I do not own Black Clover or any of its characters.

Kidnapping

"I can't believe you went through all of that," Charmy said, currently in her adult form by way of a cotton bracelet around her right wrist, though she, Dane, and Vanessa were currently sitting in the common room getting ready to eat. "That explains a lot."

"Yeah," Dane said. "I'm sorry. I wish I wasn't as...broken."

Charmy shook her head. "You're not broken. You're just used to being surrounded by hate and awful people. You just need time to adjust and get comfortable."

Dane smiled wryly. "You have so much faith in me."

"Of course I do," Charmy smiled. "I have to switch back, but before I do..." She leaned forward, kissing him for a few seconds before pulling back and reverting to her child form. "Now, let's eat!"

Dane smiled, nodding, and the three of them dug into the feast her sheep had prepared for them while Dane told her his past. It had, unsurprisingly, made the rounds long before they'd finished their private time that the three of them were together, but aside from the initial outrage born of Charmy's usual appearance, Charmy had demonstrated that she could make herself an adult, though only for brief spans of time. After she had cleared his name of any possible, extremely illegal and immoral accusations, everyone had more or less accepted the fact that she, Dane, and Vanessa were together fairly quickly. And Luck had promised to carefully let Dane exercise his impulses in between missions if the need arose, with Yami promising to oversee the fights when he could in case Dane slipped and needed him to step in.

"I wonder what the next mission will be," Vanessa mused as she poured herself and Dane another glass of wine.

"I wonder when you and I are finally going to switch to real alcohol," Dane said. "Getting wine drunk is...tiring."

Vanessa grinned. "Would you like me to mix you something?"

Dane considered for a moment, then nodded. Vanessa took his glass to the kitchen for a few minutes, then returned with a colorful drink that, when he took a sip, was surprisingly fruity.

"What is this?" Dane asked.

"It's a secret," Vanessa smirked. "Question, though, how did you not get a star for wiping out more than half of those corpses and also taking down almost the entire group of enemy mages alone?"

"Because I'm a psychopath and no one wants me to be a high rank until I can control myself, which will be never," Dane said simply. "It's fine. I don't want to be high rank. If I'm high rank, I can't go out on missions to vent."

"That's fair," Vanessa nodded.

"Hey, Dane," Yami said, walking into the room.

"Yes, Captain?" Dane asked.

"Something's going on in Nean," Yami said. "Apparently it's started to snow there."

"Snow?" Dane frowned. "How do you know that?"

"Don't ask questions," Yami said. "Take a broom and head over there. Gauche is there, and according to Magna, Asta had him give him a ride there. It'd be bad enough if Asta ran into Gauche's sister and Gauche blew it out of proportion, but on top of that, it's snowing out of season. I have a bad feeling, so I'm sending you to check it out. If it comes to a fight, try not to kill anyone."

"I'll do my best, Captain," Dane nodded, standing. "I'll see you guys in a while."

Vanessa and Charmy both nodded, Charmy stuffing several types of food into Dane's pockets for him. He smiled, kissing her on the top of her head, then walked outside, summoning Fei and taking off toward Nean. As he flew, however, he sighed.

"Might as well get this over with while I'm alone," he sighed, holding his arm out to the side. "Raya."

Raya appeared in her usual, blinding light before immediately sweeping Dane off of Fei and into an aerial hug. "Congratulations!"

"Wait, you're proud?" Dane asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Of course!" Raya beamed, setting him back on Fei's back and landing ahead of him, facing him, neither caring that she was still in her true form. "Charmy's a much better choice than Vanessa! And while I wish you'd stop seeing Vanessa, I'm happy you're at least keeping yourself clean afterward."

Dane rolled his eyes. "Yes, because washing up after is the most important thing."

"Hey, being clean is always a requirement!" Raya said sternly, then smiled widely, ruffling his hair. "Aw. My little manwhore. So, you going to go all the way and get a full harem, or just stick with the two of them?"

"Seriously?" Dane asked.

