Chapter Seventy-Four: True Beauty
"You were awesome!"
Those were the words said to multiple people once the craze over the appearance of the solar mage's otherworldly partner died down.
The first person was Zuka as she stood with her three squadmates, sharing a high-five with each of them.
"Way to make us proud," Oliver gave a thumbs up. "Even though you didn't get to destroy their crystal, you and that lady on your team did great to protect your own,"
"How tough was that Erika girl? She was pretty much alone when it came to her team's offensive?" Shauna asked.
"It was no easy task. If we were going at one on one, I'd lose, I would never be able to handle her and her golems while also keeping our crystal safe," the sparkle mage confessed. "Thank god for Glynda,"
"Luckily, it didn't come to that and Glynda was able to help you," Fragil said.
"True," she agreed.
"Excuse me, may I have a word?"
Zuka perked up at the voice behind her and turned around, surprised a bit when the person in question turned out to be Kirsch, who grabbed a hold of her hands, his face oddly ecstatic.
"Your name is Zuka correct?" he asked, only getting a nod of confirmation from the girl before he continued. "I must say, your magic was absolutely beautiful! Of course, it pales in comparison to my own, but all attributes are guilty of that. Sparkle magic has the potential to be even more beautiful, please, become my pupil, I will teach you everything I know,"
Zuka was flabbergasted to say the least. She eyed her squadmates who subtly shook their heads, merely supporting the answer she had concluded in her head.
"Thanks, but no thanks," she broke her hands free of him. "I appreciate the compliment, my magic has only ever been called girly, but I don't need it to be beautiful,"
Kirsch looked at her strangely, but then he snapped his fingers as the smile returned. "Oh, I get what's going on, you're just shy about it,"
"Excuse me?"
"Your magic has never been called by what it deserves to be, only by a title implying immaturity. Don't you worry then, take all the time you need to think, and once you're ready, come see me. Ta-ta," the vice captain skipped away.
Oliver waited for him to be out of earshot before opening his mouth. "The hell was that?"
"I don't know," Zuka shrugged. "On the bright side, he doesn't seem much like the self-centered guy I initially thought he was,"
"Does that mean you're actually going to be his pupil?" Shauna asked.
"Uh, no,"
The second person was Glynda. She calmly walked over to her two subordinates. "I have returned,"
"Boss lady, you kicked ass out there!" Sekke cheered. "I've never seen you fight before, you totally rocked. And you took out 10 golems too, you were all like woosh, and wam, and kapow!"
The woman chuckled at his childlike wonder. "Thank you, not bad for a school teacher,"
"If you keep this up, there's no question you'll be selected as a Royal Knight," En said.
"Yeah, with you on the team, the Eye of the Midnight Sun would be screwed," Sekke added.
"Perhaps. It wasn't my intention to participate, but since I am, I just want to support Kenos and Zuka however I can," she told them before two arms wrapped around her from behind.
She was startled at first, but smiled upon seeing the scarlet gloves the hands in question were wearing. "Vanessa, what did I tell you about not sneaking up on people?"
"Sorry, I just wanted to surprise you," the witch came into view. "You were incredible, it appears time hasn't dulled those sharp skills of yours. You're still the fierce woman who helped raise me,"
"Thanks, Vanessa. I only regret you couldn't participate in the exam so I could see how you've improved," Glynda stated.
"True, perhaps I can show you after the exam. You can stop by our base when you're available,"
"That would be great. I haven't been in that building in ages,"
The fungus mage approached the two, eyeing Vanessa. "Hello, we haven't been formally introduced. I'm En Ringard, Glynda teaches my siblings,"
"Vanessa Enoteca, a pleasure, Glynda over here is like the mother I never had. Taught me what I know when I was a small little girl,"
The telekinesis mage sighed. "Don't word it like that, you make me sound old. I'm 28, not 82,"
"That, you are not. Now to introduce you to Sekke," En spoke up.
Vanessa's expression shifted to disinterest. "Oh, I already met him," she said, pointing downwards.
En, confused by her gesture, looked down, surprised to find Sekke there, blood trickling out of his nose.
"Two beautiful bombshells, right in front of me. This must be what heaven feels like, no wonder everyone wants to go there," he blissfully thought.
"Uh, sorry about him. He isn't like this all the time," En vouched for him.
"I'll believe it when I see it," she was unconvinced, still eyeing the man on the ground, but her tone shifted once she looked up. "Oh, and another thing, you were pretty good in your battle. I kinda thought you'd be a bit incapable, given that you look…well…kinda old,"
"Don't worry about it, I've gotten it a lot. Even though I'm young, the stress of having to take care of ten siblings by myself has really taken its toll on my complexion," he laughed.
But the thread mage didn't laugh, instead, her face became somewhat serious. "By yourself?"
His laughing slowly stopped, becoming an almost unrecognizable frown as he proceeded. "Yeah, our parents had died some years prior in a broom accident, they had been flying when a storm hit, they lost control and fell off. I was with them, I would've fallen off too if I didn't hold onto my broom for dear life. I couldn't do anything to save them, I could only watch them fall…and hear them scream, and only after hours of mental preparation could I descend down, just to see the mangled mess of them that was left. That day haunted me for months,"
Vanessa was quite taken aback by the story, even Sekke, who had gotten out of his head soon enough to hear, could only look with silent worry. The former spoke up. "So, how did you get through it?"
"I remembered my siblings," En replied, his demeanor subtly shifting to a positive one. "I was the one they had to rely on, and I couldn't afford to let what happened hinder me from taking care of them. It was hard, but I did what I could, the stress was unbelievable though, my face is proof of that. As years went by, taking care of them got a little easier, I had joined the magic knights, but with my duties, it was hard to give them a good education, the schools nearby didn't take commoners, but thankfully, that's when I met Glynda,"
"That's right, I remember, you told me about your situation and I offered to teach them," the vice-captain finished.
A soft and short, yet almost melancholic chuckle escaped Vanessa's mouth. "So, it wasn't just me you helped in a tough situation, but someone else too," she gently pulled the older woman into a hug. "Glynda Goodwitch, you really are the most amazing woman I've ever known. A kind soul that can do no wrong," she softly stated.
