Chapter Ninety-Six: The True Light

Hey there, readers, I hope your month has been going well. I'm very excited about this week because it's the first week-long update of the year! But that isn't it, my friends, this is a very special one, I present to you: TOFL's Countdown to 100 Week-Long Update! You know how it works, each day from Monday to Friday, you'll be getting a new chapter, but at the end, you'll be getting the 100th chapter! But enough of me ranting, you came to read, so here's Day 1, and it's starting off with a bang as it brings a fan-favorite fight to the TOFL world. Cya.

"Just what is going on here?"

That was the question Mimosa had asked herself as she slowly established some distance between her and her friends, there was a bad feeling she was getting from them. It certainly didn't help that in the case of Klaus and Hamon, they were acting very strangely.

"Hmm, very fascinating, very fascinating indeed," Klaus mused, taking out his grimoire. He began by inspecting the details of the cover before opening it and reading the pages one by one. "This Steel Magic is pretty impressive, for the repertoire of a human that is, a very well-rounded roster of spells, but I'll put them to better use than he ever could,"

At the corner of his eye though, he noticed the elf possessing Hamon inspecting his body rather than his new tome. "Is something bothering you, Vulutz?"

"There most certainly is," he said in a displeased tone as he patted his belly. "Why did I have to get stuck in the body of such a fat person?! Ugh, do these humans have no sense of respect for themselves? I bet this one spends his days stuffing his face,"

The possessed steel mage couldn't help but laugh. "You're one to talk, Vulutz, I happen to remember how fond you were of your treats, especially Yurim's pastries. In fact, if it wasn't for that fast metabolism of yours, you'd look just like that human,"

"Don't insult me, Wylon, you know damn well that I balance my eating with sufficient exercise,"

"And a fast metabolism,"

"Whatever," the possessed glass mage rolled his eyes. "Since we're on the topic of changes, it appears you got a host with bad eyesight,"

"What?" Wylon tapped his face, his finger hitting something. "Oh, I have spectacles, I won't be needing them," he took them off, immediately squinting from the inability to make out anything around him. He put them back on. "Never mind, I will be needing them. So, what attribute do you have now?"

Vulutz manually opened his grimoire and checked. "Looks like I have Glass Magic,"

"Hey, that's pretty neat, no one in the village had that kind of attribute,"

The elf shrugged. "I suppose, though I miss my Cloud Magic, it offered a fair share of uses to me,"

"I'll say. Remember when Lifu begged you to use your magic to help with special effects for that one play of his?" Wylon asked with a smile.

Vulutz grinned as he recalled the memory. "Oh yeah, the one about the bluebirds and the honeybees. That one flopped quite badly, Rhya was losing it for a half hour or so,"

"Yeah, it was hilarious," the possessed steel mage agreed, but as they finished their exchange, they couldn't help but notice a person that was in their peripherals.

Yuno.

A few minutes had passed since he started glowing, and the wind mage had yet to say a single word, and it wasn't just him, Bell had also gone silent. Both were just standing straight, staring into space with blank, unreadable expressions.

The chubbier elf was the first one to say anything about it. "There's something very off about him. I…I don't know who he is. Do you?"

"No, I don't. The bond we all share lets us discern one another despite our change in appearance, but he's not ringing any bells. His mana does feel somewhat familiar, and he's obviously one of us, perhaps he can fill us in,"

"Good idea," Vulutz turned around. "Hey, friend, mind telling us your name?" he asked politely, but was met with no answer.

Wylon held his chin. "It seems that he hasn't fully awakened yet, we'll just have to give him some time,"

"Looks like it," he added, but then he noticed something. "Hey, look, the thing right next to him,"

The possessed steel mage focused on the silent teen, his eyes falling on the fairy floating beside him. "Hold on, isn't that the wind spirit, Sylph?"

"It is. I've heard of her, but I've never actually seen her before. To think a lowly human could be a spirit holder, just like Fana,"

"Once he fully awakens, if he can wield Sylph's power, our forces will be even more powerful, the humans will stand even less of a chance against us," Wylon stated. "Both the wind and flame spirits are on our side, it appears even nature itself has chosen to bless our holy crusade,"

So far, Mimosa had said nothing, but her mind was racing with all the information she was trying to process. "Wylon and Vulutz? Village? Holy crusade? Why are they acting like they're different people? What's wrong with Yuno? Why are they talking about humans like that? Do they think they're not human anymore?" she lifted her head at the floating man above. "He's glowing just like Bell said. Has he been affected too, or is he the cause? I have to do something!"

"Klaus, Hamon, Yuno, what's gotten into you?" she spoke up, earning the elves' attention for the first time, but upon laying eyes on her, they gasped.

"It's not possible," the possessed glass mage muttered.

The possessed steel mage was less silent. "She bears a strong resemblance to Tetia,"

Mimosa was confused. "Tetia? I could've sworn I'd heard that name before. Was it from a book? I can't remember,"

"Do you think she might be one of them?" Vulutz asked his ally.

"She's an enemy regardless, but it wouldn't hurt to know," Wylon answered, pointing at the plant mage. "You, girl, what is your name?" he demanded.

"What's my name? Stop playing around, Klaus, you already know who I am,"

"Klaus? Well, this Klaus may have known you, but I do not, so I'll ask one more time…what is your name?" he repeated the question with a lot more venom than before.

"I'm Mimosa Vermillion," she told him.

"Ver…million?" he said slowly, his face contorting in rage. "So, you are one of them! A royal! A descendant of criminals! A descendant of murderers!"

Now she was really confused. "Criminals? Murderers? What on Earth are you talking about?!"

"You want to feign ignorance, is that it? Very well, your death will be a slow and painful one, just like ours was!" he commanded the grimoire to flip to a page. "Steel Creation Magic: Spiral Lance!"

Mimosa gasped for two reasons. The first one was because of how much faster the spinning drill was coming at her, faster than what she was used to, and the second one being the fact that an attack was coming at her in the first place. She just managed to jump out of the way, putting her guard up. "This isn't like you, Klaus! You must be under some kind of mind control, you have to fight it!"

