AN:

I"M BACK

Yeah that really took a long time I know. I never planned on letting this story die out but then life got in the way. Well after that break, I finally sat down and didn't let myself sleep or touch a phone until I finished this chapter and here we are.

I, William Vangeance am relieved to be away from the Clover kingdom.

The last few months have not been an easy time for me. My friend Patry has always been with me, sharing the same body for a long time now. Recently, he's started attacking my home with the Eye of the Midnight Sun, which has driven me crazy.

I love the Clover Kingdom and the friends I've made in it. Yami, William, Langris, and all of my squad. I also love Patry, the friend who's been with me through everything. I simply can't take a side, and in doing so I've hurt both sides. I've hurt everyone I care about.

Here, in the Diamond Kingdom, I'm finally not fighting against Patry's friends, but against a group he has no relation to. Here, I can be myself as the captain of the Golden Dawn. Here, I can fight with my squad and not hurt my friends.

At least that's how I hoped it would go. Instead, my squad members are fighting over each other, specifically over Yuno. I know I should have expected this when inviting a peasant into a squad of all nobles, but I still though there would be a bit more compassion than what I've seen. At least Klaus has improved drastically since Yuno joined. He's almost a different person now. I've never been against the peasants. Maybe that comes from my time living in the forsaken realm. Now was the right time to allow a peasant into the Golden Dawn. Julius has been starting reforms since becoming the Wizard King and there's finally some change. However, that change has been slowest among my own second-in-command, Langris Vaude.

Langris has always been a prideful person. I've seen a bit of his family life and the constant pressure to be the best from his parents isn't great for him. Still, he grew to be very powerful and a capable leader. Even if he doesn't show it to everyone, I know he cares about the kingdom a lot. Part of being his captain is that I've seen that side of him. After many years of doing missions with him, I knew I could trust him in my absence, so I made him my vice-captain. Until very recently, I've had no issues with him. It was only on the addition of Yuno and Lucy to the squad that I've noticed him become a bit more erratic. Unlike myself, he truly believes that they are born inferior and can't understand that they're worthy of being in the same squad as him. IT makes him feel less special, which is what he fought his parents for.

My time for thinking was up. Klaus and Hamon just returned, which means our reconnaissance is done. "You're back. Good. Hamon, what did you find?"

Hamon said in his usual cheery voice, "I should have the locations of all 8 shining generals. The old generation mages Broccus, Ragus, and Yagos are all away,, and Mars is also gone. Lotus is unaccounted for. Three of the new generation are together with the king right now. They're all out of our reach. One of the new generation generals is still here inside his house and completely alone. The one that's alone is one of two that we don't know anything about yet. All I know is that his name is Yusuf and he's the newest of the 8."

"Very well done. We've waited and bided our time here long enough. Now, it's time to get some information on their next plans. To that end I want everyone to be ready. Today, we're going to break in to his house and take him out, all of us. For the glory of the Clover kingdom."

"For the glory of the Clover kingdom," we all repeated.

"Let's go," I said.

We all walked out of the cave and into the city. To make ourselves be a bit less suspicious, I had a few people go separately, and to take Mimosa with them. Her plant magic is surprisingly good at making maps and locating hidden structures. The rest of us will navigate using Hamon's sky mirrors, which reflect light from the ground to the sky then to us, giving a perfect birds-eye view of the surface. We already knew where the house was from the past surveillance, but now we could look at what was in the area currently.

The house is located in a residential neighborhood with nearly identical houses on every side. There weren't a lot of people there right now, which makes sense since it's currently midday and everyone is out working their jobs. This gave us the perfect opportunity to sneak in. Klaus used his carriage to get us in the sky and off the ground, with Yuno doing the same with his wind. This lets us avoid anyone on the ground.

Soon enough, we met with Mimosa's group, who took the hidden-in-plain-sight approach to stealth. From her experiences wandering the streets of Kufa earlier, she could blend in like no other.

"Good, you're here. It's time we did our break-in. I'll go with Yuno and Langris on top and work our way inside. Mimosa, guard the entrance and make sure nobody leaves. Everyone else, go straight through the front door full force. Take any guard pressure off us."

"Got it captain," They all responded.

Good, we were finally on with the plan. I do have to admit that I may be leaving Mimosa a bit unprotected out here, or that having Yuno and Langris together may be a bad idea given that they have never gotten along well. There's no time to think on that, right now I have to follow through with the plan I set.

