0713MM: Hey guys! I welcome you to the 62nd chapter of The Silver Valkyrie! I do not own Black Clover, nor its characters, nor the OCs that are used in this chapter. The OCs and spells used in this chapter belong to guardian of the aura Aurasoul and Warmachine375. Chapter start!^^
Chapter 62
Dante and Dazu stared each other down as they circled one another. And thanks to Dazu's Catalyst Magic: Soul Chained Impulse, Dante couldn't flee, nor forcibly remove it without severely hurting himself. Or worse, kill himself. This by itself pissed him off.
Inconceivable! Dante thought angrily. How could this mere peasant woman have a spell like that?!
"What's wrong Dante?" Dazu asked nonchalantly. "Frustrated that you can't run off and fight someone else far more "worth your time"?"
"You little bitch!" Dante snarled.
"If that was supposed to anger me, you failed miserably." Dazu frowned deeply, not impressed. Dante merely laughed in response.
"Oh yeah?" Dante grinned. "Then let's see how you handle this!" He pulls out a sword and charges it up with Gravity Magic being imbued into it. On seeing this, Dazu raises an eyebrow.
"Oh? So you had a sword, too?" Dazu wonders aloud.
"Mother gifted each of her children a special sword that works with their inmate magic as well as their Devil's Magic." Dante explained. "And with it and my Gravity Magic gifted to me by Lucifero, I will kill you!" Dazu simply raised her arms to form a defensive stance; preparing herself for the upcoming attack.
"Then come." Dazu beckoned with her right hand.
"Haha! If you insist!" Dante grinned, flying towards her at incredible speed. As he swung at her, she simply sidestepped, then ducked under a swing at her head, then when the 3rd attack came, she created a sword of her own that she calls Catalyst Magic: Mana Sword to block the 3rd attack. As two fought with their swords, Dazu went in for a stab to his chest, only for Dante to parry it with his own sword, which in turn he too went in for a slash on Dazu's shoulder, which she evaded just in the nick of time. The 2's sword went throughout the war room, destroying different furniture with their swords as they swung at each other while parrying the other's strikes when needed. As the 2 continued, Dazu gave a kick to Dante's chest, making him stagger backwards. Dazu aims to go for another slash, but Dante quickly recovers and parries her attack with ease, a grin on his face.
"Hahaha! This is great!" Dante laughed. "I'm enjoying myself now!"
Urk… Gross! Dazu mentally gagged at his words before shaking her head. I can throw up later. For now, I must focus on the fight in front of me! And focus on the fight she did. Eventually, she got her chance and disarmed Dante. While most would have been discouraged or frustrated, Dante just laughed.
"Heh heh heh…. Hahahahaha!" He laughed, causing Dazu to raise an eyebrow out of sheer confusion.
"What's so funny?" The blackette woman asked her opponent.
"Heh heh heh…" Dante chuckled. "It's been years since someone actually made me lose my weapon…" Dazu started to feel uneasy, backing up a bit out of sheer reflex.
I don't like this… She thought.
"And now, let me show you how serious I am!" Dante grinned, spreading his arms out. "Gravity Magic: Presence of the Demon King!" He then used the Gravity Magic to put pressure on Dazu. Unfortunately for him, he seems to have forgotten that due to Dazu's Catalyst Magic, she's able to make sure his Gravity Magic doesn't affect her much. In fact, she makes sure that it affects them equally. Of course, he either didn't know that or just ignoring it due to his own ignorance. Or arrogance. Either or works in this situation. "Even with that Spell you used earlier, you still won't be able to defeat me! Especially not after the Gates to the Underworld open!"
"Then I'll just have to make sure to defeat you before then!" Dazu retorted.