Wylon laughed loudly. "Mind control? What a stupid notion. You might have dodged that one, but you won't be able to for long once I get a hang of this style. Steel Creation Magic: Spiral Drill-,"

He was in the middle of raising his right arm to cast the spell, but before he could finish, his left arm suddenly moved, grabbing his right wrist in an attempt to force it down, putting a relieved, open-mouth smile on the royal's face. "Yes, that's it, you can do it!"

"Hmm, you're as stubborn as you are wicked, fight back all you want, you won't get in the way of our righteous vengeance!" Wylon yelled as his left arm slowly went back to his side, ending the struggle for control. "Steel Creation Magic: Spiral Drill Shower!"

Mimosa now brought her eyes above, seeing the array of drills that were falling, and just like before, it was much faster. This one wasn't going to be easy, she was doing her damndest to not let any of them hit her.

While she was doing that, Vulutz smirked. "My turn. Glass Creation Magic: Verre Epèe," he said, and the timing couldn't be better for the rain of drills had stopped, Mimosa taking a breather, and that left her with no time to evade the rising blades of glass from below, cutting into her robe and flinging her into the air before she landed on her shoulder.

That wouldn't stop her though as she got up. "They can't fight whatever's doing this to them, I need to get out of here and find help, maybe we can come up with a solution. However, it doesn't look like they plan on letting me leave, I need a diversion,"

Her grimoire flipped to her sole offensive spell. "Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!" she declared, the large creation coming to life behind her, charging its beam.

"Fire at medium power!" she commanded as it obeyed, releasing a blast that wasn't as powerful as it usually was, and while it was in the middle of firing, she turned and made a mad dash for the room's exit.

Neither elf was worried by the attack coming at them. "Steel Creation Magic: Full Metal Fortress!" Wylon volunteered to be the one to stop it, doing so with ease.

"My my, she's trying to get away," Vulutz voiced with a sense of amusement.

His elven friend didn't share his sentiment if his tone said anything. "I'm not surprised, criminals will always run to escape consequences. Would you mind if I handled this for a bit?"

"Be my guest,"

"Much appreciated," with that, he started running, quickly surprised by the speed he was moving at. "Impressive, this Klaus trained his body well, and now it will be put to good use," he thought, not only reaching Mimosa, but surpassing her as well.

"Just where do you think you're going?!"

The plant mage was also surprised by the turn of events. "But how? I thought I had bought myself enough time!"

"Let's try this one out! Steel Creation Magic: Blazing Spiral Lance!" he exclaimed as his hand transformed and he lunged forward.

Mimosa quickly backed up, the distance separating them only being about a yard and a half, there wasn't enough space for her to use her cannon, and with every other spell she possessed unable to offer help, there was only one other option.

"I have to restrain him!" she placed her hands on the ground, summoning plants and vines that rapidly wrapped around him. However, unlike last time, she didn't use this chance to run, she knew he'd just catch up to her, so she backed up.

"This may hurt a lot, forgive me for this one, Klaus. Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower - Shotgun!"

The spell formed once more, this time releasing its blast as a barrage of beams, but Wylon was strong and the move she used was no binding spell, so he broke out of it in the nick of time, leaping into the air to avoid the attack.

"Why do you keep resisting?! Surely you see how pointless it is!" he launched a dectet of Spiral Lances.

"I'm resisting because those four all are my friends, people who mean the world to me, so I won't quit, I'll do whatever I can to save them!" she replied, dodging a few of the drills, but wasn't so lucky with the last six, each of them striking her, sending her to the ground.

Once the elf landed, he performed a series of jumps and backflips to bring him back to where he was standing before. "Don't talk like you know anything of close bonds and friendship, such a concept is lost on you," he searched through his grimoire for something else to use, landing on an interesting page. "Based on where this is, this must be a newer spell, and it's a very appropriate one at that. Steel Binding Magic: Golgotha Cross!"

At his call, a large metal crucifix rose up, with steel bands at the ends. In a second, those bands were launched out, latching themselves to the girl's wrists and fibula, levitating her onto the crucifix, the bands locking in place.

"Don't even think about pulling anything. According to what it says in the tome, this spell also mitigates your magic power, you aren't going anywhere,"

Vulutz clapped. "A fine display of skill, nicely done,"

"Why thank you," he accepted the praise, now gazing at the royal. "She's like we were now, trapped, death being the only fate that awaits her,"

Mimosa tried desperately to free herself, but it was no use, the restraints were too strong, if nothing was done, this really would be it for her. "Please, somebody, anybody, help me!"

And then, as if the goddess of fate was listening, her prayers were answered. A familiar purple portal appeared overhead as an equally familiar person dropped from it, landing quite unceremoniously.

"Asta!" the plant mage cried in relief.

The swordsman quickly got up at the sound of her voice. "Mimosa, you're here, and you're okay,"

"I wouldn't exactly say I'm okay, but I am indeed here,"

Not too many seconds went by before Rhya landed, the portal closing. "Damn it, you stupid brat, I thought you were going to come peacefully, but then you bite me! You're such a pain!"

"That's payback for what you did to the captain!" he retorted with a finger-point.

"She had it coming," he fired back.

"Rhya!"

The copy mage's attention was temporarily off the royal knight and on the elves who called out to him, their voices ecstatic. "Vulutz? Wylon? No way, it's great to see you guys,"

"Same here, but I'm a bit confused, how did you get here?" the one possessing Klaus asked.

"I used Spatial Magic,"

The chubby one raised a brow. "Spatial…Magic?"

Rhya had a smile on his face as he facepalmed. "Oh yeah, that kind of magic wasn't really around back in our day. A lot can change in five hundred years,"

While the three were having their happy reunion, Asta was less than happy. "Oh no, these guys have been possessed too? This sucks,"

"Wait, possessed? Is that what happened? Has it happened to the others?"

"I don't know. It doesn't seem to target everyone, you haven't been affected, and neither have me or Zora, but it got to Rill and his whole team. We have to find a solution, but first, we need to get out of here, I'll get you down,"

"Woah, not so fast there, thief, I didn't bring you here just so you could escape," Rhya's attention was back on him. "It's time to take back what you stole,"

Asta grit his teeth. "I don't want to fight you, but I have no choice, so you better prepare-," he was saying, but then he cut himself off. Why? He noticed someone behind them, and he couldn't believe who it was. "It can't be, Y-Y..,"

"...Yuno!"

