Chapter Seventy-Three: Closer to Reconciliation
Hey there, readers, just wanted to say some quick words. Yesterday marked the 2nd Anniversary of The Other Fifth Leaf, I do want to apologize though, a lot has been going on in my life, and it's kept me from being as active as I wanted to. For the 3rd year of the story, I can't make any promises, but I'll do my utmost best to post more consistently. Thank you to those who have given your support, I greatly appreciate it and ask that you continue on this journey with me. With that out of the way, enjoy the new chapter. Cya
"It can't be,"
Despite the amount of distance that separated them, the remark that came out of Solid and Alecdora's mouths were in complete sync.
Yuno wasn't too far from the sand mage when he heard his name being called, turning behind him, he saw Noelle running his way.
"Hey, looks like it was a good idea to let you go after all," the wind mage said with a small grin as the two shared a high-five.
Noelle's demeanor made it easy to see she was ecstatic. "Thanks for letting me do it, it's a good thing I did. I finally confronted my brother, now, it feels like a large burden has been lifted from my heart," she said back. "How did your fight go?"
"It was super easy, not even remotely a challenge," Bell quickly replied.
"What she said, honestly, that was one of the easiest face-offs I've had in a while," Yuno gave his two cents.
"I won't accept this!"
The trio were alarmed at the exclamation of a familiar voice. Only a yard away from them, two recovery mages were carrying Solid off in what looked like a stretcher, and despite the injuries he's suffered evidenced by his appearance, he kept on yapping.
"I refuse to accept this! Noelle couldn't have beat me! It was a fluke, a fluke I say!"
Yuno took this chance to glare at the loud royal before his eyes turned to the fallen Alecdora, still on his knees and sulking. "Y'know, this is the problem with people like them, people who've never experienced a defeat like this. When they stumble, they break, they don't know how to get back up again after failure,"
"Asta could really teach them a thing or two about that," the water mage joked.
The golden dawn chuckled. "He really could,"
En then walked over to them. "There you two are, I've been looking for you. Seems like we're going to the next round,"
"Those other teams had better watch out," Noelle responded excitedly, but then her demeanor became more vulnerable as she faced the fungus mage. "Hey En, um…thanks for what you said back there, it really helped me out,"
"It's no problem, I'm just glad to see you let go of what was holding you back," he replied.
"We should head up, two more teams still have to fight," Yuno told them as he encased them all in wind, which also included Alecdora since it didn't seem like he planned on moving soon. Once they were all encased, he flew them to the platform.
"Thanks," his teammates stated as they started to walk back to their group.
On their way, they passed by where Julius, Sylvester, Charmy, and Kenos were. They saw the solar and cotton mages send a thumbs up their way, to which Yuno and Noelle silently returned the gesture.
But there was no silence to be had once they had fully regrouped with the others. "You two were so cool!" Asta cheered, turning to his rival first. "It's been so long since I've seen Towering Tornado, and the way you used it was awesome. I never knew you could cast a spell inside of another spell,"
"It's something I picked up on while training, I haven't completely gotten the hang of how it fully works, but as we saw today, it's quite powerful," the two bumped arms.
Klaus approached the two. "As a matter of fact, the technique you used sounds familiar. After the exam, let's do some practice so I can see if you've learned what think you've learned,"
"Works for me,"
Asta was then ready to praise his female squadmate, but saw she was getting attention from the others. "Our streak is still alive!" Magna exclaimed. "And good work taking down that snob of a brother. He stood no chance against you, the Black Bulls' one and only royal!"
"I didn't know you had a spell like that under your belt," Mimosa added.
"You aren't the only one with a crazy attack spell,"
"Noelle!" Asta ran over to her, getting close. "I'm so proud of you! You really showed your brother what you're made of. Like I said, you're amazing,"
She lightly blushed at his remark. "I, um, thanks. I just remembered what you all told me, it really gave me strength,"
Last to receive praise was En. "Sorry I didn't do more during the battle, vice-captain,"
"Your contributions may have been minor, but they were crucial nonetheless. I saw what you did, you looked like you were able to track the enemy crystal down, not to mention quickly defeating that Coral Peacock," Glynda responded.
"True, I was even able to give a pep talk," the fungus mage added.
"Then it's like the boss lady said, you did great," the bronze mage stacked on praise.
"I suppose you're right. Thank you, Glynda, Sekke,"
The capital mage spoke up. "Alright, the final fight of the first round will begin shortly! Both teams, please assemble!"
"Looks like my turn has finally come," Glynda said.
"You're going to do fine, you're a vice-captain. Trust me when I say it makes the battle a whole lot easier," Sekke gave her a thumbs up.
"Are you ready for this, Zuka?" Oliver asked.
"Of course, I've been watching fight after fight, I'm more than ready," she answered with pumped fists.
"Then you better make us proud, you got this," Shauna gave her encouragement.
"Best of luck to you," Kuro said as he and Dante bumped fists.
"Thanks, I'm going to need it, especially with who we're facing,"
"Oxanna, Erika, do your best," Leopold high-fived them both. "I'll be rooting for you along with Kenos and Zuka, but just a little more for you,"
Erika nodded. "You can count on that, you and Rama showed the results of your Yultim training during your scuffle, I will do the same,"
"I'll do the same as well," Oxanna finished.