The telekinesis mage, on the other hand, froze. It was that second sentence. The first part of the witches' remark gave Glynda a sense of happiness, glad that the woman she viewed as a daughter thought of her in such a way, but once the second part had finished, her happiness slowly drained away, and her expression became one of guilt.
"Um, yes, of course," they broke apart, Glynda's look returning to normal.
The next three were Dante, Oxanna, and Erika. Despite losing, there was no look of defeat on their faces.
"You two did great out there," Rama attempted to cheer them up.
"What he said, we lost too, so don't beat yourselves up," Kuro joined in.
"It's ok, we're fine," Oxanna said. "Even though we lost the fight, Dante and I were able to get back something much better,"
"And what's that?" Leo asked.
Dante looked back, to where someone special was standing. "Our brother,"
The white tiger raised a brow. "Your brother? Do you mean Kenos? Did something happen?"
"It's a long story, but let's just say I can be more honest with him now," Oxanna grinned happily.
Those words struck a chord with Rama, he remembered an earlier exchange with the girl that sounded the same.
"I'm like this because I want everything I say to be genuine and honest, I want to be that person people feel won't lie to them or keep something from them…especially since there's a person I can't be myself around,"
His mind then brought him to an exchange he had during his first encounter with the solar mage.
"Oxanna and I aren't on the greatest terms, but I still care for her,"
Rama held his chin. "And now they say they have their brother back? It all makes sense now, well, good for them, they deserve to be happy,"
The last person up was Kenos. He didn't have to move far as the remaining Bulls all came to him.
"Talk about a quick defeat, you took them down fast," Asta said. "I wasn't expecting you to use Angel's Child in the first round,"
"Neither was I, but I had little choice when they defeated my wyvern spell," Kenos answered. "I should be able to transform one more time, so it isn't a big loss,"
"So, you've got an angel with you?"
The question came from Ryusei, which Kenos quickly answered. "That's right. Emmanuel's been with me since the day I got my grimoire, but we only met a few days ago,"
"Is that so? Very…interesting," the dragon mage with almost uncharacteristic seriousness.
And it was one his friends picked up on. "Is everything fine, Ryu?" Alice asked.
"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just thinking about something," was his response in his normal cool demeanor.
"Participants, be ready, the second round is about to commence!" the capital magic announced. "Teams B and C, please approach!"
"The second round is starting," Magna repeated as he locked eyes with the swordsman. "We knew this was coming the moment we both won our matches, Asta. The first match between Bulls. Are you ready for this?"
"I was always ready, let's do this," he said as they started their way over, both being joined by their respective teammates.
"Our last fight was hardly a challenge, through my beautiful strength, this one will be the same," Kirsch boasted.
"Don't count us out yet, we may just surprise you," Xerx retorted.
"Yes, we're going to make you suffer," the plant mage added, evilly smiling at her brother.
"Hey, Xerx!"
The ash mage turned around, only to see the one who called him, was the king of all people.
"What? Do you need something?!" he asked, annoyance obvious in his tone.
Augustus cleared his throat. "No, I just wanted to wish you good luck in your battle! You can do it, show that team your ruthlessness that frightens the toughest of knights!"
Similar to the sparkle mage earlier, Xerx was flabbergasted, but gave a quick response. "Yeah, sure, will do," he replied with a voice that sounded like he couldn't care less.
"Seems like you made a fan," Mimosa giggled. "How does it feel?"
"Can't say I'm as excited about it as you are, ginger," he told her as they all arrived at their destination, separating into their groups of three and proceeding to stand across from each other.
From there, the capital mage made his usual announcement. "The first battle of the second round will soon begin! Starting us off will be Team B's Asta, Mimosa, and Xerx, against Team C's Magna, Sol, and Kirsch!"
"Let us move out, my teammates, I've scoped out a great place to begin," Kirsch enveloped himself and his team in a wind of cherry blossoms and flew off.
The opposing team started walking down the platform. "Okay, we made it to the second round. Team C is going to be tough, so we have to fight them together, it's the only way we'll come out on top," Asta pumped up his fist.
Mimosa nodded. "That's right," she turned to her other team member. "Xerx, while I appreciate the save from the first round, try not to fall asleep, and try to work with us. You can trust us, y'know,"
She watched as the man walked past her. "Nah, I told you before and I'll tell you again, I'm good. And for your information, I had my reason for taking a snooze. You wanna know why?" he beckoned them with a finger, and they got closer.
"I spent all of last night setting traps around here,"
"You what?!"
Xerx slung his arms above his head. "Yup, set tons, it's a miracle no other team activated them. But I'm going to make sure this fight puts them to good use, you two can do whatever you want,"
"Wait, but how did you know where this place was? It wasn't disclosed to any squad?" Mimosa demanded.
"That's for me to know, let's just say I have my ways," he smirked.
Asta sent an angry pout his way. "Why you little-," he was cut off by an exclamation.
"Ready! Match begin!"
"Alright, it's begun, I'll watch our crystal," the ash mage relayed.
Further away, from atop a tall rock formation, the opposing team stood. "I gotta hand it to you, these high spots are great," Sol commented, looking out into the distance.
"You can say that again. I can even see Team B from here, but they haven't noticed us yet," Magna added. "So what's our plan of attack?"
"We do what we did in the first round, of course," Kirsch answered. "If it worked then, what's the harm in repeating it? I'll use my combo spell to cover the field and mask our presence, then we'll all head down in different directions. I'll lure them away from their crystal, and you two will finish the job,"
"Sounds like a plan to me," his teammates were in agreement.
"Good, time to initiate the first step," the vice captain's grimoire opened. "Cherry Blossom Magic: Raging Magic Cherry Blossom Storm of Petals + Beautiful Illusion!" he exclaimed as the familiar sight quickly covered up the battlefield.
"So, he's trying to use this strategy again?" Kenos voiced as someone came to his side.
That person was Yuno. "Yeah, but Asta can handle it, he has his trump card,"
"You have a point. Say, I didn't see you after my fight,"
"My bad, I was…thinking about something. That was a pretty cool thing you pulled off though,"
"Angel's Child? Yeah,"
From within the storm, Xerx sucked his teeth. "Ok, this got a little harder. I wasn't expecting to do the same thing twice, if we don't get the crystal out of danger, we're screwed,"
"Don't worry. I'm already on it,"
Both Xerx and Mimosa turned around at the remark, only to see Asta, the Demon Slayer out, placed horizontally with his free hand resting on the face of the blade.
