Chapter Twenty-Five: Eyes of Sin
Hey there, readers, Day 6, the week is almost over, here's today's newest chapter, enjoy. Cya.
"I gotta hand it to you, light guy, you gave us quite the struggle there," Yami said as he blew smoke from his cigarette. The five Black Bulls moved in on the light and spatial mages.
"They both did, but we won in the end," Kenos added. "The leader of the Eye of The Midnight Sun, let's capture him and take him to the capital, I guess Leopold and Oxanna will get some hits in after all,"
Licht began to slowly open his eyes, he looked around, soon noticing the mages in front of him, the five Magic Knights readied themselves in case their opponent was to try something, but he didn't, oddly, the light mage's eyes fell on Gauche.
"It's good to see you again, after all these years, tell me, how's your sister doing?" he asked with a weak, yet oddly genuine smile.
Everyone turned to look at the mirror mage. "You know this bastard?" they all asked at once.
Gauche wasted no time shaking his head. "Nope, I've never met this guy before in my life,"
"Or did you meet him, but was too busy fawning over Marie?" Kenos asked suspiciously with crossed arms.
"I'm telling you I don't know him, I think I would've remembered someone like him!" Gauche exclaimed.
"Is that so?" Yami asked rhetorically with his usual plain tone. "Well, I guess he must've just gotten his ass kicked so hard, he's gone crazy,"
"Mock me if you will, but all will be made clear, in the near future," the light mage said, his voice a bit chipper.
"I don't know why you sound happy, this fight has come to an end, and you've lost, we're going to take you in," Asta glared at the man.
"That's where you're wrong, swords thief," Licht began. "I may have lost to you, but this fight is not yet over,"
"What's that sound outside?" Eon asked as she, Rebecca, and Noelle continued to sit inside the restaurant, until they heard noises coming from outside.
"It sounds like...kids!" Rebecca realized as she got up and sprinted outside, the other two girls behind her.
"The children are being reunited with their parents," Noelle pointed out with a small smile on her face. "Which means they did it, thank goodness,"
"I bet you're also glad that they're safe, especially Asta," Eon whispered with a wink.
The water mage's cheeks turned rosy. "I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not worried about him at all," she said with her arms crossed and gaze averted, after a few seconds, she then turned around to face the green-haired girl.
"But this can be your chance, when they come back, you can shoot your shot with Kenos," she fired back with a sly grin. "I wonder if he'll feel the same way?"
Eon groaned and turned away from her. "Okay okay, I get it, no more teasing,"
While the two girls were talking to each other, Rebecca was calling out to her younger siblings. "Luca, Marco, are you out there?! Please answer me!"
Noelle and Eon joined in looking for the two scarlet-haired children, but there was no sign of them.
"I don't see them, where could they've gone, they should be here with the other children, right?" Rebecca asked aloud, panic was clear in her voice.
"Hey hey, calm down, there's no need to panic, I bet they're somewhere around here," Eon said, quickly coming to her friend's side before resting her hands on the girl's shoulders to comfort her.
The water mage began thinking of where the kids could've gone, but just then, she felt something land on her head, she looked up and saw Nero.
"Oh wow, he finally decided to rest on my head, he's so adorable, but what's he doing here, I thought he would be with Asta?" she thought before the anti-bird flew off of her head.
"Hey, come back, I was just beginning to enjoy it," Noelle said comedically before noticing that the bird was pointing its wing at a small building not too far from them.
"That house, could it be?" she whispered, before running to the other girls. "Rebecca, Eon, it's Nero, he's pointing to that building, I think he's trying to lead us there. Maybe the kids could be inside,"
"It's a possibility, let's go," Eon nodded as the three of them quickly made their way to the building, once they entered, it didn't take long to find who they were looking for.
"Luca, Marco, the two of you are safe!" Rebecca cried as she embraced her brother and sister tightly. "What happened, why didn't you come back to the house, you had me worried?"
"Sister Theresa got really hurt, so we came here to make sure she was alright," Marie replied for them.
The scarlet-haired girl broke from her embrace as she stood up, now noticing the old lady laying on a nearby bed, her eyes closed, capital mages were standing around her. "I-Is she?"
"Don't worry, she'll be fine, she's just resting," an unfamiliar voice said, they all turned to see Neige, sitting up from his bed before getting off and walking over to them.
"Who are you?" Eon asked.
"My name is Neige, my brother and I…," he began with a somber tone. "Were the ones responsible for kidnapping all the children,"
"You!" Rebecca exclaimed as she slapped the snow mage right in the face. "I almost thought I'd never see them again, and it's all because of you!"
Neige made no attempt to protect himself, nor did he retaliate, his face had a sad tone of nonchalance as he merely placed his hand over where he had been slapped.
