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

Selection Test: Part 2

Langris was a freak. Even from hundreds of meters away, he'd used his offensive spatial magic to teleport a section of cliff face, part of a Barrier Spell, and the other team's Magic Crystal into oblivion, winning the match in seconds. The match after them featured a surprise appearance by Rill Boismortier, the Aqua Deer captain, as a competitor. It also was delayed by his doting butler, Walter, spending several minutes thanking Asta for being Rill's first, and only, friend. Rill's Picture Magic was strange, interesting, and terrifyingly powerful. It could turn paint into spells of any attribute he wished, and then would turn back into paint. And the more inspired Rill was feeling, the stronger he became. Dane was interested how he himself would fare against Rill.

After their match, Luck, Klaus, and their plump female teammate front he Blue Rose Squad, Puli, went up against the fastest member of the Silver Eagles, a Wind Magic user named Rob Vitesse. The battle was much more violent than the previous bouts. Both sides had very destructive offensive capabilities, and it showed from the destructive clash they waged against each other. However, in the end, Luck's lust for battle ended up being the deciding factor, because a strike against Vitesse ended up driving both him and Luck's kick into the crystal, shattering it. Then, in the final match, Yuno and Noelle worked with a very scrawny member of the Green Praying Mantis Squad who looked ready to collapse against Solid Silva, Alecdora Sandler of the Golden Dawn Squad, and a member of the Coral Peacocks that Dane didn't know. The fight was beautifully humiliating for Solid's side.

The more senior Magic Knights on Solid's side decided to win in a single strike, planning to capitalize on Noelle's lack of control over her Magic. Yuno managed to stop their initial attack by forcing them to avoid his own, and Noelle blocked the Coral Peacock's counter attack. When Alecdora negated her Sea Dragon's Lair, Noelle and Yuno fled with their crystal, only for Alecdora to try to capture them. They separated, Noelle going for Solid's team's crystal while Yuno defended theirs. Solid chased after Noelle and Alecdora stayed to face Yuno. And then, while their Green Praying Mantis teammate used his Mushroom Magic to deal with their Coral Peacock opponent, Yuno defeated Alecdora's most powerful spell with his Towering Tornado, a simple spell and the same he'd used in his duel during the Magic Knights Entrance Exam, cast inside of Alecdora's own spell. And then, Noelle absolutely demolished Solid and his crystal both with her Sea Dragon's Roar, Solid being too arrogant and too certain of Noelle's weakness that he didn't bother to try to block the spell. And so, Solid ended up being the first genuinely injured mage in the tournament, by the hand of his own arrogance.

Before the next round of matches, Julius had several mages change the layout of the testing grounds. They made a series of mountains, ruins that spread around and inside of the mountains, a waterfall on the largest mountain, and a series of hills and gullies spread around the area. And as that was happening, Charmy ran over to sit in Julius's lap, sharing her snacks with him, Julius laughing and thanking her, seeming more than happy to let her sit with him.

"Mimosa," Dane said as Magna's team walked away. "Crush your brother. And make it humiliating. He's earned it for the way he talks about Asta. Show him who the real human filth is."

"Will you try to recruit him?" Mimosa asked.

"No," Dane shook his head. "I'm going to get Sol and Leopold."

"You think Langris's team is going to beat Leopold and Finral?" Mimosa asked.

"If not, they'll lose the fight after," Dane said. "Asta and Yuno will be the final match."

Mimosa nodded, then left to prepare for her match. It began with Kirsch using the same technique as he'd ended the last battle with straight out of the gate. And then, Asta countered using his unique power to augment his movement and power, spinning himself into a hurricane. From above, the spiraling sea of flower petals was suddenly split but a curving, black trail, like a serpent winding its way through the flower petals. It took only a few moments to clear all of the flower petals, but it was a double-edged sword, because Asta also ended up destroying all of the traps Xerx had placed. However, Asta seemed to convince Xerx to work with them, because he began to set up new traps. On the other side of things, Magna seemed to have broken the news to Kirsch that he was a commoner, also, because Kirsch suddenly took off on his own. However, Kirsch's downfall was, predictably, his arrogance, as was the common theme with nobles, and especially royals, who weren't friends with Asta.

Asta baited Kirsch into cornering him in a cave. Kirsch detected three traps and used his clones to destroy them, and when Asta very poorly acted disheartened by the loss of the traps and that he wished he was as smart as a royal, Kirsch walked into the cave, only to fall into a pitfall trap that they had dug the hard way. And then, Asta jumped into the hole and used his blades to shield himself before knocking Kirsch out, then left his larger sword to hold him down and keep him from being able to use his magic. While that was happening, Mimosa was facing Sol. However, after a few minutes, Sol had captured Mimosa.