The royal was confused. "What are you doing?"
"Just wait and see," he replied as anti-magic surrounded him and he transformed.
His teammates were shocked. "Asta?!" the plant mage thought.
"The pipsqueak has his own little transformation trick too?!" Xerx thought as well as Asta zoomed past them.
"Anti-Magic: Black Hurricane!" he declared, spinning into a black tornado and spreading around, taking out both petals and illusions alike.
"He's negating everything he makes contact with," Xerx muttered before his eyes widened. "Wait, my traps,"
And sure enough, as Asta mowed down more of the enemy spell, he dispelled all of Xerx's traps.
Kirsch struck a pose. "Ah, observe the battlefield, it's so beautiful. Alright you two, time to get-,"
"What the hell is that?!" Sol exclaimed, prompting the cherry blossom mage to see what the commotion was, but doing so put a look of comedic disgust on his face.
"Uh, what is that horrid black mass moving through my beautiful storm?!"
"Looks like Asta is busting it out," Magna spoke up, a grin on his face.
"What do you mean?" his royal teammate asked.
"Give it a minute or so, you'll see what I mean,"
But it didn't even take that long before the culprit revealed himself as the petals and illusions had been removed entirely, leaving only the transformed swordsman in view as he soared above the field.
And similar to Kenos, his appearance was met with looks of astonishment from the crowd.
"What, Asta has a form too?!" Julius squealed. "This day just keeps getting better!"
"Ah yeah, Black Asta has made his return!" Leo yelled out.
"I am surprised, but I expect nothing less of Asta," Klaus added.
Others shared their sentiments over the magicless mage, but like with the solar mage, Ryusei didn't partake in them, instead, he looked right at Asta, narrowing his eyes with crossed arms. "First Kenos, now him,"
"Wait, that's the form he went into back at the volcano, I didn't know he could control it now," Sol said.
"He and Kenos have been training like crazy to get a hang of their forms," Magna revealed.
"No, how is this possible?!" Kirsch exclaimed. "How did that commoner dispel my gorgeous creation,"
The flame mage locked eyes with him. "You shouldn't underestimate him just because he's a commoner. I'm one too,"
"You are?!"
Sol raised her hand a bit. "Yeah, same here,"
"Uh, I can no longer associate with you!" the royal dramatically declared as he flew away from them.
"Oh come on!" they exclaimed.
Magna fixed his shades. "Well, it looks like Mr. Dramatic cut himself off from us. Looks like it's up to us,"
"You don't think he'll come back?" the woman asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine at this point, but we can't wait for him," he responded.
"You're right. I'll hold onto our crystal," she said as they jumped down and moved out.
Back with Team B, Asta flew down and transformed back. "There we go, I handled his spell," he said, just to have a new problem in the form of Xerx grabbing his collar and raising him.
"Hey, put him down," Mimosa attempted to diffuse the situation.
"Great going, you little shit! That stunt of yours got rid of all my traps, do you realize that?!"
Asta's response was calm. "Of course I do,"
The grip on his collar slightly lessened with the ash mage's surprise. "You what?"
"Well, you told me and Mimosa to do whatever we want, and what I want is for us to work together," Asta clarified.
"Why you little," the man growled before releasing him. "Fine, with all my pre-set traps gone, it's not like I have a choice,"
"You said you spent all of last night setting traps. Are they hard to make?" Mimosa inquired curiously.
"Not exactly, there are rules regarding the creation of magic traps. The fundamental thing to know is that all traps begin with a magic circle, which magic power is used to draw, size of these magic circles are partially relevant to their strength, bigger isn't always better. These circles don't necessarily have to be made for just traps, they can construct spells too, but I digress, to make a trap, you imbue the circle with a command, then set it on the floor, and once a certain criteria is met, like if the circle is stepped on or when a spell nears it, it'll activate and do whatever command it was given. But not all commands are equal, more powerful ones like my reflector trap require more time and mana than simpler ones, it is also possible to add your own individual attribute to traps," he explained.
"You mean like that trap that incapacitated Asta?" Mimosa recalled.
He nodded. "That's the one, there isn't much extra effort that needs to be put into those, unless you're going to give it a powerful command,"
"Holy crap, that's a lot to wrap your head around," Asta said. "Magic circles are amazing if they can do all that,"
"At last, we agree, these circles are some pretty cool stuff. In retrospect, you can create virtually any spell you want with them, if you're willing to pay the resources required. Some could take who knows how long to make, like, I don't know, six months,"
"Six months?!"
"That's what I said, spells like those are not my style,"
"I see. So what kind of traps did you lay on the field? Simple ones I'm guessing?" the magicless mage asked.
"Pretty much, just some pitfalls, binds, with the occasional complex trap," he replied.
"Okay, so it wasn't a super significant loss, we'll be just fine," he reassured him.
"You won't be once I'm through with you, peasant!"
They looked up to see Kirsch above them. "I'm going to destroy your entire team, but first," he pointed straight at Asta. "I intend to make sure you pay for your crime against beauty itself after that stunt of yours,"
"Is that so?" Xerx mumbled to himself as he suddenly took hold of Asta's arm and faced Mimosa. "Ginger, take the crystal," he sent it to her, the object locking onto the mage. "Hopefully I can leave it safely in your hands,"
"What are you planning?" Asta was perplexed by the pair of actions that unfolded.
"You said you wanted us to do this together, right? Then let's do it, follow me!" the ash mage replied as the two broke into a sprint up north.
"I won't let you escape!" Kirsch pursued them, completely ignoring his sister, letting her run south.
Asta looked behind him, seeing that barely any distance separated them from the angry royal. "We can't outrun him like this,"
"Then let's provide a little distraction," Xerx's grimoire opened and flipped to a page. "Ash Magic: Cinder Screen!"
He quickly turned around and put his hands together, bringing them close to his mouth as he slightly opened them and blew, creating a smokescreen of ash. "Now's our chance, runt, follow me!"