Raya laughed. "I'm just asking."

"Please don't," Dane groaned. "It's bad enough I'm risking my impulses with two people."

Raya sighed, nodding. "Don't worry. If you ever cross a line or start to slip, I'll stop you."

"Thank you," Dane smiled. "Now if you could just erase my trauma, I'd be all set."

Raya's expression fell. "I'm sorry. That's beyond even me."

"I know," Dane nodded. "Hey, I've been meaning to ask you a question. What spirit did Mom summon that she couldn't control?"

"Oh, that," Raya said. "That gloomy bitch, Kali."

"The Spirit of Shadow, huh?" Dane frowned. "Why couldn't she control her?"

"Because Kali is like you, but without the goodness," Raya explained. "She's all murderous impulse and zero control. She enjoys fighting and killing, and she's even stronger than me. I tried to help your mother get her back under control, but in the end, we weren't strong enough, so Yami and I fought her together and defeated her."

"Yami said he killed her," Dane said.

Raya shook her head. "Dying isn't the same for Kali and I as it is for other spirits or for humans. If we die, we come back after a while, because there will always be light and there will always be shadow. As long as there's magic in the world, we'll exist. But, that being said, if I died, even though I'll come back, you'd still die with me, but you wouldn't come back."

Dane nodded. "I understand." He looked past her and frowned. "It really is snowing in Nean. I can sense magic in it, too. You'd better go."

Raya nodded. "It's alright for you to let me see you fight, you know. I know what you're like. Our souls are fused. I know you better than you know yourself."

"I know," Dane said. "But I still don't want you to see me like that."

Raya nodded and hugged Dane before vanishing. Then, Fei spiraled to the ground, dropping Dane off before also vanishing. Dane looked around, eyes narrowed, then began to walk toward the open area in the center of town, seeing many sets of child-sized footprints in the snow as he walked. However, as he reached the center of town, he stopped just as Asta exploded out of a wall and landed in the snow.

"Asta," Dane said, Asta looking over at him. "Let me guess, Gauche wants to kill you?"

"Yeah, his sister said she wants to marry me and now he's freaking out," Asta sighed.

Dane nodded, looking around. "We have bigger problems."

"Die!" Gauche shouted, firing a beam at Asta out of a mirror, only for Dane to twist his foot, a wall of steel blocking the blast.

"Hey!" a feminine voice snapped. "What are you doing out here!?"

"Sorry!" Asta apologized. "Things got out of hand."

"Nevermind!" the woman, a redhead in a nightgown, said urgently, running over to Asta. "It's the children! They're missing!"

"I saw some footprints from other houses," Asta said. "I don't think it's just you."

Almost on cue, people all over the village began to shout for their children, coming out of their houses as panic began to set in rapidly. However, before they could do anything about it, Gauche began to attack Asta again. Dane sighed, allowing Gauche to deal with things his way and instead turned to the redhead.

"I'm Dane, Asta's squadmate," Dane said. "When was the last time you saw the children?"

"I'm Rebecca," the redhead introduced herself. "I put them to bed last night, barely a few hours ago, but then a few minutes ago, everyone except the baby were missing."

"Can someone please tell me what's wrong with this village!?" Noelle demanded, stepping into view, shivering and wrapping her arms around herself. "I mean, snow? At this time of year? That is just absurd!"

"It's a spell," Dane said, waving a hand dismissively. "Ko."

Ko blazed to life beside Noelle, who hugged herself to him immediately, sighing in relief.

"Hey, Noelle," Asta said, walking over. "What are you doing in Nean? You, too, Dane?"

"Uh, just passing through, seeing the sights, that sort of thing, you know," Noelle lied poorly.

"She's stalking you, I'm here to investigate the snow and make sure Gauche doesn't try to kill you," Dane answered, Noelle shrieking in indignation. "I'm a bit too late on the second one, but..." He shrugged.

"Don't shrug!" Asta yelped. "You can still stop him!"

"Asta, who is this?" Rebecca asked, gesturing at Noelle.