"So that's how it feels, look, if you want to hit me again, go ahead, relieve all of your anger on me, it's what I deserve, what I did was wrong, and I've already decided to turn myself in to the Magic Knights, but it won't be that bad," he said before he cracked a small smile. "Because after I pay for my crimes, Asta and I will become friends,"
"Asta told you that?" Noelle asked as Neige nodded. "Well, I guess that makes sense, you neither look nor act like a genuinely horrible person,"
She then looked at the kids again, but her eyes widened as she noticed something. "Marco, what're you wearing?"
The scarlet-haired boy looked down as the royal walked up to him. "You mean the robe? Asta gave it to me before he and the others entered the cave, I had to be left alone by myself, but he told me that it would fill me with courage," he replied.
"Courage?" Noelle was confused.
Marco nodded. "That's right, it's the reason you Magic Knights wear them, right?"
"Um..yeah, that's exactly why," she replied before smiling. "Asta, you idiot," she thought. "Speaking of Asta, where is he, you all came back?"
"I didn't see him come out of the cave, but I remember hearing Sister Theresa tell Gauche to go and help him, but I'm not sure with what," Marco replied.
"Not sure what?" Noelle wondered before she walked to the window, looking outside as the snowing finally stopped. "Please, everyone, please be okay,"
"This fight isn't over? What the hell are you talking about?" Yami wondered, he then turned to the four Black Bulls behind him. "I'm running a bit low on magic after fighting this guy, do any of you have a binding spell?"
The solar mage raised his hand. "I got one,"
"Good, so get to it," the dark mage said plainly as Kenos moved up on Licht and Valtos.
His grimoire flipped to a page. "Solar Binding Magic: Sunbound-," he was about to cast the spell when he, along with everyone else but Asta widened their eyes.
The swordsman looked around him. "What's the matter, guys?"
"I'm sensing such a strong amount of mana, it practically came out of nowhere," Finral replied.
"But it doesn't just feel like one signature, it's more than that," Kenos said, looking down. "And the feeling is coming from right below us. Everyone, back up!"
No one wasted a second before jumping back a good few yards away from where the strong signatures of mana were coming from, but just then, a purple portal appeared right there.
"A portal? But that's impossible, I knocked Valtos out cold," Asta said with shock, recognizing the portal as one the spatial mage would create.
But from the portal, three people began to rise up from it, some seconds passed before they were fully revealed, one was a man, he had messy black hair with patches of white around it, he wore darkish-blue pants and shirt, with a cloak the terrorist mages wore and a red tattoo on his left cheek.
The other was a woman, she had long pink hair, she wore a furry maroon dress, and over it was her white cloak, she had a purple crystal embedded into her forehead, right below it was a red tattoo.
The last one didn't look like the others, his skin was tan with hair growing on his arms and chest, like a beast, he had long blond hair, he wore blue shoulder pads, with his cloak wrapped around his waist, leaving his chest bare, and there was a red tattoo on his nose.
"Woah, who the hell are these three?" Yami wondered aloud.
The man turned around to look at Licht. "It seems you're having some trouble, let us take over for you,"
The woman walked to Licht, bending down to face him. "You look hurt, let me help you," she touched him, he became enveloped in flame with a wing spawning from one side, she then walked back to the other two.
"You dare hurt Licht, prepare to die," the beast-man said ferociously.
"I told you the fight wasn't over yet, and now you can see why," Licht said. "The three leaves of the Clover Kingdom represent faith, hope, and love,"
Kenos was confused. Why'd you mention that?"
"Because these three mages are the exact opposite of those representations," the light mage explained, he pointed to the man. "The mage who counters the first leaf of faith, Rhya the Disloyal,"
The man named Rhya yawned into his hand. "Hello there, that's me," he said plainly.
Licht then pointed to the beast-man. "The mage who counters the second leaf of hope, Vetto the Despair,"
Vetto punched his fists together. "Prepare to fall into despair as I pound you into the ground!"
Licht then pointed to the woman. "And finally, the mage who counters the third leaf of love, Fana the Hateful,"
A small lizard-like dragon climbed up to Fana's shoulder. "I hate all those who hurt Licht, you hurt Licht, so you will die,"
"These three are the greatest mages in the Eye of The Midnight Sun, even surpassing my own strength, they are known as 'The Third Eye'," Licht finished introducing them as the three mages stood fiercely before their opponents.
"The Third Eye, I'll admit, those are some cool sounding titles, but titles aren't everything," Yami said with a glare.
Rhya yawned again. "That's true, but…," he began before speeding over to Yami, placing his hand on the dark mage's grimoire. "We live up to those titles,"
The Black Bulls widened their eyes at the speed of the mage, Yami couldn't even pick it up with his Ki, however, once Rhya stopped, the captain wasted no time drawing his katana to attack, but his opponent quickly moved back.