"Hahahahaha! Will see about that, bitch!" Dante sneered. "Now! Gravity Magic: Heavy Infighting!" Punching the air as hard and fast as he can, he sends invisible Gravity Magic waves towards Dazu before getting up close and personal and punching her in the face multiple times before finishing off his combo with one last punch, uppercut specifically, to her chin and sent her flying into the air before he comes down on her with a drop kick; thus slamming her into the ground. "See?! I told you, woman! You're a waste of my time!" Dazu laid on the ground, rolling over to reveal blood seeping out from the wounds on her face. As she sneakily stood up, she coughed up blood.
"Heh…" She chuckled, slowly healing her wounds using the mana around them to heal her wounds via her Catalyst Magic. "I can see why you speak so highly of yourself. But…" She formed a frown with her bloodied lips. "Such arrogance and overconfidence shall be your downfall."
"Hahaha! It's pointless!" Dante sneered. "Cut me up all you want, my Body Magic will ensure that you can't ever kill me!"
Fool. Dazu thought. I'm not the one needlessly spending my mana. But I suppose even idiots like himself can learn. With her enhanced speed due to sharing mana with Dante, she uses her sword that she calls Catalyst Magic: Mana Sword to slash Dante up into multiple pieces before he could even respond. Despite this, his maniacal laughter fills the room as he regenerates from all the damage she inflicted thanks to his Body Magic.
"Hahahahahaha! You see?!" He laughed. "It's impossible for you to kill me! Gravity Magic: Heavy Infighting Gladiator!" Using the ground and pressurizing it with the Gravity Magic, he creates a sword of his own and begins to use it to fight against Dazu. Commoner or not, she was able to keep up with Dante and parry all of his strikes with her own sword.
I can't give up here! Dazu thought, wincing and wanting to cry out in pain after Dante's Gravity Magic sword got a slash in on her shoulder; thus causing it to bleed.
"Urk…!" Dazu groaned. "Have to keep going….!"
"You'll lose and die if you do that!" Dante mocked. "Unlike you, I can go for an eternity!"
"Heh…" Dazu couldn't help but give a light smirk. "We'll see about that."
"Ha! As if!" Dante scowled. "You'll be defeated before me!"
Idiot. Dazu thought. Does he not remember that the amount of mana we each have is equal now? I suppose not, given his attitude. Time to teach him a lesson. As she continued the fight with their swords, Dazu concentrated her Catalyst Magic on the tip of her sword. Dante on the other hand was too excited by the fight that he didn't even pay attention.
"Dante!" Lucifero snapped in his Devil Host's mind. "If you keep up what you're doing, you're going to lose!"
"No I won't!" Dante retorted back. "I felt it! The Gates to the Underworld have opened!"
"Then access 100% of my-!" Lucifero began, only to realize that his Devil Host already did, given my sudden change of appearance. "Never mind then."
Shit! Dazu thought, slowly losing her grip on her sword. I have to end this now, lest I'll lose!
"Now!" Dante, now at 100% Devil Power, grinned maliciously, a small black orb appeared in his hand. "To finish you off once and for all! Gravity Magic: Gravity Singularity!" And with that, the black orb flew towards Dazu at incredible speed. She stopped the blade lock with Dante and evaded out of the way of the orb which flew past her and hit the wall; causing it to explode and break apart.
"Oh my god….!" Dazu breathed, shocked. "Had that hit me….!"
"You'd be dead in a millisecond." Lucifero spoke to her through Dante's mouth. At that, Dazu merely tched, clutching her sword in her hands.
In that case, I have to find a way to end this now! Dazu thought. Dante laughed in amusement as he kept firing more Gravity Magic: Gravity Singularity at Dazu, which she barely managed to avoid each one of them. On the last one however, she made a quick, but also risky, decision. With her sword made from her Catalyst Magic, she absorbed the spell, then fired it back at Dante at incredible speed. His eyes widened in surprise, but he warped spacetime with his Gravity Magic to dispel his own spell. Through Dante, Lucifero snarled, then laughed.
"Quite the clever woman, aren't you?" Lucifero spoke through Dante, his initial anger replaced with curiosity. "Perhaps that you should-" Unfortunately, Dante interrupts him by laughing, spreading his arms out in glee, not even noticing or caring that Dazu had slashed through his midsection with her sword, which of course, regenerated.