The cherry blossom mage soon found himself surrounded by the screen of ash, small coughs escaping his mouth. "This pathetic spell won't do you any good, not to mention it lacks beauty and finesse!" he summoned a wind of petals to blow it away, restoring his vision, the enemy knights no longer in sight. "Now to-,"
He suddenly stopped, unable to speak another word as his eyes took note of the current state of his attire. It was ruined. The ash from the spell blemished its majorly white color scheme with blotches of black all over.
Kirsch slowly looked up, staring ahead, his eyes twitching uncontrollably. "My clothes, they've…been tainted. Xerx Lugner, it was all his fault, he and that peasant have to die now, but Julius forbade it. So I'll make them suffer, I shall make them really suffer, they'll regret ever being born. Yes, that's what I'll do! Hahaha!" he flew off laughing, said laugh was a mix of flamboyant and downright terrifying.
Mimosa couldn't help but lightly grit her teeth as she continued running in the opposite direction, the crystal in tow. She wanted to be the one to teach her brother a thing or two, but the team came first, Xerx was clearly the better tactician, if he had a plan, it was worth her grudge for the time being.
"I can't help but wonder what plan he has stored, and why he couldn't have me help with it?" she wondered aloud.
"Look on the bright side, Mimosa, if he did do that, you wouldn't be able to spend some time with me,"
That voice stopped the girl right in her tracks. She came face to face with a large golem, and standing atop its shoulder was none other than Sol.
"While I would rather fight that Xerx guy or probably even Asta rather than a fellow member of womankind, I see you have the crystal. No hard feelings, okay?" the earth mage said.
"Not at all," Mimosa replied. "This is a battle, I don't need favors, come at me,"
Sol patted her golem's head. "You heard her, charge!" the golem did what it was told as it sprinted over and swung a punch.
The plant mage jumped back, her mind in thought. "She doesn't appear to have the crystal, and I didn't see it with my brother. Could the other Black Bull have it?"
"Hey, where's your other member? The one with the shades?" Mimosa then asked.
"Magna? Like I'll ever tell," Sol declined to answer with a waved finger. "Besides, don't you think you have a bigger problem in front of you?"
"She's right. I have to take care of her and regroup with the others before we go find Magna," her grimoire opened and flipped to a page. "Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!" she declared, forming the flower as the beam went right for the center of the golem.
But to Mimosa's surprise, that made Sol go into a mini panic. "Dodge it!" she yelled involuntarily, her spell managing to do so in the nick of time, only sustaining minor damage. "That was close,"
Mimosa narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "What's going on?" she mumbled. "She was so scared of my attack connecting with a golem she can recreate with ease. It's as if…it was protecting something,"
"I get it now!" she shouted, pointing at her opponent.
Sol raised a brow. "Get what?"
"Your team's crystal, it's inside your golem. That's why you didn't want it to get hit,"
"Damn, I made it kinda obvious, didn't I?" Sol crossed her arms. "Well, no matter, you knowing or not won't change anything,"
"That's where you're wrong," the royal dashed for the golem.
"A frontal assault? Can't say I expected that from you, you never struck me as the melee type," the blue-clad knight commented, commanding her golem to attack, which it obeyed with a backhand slap.
Mimosa stopped and put her hands up to block the attack, getting sent back a few yards, but instead of trying again, she ran away in the opposite direction.
"I won't let you escape!" Sol gave chase.
"Alright, the first part of my own plan is in motion, and for the next step, I have to find the guys. Hopefully, that plan of theirs works,"
"Where are they? Where are those insolent curs?"
Those silent, yet menacing words came from Kirsch's mouth as he flew around, looking for his targets. "They're fast, I'll give them that, but none can escape my expert mana detection. The one with the sword doesn't have any, so I'll trace Xerx's, and it'll lead me to them both,"
He then focused, but it hardly took any of it to pick up the mana signature he was searching for. "Bingo," he followed it for about a few meters before it led him to a cave.
"So that's where they are," he said while landing, and lo and behold, there they were, their backs against the end of the cave.
"Oh no, he found us!" Asta yelled fearfully.
"Yes, and now I intend to make you both pay dearly for the sins you've committed. I will enjoy this," he started to walk forward, but then he stopped.
"What is it? Getting cold feet?" Xerx taunted.
"You really thought you could fool me?" Kirsch summoned a powerful gust of wind and petals, shifting them forward, dispelling the three traps set at the cave's entrance.
"Oh crap, he saw right through your plan!" Asta exclaimed once more.
Kirsch placed a hand on his forehead, a cocky look on his face. "I may not be able to see your traps, but I can sense them just fine. I must say, I'm disappointed, Xerx Lugner, from one vice-captain to another. I've heard good things about you, but it seems all of it was false,"
The cherry blossom mage began to walk inside. "Wait! If we get on our knees and beg, will you show mercy?!" Asta pleaded.
"You want…mercy?" the man repeated, his face growing dark. "Under another circumstance, I would accept your plea, but for dispelling my beautiful storm, and sullying my gorgeous clothes, there will be no mercy today," his grimoire flipped to the next page. "Cherry Blossom Magic: Torrent of-,"
He never got to finish as he took one last step before sinking into something, the next thing he knew, he found himself in a large pit.
"W-What happened?" he wondered aloud.
He soon got an answer as Xerx and Asta approached the pit and looked down. "Looks like my actual plan worked," the former stated. "But you really have to work on your acting, shorty,"
"What do you mean? I did great," the swordsman protested.
"If you call that great, I'd hate to see something terrible. You were overselling it way too much, less is more. I've only known you for a day and even I could see you aren't the type to lose your cool and beg, luckily, our target over here had his head so far up his ass to notice,"
"How did I fall into this?! I didn't sense a fourth trap," Kirsch demanded.
Xerx was more than obliged to answer. "That's because there is no fourth trap. What you're laying in is a pit dug the old-fashioned way, no magic, just some elbow grease,"
"Specifically, my elbow grease," Asta raised his swords. "Although, digging with these was a major pain, if only Kenos was here, he could've made me a shovel. But that depends, has he ever made a shovel?"
"Not important, what's important is that we got him," the ash mage stared down, the biggest taunting smirk on his face. "So Mr. Royal, how does it feel to get done in by something as primitive as a man-made hole, that's gotta be embarrassing,"
"It's of no consequence, I can escape easily," Kirsch stated defiantly.
