Chapter Eighty-Five: Formation of the Royal Knights

Kenos…I like you.

Four words. All it took was four words to stun the entire room into silence. Each Black Bull had their faces contorted into ones of shock, confusion, or both, not even the most stoic of them could hold a straight face. In fact, unbeknownst to the others at the time, within the angelic grimoire, even Emmanuel couldn't believe what he just heard.

Oddly enough, the only one keeping a semblance of composure was the solar mage himself, his expression though, was somewhat mixed, as if a million thoughts were on his mind all at once. But despite all that, he kept a straight gaze at the girl who made her confession.

Zuka, on the other hand, was trying hard not to blush and look away from the boy she's been crushing on, but wasn't doing too good of a job. She said it, she finally said it, and there was no going back now, she was nervous, but she was also kind of excited to get it off her chest. Only one thing remained now.

His response.

The sparkle mage fidgeted with her hands behind her back, doing her best to establish eye contact. "S-So, what do you have to say? Y-You don't have to answer right away, of course," her voice was unusually timid.

Kenos continued to think, his mind wondering about everything he had ever done with the Aqua Deer. Teaching her Mana Charge, fighting together during the Royal Knights Exam, visiting her home village, spending time with her during the Star Festival, getting her a necklace, fighting Levi, fighting for the capital, and finally, their first mission, on the day they met. The day they met. He had an answer to give, so he opened his mouth to give it with a smile.

"Zuka, I like you too,"

To say that the girl was overjoyed would be a gross understatement. Her eyes became like her attribute, sparkling with uncontainable happiness, a smile on her face that put nearly every smile she's made to shame.

As for the Rossiu's squadmates who were still out of sight, their reactions were varied. Vanessa was the most different out of them, silently squealing like a schoolgirl, Yami was stroking his chin, nodding to himself, Noelle though, looked a bit unhappy at the result while the rest just remained slack-jawed.

"Is this really happening? I can't believe it!" she thought, ready to wrap Kenos in a tight hug, but before she did, she noticed his mouth start to open. She desperately wondered what he was going to say. Probably a request for her to be his girlfriend? Or maybe to suggest a place for their first date? Or maybe…for a kiss? It didn't matter which one it was, she just wanted to hear him say it.

.

.

.

.

.

"You're one of my best friends," he then said, his smile not fading.

Not even a second passed before all the joy and happiness in Zuka's eyes shattered, her smile disappearing just as fast, the faces of the Bulls now matching her crestfallen expression.

"Your best…friend?" she asked slowly and softly, trying her best to not sound distressed.

"Yeah. I remember, back in Rielzu after our first mission together, you told me those very same words, 'Kenos Rossiu…I like you', and that cemented our friendship from then on," he explained.

Zuka couldn't help but gasp at what he said as he kept on talking. "What you said earlier, you were trying to remind me, right? Did you think I forgot? I assure you I haven't, that was a very special day for me,"

"I-I, but I," the girl then went from gasping to stuttering, that was before something caught her attention. "Huh?"

"Is something the matter?" Kenos looked behind him, seeing what she saw: his squad. "Hey there guys," he walked over to them. "I take it the beast problem has been solved?"

The aqua-clad knight was faced with a third shock in a row. How long were the Black Bulls there? Did they hear everything?"

Yami awkwardly coughed. "Yup, we're not to have any trouble with them for the time being,"

"That's great. Y'know, it's a beautiful day, I think I'm going to go for a stroll," the solar mage said, walking right past Zuka on the way to the door. "Would any of you care to join me?"

He was met with no response. "Okay then, I'll see you all in a bit," he shut the door behind him, humming a tune as he began moving into the forest area, passing by tree after tree, observing the different birds and bugs he saw, eventually passing by the spot he and the girl were at earlier in the day. His stroll came to a halt though once he came face to face with a large and thick tree possessing equally large and thick branches.

"Looks like a good spot to sit down to me," he focused mana into his legs and thrusted himself up, sitting on the highest branch, he then assumed a comfortable position, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning on the tree with his legs stretched out.

"Man, what a beautiful view," he said, gazing at the forest beyond him, his eyes then shutting to relax.

Not even a second passed after his remark before his grimoire flew up beside him, opening. "Kenos?" the angel spoke, his tone obviously confused by his partner's action.

"Is something on your mind, Emmanuel?" he asked back, his relaxed position not breaking.

"There most certainly is," he replied. "It's about what Zuka said,"

"Oh yeah, that. I didn't think she'd think I forgot about the day we became friends. The two of us hadn't met yet, but you saw what went down, it was pretty memorable, right?"

"Well, yes, but I don't think she was talking about that day,"

"What was she talking about then?"

"I'm pretty much positive that what she told you back there was a confession, one of the more…romantic variety," he revealed.

It was at that point that the solar mage opened his eyes and sat up straight, not saying anything for a time, only looking ahead before a long sigh escaped his mouth and he audibly muttered two words.

"I know,"

The angel was now quite flabbergasted. "You knew? Then why did you feign ignorance earlier? I can't really say it was the smartest move on your part, you could've-,"

"I panicked, okay!" Kenos yelled, cutting Emmanuel off. The boy pressed a hand against his head. "Her confession caught me off guard,"

"Off guard? How?"

The Rossiu sighed again. "Well…I never believed anyone was into me like that, I may be an important noble, but beyond that, I'm a pretty average guy. I never thought that a girl would ever confess to me, so imagine my surprise when the first one is Zuka of all people,"

"I see," the angel stroked his chin from within the tome. "Is there a problem that it was Zuka?"

"No, not at all, it's just that…I don't know how I feel about her, it's a thought that's never once crossed my mind, but I didn't want to just say no though and hurt her, she means a lot to me and I don't want to cause her pain. Besides, I know I don't not like her, however, past that, I'm not very sure,"

"If you're worried about how you feel, don't you think it would've been a smarter idea to just tell her you need some time to think it over before giving an answer?"

