Chapter Thirty-Nine: Against All Odds
Hey there, readers, just a quick thing I wanted to say, about a month ago, I ran into this story called "White Clover" by an author who goes by the name "I mean common", they said they were inspired by this story, and after giving it a look, I saw it had potential, so check the story out if you have time. With that out of the way enjoy the newest chapter. Cya.
"Alright!"
That was what every conscious person exclaimed at the top of their lungs as they watched Asta pierce Vetto's torso with his sword.
"They did it! They really did it!" Gifso cheered as he jumped up and down.
Yami nodded, a huge smile on his face. "Those three did a great job,"
"Damn, that rookie is just getting better and better," Magna said as he and Luck fist-bumped.
"Don't forget about Finral and Vanessa, they were awesome too, I should really convince those three to try that combo thing on me, I bet it would be a lot of fun," Luck said.
Finral breathed a sigh of relief as he slumped a bit, he turned to his thread-wielding partner and started walking to her. "I can't believe we actually did it, this is-,"
His statement was interrupted as Vanessa grabbed his head and pulled it into her chest. "I made a promise, so I'll keep it," she hummed before a soft smile came to her face. "Nice job, Finral, you did great,"
The spatial mage gently pulled his head a few centimeters away, revealing a trail of blood coming down one of his nostrils, but his face had the same soft smile. "Thanks, you did great too," he said before letting his head drop back into the pair of soft mountains.
Noelle looked down at Kahono, she smiled. "We did it, Kahono, you've been avenged, I just wish you were awake right now to see it,"
Kenos did the same as he looked down at Kiato. "It's all over, it took every single one of us, not a single person here didn't give it their all, but I promise you, I'll find a way to fix your foot, I'll save your dream,"
But of all the people who cheered, none were happier than Asta. "Yes, yes, after so much effort from everyone, we finally won, we beat him!"
Vetto's mouth was agape once the Demon-Dweller was lodged into his side, his mouth then began to contort, but instead of closing shut as a signification of his death.
It turned into an evil grin.
"Hahahaha," a soft chuckle echoed throughout the area, causing the faces of all the Black Bulls to change from joy to horror as they knew who it belonged to.
But just like before, no one's face showed more horror than Asta as he suddenly felt two hands gently grab onto his arms, he looked up to see the beast mage's sadistic grin.
"HAHAHAHA!" Vetto then laughed loudly as he looked down at the swordsman. "That strategy was impressive, but there was no way it could really kill me, Licht and Rhya can move so much faster and hit so much harder, I merely let you strike me so you couldn't escape from my attacks like you did the other times, as well as to disarm you of one of your weapons,"
"What, no way, Finral and I tried so hard, we gave it everything we got, and all this time it had no chance of killing him," Vanessa thought as she grit her teeth and a drop of sweat rolled down her face.
Finral, who had released himself from the thread mage's soft embrace upon hearing Vetto's chuckling, did the same thing as his partner. "Is there no way to beat this guy?!"
Vetto's grin widened as Asta's look of horror only worsened. "And now that I've achieved my two objectives, prepare for the hurt!" he exclaimed as he began to squeeze, slowly crushing Asta's arms. "I was interrupted the last time I got this chance, so I won't waste any time!" his hands became covered in two reddish Bear Claws as he squeezed harder.
The previous time this had happened, Asta had tried his best not to scream, even going as far as biting his opponent, but this time, he couldn't bear it. "AHHHHH!"
"There it is, there's that scream of despair, it's like music to my ears!" Vetto laughed as he just squeezed even harder.
"ASTA!" everyone exclaimed.
"Damn it, Asta!" Yami exclaimed as he quickly got up from his seat and walked to the edge of the room.
"What are you going to do?" Gifso asked.
"I'm busting us out of this place, those guys need their captain," Yami replied as he drew his katana, his grimoire then came up as darkness enveloped it.
"But how, we're stuck in here," the game mage challenged.
The dark mage grit his teeth in frustration, but then, his grimoire then began flipping through pages, stopping on a blank one as text became inscribed on it.
