bout that?! I like you Short-sta!" Manga turned to Araceli then, another fireball appearing in his hand. "Your turn!"

Araceli perked up as he wound up to pitch. Her hands came up then. "Wait...!"

A squeak left her as he sent the fireball flying. Before she could think, her grimoire sprang to life and Belphegor appeared in a puff of black smoke. Spreading his jaws wide, flashing wicked looking fangs, he swallowed the fireball. Smoke curled from his mouth and nose as he snuffed it out. Silence fell over them all as Belphegor fixed dark eyes on Magna, a low growl leaving him.

Araceli jolted when Belphegor launched himself at Magna. "Oh! Belphegor, no!" Her hand flew to her mouth as Belphegor chased Magna, snapping at his heels. "No, no, no! Belphegor, stop!" She covered her face as Magna let out a scream when Belphegor grabbed him by the seat of the pants.

She kept her mouth covered as Belphegor trotted back to her, carrying the material from the seat of Magna's pants. Magna lay on the ground, butt cheeks exposed, face in the dirt. Araceli couldn't believe what the devil had just done.

"Belphegor!" she scolded. "He wasn't actually going to hurt me!"

Belphegor dropped the material at her feet and let out a series of growls and snorts. The others couldn't understand them, but Araceli didn't seem to have any trouble.

"I know what it looked like, but Finral had his grimoire at the ready in case of emergency!" Araceli gestured to Finral who was surprised. He had been sure she hadn't seen him pull out his grimoire. "Honestly, I am capable of defending myself."

Belphegor released a low, clipped growl, hanging his head and cutting his eyes up at her. Araceli was well aware that Belphegor was highly intelligent, even more so than most humans. He only acted like an animal so other would underestimate him and feel more relaxed around him.

That, and she couldn't resist forgiving him when he cut his eyes up at her like that.

Araceli heaved a sigh. "You'll need to apologize to him." She pointed a finger towards Magna.

Belphegor glanced over his shoulder at Magna as the guy spit dirt out of his mouth. Leaving down, the devil picked up the torn cloth and took it to Magna. He dropped the material into Magna's lap and let out a low growl as Araceli joined him.

"I'm so sorry. Belphegor is incredibly protective." Araceli gave him an apologetic smile. "He apologizes."

Manga stared up at the devil before him, stunned. "Is that a demon?"

"Devil," Araceli quickly corrected. "He's a devil, not a demon. There is a difference."

"You...can summon a devil? That's...awesome!" Manga smiled.

A bright smile curled her lips as Finral spoke up. "She can summon a succubus, too."

"Really?! That's amazing!" Luck cheered. "Let me fight them!"

"That's a pretty unique magic you got there," Vanessa added.

Araceli's cheeks flushed, but a bright smile lit her face. She had found people who accepted her magic. She couldn't wait to write home and tell Julian all about it. She was a Black Bull and she didn't think she could be any happier.

Belphegor, sure there were no more threats to her safety, vanished once more. The other lead the way inside, but something stopped Araceli. She turned towards the tree line, her eyes scanning the trees. She could feel the presence of someone in the shadows even though she couldn't see anyone. Her eyes traveled over the trees before she pinpointed the spot the presence was coming from. The shadows under the tree were unnaturally thicker there.

Someone was using magic to hide in the shadows.

It didn't feel malicious in nature, so Araceli smiled and waved before she turned to follow the others inside. She was officially a Magic Knight. She couldn't wait to write to Julian about her...unusual squad mates. She was sure he would find them strange, but he would be happy for her that she had gotten in.

Smiling brightly, she stepped into her new life.

END

Kyandi: See what I meant by I laugh every time I write Belphegor?

Araceli: Didn't you have a dog that ripped the seat out of a boy's pants before?

Kyandi: Yeah, that's where I got the idea. To be fair, the boy hopped our fence and Cookie was just defending her home.

Araceli: As a good dog should.

Kyandi: Yep.

Araceli: Shall we move on?

Kyandi: Yeah, I have other works to update.

Araceli: That's right, you're doing a mass update, aren't you.

Kyandi : I am. Everyone, enjoy and review.

Araceli: We'll be back as soon as we can.

Kyandi: Bye-bye!