"And make every interaction between us super awkward until I eventually do? No way in hell, I already dread the thought," he shook his head.

"I'll admit, it may be awkward, but in the long run, it'd be the most mature thing to do,"

Kenos stood up and started pacing around the branch. "Maybe it would be, but I just couldn't do it, I can't always take the mature route, I'm not an adult, I'm only 16, even now I'm still just trying to process how I felt during the whole moment,"

Emmanuel was intrigued by the last part. "Any feelings you're willing to share?"

"I mean, I felt surprised, shocked, nervous, unsure, and…kinda happy. I mean, what guy wouldn't want an amazing girl like Zuka to like them, but that doesn't make this any easier," he answered while fidgeting with his hands. "I kinda wish there was someone I could ask about this, it'll be risky to head home, so Eleanor and Ves are out, the squad can't know I lied, so they're out, and besides, none of them are in relationships, same with you I suppose,"

"What? Oh, heavens no, I most certainly am in a relationship,"

Kenos was once more caught off guard by another confession. "Excuse me? You have a girlfriend?"

"Of course I do," the angel exited his grimoire, standing beside his partner before he spread out his arms and flew up.

"And what a girlfriend she is! The most beautiful angel I've ever laid my eyes upon, her every movement is perfect, whether she's flying or in combat, her face more radiant than even the sun, her smile capable of warming the coldest of souls!" he swooned as he landed back on the branch. "And her name, oh, her name, the very mention of it never fails to make my heart flutter, in fact, I just want to scream it out loud! Oh, my sweet-,"

Kenos cut him off for a second time by grabbing his arm. "Forget I asked. I can't say I ever pegged you for a romantic,"

He blushed while clearing his throat. "Um, I apologize, I sometimes get carried away when the subject comes up,"

"So, how did it go for you being in my position?"

"Actually, I was in Zuka's position, I confessed to her, and she said yes right away, the feelings were mutual," he said, noticing his hand fading away, so he returned to the grimoire.

"She said yes right away? Sounds simple to me, way to rub it in," Kenos gave his tome a side-eye.

"What? All I did was answer your question,"

"I guess, but that doesn't matter, I know what I have to do. All I have to do is figure out how I feel about Zuka, and once I have an answer, I'll give it to her, and by feigning ignorance, things between us will stay the same until I do, it's foolproof,"

"If you say so, I just hope it all works out for you," Emmanuel said as the solar mage jumped down. "But the others were probably listening to everything you said. What will they think?"

"They'll probably think I'm some dense idiot, but that's alright for now," Kenos responded, beginning his walk back to base, but not too long passed before a worried expression formed on his face.

"I just hope Zuka isn't taking this too hard,"

"I'm such an idiot!"

Back at HQ, the sparkle mage had her face buried in her hands, completely embarrassed by what had transpired. And what's worse, the Black Bulls had seen it all go down.

Vanessa motioned over to the girl, a smirk on her face, attempting to lighten the mood. "So, you're smitten with our little ray of sunshine? Let's not worry about that right now, instead we can-,"

She paused as Zuka's face slowly revealed itself, showing it to be halfway to the brink of frustrated tears. "How could I have been so stupid?" she mumbled, just audible enough to be heard.

The thread mage didn't even try to finish what she was saying earlier before her instincts kicked in and she wrapped the aqua deer in her arms, tightly hugging her. "Hey, hey, listen to me, don't ever say that about yourself, you aren't stupid for feeling these feelings. Kenos is a very lucky boy, and if it makes you feel better, I want you to know that I approve of this a hundred percent,"

"You…You do?" the younger girl asked.

"Damn right we do," Yami replied, entering the talk. "The two of you are always together doing something or other. When I take some time to think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense,"

Magna gave her a thumbs-up. "You got our approval too, you're already a cool gal, but we've seen you fight, and you're a force to be reckoned with. Kenos is going to need a tough woman by his side,"

"I can already imagine it, you two would look so cute together!" Charmy gushed.

Gordon wrote something down in his notebook before walking to Zuka, tapping her shoulder, and showing it to her as she read it aloud. "From this point on, I deem you one of my dear friends and I wish you and Kenos the best. As my friend, please do me a favor and make him the happiest boy in the world,"

The other bulls gave similar remarks and words of encouragement except for Noelle, who couldn't join her squadmates as something was on her mind. "Does Eon know about this? She might lose the chance to shoot her shot. While I do feel kinda happy for Zuka and think that she and Kenos sound like a nice match, I just can't fully root for her,"

The nice words everyone had said began to make Zuka feel more comfortable, breaking her hug with Vanessa and chuckling. "Y'know, I wasn't really expecting all of this to happen when I pictured the scenario in my head, I thought it'd be far simpler. You all are the best though, yet another reason why Kenos likes this squad so much. But I still feel stupid for what I told him,"

"What did you tell him?" Asta asked.

"Kenos said it himself. When we finished our mission in Rielzu and were heading back, I told him I liked him, but it was totally platonic then. Now though, those feelings have changed, they've gotten…stronger, and thinking about them makes me all warm inside. Unfortunately, as you all saw, he isn't aware of that, so he misunderstood my confession,"

"Then the solution should be simple, just straighten things out with him," Gauche spoke up. "No point in letting a lack of communication screw you over,"

"Yeah, that will work, I can tell him that I meant the words in a romantic sense," Zuka perked up.

"You could do that, but how about something a little more foolproof?" Vanessa suggested.

The aqua raised a brow. "And what would that be?"