Yami looked at his new spell before a grin crossed his face. "You're wrong there, old-timer, we were stuck in here, but now, we're getting out.
"There we go, all done," Vetto said as he let go of Asta, leaving the Demon-Dweller lodged in his torso as the swordsman hit the ground.
"No, we have to do something," Kenos muttered.
"I could try using Sea Dragon's Roar again, but it could hit Asta, not to mention Vetto can just regenerate whatever damage I manage to inflict," Noelle muttered as well.
"Ah, it was great to hear your screams of despair, but I'm not satisfied yet, I want to hear you say that you can never beat me," Vetto said.
It was Asta's turned to chuckle as he looked up at Vetto, there was no look of despair present, only determination. "Are you an idiot or something, you already know that that's never going to happen, I'll keep fighting!"
The beast mage raised one claw into the air. "Fine then, I suppose your earlier screams will suffice, now you can die so I can take those swords back for my master!" he exclaimed.
"Asta!" the others exclaimed, Finral, Vanessa, and Noelle prepared to do whatever they could to get the magicless mage out of danger, but their movements were beaten out as a beam fired straight at Vetto.
Vetto noticed the attack and quickly crossed his arms, the beam pushing him a few inches back, Vanessa took her chance to pull Asta towards her with her threads. "A beam? What a minute, that color...it was orange...which means?" she and Finral looked behind them and smiled.
The attack that came to their aid was none other than Sunbeam Ray, Kenos was back on his feet, though he was panting. "I'm not letting you...kill anyone,"
Noelle looked at him with concern. "You shouldn't be up, your mana level is still pretty low, you're running on mostly adrenaline,"
The solar mage glanced at her before turning back at Vetto. "I can't stay sitting down, I was the third person to fight Vetto, I had to watch you all fight while I just sat here, not anymore, especially when a squadmate needed help," he responded before he started to walk forward, his grimoire came up to him. "Your battle is with me now too, Solar Reinforcement Magic: Sunshine Aura!"
"So, the sun brat wants to keep fighting, you won't take me down like you did last time," the beast-man cracked his knuckles as he boasted confidently, but then, he was suddenly kicked to the ground.
"What the?" Vetto muttered as he turned around, his eyes widened to see Luck, the lightning mage was equipped in his signature gloves and boots. "You!"
"Luck!" Noelle exclaimed, she looked to where she remembered he was sitting down and saw he wasn't there. "How'd you get there so fast, you shouldn't be up either?!"
"No can do, Kenos got back up, so I don't have any excuse not to either, besides, as Captain Yami would tell us, we need to push past our limits, so that's what I'm doing," Luck replied.
"Alright then, I'll take you down too," Vetto said. "I won't lose to-,"
"Flame Magic: Exploding Fireball!" the declaration of a spell interrupted Vetto's statement, the beast mage crossed his arms to defend himself as a fireball came right at him.
Vetto uncrossed his arms and looked forward to see Magna, the flame mage was grinning. "I have to surpass my limits too, I'm a man, there's nothing shameful about sitting on the sidelines, the true shame comes when you're on the sidelines while everyone else is fighting for their life!"
"Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Blade!" Kenos exclaimed while charging forward, he equipped his weapon as he jumped into the air.
Vetto jumped out of the way, but his peripheral vision picked up on Luck quickly approaching him from the other side. "My turn, Lightning Magic: Voltage Trail!" he exclaimed as the trail moved in and shocked the beast mage.
"AHH!" he exclaimed in pain.
"Don't think we're done with you yet, you're going to pay for hurting our Rasta, Flame Magic: Prison Death Scatter Shot!" Magna exclaimed as he continued the assault, firing a stronger set of his Explosive Scatter Shots, multiple of said shots hitting his bestial opponent.
Vetto was pushed back, but unbeknownst to him, Kenos had taken the flame mage's attack as a chance to jump into the air, the attack then ended, the beast mage then noticed a shadow above him, he looked up, seeing the solar mage, but it was too late as Kenos launched a slash right at his shoulder.
