Chapter Eighty-Nine: Burning Disloyalty
"You fools are no match for me! Face your doom!"
Focus had returned to Gravitos Stones and the battles that were transpiring within. A considerable number of hours had passed since they entered, having some moments to slightly rest and recharge, facing an almost innumerable amount of nameless and occasionally named foes, but if Mereoleona's recent statement said anything, such a fact was of no consequence.
Having just plowed through another horde of enemy mages, the royal knights' captain stretched for a bit. "Damn, it feels like I've been at this forever, granted, it'll take an eternity or two before I ever feel drained fighting these clowns. Isn't that right?" she mused before asking aloud, expecting an answer from the two behind her, but no response ever came, it didn't bother her though, so she didn't turn around.
However, she had to go back on that as the sound of bodies dropping could be heard. Thankfully, the victims weren't Asta and Zora, rather, they were the perpetrators, the two having defeated a quintet of hooded opponents. The royal crossed her arms. "I thought I told you two not to interfere,"
Asta rested the Slayer on his shoulder as Zora spoke up. "Yeah, about that, we stopped listening around the three-hour mark. I don't think I need to tell you how boring it is just watching someone else fight,"
The swordsman pointed at her with his available hand. "I'm with him, we fought really hard during the exam to be a part of this group, and you were ready to have us do nothing,"
The flame mage pondered on what they said, giving an answer. "You're right, I apologize," she said, noticing something behind which made her raise her brow. "As a matter of fact,"
Zora and Asta picked up on her look and turned around, seeing what she saw: a group of terrorists, their number ranging from about 15 to 20. Mereoleona opened her mouth again. "They're all yours, I'll sit this one out,"
"All fine with us!" the two males exclaimed, charging ahead with grins.
Meanwhile, the woman began to stare off into space, thinking to herself. "They raised a fair point, I let my emotions get the better of me, that younger brother of mine would've never let that happen if he were here. I can't let it happen again," her eyes then focused on her two subordinates, a small smile making itself known. "For the time being, I can at least see first-hand what these two are made of,"
"Water Magic: Splash Zone!" one of the terrorists cast, creating a wide, horizontal wave of pressurized water, forcing the two knights to halt their charge and jump back.
"Tch, that spell can be a bit of a problem," Zora voiced minor concern.
"Nonsense, next time I can nullify it before it has a chance to hit us," Asta told him.
"Perhaps, but I have a better idea," he grinned. "Did the captain ever teach you how to read Ki?"
"He did. What about you?"
"I know a little here and there. I say we give these bastards a scare, Ash Magic: Cinder Screen!" he exclaimed, blowing the smokescreen of ash their way.
"Ah, I can't see!"
"That's our cue, shorty," Zora charged in.
"I thought you weren't going to call me that anymore," Asta said jokingly as he followed behind him.
From where she stood, Mereoleona smirked. "Not a bad idea, although, I do appreciate more of the direct approach, to each their own,"
Entering the cloud of ash, Asta closed his eyes, they weren't going to do him much now. He put himself in the same predicament his enemies were in, he was blind, but at the same time, he wasn't, for there was a sense they lacked, and that sense would guarantee their defeat. Sounds began to register in Asta's ears, the sounds of spells being cast, they came from both his left and his right, but the sound alone wasn't all he picked up, he also heard the tone of those voices. They were in complete panic, fearful of an attack that could come at any moment from any direction, so as a result, they were ready to attack first, not bothering to determine if the figure they could somewhat feel approaching them was friend or foe. While they were fortunate enough to guess correctly, that fortune took a turn for the worse as Asta effortlessly cut through both spells before taking down the ones who sent them.
Zora was a different story. Despite admitting his knowledge of the crucial sense, one thing became apparent if the grin on his face said anything: he didn't need it. For a split second, two small magic circles floating an inch in front of his eyes flashed into visibility before fading away, he wasn't immune to the effects of his smokescreen, so he came prepared, and he was glad that he was, for the thing that made him grin wouldn't be a problem to see. What exactly was that something? It was what the swordsman heard, but was unable to witness: pure panic. Seeing the faces of those who very likely made innocents suffer for no other good reason than because they could brought a twisted sense of delight to the trapster, the same delight he felt destroying the sad excuses for Magic Knights he had encountered in the past. Whenever he saw one, he would grab them, watching as their panicked fear reached its zenith before punching them dead in the face with mana-imbued fists.
Thirty seconds passed for the smokescreen to disperse, and in that half of a minute, the royal knights came out victorious. "You certainly made quick work of them," the flame mage said.
The two walked to her, the older man slinging his arms behind him. "What can I say? I'm good,"
"Not good enough, you bastards!" the two turned around to see all of them get back up. "You have the nerve to storm our base and think we'll lose to you that easily?!"
"Uh…yes," the knights answered in unison.
"Then think again!" they broke into a unified dash, all jumping in the air, ready to try something.
Zora raised a brow as his grimoire flipped to a page. "Aw, would you look at that? They don't want to give up. Sorry, none of you are named Asta, Ash Binding Magic: Cinder Remnants!" he performed the similar act of blowing ash through slightly opened hands, but unlike the previous spell he used, the cloud blew right through the group, vanishing soon after.
"Was that it?!"
The ash mage raised a single hand. "Nope," he then clenched it. They suddenly felt something strange, inspecting their white robes, they noticed residue start to move towards their arms and legs, becoming restraints that left them no choice but to plummet to the ground.
"In case you're too stupid to understand what happened, at my signal, the residue automatically tries to restrain you in the best way to mitigate certain actions, afterwards, I can control that accumulated residue as I wish," Zora explained, walking past them until he was a good distance from everyone, he then drew a magic circle and threw it on the ground, stepping on it with a foot to activate it, revealing a pitfall.
"And now for what I wish," he continued, making a beckoning gesture with his finger, the ash coming toward him, dragging the restrained as well. He pointed at the large hole, the ash now bringing each of them down into it.
"You really think some cheap crap like this will hold us!"
"Underestimating us will be the last mistake you make!"
"Once we free ourselves from this, the three of you are finished!"
Zora deadpanned at their threats. "Shut up," he fired a magic bullet above him, destroying part of the ceiling, and sending debris into the hole. The threats came to an end, replaced by muffled cries for mercy.
Asta wasn't too pleased by this. "What are you doing?! You can't bury them alive, they need to pay for what they've done!"