"Well, instead of telling him you like him, how about.." the woman leaned in, whispering the rest in her ear. "..That you love him,"

"Love?!" Zuka held her ear and backed up, blushing furiously. "B-But, liking someone and loving them are on different levels. I know for sure that I like Kenos, but I don't know if I love him,"

"Then you'll have to find out," the thread mage placed a hand on her hip. "If you ever wish for the two of you to be more than boyfriend and girlfriend, it'll be a nice thing to be sure of. Hopefully, it doesn't take more than a few days,"

The sparkle mage nodded. "As do I," she said, but then the obvious question entered her mind. "Wait, how do you know if you love someone?"

The look Vanessa's face took on didn't give much hope. "That part I don't know, I've never been in love before. Why don't you ask your mother? She's bound to know,"

"Great idea, I was already thinking about going to Hiroka to ask for advice, but now I should definitely pay her a visit today,"

Just as she finished her statement, banging was heard at the door. "Kenos?!" Zuka turned her head in the blink of an eye, her cheeks rosy.

"Oooh, it looks like someone is excited to see the boy of her dreams," Vanessa slipped into her sly teasing.

"No duh,"

"Hold on, there's no way that could be Kenos, he wouldn't knock that loud, hell, he wouldn't knock period," Asta pointed out as the banging got louder and more intense.

Magna wasn't having any of it as he strode forward confidently. "Who the hell do you think you are banging like that!? It looks like we'll have to teach you some-," he didn't get in another word as the door suddenly gave way and landed right on him, revealing the person on the other side, someone Asta and Noelle quickly identified.

"Mereoleona?!"

Yami, on the other hand, responded in comedic terror. "Sisgoleon?! Code Crimson! I repeat, Code Crimson! A crazy animal broke in! Run for the hills if you value your life, and if catches you, play dead!" he yelled, but similar to his shade-wielding subordinate, he wasn't allowed another word as the woman's signature flame paw pushed him down.

"Nobody move," Mereoleona ordered calmly with crossed arms. "Besides, it's not like either one of you could outrun me anyways,"

"Ooh, I could," Luck excitedly shot his hand up.

The captain pretended to be in thought before giving him an answer. "No you couldn't,"

"You better be ready to pay for that door," Yami managed to say. "What are you here for?"

"I came to give you this," she walked to where the dark mage laid, placing a bottle of alcohol next to him. "It's an…apology, for taking you and your subordinates to Yultim without your consent,"

"Oh, well, apology accepted, but this isn't necessary, not to mention it looks crazy expensive," he tried to politely decline.

That was, until her paw lifted him up to eye level with her, subjecting him to a menacing glare that rivaled his own. "Accept it, or die,"

"Sure, why not, if you insist," he relented and was promptly released.

Asta approached her. "Not that we don't appreciate the gesture, but did you really have to do all of this just to deliver some booze?"

"Just? No, that was a side thing, I came to do something else," she replied as paws grabbed the heads of the swordsman along with Noelle and Luck.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Zuka demanded from where she was standing.

Mereoleona merely looked in her direction. "So this is where you were, that explains it," she said as a paw grabbed her head too.

Magna wiggled his way out from under the door and stood up, his bones audibly cracking as he stretched, but that didn't stop him from pointing at the ones currently at the captain's mercy. "Ha, looks like the four of you are in major trouble, not exactly sure what you did, but you better think about it!"

Like with Zuka, the woman gazed in his direction. "Trouble? There appears to have been a misunderstanding, these four have passed the Royal Knights Entrance Exam,"

"What?!" every other person in the room exclaimed.

"I-I actually passed," Asta was processing it before he grinned. "I passed!"

"I can't believe I did it," Noelle squealed in her head.

"I have to tell Shauna," Zuka smiled.

"Give me five," Asta said as they shared a four-way high five.

Magna, however, didn't share their high spirits. "I…didn't make it?"

But hope reignited in him upon hearing her say something else. "Wait, there are two other people from this squad who passed. Where are they?"

"What happened to the door?! Is everyone okay?!" a voice caught the group's attention as Kenos soon came into view. "Mereleona? What brings you here?"

He didn't get a straight answer though, or really even an answer as the paw claimed its fifth victim. "You're coming with me,"

"What? Oh no, no no no, I am not getting dragged to another Strong Magic Region to train, I'm not in the mood for that right now," the solar mage said, trying to free himself.

"You don't need to worry about that, at least for today," the flame mage assured him. "I'm here to pick up you as well as your fellow Royal Knights,"

"My fellow Royal Knights?" he repeated, not believing what he heard. "You're telling me I passed?"

"Yup,"

"Awesome!" he cheered. "Emmanuel, I did it!"

"I can see that, I'm very proud of you,"

Mereoleona looked around. "Now where's the last bull?"

"You must be talking about me?" Magna raised his hand.

He was, however, ignored. "Yami, are all your members here?"

"Um, hello? I'm literally standing right in front of you," Magna ran up to her, jumping up and down. "I'm the only other Black Bull here who participated, so let's get a move on-,"

"Look, you're not the one I'm looking for, stop pestering me!" the woman yelled, silencing him.

It took a few seconds, but he eventually found his voice. "A-Are you saying…that I failed?" he slowly backed up and dropped to his knees.

"Yeah, you did. Julius showed me all the fights and I saw yours, you have skill, but you were outdone quickly. Outcomes like that have no place with us if we want to achieve our goal,"

All eyes were now on him, waiting to see how he would react or what he would say, but to their surprise, it was Luck who spoke up. "It looks like you didn't have what it took to pass like I did, what a shame. If this keeps up, I'll leave you in the dust,"

Zuka looked at the lightning mage strangely, mentally admonishing him for his ill-timed words. She was about to verbalize her thoughts, but a voice stopped her.

"Leave me in the dust? Like hell you will," the mage in shades rose back up, determination was the only thing found on his face. "So what if I failed? I won't let it stop me, a real man is one who falls ten times, but can get up eleven times. You may be a Royal Knight, but I'll get stronger and surpass you!"