"True, so that's where I'm gonna stop you," Asta placed the Slayer on the ground as he jumped down. "I would feel bad for doing this to a friend's big brother, but to be honest, none of us are a fan of your attitude!" he punched him right in the face, knocking him out cold.
"Not bad," Xerx complimented him as he used the Dweller to get out of the pit. "Now for assurance," he shot a magic bullet at the roof of the cave, dropping debris into the hole, he then drew a circle and placed a trap atop it.
Asta clutched his head. "The hell are you doing?! He's going to die!"
"He'll be fine, there should be enough air in there to last him about half an hour. Once we win, we'll come and dig him out," he explained casually.
"Um, ok then, but he better be okay," Asta was partially convinced as the two walked in, but the magicless mage noticed his teammate starting to walk west instead of back down south. "Where are you off to?"
"There's something I want to take care of quickly. Go reconvene with ginger, I'll join you when I can," he replied.
"Got it, don't do anything stupid!" Asta nodded as they parted ways.
As her teammates were handling her brother, Mimosa continued running, with Sol hot on her trail.
"You're pretty fast, but you can't evade me forever!" the earth mage called out.
"Don't worry, I don't intend to," Mimosa's grimoire flipped to another page. "Plant Magic: Magic Flower Guidepost," her schematic lit up in front of her.
"Alright, I should be able to track Magna, hopefully, he's not too close by," she looked at it, seeing something that caught her eye. "Hold on, there's someone coming from the east. If Asta and Xerx are up north, and Sol is south, then that must mean-,"
"Flame Magic: Exploding Fireball!" the plant mage turned her head to see the spell coming her way, she jumped to the side, the attack hitting the ground instead of her, but not before the shockwave threw her back, luckily, she landed on her feet.
Magna came into view as he ran over to Sol. "Didn't think I'd see her alone,"
"Me neither, but she's capable," Sol added. "Regardless, it's still two-on-one,"
"And we plan to take full advantage of that," the flame mage created another fireball and threw it. Mimosa stood ready, prepared to use whatever she could to block the attack.
That is, until Asta jumped in and slapped it away with his sword.
Mimosa was relieved. "You're here, that means the plan worked. Where's Xerx?"
"He's taking care of something,"
Magna fixed his shades. "Not a bad save there, but you can't stop us from winning. After all, you already used your transformation, you can't fight at your best,"
"Maybe so, but that doesn't mean I can't try!" Asta retorted.
A grin formed on Magna's face. "That's the spirit. Say, why don't we go 1 on 1? Been quite a while since our last one," he proposed.
"The last one was my baptism when I joined the squad, we've both gotten so much stronger since then. Alright, I'm game," he accepted. "Mimosa, you can leave the crystal in my care. I trust you can handle Sol?"
Mimosa detached the crystal from her signature and walked away from it. "No problem,"
"Seems like you two have got things under control. Maybe I can take another nap,"
The two members of Team B turned around to see Xerx coming their way.
"Very funny. Have you handled what you needed to?" the swordsman asked, the ash mage only replied with a thumbs up.
Sol looked at the three. "Wait a minute, all three members of Team B are right there, but it's still just the two of us for Team C. Where's Kirsch? Even if he wants to work without us, he should be fighting one of them, but he isn't fighting any of them. Could he be…in trouble?" she shot a look at Magna, who shot her the same look before he nodded. He too noticed something was wrong.
"Earth Creation Magic: Divided Mother Goddess!" she created ten smaller golems, pointing at Mimosa and Xerx. "Eight of you, handle them. You two and big golem, follow me,"
Her creations did as she commanded, the octet of golems surrounded their targets while the two came to her. "Both Asta and Xerx came from up north, so there's as good a place as any to start," so having made up her mind, she moved up north.
Xerx scanned the magical obstructions. "Great, wasn't expecting to do this, but it seems I got no choice,"
His royal teammate stood beside him. "I've got your back,"
"Worry about having your own back, you never know what could happen if you don't," he told her as his fist lit up with magic.
Meanwhile, Sol and her golems continued to advance up north. "I hope Magna can hold out long enough for me to find that pompous teammate of ours," she mused before she saw something in the distance.
She squinted to see what it was. "A cave?" her advance kept up until she was in front of said thing's entrance.
The woman carefully walked inside, eyeing the sides. "Doesn't look like anything was set up for an ambush," she noted, but then she suddenly stopped. "Hold on, I'm sensing mana, and it feels familiar, and…it's below me,"
It was at that moment that noticed the pile of debris a few steps ahead of her. "Holy shit, they buried him! Dig him out!"
Her two smaller golems were the ones to reach the pile first, but as one bent down and put their hands on it, a magic circle lit up and shot a wave of force that sent the golem flying into the roof of the cave, destroying it.
"A trap? Yup, he's definitely down here. The trap's been disarmed, so keep digging," she ordered the second golem as it did so with great speed, quickly finding what it was looking for.
Sol looked down and saw the unconscious Kirsch. "Damn, this obviously has Xerx's hands all over it, no way Asta is cold-blooded enough to pull a stunt like this," she hopped down and turned to her creation. "Guard the entrance,"
As it jumped back up, she knelt down. "Hey, wake the hell up," she slapped him multiple times.
The royal let out a groan before his eyes slowly opened. "What happened?" he muttered before noticing the person next to him. "Uh, it's the commoner! What am I doing here?! My clothes are all dirty!"
Sol grabbed his collar and lifted him. "Okay, first of all, don't address me like you don't know who I am, second of all, get the hell over yourself, and third, I was hoping you could tell me why you're here,"
"Oh yes, I remember now, the two sinners on my sister's team trapped me here with a man-made hole, then knocked me out," he recalled.
"Well, that's unfortunate, but the good thing is that you're okay, I guess. Anyways, c'mon, we gotta go help Magna,"
"I can't,"
Those two words shocked the earth mage more than anything that had happened since the match started. "You what?"