"Hahahahahaha!" Dante laughed. "I underestimated you greatly! Which is why….. You should become my woman!" Dazu was taken aback by Dante's words. Granted her surprise quickly faded and her face scrunched up in disgust.
"Okay one, disgusting." She scowled "And two, I'm already a married woman."
"What a shame." Dante shrugged. "Oh well. Guess it's time I about ended this-" He didn't get to finish as Dazu's sword created by her own Catalyst Magic vibrated in her hand, to which she threw at Dante. He aimed to use the spacetime warping spell to dissolve her sword, but found that he couldn't. "Whaaa….?!"
"Catalyst Magic: Gravity Implosion!" Dazu revealed, surprising the Gravity Magic Devil of Lucifero and his host even more before Dante's body imploded from the sword exploding after stabbing him through the chest. The shockwave of power of course sent Dazu flying into the wall and she slammed into it before falling to the floor. She looked up and noticed that her soul chain used on Dante earlier to keep him fighting her had dissolved, along with Dante's body.
"It's over…." She whispered. "The Tree of Qliphoth should be getting weaker now…" Unknown to her, her latest stunt will have dire consequences for her allies down beneath the Spade Kingdom Castle, along with herself. Not only that, but 2 Devils appeared in front of her, one male and the other female, which caused her eyes to widen. "Oh no…!" The 2 Devils turn their attention to Dazu and merely grin maliciously.
"Well well well! What do we have here?" The 1st spoke.
"Mm, looks like she defeated Lucifero's pet." The 2nd added before cracking her knuckles.
"Who are you 2?" Dazu asked. Before the 2 Devils could respond, she quickly added. "I know you 2 are Devils, but I mean your names." The 2 Devils look at each other, then back at Dazu, their malicious grins not fading from there lips.
"My my! Such a courteous human!" The 2nd laughed. "Very well! I shall introduce the both of us! To start, I am Lilith, and the one next to me is Naamah!"
"We're the Supreme Devils of the First Gate of the Underworld." The male, Naamah, added.
Supreme Devils?! Dazu's eyes went wide. That would mean that the Gates of the Underworld are officially opening! I felt them open before, but I thought that it was a false alarm! But this…..! She clenched her teeth. This isn't good at all!
"Oh my! Look at her shocked face!" Lilith chuckled darkly.
"Indeed." Naamah agreed. "This'll be an easy win for us, won't it Lilith?"
"Agreed!" Lilith grinned maliciously as the 2 strided toward Dazu, who now fully recovered from her initial shock, now preparing to fight these 2 Supreme Devils.
"This has gone from one fight of my life to another…" Dazu murmured, getting into a battle ready stance.
Within the advisory room with Morris and Calamity, she held the advantage against the insane and sociopathic magic scholar, formerly from the Diamond Kingdom.
"Heh heh heh! Not bad!" Morris laughed, evading some of Calamity's spells, while also deflecting others away. "Despite your Mother being nothing short of a catalyst, she gave birth to someone who could be the strongest mage ever! All thanks to me!"
"Bastard…!" Calamity snarled, fully imbuing herself in her Calamity Magic. "I shall end you once and for all!" Before she could release the spell, the ground, walls, and ceiling around them shook violently; thus causing her to stumble. "Wh-Whaa…?! Wh-What's going on?! It can't be the Gates of the Underworld opening, so then what could it be?" Before she could question further, Morris took this as an opportunity to use his Modification Magic on Calmity's own magic.
"Modification Magic: Mana Impulse!" Morris grinned sadistically. Curling his fingers into a fist, he builds the mana up inside Calamity before reopening his hand and releasing the built up mana inside her body; thus sending her flying into the rock wall and she slumped to the floor. Barely conscious, she looked up at Morris as he approached her, her confidence now gone and replaced with fear.
"N-No! St-Stop!" Calamity pleaded.