"A friend from the Magic Knights," Asta smiled kindly. "Noelle, this is my friend Rebecca."

"Huh," both women hummed.

"What's wrong?" Asta asked.

"Oh, it's nothing," Noelle lied, then looked around. "Hey, listen. A little while ago, I saw a bunch of kids headed toward the mountains. What was that about? Is there some kind of late-night festival?"

"The kids!" Rebecca gasped.

"I have a festival of blood planned," Gauche said, suddenly behind Asta.

"Enough!" Dane snapped, sliding his foot aside and sending a stone fist into Gauche's face, hurling him backward. "Gauche, if all the children in the village are being drawn toward the mountain, that includes your sister!"

Gauche froze, partway back up, then snarled. "No. My sister would not fall for it so easily."

"That's enough," an elderly nun with a scar down the left side of her face said running over. "He's right. This snow has a spell that controls children, but only those whose magic hasn't set in yet, and Marie is one of them."

"You old crone!" Gauche snarled, running toward her. "You lost Marie!?"

"Enough!" Dane snarled, slamming Gauche to the ground in an arm bar, twisting his arm to the limit of its range of motion to hold him still. "Gauche, you must have a way to track your sister, right? How?"

Gauche glared up at him. "My angelic sister would have kept her magic mirror with her, as I told her to. The snow will interfere with transmission, but we could track the mana in the mirror."

"Good," Dane said. "I'm going to let you up now. If you attack anyone, I'll use you to vent."

Gauche's eyes widened, and he nodded seriously. Dane released him, and Gauche threw himself away from Dane, landing on his feet.

"Enough, you two," Asta said. "We're magic knights. We hafta learn to remain calm."

"Asta, I'm not fighting," Dane said, glaring at him. "I'm as calm as I'm going to get."

"I'll come too," the elderly nun volunteered. "The children's safety is my responsibility."

"Thanks, Sister, but maybe you should just let us handle this," Asta said.

"No, the hag is infuriating, but she does have her uses," Gauche intoned.

"Really?" Asta asked. "But isn't she kind of...old?"

Dane smacked Asta in the back of the head as the nun chuckled.

"I can still teach you youngsters a thing or two," the nun smiled.

Just then, Rebecca fell to her knees. "Asta...Between Marco's immaturity and Luca's stubborn streak, I'm really worried about them. What am I going to do? If anything happens to those two..."

"Hey, get it together!" Asta snapped, chopping her on top of the head. "Ya hear me!?" He stepped back, smiling. "I promise you, I'll bring your brother and sister back. No moping, okay? I don't think they would want that."

"Yeah, you're right," Rebecca smiled, just as Gauche slammed the end of his broom into Asta's head from behind.

Asta instinctively grabbed it, and Gauche lifted into the air, Asta shrieking in fear as he dangled from the end of the broom.

"Let's go now," Gauche said.

"You're not going to leave me behind, are you!?" Noelle shrieked.

"Yes," Dane said, extending an arm. "Fei."

Fei appeared beside him, and Dane hopped on, Fei instantly lifting into the air.

"You can't fly on your own, either," Gauche reminded her. "You want to be a dangler like him?"

"I could ride on Fei!" Noelle snapped.

"There's always the chance the village could be attacked again while we're gone," the nun reminded Noelle. "Please stay here and look after it for me."

Then, they all turned, flying away from the village rapidly, Rebecca calling after them to tell Asta, and only him, that they were counting on him. The trip was silent and shorter than Dane was expecting. After barely a couple of minutes, they spotted a mountain where a half-dozen tunnels led inside of it. And lying at the base of one of them was a young boy. Asta asked for Gauche to drop him off, but Gauche refused, so Asta let go, only for Fei to catch him. Fei landed beside the young boy, dropping off Asta, and Dane dropped down beside him as the nun landed next to them, Gauche heading inside the mountain alone.

"Marco!" Asta said as the nun lifted him gently.

"He's covered in scrapes and frostbitten, too," the nun said.