"Damn it, I'm low on magic, I wasn't planning on fighting, but it seems I don't have a choice," Yami said as darkness enveloped his blade.
"You're Yami Sukehiro, right? And you use Dark magic if I'm not mistaken, that's quite interesting," Rhya said with a small smile.
"So, what of it, just know that you're going down, Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" he exclaimed, firing the slash of darkness.
The three members of the Third Eye quickly jumped into the air, evading the attack.
"So that's how you use your magic, why don't I have a try," Rhya said as he landed on the ground, he then took out his grimoire and pulled a sword out of it.
"A sword, he must have steel magic then," Kenos said.
"Wrong, I don't have steel magic, but you'll get a front-row seat to see what it is!" he exclaimed as his sword became enveloped in...darkness.
"What the hell, how is he doing that?" Gauche asked with surprise.
"Let's try this out, Copy Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" Rhya exclaimed as he fired a slash of darkness at the Magic Knights.
The five looked in complete shock at the attack being sent toward them before Kenos quickly stepped up. "I got it, Solar Creation Magic: Amaterasu's Guard!" he exclaimed as the goddess blocked the attack.
"Nice save, Kenos," Finral said as the solar mage merely nodded.
"Hey, how the hell did you use Lightless Slash, that's my move!" Yami exclaimed.
"He called the attack 'Copy Dark Magic'," Asta recalled. "So is his magic...Copy Magic?"
"Copy Magic?" the others asked.
"Bingo, he's right, I use Copy Magic, it allows me to replicate the attribute of any mage, as long as I can touch their grimoire first," Rhya explained.
"That explains why you got close to me earlier," Yami realized.
The copy mage nodded. "Right again, I even got close to you by using Copy Light Magic from Licht,"
"Copy magic, an attribute that has no allegiance, it assimilates with other attributes, a type of magic truly fitting for one with the name 'Disloyal'," Kenos stated.
"Yeah, I know that, but I don't mind," Rhya said to him, before turning to Vetto and Fana. "Let's go you two, our first target is the Captain of the Black Bulls, he's the most capable mage among them,"
"Right," they responded as Vetto raced forward, while Fana stayed back, the beast-man took out his grimoire.
"A Magic Knight Captain, I've never fought one before, let's see if they're as strong as I've heard," Vetto said as his grimoire flipped to a page. "Beast Magic: Bear Claw!" he exclaimed as a large translucent orange claw appeared on one of his hands, he then made a striking motion, sending three slashes at Yami.
"Beast magic, aye?" Yami wondered aloud as he dodged two slashes and blocked one with his katana. "It makes sense, going by your appearance,"
The beast mage evilly grinned. "Impressive, it seems you are as strong as I've heard," he then turned his head. "Fana, you're up!"
"Get ready, Salamander," the woman said as the lizard on her shoulder softly roared.
"Wait a minute, that's Salamander!?" Kenos exclaimed, a bit of shock was in his eyes.
"So what, is that little creature supposed to be special?" Asta asked.
The solar mage nodded. "You better believe it, Salamander is the flame spirit, and one of the four great spirits," he replied.
"Spirit? So it's like Bell," the swordsman realized.
"That's right, I can't believe the Eye of The Midnight Sun has a mage who was chosen by a spirit," Kenos stated.
"Flame Spirit Magic: Salamander's Breath!" Fana exclaimed as the flame spirit opened its mouth, releasing a blast of fire, despite the small size of the lizard, the range and force of the attack was massive.
"Captain Yami!" Finral exclaimed as he formed a portal right beside the dark mage, he wasted no time jumping in and dodging the attack, appearing right next to his squad.
"These three are no joke," Yami said, blowing smoke out of his cigarette. "Thanks for the save, Finral, but I have to get back out there,"
The dark mage charged forward once more, Rhya moved up as they both raised their swords to strike, their blades clashed fiercely, darkness emitting from each one.
"We can't just stand here, Captain Yami will need our help, Kenos, Gauche, let's go!" Asta exclaimed as he drew both blades from his grimoire, charging forward, the mirror mage running behind him.
Kenos, however, stayed back, his eyes quickly fell on Licht, who was still recovering from Fana's spell, the light mage was most likely still vulnerable from being hit dead-on with his own strongest spell.
"I'll wait until I'm sure none of them will notice me, then I'll go over and bind Licht, then I can use him as leverage, or better yet, if FInral can make us another portal, I can capture him then we'll just escape," the solar mage thought with a grin.
Gauche stood up on his broom as he flew forward, nearing Fana. "Take this, you may have a spirit, but I don't give a damn, Mirror Magic: Reflect Refrain!" he exclaimed as the mirrors appeared and shot their beams of light.