"Aww, where's your confidence now, little girl?" Morris taunted her. "Can you really only use your magic when you're confident? Or perhaps.. No. If that were the case, you wouldn't be oozing out your mana like blood every time you spoke." He was a few feet from her before he stopped, giving her a dark smile. "No. I think despite your self confidence problem, you're still able to use your magic effectively. As for why I think that, well, you have a lot of mana inside of you. Only reason my spell didn't kill you instantly is because I see no reason to kill you. Not when I can take you back to my new lab here and get you fixed up, if you know what I mean." Calamity felt herself shaking out of fear, raising her hands up to cover her face, which imbued themselves with Calamity Magic by default as a sort of defensive mechanism.
"Stay back! Stay back or I'll fire!" Calamity warned Morris. Morris merely laughed at her threat, now with half a foot from her. Of course, Calamity began to move away froM Morris as he kept advancing towards her.
"I mean it!" She told him.
"Oh I'm sure you do." Morris retorted in a mock tone. "I don't doubt your abilities, nor does anyone else. But…. You doubt your own abilities. You fear them. And so, I shall be correcting that." Just as he approached Calamity with a syringe in his right hand and ready to eject whatever laid within it, the wall in front of him exploded and poured in a wave of acid, to which he got hit square in the chest; thus sending him flying backwards.
"Acid Magic: Rotting of all Creation!" A clearly feminine voice declared as the owner of the voice stepped through the eroded wall, a grimoire with a Diamond Insignia on its cover floated in front of the voice's owner, as well as a broad sword in the right hand of the owner. Once the smoke and dust cleared, a brunette woman entered the room wearing the crown of the Diamond Kingdom's ruler. Morris simply snarled in realization at who had come to ruin his own personal fun, while Calamity glanced over at her rescuer, her eyes widened in slight surprise.
"Y-You're…!" Calamity began.
"Queen Evanora!" Morris snarled, healing his chest injury with his Modification Magic. "How dare you get in the way of my own personal fun!"
"All the more reason to ruin it." Evanora retorted coolly, preparing herself to fight. "You've lived for far too long, as well as ruining the lives of innocent people for the sake of your twisted experiments. That all ends today!"
"Hahahaha!" Morris laughed darkly, preparing himself to fight against the Diamond Kingdom Queen. "We shall see about that, won't we Queen Evanora?"
"Yes we shall." Evanora agreed.
Within one of the underground caverns under the Spade Kingdom Castle, Liebe and Licita continued their fight against one another. Despite Liebe going with his bare hands instead of using his Anti-Magic imbued swords, he only is able get a couple hits in before being swatted away by Licita and her Counter Magic. Liebe fell to the floor again, grunting in pain as he stood back up.
"You are free to give up, you know." Licita told her adopted son.
"Kek kek. Give up?" Liebe repeated, getting up from the ground to face Licita. "Why the hell would I give up?"
"It is merely an-" Licita began, but Liebe cut her off.
"Never!" Liebe interjected, surprising her. "Surrendering isn't an option for me!"
"I see." Licita remarked, almost blankly. "Then you shall die here and-" Before she could finish her sentence, a massive tremor and shockwave traveled through the rocky ground and walls of the underground passageway.
Shit! Could it be the Gates to the Underworld opening?! Liebe thought before shaking his head.
"No. That one happened earlier." He told himself. "So then what was this one just now?" He shook his head, looking up to see that Licita was dazed. "No time to dwell on it, time to act." And act he did, getting out the Demon-Destroyer Sword and strided towards the still dazed Licita. Just as Licita got out of her dazed state, she felt the Demon-Destroyer Sword pierce her chest and gasped, coughing up a bit of blood.
"I'm sorry Mother…" Liebe whispered solemnly as he removed the sword from her chest and sheathed it back in his grimoire. Licita staggered back, feeling partial bits of the Forbidden Magic placed on her beginning to fade away. Just before she hit the rocky ground, Liebe caught her and held her in his arms. She blinked, her former dull green eyes now slowly regaining their shine, looking up at Liebe.