"Hey, Violet,"
The phantom mage turned to the sound of Rama's voice, but was initially surprised when he was actually closer than she expected.
The lightning mage slowly took a hold of her hand, his face reddening a bit. "Go out there and give it everything you got, I'm not fully aware of what your little brother can do, but I am aware of what you can do, and I have total faith in it,"
Oxanna blushed a bit as she looked right at him. "And if I happen to lose?" she asked back with a joking tone.
Rama smiled at her. "If that happens, then I'll do whatever I can to cheer you up, just like you did for me,"
The girl smiled too. "That makes me feel a lot better,"
Both crimson-clad knights looked like they were on cloud 9, but a loud cough had brought them back down to earth. Said cough was made by the lava mage as she was staring at them, more notably the white tiger. "Not going to wish me luck? What am I, chop liver?" a knowing grin was on her face.
Rama let go of his girlfriend's hand. "C'mon, you know I wouldn't ignore you,"
"I know, I just didn't know how long I'd have to wait, what with the way you and my bestie were looking at each other,"
A chuckle escaped his mouth. "Touché. Good luck,"
With that, the five mages were ready to go. "I hope there are no hard feelings after this match," the sparkle mage said.
The lava mage waved it off. "You don't have to worry about any of that. Team E and F battled fine without problems, so should we,"
"You're right,"
With the solar mage, he clenched a fist softly before looking to those around him. "I'm going out there,"
"You sure you'll be alright?" Sylvester inquired.
He nodded. "Positive, I just needed some time to cool down,"
"Ok then, good luck," the lunar mage wished.
"Yeah, you got this," Charmy added.
Kenos started to walk away from them, and once he went far enough, his grimoire came out and opened.
"Be honest with me, are you really ready for this?" Emmanuel asked.
"I am, I have to be," his partner replied. "This fight isn't solely for the sake of the exam. Dante and Oxanna will be my opponents, I've been given a chance,"
"To confront them?
Kenos' eyes narrowed. "Yes, I need to find out if they're in on my dad's plan to assassinate me,"
"From what I've observed, the idea that they are isn't likely, they haven't expressed any surprise that you're alive. But then again, the way one acts compared to the way they truly feel can…greatly differ…," he said before drifting off.
"Is everything okay, Emmanuel? You sound off,"
"Um, yes, my apologies, I was just thinking about something," the angel answered.
"About what?" his partner was curious.
"To understand all the details, I would have to tell quite a long story, and we both know you don't have the time for it,"
"Good point,"
"Yo, Kenos!" a voice suddenly screamed, the solar mage turned around to see Ryusei calling to him. "Dante and Oxanna may be older than you, but you've got incredible skills! Don't lose!"
"Yeah, what he said! We have total faith in you!" Alice spoke up as well.
Seeing two of his oldest friends give him support managed to make a warm smile grace his features as he sent a peace sign their way. "Alice, Ryu, you can count on me,"
He closed his tome and continued walking to the meeting spot, arriving before anyone else, but he didn't remain alone for long as the other five made it and got into position.
Kenos turned to Zuka, raising the back of his fist to her. "The dynamic duo is together again,"
She bumped with the back of her own fist. "Better believe it, we know each other's style inside and out," she said before realizing something. "But I can't say the same for Glynda,"
"That's right, neither can I. I've never seen you fight," the Rossiu agreed, eyeing the telekinesis mage. "But Julius saw you as capable enough to make a vice-captain from the start, not to mention you can actually scare Yami,"
"The same is true regarding the two of you as well, I don't even know your attributes," Glynda revealed.
"Then we can go over all of that once we head to the battlefield," Kenos said.
"We've reached it at last! The final battle of the first round! And it's with Team M, consisting of Kenos, Zuka, and Glynda, against Team N, consisting of Dante, Oxanna, and Erika!"
The crowd was excited by the roster of combatants. "A battle between Rossius, this is bound to be epic!"
Julius and Sylvester watched the two teams with keen eyes as they started to descend towards the battlefield. "The other knights are right, this will be a noteworthy fight. But the question that remains is who will be victorious,"
While they were heading down, Kenos stole quick glances at his older siblings. "Dante, Oxanna, and I haven't been on the greatest of terms for some time now, comfortability around each other may shift from time to time, but not to the point where everything is good between us. The things about me are things they don't understand. But would that be enough to drive them to assist father in getting rid of me?"
"So, which end are you guys going to take if you don't mind me asking?" Erika wanted to know.
"Not sure. Kenos, Glynda, do you have any idea?" Zuka asked her teammates.
"We'll take the further end, you can take the side closer to the platform," Kenos nonchalantly replied as he approached his team's crystal and locked it onto his mana signature before continuing his advance.
He waited for his female allies to catch up to him before speaking again. "Alright Glynda, you're up, give us the details on your magic,"
"I'm a user of Telekinesis Magic, an attribute which weaponizes my mental energy which I use in conjunction with my riding crop. In terms of capabilities, I specialize mostly in long range combat, I have some spells that aid me when fighting in close quarters, but it's nothing to cry home about,"
Zuka took it upon herself to be the next to go. "I've got Sparkle Magic. I'm an offensive mage first and foremost, my magic manifests two base weapons which I use for both forms of combat. I do have a defensive spell in my repertoire, and as of recently, my pool of ranged spells have gotten a boost," she explained.
