Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.

Saga 19: This Fire

Royal Palace, Heart Kingdom, Evening

"I WAS ASLEEP FOR THREE DAYS?!" Charmy exclaimed as she sat in front of a lavish dining table full of food.

"Pretty much," shrugged Yami as he watched his subordinate stuff her face like if there was no tomorrow. "Silver lining, you helped us out, big time."

"Granted, you were an unknown factor," Scheherazade pointed out, "but nevertheless, a welcome and miraculous one."

"Yeah," said the Black Bull as she kept eating between her spoken words, "I mean, like the Captain said before, I was ready to spend at least two years here, but I guess you gotta appreciate the small miracles!"

"Yeah, and while you were off in dreamland, the Queen and the envoy were looking into who you really were," Yami stated before he looked to the side. "... It's not working out so great."

"Miss Charmy, it's not the fact that there's nothing about your background," said the envoy, "but rather, there is something actively blocking access to said information."

"Which means, there's something that doesn't want any of us to know what you're about," Yami pointed out. "Charmy, this may be too much to ask, but is there something that you're hiding that I don't know yet?"

"Don't look at me!" she rebuffed as she continued eating her three days-worth of food before her (kept warm and cool with array-augmented plates depending on what's served on it). "I don't know jack!"

Scheherazade then takes a mental note of her amnesiac dissonance between her human half and her "other" half. There was something that existed in Charmy Pappitson that even she didn't know. She wants to call her out right now, but that would be baselessly accusing someone who truly doesn't know.

For now, their investigation has now gone cold. Only time shall determine whether it will flare back up sooner or later.

"... So, how long is she going to eat?" Scheherazade asked Yami as she pointed towards the currently-pigging-out-Charmy. "I don't think its healthy for someone of her size to pack away that much food all at once."

"Don't think about it too much," Yami rebuffed her question. "Just pretend that it's a natural occurrence as us needing to breath air in order to live."

At the Launch Site...

"Ladies and gentlemen," spoke Lolopechka as she stepped up towards the returned expedition party, "the mission was a success. [Alf-Layla-wa-Layla] has made landfall!"

"All Thanatophages throughout the Heart Kingdom has been put to sleep and won't bother us anymore," Undine pointed out as she then raises up several projections with her water screens now showing every Thanatophage now rendered completely inert. "Even better, the flies that interfered with our surveillance has also stopped getting in the way, meaning that we can finally coordinate our battle tactics properly!"

"Wait, what do mean flies?" asked Jack. "I didn't see shit!"

Undine, unimpressed, then plays back a recording that was dated back a year prior, with the screen showing nothing but blurry black granules throughout the whole projection.

"... That's just static," Meroleona remarked before Undine paused said projection before zooming in onto one spot of the projection, revealing a cluster of flies swarming over each other's backs. "... Never mind."

"I could've said otherwise," Mosin pointed out, "but I'm not the expert."

"And before you ask, no, it was nigh-impossible to get rid of them," said Lolopechka. "I tried a few years prior, and all I learned about them was that they multiply faster then they can be swatted, and they're also were acting as bait that endangered my men."

"Speaking of endangered..." Jack commented, "... if your security system is that omniscient, then how the fuck did it not pick up the millipede's mana signature at the very least?"

"Even I couldn't pick it up myself," confessed Undine, "... crafty devil, that Caligula, building without its own innate magic as part of its stealth measures."

"Also, it was like, really quiet," Meroleona pointed out. "I managed to hear through all of the explosions and blood splatters, and not once I heard even one of its thousand legs make a sound when they touched the ground, not even the shifting of the gravel between the dirt. If it weren't for the fact that it drooled on my fire-arm..."

"It would've resulted in a total party kill..." gulped Finral, being reminded of a certain Fallen Angel that killed Noelle and Mimosa back at the Dungeon.

"Yeah well, bugger wasn't that tough when it failed to get a jump on us," scoffed Jack as he then took out something beneath his cloak. "Even took a trophy from it. One of its carapace scales."