"Marco, can you hear me?" Asta asked.

"It's no use," the nun said. "He's in some kind of trance."

"Alright!" Asta said, drawing his first Anti-Magic Sword. "Just leave it to me!"

"Wait, what are you going to do!?" the nun asked, trembling at the sight of the sword, only for Asta to gently tap the guard against Marco's head.

After a moment, Marco blinked, looking around. "Hold on, what? Asta? Sister?" he stared at Dane. "Who are you?" He looked to Fei, eyes widening. "A dragon!" Then, he winced, then began to cry, clutching at himself. "It hurts so much!"

"Hold on," the nun said, opening her Grimoire. "Flame Healing Magic, Sacred Healing Light."

A dozen candles appeared around Marco, and as the light shone on him, he began to steam, his scrapes sealing and the frostbite fading.

"Thank you," Marco smiled. "I'm a lot warmer now."

"That's amazing, Granny," Asta smiled. "You can use healing magic?"

"Fei, stay here and be ready to take him home, then come back," Dane instructed. "I'm going to head inside."

Asta and the nun nodded, and Dane turned, heading into the mountain through the tunnel next to them. He quickly realized that there was a maze of tunnels and formed himself a platform of constantly-shifting stone to ride on, hurtling along the tunnels toward where he could sense a battle unfolding. However, as he finally arrived, it was in time to see Gauche use Mirror Magic Reflect Refrain to slaughter a small army of snowmen. There were two men before Gauche, a younger, slim man in a white jumpsuit with a blue scarf and on the jumpsuit's belt, and with long, silvery hair. The other man was much larger, older, wore a blue jacket and pants, had a pair of glasses with one side of the frames styled like a golden gear, and long, oily, black hair. And beside the two were a pile of children who'd had their magic drained into a massive tank beside the two men.

"I see," Dane growled. "So, this is a magic theft." He flew up to hover beside Gauche. "It looks like the skinny one is the one who kidnapped Marie. I'll handle the bigger of the two."

"Back off!" the larger of the two shouted, grabbing Marie and pulling her loser so he could wrap his arm around her neck. "If you don't, I might squeeze just a little too hard and bruise this delicate peach!"

"So?" Dane asked, dropping to the ground and transforming his platform into a spear.

"What!?" the larger man and Gauche both shouted, though with entirely different tones.

"So what?" Dane asked. "Kill her. As soon as you do, there's nothing between us to stop my friend here from making you suffer. Trust me, the last thing you want is for him to get his hands on you after you hurt her. He'd make you wish for death for months...years, even...before he finally kills you. If you were smart, you'd let her go."

The man hesitated, but before he could react, Dane hurled his spear, grazing the man's face and making him release Marie, who Dane lifted with a tendril of fluid stone, carrying her up to Gauche, who accepted her. As the tendril of stone sank back into the ground, Asta charged into the chamber without his Black Bulls robe, his two swords carving through the snowmen still present. Except, as soon as he had finished, Marie threw her arms around him.

"Asta, you came!" Marie cried.

"Of course I did," Asta said, then shrieked, avoiding a blast from Gauche, who then turned on Dane.

"You idiot!" Gauche snapped. "What were you thinking throwing that spear at my sister!? How dare you say 'So' when he threatened to kill her!?"

"Gauche," Dane said, his voice cold and cruel. "I don't give a fuck about your sister. Remember who you're talking to. You're lucky I didn't kill her first."

Gauche's rage swelled, but as Dane's eyes narrowed in challenge, Gauche calmed himself.

"These children have been completely drained of magic," the nun reported. "It's all been taken, and I don't know if they can ever recover it."

"The big one said something about money," Marie informed them.

"What kind of monsters are you!?" Asta snarled.

Just then, the larger of the two began to laugh, pointing at Asta.