Fana merely looked at the mirror mage nonchalantly as her grimoire came up to her. "An attack like that won't reach me, my hate shall not be extinguished, Flame Spirit Creation Magic: Dragon Wings!" she exclaimed as glowing red wings hovered above her back, the wings flapped, thrusting her directly upwards, avoiding each of the individual beams.
Salamander wasted no time opening its mouth, releasing another powerful blast.
"Mirror Magic: Mirror Shift!" Gauche exclaimed as he dodged the blast, but he grit his teeth. "She effortlessly evaded one of my best spells, this isn't going to be easy," he muttered.
Vetto watched as Rhya clashed blades with Yami, he ran towards them and jumped into the air, landing next to the copy mage. "Mind if I join you?" he asked with a grin.
"Be my guest," Rhya replied with a small smile, the two charged forward.
"You just made this harder on me," Yami said as he was quickly forced on the defensive, having to either block or dodge an incoming attack. "Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dance of the Eclipse!"
At his call, he disappeared, reappearing right behind them, his katana raised into the air. "Time for me to get back on the offensive, Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Black Blade!" Yami exclaimed as made a slashing motion, sending the lone slash of dark mana on his foes.
"Not bad, I can see how you were able to take on Licht, but he wasn't lying when he said we were stronger than him, Copy Light Creation Magic: Radiant Shield of Justice!" Rhya exclaimed, forming the shield to protect him and the beast mage.
"Wow, well that feels like deja vu," Yami muttered, remembering a similar thing happening when he fought Licht earlier.
"Captain Yami, don't worry, I'm coming!" Asta exclaimed as he jumped into the air, before landing in between Yami and the two enemy mages, he then spun around quickly and moved up, trying to get a hit in, but the copy and beast mages merely jumped out of the way.
The swordsman stopped spinning and held his swords firmly. "I'll help you,"
"You've come to help me? Well, thanks, I guess," Yami said plainly.
"Hey, what do you mean 'I guess'?!" Asta exclaimed comedically.
Vetto on the other hand, was surprised as he looked at Asta. "Rhya, look at what that shrimp's holding,"
Rhya looked at him and was just as surprised. "The Demon-Slayer Sword, and the Demon-Dweller Sword, why does he have those swords, how did he even get them?"
"I don't know, but those don't belong to him, they belong to the master, Licht most likely noticed it as well and tried to take it for the master himself," the beast mage replied.
From afar, Kenos looked around and saw that the members of the Third Eye were finally occupied, he could move in on Licht. "I'll be back, Finral, Solar Reinforcement Magic: Sunshine Aura," he said as the aura surrounded him.
"Where are you going?" the spatial mage asked.
"I'm going to capture Licht, keep quiet so that they don't notice me," the solar mage replied, quickly yet stealthily moving towards the light mage.
"I'm getting close, once I get close enough, I'll cast my binding spell and restrain Licht," Kenos thought to himself as was soon a few feet from the light mage. "This is it, let's try this again, Solar Binding Magic: Sunbound-,"
He was going to cast his spell, but was interrupted as a strong gust of wind suddenly blew, but then, Kenos saw a tall figure in front of him, the figure in question being Vetto, his shadow looming over the solar mage, a grin on his face.
"And what do you think that you're doing?" the beast mage asked sarcastically. "I'll give it to you, kid, I almost didn't notice you, but then I spotted you thanks to my peripheral vision. There's no way I'm letting you harm Licht in any way!" he exclaimed as he got ready to punch Kenos.
The black-haired mage quickly crossed his arms to defend himself as the punch made contact, Kenos was then sent flying, he crashed into a wall, falling to the ground.
"Kenos!" everyone exclaimed.
"Damn it, that guy can really throw a punch, I'm having trouble feeling my arms," Kenos muttered as he got up and slowly walked over to Finral.
"Are you alright?" Finral asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'll be fine, my arms just feel a bit numb and my back hurts, but I'll manage," the solar mage replied. "It seems my plan didn't work, that Vetto guy is crazy strong and crazy fast,"
"Mirror Magic: Real Double!" Gauche exclaimed as his clone appeared, both of them flying after Fana, who still had her wing spell cast. "See if you can dodge this, Mirror Magic: Double Reflect Ref-,"
He didn't get to finish as Fana zoomed right in front of him, she did a quick vertical turn, kicking Gauche with the heel of her foot, knocking the mirror mage off his broom, and letting him descend to the ground, his clone vanished.
"No way, how did she know which Gauche was the real one?" he thought as he kept falling.
"I'm not done, Flame Spirit Magic: Salamander's Breath!" Fana exclaimed as she positioned herself downwards, the lizard beside firing its devastating attack.