The ash mage closed the gap of space between them, looking down at the short teen. "And pay for it they are, they'll pay with a suffocating demise,"
"That's not what I meant,"
"Fine, tell you what, after we take down Licht and Rhya, we'll come back for them. I'm guessing they're a smart enough bunch to know if they yap less, their air supply will last longer, then you can put them on trial or whatever,"
Mereoleona watched in silence as the swordsman accepted the man's suggestion, her eyes narrowed in what looked like contempt at the boy's stance, but the expression eventually subsided as she turned around and continued to advance.
They all came to a halt upon reaching an incredibly large space with platforms everywhere, but it was as empty of life as it was enormous. "Speaking of Licht and Rhya, we haven't managed to run into either of them, even after all this time," the woman stated.
Zora shrugged. "To be fair, we split up into six groups, there's always the possibility one of them had better luck. Who knows, maybe they're fighting them as we speak?"
Asta crossed his arms. "If that is the case, then we need to have faith in them,"
"Yeah, faith is a very important thing to have," the other Asta added.
.
.
.
Other Asta?
"What the hell?!" both magicless mages yelled. It didn't seem possible, but there was no denying it, there was a second Asta.
The ash mage groaned. "Great. I can handle one runt just fine, but two is a different story,"
"Hey!" they exclaimed, offended by the remark.
Mereoleona grinned in a rare humorous fashion. "Why Asta, you never told us you learned how to do magic? I must say, I'm impressed,"
"I am not in the mood for this!" one of them yelled this time, pointing at the other. "We have an imposter among us!"
"Me? You're the imposter here!"
The woman held her chin. "An imposter using transformation magic is the most logical conclusion. That said, how did I not notice them sneaking up on us? Either a Magic Item is in play, or this person is dangerous?" she muttered.
"Okay there, Ms. savage, we should find a way to find out which Asta is the real one," Zora said.
"Did you just call me Ms. savage?" she glared.
He was undeterred by it for the most part. "It's a nickname, if you don't like it, I'll think of a new one later," he told her. "Now, since I'm a Black Bull, quizzing them on stuff about the squad may be the best move,"
The flame mage crossed her arms. "That'll take too long, I have a better idea," she formed a fireball in her hand and threw it at both Astas, engulfing them in flames.
"AH!" they both screamed.
"You sure that's a good idea?" the commoner inquired.
She merely raised a hand in response. "Wait for it,"
In a few seconds, her method would prove to be effective as one of the swordsmen cut the fire in half, courtesy of the Demon-Slayer Sword in his hands. "What the hell?! I was perfectly fine doing the quiz thing!"
Zora crossed his arm. "Hm, you were right, that was a better idea,"
"Don't agree with her!" he pointed at him, but his eyes were drawn to the figure beside him, still enveloped in fire.
That wouldn't be the case for long though as they raised their hand, summoning water to extinguish the flames, revealing a different person altogether, a person only Asta recognized.
"Rhya!" he quickly established distance from the man.
The copy mage plainly raised a hand to greet them. "Hey there, thief, and hello to you too, friends of the thief,"
"So, that's Rhya the Disloyal?" Mereoleona mused aloud. "I have to say, you're a lot uglier than I imagined,"
"Ouch. Aren't you quite the character?" he laughed.
"Shut up! Tell us where Licht is!" Asta pointed at him angrily.
This only made Rhya laugh harder. "C'mon, you really think I'd just tell you? Why? Because you asked oh so nicely? Maybe he's here? Maybe he's not? Maybe it's both?" he stopped, his demeanor undergoing a serious shift. "Besides, you should be more worried about yourself, a lot more worried,"
Asta narrowed his eyes. "Why is that?"
"I noticed you all had intruded our base a while ago, but you were the one I was looking for specifically, so I went around this whole place, spending tons of time tailing the other groups and determining their destination points in relevance to yours, and I that led me to figure out that none of them can come to save you. You may have those two, but they shouldn't be a match for me,"
"You sound awfully confident. I don't know if you know this, but Vetto and Fana have already failed to take me down, and I've gotten stronger lately," the magicless mage retorted.
Rhya raised a brow. "And I don't know if you know this, but I'm stronger than them, much stronger than them. I can do everything they can and then some, you won't escape me alive, your grimoire and its contents will be returned to the master at last," his grimoire opened in front of him. "Copy Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Black Blade!"
"He's copying the captain's magic like last time, but that's not all," Asta thought to himself. "If you won't tell us where Licht is, at least tell us this. This master that you're talking about, are they or are they not a descendant of the elves?"
"Elves?" the flame and ash mages repeated, confused.
Rhya, however, showed a face of minor shock. "How does he know that word?" he thought, quickly composing himself and entering a stance. "I have nothing to say to you,"
Asta and Zora widened their eyes, recognizing the position he took. "If he's standing like that, the attack he's going to use is…,"
"Copy Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" he released the slash of darkness. The two black bulls, anticipating the spell, jumped up, leaving the only target to be the older woman, who was calmly crossing her arms.
"She's not doing anything? Oh well, that's one of these Royal Knights down, this may be easier than I expected," the remaining third eye member said in his head, but he was proven horribly wrong as she reeled a fist back, punching the attack head-on, managing to completely neutralize it.
"The hell?" he muttered, in shock for the second time. "I guess I wasn't putting my all into that slash. My apologies, I'll try harder from now-," in the middle of his sentence, his speaking came to a halt as Mereoleona suddenly appeared right next to him, brandishing a battle-hungry smile on par with Luck's.
"Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium!" she declared, her fist exploding with fire before it hit Rhya dead in the face, rocketing him past the others and into the huge room, forming a crater in one of the platforms.
"Okay, that one hurt," he groaned.
Asta pulled out the Dweller from his grimoire. "Nice shot, we need to hurry and keep up the pressure before he has a chance to do anything,"
"No," the royal knights' captain countered. "I must ask you to stand down once more,"
"Again? What for?" he wanted to know.
"You and the other Black Bulls have already taken down the other two members of the Third Eye, besides that, I wish to gauge his power. According to what Yami told Julius, each of them surpasses Licht in terms of magical strength, if I can take him down, their leader won't be a challenge. And if by some miracle it becomes too much for me to handle, then you may offer assistance,"
"No problem from me," Zora shrugged, facing Asta, waiting for his response.
"...Okay," he placed his swords back in his tome.
"Perfect," she said, leaping through the air, landing on the ground, cracking her knuckles. "With how big you were talking earlier, there's no way that attack killed you! Come and fight!"