Magna found Asta and Xerx, who had the crystal with them, and he and Asta began something akin to a game of baseball, Magna demonstrating a new fireball that vanished before hitting the target and struck as a blast of pure force, rather than as a spell, making it immune to Asta's sword. At least, for a few moments. Then, Asta adapted. He was able to hold Magna off for the most part, but the crystal was taking a beating. And then, Sol had woken up Kirsch and Kirsch rushed to join the fray. But finally, Xerx was ready. He placed a Counter Trap Spell on the crystal itself, redirecting Magna's next fireball at double its strength back at Magna while Asta moved to deal with Kirsch again. Except, as Kirsch prepared to use all his power in a single attack, he was caught by a very basic restraint Trap Spell, trapping his arm. And in the moment that he took to free himself, Asta sprinted up a nearby boulder and leapt off of it, slamming his sword into Kirsch's jaw and once again knocking him out. And then just as Sol burst from the ground and moved to have her golem punch their crystal, the golem froze. Flowery vines began to grow over the golem as Mimosa finally worked a spell Dane had noticed her preparing before she was trapped. It was a slow build up, but it activated just in time, allowing her to take control of the golem entirely. Then, Mimosa forced the golem to expose the crystal in its chest, and a moment later, Asta had destroyed it.

Dane smiled, nodding approvingly. Kirsch was powerful, that much was true, but he was far from someone Dane could ever work with. But Sol he could use. Her golems were a beautiful match for his own magic, and Sol, with the right motivation, would be useful. He stood as the six headed back toward the others. They traveled quickly to get out of what was sure to be a destructive match, but even though Dane wanted to watch Leopold's fight, and watch Finral prove to his brother that he was anything but weak, he needed to recruit Sol. So, as soon as the others had landed, he walked over to them.

"Sol, I need to talk to you for a moment," Dane said.

"Why should I?" Sol asked.

"I have an offer for you that might make Captain Roselei proud," Dane said.

Sol's eyes widened, then narrowed dangerously before following him away from everyone else. "So, what is it?"

"I'm allowed to face whoever wins the rest of the matches as my own chance to join the Royal Knights, but in order to be allowed, I need to have a volunteer team," Dane explained. "I want you and Leopold."

"I have no intention of working with a man so truly disgusting and vile that he has three girlfriends," Sol spat, turning to walk away.

"That's one way to look at it," Dane said. "You could also look at it as maybe I'm not what you think, since three women who've gotten to know me are willing to share me."

Sol stopped, going rigid, then turned, glaring at him.

"How about this then," Dane said. "Haven't I at least earned enough trust and respect for you to fight one tournament battle with me after I waited underwater for Charlotte to cover herself after Yami threw me into your side of the hot spring? If I was as vile as you say, I would have stood up right away and taken the opportunity to see all of you naked. Instead, I respected your privacy enough to allow you all to cover up."

Sol hesitated, then sighed. "One match. That's it."

Dane nodded. "Thank you."

"Why are you so determined to be a Royal Knight?" Sol asked. "You hate the king, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," Dane nodded. "But only the Royal Knights are being sent to face the Eye of the Midnight Sun, and I need to be there."

"Why?" Sol asked.

Dane considered. "You know about my impulses, right?"

"Yes," Sol nodded.

Dane nodded. "I've had them since my magic activated. I couldn't control it, so I accidentally killed my parents. The entire village where I grew up beat me and tried to kill me for it, many times. Not long after my parents, I accidentally killed a bully who went too far. My magic is uniquely powerful. I break things down on a molecular level, then reform it according to my will using whatever material is present. I can turn rock into metal at a whim. Or I can turn a human into a tree, or a pretty stain on the wall, like my parents. Or, as I did to the bully on accident, into nothing more than air. It was like he had never been there. My hand pushed against his chest to stop him from punching me and he was just...gone. But that kind of power, wielded by a traumatized child, can very easily create a sense of omnipotence. I realized what I felt was wrong, so I resisted it as best I could, with help from my spirits, who also trained me to control my magic, but the sense of omnipotence transformed into my impulses.