Mereoleona couldn't stop herself from grinning. "There's something I like to see. You've got guts, kid, I'll give you that,"

Luck matched her expression. "There's no doubt you'll get stronger, but you'll never surpass me,"

"We'll just have to see about that,*

"As much as I'd love to stay here, we have others waiting on us, so we'll take our leave," the woman turned and was getting ready to walk away, but she stopped, pulling out a bag of yul from her satchel, throwing it to the dark mage. "And that should cover for a new door,"

"Thanks, Sisgoleon,"

"Call me that again and I'm taking the money back,"

Yami remained silent until they were all out of sight, it was then that he spoke again. "Good luck, all of you, push past your limits, and put an end to these bastards,"

"And we're here!"

Almost an hour passed before Mereoleona arrived at the capital, landing in a building with a semi-open roof, having jumped the entire way.

The five knights were released, Kenos being the first to comment about his discomfort. "You know, it would've been better if we just flew here, this isn't like with Yultim, we actually want to come,"

"Perhaps, but where's the fun in that?" the woman grinned proudly.

The five knights all deadpanned before a new, yet familiar voice made them turn around. "I had an idea you might be here, Asta,"

"Yuno! Of course you passed," the swordsman ran and shared a fist bump with his rival, looking past him to see three of his squadmates standing nearby. "Hey, Mimosa and Klaus are here too, and…that guy who was on Finral's team,"

"You may call me Hamon," the glass mage introduced himself.

He wasn't the only one to address Asta as the steel mage exchanged a handshake with him. "I share Yuno's sentiment, it's good to see you here,"

"Likewise,"

Their hands separated as he noticed a person behind the bull, so he proceeded to clear his throat. "Now, if you will excuse me, there's someone I wish to greet," he went off running towards the lightning mage. "Luck!" he exclaimed happily, his arms open.

"Four-eyes!" the bull opened his own arms, running as well.

A third familiar knight joined their action. "You guys made it!"

The two teens smiled joyfully. "Puli!" the three converged together, sharing a three-way hug.

"We did it! We did it! We did it!" the trio jumped up and down, revolving as they did so.

Noelle approached her cousin, both their eyes on the former Team K members. "Wow, they're really excited,"

"It's understandable though, we all worked really hard to get to this point. Aren't you excited too?" Mimosa said before asking.

"Trust me, I'm ecstatic, but as royalty, I know how to keep my composure," she responded.

The plant mage nodded in agreement. "As do I," a vein on her head pulsated as she gave a forced smile, noticing Kirsch in her peripherals, up to his usual shenanigans.

The water mage merely sighed, but that's when she felt a hand land on her head.

"Composure is a good thing, but it wouldn't hurt to look a bit happier," a gentle voice behind her spoke, she peeked over and saw the fungus mage, smiling warmly at her.

"En, you're here," she turned and exchanged a quick hug with him.

"Yup, it looks like our whole team is here too, but to be honest, I was expecting that to be the case, we were the runner-ups after all,"

Speaking of runner-ups, Zuka approached the team that gave them that title as they were socializing. "Hey captain, and hey there you two. It's Nils and Ruben, right?"

The former acknowledged her and nodded. "That's us, and you're Zuka if I'm not mistaken,"

"That's me," she replied with a smile as Rill suddenly embraced her.

"Zuka! There was no doubt in my mind that you'd become a Royal Knight too. But I'm a bit confused, where were you? You weren't at HQ when Mereoleona stopped by,"

The sparkle mage's face adopted an uneasy expression. "U-Um, yeah, you see, I was handling something at the Black Bulls base, really important,"

"Handling what exactly?"

"Uh, sorry captain, it's kinda…personal,"

"I see, you don't have to tell me then, as long as you're alright," he relented.

"As alright as I can be," giving another smile at the picture mage's understanding, she quickly changed the subject. "So, are we the only Aqua Deers who passed?"

"The answer to that, Zuka, would be no," Fragil came up beside her.

"Aw yeah, now we're talking, give me five, sister," they shared a high-five.

Kenos observed the people in the room, trying to identify two in particular, but was coming up short. "It seems neither Dante nor Oxanna made the cut, that's a shame,"

His grimoire opened. "Perhaps, but they did mention contemplating whether or not to confront your father about the Zaxon situation," Emmanuel reminded him. "Ironically, not passing would be in their best interest if they don't want to let the mission get in the way,"

"You raise a fair point, as for me, all I have to worry about are-, the Rossiu was cut off by two people suddenly appearing right in front of him, both grinning.

"Holy crap!" Kenos jumped. "Rama? Alice? You two scared the shit out of me,"

"Sorry, it was her idea," the lightning mage apologized.

"If it was her idea, it makes sense, we used to do that to Ryu all the time when we were younger, never thought I'd see the day where I'd be the victim of it," he told them. "I'm surprised though, you're team didn't make it past the first round, yet two of you are here,"

Alice fiddled with her hands. "We were as well, I guess we'll have to wait and find out why,"

"Seems like it," Kenos said, his gaze soon falling on the white tiger.

The commoner noticed it and raised a brow. "Yeah?"

"I heard from Oxanna that you two went on a date recently,"

Rama found himself blushing a bit. "You heard right, let me tell you, that day was quite an odd day for us, but it turned out just fine,"

"That's good. Say, is it okay if I ask you something a little…personal?"

The coral peacock perked up at the question. "Oh, I'm sorry, do you need me to give you some privacy?"

"It would be appreciated, thank you so much," he replied as the two males were left alone.

Rama crossed his arms comfortably. "Lay it on me then. What do you want to know?"

It was obvious from his body language that the solar mage was starting to get nervous. "It's totally okay if you don't want to answer, but…how did you find out you liked my sister?"

