I do not own Black Clover or any of its characters.
Struggle
Yuno crouched as Dane erupted into motion. His best chance to attack was when Dane took control of their magic, so he had a moment to prepare. With that in mind, he entered his Spirit Dive form. Then, at the same instant that Dane's hands slammed into the massive steel and glass construct, Yuno took off, racing through the air as he prepared his strike. Then, just as he shoved his hand forward, sending out a massive blast of Sylph's Wind Magic, Licht was suddenly moving. The attack flashed through empty air, and then Licht's fist exploded into Yuno's gut and he was sent exploding backward into the ground at Asta's feet, shattering the Diamond Metal floor. Yuno groaned, Raya immediately beginning to heal him, but as she did, Licht moved again, sweeping Rhya out of the way of Dane's attack. Dane narrowed his eyes, backing away slowly as he readied his sword. He glanced back at the others and focused, his Phoenix Robe vanishing from Asta before bursting to life around Yuno instead. Then, he looked back at Licht, just as Licht's hand closed around the hilt of a sword stabbed into the ground.
Dane had noticed it when he arrived, but had forgotten it in the ensuing chaos of the battle. It was rusted, black with filth, had a cross-shaped hilt, and seemed to be about the same length as Asta's shorter sword, unless it was driven into the ground further than Dane thought. However, as Licht's hand closed around the sword's hilt, and withdrew its rounded tip from the ground, the sword began to change. In a wave starting from the tip, the rust and filth began to flake off and vanish, the sword shining pure white for a moment before the light faded, leaving a pristine sword with a three-leaf clover-shaped opening through the blade near the tip. Dane grit his teeth as he sensed Asta's Anti-Magic form activate as he drew his small sword.
"Be careful," Dane warned. "He's-"
Licht was suddenly gone. Simply missing. Dane's mind couldn't comprehend what he had witnessed. And then, suddenly, Raya had returned to Dane, merging with him into their Spirit Dive form, the other spirits all releasing their possessions to allow her to work with Dane directly. Instantly, all of Dane's senses, his cognitive abilities, and his body's every function was enhanced and he heard Licht taking Asta's smaller sword, which instantly purged itself of its rust and filth as well. And then, Yuno was in his own Spirit Dive again as both he and Asta suddenly got over their shock at Licht's power and speed, beginning to hurriedly and desperately struggle to stay out of the way of a flood of shining, white arcs of power that Licht was sending out from the sword he'd taken from Asta to obliterate every part of the room into something completely unrecognizable, Diamond Metal and all. As the endless assault continued, Dane didn't question his and Raya's Spirit Dive functioning differently than the other three times they'd used it. Instead, he swept Mimosa into his arms and out of the way of one of the lethal arcs before joining Asta and Yuno's struggle to survive.
"I've focused our Spirit Dive into your physical abilities," Raya informed Dane inside of his mind. "You won't be able to use any of my powers, and your magic won't be enhanced, but your body and your cognitive ability are."
Dane didn't bother to respond, instead narrowly ducking around an arc, allowing it to tear across his back instead of letting it touch Mimosa. And then, Licht was off. He appeared in front of Yuno, moving to split him in half, only for Asta to clash with him, fighting him as violently as possible, only for Licht to easily deflect the larger blade, finally crossing his swords' blades to block Asta's, then swung his swords outward, hurling him away before turning to focus on Dane. Before he could reach him, Yuno was suddenly spiraling below Licht, forming a cyclone before it transformed into a massive formation of Wind Magic threads spread around Licht, who was bound into a cocoon of the threads, only his head and shoulders exposed. Then, Asta took off, slashing, only to miss Licht and free him as his sword tore through the cocoon instead. Licht instantly appeared behind Asta, only for Dane to hurl Mimosa into the air and explode into motion. Fei appeared to catch Mimosa as Dane's sword exploded into Licht's stolen sword, halting his strike as Dane kicked Asta, launching him out of the way. Licht's face was devoid of emotions, as empty as if he were completely soulless, and it sent a shot of terror racing down Dane's back. Then, he was flipping, spinning, and contorting as his single sword barely managed to fend off Licht's two. Except, as they fought, Dane understood something. This was not the same Licht as they had faced in Nean. His movements were different, his power made the one from Nean look like a child, and the dead expression in his eyes was completely different from the look in the other Licht's eyes. There he had seen hatred and a child-like joy of fighting against powerful humans, and respect for Raya's status as the Spirit of Light. This was not the same being. This was so much worse.
Dane shouted in agony as Licht's first blade tore across his torso, separating him from Raya before kicking both and sending them exploding into the wall of the chamber off to the side of the room, Asta and Yuno both crashing down where he was a moment later when Licht sent Yuno exploding into Asta not a second after having slashed Dane and Raya.
"You alive!?" Asta growled, standing as Yuno landed on the face of the wall.
Dane shrieked in agony as he sealed the wound, then shoved himself upright, teeth clenched hard and Grimoire shining brilliantly. "Transmutation Magic, Body Modification!"
Again he shrieked in agony, but as he did, his body swelled, his muscles bulging rapidly. When it finished, he'd doubled his muscle mass, but all three of his allies knew without having to ask that there was more to it than that.
"Now what?" Yuno asked.
"This is where we push past our limits!" Asta declared.
"That's your big plan?" Yuno scoffed.