"... Uh, Jack?" said Fuegoleon as everyone stared at the aforementioned's raised hand. "Where is that trophy of yours?"

"What do you mean?" he remarked incredulously. "It's on my hand you know! Are you retards blind or something?!"

Guache then walks around a certain angle before he noticed a slither of black atop of the Green Mantis Captain's hand. "Guys, come this way. Captain Jack, you might wanna hold still."

As everyone moved towards where the [Mirror Magic] user was currently at, the invisible object up on Jack's hand was now visible, a piece of dark armor the size of a human-fit pauldron.

"Okay, how the fuck does that work?!" Jack pointed out. "And how does the pedo know about it more than I do?!"

"First of all, rude," Gauche remarked, "second of all, while the principles are off by a certain kilter, what we've just witnessed was a phenomena dubbed an 'optical illusion.' Simply put, it's a principle of eye tricks that fools the viewer into seeing nothing when there's something there, usually through the bending of light that is reflected from our eyes, which in turn, is how eyes allow us to see visions as we are now."

"So you're saying that thing Jack's holding up bends light around itself to make itself invisible on a certain?" Meroleona pointed out, to which Gauche nods in confirmation. "Could've just said that..."

"How the fuck do you know all that?!" Jack pointed out.

"[Mirror Magic]," answered Gauche as he then summoned numerous mirrors around himself before the very view of Gauche himself began to warp and blur like rippling water before he suddenly rendered itself invisible. "And before you ask why didn't use this sooner, is because one, I can't make my own mirrors invisible unless I summon more mirrors to make them invisible, which isn't worth the trouble unless I place them in places where I can physically hide them from plain view. And two, while it does hide me from sight, my mana signature isn't. And given that I was born a noble..."

"... Yeah, even a drunk peasant could see him coming even if they can't see him," Nix commented.

"So why bother?" asked Willy.

"Had to use this once or twice when hiding myself and my sisters when we were run out to the slums. Got the two of us out of certain sticky situations that I rather not elaborate on," said Gauche as he reappeared in conjunction with the mirrors around him disappearing. "Although for the scale that the Captain has, I think it works on the opposite principle."

"... So... like it only turns visible when exposed to actual daylight and not at will?" Leopold remarked with visible confusion. "That doesn't sound useful."

"Actually, it more useful than you think," Gauche retorted. "Regular invisibility, even at broad daylight, still tends to blur akin to how the air distorts during heatwaves, given that light isn't passing through invisibility, but rather bent around said person to make them if they were not there. So effectively, having a darkness-activated invisibility is more practical, since hiding in the dark is more efficient when no one can see what's three feet in front of them anyway. That and well, it needs about certain amount of sunlight to render it visible, so the invisibility still works under adequate shade or even bright indoors, due to them being artificial light rather than actual sunlight. There is a difference."

"Combined with the fact that it's also quiet even when caught and durable to boot," Meroleona bared her teeth in frustration, "then you got the ideal ambush predator."

"So why didn't it pounce on us when it had the chance?" asked Vanessa. "Or at very least, take us out one by one?"

"For the latter, I think we would've noticed it immediately if some of us have gone missing," said En. "So it was smart enough to try and take all of us down at once just to maintain its cover. Kill us all before one of us can even comprehend it."

"As for the former..." Gauche racked his brain for a possible answer before he looked at Henry. "... I think his magic altering the terrain around us to help us travel better may have forced the millipede to compromise whatever initial attack plan it might've had. I mean, if I recall correctly, ambush predators normally memorize all of the vantage points in their hunting grounds, and I think that millipede, whose name I'm not going to even bother attempt to pronounce, has failed to take into account that even the land itself is subject to change."

"Hot damn," Nix raised an eyebrow in surprise at the fact that the weakest-looking member of the Black Bulls was the one who inadvertently saved their collective bacon. "... Sorry for underestimating you man!"

Henry just gives him a slow thumbs-up.

"So with that said..." Finral sighed, "I take it that we solved our little mystery. So what now?"