"Shit, it's too fast, I can't use Mirror Shift in time," the mirror mage muttered as a spatial portal appeared, Gauche falling into it, he landed beside Finral and Kenos. "Thanks...ah!"
"Gauche," Kenos said, quickly moving to his squadmate, he saw a burn mark on the mage's shoulder. "It seems you didn't completely get away from it, Solar Recovery Magic: Healing Rays of the Dawn,"
The solar mage weakly placed one of his partially numb hands on Gauche's arm, and another on his own thigh, the two began glowing orange.
"Copy Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!" Rhya exclaimed as the light swords rained on Yami and Asta, the two swordsmen quickly cut them apart.
"This guy is good, but I'm not giving up!" Asta exclaimed as he charged forward at Rhya.
"Those swords, once we take out Yami Sukehiro, I'll be taking them," the copy mage thought as his grimoire flipped to another page. "Copy Gel Magic: Sticky Salamander!" he exclaimed as the slimy lizard appeared in front of him.
"Oh damn, not that again!" the swordsman exclaimed, trying to maneuver around the spell, but the lizard's arms elongated, grabbing Asta and sending him hurtling towards a wall.
Yami quickly moved back to where his squad was, the three enemy mages reconvened as well a good distance from them.
"Man, those guys are good," Finral said.
Asta gripped his swords and stood up. "Perhaps, but I'm not done yet,"
Yami put an arm in front of the swordsman. "Nope, you're definitely done, leave these three to me," he said.
His squad was surprised by his statement. "But Captain Yami, even with Asta and Gauche helping, you couldn't beat them, are you seriously going to take them on alone?" Kenos asked with some concern.
"Don't worry about me, this will be a perfect chance for me to break through my own limits, as a captain, I have to keep getting stronger," he told the solar mage as he gripped his katana and slowly walked forward.
The dark mage pointed his blade to his opponents. "Alright then, come at me you bastards, Copy magic, Beast magic, Spirit magic, I don't give a single shit about any of that, just know that I'm going to kick your ass!"
"That's some big talk you got there, you're strong, but you can't beat all of us alone," Vetto said.
"Well, why don't you come over here and prove it, if you can?" Yami taunted them.
"What a pain, let's show him," Rhya exclaimed as he and Vetto charged forward with Fana staying back to provide long-range attacks.
"Copy Spatial Magic: Swift Space Slash!" Rhya exclaimed as his sword fired one of Valtos' spells.
Yami quickly dodged it as Vetto came charging in. "Playtime is over, Beast Magic: Striking Ox!" he exclaimed as an orange silhouette of an ox appeared beside him as he reeled his fist for a punch, bringing his fist forward at high speed, the ox beside him charged at the dark mage.
Yami used the side of his katana to block the majority of the strike's force, but was pushed back a considerable number of feet.
Rhya jumped from behind Vetto, ready to attack, he zoomed over using light magic and raised his sword to strike. Yami wasn't positioned to block, but his reflexes and Ki kicked in, letting him just dodge the strike by a few centimeters.
"My reaction time to their attacks is getting a bit better, but they're still a bit sloppy," Yami thought. He backed up to allow himself some time to get on the offensive.
"Don't think we're going to give a chance to fight back," Rhya said as he jumped up, revealing a Salamander's breath that was already on its way to the Black Bulls captain.
Yami quickly limboed, keeping his lower body straight while bending his upper body backwards to just barely avoid the attack, unfortunately for him though, Vetto and Rhya were in the air, ready to take advantage of his compromising position.
"Copy Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" Rhya exclaimed.
"Beast Magic: Bear Claw!" Vetto joined in.
"Shit," Yami mumbled as the attacks made contact, the other Black Bulls watched as their captain was sent flying towards a pile of rubble. "Damn, wasn't expecting that to happen,"
The copy and beast mages landed on the ground and stood proudly. "So, what happened to that talk of beating all three of us, aye?" Vetto taunted. "Fall into the despair of your inferiority,"
"Oh, shut up," Yami said back. "I just need to catch my breath, then I'll kick all of your asses,"
"You act like we're going to just let you do that," Rhya said. "Everyone, attack now!" he exclaimed as all three of them fired a respective attack at the Black Bulls Captain.
"Captain Yami, we have to help him!" Asta exclaimed, ready to charge forward.
"We can't, with the speed those attacks are moving at, we'd never make it time," Kenos told him, letting go of Gauche and himself as his recovery spell faded.
"What about you, Finral?" the swordsman turned to the spatial mage. "Can't you make a portal for him to go out from, or use one to take out the attacks?"
"Sorry, but no, my mana was already low when Gauche and I got here, then I made two portals for Captain Yami and Gauche earlier, so it's going to take some time before I can do anything else," Finral replied.