Rhya arose from the crater and came into view. "Yeah, I'm alive," he jumped down to her level, rubbing his cheek. "You got a mean right hook,"
"You haven't seen anything yet," she began. "There's something I have to say to you first. A few minutes ago, you said that I wouldn't be a match for you. I take it you aren't aware of who I am. I am Mereoleona Vermillion, who hails from the House of Vermillion,"
"Vermillion?" the copy mage rubbed the bridge of his nose with two fingers. "Great, a royal. Hm, actually, you still shouldn't be much of a problem, not after I do this at least,"
He placed his hand on his forehead momentarily, removing it seconds later before a third eye opened at its center, radiating a blue glow. This made Asta tense up. "Crap, he's using it right away. Be careful, that thing makes him super powerful!"
"Copy Light Recovery Magic: Healing Light Particles," Rhya chuckled as he healed the wound on his face. "You should listen to the thief, royal or not, you're not going to beat me. But by all means, give it everything you got, I wouldn't want you to have any regrets for your very last fight,"
"I see them, those Royal Knight scum! Attack!"
Checking on Team 3, the four of them once again managed to blow through the opposition, but now they were being met by yet another group of enemy mages.
"Uh, do their numbers have no end?!" Hamon groaned in between heavy breaths. "This is starting…to tire me out,"
"Boohoo, I feel so bad. Not! Water Creation Magic: Aqua Javelin!" one of them launched a spear of solid water.
"Wind Magic: Tornado Fang!" Yuno met the attack head-on with one of his own. And with his attack being the stronger one, it penetrated the spear, still having enough power to zoom toward its target.
Said target, however, wasn't done yet. "Water Creation Magic: Devouring Sea Snake!" they summoned a well-sized serpent as it rushed to meet the Tornado Fang, opening its jaw to, as its name suggested, devour the spell, and now it was the one to continue on.
Not on Klaus' watch though, who jumped into the air, currently in the snake's blind spot. "Sorry, but I don't intend to let this back-and-forth persist! Steel Creation Magic: Blazing Spiral Lance!" he descended quickly, striking the reptile on its head, and destroying it.
"Tch," the water mage clicked their tongue, pulling down their hood to reveal a young man with short, navy red hair. "An unfortunate turn of events, but we have nothing to worry about. Oh, and to answer the fatty's question, our numbers are finite, but it's more than enough to overwhelm you,"
"What did you just call me?!" Hamon pushed past his minor fatigue to protest the offensive title.
"Overwhelm us? I wouldn't be so sure of that," Mimosa retorted. "We've been more-or-less plowing through your forces with minimal difficulty, we won't be the ones overwhelmed today,"
"I suppose you have a point, you all have been handling yourselves fairly well, and I can tell how. You all have pretty high amounts of mana. I can't tell from what you're wearing, but let me guess, you're all from the Golden Dawn?"
"Correct, we hail from the kingdom's best squad!" Klaus proclaimed proudly.
That only made the young man scrunch his face up in anger. "The best squad? Typical, nothing but a bunch of snobby higher-ups who want to stop us so you can cling to your power. If we of the Eye of the Midnight Sun succeed, this kingdom won't be the same, and you bastards don't want that, you want to continue to live your cushy lives while those at the bottom continue struggling to survive. Well, I for one got tired of being looked down upon by the elites just for being a commoner, and with our triumph, those days will be a thing of the past. Archer's my name, you'd do well to remember it!"
Upon hearing his declaration, Yuno's expression softened ever so slightly for a second before becoming serious again. "And you'd do well not to pass judgment on us so fast,"
"Quiet! Attack!" Archer exclaimed as three spells were launched at the golden quartet.
"Ice Creation Magic: Arctic Savages!"
"Flame Magic: Inferno Fire Stream!"
"Thunder Magic: Sonic Boom!"
Hamon, though, was already on the scene. "We'll see how comfortable you are insulting me once we're through with you! Glass Creation Magic: Mur de Verre!" he conjured the trusty defensive spell from the ground. The wall of glass had no trouble stopping the latter two attacks.
The ice beasts, however, were a very different story, as they merely started running around the mage's spell, resuming their full-speed charge once their targets were back in sight.
"Don't worry, I can handle it from here," Mimosa was about the command her grimoire to flip to her offensive spell, but the glass mage raised a hand, confusing her. "Hamon?"
"No need to interfere, I still have this under control. Observe, Glass Magic: Verre Ricochet!" he raised his right hand into the air, clenching his fist, the wall shattering into pieces, but not for an attack, instead, they reformed themselves, becoming large reflective panels that fell around the beasts, trapping them inside.
Klaus' expression showed curious interest. "I don't think I've ever seen you use this spell before,"
"True, it's not one I prefer to use often, it's not as fast-acting as my other attacks, but it'll work just fine," he sprung himself off the ground, up about five feet in the air, he formed a small glass marble in his hands, flicking it into trapped space.
Upon hitting one of the panels, the marble immediately bounced off of it, heading towards another one at a moderate speed, not even putting any of the beasts in harm's way, but that was going to change. As it kept moving with each rebound, it began to grow not just in speed, but in size, until avoiding it became practically impossible, completely shattering the ice creatures into little pieces. "How was that?"
Archer sucked his teeth. "Okay, fatty's got some moves, so what? Typical noble behavior, take a small advantage and they assume they're hot shit. What a-,"
"Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower - Shotgun!" Mimosa wasted no time cutting him off to launch an attack, but there was a difference here. Instead of firing a straight beam like it usually did, it fired them in a barrage of smaller beams.
Archer was in fact surprised, but not for long. "Why you little," he backed up with the rest of his group. "Water Magic: Secure Revolution!" he summoned a stream of water from his grimoire, commanding it to break apart and rapidly revolve in various directions, preventing even one shot from hitting its mark.
"Hahaha! Another attack, another failed attempt to injure us. It must feel frustrating, having this much trouble against a commoner, we may not be as strong, but we're not as worthless as you think we are!" he exclaimed. "This trusty spell of mine protects us from your attacks while permitting us to make ones of our own!"
Klaus held his chin in thought. "It's certainly an impressive spell, but based on how he explained it, close-range attacks must have a better chance of getting through. If you all can cover me, I can use Blazing Spiral Lance again,"
"You don't have to do that, Specs," Yuno answered him, narrowing his eyes before widening them. "I got this," he advanced past the other three, Archer taking notice of it.
"Have patience, let's wait for him to attack, once it's blocked, he'll be in a vulnerable position momentarily, that's when we'll get him," he gave the plan quietly.