"Hey, this kid!" he cackled. "He's some kind of freak! He doesn't have a scrap of magic in him! I didn't even know that was possible! And look! He's not wearing a robe! That's no Magic Knight! Just some stupid kid! Let's split up, Neige! You take the girl's brother and the other guy! You can handle it with your friends! Meanwhile, I'll see what I can do about this runt over here!"

Asta's strike took less than a second. He leapt across the room in an instant, his larger sword exploding into the larger man's gut and sending him exploding into the wall of the chamber. "You won't get away with this! I will make you pay!"

"Asta," Dane said. "Kill him."

"Huh!?" the bigger one yelped.

"Neige, was it?" Dane continued. "How many friends can you make?"

"A...A million," Neige said.

"Interesting," Dane smiled cruelly. "Let's head outside so you'll have some room. I want to have some fun with you."

"Y-You're insane!" Neige shrieked, only for Gauche to blast Neige in the back, sending him crashing to the ground.

"Damnit, Gauche!" Dane seethed, spinning on him. "You annoying little cockroach! I need to vent!"

"That's not my problem!" Gauche snapped.

"It's about to be!" Dane snarled, only for Marie to run between them. "You think a kid's going to stop me?"

"Enough!" Asta shouted, slashing Dane and sending him bouncing across the chamber. "Vent with Luck later!"

"What's with these guys?" the bigger of the two muttered. He looked around desperately, hi gaze stopping on the stolen magic.

"How could you do something so screwed up!?" Asta demanded, grabbing him by the collar. "You stole their magic! Can you imagine if somebody had taken yours!?"

The man began to cackle. "Except they didn't, now did they? If a bunch of snot-nosed brats lose their magic, that's their problem, not mine!"

"Why you..." Asta raged, throwing a punch.

"Wait, no!" the nun shrieked, only for Asta's punch to miss the man, shattering the wall behind him instead of his face.

"The pain you're in is nothing compared to what you deserve," Asta snarled. "You will find a way to fix this!"

"That's enough," the nun said, walking over. "Don't waste your energy on him. He's not worth the effort." She bound him with her magic. "What's important right now is taking care of the children."

"Hey," Asta snarled, leaning down in his face. "Tell us how to make their magic return."

"Yes, I'll tell you whatever you wanna know!" the man promised. "If you'll just let me go!"

"Oh, you'll tell us," Dane snarled, grabbing Asta by the shoulder and hurling him away. "But you'll do it in exchange for your life."

"Excuse me!?" the nun yelped.

"Goro," Dane said, Goro appearing in front of the man.

"What the hell is that!?" the man shrieked.

"This is Goro," Dane snarled. "He's a friend of mine, who loves to eat anything he can. Goro, if this man doesn't tell us what we want to know, I want you to eat him."

"Sure thing!" Goro said, his tone as bright and friendly as ever.

"You can't just-" the nun began, only for Asta to catch his shoulder.

"Granny," Asta said. "Let Dane handle this."

"You...You wouldn't feed me to that thing!" the man said shakily. "You're a Magic Knight! You can't just kill people!"

"Don't you know?" Dane snorted. "The Black Bulls are made up of psychopaths. But hey, if it's proof of my commitment you need..." He knelt, placing a hand to the ground, and a massive stone hand lifted Neige, carrying him over. "Open wide, Goro."

Goro stretched his mouth open wide, and the man shouted in fear.

"Neige, no!" the man shrieked, only for the hand to release Neige, dropping him into Goro's mouth, Goro immediately swallowing Neige, but letting his screams of terror ring out for a few seconds before closing his mouth. "Neige!"

"Now, then," Dane said, a stone hand lifting the remaining man over Goro, who once again opened his mouth. "Last chance. How do we give the children their magic back? Talk or I drop you!"

"Okay!" the man shrieked. "Okay, I'll talk!"

"Oh, now that just won't do!" a familiar, female voice called out from above.

"Shit," Dane growled. "Her."

He dropped the large man off to the side and Goro vanished. However, no one noticed as they were staring up at the darkness spreading from the ceiling. Then, the same woman who had tried to absorb his spell during the assault on the capital jumped out of the darkness, landing in the mouth of one of the tunnels.