The three of us were on top of the house. It looked really normal from here, though a bit big. Fitting for one of their high ups, I suppose. I looked around until I could find anything to let us in. A window, a balcony, something of the sort. All I found was a chimney.

"Looks like that chimney is our way in. Yuno, float us down there one by one."

"Got it, it's only a matter of time now," Yuno said.

While we spoke, Langris wasn't looking that happy with us. It's normal for him to be somewhat serious and standoffish, but not to this extent.

"I don't need help to get down a chimney that small. Who do you think I am, some weakling. I cannot rely on a peasant's help to do my missions, so get out of the way," Langris said.

"Are we not a squad? We're supposed to help each other. It's not my fault if you get killed down there," Yuno responded.

"I don't need that help from you. There's nothing an ordinary peasant can do that I can't do myself. I'm better than you in every way."

"Langris, that's enough!" I yelled, not caring anymore about alerting security. "Do you think I care about any of that."

"Of course you do captain, that's why you recruited only the strongest nobles into your squad. They were the strongest so you chose them. They weren't normal people. He, though, is normal. I still never found out why you picked him."

"Tell me, do you really think there's anything special about being noble?"

"Of course there is, we're stronger, smarter, more special. We'll always have more magic power." Of course, this was said not looking at Yuno, who would prove such a statement wrong.

"Why is that though? I'll give you that the average noble tends to be more powerful than the average peasant, but why is that?" I asked.

"Because we're nobles? It's in our blood, what we're made to be." Langris looked confused at this point.

"In truth, there's not much of a difference. Neither is there a very good reason why. In the end, it all comes down to opportunity. As nobles, we can take more time to work on magic and train, and we were born to parents who did the same. That can go all the way back in history. At some point, we were all primitive hunters that didn't know how to farm, and we lived in small villages and tribes without a care in the world. Eventually, someone discovered farming, and all of the sudden towns were set up. People lived together in the same place for the first time. Whoever that first leader was, born to normal hunter parents, became the chief, or the noble, or the king. Go back far enough, and at the founding of every noble and royal house was a peasant. "

I continued speaking, "In truth, all we are as nobles are recipients of the legacy of a peasant who once did extraordinary deeds, and now we benefit off it forever. Every so often, a peasant will come by who can change that system a bit, and I believed Yuno could do that."

"Is that all I am to you then? You're saying none of us are special or different?"

"You all are, as individual people. I chose you as my vice-captain because I trust your own strength and character to support our kingdom. It has nothing to do with the circumstance of birth. I'm one of few nobles who would say that, but our kingdom needs to change or it will die. You can show me just how special You are. Not as Langris Vaude of the house of Vaude, but You yourself. Show me how special Langris of the Golden Dawn is. That's the person I want to see. Now go."

Langris looked to contemplate that for a while, then said, "I'll trust you this time William, because you've been I good captain to me, but I have to be special, for myself." With that, he left.

Yuno turned to me and said, "Do you know what his deal was with being special?"

Of course, I had heard this story from langris before. From being in the nobility, I've been connected to the Vaude parents and from knowing Langris I looked at his home life. "I do know what his deal is. I won't say it all but it's pressure from his family to live up to expectations. That's one thing I never had to worry about, growing up in the forsaken realm as I did."

"You grew up in the forsaken realm?" Yuno asked. He looked really shocked by this.

"Yes, I was in exile from my family and lived out there, until Julius brought me in. I've seen what it's like out there from my own treatment. No one there knew I was a noble, to them I was just another person cursed by god."

"Wow, do a lot of people know that?" Yuno asked.

"No, just a few on the squad and Julius. My time there softened my view of peasants, and Julius convinced me to work with him for change. With you, I think I made the right choice to see some change finally. Prove me right Yuno and get moving. I need to get to the front and make sure the squad is doing well. For now, just follow Langris."

I didn't wait for his acknowledgement before leaving. Right now I need to get back into the fight. I jumped down to the first floor and into the front. Sure enough the fight had started. Now, to make sure no one else can interfere. World Tree Magic, Great cocoon. I controlled the spell to create a world tree around the entire house, hollow, and prevent any entrance or exit. Alecdora and Mimosa noticed what I did.

"Captain, you're here, are the entrances guarded."

"Yes, no one will enter now. Let's move on inside with the rest."

Going inside, I walked straight into a massive battle. There were diamond soldiers coming from every hallway and door. Not that it will matter much. Letoile was controlling the fight with her compass spread out over the room. This served to weaken our enemies. At the same time, I saw Klaus using his steel in more creative ways, such as by building barricades in front of hallways. As good as we were doing in terms of defeating enemies, we aren't getting closer to the goal. It doesn't help that they seem to have infinite guards. That's when I took command.