The four-leaf holder stretched out his hand, two fingers in a pre-snapping position. "You lose. Wind Magic - Mana Zone: Towering Tornado!" he snapped as the tornado formed in between the group of terrorists, smack dab in the middle of Archer's defense, blowing them as high as the ceiling above would allow…which was roughly 40 feet, causing their landing to not be a comfortable one in the slightest.
"Impressive work as always, Yuno," Klaus applauded him.
"Thanks," he said plainly, not turning, keeping his back to them as he approached the defeated group of mages. Zeroing in on the red-haired man, he bent down, clutching the collar of his robe, pulling him up to eye level.
Archer weakly opened his eyes. "Lucky shot. You won't do it again, but even if you do beat us, you bastard elites won't win in the end, Licht will change everything,"
At that point, Yuno was furious, gritting his teeth. "Stop calling me an elite!" he screamed in his face, getting the attention of the other knights. "I'm a commoner, like you. This kingdom didn't treat me any better or do me any more favors than it did any other peasant, I got to where I am by working hard for it, day and night. This kingdom's system is broken, but this isn't how you fix it! By hurting innocent people and hiding behind your bad experiences to excuse it! Licht won't be the one to change things, I will, once I become the Wizard King!"
The others were momentarily stunned by his declaration, it was the first time they ever heard Yuno yell at someone so angrily, opposing his usual calm and friendly manner.
Archer, upon giving what the mage said some thought, just chuckled. "Someone like us becoming the Wizard King? What a ridiculous notion, keep dreaming," those were the last words he said before fading out of consciousness.
The black-haired teen gently dropped him, standing back up, his fists clenched, the angry look on his face still there, startling Bell. His squadmates were almost afraid to say something about it, but Mimosa was the first to gather her courage. "Yuno, are you okay?"
In what seemed like an instant, the angered expression vanished. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's keep moving," he replied, beginning to walk ahead, the others silently followed.
After a decent ten or so minutes of walking, Team 3 arrived in another room, but there was something odd about it, and it wasn't the fact that the size of it greatly dwarfed every other place they'd been within the enemy base. "Is anyone else getting a strange feeling or is it just me?" the spirit asked aloud.
"No, I'm feeling something too," the steel mage answered her. "If my senses aren't deceiving me, then it feels like mana, a person's mana, but it doesn't seem like the signature of a normal person. Why is that?"
"Um, I think I know why," Hamon spoke up. "Above us,"
The other three raised a brow, wondering for a second what could be above them, but as they did, it was safe to say they were shocked. It was a person, fully clad in unfamiliar white clothing, with pointy ears, red markings on both cheeks along with one on his forehead, and his eyes were closed. However, the weirdest thing about this mysterious man was that he casually floating in the air.
"What's with the weird ears and tattoos?" Hamon wondered.
"Hey, his ears aren't weird, they look like mine!" Bell pouted. "What we should be asking is how he up in the air like that. He doesn't seem to have wings, nor is he using any spell,"
"What should we do about him? Should we attack?" Mimosa suggested the course of action. "He could be a member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun?"
Klaus shook his head. "We don't know that for sure, and the last thing we should do is attack a stranger. For all we know, he could be a hostage. Perhaps if we can awaken him, he can fill us in,"
"Woah, look at that!" Bell called to others, the two nobles and the singular royal were the ones to follow her voice, seeing she was next to a white sword lodged in the ground.
They approached the weapon, inspecting it the best they could. "This must belong to him. Do you think he tried putting up a fight? Then they did this to him?"
The spectacled teen held his chin. "A probable speculation. We should try lifting it to give to him," he placed both hands on the handle, attempting to do what he said.
There was just one tiny problem.
"Why won't this thing budge!" he exclaimed, giving it everything he had, but the sword wasn't giving up an inch. "Hamon, Mimosa, some assistance would be most appreciated,"
The glass and plant mages stood on opposite sides of him, grabbing the crossguard on their respective side before lifting altogether, but still managing to accomplish nothing.
"How much does this thing weigh?" Hamon said, puzzled. "However did someone manage to lodge it in the first place,"
Bell shrugged. "Beats me," she answered before noticing something in her peripherals. It was Yuno, who, despite everything the others were doing, had yet to take his eyes off of the floating man. "Huh?"
The wind mage just kept standing and staring, pondering on a thought that had entered his mind multiple times in the few seconds that there were.
"Why does it feel like I know him?"
"My very last fight?" Mereoleona repeated Rhya's statement, virtually saying his victory was assured, but instead of being the slightest bit worried, she did something else, the last thing the copy mage thought she could do in response.
She burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" she tried to stop, but it was useless. "Hahahaha!"
Asta was getting worried. "Is she okay?"
"She'll be fine," Zora reassured him.
At last, she had gotten the laughs out of her system. "Wow, I haven't had a good laugh like that in a long time. First, you're a terrorist, then you're a fool, and now you're a comedian. You're just too much," she taunted him before her demeanor flipped instantly. "But just so we're clear, this won't be my last fight,"
"We'll see about that, let's begin," Rhya said back, launching the first attack. "Copy Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!" he fired the light blades at high speeds.
That speed wasn't enough though as Mereoleona's fists covered themselves in flames, letting loose a barrage of punches that destroyed each one. "If what I've been told is correct, that's one of Licht's spells, I was expecting something harder,"
"Then I'll deliver! Copy Beast Magic: Porcupine Artillery!" an orange silhouette of the animal formed around him, shooting the array of quills.
The flame mage almost felt compelled to yawn. "This is what you call harder? Same concept, different spell. Flame Magic: Calidos Bestia!" she reeled back her arm, pushing the palm of her other hand against it as mana built up, she then punched forward, shooting the head of a fiery lion that turned the quills to ash.
"Looks like she's three for three so far," Zora whistled, impressed.
"My turn to get offensive," she blitzed forward, closing the distance in no time at all, ready to leave his face in the state it was earlier.
"I'm ready for you this time! Copy Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dance of the Eclipse!" he saved himself by disappearing, reappearing right behind her. "Copy Spark Magic: Twin Flickering Detonation!"
Unlike his last three attempts, this one had managed to hit its mark, rocketing the woman toward a platform, dust surrounding her. "Alright, a direct hit," he silently congratulated himself.
"Good, that's what I'm talking about," a voice said in the dust, as it dispersed, it revealing the royal, standing with crossed arms, completely unscathed.
"No way,"
"Yes way, I'm a lot tougher than I look, and I look very tough," she made a beckoning motion with her hand. "What's next?"