"Asta!" she called out.

"The Eye of the Midnight Sun!" Asta snarled.

"Is that what these losers are called?" Dane asked. "I'll deal with her."

"I didn't expect to see you again so soon!" the woman was still yelling down to Asta. She looked over at the tank and hummed thoughtfully. "I came when the transmission tool alerted me, but he hasn't gathered much magic."

"He's not going to be gathering any more, either," Dane said. "And since you're here, and it's probably your equipment, you're going to tell us how to give it back."

"Why would I do that?" the girl asked. "I don't think I caught your name, either."

"I never gave it," Dane said flatly. "And you'll tell us because if you don't, I'll give you incentive, one broken bone at a time."

"I'm Sally," the girl introduced herself. "You're that one who can control whatever he touches." She looked around. "I'd really rather not fight you here."

"You're the one," Gauche snarled. "My Marie was in danger because of you! You're dead!"

He fired a mana beam at her from his mirror, but she formed a gel salamander to intercept the beam, which was redirected up into the ceiling of the cavern.

"I'm trying to have a touching reunion here, and you two are messing it up!" Sally snapped. "Maybe I should keep all of you. Dissection party!" She sang the last words, but Dane began to walk forward carelessly.

"What sort of sinister magic is that?" the nun asked.

"Be careful," Asta warned. "It's real strong. I heard she blocked the Captain of the Silver Eagles' attack!"

"You want to see sinister?" Dane asked, chuckling darkly. "Watch closely. And kids, cover your eyes."

The children all complied just as Sally leapt into her salamander and exploded forward. Asta leapt up to meet her, but her salamander deformed to let him pass harmlessly, then on the return pass, it separated its head from his body to avoid his blade.

"Silly Asta," Sally laughed. "Your Anti-Magic can't do much if it can't connect!"

"How about this!?" Gauche snarled. "Reflect Refrain!"

His beam shot up at her from a dozen angles at once, but each time it passed into the salamander, it refracted away from Sally.

"Hey, it's nice magic and all, but if it just refracts inside Mister Salaman here, it's not effective!" Sally laughed.

Then, Dane was standing in front of her on a stone pillar. Her eyes went wide as his hand pressed against the salamander almost gently. Then, a split second after she had leapt out of it, the salamander crystalized and stabbed back at her as a dozen spears, Sally only narrowly managing to avoid them all.

"How dare you!?" Sally screamed, landing on the floor of the cavern and reforming her salamander.

"Looks like I won't be venting after all," Dane sighed. "What a shame. I was hoping for a challenge."

Just then, the nun extended a hand, flames building up inside of the salamander.

"Flame Magic, Brilliant Flame Cross!" the nun shouted, the flames exploding into a cross and melting the salamander entirely, though Sally once again escaped.

Then, the nun exploded forward, flames surrounding her fist as she punched at Sally, only narrowly missing her. Dane hummed thoughtfully. She was more powerful than he was expecting.

"You might as well back off!" the nun snapped.

"You two really shouldn't get in my way," Sally warned.

"Hey, thanks!" Asta grinned. "Wow!" You're really powerful, huh!?"

"Don't underestimate Theresa the Crimson She-Leopard!" the nun shouted. "Once a Magic Knight, always a Magic Knight!"

"You were a Magic Knight?" Asta asked. "Crimson She-Leopard? So you know Captain Fuegoleon?"

"Little Fuego?" Theresa asked. "Of course."

"Little Fuego!?" Asta yelped.

"Back when I was stationed at court, I was in charge of his education," Theresa explained. "He was a mess back then, but he turned out alright."

"I don't know if you heard what happened to Captain Fuegoleon, Sister," Asta said. "They, well..."

"Yes, I know," Theresa said. "And we will capture them."

"Think you can help me out, you old bat?" Gauche asked, stuck to the wall off to the side by gel.

"What are you doing over there, you boorish brute?" Theresa demanded.

"Shut up, old crone!" Gauche snapped.