Rhya eyed the silent teen; admittedly, he didn't notice him. "What's his deal?"

"Not sure, we believe he hasn't finished awakening yet, but neither of us recognizes him. Do you?"

The copy mage looked at him intently, giving it a few seconds before shaking his head. "Nope, I've never seen him either, which is strange, I know everyone,"

"Yuno! Yuno! Can you hear me?! Say something!"

"Save your breath! He isn't even talking to us!" Vulutz raised his voice. "Now, get out of our way, we will kill the royal first, and then you will have your turn!"

"Forget it! I'm not going anywhere!"

"Very well," the elf said back, facing Rhya. "Will you be joining us?"

He shook his head for a second time. "Sorry, I can't, I'm too low on mana. Just came back from a pretty tough fight, I'm afraid I'll have to leave this to the two of you,"

"Okay then, Glass Magic: Verre Shards!"

"Steel Magic: Guillotine Assault!" Wylon joined him.

Asta's grimoire floated in front of him as he pulled out his short sword, rapidly parrying each of the projectiles with blinding speed. "Is that all you got?!"

However, instead of responding to his taunt, the two elves gasped, noting the weapon in the magicless mage's hand. "The Demon Dweller Sword?!" they both exclaimed.

"Explain yourself, human! How did you get your grimy hands on that?!"

"How he got it is unknown to us, but all that's really important is that he has it in the first place," Rhya answered. "Subdue him and we can return it to its rightful owner," he smiled slyly.

"Vulutz, let's join our powers! Steel Creation Magic: Spiral Lance!" Wylon constructed eight of the drills.

The possessed golden dawn nodded as he raised a hand, creating a layer of glass over them before they began spinning and were sent out, the speed surpassing that of which was used earlier against Mimosa.

Asta could just barely respond in time, using the Dweller as a shield, placing his hand behind the flat side of the blade for reinforcement. Adding more force, he managed to deflect it, now in the process of trying to dodge the other drills, but while he got away from five of them, two managed to get past his guard, grazing his left shoulder and left side.

"Oh no!" Mimosa screamed with worry.

On the other hand, the possessed royal knights were pleased. "Good, you guys injured him, if you keep up the pressure, you'll overwhelm him in no time!" Rhya cheered for his friends.

And just like he said, they kept sending the glass-layered drills out, wave after wave, Asta didn't even have enough time to grab the Slayer to make things easier. All he could do was continue to protect himself and the plant mage.

Speaking of Mimosa, the girl was gritting her teeth in frustration. "This is terrible, Asta is fighting so hard for the both of us, and I can't do anything to help. I need to do something!" she tried to free herself again, but it was still no use.

The incessant firing of projectiles was going on for four minutes now, and Asta found himself beginning to sweat. Even with the immense strength and stamina the swordsman possessed, no one could keep going forever; he sank to his knees, breathing heavily, using the Dweller to prop himself up.

The attacks came to a stop, the elves crossing their arms. "Hmm, he did a lot better than I was expecting," Vulutz voiced.

"Perhaps, but he's finished now-," Wylon was saying, but was stopped as his eyes began to get watery, he placed a hand by his eyes, shocked to feel tears dropping down.

"What's wrong?"

"This human is fighting back again," he removed his glasses to wipe the tears away.

Vulutz snickered. "That's the second time, my host hasn't given any problems so far,"

"Shut up, I've got it all under control now," he put the specs back on. "I say we finish him off with a bang. Are you in?"

"Why not, it sounds like fun," with that, the two extended their hands, creating a large steel drill with a long handle, from there, glass layered over the drillhead while three glass rings formed around the handle as twin-colored mana surrounded the entire thing.

"Ah…crap," Asta muttered.

"Any last words before you die, human?!"

"Last…words?" the magicless mage forced himself back up, a determined grin plastered on his features. "I don't have any, because I'm not going to die! I've been at death's door time and time again, and I overcame it, this will be no different! I'm going to stop you, then I'm going to find a way to free all my friends from you and the other elves, and then, when things go back to normal, I can continue striving for my dream!"

Rhya raised a brow. "And what dream is that?"

Clenching his fists, the boy stood up straight, his eyes locking onto a person's, that person being none other than Yuno.

"I'm going to be the Wizard King!"

"What is this place?"

No matter what direction Yuno looked in, he was surrounded by black, darkness as far as he could see. Granted, despite how empty and eerie it felt, there was something familiar about the area.

"Okay, think, last thing I recalled, I was in a room with Specs, Mimosa, and Hamon, I then started glowing out of nowhere, and now I'm here," he went over the events. "Could it be that I've been teleported somewhere? If that's the case, then it's best that I try and gauge the scope of this place,"

He slightly crouched down and hopped up, expecting his wind to envelope and lift him off the ground like it always did, but for some strange reason, that didn't happen, resulting in him landing back down.

"Huh? That's never happened before. Is something interfering with my magic? No, that can't be it, I can still sense my mana, and it's as strong as ever. In fact, I think it's even stronger," he held his chin. "What about you, Bell, what do you think can be causing this?"

Like before, an oddity occurred as he was met with no answer. "Bell?" he repeated, turning his head around, seeing that the spirit was nowhere to be found, and that wasn't it; fearing the worst, the wind mage then opened his satchel, and lo and behold, his grimoire was gone as well.

The black-haired teen was more confused than ever. "This is all too strange," he muttered. Seeing that he really had no choice at the moment, he just started walking, hoping he'd lead himself somewhere that could provide some answers.

Time passed by as he kept going. How much time? He honestly didn't know, but that didn't matter to him because all he could think about was how he got into the predicament he was in now and how he was going to get out.

But then…

"This isn't like you, Klaus! You must be under some kind of mind control, you have to fight it!"

Yuno almost jumped at the sudden exclamation made after the minutes of dead silence, he looked around, desperately trying to locate its origin, but it also helped that he recognized the owner of the voice.

"That's Mimosa, but where is she? And she was saying something to Specs, did something happen to him?" he said to himself, but there was no one around, making his shoulders slump slightly. "Was I just hearing things?"

He could've sworn he heard the plant mage, but his eyes and ears weren't registering the same thing, so he just kept walking for another five or so minutes, and if the look on his face said anything, he was getting annoyed, really annoyed.