Rhya was beginning to get frustrated. "What's next? Here's what's next! Copy Water Creation Magic: Aqua Javelin!" he took a page from Archer's grimoire so to speak, launching the spear-like weapon, but Mereoleona reeled a fist and punched it at an angle, redirecting it somewhere else.
"What else you got?"
"Copy Light Creation Magic: Light Whip of Judgement!" the ranged instrument of combat materialized in his hand as he sent it out.
In response, the woman merely raised her arm, not making a single sound as the whip struck her and began wrapping around her wrist. "You're way too far from me, come closer," she suddenly pulled, bringing him to her. "I promise I won't bite,"
Before she even had the chance to do anything, he vanished in a flash of light, appearing where he just was, breathing heavily from the shock. "What the hell is going on? I have my Third Eye active, I should be dominating her in this fight, but she's met each and every spell I've thrown with ease. I'm still not out of options though, I can still use that. No, it'll leave me drained if it goes on for too long, then I'll really be screwed, let me keep on trying whatever I can do now. If direct attacks don't work, then let's use a diversion,"
"Copy Ice Creation Magic: Arctic Savages!" he summoned the beasts as they charged, having her full attention, but at the same time, with blinding speed, he zoomed around her, coming from the opposite direction. "Copy Diamond Magic: Diamond Fists!"
The flame mage raised a brow at the type of spell coming her way. "Ice spells? My my Rhya, getting desperate are we?" she said as she crossed her arms, merely radiating a strong level of heat, rapidly melting the beasts once they got close enough.
The third eye member wasn't worried though, they served their purpose. He was now just two yards away, still facing the woman's back, she must not have noticed him yet, and even if she had, there was no way she could react fast enough.
However, in one second, he was about to be proven wrong twice.
"Did you really think I'd fall victim to that old trick?" Mereoleona asked him before turning around with great speed. "Don't mock me! Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium!" she clashed with his fist, completely breaking apart the diamond coating, and now she was ready to finish the job with a second punch.
Rhya's position didn't leave him much time to react, he crossed his arms, casting the first defensive spell that came to mind for safe measure. "Copy Light Creation Magic: Radiant Shield of Justice!" it offered no safety though as she punched right through it with ease, sending him into the wall.
"Alright ma'am, you're doing great, so awesome!" Asta cheered, she responded with a wordless thumbs-up.
"Copy Light Recovery Magic: Healing Light Particles," he began to heal his throbbing arms, he did his best to sound confident. "You really are quite the character, even Licht hasn't given me this much trouble,"
"Then killing him will be easier than I thought,"
"I don't know about that. Let's just say he's been getting stronger lately, you aren't the only ones who train,"
"Perhaps, but his enemy won't just be me, he'll have all the Royal Knights to worry about!" she exclaimed as she jumped after him with a punch ready. "Your twisted organization will end today!"
"Not happening! Copy Spatial Magic: Legion Barricade!" he spawned the array of portals around him, and as she punched a portal, her fist came out through another one, leaving Rhya unscathed.
"Ha, looks like there's a way to get around you after all. You can't beat me if you can't hit me, and you can't break through my defenses if all they do is redirect the power of your attack somewhere else," he told her, smugly grinning.
But that grin shut itself up as the flame mage copied the expression herself. "That's cute," like before, she let out a burst of fiery mana from her body, pushing him back.
"Damn, that's hot," he commented, jumping to a higher platform. "Say, when I sent those ice beasts after you, you called me desperate, right?"
"Yes. What of it?" she inquired.
"Just wanna let you know that wasn't desperation, I'll prove it! Copy Water Creation Magic: Devouring Sea Snake!" he jumped down as he cast the spell, the reptile descending toward her from above, its mouth agape.
"Oh crap, that's a bigger water spell than the one he used earlier," Asta noted. "She might not be able to handle this one,"
The trapster lightly flicked the swordsman's head. "Have we been watching the same fight? So what if it's an attribute advantage? That won't change a damn thing,"
And the ash mage was quickly proven correct as her trusty fire paws emerged from her sides, grabbing both parts of the snake's jaw and closing them tight. Mereoleona didn't once avert her forward gaze as it went on, mentally commanding her paws to bring the snake into her line of vision, which they did, steam beginning to form. "I don't know, this still looks pretty desperate to me," she punched the snake with incredible force, evaporating it.
Rhya gasped. "I can't believe this is happening,"
"You better believe it, you're finished!" she once more pursued him.
"Copy Flame Spirit Creation Magic: Dragon Wings!" he spawned the pair of wings and flew off.
"Are you running away now?! I thought this was going to be my very last fight," she said mockingly.
"Shut up!" he yelled back, turning around. He then proceeded to launch a plethora of spells at her, to which she stopped each one as easy as the last while repeating the same word.
"Copy Rock Magic: Pebble Pandemonium!"
"Next!"
"Copy Gel Magic: Sticky Salamander!"
"Next!"
"Copy Thunder Magic: Sonic Boom!"
"Next!"
"Copy Flame Magic: Inferno Fire Stream!"
"Next!"
"Copy Beast Magic: Bear Claw!"
"Next!"
"Copy Flame Spirit Magic: Salamander's Blaze!"
"A little better! Next!"
"Copy Spatial Magic: Swift Space Slash!"
"Keep 'em coming!"
"Copy Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!"
"You already used that one! Next!"
The two spectating mages were in awe at the display before them, the copy mage was flying around, throwing whatever spell he could, all the while, Mereoleona was right on his tail, moving so quickly, it was like she was flying, or was at least standing on the air. "I didn't know there was someone other than the Wizard King who was this strong," Asta remarked.
"There's a reason for that," Zora said. "I did a fair bit of digging on her when she was chosen to replace the old captain of the Crimson Lion Kings, she spent a lot of time training in wild areas that were dense in mana, places akin to Strong Magic Regions,"
"Is that so?" Asta thought about how tough it was at Yultim when he was there, he couldn't imagine having to do consistent training in an area like that.
"Yeah, I heard that one of the areas she went to was crawling with super strong Magic Beasts because of the dense mana, but she had managed to firmly place herself at the top of the food chain after just three months of training there. If Julius didn't exist, and Ms. Savage actually cared about the title, there's not a doubt in my mind she'd be the Wizard King now,"
"Really?" the magicless mage said, voicing his next thoughts aloud. "She's making quick work of Rhya, I wonder how she'd do against Vetto or Fana. She'd probably destroy them in ten seconds tops,"
"Do you wish she did?"
"Hmm," he pondered the question, giving an answer. "No,"
"Why not?"