The boy's posture didn't shift one bit as he answered. "How'd I find out? It's quite odd, really. When I first met Violet, she was always so nice, she asked about my hobbies, she even gave me a nickname, it was obvious she was into me,"

"Not hard to imagine why," Kenos chimed in, his tone calmer than before.

Rama grinned a little at his remark. "She's a cool girl and I wanted to give her a chance, so I thought about her qualities to see if it could work, and that's when it began. I realized there were so many amazing things about her, she's strong, kind, fun, optimistic, cutely blunt, a hard worker, a good friend, and has a powerful fighting spirit,"

The white tiger paused suddenly as his face turned a light shade of pink. "Top it off with the fact that she's the most beautiful girl I know, it didn't take too long for me to admit to myself that the romantic feeling was mutual, and the rest is history,"

"Woah," Kenos gasped, in near awe at what he was told. "Interesting,"

"Indeed. Tell me though, what sparked the interest in finding out? Hold up, is there a girl you have your eye on?"

"Um, not exactly. A girl confessed to me not too long ago, it was the first time it's ever happened,"

"Really? That's awesome. What did you tell her?"

The Rossiu nervously scratched his cheek. "I sorta…pretended to not understand," he admitted.

Rama held his chin. "Hm, can't really say it's the smartest thing you could've done. But based on what you asked, I'm assuming you're still figuring out your feelings?"

"Yeah, but now I know how to figure them out, I just have to think about her qualities and if they make her desirable to me,"

"Don't lean too heavily on just that," Rama told him. "People are different, as such, the way we like others is different, what I did may not be all you need,"

Kenos smiled. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks a lot, I needed this talk. Y'know, you're going to make a great brother-in-law one day,"

The lightning mage smiled too. "Thanks as well, that means a lot coming from one of Violet's brothers. I just hope our relationship can get to that point,"

"Alright, I've given you all more than enough time to yap, eyes on me!" Mereoleona stood on a platform and bellowed, silencing the knights and getting their attention. "Congratulations, all of you, for making it to this point, it means your performance during the exam was deemed adequate to be on this team, you should all be proud of yourselves,"

She paused and the knights took that as their cue to clap for one another, but immediately after the applause finished, a hand was raised.

"What is it, Rama?"

"Captain, how much control did you have over selecting who passed and who failed?" he inquired.

"Not much, Julius and Sylvester did most of the judging, I just put in my input every so often,"

"Does that mean you know how I passed? My team lost in the first round to Leo's team, but Alice and I are here with the rest, in fact, I don't even see him around here,"

Mereoleona put her hands on her hips. "A good question. To answer it, I personally removed Leopold from our roster,"

"What?! Why?! He beat me,"

"Perhaps, but there's a problem he has," she replied. "I take it you know about Leo Battleheart?"

"Obviously,"

"The transformation has a glaring weakness: it expends much of Leopold's mana and energy after he uses it. During these past 3 weeks since the exam, he has improved with it, he can now transform twice a day, but that doesn't change much. The Eye of the Midnight Sun has many powerful mages, he won't know how many times he'll need to tap into that power to fight, the limit he has now will only make him a liability on the battlefield," she explained. "That's where you come in. The two of you were evenly matched during your fight, but you're way more used to the strain than he is, as for that teammate of yours, she's clearly strong, not adding her would be a waste, after all, your match has the closest win of the bunch,"

Rama put his head down. "I see, thank you for telling me," he said in a slightly somber tone. "I hope he's taking it well,"

"I also have a question to ask," Zuka raised her hand.

"What is it?"

"I see that every team that made it to the semi-finals had all their members pass, but what about our team? Did Glynda fail?"

"No, she definitely passed," the woman responded. "She just didn't want to be a Royal Knight,"

"And you just let her be?" Kenos felt compelled to ask.

Upon hearing his question, for the first time ever, Mereoleona facepalmed. "Actually, why don't I just tell you,"

Before paying a visit to the Black Bulls HQ, Mereoleona arrived at the second to last base on her trip to assemble those who have passed the selection, said base belonging to the Green Praying Mantises.

"Hm, I only have two people to get from here, this shouldn't last long," she approached the door, loudly banging on it.

It soon opened, and the first face she saw was En's, who was surprised, but kept a welcoming face. "The captain of the Crimson Lion Kings. What brings you here?"

Not even a second passed before a flame paw landed on his head, lifting him up. "Damn, that's what I call good luck. Congratulations, you passed the selection exam, all there's left is to get the second person,"

"I passed? That's nice, I hope my teammates passed too,"

She kept walking down the hall, the bronze mage emerging from another hallway. "Hey En, do you know who was banging so- holy crap, what's going on?!"

"Hey Sekke, don't worry, everything's fine," the man waved with an unusual calmness. "I passed the exam, she's just looking for the second one who passed as well,"

"Is that so?" he put a hand under his chin and grinned confidently. "Here I am,"

"It's not you, get lost," the flame mage continued on, not even glancing his way.

"What?! Is this because of Langris? I didn't do anything, it's all his fault!" Sekke comedically yelled, dropping to his knees.

"En, I'm looking for a woman named Glynda Goodwitch. Where can I find her?" Mereoleona wanted to know.

"She should be in her office, I can guide you there," he replied, and guide her he did. In two minutes, they were standing outside the office.

The crimson-clad captain didn't bother knocking this time, merely opening the door and coming in.

Glynda, who was sitting at her desk, was initially shocked by the abrupt entrance. "Oh, En, and…Mereoleona Vermillion. What's going on exactly?"

"You and En here have successfully become Royal Knights, I'll be taking you now,"

"Really?" the telekinesis mage crossed her arms. "Did Kenos and Zuka pass?"