"Sparkle Magic, you say? I don't mean to be rude, but it sounds quite girly," Glynda voiced.
"It isn't the first time I've been told that, but don't you worry, once the fight starts, you'll see that it's rather dangerous,"
The black bull was the last one up. "I use Solar Magic, it's an all-around encompassing attribute. I specialize in a bit of almost everything,"
"That sounds very useful," Glynda remarked, impressed.
Suddenly, Kenos stopped. "This should be a good place to stop," he said, seeing that the distance between the two teams was about a quarter of a kilometer.
"Okay, both teams are in position! Ready, and begin!"
On the side of Team N, Oxanna spoke up. "They're further than we guessed they would be. Erika, you think you have a spell with enough range?"
Her best friend smirked in response. "What kinda question is that? Of course I do," she took out her grimoire. "Lava Creation Magic: Meteorite Shower!"
The sky partially blackened as the various lava-filled rocks descended. "The likelihood of my attack destroying their crystal is very slim, but it should damage it, forcing Team M to stay on the defensive,"
Unfortunately for her, that plan didn't go as she'd hoped as Glynda took out both her grimoire and her riding crop. "Telekinesis Magic: Mental Fortitude!"
At her command, purple energy coated her crop to which she drew a circle in the air before it expanded, becoming a large wall that blocked every meteorite.
"Damn it! Wasn't expecting them to do that," the lava mage muttered to herself in disappointment.
"What a cool defense spell!" Zuka praised. "With something like that under your belt, it's clear you should handle keeping the crystal safe. That is, if you don't mind?"
"Not at all, if carrying out this role gives you two a better chance of winning, I'll gladly accept it," the woman replied.
"Thank you so much. Let's go, Kenos!" Zuka charged forward.
The boy did the same. "Right behind you!"
"So much for forcing them on the defensive. Oh well, better send those two a welcoming committee," Oxanna said. "Phantom Creation Magic: Eidolon Paladin + Galloping Nightmare!" she exclaimed, summoning the two spells, with the paladin atop the spectral steed before it galloped to confront its foes.
Luckily, it didn't take long for the duo to see what was coming their way. "A knight on a horse?" Zuka expressed her minor confusion.
"Based on the appearance, it looks like something my sister cast. We better be careful," Kenos deduced.
"It looks strong, so let's face it a split tactic," the sparkle mage suggested. "You square off with it head on, and I'll hang back to attack from a distance,"
"Sounds good to me. Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Twin Blades!" Kenos exclaimed, equipping his weapon. "I'm going to need you to buy me an opening,"
"Gotcha. Sparkle Creation Magic: Shimmering Bow!" Zuka equipped a weapon of her own and fired an arrow immediately. Just as Kenos had hoped, the paladin raised its sword and deflected the projectile, giving the solar mage a chance to jump into the air and strike, the phantasmal knight unable to react in time to save itself.
But that was when Kenos didn't yet realize that there was a crucial factor he failed to take into account, one that would ruin his chance.
The horse.
Galloping Nightmare quickly turned its body around and raised his hind legs, successfully kicking the solar mage as he was about to land, sending him a few feet away.
"Shit, that damn horse got in my way. Seeing that they operate independent of each other, I think it's safe to say we're dealing with a double spell," Kenos deduced once more.
"How should we go on the attack now? Zuka asked.
Kenos looked her way "The same as we did the last one," he charged forward again. "Solar Creation Magic: Rain of Solar Daggers!"
At her call, the daggers started to fall. In response, the steed ran out of its range, dodging the attack, but that only opened it up for another attack.
"Perfect," the quiet mutter came from Zuka's mouth as she fired one more arrow, hitting the horse's leg dead on, forcing it to the ground.
And Kenos was fully ready to take advantage of the opportunity she bought him, moving in and striking fast, disarming the paladin.
"Phantom Creation Magic: Malevolent Duppy!" Oxanna declared as the abomination rushed forward.
The solar mage sucked his teeth. "What, another one?"
"Don't worry, I can handle them, get behind me," Zuka instructed as he did so, she then looked at the two debiliatated phantom spells, the new one coming their way, and Team N's crystal. "They appear to be almost perfectly aligned, this might just finish it,"
"So, what's your plan?" the black bull asked.
The aqua deer just smiled. "You'll see. Sparkle Creation Magic: Scintillating Aurora!" she cast her current strongest spell as the goddess appeared, firing her devastating blast of magic, entirely annihilating all three of the ghostly creations, with the next target being the enemy crystal.
"Crap, that was a good move," Oliver commented. "Does that mean the fight could end now?"
"Probably," Shauna replied. "But hey, nothing wrong with a quick victory,"
But there would be no victory as Dante ran to stand directly in front of his crystal, putting himself in the way of the blast.
"Dante, what are you doing?!" his sister exclaimed. "We can just move the crystal!"
A rare, yet small, smile graced Dante's lips. "True, but we don't have to. Steel Creation Magic: Cylinder Backdraw!" he formed a gigantic U-shaped cylinder in front of him, taking in the blast in one end, and shooting it back out through the other, making Zuka and Kenos its new target.
"Holy shit!" the two mentally screamed, regardless, they both prepared to cast a defense spell for protection.