"We needed those fights, they made us stronger. If someone stronger always handled problems like those, when the time comes for us to finally do something against people like Rhya, we wouldn't stand a sliver of a chance, it's hard, but it's necessary,"
"No disagreements with that, looks like you have a brain in that head of yours after all,"
"Hey, that was irrelevant and uncalled for!"
Rhya landed on a platform, putting an end to his failed barrage of attacks. "Shit, this is getting me nowhere," he muttered, his eyes quickly falling on Asta and Zora, who weren't too far away. "I have an idea, and it just might work,"
Quickly turning his body their way, he cast a spell. "Copy Spark Creation Magic: Discharge Dragon's Detonation Field!" he exclaimed as the white dragon manifested near them, bringing twenty spheres with it.
"Crap!" the magicless and ash mages were stunned by how they had suddenly gone from being spectators to becoming targets, but they were only stunned for a split second, their fighting instincts kicked in and they were ready to act as the dragon prepared to roar.
However, someone acted faster than them, and to no one's surprise, it was their captain, standing in front of them, who was using one of her paws to shut the dragon's mouth just in time. The royal inspected the bombs of magic and the dragon. "Hm, nothing's exploding, I guess you have to roar to make that happen. Too bad," she punched a hole in its torso, causing it to dissipate, the bombs doing the same. "Not to mention the two factors are linked,"
"Thanks, ma'am,"
"No problem," she zoomed back into the room. "Going after my subordinates? I don't expect you to fight with honor, but did you really think I'd let you succeed?"
"I don't know, probably you would, probably you wouldn't, at the end of the day, I needed to distract you," he replied as he flew up before undoing his wings, leaving him to free-fall toward his opponent.
"Distract me? For what?"
"For this," he didn't cast something, instead, he pulled out an object from his grimoire, making Asta gasp.
"The Demon-Slayer Sword?! But how?!" he searched his memories for an explanation, eventually landing on one. "Hold on, he must've touched my grimoire when he impersonated me!"
"Bingo! I may have never wielded it before, but I'm used to it enough to get some hits and cancel your magic!"
"Bring it on!" Mereoleona met his attack with her own. She was half-expecting the fire on her fist to extinguish from the sword's properties, but she had never expected the sword to get broken in half, which is exactly what happened.
"It didn't copy the anti-magic?" Asta mumbled. "Could it be because it comes from a devil?"
"What?" Rhya flashed away to a safe spot, holding the broken sword in his hands before he let them go, silently clenching his fists.
Mereoleona made no move to go after him. "Y'know, this was beyond disappointing," he said nothing in response to that, but she wasn't expecting him to. "How many spells have you cast? How many? And how many of them failed to even injure me, or even touch me? This battle has been crap, in fact, that's an insult to real battles, this hasn't been a battle, it's been a joke, looks like you're living up to your comedian status. Big talk all to amount to nothing, you put your yul where your mouth is, and you came out flat-broke. So, why don't you make things easy and give up, so at least you can die with a little more dignity? How's that-,"
"SHUT UP!" he suddenly yelled at the top of his lungs, the blue aura around his third eye taking on a familiar dark red color. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! You damn human! Your talk is pretty cocky for someone who's using stolen magic! I swear, before this day ends, you'll be dead, and I'll be your killer!"
Asta's mind registered three things regarding what just happened. The first was the familiar aura, he remembered seeing it during their mission in the Underwater Temple when Noelle had just removed Vetto's arm. The second was Rhya's act of alienating himself, calling Mereoleona a human, just like his fellow third eye members. Then there was the third one, but this one wasn't just noticed by him as the three repeated it.
"Stolen magic?"
Rhya pulled out the first sword he had used when he revealed himself, but there was a big change. The blade was covered in a swirl of black and yellow mana. "This is it, time to use the last resort, but I'm on the clock, I need to make this quick," he reeled the weapon back, declaring the following spell.
"Advanced Copy Magic: Dark Swords of Lightless Conviction!"
"What?" the royal knights were perplexed by the new title as he released the slash of black and yellow, looking like a Lightless Slash attack, but it was moving way faster, Mereoleona actually had to dodge it rather than take it head-on, and that wasn't the end of it. Before it hit a wall, it stopped and broke apart, fashioning itself into Light Swords of Conviction, now coming for the flame mage at the same speed, but this time, she had a chance to punch them, but this was different though, they weren't being destroyed as easily as everything else was, so she put more power, eventually getting the job done.
"How'd you like that?" the copy mage asked.
"Hold on a minute!" his attention shifted to Asta. "Advanced Copy Magic? What the hell is that? Your version of Mythical Beast Magic or something?"
"Exactly, advanced had a nice ring to it, after all, the logical advancement of an attribute that copies attributes is to copy more attributes. Vetto and I developed these to make better use of our third eyes, Fana never needed to though, what with having Salamander and all," he explained.
Mereoleona was the one to speak now. "I'm surprised you've been keeping that power hidden so far,"
"It had to be done. My Copy Magic has one glaring weakness: I can't cast two spells at once, just one at a time. Advanced Copy Magic uses my third eye and additional mana to somewhat circumvent this by merging two spells so I'm still just casting one, but the mana draining rate is a bitch, so I can't just use it right off the bat," he explained once more preparing another combined attack. "And since I'm on the clock, I'll finish you quickly this time! Advanced Copy Magic: Savage's Boom!"
At his command, the ice beasts spawned to life again, more ravenous looks in their eyes as they charged forward, but once they were halfway there, they opened their mouths, letting out a powerful sonic howl, said howl being so loud, the flame mage was actually forced to cover her ears.
"I wouldn't be doing that if I were you," Rhya taunted.
"Duly noted," she quickly removed her hands, fighting against the ringing sensation in her ears to prepare an attack. "Flame Magic: Calidos Bestia!" she exclaimed, firing the attack with increased force, succeeding in destroying them.
However, that was what the man was expecting. "Copy Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dance of the Eclipse!" he vanished, appearing behind her. Like before, she turned to strike him, but he changed up his movements, weaving around the punch, only managing to place his hand on her grimoire, and then he disappeared again.
"Hey, Ms. Savage, not that I'm doubting you or anything, but you think it's time for us to give you a hand?" Zora requested.
"Give me a hand?" she repeated turning in his direction. "Are you underestimating me?"
"After what I've seen? Nah, but Rhya's starting to step up his game,"
Mereoleona chuckled in response to that statement. "Sit back and keep watching, I'm still nowhere near being outmatched,"
Rhya smirked. "We'll see how long that confidence lasts when I'm done with you! Advanced Copy Magic: Inferno Pandemonium!" pebbles manifested all around him, enveloped in small spheres of fire. With a pointing motion, they were sent on their way, but they didn't remain moving in a straight line, some began to swerve in multiple directions, coming at her from all sides.