The beast-man dropped to his knees. "What the hell, the three of them aren't at their best, so how are they landing successful attacks against me?" he wondered before he looked down, realizing the source of his sudden weakness. "It's the Demon-Dweller sword, it's still lodged in my torso, I never removed it from when the boy struck me earlier, it's draining my magic which is slowing me down, I need to get it out," he grabbed onto the sword with one hand and slowly pulled it out, the sword hit the ground as blood dripped from his side.
"Don't give him time to recover!" Kenos instructed as his grimoire flipped through pages before stopping on one. "Solar Creation Magic: Rain of Solar Daggers!"
"Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction!"
"Flame Magic: Explosive Scatter Shot!"
The three spells were all heading for Vetto at once, but the beast mage looked unnerved as his grimoire flipped to a page. "That won't work, Mythical Beast Creation Magic: Nemean Lion Armor!" he exclaimed as he became armed in a reddish construct of the legendary Greek lion, and similar to Hercules, Vetto wore the lion's skin as if it was an article of clothing.
"You can try to hurt me, but as long as I have this, my mightiest defense spell, that'll never happen," Vetto said as the spell disappeared and he turned his back to them. "But I'll have to sacrifice defense, for now, Mythical Beast Magic: Hystricidae Artillery!" the familiar porcupine appeared as he fired the quills.
"You two, get behind me!" Kenos said as Magna and Luck did so. "Solar Creation Magic: Amaterasu's Guard!"
At his call, the Japanese sun goddess appeared and protected the three of them, they then split back up.
"There's more where that came from, I won't let you recover either, Mythical Beast Creation Magic: Griffin Wings!" Vetto continued as the aura of a griffin's wings appeared on his back, he then quickly flew towards the three Black Bulls.
"Damn it, he's starting to use more of his Mythical Beast spells, we need to kick it up a notch," Kenos said.
The beast mage then became a few inches from the three. "Now I have you!"
He was going to attack, but then a purple beam of light crossed over right in between them, Vetto quickly flew back. "Another interception?"
Kenos, Magna, and Luck looked to where the attack came from, they grinned to see Gauche, standing on a high ledge, with Charmy standing by his left as well as someone else hiding behind him.
"So, this is where you all were, no wonder I didn't run into any of you," the mirror mage plainly stated as he looked at Vetto. "I see you can fly now, and what's with that creepy eye on your forehead?"
"Not the time!" Noelle exclaimed.
"Fine, Mirror Magic: Reflect Refrain!" Gauche exclaimed as multiple mirrors appeared above Vetto, no time passed before they reflected their beams of light, but the beast mage was able to evade them with the help of his wings.
"Try this on for size, Cotton Creation Magic: Army of Striking Sheep!" Charmy joined in as the three sheep appeared, they zoomed towards Vetto.
The beast-man's wings disappeared as he dropped to the ground in order to face the sheep head-on. "Okay then, Mythical Beast Magic: Fenrir Fang!" he exclaimed as his arms became armored in a werewolf's claws, he moved around, clawing and punching the closest sheep to him over and over before pushing it back as the other two sheep approached him.
"This is too easy, I thought these new challengers would've given me a better fight!" he bragged before he noticed a storm of pebbles above him, they looked like they were thrown up there, just as he raised his brow, smoke enveloped them and they emerged as an army of Astas, granted they didn't look too much like the original. "Whose magic is that?" he wondered quietly as he merely adjusted his attacks for the falling clones, but the increase in numbers had started to overwhelm him.
"I'm not going to be taken down by some poorly made dummies and a trio of sheep, Beast Magic: Lion Roar!" Vetto exclaimed as the construct appeared and he roared, sending the two varieties of enemies into the wall, causing them to disappear, he then turned to the group standing above them.
He grinned. "Get ready, because I'm coming for you, I'll take you down from that point so I can give you a nice and thorough beating, Mythical Beast Magic: Ganesh Pachy Stampede!" he exclaimed as the construct of a large elephant appeared around him, he then charged in the direction of the newly arrived Black Bulls, his speed quite moderate compared to his other spells.
