I do not own Black Clover or any of its characters.
Salamander
"I have no intention of dying today." He formed his armor from the floor as he walked. "Raya."
Raya vanished, possessing his armor, and he formed a pair of Light Swords. Then, he and Raya exploded out of the castle, racing toward Fana and Salamander. Salamander roared in greeting to Raya, and several Midnight Sun Mages moved to intercept him, only for Dane and Raya to slash their way through them in an instant.
"It's you," Fana said. "You were one of the ones who helped the Anti-Magic boy kill Vetto."
"Yes, I am," Dane said.
"Hello Salamander," Raya greeted. "It's been a while since we've faced off like this."
Salamander roared, agreeing with her and commenting on her decreased power.
"I still haven't recovered fully since fighting Vetto," Raya agreed. "And even then, the rest of my missing power is a small price to pay for keeping Dane alive."
Salamander roared one final time before the fight began. He was expressing his condolences for Raya's wasted efforts. For Dane's death. Then, the fight began. Salamander roared, unleashing his Salamander's Breath, a massive blast of flames that now that he'd stored up mana, was as tall as Dane was. However, Raya had never once lost to Salamander. Salamander was simply too slow for her. Case and point, as Salamander fired his blast, Dane and Raya flashed around the blast and shot forward, immediately tearing into Salamander's underside. Salamander roared and thrashed, contorting and striking at them with his second most powerful attack, Salamander's Talon, which sent out three horrifyingly powerful arcs of flames, but again, Dane and Raya had no problem avoiding it, tearing into Salamander yet again.
"No!" Fana shrieked. "Stop him! Kill them! I hate you all!"
"Just shut up!" Dane roared, flipping over Salamander and Fana and forming his swords into a massive hammer, slamming a blow down into them and sending them exploding into the ground together.
"That Vetto guy," Asta spoke up, he and the others having finished with the Eye of the Midnight Sun's grunts already, "he had it out for us too. And he was full of despair, too. Tell me, what did we ever do to you? Help me understand you!"
Fana lay motionless for a moment before the Mage Stone in her forehead shattered, her Third Eye opening. "You! How could anyone trust your kind!"
Instantly, dark red clouds began to form above them, rapidly throwing the forest into darkness. Dane narrowed his eyes, switching his hammer for swords again. They'd deal damage to Salamander, but he'd instantly heal any injury by expending mana, even if Asta landed the blow. They'd have to take down Fana to stop him. Suddenly, crystals began to erupt from below Fana, and Dane narrowed his eyes.
"There's so much hatred in me!" Fana shouted. "Do you really think you'll be able to withstand it all!?"
Salamander began to grow as he rose back into the air, transforming into a true dragon as groups of crystals began to form in the air around Fana, who was wrapped in a massive bonfire. As her raw mana began to rage around her, Dane narrowed his eyes against the wind it kicked up.
"So not only has it gotten bigger, now it's using a new power, too?" Vanessa asked.
"No," Dane said, floating down next to the others. "The crystals are Fana. Her magic is the same as Mars from the Diamond Kingdom. Fire Magic and Crystal Magic. Except, her Fire is stronger, and her Crystal is weaker. It's the opposite of Mars. I'm going. Asta, you'll need to back me up."
Then, Dane exploded off of the ground, streaking up at Salamander, who moved to meet his and Raya's charge. Except, before they could get close, they slammed into a wall of heat like a wall, strong enough to throw them backward. Dane swore, flipping out of Salamander's way, and narrowed his eyes.
"We can't get close," Raya said seriously. "That's not good. I usually fight him from range when he's this strong."
"It's fine," Dane said. "Yours isn't the only magic in our arsenal right now." He dropped tot he ground again, pulling from the ground to make Raya a set of arms to hold their swords and freeing his own arms up for his own magic. "She made a mistake forming those crystals. They're mine."
"We'll need a lot of speed," Raya warned.
"Finral," Dane said. "Raya and I need to fly in a straight line. Like with Vetto."
"No can do," Finral said. "She used her insane amount of magic power to generate a mana forcefield. "I'm having trouble forming my portals." He demonstrated, but the portal closed again in seconds, after taking nearly three to form at all.