"Can somebody, anybody, just tell me what the hell is happening?!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

And he got his answer in the form of a bright light. "Shit," he cursed silently, covering his eyes, waiting for them to get used to the change, and once they did, they widened as before him was…a floating white mass that sported the same yellow elven aura.

"What the?" the wind mage muttered, utterly dumbfounded.

"Hello," a voice came from the mass, it was soft and polite.

"Um…hello," Yuno returned the greeting, this would also take some getting used to. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but who…or what are you?"

"Who am I?" the voice repeated his question, chuckling. "What a silly thing to ask, I'm you,"

"Yeah, I kind of doubt that, but since you're here, you can explain-,"

"I'm not going to die!"

Yuno immediately stopped upon hearing his rival's voice, the mass speaking up. "It appears that Asta is in danger,"

"You know Asta?"

"Of course, I'm you after all,"

The teen raised a brow, he still wasn't buying that, but he pushed it to the back of his mind, this meant he wasn't hearing things after all. However, that wasn't entirely a good thing, Mimosa and Klaus were in some kind of peril, and now, so was his brother.

"How do I leave this place?"

"This is your mindscape, to leave, you only need to concentrate," the mass replied, and just in time as Asta's voice rang out again.

"I'm going to be the Wizard King!"

"Ah yes, the goal we share. That boy always was such a dreamer. You should get going then,"

Yuno then closed his eyes and concentrated. "That's right. It was you, Asta, you were the one who showed me that even though we were poor, and even though we were commoners, we could dream big and work hard to make something of ourselves. You taught me to be strong in the face of danger and adversity to make a new life for us and those we cared about," "However…,"

"You want to be the Wizard King?" Rhya repeated the answer. "That's dumb, but hey, I've heard dumber,"

"It's not dumb!" Asta yelled back.

"Sure, whatever you say," he responded, now addressing his friends. "You can do it now,"

"Okay!" they exclaimed, shooting the enhanced spear.

There was hardly any time to think as it raced over to the swordsman, but he was fast, if he made the right move, he wouldn't be able to cut it, but he could deflect it somewhere else. Gripping the Dweller as tightly as he could, he reeled his arm horizontally.

And then it happened.

Before the attack could make contact, a medium-sized tornado appeared between them, breaking the spear apart.

"Huh?" was all that came out of the magicless mage's mouth.

"..You got something wrong there, Asta..," the voice of Yuno spoke up, he was now standing in front of his brother and his squadmate.

"..The one who will be the Wizard King is me!"

Asta couldn't help but smile. "I-Is that really you?"

"Of course it is, who else?" he gave him a thumbs-up.

Rhya, on the other hand, was shocked. "How the hell did he regain control of his body?! The reincarnation is absolute, there shouldn't be anyone who can resist!"

Yuno stepping in gave Asta the precious time he needed to free Mimosa from her binding. "There you go,"

"O-Oh, um, thank you,"

"No problem," he said back as they both neared the wind mage, his aura still active and his elven features still present. "What happened to you?"

"Even now, I'm still not sure,"

"Hey, look at you!" Bell was gushing, she was back too. "I like those ears, now we're matching,"

"Hold on!" they turned, Wylon being the one who raised his voice. "You're awake now, that's good, but don't stand next to those humans, come back here, you're one of us,"

Yuno glared at them. "Asta, can you fill me in?"

"Long story short, elves have possessed some of the Royal Knights, and they want revenge on us,"

"Elves?!" Mimosa and Bell gasped.

"I never thought I'd ever hear that name again," the spirit spoke to herself.

"I always thought they were just fictional characters from books," Mimosa voiced.

"They're real it seems," the wind mage said before giving his attention to the elves. "You say that I'm one of you, but you couldn't be more wrong! I am Yuno of the Clover Kingdom!"

Vulutz sucked his teeth. "Damn it, his host regained control. What do we do now?"

"The solution is simple: we beat them. If the human sustains enough damage, his mental guard should weaken to the point where the elf within can get back command. And luckily for us, we have the means to do it; let us repeat what we did before, but on a larger scale,"

"Fine with me,"

Upon saying that, the two elves summoned their attributes, watching as it amalgamated into a growing mass. "The magic of this era is powerful and allows more versatility, but under our superior mastery, it reaches its ultimate potential,"

"Glass Magic…,"

"Steel Magic…,"

The royal knights witnessed the end result of the creation, the basis of it resembled some kind of castle, but it was armed to the teeth with floating drills and glass shards. Standing on top of it were the enemy pair, each raising a hand.

"Combo Creation: Château de Verre!"

Asta stared at the opposing spell with anticipation, ready to fight again. The moment Yuno arrived on their side, his exhaustion disappeared, he always had that effect on him. "Holy crap, that looks insane, we may have to kick it up a notch,"

The wind mage held the exact same look. "You may be right," he then spoke to his squadmate, still keeping his back to her. "Mimosa, you may want to get back, this is going to get intense,"

"Alright then, you two be careful,"

Asta lodged the Dweller into the ground right beside him, pulling out the Slayer, putting it in its pre-transformation position. "You think we can take 'em?"

Yuno clenched his left fist as Bell began disappearing. "No doubt, but the amount of magic coming from it is pretty high, I won't be able to cover you, so do try to pull your weight,"

"Hmph, just who do you think you're talking to?"

The second he finished saying that, both of their eyes widened as they transformed, standing together as power emanated from them.

"What in the world did they just do?" Vulutz wondered with surprise.

"I'm not sure, but we mustn't fear, we will be victorious," Wylon reassured him as they both extended their arms.

"Advance, Château de Verre!" at their command, the castle then charged forward.

"Let's go!" the boys thought as they took off.

Yuno was the first to make a move. "Wind Spirit Magic: Spirit Storm!" he fired the beam, but was taken aback by how much stronger it felt. "Is this because of the elf's power? Incredible,"

And it really was incredible as the blast had not only succeeded in damaging the castle, but was capable of bringing it to a complete standstill.

"Asta, you're up!"

The transformed swordsman zoomed in, reeling his sword in a vertical sense at a downward starting point. "Take this!" he raised it as he struck the castle, managing to cut part of it in half as Yuno's blast went on, completely destroying it.