"I spent my entire life struggling to control them, and venting them on the bandits that frequently assaulted my village, which the Magic Knights never cared enough to protect. I was never thanked by my village, and they never stopped trying to kill me, but I protected them. And my impulses never went away. Not until I fought the Eye of the Midnight Sun's leader. Ever since then, my impulses have been more...focused toward threats, genuine ones. People who intend to harm me or the people around me, and those who are especially powerful.

"Every time I've fought the Eye of the Midnight Sun, my impulses have become a bit easier to control. I need to go with the Royal Knights, because I need to fight them. I need to gain complete control of my impulses, and they're the only thing that's ever helped. Until them, even being around the girls who are now my girlfriends was risky. Now, my impulses protect them instead of targeting them."

"So...it's like therapy?" Sol asked.

"In a sense, I suppose," Dane nodded. "I'm hoping that if I can defeat Licht, the one who started the change, or at least help to defeat him, it will cure them. I'm probably wrong, but either way, fighting the Midnight Sun seems to help, so I need to go."

"If that's true, why are your Impulses still acting up?" Sol asked. "You were going to kill that Xerx guy before, weren't you? Until your girlfriend stopped you."

"My impulses are still tied to my anger," Dane explained. "But beyond that, he's got hostile intentions. A lot of them. He doesn't mean to kill anyone here, I don't think, at least not today, but he's definitely not someone I'd call an outright ally."

Sol considered, then nodded. "Alright. Who are the two teams we're most likely to face?"

"Asta and Yuno," Dane said. "It'll be one of them."

Sol sighed. "I kind of agree. We should make a plan."

"I agree," Dane nodded. "We'll need to update it once Leopold agrees, which he definitely will, but for now, at a baseline, I can turn your stone golems into a metal as hard as diamond, like my sword, while leaving them under your control."

Sol's eyes widened before she grinned, nodding. "I can find uses for that."

"I figured you could," Dane nodded. "Come on. I'll make you a chair so we can discuss strategy." He walked past her, but stopped as she spoke up again.

"What happened to them?" Sol asked. "Your village."

Dane stopped, remaining silent for a long while and staring at the ground in front of himself. "It took two weeks. Every week, bandits would come, brave ones who thought they could beat my village's guardian, or who didn't know about me. I always killed them when they came, so the first week I wasn't there, they were quick. They looted a few houses, killed a few people in the process, then fled. A message was sent to the Magic Knights for help, being transferred to the Silver Eagles, but no help came. So, when the same bandits returned the next week, and called me out, they realized I'd left. They slaughtered every male in the village, took everything, raped and murdered every female child, and kidnapped nearly half of the females to rape and sell as slaves. The rest, they trapped in the church as they burned the entire village to the ground. Of the three calls for help that were sent to the Magic Knights and routed to the Silver Eagles that day, none of them resulted in any of the Magic Knights showing up. I didn't even find out my village was gone until after the Midnight Sun attacked the capital. I overheard a pair of Silver Eagles laughing about it. They were gloating that another 'filthy, worthless commoner trash heap' was wiped out while they were having a feast."

Sol covered her mouth in shock as Dane walked back to his seat. Without having to say a word, Vanessa took his hand and Charmy hopped down from the Wizard King's lap where she'd been napping to sit in Dane's lap instead to comfort him, both able to see he was in pain. After a couple of minutes, Sol walked over and Dane formed her a chair, the two of them beginning to discuss strategies for facing Asta and Yuno's teams.

Langris raised his hand. The match was over. Finral's crystal was destroyed, but Langris had fatally wounded Finral as well. He had nearly a dozen holes through his torso and chunks missing from his limbs. And yet, Langris hadn't stopped. He meant to kill Finral. His arm twitched. The Black Bulls exploded down around him. Luck and Magna crossed their close-ranged spells at Langris's throat, Asta holding his sword to Langris's chest. Vanessa's threads bound Langris's arm to halt his attack as Gauche's mirror shone in preparation of firing a laser through Langris's face. Charmylanded protectively before Finral, forming a massive sheep, electricity crackling off of it. Noelle and Dane landed beside Finral at the same time as Vanessa's red cat landed on his chest. In an instant, Finral was enveloped in Dane's borrowed Phoenix Robe, Noelle taking the bracer from Dane a moment later to add her mana as well, as she had more Mana, and hers was stronger. Then, Dane lifted Finral and a pillar erupted from the ground, hurling him into the air before he, in turn, hurled Finral. Grey expanded into her massive form, catching Finral, then passed him to Gordon, who sprinted him to Dr. Owen. In total, it took two seconds for him to reach Dr. Owen, who immediately added his own much stronger healing magic to Dane's Phoenix Robe.