I started by calling my world tree magic to block and grab any soldiers at the hallways, then called out to my squad, "No more fighting out here, we need to push in. End this in one attack right now. Go all out. With the timing of my command, they responded. Klaus withdrew all his steel and used it to sweep the crowds. Hamon's glass was now all around the ceiling and he reflected bright light at everyone, blinding the enemies.

I laid in the finishing touch by calling out World Tree magic, Mistlein seed. I moved the branches out from the floor to restrain and grab every last soldier in the entrance chamber and every hallway.

"It's time to get going, I can sense where Langris is, so follow me," I said. Everyone followed me wordlessly. The only acknowledgment I got was a nod from Klaus. I stormed down the central hallway with my squad at my back, then proceeded down a flight of stairs. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for. Yusuf of the shining generals was right there, locked into battle with Langris and Yuno. From the sight of his attacks and counters, he was a user of earth magic.

He seemed to be holding his own very well against two of my strongest members. Against Langris, he raised large amounts of earth to intercept his spatial attacks and his earth element counters Yuno's wind. By placing himself inside a shell of solid stone, wind wasn't doing anything to him.

Klaus didn't waste any time helping his comrade. He called out Steel magic, Drill Lance. The drill of steel connected against the unsuspecting Yusuf and broke through his stone barrier. Seems like Klaus' steel can counter Earth magic well.

Yuno turned back and saw Klaus and said "Good, you're all here. He's a tough one and uses lots of traps, but we'll take him. Could've already had him if Langris didn't face him alone."

Looking at Langris again, I could see that he was a bit hurt. He must have gotten that by rushing here alone. "Langris, pull back, let us handle him," I spoke. He looked angry but complied with my orders.

"Is this what you get up to in the clover kingdom," the last of the shining generals said. "You send an entire squad to track down one person, and you can't even do it that quietly. How much of my house did you destroy?"

"Enough to make you regret your aggressive actions against our kingdom," Klaus said. "What's the endgame here? It doesn't seem like you have much reason to loot in our territory."

"Our reasons are our own, we needed something specific in that dungeon okay. Now you go with an act of war against us for what? You have no goal here either other than getting your squad wiped out. You thought you were hidden away in that cave? Of course, I knew you were there. Now, you're not getting out of here."

I stepped forward to confront him. "It's quite simple really, just tell us what your plans are regarding our kingdom, and we leave you alone. Do remember there's a full squad of us and only one of you."

He started laughing uncontrollably, which unnerved us all. "Just one of me you say. How ridiculous. You do remember I just said I was ready for you right? Come out boys!" As he said that, the walls burst open. Of course, the walls were fake. An army of soldiers ran forward to engage us in battle, and we responded with force while Yuno stayed glued to Yusuf.

"You let your guard down Clover mages, Barrier Magic, Duel Circle." As he said that, a barrier formed around Yusuf and Yuno, cutting them off from the rest of us. He continued his hysterical laughter, saying, "Like I expected my puny soldiers to actually defeat you. All I needed was a distraction, and now you're split. What was that you said earlier, that I'm one person against a squad? Now you're all useless and the wind mage has to face me himself. This barrier won't fall unless one of us is defeated."

That was a clever strategy he used. Even I can admit that. Now, it's a true solo battle and he's now at an advantage because of the attribute matchup. Maybe Langris could break through that barrier with spatial magic, but for now, Yuno was in the fight, and letting him fight it out would be good for him. Once we had all of Yusuf's backup defeated, I said to my squad, "This is Yuno's battle now, we stand and watch. Langris, please let him have it."

Klaus looked at me and asked, "How did he use barrier magic, I thought his attribute was Earth?"

"It must be similar to Mars from your description, had an extra attribute added artificially. That was the ace he was saving up for us.

Inside the barrier, Yuno faced off against Yusuf. Yuno stayed airborne, flying around while delivering air cutters, all of which were defended by pillars of earth. Yuno seemed to have another idea and called out Wind Magic, Towering tornado. The tornado formed below Yusuf and blew him into the air, letting Yuno land a shot against him while airborne.

"Clever trick there, but it won't work again." Yusuf taunted. Yuno tested that theory with another tornado, but Yusuf coated himself in stone and attached to the ground.

"Even the strongest winds cannot break a solid mountain. Your magic cannot harm me." He said. He's clearly a smart fighter if he can think to use Earth to weigh himself down to stop himself from getting lifted by the wind.