"And the second I extend my threads they just burn right up," Vanessa said. "This girl is untouchable."
"Hardly," Dane snorted. "Asta, we're going."
"Right!" Asta nodded, then grimaced. "Here she comes!"
"Water Creation Magic, Sea Dragon's Cradle!" Noelle called out, forming the barrier with less than a second to spare, Salamander crashing into it and stopping. "What are you four doing!? Good thing I'm here!"
"Perfect timing!" Asta, Vanessa, and Finral said.
"Noelle," Dane growled. "YOU IDIOT! I need to touch the ground to use my magic, and you've got me floating in the air in this thing!"
Noelle blanched. "Uh, sorry?"
Dane sighed heavily, looking back at Fana. "Asta and I can win, I just need to bring my ammunition with me. Asta, focus on Salamander before dealing with Fana. He's more dangerous than she is."
"But, Noelle's here, and water beats fire!" Asta said.
"Yeah, I'll just knock this out real quick," Noelle said.
"You mean you haven't noticed?" Dane asked, Raya flying them to the bottom of the barrier. "He's boiling your water."
"Huh!?" the other four shouted, realizing he was right.
"Now, Flame Creation Magic, Salamander's Talon!" Fana chanted as Salamander's arm pulled back.
"Transmutation Magic," Dane chanted, driving his arm through the boiling barrier to reach the ground, "Ultimate Shield!"
A massive dome of Diamond Metal slammed closed around them less than a second before Salamander's attack exploded into it. The metal began to glow where Salamander was instantly, and in the trails his strike had formed, beginning to deform there.
"This won't hold!" Dane warned, forming a pair of brooms. "Asta, with Finral, be ready to jump! Noelle, with Vanessa! Opening shot's yours!"
Then, he opened them a hole and the two groups took off. Dane narrowed his eyes, looking up at the metal, which was about to give way.
"Pathetic vermin," Dane growled. "Raya, are you ready to finish it?"
"Yes," Raya agreed. "Let's kick Salamander's ass."
Dane smirked, then dropped into the ground a second before the dome melted, splashing down where he'd been. And then, a moment later, Noelle's Sea Dragon's Roar slammed into Salamander from behind, dragging him high into the air. Then, as it burst apart, Salamander began to fall, not defeated, but unconscious. Dane rose from the ground, Raya separating from him just as the ground came alive, exploding upward in a massive tidal wave of liquid stone.
"Hey, flame lady!" Asta shouted. "Do you have a brother who's incredibly pale, has really spiky hair, and looks like he's never smiled before!?"
"Idiot," Dane growled. "He's not her brother. Raya, finish off Salamander. I'll deal with her."
"Right!" Raya nodded.
"Cause if so, he's approaching from the far end of the Forest!" Asta continued shouting.
"I don't know...that person!" Fana said, seeming to be unfocused. "And if I were to claim any siblings...it would be Licht and the other villagers! You must be taught a lesson, filthy humans! I will kill every last one of you!"
"Now!" Dane roared.
Raya took off, flashing across the distance in a split second, just as Vanessa used her threads like a slingshot, with Finral as the other end, to launch Asta at Salamander. Salamander roared, wings pulling back to evade Asta, only for Raya to flash up his front, spinning in a blur, and stopping him from moving. And a second later, Asta's two swords plunged into Salamander's gut, then blasted him into pieces, punching through entirely.
"Bull Thurst!" Asta shouted.
Raya flashed down, catching him, and he resolutely refused to look up at her, since she was in her true form.
"Now die!" Dane roared, flipping off of the front of his truly enormous mass of stone and keeping contact just long enough to transform it into a massive, Diamond Metal fist and send it exploding down into Fana.
With a thundering crash the fist exploded into the ground, shattering it. But as Dane landed on it, it broke apart in seconds into dust. Fana lay on the ground, unconscious, but Salamander's upper half stood behind her, snarling protectively. Dane raised his hands to show he meant no further harm, and Raya landed at Dane's side.
"It's alright, Salamander," Raya said. "He just wants to borrow her Grimoire for a moment to copy her Recovery Magic."