"I can't go up there," he repeated. "My spell got undone, my clothes got dirty, I was bested by such a primitive tactic, and my clothes got even dirtier. Everything I've done in this battle has resulted in failure, I've never been this low before. I…I just don't feel very beautiful right now,"
Upon finishing his remark, he fell back down as Sol released him. "Uh, I can't stand men like you who act like that," she scoffed. "So what, your efforts failed, welcome to the world of commoners, shit like this happens all the time, what you need to do is keep going, that's how you feel beautiful,"
"And what would your kind know about beauty?" he challenged.
Sol merely smirked. "What would we know? Quite a lot on the contrary, why don't I tell you,"
[Flashback]
Four Years Ago. Clover Kingdom.
"Good luck, be safe!"
Sentiments along those lines filled the air within a small village south of the capital. The village square was packed with people, but there was a group that stood out, the group that were the reciprocants of the wishes for luck and safety.
A group of men.
A dark-skinned man from among the group spoke up. "Thanks a lot, everyone, with this amount of support, I know our hunt will be successful. When we return in a week, we'll have killed enough for a feast!"
The people cheered in response, but it was another cheer that caught the man's attention. "Dad!"
The man watched as a girl ran his way, making him smile as he knelt down. "Sol," he said as they hugged. "Have you come to see me off?"
"That's right, I just finished helping mom with dinner. Good luck, I know you're going to do great, and while you're gone, you can count on me to keep the village running in your stead,"
This earned laughs from the crowd. "Are you sure about that? As the chief's daughter, your toughness is second to none, but we have some capable young men that can hold the fort," a villager said.
Sol turned to him. "No way," she confidently put up a fist to her chest. "It's like you said, my toughness is second to none, I'm way better suited for this than them. They may be capable, but compared to me, they're a bunch of wusses. Isn't that right, Dexter?"
The boy called Dexter emerged from the crowd, he was a bit shorter than Sol with blonde hair and glasses. He twiddled with his fingers nervously. "Um, I wouldn't exactly say that,"
"And why not?" Sol asked him.
With clenched fists, Dexter put his head up and looked at her. "We've known each other virtually forever, I know you're strong, but Sol, you're still a girl, you need to be protected, and…I'll be your protector, if you want,"
Sol's face went red, unsure whether it was from embarrassment over the comment about her gender or something, but it was interrupted by her father. "We had better get moving, be safe," he said as the group of men left.
Hours passed as night fell over the village, inside Sol's house, she and her mother sat at the dinner table, having finished their meal and were having dessert.
"Ah, nothing beats cake after a good meal," her mother mused in delight. "Don't you think?"
"Yeah," her daughter replied absent-mindedly.
"Is something the matter?"
"I'm fine, just thinking about what Dexter said to me earlier," she replied.
"Sweetie, don't take it too hard, the two have been friends for a long time, you know he didn't mean anything rude," her mother told her.
Sol let out a sigh and took a bite of her cake. "I guess you're right, I'll talk to him about it-," she was cut off by an explosion outside.
Her mother ran to the window and saw that the village was on fire. "We're under attack! We better stay inside,"
"Not a chance, I promised dad I'd keep the village safe," Sol rushed out the door.
"Sol!" her mother screamed.
The girl watched both sides and saw that only some buildings were ablaze. "Whoever caused this must've just started. There's still time," she kept running until she reached the village square, where she noticed a decent group of bandits, with one in particular barking orders.
"Kill any men you see, and capture any women, children, or livestock that could sell!"
"Hey, bastard!" the one giving orders turned in the direction of the exclamation, watching as Sol ran his way.
He smirked. "Seems like someone is eager to get kidnapped," he shot a blast of fire.
The attack was dodged with relative ease, the girl raised her fist. "In your dreams!"
To her surprise though, the bandit had no problem blocking her punch, but that wasn't it, he grabbed her arm and drove her whole to the ground. Upon pulling her back up, he had formed a tight grip around her wrists. "That was easy enough,"
"Shut up, I'll take you down,"
"Good luck with that," he held her chin and inspected her face. "You're not a bad specimen, you'll sell for a lot. I hope you didn't have anyone important here, because you'll never see them again,"
"You're wrong, I'll send you and all your bandit friends packing! I'm the one who will protect this village!" she exclaimed defiantly.
"Protect this village? How? It hardly took any effort to foil your sorry excuse for an attack, you talk a big game, but against us, it's pointless. You're just some stupid little girl that couldn't even protect herself, let alone this whole place,"
Sol's tough face started to crumble at his words, he was right, nothing she did was able to help, the girl had told her father to trust her and she let him down, her eyes dropped down in defeat.
"No more fighting words? Looks like I hit a nerve,"
It was then, as he just finished his sentence, that a sound came from a nearby alleyway. The bandit peered over. "Who's there?" he demanded roughly, walking closer with Sol until he was able to discern the figure's features in the dark, and the figure was a familiar face.
"Dexter!" the girl yelled.
The bandit raised his brow. "Dexter? So, you know this kid?" he held Sol's chin again. "C'mon then, Dexter, your friend is in trouble, you'll help, right? If you beat me, that'd definitely impress her. What are you waiting for?"
The boy only watched as the bandit taunted him, he wanted to help, but he was afraid, and it didn't help that Sol's face was just as fearful. The toughest girl in the village, reduced to one no less scared than he was.
He clenched his fists, slowly moving forward, but he stopped, his whole body trembling, and with tears in his eyes, he turned around and ran. "I'm sorry, Sol!"
Sol was in disbelief, the bandit waited until the boy was gone to open his mouth. "What a wimp, oh well, what're you gonna do? Now, back to you, when we capture people to sell, we have to inspect their bare bodies to assure they're healthy, and while we normally do this at our base, I don't feel like waiting,"
He pulled out a knife, ready to cut her shirt open. "Just relax, it won't hurt a-," he didn't get another word in as briars came out of nowhere and launched him away from her.
"What the?" Sol muttered.
"Are you okay?" a voice asked, the voice belonging to a woman that walked beside her.
The dark-skinned girl looked up, and was met by a lovely azure-clad knight.
Sol gasped. "I know you, you're the captain of the Blue Rose Knights, Charlotte Roselei,"
Charlotte nodded. "Smart girl. I take it you're ok then?"
"Yup, just fine," she answered.
"Good," she turned around. "Move in!" at her call, more magic knights emerged and spread it out.