"Win this fight Yuno, we know you can do it!" Klaus said in encouragement.

Yusuf seemed to be done with defending and started his offense. He let go of the stone barrier around himself, taking a small hit in the process, but also moving close to Yuno. When he got close, he created shards of stone and sent them at Yuno. Yuno responded by blowing them away with wind. Yufus caught on quickly that range wasn't going to work, so he got closer again and coated his fist in stone before aiming a punch. Yuno saw that attack and moved out of the way of the brutal attack.

It was clear to me that Yuno was getting frustrated quickly. Even if he didn't have much chance of getting outright defeated, he also didn't have a clear way to defeat his opponent. At least he didn't with the current spells he was using. "Yuno, that spell you got in the dungeon. Use it now!" I yelled.

"I haven't figured it out yet. I can't just come up with that right now," He protested.

"That's not the spirit Yuno. You are easily capable of using that spell since you've done it once before. Are you not stronger now than you were back then? Have you not trained more?"

"Yes, but …"

"Then show me. Show me that potential and skill I picked you for. You already have the knowledge Yuno, just use it," I said, my tone getting softer. Right now, he needs encouragement, not harsh criticism to use that ability. If Julius was right and it is the wind spirit. Yuno can easily win this fight and reach new heights.

"Ok, I'll trust you on this," Yuno said. He dropped to the ground and manually flipped his grimoire to the right page. He didn't speak any words and just pushed his magic out. That's good, he's fully committing to it. Yusuf, though, didn't look too happy with this development.

"Like I'll let you figure out some new spell mid-battle," He said. "It won't work if I interrupt you." He leaped forward to attack with a rock-covered fist.

Yuno stood still and kept pushing out magic without a care, his focus too deep to even notice the attack. Yuno glowed green for a few seconds as the spell activated. His magic was closing in on a small point in front of him, solidifying into the shape of the wind spirit. Once she was formed. The spirit simply blew softly and Yusuf was knocked into his own barrier. The spirit turned around, and in the most chipper voice possible, cried out, "Yuno, you finally called on me. Why'd it take so long idiot." Yuno simply looked confused and asked what she was.

"I'm the wind spirit Sylph, but you can call me Bell. I'll be with you from here on. Now that you finally summed me, you can try using my powers a bit. This guy won't stand a chance if you do."

"Not a chance of that. Even if you use the legendary spirit I'll still defeat you. You will not break my defenses," Yusuf screamed. He went back into his rock fortress mode, becoming practically immovable.

Yuno looked at his grimoire as it turned to a new page and started filling in. He looked straight ahead and said Wind Spirit Magic, Sylph's breath. Sylph inhaled for a few seconds, then blew wind at a strength Yuno had never matched before. Even Yusuf's best defenses stood no chance, and he got knocked into the barrier and fell to the ground defeated. The barrier around their fight fell, and I immediately moved in to bind him in trees.

"You've lost, tell us your plans, now!" I demanded.

"You're too late Vangeance," He cackled." Our invasion force is set to attack Kiten, and they're already on their way. You're too late to stop it!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it. Yuno, you did great here. I knew you had it in you to win that fight. Now let's move to Kiten quickly. We need to defend our kingdom from these invaders."

"Roger!" Everyone responded. Before leaving, Yuno looked at me and said, "Thank you for letting me fight on my own back there. I appreciate your trust captain."

I responded to him saying, "It's good to face some adversity and a tough challenge every so often. It helps you grow stronger when you overcome that challenge. I believe that's what your friend from Hage has shown you as well."

"Indeed he has."

"Come then Yuno, let's go."

With that, we left the Diamond Kingdom on wind and steel, heading to defend our home.

Elsewhere in the Clover Kingdom, Lucy and Natsu were moving eastwards, towards Diamond, and Kiten. They would surely arrive at Kiten in time for the battle.

AN:

The Vangeance POV returns. This lets me paint a picture the golden dawn squad as a whole and especially makes it possible to investigate William's leadership characteristics, which are on display here. Especially needed when langris is a bit of a fuse waiting to explode should he not feel special enough to overcome his family's expectations.

I also wanted to add how Yuno unlocked and first spoke to Sylph, since in the anime he first gains the spell in the first dungeon, doesn't use it again, then shows up to Kiten being able to talk to her and use her spells at will? Since we're around Yuno during periods we have no idea what he's doing in canon, it's possible to fill in some missing details by showing when he unlocks the wind spirit first.