"Hey!" Asta growled.

"Go on, take one more step toward him!" Magna snarled.

"But you should know that the second you do, you're dead!" Luck said emotionlessly.

"You're going to pay for this!" Vanessa intoned darkly.

"I can't believe he would do that!" Grey said as she, Gordon, and Dane joined the others.

"You actually managed to piss me off," Gordon said, his voice actually loud enough to register as a whisper this time as Gauche's mirror prepared to fire a laser at Langris's face.

"Monster!" Charmy spat in her adult form, a massive sheep behind her, electricity crackling along its body.

"There's something wrong with you!" Asta snarled. "The match was already over!"

"You're dead," Dane said, his tone and voice almost conversational, but his expression completely devoid of emotion and his eyes completely devoid of a soul.

"You Black Bulls may be doing better than expected, but you're still worthless underlings," Langris spat. "You think you can take the vice-captain of the Golden Dawn?"

"Your rank has nothing to do with this!" Asta growled. "All we care about is protecting our friend!"

"Perhaps your friend shouldn't be so weak," Langris suggested.

Dane stepped forward, gripping Langris by the Face. "Say it again."

"That's quite enough," Julius said, walking over from one of Cob's portals with Cob and Marx, a pair of his Chrono Stasis orbs hovering over his hand.

Everyone stepped away from one another, except for Dane. He remained where he was, his fingers beginning to dig into Langris's face and the same cold, soulless expression on his face. Finally, Langris lowered his arm slowly, and Dane released him, stepping back.

"I appreciate the fact that you didn't pull your punches while fighting against your brother," Julius said. "But trying to kill a fellow Magic Knight is something else altogether, and it has no place in this tournament." Julius glanced at Dane. "Another step, if you don't mind, Dane."

Dane obeyed, and as Charmy and Vanessa took Dane's hands, one of the two stasis orbs faded.

"See your 'friend'?" Langris sneered. "He's completely pathetic! A disgrace to the Magic Knights."

Vanessa, Charmy, Gordon, Grey, and Gauch instantly slammed Dane to the ground, Dane's entire body straining to be free for several moments before slowly beginning to relax again.

"What'd you say!?" Magna snarled.

"I think I will kill you now," Luck decided.

"Finral is one of the nicest people I've ever met!" Asta spat. "He's a true Magic Knight! You're the failure! You don't deserve the title no matter how strong you are!"

"You will regret those words, fool," Langris threatened in a low voice, then chuckled. "You may have lucked out and failed upward to get to this point, but you're still a nobody who's talking to somebody completely out of his league." He turned to Julius. "Wizard King. Before the next teams face off against each other, allow me to put these Black Bulls in their rightful place. In fact, the fight can start now!"

He struck in an instant, only for Asta's sword to negate the massive Spatial Magic attack. And then, before anyone had realized he'd moved, Dane had slammed Langris face-first into the ground, crushing his nose flat, the rest of his body above his head and Dane's fingers clenching so hard against Langris's head that they began to draw blood.

"You filthy piece of shit," Dane said, his tone still horrifyingly conversational and his face and eyes nightmarishly hollow. "You're just determined to die today. I'd be happy to oblige you. So this is the last time I'll warn you. You so much as twitch, and I'll rip you apart."

"Time Binding Magic," Julius's voice rang out, the spell having already taken effect. "My Chrono Stasis."

The spheres around both Dane and Langris floated away from each other, separating them.

"Now, then," Julius said. "You can both hear me. As much as I'd like you to fight as though you were in a real battle, this will be a tournament match. Take a moment. A long one. Meanwhile, we'll arrange the next match. Don't worry. Everything will be set up before the fervor dies down." He looked to Vanessa and Charmy, just as Raya appeared beside them. "Calm him."

"We will," Raya nodded.

Julius released Dane, who landed on his feet in a squat. He stood slowly, his hollow gaze locked on Langris for several long moments before he turned away from Raya and the others.

"You three, leave," Dane said darkly. "You've already seen too much."

"No," Raya said flatly.

"I'm not asking, Raya," Dane said. "Go. Cob, I need Yami."

Cob, who had just returned with all of Asta and Langris's missing teammates, nodded and stepped back through his portal, returning a moment later with Yami. Yami took one look at Dane's face and sighed, dropping his cigarette, snuffing it out under his boot. He looked round, seeing Langris in Julius's Chrono Stasis orb, then looked toward the building, where he had a clear view of Finral being treated by Dane's Phoenix Robe and Dr. Owen's Qualle Operation, and nodded to himself.