Asta grit his teeth in frustration. "Captain Yami!"
"Don't worry, Asta, I'll be fine, it's moments like this which let me break through my limits," he slowly gripped his katana. "Bring it on!"
But, just as those attacks were about to make contact with the dark mage, the ceiling of the cave that was above him suddenly broke and three individual spells came down from it, each canceling out the attacks by the Third Eye.
"Huh?" the word came out of everyone's mouth as they wondered where the attacks could've come from.
"It appears the foreigner is having some trouble,"
"What the hell are you doing, Yami?!"
"Don't tell you're down on the ground already, you may be a man, but I expected more from you,"
The sound of three voices echoed throughout the cave, while the Third Eye wasn't aware of who it could've been, the younger Black Bulls recognized the voices somewhat, but wasn't able to put their finger on it, Yami, however, merely groaned.
"Ah damn, they're here," he said as three figures landed right in front of him, it was then that the Black Bulls knew who the voices belonged to.
"No way, I didn't think they would be here," Kenos muttered with widened eyes. In front of Yami was Nozel Silva, Captain of the Silver Eagles, to Nozel's left was Charlotte Roselei, Captain of the Blue Rose Knights, and to her right was Jack the Ripper, Captain of the Green Praying Mantises.
"Wow, they got here quicker than I thought," Finral spoke up.
Gauche turned to him. "What do you mean?"
"After leaving the cave, I thought Yami might've needed some help, so after dropping the three kids with their parents, I called them and asked them to come before meeting back up with you," the spatial mage explained.
"It's a good thing we got here just in time," Nozel said, turning to face Yami. "You should be grateful we came to save you,"
"Yeah yeah, whatever, I was just about to break through my limits when you barged in," he fired back. "I also see that you're still rocking that goofy-looking hairstyle,"
Nozel's eye twitched as he turned his head away. "My hair doesn't look goofy,"
"You're still spouting that limits bullshit, how ridiculous can you be!" Jack laughed.
"I wouldn't say that if I were you, beanpole, it's what's made me stronger than you for all these years," Yami retorted.
"This isn't the time to be bickering," Charlotte said to the three men as she turned to the dark mage, a serious look was on her face. "And how long do you plan on just laying there?"
"Sorry, I can't get up, I guess this rubble just loves my ass too much and won't let go," Yami replied with a relaxed tone. "You're so serious, that's just like you, Prickly Queen,"
Charlotte turned her head back, but unlike Nozel, her cheeks bloomed bright red. "Lucky rubble, I wish that I got to sit next to Yami, or maybe somewhere else but beside him, but why must I be so dishonest with myself? That and I wish he'd stop calling me Prickly Queen," she thought, the tone of her voice a lot less professional than how it usually sounded.
Nozel looked at the Third Eye. "Those appear to be our opponents," he then noticed the light mage behind them. "But who's that?"
"His name's Licht, he's a light mage, and the leader of the Eye of The Midnight Sun," Yami replied. "I've also been told that he's the one who took Fuegoleon's arm,"
Nozel and Charlotte's eyes widened at that revelation, the mercury mage's eyes, however, soon darkened. "So he's the one," he mumbled to himself.
"It seems that more Captains have come, what a pain, I was hoping to finish this quickly," Rhya said, he then looked at Charlotte. "Well hello there,"
Charlotte glared at him. "Be careful there, Prickly Queen, that guy has Copy magic, he can copy your magic if he touches your grimoire, he already got mine, it's really pissed me off," Yami told her.
"Is that so?" she wondered as she turned to face the copy mage, a determined look was in her eyes. "Oh, this guy is mine, nobody makes Yami mad on my watch and gets away with it!" she thought as she pointed at Rhya. "You, I'll be your opponent,"
"Alright then, bring it on," Rhya said as the two ran towards each other.
"Ooh, I want to fight one of them," Jack said as he set his eyes on Vetto. "Hey, hairball, I think that you'll make a fine opponent!"
"Hairball?! Oh, you're going to regret that!" the beast mage exclaimed as he charged at the captain.
Nozel, however, didn't pay attention to Fana, he was only focusing on Licht who was behind her. "I have no quarrel with you, the one I want is behind you, I will have my vengeance, Mercury Magic: Silver Shining Regal Spear!" he exclaimed as a long beam of mercury shot forward, the captain zigzagged his hand, causing the spear to do the same, bypassing Fana and heading straight for Licht.
"Flame Creation Magic: Protection of Ifrit!" Fana exclaimed as a fiery demon appeared in front of Licht, it raised its hands forward, protecting the light mage. She then turned to face Nozel, her face full of silent rage. "You dare try to hurt Licht, I'll kill you,"
"You wanna call me a hairball like I'm some dumb cat, we'll see who's laughing once I'm done with you, Beast Magic: Bear Claw!" Vetto exclaimed as he fired his spell.