"They did,"

"If that's the case, I must decline," she stated plainly. "It wasn't my intention to participate in the first place, but I was chosen, so I fought to make sure the others passed. If they've passed, then the kingdom is in very capable hands, as for me, I trust Jack, but this squad still needs its vice-captain,"

"I admire your faith in them, but you act as if I'd let you choose," the other woman was about to claim her second victim, but all of a sudden, she found herself unable to move.

Glynda adopted an intimidating purple aura as she closed the gap on her would-be abductor. "I will repeat myself just once:

"I. Must. Decline,"

"And that's how it happened," she finished recounting the encounter.

"Shit," Kenos cursed. "To be fair, she did manage to make Captain Yami nearly crap himself at the Star Festival, a feat like this isn't out of the realm of impossibility,"

"Okay, if none of you have any more questions, then I have nothing else to say. We have special uniforms waiting for you, head into the changing rooms in the back and suit up!" she ordered.

They all turned around and were about to leave, but the woman directed her voice at a particular group. "Hold on, Black Bulls. I almost forgot, I'm still not seeing that last member of yours,"

The four squadmates were still as surprised as when it was first mentioned, so they whispered amongst themselves.

"Who do you think she's talking about?" the question came from Luck. "We know it's not Magna,"

"Maybe she's talking about Finral," Noelle suggested.

"It can't be," Kenos politely retorted. "She was shown all of our matches, she must know what happened to him,"

"I say we just ask her, she could know something we don't," Asta had the last word as he raised his voice.

"Ma'am, could you tell us who exactly this person-,"

He didn't get another word in before a loud sound suddenly entered everyone's ears, stopping them all in their tracks.

The swordsman's eyes widened. "That sound? Someone's whistling. Wait, that could only mean," he deduced in his mind, looking up to find the origin, and just as he had suspected, it was the trap mage, dressed from the neck down with a brown cloak.

Others noticed him as well. "Xerx Lugner?! What is he doing here?!"

Mereoleona merely grinned, shooting a blast of fire his way, which he skillfully dodged on his descent to the ground, landing with ease.

The trap mage put a hand behind his neck. "Would you look at all these people? Quite the get-together you're all having, a shame you didn't invite me,"

"Don't give me that crap when you're the one who's late," the fiery woman shot back, her grin not fading. "I was beginning to think you wouldn't show,"

Zora chuckled. "You know me, I gotta be dramatic," he said before pulling off his cloak, revealing something that stunned all but the flame mage.

"A BLACK BULLS ROBE?!"

Asta was by far the most shocked. "B-But, but you, you were, but how, wait, could you be,"

"Yes, shortie, I'm a Black Bull, the fifth oldest member of the squad, as well as the last Royal Knight,"

"That can't be though, you're supposed to be the vice-captain of the Purple Orcas, Xerx,"

"Oh yeah, and while we're here, my name isn't Xerx either, it's Zora Ideale. I took down the real Xerx and claimed his identity for the exam,"

The second part of his revelation caught Kenos' attention. "Wait a minute, your last name is Ideale? Is your father Zara Ideale?"

"Yes, he is. I guess it makes sense for you to know that," he responded.

Yuno was curious. "I don't get it, what's so important about who his dad is?"

"It's very important. Zara Ideale was a legend, the first commoner to become a magic knight, he changed the status quo, because of him, it wasn't just for royals and nobles anymore," he explained.

Asta and Yuno were silent, the former speaking up first. "I owe him then, thanks to him, I have the chance to achieve my dream,"

His rival nodded. "Same here,"

"Not that I don't have some more questions for our supposed new squadmate, shouldn't we suit up?" Noelle got them back on track.

"She's right, let's get moving," Klaus said as they entered the changing rooms, emerging twenty minutes later.

The knights were no longer in their myriad of different colored robes, but instead were dressed in a black bodysuit, over it was a white robe with dark green crosses and gold accents, an image of a dark green three-leaf clover plastered on the back along with a knee-length burgundy cape.

"Not bad, I'm really liking this color scheme," Zuka commented.

"It even fits nicely to those with larger bodies," Puli added.

Bell flew out and inspected her partner. "Yuno, you look absolutely gorgeous in that,"

"I'm glad you think so,"

"You're all looking good," Mereoleona said, having changed herself. "They aren't all looks though, the uniforms have been entirely coated in reinforcement magic to provide additional protection,"

"If that's what they do, then what the hell happened to mine?!" Asta exclaimed, noting that his uniform only consisted of the decorated white robe on his chest.

"We made that one specifically for you," she answered.

"Specifically for me?"

"When you think about it, it makes sense," Kenos pointed out. "Your swords have anti-magic and what we're wearing has been magically fortified, if you accidentally touch it with one of your swords, their protection will be nullified, so it was made shorter than ours, keeping the most important parts of your body safe,"

"He pretty much explained it perfectly," the royal said. "Now, onto some introductions, in case any of you don't know me, I am Mereoleona Vermilion, I'll be the captain of the Royal Knights, we also have three more people joining us for this mission,"

On cue, those three appeared before everyone. "From the Golden Dawn, we have Shiren Tium. From the Wizard King's personal entourage, replacing Finral Roulacase, we have Cob Portaport. And I take it you all recognize the captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel Silva," she introduced them. "They didn't participate, but Julius deemed them necessary,"

Noelle stared at her brother, looking a little uncomfortable, and that discomfort got no better as he locked eyes with her, making her look away.

"We still have one more person to wait for," Mereoleona finished as the time mage suddenly appeared beside her.

"Hey, Wizard King!" Asta waved.

Julius waved back. "Greetings all, it's just me though, Sylvester is busy,"

Their leader crossed her arms. "Now that our guest has arrived, I can go over a rundown of the plan. As stated back during the Star Festival, we've located the base of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, it's within a strong magic region known as Gravitos Stones. We plan to raid their base in three days, our objective is to eliminate every single member of their group, especially their leader, a light mage by the name of Licht, along with the last remaining member of a subgroup among them called the Third Eye, which is a copy mage who goes by Rhya the Disloyal. Those two are the greatest threats and mustn't be taken lightly, so we'll use these three days to prepare ourselves even further. Is that all understood?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Good," she turned to Julius. "Would you like to say anything?"