Or at least, they were going to.
Out of nowhere, the two suddenly felt like a strange force had taken hold of them. Before they could even open their mouths to question it, they were quickly pulled back, evading the attack.
"What's going on?!" they yelled before realizing they were back where they started, right next to their crystal and the vice-captain.
"Thank goodness you're safe," she sighed in relief.
"Glynda, that was you?"
The woman nodded. "It was. I used my Telekinesis Magic: Attracting Force. Takes whatever object or person I lock on within a certain distance and brings it right to me,"
"That spell saved our asses, thanks," Kenos said.
"You're welcome. So, what should our approach be now?"
Zuka held her chin. "Not sure at the moment. Oxanna's spells were enough to give us trouble and keep us at bay, then Dante's spell sent my best attack right back at me with what appeared to be low difficulty. I've never really had the chance to see your siblings in battle, Kenos, but they're no joke,"
"I know," Kenos said back. "It's no surprise they're doing well, I'm not the only one who's grown stronger. But I still need to talk to them while being able to match their power. For that to happen, I'm going to need to do it,"
"Dante, what kind of spell was that?" Oxanna ecstatically asked her brother. "That spell Zuka sent our way was super powerful, and you sent it back so easily,"
"It was something I was working on when training with Kuro, I was inspired by his Helix Cancel. When I saw how many new spells you unlocked during the Chasmar mission, I knew I had to step up," he explained.
She patted him on the back. "And step up you did, I don't have anything like that in my repertoire. That's my older brother,"
"Um, thanks,"
"Erika, don't you think it was cool?" Oxanna asked, only to hear no response.
Minorly concerned, she looked over to see the lava mage looking through her grimoire, flipping from page to page, staring at different sides of the battlefield, alternating between that and her tome.
A hand suddenly rested on the noble's shoulder. "Um, Erika,"
The peach-haired girl jumped with a yelp before seeing who it was. "Oh, Oxanna, it's just you,"
"Yeah, just me. Is everything ok," she asked.
"I'm fine, I was only thinking of something," she confessed.
"Thinking about what?"
Erika paused for a little while before giving her answer. "I want to be the one to destroy Team M's crystal,"
"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Dante questioned her decision. "Taking them on by yourself won't be an easy feat,"
"I know, but I have a new spell which should cover that problem. You two are really strong, our crystal is the safe hands," the lava mage gave a determined reply. "I've been training hard too, I'm proving to myself day after day that I'm not just the backup to our foursome, that I'm just as powerful,"
The phantom mage's expression softened as she eyed her best friend. "Erika, you've never been backup. You're one of the strongest mages I know, so…if you think you can do it, I'm behind you one hundred percent,"
Erika's eyes widened before a large smile formed on her face. "Thank you so much! I won't let you down,"
"Of course you won't, you're going to win this match for us. Now go, and show Team M what Erika Molotov is made of," Oxanna pointed afar.
Dante spoke up. "Alright then, if you're going to go, you need to get there fast. Steel Creation Magic: Straightforward Ballista," he formed the large launching construct.
"Okay then, I just have to do something first," Erika ran to one side of their area. "Lava Magic: Lava Wave!" she planted her hands firmly on the ground as lava spread through that area, covering around 50 feet worth of distance. She went over to other sides and repeated the same process, until a wide, yet straight path directly in front of them remained untouched.
She then jumped onto the ballista. "By covering every other side but the center with lava, if anyone wants to approach you, they need to come down this way, where you two will be waiting. Since no one on the opposing team can fly, there can be no sneak attacks, or attacking from different directions,"
"Awesome plan, that'll make defending the crystal much easier," Oxanna noted.
Dante was preparing to launch her. "Are you ready?"
Erika let out a short sigh, brimming with anticipation. "I am. Let it rip,"
"Perhaps I should have a shot at the offensive," Glynda proposed. "Skill wise, I should be enough to match all three of them,"
"That could work, you're a vice-captain, and your Magic should be to handle multiple attacks," Zuka agreed. "I say you give it a try while Kenos and I hold the fort, we should be-,"
"No,"
There was a serious tone in Kenos' voice as he cut her off. "I'll be the one to race them, and I'm going alone,"
"I don't know if that's a good idea. The two of us couldn't even get close when we tried. How would you do better by yourself?" Zuka asked in disagreement.
"To be absolutely honest with you, I haven't been giving it my all, I should be able to hold my own against them, and there's a reason I want to do it," Kenos began. "There's something I want to talk about with my brother and sister, and…it'll require some privacy. Please, I have to do this,"
The sparkle mage was a little skeptical about his request, but then she remembered his earlier breakdown. "Wait, does this have to do with…what happened earlier?"
Kenos turned his head away. "Sort of,"
Zuka slowly walked over to him, and looked straight into his eyes. Kenos did the same, his gaze not wavering until she pointed at his chest. "Fine, go ahead then, but you'll have to promise me something,"
"And that is?"
"Promise me that you'll be okay, and that you'll win,"
The solar mage grinned. "Don't worry, I can do that,"
"So how are we planning to remove Erika from the equation? Should I use my Attracting Force spell?" Glynda wondered aloud.