Salamander growled, but lowered his head slightly in a nod. Dane knelt, placing a hand to the ground, and a tendril of liquid stone extended from the ground, moving slow enough not to risk Salamander thinking it was an attack. It wrapped around her Grimoire, pulling it back to him, and he began to rifle through the pages quickly.
"I only have a few seconds before she wakes up," Dane warned.
"It's over!" Asta shouted. "Good, because if she kept fighting, her friends and family would have been sad if she got hurt."
"You filthy humans!" Fana roared instantly, the Grimoire flashing and warping back to her as she shoved herself up, her mana raging around her again as Salamander roared.
"Damnit, Asta!" Dane snapped. "I only needed a few fucking seconds! And stop fucking talking about her friends! Have you noticed that every fucking time you mention them she gets pissed!? Take a fucking hint!"
"Sorry!" Asta squeaked.
"Don't you dare speak of my friends!" Fana exploded.
Salamander began to charge another blast of Salamander's breath, a massive bonfire roaring around him, and Dane grit his teeth.
"Fine, then," Dane growled. "I'll just finish him first!" He dropped, setting his hands on the ground, only to stop. "Well, well. Look who decided to drop in."
"Asta!" Fanzell shouted from above.
"Old man Zell!?" Asta asked.
"Mars!" Dane called up to him with a smirk. "Long time no see! Get down here and let me see your Grimoire!"
"He's not going to just hand it over!" Noelle shrieked. "Wait, why is he with Zell?"
Just then, Salamander fired at Asta.
"Bounce it over here!" Zell thundered.
"Don't see why, but sure!" Asta shouted, batting the fireball up at him with his larger sword.
Then, Zell used his Wind Magic to throw himself and Mars out of the way, allowing the fireball to explode into the Diamond Kingdom General pursuing them. The general screamed in agony, his whole body rapidly charring before he plummeted to the ground, still burning.
"Everyone okay?" Zell asked.
Mars landed beside Dane. "Why do you want to see my Grimoire?"
"I have a Magic Tool to copy a single spell and let me cast it," Dane said. "I want your Phoenix Robe."
Mars nodded, and opened his Grimoire, flipping to the correct page and passing it to Dane.
"Thanks," Dane smiled, holding the crystal in his bracer toward the page.
A moment later, as he activated the stone, the script from the page shone from the face of the crystal as well, then faded.
"Thanks," Dane smiled.
"He just handed it over!?" Noelle shrieked.
"Wait a minute, I wanna know why you're with Frosty, here!" Asta shrieked, pointing at Mars.
"I see, so I can choose to replace the spell if I want," Dane said, inspecting the bracer. "Nifty."
"Asta, isn't it?" Mars asked. "You and I are not enemies. Trust me."
"How can I trust a scary-looking face like that!? Asta demanded.
"By the way, the name's Mars, pipsqueak," Mars reminded him.
"Now you're just bein' rude!" Asta snapped.
"Mars," Dane said. "You know her, right? Can you bring her back to herself? Whatever that third Eye is, unless I'm mistaken and she already had it, it seems to have blocked her memories and made her forget who she is, or that she's even human in the first place. Since you know her, I'll give you the chance to save her. But if you can't get her to stop being our enemy, I'm killing her."
"Understood," Mars nodded. "But who is-" he froze as Fana finally straightened up, only to likewise freeze as she saw him. "It's Fana!" He stared in shock for another moment before seeming to snap. "FANA!" He ran forward, only for Asta to catch him. "It's me, remember!? Please, tell me you still recognize me!"
"Wait a second!" Asta grunted, struggling to hold Mars back. "If you get any closer, she's gonna burn you to a crisp! What's gotten into you!?"
"I'm your friend!" Mars shouted, not listening to Asta at all.
Fana grunted in pain, holding a hand to her head.
"Come on!" Mars pleaded. "Talk to me! Fana!"
"Fana!" Fanzell breathed. "I know that girl! I taught her! I heard she died a while back, during one of Morris's human experiments!"
"Fana!" Mars shrieked.