"Dane, let's go."

"Yes, sir," Dane said.

They walked away from the others, far away from the testing fields, and then began without any warning. Dane's sword deflected Yami's, and suddenly they were moving. Their swords blurred around and around, clashing impossibly fast. Then, Dane's sword shattered under the force of Yami's magic-enhanced blade, and the battle transitioned. In the blink of an eye, he held a pair of very basic but deadly shortswords, and every twitch or twist of his feet ripped the world around them apart into a storm of attacks and projectiles. Every step obliterated the landscape, scarring the land and assaulting Yami with countless lethal strikes. And yet, Yami dodged or deflected everything, his blade smashing through stone spears, slicing steel fists off of their arms, shattering blade after blade. However, as more and more of the land was rent asunder before Dane's wrath, Yami noticed one thing. Dane's Grimoire was closed.

He ducked and weaved around a wave of stone spikes and lashed out. A steel wall stopped the strike, then erupted into a spray of hiltless, double-bladed daggers. Yami's blade flashed through the air in a blur, cutting down the assault as Dane lunged, stabbing at Yami. Yami spun around the strike, striking in return, only for the ground beneath his feet to erupt into countless spikes. An arc of Dark Magic severed them all and grazed Dane's cheek. A feral snarl tore from Dane's lips as his hand slapped the ground, and the world around them exploded.

Yami groaned as he dropped Dane at Raya's feet. All around them, the Black Bulls gasped in horror, staring at Yami's blade as it protruded from Dane's chest and back.

"You...You...MONSTER!" Charmy shrieked, sobbing into Dane's side.

"HOW COULD YOU!?" Vanessa shrieked, grabbing Yami's shirt by the collar.

"This was what he wanted," Yami said. "It's why he called me. Don't worry, he'll live. I avoided any vital organs. Raya can heal him no problem. He just had to lose."

Vanessa's eyes widened and Charmy stared up at him, then at Dane as Raya silently worked her healing spell. Her expression was sad, but there wasn't a trace of fear in her eyes. Then, as her healing spell continued to work, she pulled the sword from Dane's chest, and he groaned weakly.

"Dane!" Vanessa gasped breathlessly, falling to her knees beside him.

"He's a lot more powerful than he knows," Yami said, wincing and holding a hand to a gash in his side. "I took a lot more damage than I'd hoped, trying to focus on a non-fatal spot that would still render him unconscious instantly.

Vanessa looked up at him again, this time realizing how bad a shape he was in. His robe was gone, his muscle shirt was in tatters, his pants were shredded below the thigh, and there were countless gashes and puncture wounds riddling his body.

"Captain, you're..." Vanessa gasped.

"I'll live," Yami assured her.

"I'll heal you next," Raya promised. "I'm almost finished."

"Incredible," Luck said. "Why can't he copy your healing spell instead of the Phoenix Robe?"

"I don't have a Grimoire," Raya said. "But eventually, with more training, he'll be able to use it with his Spirit Magic."

"Good," Dane rasped as the wound finished sealing, Raya helping him sit up. "Thank you, Captain. For saving me."

"No problem, kid," Yami said as Raya began to heal him as well. "I made you a promise. Whenever you're far enough along that you don't know if the others can bring you back, I'll beat the impulses outa ya."

Dane nodded, then looked toward the battlefield. Just as he did, Asta, under the power of his Anti-Magic transformation, slammed Langris into his own crystal before splitting it in half at the exact same time as the one Mimosa was holding with her magic crumbled.

"A draw," Dane said. "Not bad, Asta."

Asta began to collapse, but Magna caught him. A moment later, dozens of the other Magic Knights had gone to check on him and congratulate him if he was still conscious. He pushed himself up slowly, Vanessa and an adult Charmy steadying him.

"Let's go find our seats," Dane said.

They nodded, and a moment later, Raya joined him once she'd finished healing Yami, sitting in his lap as Charmy took Sol's seat at his side.

"How's Finral?" Dane asked.

"They took him to the infirmary for more intensive care," Vanessa said. "Dr. Owen said he'll make it."

Dane nodded, and a few minutes later, Noelle walked over, holding out his bangle.

"He doesn't need the Phoenix Robe to help stabilize him anymore," Noelle said, smiling in relief.

"Good," Dane smiled, accepting the bangle. "Thank you."

Noelle nodded. "Are you alright?"

"Tired," Dane said. "But I'll be fine."

Noelle nodded and left the four of them in privacy.

Leave a review.