"I would," he quickly cleared his throat. "The reason you're all here is because Mereoleona, Sylvester, and myself saw that you had what it took to complete this task, you've shown me what you're capable of and it's given me the utmost faith in you. The battle will be difficult, but I know you will come out victorious, fight bravely, for you fight for the sake of the Clover Kingdom. With that, I wish you good luck,"

"Thank you, sir!" they all clover-saluted.

Mereoleona spoke up. "You're all dismissed then, but remember to meet back here at sunset, there will be a celebratory banquet, so bring your appetites with you,"

"Yes ma'am!"

Nothing was said as the scene shifted to Crimson Lion King's HQ hours later, but the silence was soon cut by the sound of knocking and a male voice on the other side of the door.

"Come in," he said, the door opening to reveal Oxanna and Erika as they walked in. The two girls looked down at the now familiar figure that was their unconscious captain.

"Have there been any changes, Leo?" the phantom mage asked.

"Nope, none at all, ever since he was injured, he hasn't shown any signs of recovery,"

"We just need to give him more time, he'll wake up eventually," Erika tried to be optimistic.

"But what if he never wakes up? What if he stays in this coma forever?" he angrily punched the wall. "This isn't fair, I feel so frustrated, and what's worse, I can't even make the bastard who did it pay,"

Oxanna walked to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Neither can the two of us, I know how it feels, all we can do now is put our faith in those who have been chosen,"

"Hello, can we come in?" a voice at the door asked, the trio turned, seeing Rama along with Asta, Noelle, and Kenos.

"You can," Oxanna allowed them, quickly noticing their new attire. "Looking good, Tiger Cub, same with the rest of you,"

"Thanks, we wanted to come and see how Fuegoleon is doing," Kenos stated. "I admit, it's been some time since we last saw him after the capital attack,"

"It's the same as always, no progress at all,"

Asta clenched his fist. "Our attack on the Eye of the Midnight Sun is in three days, we'll avenge Fuegoleon, you have my word,"

"And mine, what he told me that day helped me be what I am today, I owe him," the water mage said too.

The older Rossiu smiled. "I'm counting on you then, give them hell, and be careful,"

"We will," they said, making their way out of the room.

"Rama, wait, I want to talk to you," Leo stopped him. "Alone,"

"No problem, go without me, I'll catch up with you," he told the rest as they vacated the room, leaving the two by themselves.

"What did you want to talk about that the others couldn't be here for?" he asked.

"I'm guessing my sister told you why I'm not a Royal Knight?"

"...Yeah,"

Leopold walked to the window on the other side of the room, staring outside. "I'm worried about myself. I made a new transformation to stand on equal footing as you, I won the match between us, but I still find myself falling short. I improved a bit with Leo Battleheart, but what if that's all I can do? What if that's my peak and I can't get any better than that like my older siblings?"

"Leo, you know as well as I do that isn't true, this is just a temporary hurdle I know you'll overcome,"

"How do you know that for sure?"

"I know because you're my rival, and my rival has the greatest fighting spirit I've ever seen. You'll get through this, you'll perfect Leo Battleheart and make it stronger than it ever has, and if you work hard enough, you may even surpass your siblings, but it all starts in here," Rama said, pointing to his head. "When my parents began to teach me martial arts, there was something they told me: if you convince yourself you can't do something, you'll never do it. Becoming stronger begins by conquering self-doubt,"

The flame faced his rival, brandishing a determined smile. "You got a good point there. I'll do it then, I'll conquer my doubt and get stronger, once you get back from taking down those bastards, let's have a battle so I can show you my strength,"

His rival smirked. "I'm looking forward to it. I better be off, cya," he ran out of the room.

"I'd better be off too, need to go train," the young vermilion gave his brother a thumbs up. "You will wake up one of these days, and I want you to awaken to find a powerful little brother," he walked out, shutting the door behind him.

But had he stayed for a few more seconds, he would have noticed Fuegoleon's hand start to twitch.

Outside, the sun was close to setting as the trio of bulls walked down the road. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm getting kind of excited about this," Kenos pumped his fist.

"Understandable, but we shouldn't lose focus when the day comes," Asta said back.

"Speaking of the day, will we be for their top mages?" Noelle wondered aloud. "Vetto and Fana were pretty tough when we faced them, and there's a high chance Rhya is better than them, then there's Licht,"

"We've grown a lot stronger since those encounters," the solar mage reminded her, looking to Asta for agreement, but instead saw him staring off into space. "Is something on your mind?"

"Yeah, I was just thinking, we know that the Eye of the Midnight Sun has relations to elves and they want the Magic Stones to make themselves stronger. But, why exactly? What do they hope to accomplish?"

"You heard Licht back in Nean, they want to usurp those in charge and take over Clover," Kenos replied.

"That can't be everything though. When we were fighting Vetto and Fana, they kept talking badly about humans, as if there was some grudge. Do you think they could be doing this because they have something against us as people?"

Noelle crossed her arms. "Even if they are, that doesn't excuse what they've been doing,"

"Obviously, but it'd be nice to know exactly what's their driving force,"

"Hey, wait for me!" Rama called from behind, catching up to them. "Thanks for not being too far away,"

Kenos shook his head. "It's no problem. The sun is almost about to set, we shouldn't be late for the banquet,"

"Amen to that, I'm starving," the magicless mage rubbed his stomach as the four continued down the road.

Or rather…the five continued down the road as a mysterious grinning ether latched itself onto Asta's shadow.

"Oh hell yeah, that is good!"