Zuka was thinking of an answer, but then she noticed something in the air. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that. Look,"
They all did so and saw Erika rocketing their way. "It appears fate has done me a favor. Good luck handling her," Kenos said as he looked at his finger. "I may not be as strong and fast without my ring, but I should manage,"
He closed his eyes and opened them, seeing the white beads of mana before quickly bringing them towards him.
Glynda and Zuka looked at him strangely. "Where's that large increase in mana coming from?"
They were given their answer as Kenos spoke up. "Solar Reinforcement Magic - Mana Charge: Sunshine Aura!"
"Mana…Charge?" the two girls voiced with equal confusion, but didn't get to ask as Kenos zoomed forward at a decent speed.
In the air, Erika saw him move. "He's heading out? Good luck then, Dante and Oxanna," she said before looking at the other two members. "As for those two, Lava Magic: Igneous Rock Blast!" she shot the hardened rock downward.
"Zuka, the crystal!" Glynda exclaimed.
"I'm on it!" she called back, locking onto the crystal before jumping out of the way.
Erika landed gracefully. "I was expecting to fight three of you, but I'm not complaining, it'll make this easier! Lava Creation Magic: Magma Golems!"
She planted her hands on the ground, releasing lava, and from that lava emerged 10 large soldiers. "This is quite the handy spell. Back at Yultim, those lava creatures were pretty cool, so I decided to make my own,"
The telekinesis mage turned to her teammate. "Zuka, you fight Erika, I'll take care of her golems!"
"Okay!"
Meanwhile, Kenos quickly started to cover the distance. As he did, all he could think about was what his siblings would say once he asked the question that was plaguing his mind. What if they really were in on the assasination plot? What would he do?
He lightly slapped himself. "I can't think about that right now, what they will do is irrelevant for the time being, finding out and beating them is the important part at the moment," he told himself before something else captured his attention. "Damn, why is it getting warmer around here?"
He got his answer as he got closer to see the lava around the area, with only one path untouched and at the end of the path, stood Dante and Oxanna.
Oxanna narrowed her eyes as she saw who was closing in. "Kenos, is he here by himself?"
"Looks like it," Dante answered.
"Then let's make sure he doesn't get closer. Phantom Magic: Ghoul Chaser!"
Kenos saw the headless ghost coming his way. "You're going to have to do better than that! Solar Magic: Sunbeam Ray!" he shot the beam, dispelling her attack, but he wasn't done. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Staff!"
"Hey Dante, you got a melee spell?" his sister inquired.
"I do, learned one recently,"
"Good, Phantom Creation Magic: Reaper's Scythe!"
"Steel Creation Magic: Vergil's Great Blade!"
Once they equipped their weapons, they charged forward, attracting the attention of Julius. "Let's see who will come out on top,"
Kenos was the first to act, jumping into the air to strike, but his attack was stopped as his siblings crossed their weapons together.
"Not a bad strike, Kenos," Oxanna commented, but her voice had adopted its nonchalant tone.
"Um, thanks, I guess, anyways, there's something I want to ask you two," Kenos told them.
With a combined effort, they pushed him off. "Sorry, it's going to have to wait," Dante responded.
"It can't wait, this is something really important," he said as he landed.
His sister raised her weapon. "I'm confused, if it's so important, why didn't you ask us earlier?"
"Well…it's a very sensitive question, I couldn't just ask you at any moment when other people were around," he replied.
Dante raised a brow. "Steel Creation Magic: Thousand Knives!"
"Solar Creation Magic: Amaterasu's Guard!" Kenos met the attack with his defense spell. "So, can I ask my question?"
"Hm, this does look important. Tell you what, let's keep on battling, and after a certain point, you can ask your question," Dante proposed. "This is still an exam, we can't just stop in the middle of it to talk,"
Kenos thought about it before nodding. "That works with me, as long as I can ask, I'm content,"
"Then let's continue,"
"Time to take you down!" Erika declared as she charged at Zuka.
"Bring it on! Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" Zuka formed her lance and advanced, the crystal following behind her.
"A lance, aye? I don't use any weapons, but I won't need them! Lava Magic: Ash Torrent!" she brought her hands together, then spread them out, forming a cloud of ash around them.
"So, your plan is to try and sneak up on me and destroy the crystal?" Zuka voiced.
"You catch on quick," Erika replied, emerging right behind Zuka, her fist red. "It doesn't mean you can stop me!"
"I would be so sure about that!" the sparkle mage retaliated upon hearing her voice by jumping to the side, but not quick enough as the crimson-clad knight was able to chip off a piece of the crystal.
Zuka acted quickly, continuing to move until she had exited the cloud of ash. "There we go, that wasn't too hard," she said before checking the crystal, immediately noticing the sizable piece removed from the left side. "Ouch, I have to be more careful,"
"I'm not done yet! Lava Magic: Magma Uppercut!" Erika once again emerged from the ash, this time landing her hit dead-on, sending Zuka back.
"Shit, that hurt," she mumbled, but quickly rose up as the crimson-clad knight didn't plan on slowing down. Both assumed a quick fighting stance before running at the other.
"I hope Glynda's doing fine,"
Not too far away, Glynda jumped back as a golem reeled its fist back and launched a punch, completely missing her.
"Hm, you bunch are on the slow side, you may outnumber me, but you're outmatched, Telekinesis Magic: Repulse Blast!" she fired a lone blast of magic, pushing a golem back.