"Beast magic? Interesting," Jack said back as blades grew out of his arms. "Severing Magic: Death Scythe!" he exclaimed as he launched a green slash of mana, canceling out Vetto's attack.
"You're not too bad either, Beast Magic: Cheetah Charge!" the beast mage exclaimed as large orange constructs appeared on his feet, looking like those of a cheetah's, he charged forward a lot faster than he did before.
Jack quickly jumped out of the way, an ecstatic grin was on his face. "Now you really are like some dumb cat, Severing Magic: Death Sickle Storm!" he exclaimed as he violently spun around, firing an array of slashes, causing Vetto to cross his arms to defend himself.
"Ha, there's no way you're going to beat me, I'll slice you up beyond recognition!" the severing mage exclaimed.
"Copy Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Black Blade!" Rhya exclaimed as he launched the lone slash of darkness at Charlotte, but she was able to dodge it quite effortlessly.
"You dare use Yami's magic, Briar Magic: Lash of Blue Roses!" Charlotte exclaimed as a multitude of vines came out from her grimoire, speeding towards Rhya.
The copy mage skillfully danced through the vines, cutting them as he did so. "You have an interesting attribute, mind if I use it?"
"You may not, I know how your magic works, I won't let you touch my grimoire," the briar mage said as he pulled out a whip made with multiple briars.
"Prepare to be defeated, you foolish man,"
"Mercury Magic: Rain of Silver!" Nozel exclaimed as the mercury rained on Fana.
"Flame Spirit Creation Magic: Dragon Wings!" Fana exclaimed as the wings appeared and she flew out of the way.
"You're not the one I want, my business is with Licht!" the mercury mage exclaimed.
"I already told you, I won't let you harm Licht, I will be your opponent," Fana countered as Nozel grit his teeth.
"Fuegoelon, my rival, you're the one I've always strived to beat, but now you can't fight anymore, I swear that I'll get revenge, and I hope you wake up soon, I don't want to lose anyone else," he thought as three spears appeared behind him, his eyes were deadly serious.
"Fine then, normally I would never say this, but...bring it on, bitch,"
With the others fighting, Yami gathered his strength and slowly got up, the others ran up to him. "Are you okay, Captain Yami?" Kenos asked.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," he replied.
"That's a relief," Finral said before looking at the separate battles. "Those three are strong, they're not captains for nothing,"
"I better get back out there, I've caught my second breath, I'm ready to fight again," Yami said as his eyes then fell on Licht. "I wonder if the light guy is ready to go again?" he turned to Asta and Finral. "I have a plan, but I'll need you two,"
"Ah, I think I've fully recovered, I won't waste any more time, I'm taking those grimoires," Licht said as he sped over to Asta and Kenos, ready to take them by surprise.
"Hi there, it seems you are ready to fight," the light mage stopped midway as Yami appeared next to him.
Licht sped up into the air. "Damn, you're able to keep up with me, no matter, Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!"
Yami quickly dodged all of the swords, raising his katana proudly at his foe. "Thanks to Ki, there's no way that spell is ever working on me again,"
Licht grit his teeth as the dark mage began running. "Finral, now!"
"I'm on it!" the spatial mage exclaimed as he formed a portal flat on the ground, letting Yami drop right into it.
"Where'd he go?" the light mage mumbled, but then he grinned, looking up, and lo and behold, Yami was right above him.
"Not a bad plan, but I can sense your mana, you can't escape from me in midair," Licht said as he prepared to fire at the dark mage.
But to his surprise, Yami grinned. "What's so funny?"
"I can't believe how easily I got your attention on me," he replied. "Time for our real attacker to strike,"
"Huh?" Licht muttered as a figure quickly appeared right behind him.
That figure was none other than Asta.
"He's talking about me!" the swordsman exclaimed.
"What do you need us for?" Asta asked curiously.
"If Licht is ready to fight again, this could be our chance to take him down," Yami replied. "Thanks to my Ki, I should be able to evade his attacks now,"
"So, what are we going to do?" Finral asked.
"Well, if he is ready, he'll be coming for us since he's after Asta and Kenos' grimoires, when he does, I'll move in, he'll most likely try to attack, I'll then evade them," Yami explained. "Then that's where you come in Finral, you make a portal on the ground and transport me above him,"
"But Captain Yami, won't he be able to sense your mana?" Kenos asked.
"That's what I want him to do, that's where Asta comes in, he'll be the trump card, I'll draw his attention, then you strike," the dark mage explained.