"What are you doing here?" Sol asked.
"We got an emergency distress signal that there was an attack here," the briar mage explained. "If you're fine, I can go assist my knights,"
"Wait, there's something I want to ask," the future earth mage spoke up.
"And that is?"
"Well…how do I become strong and beautiful like you? I couldn't help my village at all, I've never felt so low, but then you come in and turn the tables," Sol told her.
Charlotte's demeanor softened. "For starters, you don't need to worry about beauty, you're quite pretty. As for strength, what's your name?"
"Sol Marron. I'm 14,"
"That means, you'll get your grimoire next year. When that time comes, attend the Magic Knights Entrance Exam, I'll let you join my squad, I'll help you become strong, and a tip," she started. "While you are pretty, true beauty lies in the strength to fight, even at your lowest points,"
"Really?"
"Really. Stay safe, we'll handle this," the captain ran in a direction, leaving Sol in awe.
It was a sleepless night for the village, handling the bandits had gone well into the morning, but the knights had come out victorious, and were in the middle of restraining them.
Charlotte went over to address the villagers. "You have no more need to worry, we've apprehended all the criminals in the attack,"
"Thank you so much!" Sol hugged the woman.
"Your welcome, Sol, and I look forward to having you in my squad next year," the briar mage hugged her back before leaving with her squad.
The girl had a big smile as walked home with a skip in her step. "Um, Sol?" she stopped as Dexter walked out from an alleyway in front of her and towards her, the two only inches apart.
"Need something?" she asked, oddly enough, with no animosity.
Dexter suddenly dropped to his knees, crying. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry for what happened last night. I said that I'd be your protector, but I just ran away, I was just so scared,"
Sol knelt down to his level. "Hey, don't beat yourself over it too bad, I was scared too, in fact, I'm madder at myself for letting you see me like that when I'm always bragging about being the toughest," she helped him up.
"What happened last night will be the last time you ever see that look on my face, because when I join the magic knights, I'm going to become much stronger,"
[End Flashback]
"And that's what happened. Pretty cool, right?"
"I suppose," Kirsch partially agreed.
"Good, so it's like Char said, true beauty lies in the strength to fight, even at your lowest point. If you want to be truly beautiful, get off your sorry ass and battle on!"
The cherry blossom mage did his best to get up. "Fine, I will go, after all, just giving up like this would be shameful as a vice-captain, but I also have a strange feeling that if I refused, you'd drag me back up,"
"You catch on quick. Let's go!"
As that was happening, the battle at hand raged on. "Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!" Mimosa's beam shot right into a golem's leg, ripping it off. Not too far away from her, Xerx had jumped into the air, reeling his fist as he slugged another golem in the head, destroying it.
Meanwhile, Asta and Magna went at it. "Flame Magic: Gargantuan Exploding Fireball!" he threw a giant version of his trusty spell.
In response, Asta grabbed hold of the Slayer and reeled it back before slamming it right into the fireball, sending it into the sky. "I believe they call that a grand slam, right?"
Magna nodded. "Indeed they do, and speaking of a grand slam," he raised a hand and summoned his bat. "I've got something to show you," he created a regular fireball and tossed it up, hitting it with his weapon.
"He said that it was something new, but everything about it looks the same, I should be able to handle it," Asta thought as he took hold of the Dweller and shot the fireball back.
Or at least, he would've deflected it…if it hadn't suddenly vanished into thin air.
Up on the platform, gasps arose. "His attack just disappeared, but how?" Kenos wondered aloud.
Asta was just as surprised. "I take it that was the new thing you wanted to show me?"
"Part of it," the flame mage answered. "The next part will come in 3, 2, 1,"
At the end of his countdown, the fireball reappeared behind the swordsman and hit his crystal, putting a crack in it.
"How do you like dem apples? Instead of throwing a straightforward attack that can easily be handled, I made one that can disappear and reappear at a rate that can't be easily tracked. Behold my Flame Magic: Timebomb Exploding Fireball!"
Luck was grinning. "Not bad, Magna, that spell is super cool, I want to face off against it!"
"You should be lucky that you aren't," Letoile countered. "Unless Asta can find someway to get around it, defeat is certain,"
"Wish I had this spell back during your baptism, it would've thrown you in for a loop," the flame shot the same spell again, and it ended in the same result, with the swordsman's attempt and failure.
"Say, you know something I realized?" he swung another one, but harder, not even giving Asta a chance to raise his sword before it vanished and reappeared to damage the crystal once more.
The magicless mage grit his teeth in frustration. "What is it?"
"If your team and Yuno's team manage to keep winning your matches, you'll eventually square off in the finals, however, I noticed the same is true for my team and Luck's. So I'll tell you right now, the final battle won't be between you and your rival, but between me and mine!" he launched another hardball, scoring his fourth hit. "With this spell and my teammates in my corner, victory is all but assured, all Luck has to do is not lose!" he declared at the top of his lungs.
The lightning mage heard his declaration. "He wants to face me in the finals, aye?" his squadmates turned to him, expecting to see his usual grin, but were minorly taken aback by the fact his face took on a more solemn look. "It would be a pleasure,"
Asta watched as his senior prepared to swing another fireball. "He's right, if I don't win, I won't get to fight Yuno later on. Then I can't lose," he closed his eyes and raised his sword up.
"Trying something new I see? Let's see if it'll work or not!" Magna challenged as he swung the fifth fireball. Asta didn't make any motion to stop it as it entered its first stage and disappeared.
The magicless mage was deep in thought. "Focus, you can do this. Kenos said that he created Mana Charge by reading mana's ki, so if mana has ki, so do spells, if that is the case, I just have to read the fireball's ki,"
The flame mage was sure he'd be five for five, and as the fireball reappeared, the assurance only grew. But then, as suddenly as it grew, it shriveled into nothingness as Asta's eyes shot open and he successfully negated the attack.
"Shit! How did you do that?!"
"Simple, I read its ki," was the response.
Regardless, his resolve was not shaken. "So what, you blocked one? All I have to do is step up my game,"
Asta confidently grinned. "Bring it on then,"
And bring it on he did, Magna increased the speed in which he shot spell after spell quite substantially, but no matter how fast he was going, Asta didn't allow anymore to pass, it was like he had completely memorized the rhythm.