In response, another golem held its hand out as a ball of lava formed before it chucked it right at her.
"What the?" she jumped out of the way again, this time just barely dodging it watching as it scorched the grass it landed on.
"That doesn't look good,"
They didn't stop though, the golems grouped up and began chucking the balls of molten rock.
"Telekinesis Magic: Mental Fortitude!" she formed the protective wall a second time.
"Okay, I need to take care of all of these golems right away, if I get hit with even one of those attacks, I'm done for," she said as she began racing towards the giants.
"Telekinesis Magic: Psycho Bomb!" multiple purple orbs appeared atop her riding crop, to which she launched them straight at the golems, the orbs sticking onto parts of their bodies. With a great jump, putting her feet above them, she snapped her fingers, the bombs simultaneously exploding, destroying them all.
Upon landing she propped up her glasses and put a hand on her hip. "Like I said, outmatched,"
"That crystal of yours will be as good as destroyed!" Erika gave a mighty cry as she and Zuka were locked in melee combat, she launched punch after punch, meeting every strike her opponent attempted with her lance.
"I'll be honest, you're not bad in the slightest, but I can't let that happen," Zuka retorted.
Erika backed up and ran up the side, trying to bypass the mage and get what she was aiming for.
"Oh no you don't," Zuka attempted to parry her movement.
"Oh yes I will!" the lava mage spun around to increase the momentum of her next punch, said punch successfully managing to disarm the aqua deer.
"And now for you!"
"Not so fast, Sparkle Magic: Dance of the Fluttering Fairy!" Zuka reacted, dodging her attack, but not missing the chance to throw a right hook, managing to knock Erika to the ground.
But the lava mage got back up again. "My team is counting on me, I'm going to win this!"
"Sorry, but I'll have to deny that. Telekinesis Binding Magic: Crushing Grip!"
Erika was about to leap into the air, but instead found herself unable to move as Glynda approached the two, having just cast her signature binding spell.
Zuka was catching her breath before he spoke up. "That didn't take long,"
"They weren't really hard to beat," she revealed. "I take it she was harder?"
"Much harder, I was kinda worried when she disarmed me with her bare hands," Zuka replied.
"Then it's a good thing I came when I-," the vice-captain was saying, but stopped when she saw Erika looking away from them with her head down, her expression showing distress.
Glynda gave the girl her full attention. "Hey, are you okay?"
"No, I'm not. My team trusted me, they put their faith in me, just for me to lose. I'm just mad at myself, I know I've gotten stronger, but it still isn't enough,"
Glynda stood in front of the girl. "Erika, look at me," she said, her tone soft. "Don't be mad at yourself, just because you failed today, doesn't mean you can't succeed tomorrow. Your magic is impressive and so are your skills, don't let one defeat make you forget that. Okay?"
Erika sighed. "Okay, but I'm still bummed out,"
"That's okay, experiencing dissatisfaction will cause such a feeling," her attention then shifted to Zuka. "Well, the threat to our crystal has been neutralized, let's see how Kenos is faring. But we'll keep out of listening range for the sake of his privacy," she started walking, using her magic to drag Erika along.
Zuka followed suit. "Right, I just hope he's doing fine,"
The solar mage was faring well enough.
Thanks to the surrounding lava, Kenos was forced to make every attack head-on, unable to try to break away to get their crystal from a different angle.
At the moment, he was trading blows with Dante. "They really thought this through, didn't they?"
"I'll be honest, Kenos, I wasn't expecting you to hold out as long as you have," the sound from their clashing weapons continued to ring before they switched from trading blows to pushing each other back.
"The challenges I've faced have forced me to grow much stronger, plus, I've learnt some tricks that are giving me a bit of a boost," his brother said back.
"Well then let's see how far this boost helps you!" Oxanna jumped from behind Dante, doing a front flip to get behind Kenos before performing a swift sweep kick.
Despite being on the ground, Kenos quickly gyrated his body to avoid being attacked, using that as a chance to get away and create distance.
"I have to tread carefully, even with the boosted aura, it's hard to get the upper hand, but I have to try," he performed all the steps to draw mana. "Solar Magic - Mana Charge: Sunbeam Ray!"
His sister was quick to respond. "Phantom Creation Magic: Supernatural Protection of Wight!" she defended both of them from the attack, but not after they were pushed back considerably far.
"Mana Charge? I've never heard of that," Dante voiced aloud.
"Neither have I," Oxanna added.
"It's a technique I created when fighting the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Makes my spells a lot more powerful," he revealed.
"I take it that must be what you refer to as your 'boost'," the phantom mage put two and two together. "I will admit though, I'm impressed, making techniques as effective as that aren't things just anyone can do,"
"I'm glad it's to your liking, but it isn't the only impressive thing I can do, check it, Solar Creation Magic: Wyvern of Helios!"
His siblings became wide-eyed at the name of his next spell, their eyes becoming wider as they saw the spell materialize in front of them, roaring loudly.
From afar, the three other combatants could see the majestic dragon-like creature. "An orange wyvern? That spell must be Kenos', I didn't know he got a new one, it looks incredible," Zuka said.
On the platform, Sylvester expressed his own surprise. "A wyvern spell. You did it, Kens, I'm proud of you,"
"Now, go," Kenos commanded the wyvern, the spell obeying as it flew forward.