"Transmutation Magic, Pollen Garden!" Dane snarled, flowers bursting from the ground and the lower halves of the walls. "Raya, again."
Raya nodded, and they merged once again. And then, Asta was gone. Dane's eyes went wide and he turned, sweeping Mimosa onto his back and forming Diamond Metal chains from the floor to bind her in place before he and Yuno both raced through the hole that Licht had created with Asta's body. Just as they reached the next chamber, Licht exploded down on Asta's back, rendering him completely unconscious and sending him crashing down in the water filling the room. Then, as Yuno fired off his attack, Licht raised the sword he'd stolen from Asta, beginning to absorb the attack. Yuno roared in effort, pushing his power higher and higher, only for Licht to absorb the blast endlessly. Finally, he swung the sword out to the side, and Yuno stopped as he watched the mana from his attack curve and flow into the sword. Then, he slashed, sending a massive, devastating power of the magic out at Yuno. He managed to avoid it by an inch, watching it obliterate one wall of the chamber, but just as Licht appeared over him to attack him, Dane appeared beside Licht, drawing all of the Diamond Metal from the far side of the chamber into a flood of spikes and spears and sending them at Licht as fast as he could.
In less time than it took for Dane to blink, the entirety of his attack had been blasted apart by Licht. Dane roared in effort, his sword clashing with Licht over and over, and Yuno began to fire off blasts at Licht as well, trying to overwhelm Licht, only for Licht to absorb them all. Then, just as Dane's sword was deflected high and out of the way, Licht twisted, striking at both of them at once. His own sword flashed around at Dane as the sword he'd taken from Asta stabbed at Yuno's hand as Yuno moved to fire off yet another blast in an attempt to save Dane. The colliding magic strikes erupted into a massive explosion, and Yuno exploded into the wall of the room, the collision demolishing the wall at the same time as Dane exploded into the ground, shattering it as well. However, even as Licht landed his strike and as Dane exploded into the ground, he kept Mimosa safe, allowing the strike to land so that it didn't reach her and then curling his body around her before landing to once again shield her.
"Dane!" Mimosa shrieked as she pushed herself up and saw the extent of the damage.
Dane pushed himself up to his knees, then grit his teeth and groaned as Diamond Metal flowed from the ground, reaching up to where Licht had sheared through his body just inside of his left shoulder joint, amputating his remaining arm. Once the prosthetic was formed, his Spirit Dive form spread to include it, and Dane pushed himself to his feet, lifting his sword again.
"Stop!" Mimosa said, catching his hand. "You can't win! Your magic isn't powerful enough! He's too strong!"
"I don't have a choice," Dane said. "He cannot be al-"
In a flash of movement, Dane had shoved himself to his feet and shoved Mimosa backward less than a second before Licht's stolen blade had plunged into her face through his chest. Mimosa shrieked in fear, but Dane snarled, spinning and slashing at Licht, who leapt backward, taking his swords with him just before Yuno appeared, clashing hard with Licht and forcing him out of the dungeon.
"Dane!" Mimosa cried, catching him as he swayed, only for Dane to push off of her, pressing a hand to his newest wound, sealing it with his magic, emitting no more than a low groan.
"Run, Mimosa," Dane growled. "Fei." he glanced at Fei as he appeared, giving Dane a worried look. "Take Mimosa to meet up with Vanessa. Please tell Vanessa I love her, and that I'll be home soon. We need to finish this first, though."
Fei lowered his head in acceptance of the instructions, then picked Mimosa up with his foot before racing out of the dungeon, Dane just behind him. Sure enough, Licht shot down away from Yuno, avoiding a blast rather than absorbing it, to try to kill Fei and Mimosa, only for Dane to roar in effort, shifting his left prosthetic into a blade matching his sword's before beginning to clash with Licht rapidly. Licht showed no reaction, easily keeping pace with first Dane, then also with both Dane and Yuno a moment later. Together, they began to rocket through the air together, their strikes colliding and clashing over and over. Finally, just as Licht fired an arc of Wind Magic at Yuno, Yuno flipped around it before using Mana Zone to fire a blast from behind Licht, forcing him to block it under his right arm. Then, at the same instant as Dane exploded forward, gripping his sword with both hands, Asta suddenly erupted from the top of the dungeon, his Anti-Magic form at an alltime level of power. And then, Dane's slash, Yuno's punch, and Asta's stab all exploded into Licht's round-tipped sword at the same instant.
Licht exploded away from them, but as the sword spun through the air in front of Asta, Asta reached out, catching its hilt. Then, Licht fired all of the magic he'd absorbed from Yuno throughout the battle in a single massive blast. Yuno and Asta roared, using their respective magic and Anti-Magic to block the blast, only to be sent rocketing back down into the Dungeon in the central chamber where they'd started. Dane, however, was struck directly before he could react, and beat them there, exploding into the ground. However, as he groaned and looked up at the small hole he'd formed, the ceiling around it suddenly turned cherry red before exploding, the blast slowing down scarce feet shy of Dane, Yuno and Asta both roaring in effort, struggling to stop the attack. Then, just as the blast began to overpower them, the gemstone in the front cover of Dane's Grimoire shone blindingly and the pages began to fly past in a blur, filling with writing. Dane's arm snapped up, not an ounce of hesitation as he felt the shift in his and Raya's Spirit Dive.
"Spirit Magic, Sun Shield!"
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