"From what intel I could gather on Mars after I fought him, it wasn't just some experiment," Dane said. "Groups of children were forced to fight to the death, and the winners became Mage Knights like Mars. I think she was in Mars's group. As desperate as he is to save her, they were close, so he probably didn't fight her willingly, but for whatever reason, he killed her, or at least thought he did, and the trauma was what caused the memory loss he was suffering from the last time we met."
"How do you know all of that!?" Noelle asked.
"Because I had Yami gather what information on the Diamond Kingdom's Mage Stone experiments he could as a favor, and I'm intimately familiar with trauma," Dane said darkly.
"Including repressed memories?" Vanessa asked cautiously.
"Yeah," Dane nodded. "I repressed what happened to my parents, what actually happened to them, for about three years, until one of the villagers...reminded me."
"I'm sorry," Vanessa said.
"It's fine," Dane said.
Get away from me!" Fana finally shouted. "I don't know who you are!"
Salamander roared, firing a blast of Salamander's Breath, only for Dane to slam a hand into the ground, a thick, triangular wall of Diamond Metal bursting from the ground in front of Mars and deflecting the blast into the air. Dane narrowed his eyes, staring at Fana. There was a dark, malicious mana emanating from her Third Eye, now, and her hair was being blown around furiously in the wind from the blast. As a result, Dane had a clear view of her ears for the first time.
"Elf ears?" Dane breathed, then shook his head. "Raya, you ready?"
"What...is this?" Fana groaned. "My head hurts!"
"What's wrong!?" Mars called out, worriedly.
"You're all in my way!" Fana snarled, floating into the air before Salamander as her Third Eye began to radiate power more thickly. "You always are! I hate you!"
Then, Suddenly, Salamander began to transform, his body becoming flames and expanding into a massive fireball with a dragon's head and wings, more than three full-grown men in height and surrounding Fana.
"What?" Raya breathed. "What is this? Is he going to explode?"
"Crap!" Finral shrieked. "More self-destructing!? Why do all these Midnight Sun people think that's the solution to everything!?"
"Whatever's going on, this is bad," Dane said. "Asta, you have to take Salamander down on your next strike."
"If we don't do something quickly, then this entire area will be blown sky-high!" Vanessa said.
"Are you ready, Asta?" Dane asked.
"Yeah!" Asta nodded.
"Everything must be destroyed!" Fana snarled, just as a barrage of Salamander's Breath blasts burst out of the fireball Salamander had become.
"Oh shit!" Dane swore.
Asta slashed three heading for him, Noelle used her magic to block three, and three slammed into Mars directly.
"Mars!" Dane shouted.
"Are you seriously just gonna let her kill you!?" Asta shouted.
"Use your magic to block!" Fanzell shouted.
"No, Master!" Mars shouted back. "I have no right to live! I killed Fana, and so I should die!"
Asta slapped him hard, knocking him to the side.
"Hey!" Mars blinked in surprise.
"There's no time for dumb stuff like that!" Asta shouted. "Do you wanna die!? I don't understand all the detail, but are you sure that girl is your friend?"
Mars grit his teeth.
"She's working with the Eye of the Midnight Sun!" Asta snapped. "She's got three eyes! Maybe you're confused!"
"I'd never mistake anyone for her!" Mars snapped, grabbing Asta by the collar. "She's my dear friend, always has been!"
"Then you need to focus, Mars!" Dane said. "I told you already, if you can't save her, I have to kill her! If you want to die, you're welcome to it after, but if you don't want to watch her die again, then you'll have to help me stop her!"
"If she's your friend then that means you have even more reason not to die!" Asta shouted, pressing his forehead to Mars's to shout in his face. "Just live! Then you can save her for good!"
"You're right," Mars sighed, releasing Asta. "I'm sorry."
"Well that didn't take much," Asta blinked in surprise.
"Hey, Mars," Dane said. "You remember what happens when your magic and mine are competing. Wanna see what we can do when they work together?"
Mars looked over at him, then nodded.
"With my Thread Magic and Finral's Spacial Magic, we are powerless against her!" Vanessa warned. "And a jolt from Noelle's Water Magic might set off the explosion!"