The swordsman nodded. "Right, I'll even give you a chance to attack,"
Yami grinned. "Thanks, now let's get to it,"
"Do it, kid!" Yami exclaimed.
"He was their true attacker, but I couldn't sense his mana, does he not have any?" Licht thought.
"This is it!" Asta exclaimed as he struck the light mage with the Demon-Slayer Sword.
The Third Eye and the captains all turned at the sight of Licht, and their eyes widened in disbelief as they saw Asta strike Licht.
"Now it's my turn," Yami said as he attacked with his katana, launching Licht to the ground.
"No way, that peasant boy was able to land a hit in on a mage who's strong enough to cut off a captain's arm," Nozel muttered.
"Licht!" the three mages exclaimed.
Suddenly, the light mage glowed a light shade of red as he floated up into the air, then a circle appeared around, it was black with a red outline, and strange markings were on it.
"You," the light mage pointed at Asta. "Those swords don't belong to you, they belong to the master, someone like you shouldn't even be allowed to touch it,"
"Master?" Asta wondered aloud.
"And you," he then pointed to Kenos. "A sacred one aligns with you though I don't know why, but you're just as undeserving as the sword thief,"
"There he goes again with that sacred one stuff, what does that even mean, I have no idea," Kenos muttered.
"Shit, Licht's seal has been undone, but how," Rhya said.
"Seal?"
The copy mage was a bit reluctant explaining it to enemies, but he decided it wouldn't do any harm. "Licht has a lot of mana in him, much more than he can control, so a seal was put on him to keep his magic power in check, but now it's been undone,"
"It must've been when I hit him, my sword negated the magic of his seal using anti-magic," Asta spoke up.
"Anti-magic? Since when could the Demon-Slayer Sword do that?" Rhya wondered. "Doesn't matter, what matters is that if Licht releases all of that magic, this entire cave is going to explode,"
"Great, not this again," Kenos said with a groan before his expression became serious, he turned to the spatial mage. "Finral, can you make us a portal to get out of here? We can just leave those three to die,"
"Sorry, I'm still low and I just made a portal for you and Yami," he replied.
"Damn it," the solar mage muttered, but then he saw Rhya running towards Licht, his eyes were serious.
"Fana, Vetto, we have to move quickly if we're going to handle this!" the copy mage exclaimed as the other two left their opponents, quickly running beside Rhya. They then each stopped at one point around Licht.
"Get ready!" Rhya exclaimed as a reddish translucent aura surrounded him, the same thing happened to the beast mage and the flame mage, they each then shot their aura right at the light mage.
"Combo Spell: Trinity Sealing Magic!" they exclaimed the circle around Licht disappeared and he fell to the ground.
"I got you," Vetto said as he gently picked up the light mage.
Rhya turned and saw Valtos not too far away, he walked over and picked up the spatial mage. "Okay then, change of plans, we're retreating, we have to make sure Licht is doing alright,"
The three mages reconvened as Rhya formed a portal similar to Valtos' below them. "You might've won today, but the same won't be true next time we meet, goodbye for now," he said as they sank into the portal before it disappeared.
"Alright, this fight is finally...over!" Asta exclaimed before dropping to the ground and passing out.
"I know, it's felt like so long, how much time has passed since we first got here?" Kenos wondered aloud as he sat down on the ground.
"Well, it seems we're no longer needed here, I'm out," Jack said as he turned around and walked away.
"I must get going too," Charlotte added with a small smile in Yami's direction as she walked away too.
Nozel, however, looked intently at the swordsman. "That boy...Asta, he's an interesting one," he thought before leaving.
"Okay then, once Finral recharges his magic, we're heading back to the town," Yami said, glad the fight had finally come to an end.
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location, Licht and Valtos were suspended in a tube of green liquid next to Sally, in front of them was the Third Eye along with Rades and Annalise.
"What happened to them?" Annalise asked worriedly, her gaze falling upon Valtos.
"From what I can get, they were beaten by the Black Bulls," Fana replied, her tone a lot more normal than how she spoke to her enemies.
"And you three got beaten too, so much for being our best," Rades mumbled under his breath, but it didn't go unheard.
"You got a problem?" Vetto asked menacingly, turning to the wraith mage.
"N-Nothing," he replied.
"That's what I thought,"
"Well, what are we going to do, the Magic Knights will try to find out more about us, they know about you three and Licht now?" Annalise asked. "And we can't forget that Catherine most likely got captured, if they find some way to make her talk, they'll find out everything about us,"
Rhya looked at the spark mage before turning around and beginning to walk away from the others.
"Where are you off to?" Vetto asked.
"Annalise has a point, if they find out about us, it'll be a big pain, so I'm going to go do something, I'll be back around tomorrow," the copy mage replied. "But what I'm about to do will be an even bigger pain,"