From where she stood, Mimosa saw what her friends had done. "Amazing,"

"Not…possible, we're supposed to be stronger," the elves thought, their bodies on a painful collision course with the ground, however, it wouldn't exactly turn out that way. The man who had been floating this whole time was in full view of the entire ordeal, and so far, he had made no action of any kind, but that changed as in an instant, he was in between the falling pair, slowing their descent.

"The hell?" Asta said under his breath. When he first arrived via Rhya's portal, his eyes fell on the man for just a second, and once he landed, he noted that the man's Ki held no intent worth worrying about, so he ignored him, but no longer.

Yuno, on the other hand, was instead captivated by the man's mana. "His magic power is astronomically dense, I've never felt anything like it. How is he making things levitate like that? Is it some kind of technique?"

Focusing on Rhya, the copy mage adopted an expression of happiness that had never been seen before, the look was akin to that of a child reuniting with their long-lost best friend. "You're really here," he said quietly as he landed, Wylon and Vulutz safely landing beside him.

The rare expression, however, came to an end as Asta screamed and pointed at the mystery man. "Hey, just who the hell are you?!" he demanded, but was met with no answer, in fact, the man didn't even bother to make eye contact with them, his eyes giving the impression that he was staring off into space.

Rhya used this chance to insert himself into the conversation. "Are you absolutely sure you want to know who he is?"

"Uh, no duh, that's the whole reason I asked!"

"Alright then, I'll tell you. The man you see before you is our master, the leader of the elves, and the rightful owner of the possessions in your care…," he began, all the while, the man advanced toward the white sword that was lodged in the ground, pulling it out with one hand.

"...This is Licht,"

That revelation brought a great deal of shock to everyone. "That can't be!" Asta denied it. "He doesn't look like the Licht I faced in Nean. Did your leader just decide to name himself as this guy?"

Rhya grinned. "More or less, I guess in a way, the one before you is the 'true Licht'. And from what it looks like, he's about to give you two a well-deserved ass-kicking. Isn't that right, Licht?"

The sword turned his head at the sound of his name, startling Rhya with the same blank expression he had been wearing, the only thing that changed is that he gave the copy mage a simple nod. The copy mage narrowed his eyes, knowing what this meant.

"He hasn't completely awakened yet, seeing Wylon and Vulutz get hurt must've automatically forced his body into action, interesting,"

Mimosa was looking worried though. "Can Asta and Yuno really beat that guy? His mana is so strong, and then he took out that sword of his with one hand while three of us using all our strength couldn't make it budge,"

Asta was feeling practically the same. "So, that guy is the master, and the original owner of my grimoire. With how strong everyone else has been, if he's stronger, Yuno and I are in for the fight of our lives, but we'll give it everything we-," his train of thought stopped as he felt his legs weaken and he dropped to one knee.

"Crap, are you okay?" Yuno asked with sudden worry.

He lifted himself back up. "Y-Yeah, I'm good, it's just that my last transformation wasn't too long ago, but as Captain Yami tells us, we have to push past our limits, so that's what I'll-,"

Licht was right there, next to them without sound or warning; only centimeters separated the three. Though they could see him, the speed at which he was going left them unable to respond in any way, shape, or form.

"He got here so quickly. I…I couldn't pick up on his Ki at all, it's like he melted into the air,"

"How could I not sense him coming? Even now, I can't pick up on his mana signature, it's like he's blended into the environment,"

To make matters worse, Licht further invaded the magicless mage's personal space, taking the Dweller right out of his grasp. "If I may," he said softly, the tone as emotionless as his face. He then raised it into the air, a light enveloping it, doing away with its rusty exterior until a pristine white one became visible, now preparing to strike its previous user.

But to land the hit, he would need another second, and with his speed, Yuno was ready to take advantage of that. "Asta, watch out!" he exclaimed, blasting wind in every direction, succeeding in pushing himself and his rival out of harm's way.

The sword mage remained stationary, using the Dweller to fire three white magic slashes, all of which Asta was able to parry, but the boy also paid attention to something else. "Holy crap, I didn't know the Dweller could fire so many slashes, he didn't even need to absorb another person's mana beforehand. Well, I guess those are the perks that come with being the original user,"

Seeing that his attack failed, Licht set his sights on Yuno, who was flying around, searching for an opening. Spinning around, the elf sent out a multitude of slashes, and like before, none of them hit their target, but that didn't matter as much as he crouched slightly and took off, appearing right in front of Yuno in mid-air.

The wind mage had to come to a sudden stop if he didn't want to slam into him, and while he somewhat managed it, he wouldn't be able to dodge the blow Licht was about to deal with his mystery sword.

Or would he?

In a move that surprised even him, Yuno suddenly backed away, evading the strike. From where he stood, Rhya was in full view of what had just occurred, making him suck his teeth. "The power of the elf inside him is increasing his performance even more. His reincarnation hasn't even been completed yet, he'll only get stronger from this point,"

"Not bad," Yuno silently praised himself, gazing straight at the sword mage, but then his eyes widened ever so slightly.

From what? For the first time, the elf's facial features underwent a minor shift; Yuno could've sworn Licht was giving him…a proud smile? It then disappeared as quickly as it had arrived.

"What was that all about?" the royal knight thought as he flew back. "Take this! Wind Magic: Tornado Fang!"

The first attack was coming at Licht, and he responded by using his mystery sword to simply deflect it elsewhere before counter-attacking with two slashes.

Yuno weaved around them. "That wasn't enough for you, aye? Let's see if this is! Wind Creation Magic: Spirit-Amped Swift White Hawk + Spirit-Amped Wind Blade Shower!" pouring a massive amount of power into it, Yuno let loose his boosted double spell, but he was clever, choosing to implement the strategy used against Kenos, the avian flying around to come from behind.

And then, as if it was planned in advance, Asta came soaring in from the east. "Don't you dare forget about me!"

With three strong attacks coming from different directions at quick speeds, Licht had no choice but to let at least one of them land, right? Well…not really. Unintentionally taking a page from Asta's book, the elven leader spun around akin to Black Hurricane, going to the next level as he paired the move with the Dweller, firing slashes everywhere, said slashes not only pushing the swordsman back, but entirely destroyed the wind constructs, not without some additional effort though.