"Asta, Mars and I will deal with Fana herself," Dane said, stepping up beside Mars. "You deal with Salamander. Only your Anti-Magic can safely deal with him now."
"Alright, you big lizard!" Asta shouted. "Come on and get some!"
"When I fought that big hairy guy, my strength alone wasn't enough," Asta warned.
"When we were kids, I killed my best friend," Mars said. "But..."
"This time," Asta growled.
"We won't fail!" both shouted together.
As one, all three charged.
"I'm warning you!" Fana shouted. "Stay back!"
A barrage of fireballs burst out of Salamander again, Asta beginning to slash them rapidly.
"Mineral Magic, Laevatein!" Mars shouted, his massive sword forming and beginning to block the fireballs.
Despite their cooperation, however, fireballs began to get through quickly.
"Raya!" Dane said.
Raya flashed and vanished, and a moment later, Mars's sword was shining with Raya's Light Magic and its speed was multiplied. Mars's grunted in surprise, then grinned, easily slashing through all of the fireballs, not letting a single one through.
"I had no idea you had Light Magic," Mars said. "Thanks for the boost!"
Just then, Asta and Mars's clothes ignited, both shouting in pain.
"Perfect timing!" Dane grinned, raising his left arm. "Flame Recovery Magic, Phoenix Robe!"
In an instant, Asta and Mars were both wrapped in Dane's flames, a wing-like protrusion extending off of each as the minor burns they'd both gained began to fade. Asta cheered and began to walk forward, having to fight through the force of the heat, which began to burn him despite the Phoenix Robe, though it continuously healed him, Salamander's heat and Dane's magic fighting to overpower each other. Dane narrowed his eyes as he supplied the spell a constant stream of mana. It wasn't as draining as he'd been afraid, and he could feel that the spell could be placed in stand-by if there were no injuries. It was more useful than he'd expected.
He frowned as Salamander began to swell even more. They were running out of time. He launched himself to Mars's sword, slamming his hand into it. In a wave starting from his hand, it rapidly transformed into Diamond Metal before Dane dropped to the ground,gritting his teeth as his armor began to heat up.
"Mars, use your sword to push Asta!" Dane shouted.
"Right!" Mars nodded. "Asta!"
The sword swept forward, and Asta leapt onto its broad side just as it raced forward, its speed and the force of Salamander's heat keeping him against the sword. More of that sinister magic began to rage from Fana's Third Eye, and Dane growled in irritation as Salamander's heat began to increase still further.
"It's all over!" Fana shouted.
"No it isn't!" Asta shouted. "Not yet!"
Mars swung his sword, flinging Asta at Fana.
"We won't let it be!" Asta shouted, slashing Salamander down the front.
Salamander roared, parting down the middle, then vanishing in a second. As Fana fell, Dane slammed his hands into the ground.
"Transmutation Magic, Binding Chains!"
Thick, Diamond Metal chains lashed out of the ground, coiling around Fana and yanking her to the ground, more and more chains binding her and suppressing her magic. Then, just as he mana spiked and flames began to rage around her regardless of Dane's Binding Spell, Mars had reached her, pulling her into a hug.
"Fana, it's me, remember!?" Mars shouted over the roar of the flames as Dane retracted the chains. "I'm so sorry! I didn't have the strength to fight beside you back then! But please, forgive me!"
Fana began to scream, thrashing, but Mars wouldn't let go, even as her raw power began to burn him from direct contact, even through Dane's Phoenix Robe.
"Now that I've found you again in the outside world, let's keep our promise! Okay?" Mars pleaded. "Let us explore together!"
Fana's flames exploded into the air in a massive column, raging for a few seconds, then went out in an instant. Mars pulled back from the hug, watching as Fana's third eye seemed to break apart and vanish. Above them, the clouds finally began to part, clearing the sky and letting the sun in once again. Finally, Fana smiled.
"We said we would, so...let's go," Fana smiled.
Tears began to roll down Mars's cheeks as he smiled. "Right. Fana."
"What's wrong?" Fana asked, only for Mars to hug her again. After a moment of surprise, she returned the hug, closing her eyes and smiling.
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