"When did you get caught?" Dane asked.

"Right before you destroyed the first salamander," Gauche said.

"So, it's four against one, then?" Sally mused as Theresa used her magic to free Gauche. "I'm not liking these odds."

"Who asked?" Dane snarled, stalking forward again. "And you don't need to worry about them. I'm your opponent. This will only take a moment."

Sally narrowed her eyes. "Fine. We'll try this."

She turned, running to the man they'd restrained, stabbing a truly massive syringe into the side of his neck, injecting some form of pink fluid. For a moment, the man groaned, but then, all at once, he began to change. He shouted in pain for a moment before mud began to flow out of his mouth, eyes, ears, and nose. And then, the mud flooded up around him, swelling and expanding until it had formed a truly enormous creature from the mud, standing on two legs and beginning to roar and swing around a pair of massive arms. Dane swore, summoning Fei beside the children, and Theresa instantly began to help them onto him, instructing them to hold on tightly.

"I'll deal with this thing," Dane said.

"No," Asta said. "Get Sally, but don't kill her!"

Dane flashed him a glare, then nodded. He turned, glaring at Sally, then drew his sword. "Ko."

Ko's teal flames roared to life along his blade, and Dane exploded off of the floor with the help of a stone pillar. Sally cackled, sending the salamander's legs flashing toward him, but Dane snorted, flipping and slashing, Ko's flames extending the range of his slash, allowing him to sever all of the arms, the severed segments charring. Dane brushed his free hand against one to turn it into a crystal platform for him to land on and a finger from his other hand along another, transforming it into a massive, crystal spear that flashed back at Sally, narrowly missing her. She swore, retreating from him in her Salamander, only for him to race after her on his platform. She sent a dozen spiked, gel tendrils at him, trying to mask her movements through the tunnels, but everything she sent at him, he either slashed, transformed, or avoided. He added spears and stone fists from the walls of the cavern to the endless assault, but still Sally was able to avoid the vast majority of the strikes, a couple of spears grazing her but only lightly.

"You're annoying!" Sally growled. "Just die!"

The salamander lashed out at the tunnels around them, causing a collapse, but Dan chuckled, flying low and brushing the ground, forming himself a mobile ceiling to protect himself. He kept his hand against it, and anything that landed on it joined it, becoming ammunition that he launched forward as a constant stream of spikes. Then, finally, Dane launched himself forward just as Sally was rounding a corner. He slapped his hand into the salamander and she swore, but as she launched herself backward out of it, it turned transparent, bursting apart toward her. Her eyes widened, and Dane grinned before snapping his fingers. An explosion roared along the tunnel, swallowing her entirely. Dane formed a wall of diamond to protect himself, and after a second, he broke the wall apart and followed the tunnel to find her body, only to find that the tunnel emptied out into the main chamber. And just as he reached it, more than a dozen Asta clones ripped into the massive mud creature, destroying it. And there, below Dane, was Sally, who was burned badly and bleeding, but still breathing, albeit unconscious.

"Stubborn little-" he stopped as a blinding light shone from off to the side and agony erupted through his torso.

He stared down at the construct of Light Magic stabbed through his chest. It was a long spear, but there were four arms sticking off of the top and bottom of it, reminding him vaguely of the branch of a pine tree. But it was impossible. He hadn't even sensed another presence until after the strike had found him. No one was that fast.

He pitched forward, plummeting twenty feet to the ground before crashing down hard. He coughed, blood spraying from his lips, and looked toward the blinding light, seeing a pair of silhouettes. Just as he did, more of the same attack sprayed out from one of their hands. Dane felt his body go cold, braced for pain, but it never came. Instead, in less time than it took to blink, Raya was standing before him, a sword of pure light in each hand, having deflected all of the strikes coming toward him. Off to one side, Gauche had one spike through his right shoulder and another through his left thigh. On the other side, however, Asta alone was unharmed by virtue of Teresa standing before him as a shield, having been skewered a dozen times over.

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