With the distance between them, Dante and Oxanna didn't have much time to react, but regardless, after the initial shock had passed, they were unfazed. "I applaud you for obtaining your wyvern spell, and at such a young age as yours, but…," the former began before they both exclaimed the next declaration.
"It's not going to beat us!"
"Steel Creation Magic: Rampaging Iron Wyvern!"
"Phantom Creation Magic: Wyvern Spectre!"
Kenos watched as they summoned their own wyverns, the ghostly wyvern took flight and quickly flew around, creating a powerful spectral wind, said wind forcing the sun wyvern away from its original target and up into the air.
It was Kenos' turn to widen his eyes. "W-What?"
With the sun wyvern now flying upwards, the iron wyvern joined its ghostly counterpart in the sky as they both ascended further, flying back to back before they came down, resulting in a clash between wyverns, one the duo easily came out on top before disappearing.
"Holy shit, I wasn't expecting my spell to lose like that, but then again, there are two of you," the black bull stated.
"Yeah, and the two of us will take you down," Oxanna was about to cast a spell, but that's when Dante extended an arm to stop her.
"It's been long enough. Not to mention your best spell just failed, reducing your chance of winning by a large margin, you won't last. So now is a good time as any, ask your question,"
"My question?" Kenos repeated as he began to walk towards his brother and sister, stopping about two yards away from them. "Before I ask my question, there's something important I need to tell you that you may or may not know: father tried to assassinate me,"
It didn't even take a second for complete shock to overtake their faces, and for one as stoic as Dante and as happy-go-lucky as Oxanna, it only made their current expressions that much more unsettling.
"Are..are you serious?" Oxanna managed to ask.
Kenos remained mostly straight-faced, unsure if their shock was real or not. "I'm serious,"
"But, father…I heard that he called you earlier, that's why our match got postponed, wasn't it?" Dante desperately wanted to know.
"That was a lie, the postponement was caused by me, not him. When he called Ves wanting to know where I was, I had a panic attack. Julius lied to you all to protect me, you can ask Ves if you want proof," Kenos confessed.
"Why does he want you dead?" the question came from Oxanna.
"It's because I joined the Black Bulls. In his eyes, doing so has tarnished the name of our family, and by doing so, I've apparently forfeited my right to live," he explained. "That leads to the question I have: were you two in on the plot to kill me?"
"What in the crap is wrong with you? Why would you think we'd help him kill you?" Dante asked with some anger.
"Well, because…the three of us haven't really gotten entirely along for some time. When it's just us interacting, things are awkward and tense. It isn't like when I was a little kid, we were happy back then, before things about me started changing, and you began to understand me less and less. Humans resent what they don't understand, and that resentment can drive us to do heinous acts, look at father, his inability to understand why I joined the squad I did made him try to kill me, I thought it would be the same with you,"
The two older siblings went silent, just doing their best to fully process what they just heard. It sounded unbelievable, but upon recalling how the last meeting of their family went, the idea wasn't far-fetched. Dante was the first to finish his mental process and therefore was the first to speak. "It's true. The relationship between us isn't like it used to be, and we may not understand things regarding you, but we don't want you dead,"
"He's right," Oxanna added onto the remark. "We're family, even when we don't see eye to eye, you'll always be our little brother. The thought of going that far wouldn't even cross our minds,"
Kenos listened to what they had to say, and as they finished, he felt something strange in his heart. He didn't have Ki in the same manner as Yami and Asta, or anything remotely similar, but it didn't stop him from feeling the genuineness in their words. They were telling the truth, and he was more than relieved.
He then did something he hadn't done for them in years: he smiled warmly at them. "Thank you, thank you so much. And now…it's time that I win,"
"Um, what do you mean? Didn't you hear what I said?" the steel mage asked.
"I did, but there's something you didn't account for," he replied. "I've gotten what I wanted, there's no need to hold back, it's time I use it," his grimoire flipped through pages, landing on a special one.
"Heaven Magic: Angel's Child!"
With a flurry of quick movements, the angelic mage transformed and flew some feet above the air, staring down.
Dante and Oxanna were in complete bewilderment. From afar, Zuka, Glynda, and Erika gasped in surprise, and on the platform, except for the Black Bulls, everyone was shocked by what the solar mage had just done. They were unable to say anything, but their minds all came to the same conclusion.
"What the hell did he just do?!"
"Like I said, it's time that I win!" Kenos descended quickly, kicking both siblings to the side before drawing his sword and flying over to their crystal, cutting it in half with amazing speed.
The capital mage too was speechless, but soon found his voice. "Crystal destroyed! The final team of victors is Team M!"
Kenos flew down, heading towards the two, extending a hand to them both, which they took. "That was a good match,"
"What in the world is that?" Oxanna totally ignored his prior statement, instead in awe at his transformation.
"This, well, long story short, it turns out that my grimoire has got an angel in it,"
"An angel?"
"Yup, he's the one responsible for the five leaf clover grimoire, and even my solar attribute,"
"So, that's why you had those?" Oxanna questioned. "Guess we know the answer to that now,"
Kenos' eyes widened. "Wait, we do! That's two less things you didn't understand about me. I…have an idea, what if we, y'know…started to learn more about each other. Who knows, probably it can help us regain a semblance of a functional sibling relationship?"