Doing a quick inspection, she jumped up vertically, expecting the enflamed pebbles to hit one another, but they were following her, so she positioned herself to free-fall down to the lowest level of the ground.
Rhya noticed this, quickly pinpointing where she'd land. "Gotta keep up the pressure. Advanced Copy Magic: Swift Space Sparks!" he shot the slash of spatial magic toward the ground, and once it hit the ground, it immediately split up and trailed around similar to Annalise's Ground Sparks spell, cutting the stone beneath as it neared its target.
Mereoleona also noticed something, seeing the secondary attack getting close. "Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium!" her fist met the floor with immense power, shattering the ground, the rising debris taking each of the hits for her.
Rhya sucked his teeth. "Come the hell on. Sure, she's struggling more than before, but it isn't much-," he suddenly dropped to one knee. "Damn it, I'm starting to feel the toll, my mana's running low. I think I can manage another three or so spells, these will have to count,"
"On your knees already? Looks like that clock you mentioned is almost done ticking," the flame mage crossed her arms. "Bring on whatever spells you can manage before I send you straight to hell!"
The man's grimoire flipped to two pages. "Sorry, went to hell once, didn't really like it,"
"Is now really the time for sarcasm?"
"Whatever you say, human! Advanced Copy Magic: Salamander's Flare!" calling upon the spells of his fallen pair of comrades, a replica of the flame spirit manifested, magic building up in its mouth, releasing in the form of a Manticore Flare.
"I'm feeling a good amount of power from this one," she gave her battle-hungry grin, reeling her flaming fist back, some streaks of blue visible within it as she released a powerful blast of her own, the two clashing, evenly matched for only a second before the obvious winner claimed victory.
"Next!" she exclaimed tauntingly, her eyes widening ever so slightly upon realizing Rhya was no longer in sight, nor could she sense him anywhere. "Where'd he run off to?"
"Look out, in front of you!" she could hear Asta scream in a panic, and she soon knew what he meant as the disloyal one came into sight, just a few inches from her, his fist reeled back.
"Copy Permeation Magic: Invisible Seeker did the trick, this is my chance to end her, an attack from this close up will be certain death!" he thought as he reeled fist became crystallized…and caught fire.
"And this will be the appropriate attack to do it! Advanced Copy Magic: Diamond Brachium!" he punched her directly in the gut, earning a grunt from her lips.
Asta and Zora widened their eyes in shock. "What the?!"
Rhya felt happy with himself, saying the battle was difficult was a gross understatement, but he managed to come out on top, and now the Royal Knights lost one of, if not their best mage.
Or so he thought.
Looking at where his fist was, his expression became shocked as he saw that her body was still intact. "No way in hell, an attack of that magnitude should've blown a hole straight through her torso. I guess those things they're all wearing aren't just for show. But there must've been enough force to at least knock her out cold,"
Just as the shock was starting to wear off, his ears picked up a familiar sound, the sound of chuckling. As he looked up further, the sight he witnessed made the shock come back tenfold: Mereoleona, with a crazed grin on her face that he had never seen, a small amount of blood leaking from her mouth.
"Congratulations are in order, you landed your first real hit on me, it's a shame though, because that's the last one you'll ever get too, and not just with little 'ol me…it'll be the last hit you ever get on someone period!"
She wasted no time throwing a direct uppercut to his jaw, propelling him into the air, and he'd be staying there for a while as the woman ascended after him, her crazed grin still present, radiating an explosive amount of mana.
"Who the hell is this lady?! Is she even human?! She's making me feel something, something dreadful, something both familiar and unfamiliar!" he thought in a panic. He didn't know it yet, but there were three words to describe what he was feeling, a feeling he had only known once before.
Pure, unadulterated terror.
"You really thought you could finish me with that pale imitation?! Ha! Let me show you how it's really done! Flame Magic - Mana Zone: Calidos Brachium Barrage!"
She let loose a barrage of punches at blinding speed, but that wasn't it, groups of blazing spheres appeared around them, aiding her in her endeavor. "Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
The stunned looks of shock remained on Asta and Zora's faces, but now it was for a different reason. If the fight they witnessed told them anything, it was that Mereoleona was a force to be reckoned with, but even they weren't expecting her to have such a technique under her sleeve.
"Uh, Zora, what's Mana Zone?" the swordsman asked curiously.
"A technique. It allows a mage to take command of the mana within a certain distance of them, they are allowed to control that range though. All mages have a minimum and maximum amount of distance they can control, but as magic control gets better, that maximum increases. While the technique is active, one can attack wherever they want within, and they'll pack more of a punch, it also sharpens reaction time, a pretty well-rounded skill. Granted, there is another stronger version of it, but I don't have any details on it,"
"Mana Zone sounds like a handy thing to have. Can you use it?"
"Hm, maybe, maybe not,"
"C'mon man!" he comedically exclaimed, sighing afterward. "Imagine how much stronger I'd get if I could use it,"
"No point in imagining, you can't manipulate mana anyways," the ash mage reminded him.
"Well, what if I did it with anti-magic?" the idea came into his head.
"I'm no expert on whatever that power of yours is, but I'm fairly sure that's impossible,"
Asta took out his grimoire, staring intently at it, only taking his attention off the tome at the sound of the flame mage's declaration.
"I'll commend you a little bit, that advanced copy magic of yours actually made me try a bit, but it's over now! I won't stop until you become a pile of ash!" and she was true to her word, as the barrage continued, parts of Rhya's skin along with his attire began to burn away.
The copy mage closed his eyes, a melancholic smile present. "Ah crap, seems like I couldn't do anything to her in the end, I'm sorry, I won't get to see you again," an image of Licht came to mind, standing in between a group of others, all with their backs turned. "Continue the fight without me, succeed, and bring an end to this race of selfish bastards. However…,"
The eye on his forehead became an even darker red as a sphere of the same color formed with him inside, Asta being the only one to pick up on the action. Rhya's attention became focused on one of the woman's fists, moving toward him in slow motion. "I won't let it end like this! The second one of those hit my bomb encasement, this entire room will go kaboom. If I'm going back to hell, I won't be alone, you all will join me!" he yelled hysterically in his mind.
The fist was getting closer and closer, but just before it hit him for probably the hundredth time, another attack claimed that honor, that attack coming from the Demon-Slayer, its wielder having blitzed over to nullify the bomb.