"L…Liebe…?" She whispered softly.
"Mom." Liebe told her, a sad smile on his face. "It's okay now."
"Where am I?" Licita asked. "Last thing I remember was trying to help you." Liebe winced, but didn't answer right away as he continued to hold her in his arms.
"You're in the Spade Kingdom." Liebe, after a few minutes, answered Licita's question. "There's a Spade Kingdom Resistance base somewhere, so I suggest that you get to them if you can."
"Whaaa?!" Licita gaped, slightly offended by what Liebe just told her. "You think I can't f-O-Ow!" She groaned in pain, clutching her chest wound with her right hand. "O-Okay, you made your point Liebe dear. I'll go and retreat to them." Liebe gave a light smile and hug.
"Thank you Mom." Liebe told her. "Also, you have a daughter-in-law now in Noelle Silva due to your biological son in Asta marrying her." Licita wasn't facing him now as she walked away, but Liebe could feel Licita's ki that she was quite shocked, but also very happy at the fact that Asta was alive and well, in addition to being married.
"Thank you for telling me that, Liebe." Licita spoke softly, mainly to herself as she began to walk through the caverns and away from Liebe. Once she was out of sight, Liebe clenched his hands into fists, looking forward, feeling the Gate of Underworld's opening becoming more and more open.
I better get moving to aid any of the others fighting in here. Liebe thought as he soon began to sprint.
Meanwhile, back at the Clover Kingdom, Acier was getting the finishing touches set up for the Tree of Kabbalah Ritual, with William and Patri strapped in; ready to create the Tree, with Alina behind William.
"I still don't like this." Alina expresses her worries and concerns with a frown on her face. "Especially given you the parasite here."
"Hey!" Patri groaned. "I'm trying to get better at trusting humans, alright? Outside of William, I trusted no other humans. Not even Licht's descendants."
"The fact that you're trying to be better is a good thing." Acier told Patri with a light smile on her face, while Alina groaned in irritation.
"Let's just hope that he doesn't backstab us at the last second." Alina told Acier.
"I'm right here you know!" Patri reminded Alina.
"I know." Alina replied simply, making Patri gape, slightly offended.
"Oi!"
"Please stop fighting." Acier told the 2, to which she got 2 "Hmphs!" in response.
"Alina please." William told his newfound girlfriend, which got her sigh.
"Sorry William." Alina told him apologetically. "Just a bit stressed by this is all." William gave her a small smile.
"It's alright Alina." He told her reassuringly. "I'll be alright once this is over."
"You can't promise that." Alina frowned, worry still evident in her voice.
"I know that you won't let me die." He told her, his smile still present. Patri blinked, then laughed lightly. Not out of malice, but genuine light laughter.
"Who would have thought that William would have an elf-human hybrid girlfriend?" Patri noted, making Acier smile as well and William's cheeks to turn pink while Alina hmphed.
"P=Patri." William stuttered. "L-Let's just focus on the assignment at hand."
"Of course." Acier nodded. "Now to be sure, are all of you ready? Because once this starts, it won't stop until it's over." When she got nods of confirmation, she gave a smile, then pulled out a magic item from one of her dress's pockets. "Julius has gifted me a magic item to speed up the process for this ritual. Instead of it taking 7 or so days to complete, this magic item uses the Time Magic he stored in it to amplify and increase the speed of the ritual.
"Are we sure that it's safe?" Alina asked, concern once again evident in her voice.
"I trust Julius." Acier simply answered, placing the magic item in the middle of the circle before backing up a bit. Once she was far enough away, the magic item began to, well, work its magic in speeding up the time it'd take them to create the Tree of Kabbalah. William's World Tree Magic unleashed a seed that sewed itself into the center of the room next to the magic item, while Patri's Light Magic flew out of his body and towards the growing tree. While this was happening, Alina was healing William to help maintain his mana reserves, while Patri healed himself, figuring that neither the Clover Queen nor Alina would be helping him. While he slightly resented William for having a girlfriend before him, he could understand why Alina was important to him. As well as understanding why neither women present went to heal him.