Yuno grit his teeth in frustration. "Shit, I put so much into that, spirit-amping a spell while already in Spirit Dive should nearly triple its strength, and yet he took care of it like it was child's play. We can't let ourselves falter though, we just have to keep going, he has to slip up eventually," he extended his hand, preparing to cast another spell. "Wind Magic: Spirit-Amped-,"

Licht had done it again, using his immense speed to sneak up behind Yuno undetected, and unfortunately for the wind mage, he couldn't get away this time, not while in mid-attack, his positioning was all off. "Damn it!"

Thankfully, a force came to his rescue, that force in the form of the demonic swordsman, quickly flying in to intercept the attack. "I take it this makes us even?" he quipped with a smirk.

Yuno smirked back. "Sure, why not? At least it tells me that I'm not doing all the hard work by myself,"

The jovial exchange wouldn't last for long as Licht pushed Asta back, zooming back to Yuno before he spun again to add momentum to his heel as it slammed into the wind mage's face, rocketing him into the wall.

Mimosa gasped as she saw this. "Yuno, are you alright?!"

He groaned. "Aside from the immense pain in my face, I'm fine, just a little stunned! I really need to get used to that," he spit out the blood that was accumulating in his mouth.

The plant mage breathed a sigh of relief, but her face went back to one of worry. "Ugh, I feel so useless. What can I even do? If Asta and Yuno with their transformations are hardly a match for Licht, I wouldn't stand any better of a chance, but I have to do something, I'm royalty,"

As she was thinking that though, her eyes fell on Rhya; the copy mage was currently observing Licht, who was in the middle of firing more slashes that Asta was doing his best to either cut or deflect. "Even though he reincarnated, I can feel it, his magic power is nearly depleted, he shouldn't be able to put up a fight, and even if he can, I should be able to overpower him!"

Commanding her grimoire to flip to a page, she made up her mind. "Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!" the trusty attack spell formed and released its blast.

Rhya may have been lower on power, but his senses were as sharp as ever. Granted, it didn't mean he wasn't startled by the beam coming his way. Concentrating some of the mana he had left into his feet, he jumped out of its range. "Holy shit!"

Mimosa pointed at him. "Just because those three are fighting, don't expect yourself to be off the hook! As a royal of the House Vermillion, I will take you down!"

Rhya sighed. "Son of a bitch, is fate deciding to screw with me or something? I have to fight another Vermillion? And I just have to be out of power too? Great, just peachy,"

The girl was feeling confident. "Okay, I can do this, if I finish him off here, all members of the Third Eye will have been dealt with. Fire again at your maximum-,"

She was cut off by two slashes that came out of the blue, one cutting down her flower and subsequently, her confidence, while the other one passed by the space in between her and Rhya, in a way acting as a warning to not advance.

"Where did that come from?" she wondered, following it to its origin. It had come directly from Licht, the elf giving Asta a break so he could intervene in the secondary scuffle, but what Mimosa also saw was that he was staring straight at her. The royal was fearing the worst, hoping that he wouldn't attack her.

What instead happened was something that shocked her. Similarly to Yuno, his face underwent a change, but rather than a proud smile, the plant mage saw him adopt a soft and tender, almost loving expression.

"Why is he looking at me like that?"

"Hey!" Licht fully turned his attention away from her and to Asta who had screamed at him. "I know this may be a weird thing to request, but if you could hand me back the Demon-Dweller, that'd be most appreciated,"

It went without saying of course that a request of that nature would be denied, but in a strange move, Licht began to descend, landing a bit over 30 meters across from his opponent. He then entered a stance and waited; Asta was able to pick up the Ki from his body language, and it sent a clear message.

If he wanted it, he'd have to come and take it.

"Based on how he's standing, he must want to engage in swordplay," the magicless mage thought, now gripping the Slayer with both hands. "If that's what he wants, then that's what he'll get. This looks like the perfect chance to use some of those fancier moves Old Man Zell taught me,"

Wasting no more time, he charged forward, flying only an inch or two above the ground, his sword reeled vertically in an upward position. Once the gap of distance was closed, he slammed it down with all the force he could.

Licht responded quickly, crossing the two swords he had to block the strike, a powerful shockwave rippling across the room. Asta knew that the ironclad defense wouldn't be penetrated, so he ended the struggle, entirely landing before he spun, hoping to land a hit on the elf's left side, but like the prior attempt, it was stopped, this time by the mystery sword.

The man now chose to go on the offensive, lunging forward to attack with the tip of the Dweller, but his opponent blocked it with the flat side of the slayer. From there, the sword mage opted for quick strikes, alternating from one weapon to the other after every blow.

In all honesty, Asta was having trouble keeping up, but he wasn't going to quit; he backed up and went for another vertical strike, though this one wasn't as powerful as the last one, as such, Licht only found it necessary to block with the mystery sword, but that wasn't all he did, he simultaneously performed a horizontal strike with the Dweller, targeting his neck.

The magicless mage widened his eyes. "Shit, a single-tempo attack, I don't have enough time to back away," he quickly moved his head around, the sword cutting his cheek instead of his throat.

"Impressive reflexes," Licht emotionlessly commented as he was the one to back up.

Meanwhile, Asta passed a hand over where he was cut, seeing blood on his fingers. "The sword…it cut me? It's actually sharp now?" he looked up at his enemy, just in time to see why he made some distance.

Ten magic slashes were coming at him, and they were bigger than the ones he'd been sending out so far. "I'll need a little more power. Anti-Magic: Black Hurricane!" he employed the technique, successfully deflecting the projectiles.

But while he was still spinning, a thought came to his head. "I think this might be able to work!" he came to a sudden stop and zoomed forward, but to the perspective of anyone else, it would look like the stop never happened, and Licht was one of them. However, he was able to dodge it for the most part, but it came at the cost of being partially disarmed, the mystery sword being flung a few feet away.

Even though his strike failed to hit its target, Asta was pleased. "Nice, it's just like Old Man Zell once told me, pair an unpredictable movement with your speed to catch the opponent off guard! He should be easier to fight now he has only one sword,"

The boy was about to be proven wrong though. He repeated his simple strike for the third time, only for it to be perfectly parried, the two now struggling for dominance. The bind between them didn't remain static however, while their swords were still connected, both swordsmen were moving their swords around, searching for an opening to exploit, but anytime they found one, their opponent would close it up.