Charmy was undeterred. "You, give us a beating? Yeah, no, Cotton Creation Magic: Strike of the Sleeping Sheep!" she exclaimed as the large sheep appeared a few feet from Vetto.
"I'm with her, you're strong, but you can't beat all of us, Mirror Creation Magic: Blade of Infinite Reflections!" Gauche added as the large blade of reflected light appeared beside the sheep, the two spells hit Vetto simultaneously, overpowering his spell and pushing him back.
"Damn it," he internally cursed before he was shot in the back by a barrage of Magna and Luck's attacks, he turned to see the duo grinning.
"You didn't think we'd let you forget about us and go fight those other guys?" Magna asked rhetorically.
"He's right, you're facing all of the Black Bulls now, try to make this exciting," Luck added.
Vetto grit his teeth. "They're not going to make this easy, I've already suffered from previous wounds, if I want to win, I need to increase my speed and-," he didn't get to finish his thought as he saw Kenos running at him with his blade in hand, the solar mage swiped again and again, but Vetto jumped back.
"Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!" Kenos declared as he shot the beam, Vetto crossed his arms to block it, and while he was successful, it didn't protect him from hitting the ground as an attack struck his backside.
The beast mage turned to find the attack's origin, his eyes falling on Noelle, her wand out. "I'm not going to sit around either, like Luck said, you're fighting all of us!"
"What a bitch," Vetto muttered before he jumped high into the air, upon seeing two attacks coming from opposite directions, one belonging to Luck, the other to Gauche.
The beast-man landed on the ground with force as his grimoire flipped to a page. "Beast Magic: Bull Tackle!" he exclaimed as the construct of a bull surrounded him, he then began to violently spin vertically with his arms pointed outwards before he charged at the group.
"A bull, aye, you trying to mock us or something?" Magna asked as he started running towards him, he turned his head to the lightning mage. "C'mon Luck, let's go, time to get some personal payback for last time!"
"Alright!" Luck said as he followed suit, the two running at an even speed, their arms reeled back as a mass formed in between them.
"What are they doing?" Gauche asked.
Kenos grinned. "You'll see,"
Vetto along with the flame and lightning mages were now only a few inches apart from each other, the latter mages grinned. "We're members of the Black Bulls, we won't lose to some cheap knockoff, Combo Spell: Flame Lightning Exploding Cannon!" they exclaimed as they rammed the spell forward, neither attack beat the other, ending in a stalemate as Vetto was stopped from movement.
Gauche took his opportunity. "Mirror Magic: Large Reflect Ray!" he exclaimed, shooting Vetto away from the two.
Kenos smirked, he was glad that they were finally getting the upper hand on their bestial opponent, but he noticed that three Black Bulls were not in action, he looked around and saw Finral and Vanessa a good distance away, kneeling down next to a fallen Asta. "The others can handle Vetto, I better go check on them," he thought as he started running to them.
Once he got there, he drove his blade into the ground and knelt down. "How is he?"
"Not too good, I checked his arms and they've been battered pretty bad, I think it's safe to say they're broken," Vanessa replied.
"I'll stay here and keep an eye on Asta, you two can head back into the fight," Finral told them.
"That's...not happening,"
They all looked down to see Asta, his fingers twitched as he slowly got back up, his grimoire coming in front of him as he pulled out the Demon-Slayer sword, but he then dropped to his knees. "I have to keep fighting...until the very end, I won't give up,"
"You need to stay down," Vanessa told him.
"No way, everybody else is out there fighting, not to mention our combo has the best shot of beating him," the swordsman protested. "It's like we said earlier, if we reach our limits, we'll just break through them,"
Finral gave a small smile. "Well, there's no stopping him when he gets like this,"
Vanessa smiled as well. "You're right," she then stood up as threads came around her, she then wrapped threads around Asta's hand, binding his grip to the sword.
She then turned to the solar mage. "Kenos, I don't know how long Asta's arms will be able to go for before they give out, so if you can, please have his back so he doesn't overexert himself,"
The black-haired mage nodded. "You can count on me," he replied before he stood up, removing his blade from the ground.