"I'll give it to you, Magna, this was by far the biggest challenge I've faced since starting the exam, but I won't allow myself to get defeated, I can't let Yuno leave me behind in the dust!" he exclaimed as he was able to deflect one close to its origin.
Although it relatively missed him, Magna ceased his barrage. "You can even send them back to me now? Looks like the spell still has room to grow, but I'm done yet, if that won't work, I'll try a different approach!" he charged forward.
"Coming at me head-on!" Asta charged as well, the two combatants raised their weapons as they did, prepared to clash, but something different went down.
Magna performed a wide swing with his bat, but the magicless mage ducked, creating an opening, and one he was ready to take advantage of as he threw a strong left hook, sending the flame mage back some yards.
He quickly got up though. "Awesome hook, Rasta, but I won't let it happen again!" a replay of the previous clash occurred, with them both running toward each other.
But this time, Asta was the first to attack, and instead of ducking, he rotated his entire body, putting himself behind the swordsman, not wasting any time to perform a sweep kick and send his opponent to the ground.
"Just like I said," the shaded bull remarked as he turned around, the enemy crystal in sight.
Asta got up. "No you don't!" he took out the Slayer and threw it with all of his might before blitzing forward.
Magna had heard his squadmate's exclamation and reared his head to see what was going on, and he was glad he did as the Slayer was coming right at him and its wielder not too far behind, so he dodged, the sword lodging itself into the ground at an angle, as for Asta's attack, he ducked, evading the attack completely.
Although his attempt had seemingly failed, the swordsman didn't look worried in the slightest. And that was because his attack wasn't over, he was still in mid-air when he turned his body around, letting his foot land on the tip of the Slayer's handle, and used it to thrust himself back at his senior.
"No hard feelings!" Asta slammed the Dweller's side in Magna's face, knocking him out.
"What?" Luck muttered to himself at the outcome of the stand-off. "You better not lose, Magna,"
Asta began taking deep breaths when Xerx walked over to him. "That was a pretty impressive move you pulled off,"
"You were watching?"
He nodded. "Ginger and I finished those golems off about three minutes ago, and you were still going,"
"And you didn't think to help me?!"
"You were fine, you didn't need our help against him,"
"But you will against me!" a new voice exclaimed, they looked up to see Kirsch above them.
The ash mage sucked his teeth. "Shit. Who let him out?"
"Guilty as charged," Sol emerged, atop her large golem.
"Asta, Xerx," Kirsch pointed at the two. "I will no longer underestimate either of you, you will face the wrath of my true beauty! Cherry Blossom Magic: Torrent of Petals!" he waved his fan, creating a powerful wind of petals that enveloped the magicless and ash mages, sending them high into the air before that wind shot them down to the ground with a tremendous crash.
"Guys!" Mimosa started running to them.
"Time for round two, sister!" Sol intercepted her, commanding her golem to pound her, but she evaded it.
"Man, that hurt," Asta groaned. "You okay?"
"More or less," Xerx answered.
"Your crystal is next," Kirsch reeled his fan back to repeat the spell.
But that's when it happened.
The second before he was going to cast his attack, a magic circle lit up in the air around his wrist, trapping it in place.
"Huh?" was the word that came out of the knights' mouths, all except for Xerx, who had started to laugh hysterically.
"What's so funny?!" Kirsch screamed.
"And here I thought the runt erased all of my pre-set traps with that stunt he pulled earlier, but it turns out there was one left!" the trapster laughed.
"Then we'll use it to our advantage," Asta conjured his strength and got up, running to the plant mage. "Mimosa, would you like to do the honors?!"
She realized what he was planning and nodded. "It'd be a pleasure," she replied as Asta came to her and took hold of her hand, spinning her around and throwing her towards her brother.
The cherry blossom mage managed to dispel the circle. "There we go," he didn't get to do or say anything after that as Mimosa's shadow loomed over him.
"I've been waiting a long time for this!" she gave a mighty cry before launching her strongest punch, sending him to the ground with a thud.
"Don't worry, I'm coming, charge," Sol commanded her golem, but strangely, it didn't obey.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" she demanded, but her attention was taken by something else as vines started to grow around her creation.
"It's finally working," the statement came from Mimosa.
Sol pointed at her. "What did you do?!"
"Back when we fought earlier, and your golem slapped me, I used that as a chance to implant a seed into it, courtesy of my Plant Magic: Magic Control Grass. Now that it's in full effect, I control the golem now, and I command it to reveal your crystal!" she explained.
The golem had no choice but to stick its hands into its chest, and pulled out the crystal. Mimosa turned to her teammate. "Asta, now!"
"On it!" he jumped to the crystal and cut it in half.
"Match over! Team B wins!" the capital mage announced.
Asta jumped for joy. "Yeah, we did it!"
Magna slowly opened his eyes and got up. "What did I miss?"
"You missed your team's defeat," Xerx informed him. "You might've done the most damage to our crystal, but your main attack became easy to predict, and the one thing you never want to be in a fight is predictable,"
He moved over to Sol. "As for you, putting your crystal inside that thing was a smart idea, but it instantly became a stupid one when you decided to fight with it, since the golem acts as an offensive option, it has a greater chance to be put in harm's way,"
He then made his way to the royal. "And last but not least, you. That pompous arrogance was your downfall, you thought you were so great, but you were outdone time and time again. What a shame!" his tone harsher than before.
"Wait, Xerx, let me handle this," Mimosa interceded, kneeling to her brother's level.
"What is it, Mimosa? Have you come to gloat?" Kirsch sulked.
"Don't worry, I'll do that later," she responded. "But right now, there's something I want you to know,"
"What's that?"
"Despite everything you've said about yourself, those few minutes I saw you fighting, was the most beautiful I ever saw you,"
Kirsch was wide-eyed. "Really?"
"Yup," she nodded. "Y'know, there are a lot of types of beauty, beauty from selflessness, from determination, from willpower, from pure strength, all of them are so amazing, and they're found in so many people, I just wish you'd learn to see that too,"
For the first time, Kirsch let out a genuine chuckle. "I think you may be on to something. If we look at it from that lens…I guess you could say we all fought beautifully today,"