"Damn, this guy's really good," Asta couldn't help but think.

Seeing that the struggle would go nowhere, Licht made a gutsy move. He started by intentionally weakening the force he was putting in the clash, causing the Slayer to drop down to arm level from the sudden lack of resistance, he then quickly tossed the Dweller to his other hand, imbuing mana into his free fist as he slammed it into the large sword's flat side, abruptly moving it and its wielder, putting Asta in a vulnerable position. He then took advantage of that by using the same fist to punch him right in the nose.

The demonic swordsman was sent back a bit, blood leaking from his nose. "Crap, I didn't see that coming," that wasn't the only thing he didn't see coming as Licht closed the distance and kicked the back of his leg, forcing him to a knee, ready to finish him off.

But an arc of wind came to his rescue, the sword mage jumping back, performing a backflip to go and retrieve his disarmed sword.

"It looks like you're in my debt again," Asta's eyes followed the sound, finding his brother up in the air.

"Hardly, I was the one fighting while you were busy napping, if anything, we're even like before!" he comedically protested.

"Fine, whatever you say," he relented as Licht set his sights on him again, sending out a multitude of wide slashes.

Yuno narrowed his eyes. "Those attacks will be harder to fly around, luckily for me, I have options," his grimoire flipped to a page. "Wind Spirit Magic - Mana Zone: Spirit's Hushed Dance!" he weaved around them like he was teleporting, afterimages appearing after each action.

"Woah, cool," his rival silently commented, getting up.

"Here's payback, you bastard! Wind Creation Magic: Spirit-Amped Celestial Trident of Notus!" he created the weapon, launching it with a spin.

Instead of attempting to dodge or deflect it, Licht simply raised the Dweller, making Yuno raise a brow. "Is he planning to use that to block it by itself?" he thought as the attack made contact, pushing the sword mage back a bit from the force, but rather than something the royal knights expected to happen, another thing did.

"He's absorbing it?!" the boys along with Mimosa exclaimed, the sword adopting a green outline.

"That's what happened to my sword when I borrowed Noelle and Gauche's magic, but I never learned how to do it on command or like that,"

Rhya smirked. "Ah yes, merely one of the perks that come with the original Demon Dweller Sword,"

With the attack fully absorbed, Licht turned his body around, performing a vertical slash at a downward starting point, sending a large, green slash Asta's way, carving the ground as it did so.

The increase in size came with the decrease in speed, evading it would be no problem whatsoever, but Asta had a better idea. Floating a few inches above the air with both hands gripping the Slayer, he spun for some momentum, slamming the flat side against the slash, returning it to its origin.

The sword mage's eyes showed no surprise at the move, he merely crossed his blades together and tanked the attack, the force pushing him into the wall, dust rising.

Yuno landed next to his brother. "Nice one. You think that will finish him?"

"I highly doubt it," was his answer, and he was right as Licht walked out from the cloud, unscathed for the most part, lodging the Dweller for a few seconds to wipe the dust on his attire, retrieving it.

The wind mage narrowed his eyes. "Asta, I have a plan, if it works, we might be able to end this,"

"Do you need me to do anything?"

"I do, I need you to keep his attention off of me,"

"Leave it to me,"

With that, Yuno took off, but he was quickly met with resistance by the elf who flew right in front of him for a second time, preparing to strike, but that's when Asta flew in, pushing him further up in the air; the two were now engaged in an aerial static struggle.

"I want some payback too!" the magicless mage exclaimed, ending the struggle to let loose quick attacks, Licht remained on the defensive before he suddenly weaved behind him, but Asta wouldn't let him, turning his body to meet the attack that would've struck his back. They were engaged in a bind for a second time, but Licht wouldn't let it go on as he kicked the boy's gut, sending him down to the ground.

"Crap! Yuno, that plan of yours ready?!"

"It is, thanks!" he replied, flying in a circle at top speed around the sword mage, creating a blustering tornado. "Wind Spirit Binding Magic - Mana Zone: Liable Tempest!" he employed an upgraded version of the spell used against the solar mage, wrapping Licht tightly.

Landing next to Asta, Yuno looked at him. "He's defenseless, give it everything you got,"

"I always do," the swordsman cracked the floor beneath as he ascended. "Anti-Magic: Black Meteorite!" he cried out, hitting him directly. "There we go!"

"Asta, watch out!" he heard Yuno yell.

"Watch out? For-," he got his answer in a painful way. Somehow, Licht had appeared above him, striking his back like he had intended earlier, shooting Asta into the ground, a large dust cloud rising. That wasn't it as he dropped into the cloud as well.

Asta was currently on all fours, coughing. "How did he get out of Yuno's spell?" he didn't have time to ponder on it as Licht came in and kicked him in the stomach, pushing him out of the cloud as he stopped his movement. With the dust still up, he was unable to see the elf, but that changed as Licht cleared it away with a quintet of stronger slashes.

From where Yuno was, he saw how his rival tried to defend himself, but failed by the fourth slash. "Wind Creation Magic: Spirit-Amped Swift White Bow!" he constructed a large bow and set of arrows, closing an eye to aim, but a problem arose as the two swordsmen kept moving around. He couldn't tell Asta to back away either, it would only compromise his intentions, however, that would no longer be a thing to worry about as Licht suddenly appeared right in front of him.

"Crap," he muttered, dissipating the weapon to flip away from him, but it was futile as the elven leader already found himself behind the teen, kicking him into Asta. Both boys were on their way into a wall, but they slowed themselves in time, the spirit user at a higher spot than the devil user.

"Hey, do you have any idea how he got out of your bindings?"

"No clue. If I had to guess, he must've done that thing again where he moves faster than we can perceive to free himself," he replied. "I'm out of ideas,"

"That's okay, we just have to push past our limits, and then the strength we need will come to us!"

"You don't actually think that's going to work, do you?"

"Of course I do!"

While the two were going back and forth, Licht began concentrating magic into the Dweller, doing another big slash like before, but it was bigger and was moving considerably faster, catching them off guard. Yuno quickly flew out of its range, but Asta wasn't as fast, forcing him to use the Slayer to contend with it, attempting to deflect it like he had before.