This is in conjunction with my repentance. Patri thought. That is…acceptable. While the tree continued to grow in size, Acier's lips formed a light smile.
"Things are going good so far." Acier spoke softly to herself. "Thanks to the magic item Julius put some of his Time Magic into, the 7 days it would normally take us to finish the Tree of Kabbalah Ritual will instead of 7 hours. 1 hour equals 1 day thanks to the magic item." She looked down at the timer on the magic item-It said 6 hours and 40 minutes left until completion. She gave a small smile, then looked back up at the 2 mages helping with the ritual. William was doing fine, while Patri was struggling. She frowned, then created something with her Steel Magic and flew it towards Patri.
"H-Huh?" Patri wondered, feeling the Steel Magic do some sort of embrace on him, to which he looked up and saw the Clover Queen giving him a light smile.
"I used Steel Recovery Magic: Steel Maiden's Mending Embrace." Acier told Patri. "I know you have your own Light Recovery Magic spell, but that drains from your mana reserves, meaning you'll actually run out of mana faster than William." She paused, then added. "Look, I know you don't like humans, but please Patri, let me help you get through this ritual, if nothing else." Patri opened his mouth to say something, but then closed it. He knew deep down that she was right. He also knew that she was doing more than she should for someone like him, given he wanted to massacre the entire current human race for crimes there ancestors committed. He closed his eyes, going into deep thought.
She's doing way more for me than she should. He thought. Then again, I have been trying my best to change for the better. That, and I figured volunteering myself to be a part of this ritual would help me. He opened his eyes and looked up at Acier.
"Thank you." He told her. Alina heard the exchange and gave a frown. Though she still didn't trust Patri for obvious reasons, like Patri using William for his grand plan for example, she did however, trust Acier.
I just hope Acier isn't making a mistake by allowing him of all people to take part in this. Alina thought. William's elf counterpart or not, I'm not sure if and when I'll be able to fully trust him. She looked up and over William's shoulder to see that the timer on the magic item had fallen to 6 hours and 20 minutes and continued to count down. Just as the timer on the magic item reached 6 hours remaining, everything, and I mean everything, froze in place, excluding Acier. This of course confused the Clover Kingdom Queen, to which she moved her right hand in front of her face.
"Huh…?" She spoke softly, then lowered her right hand to look at Alina, William, and Patri. While William and Alina bore normal expressions on there faces, it was Patri's expression on his face that surprised her the most. She'd expect him to have a similar expression to Alina and WIlliam, but that wasn't the case at all. Instead, his facial expression bore a look of shock and fear, his eyes wide evident to this fact. Before she could think further, she heard clapping and footsteps as the Wizard King himself, Julius Novachrono, entered the room.
"I am quite impressed that you got the ritual up and running quite fast." Julius told her, a light smile on his face. Acier blinked, slightly surprised by this endeavor. Even so, she needed to ask him an important question. Especially considering that she didn't expect him to come visit the place of the Tree of Kabbalah Ritual at all. After a few more breaths, Acier spoke up before Julius himself could.
"Julius? What are you doing here?" Acier dared to ask.
0713MM: And that is that for this chapter! I figured I'd finish up majority of the fights I started back in Chapter 60 in this chapter. I.E. Dazu vs Dante, Calamity vs Morris, and Liebe vs Licita. With the first 2 listed having continuations in the form of Dazu vs Lilith and Naamah and Evanora vs Morris. And of course, there's more to come! There will also be continuations for other fights that started back in Chapter 60. I'm of course talking about Ren vs Eva. That one will be equally as intense as the upcoming fight that gets severely hinted at at the end of this chapter here. Though one note before I go-I do apologize if this chapter is shorter than expected. I was hoping it'd be a tad longer, but alas, it is not. Hopefully that slowlys starts to get fixed over time as the story progresses. Anyway! That does it for my outro here. I hope to see you guys for the chapters to come!