The steel and phantom mages looked at each other before pulling Kenos in for a hug. "We can do that,"
They broke up the hug before Dante said something. "Besides, our main objective at the moment is confronting father,"
"Right, but don't tell anyone about his plot," Kenos warned.
"Of course, if anyone finds out about this, our family reputation is fucked," Oxanna gave a thumbs up.
"Awesome,"
The brown-haired girl then raised her hand. "I don't know if it's too early for this, but there's something I want you two to know about me,"
"What is it?"
Her face became red. "Well, you see, I may have some…strong feelings towards Rama. Feelings of the..romantic variety,"
"We know," her brothers deadpanned.
"Excuse me?"
"Yeah, I already talked to him about it at Yultim," Kenos replied.
"Not to mention you made it really obvious," Dante added.
"Oh, I see,"
"Kenos!" Zuka called, dashing at him, reaching him in a matter of seconds. "Oh my gosh, what is this? When did you get it? How did you get it? I have to know!"
Oxanna giggled. "Damn, she sounds like me,"
"Zuka, don't bombard him with questions, we can't forget what he had to do alone," Glynda attempted to calm her down, sending a small smile Kenos' way. "I remember back when I was younger, the Witch Queen spoke about a sacred group of beings that aligned with an ancient race. I suppose one must've aligned with him, it does look quite fascinating though,"
Erika, who had been freed from the binding, motioned towards her teammates. "I'm really sorry about this one, I'll do better next time,"
"You're alright, after all, our whole team was beaten," Dante said.
"Enough about that, let's head back up. Dante, Oxanna, hold onto me, the rest of you hold onto them," Kenos ordered.
"You're going to try to fly us up?" Zuka asked curiously. "Is that going to work?"
"Never tried it before, so it's worth a shot. I've never actually gauged how much Angel's Child increases my strength by," he answered before squatting down and taking flight, surprisingly, five additional people wasn't that much of a hassle and they landed on the platform without a hitch.
"Oh my gosh!" the crowd yelled.
That managed to wake Augustus up. "What? What's going on? Why is everyone being so loud? Can a king not enjoy some-…good heavens, what is that?" he demanded, having witnessed the angelic mage right as he detransformed.
He fell to his knees for a few seconds. "Yeah, still not used to it,"
But he wouldn't get to rest as he soon found himself surrounded by a multitude of people, all with questions to ask and things to say.
"Alright Kenos, start talking, how did you pull that off?" Alice asked.
"Yeah, I want to know too!" Julius exclaimed, starry-eyed.
"Here I was thinking the shorty was the only wild card here, turns out we got another one," Xerx mused.
"First we see you have your wyvern spell, and now this, you're killing it," Sylvester finished.
Besides the Black Bulls, only two people weren't going up to talk to the solar mage. One was Yuno, who glared at him with narrowed eyes, the other was Ryusei, who gave him a look of slight concern.
The angelic came up and opened on its own. "Please, could everyone calm down a bit,"
"The grimoire is talking!"
"Hm, it appears I'll need to take a more traditional approach to my introduction," Emmanuel said as a portal appeared in front of the tome, and out of it, walked the angel himself.
"What the? An actual angel!" Julius began squealing.
"Greetings all, my name is Emmanuel, Kenos' partner angel. Kenos' grimoire, magical attribute, and transformation are all a result of his bond with me. Hopefully that somewhat answers what you want to know, now Kenos can get some rest,"
Kenos finally stood back up, partially in awe at the fact that his partner was standing right next to him, and apparently towering over him as well, standing at around 6'4. "You're a lot taller than when we first met,"
"The space within the grimoire lets me augment my height. With the dilemma you had when we first met, I decided it'd be better to stand at the same height as you to act as an emotional equal rather than speak over you," the angel explained casually.
"I don't mind. I am surprised though, you've never come out of the grimoire before, even after revealing yourself to me. I always under the impression you were stuck in there,"
Emmanuel let out a chuckle. "I'm glad to inform you that I'm not stuck. The space within the angelic grimoire is its own dimension of sorts, and that's where I usually reside, but the grimoire also acts as a gateway, letting me travel between my world and yours,"
"I see. Y'know, you should come out of the grimoire more often, we could have some hangouts with the others," Kenos suggested.
"That does sound pleasant, but unfortunately, it cannot be," the angel exposed the right side of his body, revealing that his hand had already faded away.
"Emmanuel," the solar mage's voice was riddled with deadly concern.
But the angel put up his left hand to calm him down. "Don't fret, it's nothing dangerous. An angel's physical form can only exist in this world for a bit over a minute, and while here, we can't access any of our power,"
"Why is it like that?"
"Let's just call it, a consequence from something in the past," Emmanuel answered his partner's question as he entered the grimoire.
But the Rossiu had another question. "What happened in the past that led to this?"
"Patience, I will tell you if the need ever arises. It's a very long story, and it involves multiple factors which makes it a bit of a mess to tell, no point in telling it to you if you're never going to need to know it. Besides, there's something now that requires your full attention,"
Emmanuel was right. The first round had come to an end, fights from here on out would only get more intense, victory would be harder to achieve, and defeats would be easier to occur.
The second round was about to begin.