Asta couldn't contain himself as he took a bite of a juicy steak. The area they were in earlier that day had been completely transformed, with tables and chairs everywhere, holding just as much food.

"Make sure you pace yourself, I wouldn't want you choking," Yuno, who was sitting by him, advised.

"I know, it's just that this elite-people food is always to die for," he stuffed the rest of the steak into his mouth, leaving tons of sauce around his face.

Yuno could only sigh at his foster brother's antics, Mimosa and Noelle, who sat across from the boys, however, saw an opportunity. They both took hold of their napkins, ready to move in.

Unfortunately, they weren't fast enough as the one who sat on the other side of Asta, beat them to it, and that person was none other than Kenos.

"You gotta be more careful when you're eating, man," the fellow five-leaf holder wiped his face with a napkin. "You aren't a kid,"

"Sorry, thanks a bunch,"

"My pleasure," the Rossiu was about to take another bite of his own steak, but was stunned by both royals glaring daggers at him. "What?"

He was met with no answer, making him more uncomfortable. "Y'know, I think I'm going to go over there, one of you guard my food," he got up and wandered around the room, checking on what the others were doing. Kirsch and Alice were talking, Puli and Hamon were engaged in an eating competition, but he quickly spotted the one who was standing out, because he was by himself, leaning against the wall with a cup of cider.

Kenos didn't hesitate to approach him. "Zora," he waved. "What's up?"

The trap mage sighed at his privacy being breached. "What do you want? I don't feel like hanging out,"

"Relax, I just came to ask something quickly. You're a Black Bull like me, but when did you join the squad? No one seemed to recognize you,"

Zora made no eye contact as she explained. "The day I joined was an odd one. I made it a mission to take down corrupt magic knights, I eventually ran into Yami thinking he was one too, but I was wrong and it resulted in the worst ass-kicking I ever experienced. But he said he liked my skill, so he gave me a robe,"

The solar mage nodded. "That sounds like Captain Yami to me,"

"I answered your question, now scram,"

"Ok ok, I'm going, but for the record, we're totally hanging out after this is all over. You're a Black Bull, that means your family," he said before leaving.

"Family, aye?" Zora sipped his cider, smirking. "Sure, why not,"

Kenos began to make his way back to the table where his food was waiting for him, but not before he had one more interaction. "Hello there," a voice greeted him.

He almost jumped at how close it was, but he kept his composure, turning to his left where Zuka was. "Hello there to you too,"

The sparkle mage paused for a second, as if thinking of what to say. "Now I think about it, I never congratulated you for passing, congratulations,"

"Likewise. Are you ready for this?"

"Of course I am, Glynda said it herself, with us on the team, the kingdom is in good hands. Personally, I'm pumped to finally settle the score with Annalise," she rejoindered.

"Awesome…I'd better go, my steak is getting cold,"

"Then get moving, let me tell you, cold steak sucks," she waved him goodbye, standing where she was as she watched him. "Soon, I'll be able to tell you something else, that I love you, once I'm sure that I do, but…,"

Even while walking, Kenos eyed the girl behind him to the best of his ability. "Please wait for me, Zuka, I'll learn how I feel about you, if you're the one I want by my side, however…,"

"...The kingdom comes first,"

Outside, atop the roof of the building, stood Mereoleona and Nozel, silently staring at the night sky.

"It sounds quite lively down there, you sure you don't wanna join them?" the former asked the latter.

"I'd prefer to stay up here, Leoné," he answered with a scoff.

She turned her head in his direction. "Y'know, I saw Noelle's match with Solid, she beat him with one attack, she's gotten stronger, maybe you should talk to her,"

The fellow captain said nothing, so the subject was changed. "I'm going to need your help though, we need to use these three days to make this team even stronger,"

"Is that necessary?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" she replied with a question of her own. "We can't underestimate them. You already know what he did,"

The mercury mage narrowed his eyes. "You're right, we can't ever let that happen again,"

"Glad you think so. After the banquet, we can break the news to the others," she decided, but then her brows raised. "One more thing," her head shot behind her. "Did you really think you were slick?"

At first glance, it would look like she was talking to nobody, but she was soon proven right as her shadow spawned a pair of eyes and a mouth, quickly trying to escape, but it got no further as Nozel shot a dagger, holding it in place for the woman to submerge her hand, pulling up a man a familiar attire.

"Well well well, a spy, trying to get info. Why do you stay for a little? We're going to have some fun with you,"

Fifteen minutes later, the two captains jumped into the banquet room. "I need everyone's attention!" the flame mage exclaimed, the knights quieting down, some of them gasping at the sight of a brutally beaten man in the woman's grasp.

"We found a spy from those damn terrorists here and interrogated him, it turns out the enemy has some knowledge on our raid,"

"What are we going to do then?" Rill asked.

"Simple, there will be a change in plans. We won't be attacking in three days, we'll be attacking tomorrow morning," she answered.

"Tomorrow morning?!"

"I was hoping to fit in some extra training, but we need to attack as soon as possible. This area has sleeping quarters, Nozel has already sent servants to prepare space for you. Finish whatever you're eating and get some rest, I want you all up at dawn. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am!"

With that, she and Nozel left, taking the spy with them. "Get yourselves pumped, people, tomorrow is the day!" Kenos raised his voice, prompting others to do the same.

"Yes, tomorrow, once and for all, is when we put an end to the Eye of the Midnight Sun!"

Author's Note

Hey, readers, I wanted to put this note at the top of the chapter, but figured the bottom would be better as to not ruin the flow of the beginning. Like many of you, I watched the new Black Clover movie, and it was FIRE. It was full of cool concepts and fights, so once this story reaches the time-skip, I'll be making a separate TOFL version of the movie, granted, that might not be for a while, but I just wanted to inform you now. That's all I got to say. Cya.