"Hey Kenos, I have an idea," Asta said.
His squadmate raised a brow. "Okay then, lay it on me,"
"Why don't the two of us just finish this fight right now, the others should've weakened him pretty well by now, so, whaddya say?" he asked.
Kenos grinned as he looked forward, seeing the battle. "Sure, why not, this mission has been going for long enough, it's time we beat him and put an end to it,"
"Take this!" Magna and Luck exclaimed together as they continued launching their spells at Vetto.
"Damn it, just drop dead already, you bastard!" Gauche and Charmy added as they used their own set of attacks.
"We're not going to lose!" Noelle exclaimed as well.
"Hey, you guys!"
Two unified voices rang out, catching everyone's attention, they all turned to see Asta and Kenos, the solar and magicless mages standing equally beside each other, each with a blade in hand.
Vetto was shocked. "What?! You can still move, but your arms, I should've destroyed them!" he yelled as he clenched his fists. "No matter, I'll just break them again, and then I'll defeat everyone here before I take the Magic Stone, just you wait, you will all fall into the deepest pits of despair!"
"Will you shut up!" Asta exclaimed angrily, catching the beast mage's attention. "I've gotten sick and tired of all this talk about despair, let me ask you something, has anyone, just one person you fought today...did any of them give into despair?!"
Vetto stopped, his eyes showing some shock, he thought about it, Luck and Magna, Kahono and Kiato, Kenos, Noelle, Finral and Vanessa, and of course Asta, his mind was only filled with their declarations and actions of determination, not once had any of them despaired, even during the fight's darkest moments. "They...never despaired,"
Kenos looked at his squadmate, he smiled before joining in. "I know what despair feels like, a person who I thought would always love me no matter what path I chose to take once told me something that hurt more than whatever wound you inflicted, it felt painful inside, for the first time in my life, I fell into true despair, but I got past it, because I have people who I can lean on, people who can help me get through despair, and because of that, I'll never let it take me again!"
The others stood in silence, only nodding.
"This is it, guys, move out of the way, we'll finish this!" Kenos and Asta exclaimed together at the top of their lungs. Magna, Luck, and Noelle wasted no time moving to the side, Gauche and Charmy also stopped their attacks as the two started walking forward.
"I was never able...to make them despair, not even once," Vetto thought with his head slumped down, but when he raised it to look at Asta and Kenos, his eyes widened.
He could see two figures towering behind the two boys, one was black, while the other was white, the beast mage gasped. "I don't believe it, behind those two brats," his eyes focused on Asta. "Behind him...is a devil who devours despair itself," his focus then turned to Kenos. "And behind him...is an angel who faces despair, but overcomes it, and is made stronger as a result,"
"Let's go!" the two boys exclaimed as they ran forward, Kenos split up from Asta, staying on the ground while the swordsman flashed through the air with Finral and Vanessa's help.
The solar mage ran even faster as he slashed at Vetto, scoring hit after hit, unlike the previous times. "This fight is over, Vetto!"
"No, I won't let it end like this!" Vetto screamed.
"Well…," Kenos began as he jumped up on Vetto's shoulder, using it to boost himself up into the air. "...That's too bad,"
Just as the solar mage jumped into the air, his eyes crossed with the swordsman's as he was zooming down, the two exchanged a quick grin. "Alright, I'm leaving this to you, Asta," Kenos said as the two part ways.
"Thanks a bunch, Kenos," Asta said back as he drew the Demon-Slayer back, holding it with both hands as he approached the beast mage. "Hey despair…,"
"AHHHH!" Vetto yelled.
"YOU LOSE!" Asta yelled too as he brought his sword with as much force as he could, right into Vetto's shoulder, forming a crater under him as dust clouded the entire area.
Kenos coughed as he landed on the ground, but once the dust cleared, a big smile was on his face, he saw Vetto's body, laying on the ground, with Asta kneeling beside him, using the Demon-Slayer to support him.
"Vetto's mana...I'm not feeling it anymore, it's gone," he thought as he and the others jumped excitedly into the air.
They had won.