"Hold on, I'll help you!" the wind mage tried to assist him, but Licht came in and dropkicked him.

The swordsman grunted loudly, the force coming from the attack was like nothing he ever felt before, he could feel his arms buckling against the pressure. "N-No, I can't give up, I won't give up!" he yelled to himself, but it wasn't enough, and he was sent flying through multiple layers of walls, but despite the speed he was going, Licht knew where he was, delivering a powerful kick from above.

The next thing Asta knew, he fell into a large body of water located at a far corner of the room, his transforming undoing itself, the Slayer no longer in his grasp. "No, c'mon body, don't give out on me now! We have to keep fighting, please, listen to me!"

Rhya approached the body of water, gazing at Licht who was floating above it, his eyes falling back down. "Looks like that's one down, granted, somewhere is going to have to head down there to get his grimoire, and it sure as hell isn't going to me,"

"You bastard! You'll pay for that!" he then heard Yuno scream furiously. Turning around, he saw the royal knight coming at top speed. "Wind Magic: Crescent Moon Sickle!"

The sword mage weaved around it, making the boy grit his teeth. "Fine, was none of that enough for you?! Chew on this, Wind Spirit Magic: Spirit Storm!" he focused mana into his left hand, firing the beam.

Like before, the elf brought up the Dweller to tank it, but there was significantly more effort on his part to not get pushed. "AHHHH!" Yuno screamed, adding more power, the area feeling the effect as the walls nearby started to crumble.

However, as his blast came to an end, Licht was still standing, the Dweller once more charged with green magic, and he used it by firing three amplified slashes.

"Wind Magic: Spirit-Amped Towering Tornado!" Yuno turned to his first spell to provide defense, and for the most part, it worked, dissipating after the third slash.

"Nice," he praised himself, but the praise was premature as Licht appeared right behind him. The wind mage turned to defend himself, but his opponent was faster, crossing his swords in front of him before flying forward at top speed, taking the boy with him, slamming him through the walls until they were outside, their auras glowing brighter in contrast to the nightly surroundings.

And because of that fact, they weren't unseen. "What the hell is that?" Kenos pointed, those who were with him following his finger, spotting the glowing figures.

"Whoever they are, they have those same auras as Luck and Rama," Noelle said.

The solar mage narrowed his eyes. "If that's the case, then it's a pair of elves. But from the looks of it, they seem to be fighting each other. What's going on?"

Returning to the fight at hand, Licht swiped up with the mystery sword, cutting a bit of Yuno's hair off, he responded with another blast, this time, at point-blank range. The elf made a response of his own, crossing his blades together, the beam pushing him higher into the sky, but once it fizzled out, he sent out numerous slashes.

"Not yet," the wind mage evaded them.

"Hm, I'll give that one to you, kid, nice moves," Rhya thought, even though he couldn't see what was happening, he could still sense it.

Meanwhile, Asta lay still in the water. "Is this it for me?"

"Not yet," the knight weaved around another set.

"Even when working together, Yuno and I hardly stood a chance,"

"Not yet,"

"But wait, if I'm here, Yuno is fighting him…alone,"

"Not yet!" the black-haired teen exclaimed, dodging one more flurry before extending his glowing hand. "There's an opening. I've used every move in my arsenal, but there's still one trick I've got up my sleeve! Wind Spirit Magic - Mana Zone: Spirit Storm!"

Rhya's eyes widened. "Shit, I can sense magic building up behind Licht," he thought before yelling at the top of his lungs. "WATCH OUT!"

Yuno was right when he mentioned an opening, having just fired a slash, Licht was in a position where he surely wouldn't be able to retaliate against an attack, especially one coming from the back, but if one would assume that, they'd be dead wrong. The elven swordsman skillfully shifted the Dweller so that the tip would be pointing behind him, allowing him to absorb the spell.

"Oh c'mon," Yuno muttered.

"You will be subdued, but I will give credit where it is due, you are strong. The same can't be said for the other one though," Licht said as he raised his weapon, surprising Yuno as it was the first time he had ever spoken to him, but he pushed that feeling back, instead focusing on what was said.

"You're right, I am strong, but don't underestimate what he's capable of, because…,"

"That's right, I can't stay here, if I do, that sword guy will kill him, and I won't let that happen, because…," he gripped the Slayer as he burst out of the water, transformed.

Rhya was shocked by this. "What? How can he still fight?" he wondered aloud as the magicless mage flew out of the hole, zooming up at top speed.

The other Royal Knights were able to witness the black streak. "Now there's someone I recognize," Kenos commented with a grin.

Reaching the spot he needed to be, the ash-blond reeled his sword back for the last time that fight. "...Yuno is my…,"

At the same time, his brother flew up beside him. "...Asta is my…,"

Then, both of them thought back to the same day, the day they made their promise to one another with a fist-bump, the day that began their journeys that cultivated into this moment.

"...RIVAL!"

With a unified, triumphant cry, they managed to not only parry his attack, but disarm him of the mystery sword, said sword entering Asta's sight. "I can't let him take it back," he grabbed a hold of it.

However, no matter how hard they had fought, it didn't matter; Licht revealed the Dweller, pointing it straight at them, it had the same look as when he concentrated magic into it for the grand slash. "You lose," were his final words to them as he fired something, not a slash this time, but a beam, his enemies unable to block it.

Mimosa was staring at the hole that led outside. "I hope they're okay," she muttered to herself, but just as she finished, wind began encasing her akin to a barrier. "What's happening?"

She would get her answer a second later as the hole burst apart, Asta and Yuno now visible, attempting to fight back against the power.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The beam went in through one opening of the base and came out from another one, igniting the space around, boiling the water beneath, and completely incinerating the trees and other plant life in its vicinity. The royal knights employed defense spells to protect themselves.

As for the two rivals, they were lying unconscious right next to each other, their transformations having come undone, Bell was also knocked out, lying by her partner's shoulder. And with neither teen responsive, none could see the mystery sword entering Asta's grimoire, changing from its pristine white to the familiar rusty gray and black, however…that wasn't as important as the fact at hand.

They had lost.