"Huh?" the other three expressed their confusion. Zora looked to the side of him, indeed seeing the short teen boy longer there.
"I didn't even notice him move,"
Rhya was even more surprised. "How the hell did he do that? The speed needed to get to me faster than she could would be insane,"
"Hey, I saw what you were trying to do," Asta said, clenching his fist, punching Rhya in the face. "I won't let you throw your life away like that!"
The copy mage hit the ground with a light thud, his robe having been completely incinerated, leaving just a shirt with the sleeves burned off and pants that luckily remained intact. The swordsman landed close by, walking over to him, grabbing his collar with his available hand. "What's the matter with you?! Why are you trying to blow yourself up like Vetto and Fana?! Do you value your life that little?! Is your cause worth such an action?!"
"It is!" he yelled back. "No sacrifice is too high to make you humans pay!"
"There you go again. Humans, humans, humans. Why do you and the other two keep talking like that?! Aren't you a human too?!" Asta then calmed down and stood up, lodging his sword in the ground. "No more fighting for the time being, let's just talk. What you and your group have done to the kingdom is unforgivable, but I want to know your driving force, what's making you want to do all this, so tell me your story and don't leave out any details,"
"What do you think you're doing?" Suddenly, the teen felt something clutch his head, it was Mereoleona, but unlike her usual fashion, she grabbed him with her actual hand, her voice deadly serious. "We didn't come here to talk, we came here to destroy them,"
He turned his head her way. "I know, but when my squad fought Vetto, despite all his talk of despair, he was the one who felt it the most. They've been through something, something that made them feel a lot of pain, and I want to know what it is. Even if we won't forgive them, that doesn't mean we can't try to come to an understanding if there are details we don't know,"
"Stop being so naïve! First, you want to spare those no names from earlier, and now this!" she raised her voice. "We can never come to an understanding with them, no matter what kind of sob story they give!"
"But…why is that?" Asta posed the question. "What if…they're just like us?"
This managed to silence the woman, leaving them to engage in a wordless statement with each other, their eyes full of determination.
"C'mon, are you all done? I haven't even warmed up yet,"
When Yami arrived at Golden Dawn HQ earlier that day, it went without saying he received a fair share of judgmental glares from a large number of their members, but he ignored it for the most part, just giving a casual greeting. Finding somewhere to get comfortable, he waited for William to arrive…but he never did, and after three hours of waiting, he began to grow annoyed, demanding that the masked captain show himself.
Well, most of the Golden Dawn members didn't take too kindly to that, telling him if he didn't mind his manners, they would have to make him, however, that was their biggest mistake. In no time, the dark mage and about 60 golden-clad knights stood on an open battlefield. Not taking their threats seriously, he beckoned them to try and do what they said they would.
And it went about as well as you'd expect. By the time the sun was close to setting, they were all soundly defeated.
Yami yawned. "Damn, what a bore, I even handicapped myself by not using my katana, which cuts me off from practically all of my spells, and you still couldn't beat me,"
"I hope you didn't hurt them too badly," a voice said, the captain seeing the compass mage watching.
He approached her. "Yo, Letoile. Don't worry, I just knocked them out cold, Goldy Boy wouldn't be happy if I roughed up his crew too much. Say, you didn't try to fight me?"
"No offense to the others, but I'm not stupid,"
"Smart answer for a smart girl. So, where is William anyway?" he asked.
The girl shrugged. "I don't know. To be completely honest with you, none of us have seen the captain all day, we just assumed he was busy handling something,"
"That's strange, he told me he had some info to give me about the Eye of the Midnight Sun, it doesn't make sense for him to not be here," he mused.
"If it's something important, perhaps he's with the Wizard King at Magic Knights HQ?" Letoile suggested.
"It's the best place to go and look, I should head there ASAP," he was about to leave, but then his stomach began to growl loudly. "Quick question, where's your bathroom?"
"The nearest one will have you go in through that door and make a right," she answered.
"Much appreciated!" he rushed inside, leaving her alone as she looked up at the sky.
"Captain Vangeance, just where are you?"
Contrary to what Letoile thought, Julius wasn't at Magic Knights HQ, instead, he was standing at the top of Clover Castle, overlooking the sunset through the capital.
"What a beautiful view, I should come here more often," he said to himself before hearing footsteps, turning his head to see the masked captain come his way. "I was a bit surprised when you asked me to meet you up here, I'm used to that happening in my office. What's the occasion, William?"
The world tree mage took off his mask, revealing his face. "There's something important I wanted to tell you, but before I do, I just wanted to thank you,"
"Thank me? For what?"
"For everything you've done to bring me to this point," William responded, his mind conjuring a past image of him as a child, sad and all alone, until he was met by a younger Julius. "You saw worth in me when others didn't, even though I was a bastard child from the forsaken realm with a cursed appearance. None of that mattered to you, all you cared about was my interesting magic and my potential with it,"
He stared down warmly at the object that had been hiding his face for so long. "When you gave me this mask, it meant so much to me, I knew that from that day on, I wanted nothing more than to devote myself to you and whatever dream lay in your heart. I rose the ranks and became a captain alongside Yami, and you graced me with the privilege of creating my own squad from scratch, so that's what I did, I formed the Golden Dawn so that they may be of service to you and this kingdom. Throughout my whole life, there is none I can say I respect as much as you,"
The time mage smiled. "I'm very touched, I knew it was fate that we were to meet one another, you've become such a great knight, and an even greater man. So what is this important thing you have to tell me?"
"Yes, about that, it's information regarding the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun,"
This earned his attention. "It is?"
William nodded. "Indeed. You see, there's someone else in this world who means a lot to me, someone I've known longer than even yourself, he's a tragic soul who faced great horrors, but despite that, he fights for a dream that he wants desperately to make a reality,"
Julius raised a brow. "Admirable, but where exactly are you going with this?"
The world tree mage seemingly ignored his question. "But now I'm plagued with a problem, the dream he has is now in conflict with yours, and I can't decide whose side to fight for. It's tearing me up inside, so I came to a conclusion: I would stand aside and have you two be the tiebreaker. And one last thing…"
"...I'm sorry,"
Those were the last words he spoke before his appearance began to undergo a change, his short white hair grew long, the scar on the top half of his face fading away, replaced by red markings. William Vangeance was no longer present, a new person had taken his place, speaking up calmly.
"Good evening, 28th Wizard King Julius Novachrono, we've met before, but in case you forgot, you may call me Licht,"