"For now, rest," ordered Lolopechka. "But take heed that Caligula will most likely retaliate. Given that he could've easily used the past decade or so to, and pardon my language-fuck off elsewhere, I get the feeling that we might have to confront him soon enough."

"Let him come or let us come to him, I don't care which," Mosin snarled eagerly, her [Glephnir] ring Relics glistening around her cracking fingers. "That mudak is going six feet under one way or the other."

"Bastard ripped off one of my arms," Meroleona remarked with a growl. "It's gonna be paid back. With interest."

"His crimes will be answered for," Fuegoleon declared, "for the sake of those who have fallen in battle!"

"Randall, and everyone else..." Leopold brushed his head across his branded forehead, "... we promise... we'll end this stupid war!"

"I'll cut him up faster than he can run!" Jack declared.

"There's nowhere us or him for us to run," En pointed out with quiet resolve. "It's endgame, so I'll give it my all."

"The bug getting crushed is that fly-bastard!" Nix hollered.

"Hell yeah," Willy nodded. "One more push. And one more drink in Sekke's name when we get back."

"I'd hate to see what would happen to the entire Clover Kingdom if that Caligula guy gets carte blanche over it..." Finral gulped in fear if failure is the result. "... I'd rather die fighting to my last than live in the shithole that he's going to usher. They make bad dating spots, I'd tell ya."

"Agreed," Vanessa sighed in resignation over the fact that they will not come out unscathed. "... It's do or die time. I can't run away anymore."

"... Fight... on," Henry groaned, mustering his little innate strength to show his resolve.

"For Marie and everyone else that loves and protects her..." Gauche looked at his pendent with the picture of his younger sister is in, only with its lensed covering cracked down its middle, "... I won't let even a single Demon get near her ever again!"

"For now, wash up," said Undine. "This might be the last moments of peace we have left."

"Dismissed," ordered the Queen, with everyone present dispersing out of her chambers.

With the two left alone, Lolopechka and Undine then observe one recording that they've just recently picked up on. Shown on the screen of water was one patch of their bordering jungles how completely rotten and decayed into venerable wastes of dead flora and fauna.

"... Caligula's cruelty knows no bounds," she wept slightly, her tears of bitter rage pouring down her cheeks, "no matter how many times I see it, it never gets easier."

Undine's eyes narrowed at the horrid sight of her friend and her descendants' work continuing to be spat upon like this. "... Indeed. Such horrid smell of the mana left behind can only come from someone cruel and twisted as him."

Coastal Observatory Tower, Forsaken Realm, Clover Kingdom, Night

Sniffing the air around her, Zio has now found herself right at the continent's eastern coast.

"Like fifteen years ago..." she smiled to herself as she then began to walk down the ocean cliffside. "... To think those tykes from nowhere grew up to be such badasses. I truly thank the gods for such a wonderful gift."

She then kneels to the ground, brushing her hand across the grass and dirt, only to find a small strand of jet black hair that smelled exactly like Akane and Mari's. A little faded, but still smelled the same.

"Even such putrid scent coming from the southern winds couldn't err my godly sense of smell," Zio smiled to herself. "When I find you two, I'm willing to forgive both of you, as long you're willing to explain yourselves."

Suddenly, her stomach began to grumble. Even as a Dragon disguised as a human being, her current form still followed the rules and functions of the latter despite still retaining the pure strength and power of the former.

"Guess I'll go fishing," she then stripped off her "clothes" (really illusory garbs that comes with her human disguise) before she dove into the sea from atop the cliff. Wonder if I can kill a whale for dinner.

Agartha's Ruins, Mimo Amazon, Neutral Territory, Midnight

In one part of the ruined city of the lost ages, Angra herself was found laying on top of an operating table while standing around her was none other than Sally, the mad scientist doing her work uninterrupted.

"Good news!" said Sally as she moved the operating lights away from her patient. "Your whole body is now completely immune to the effects of [Fire Magic]! Thanks to my magical enhancement procedures altering your MNA composition to resist heat up to two-thousand degrees celsius!"

"I get the feeling that there's a huge 'but' coming, doc," Angra rolled her eyes.

"Yeah... I checked the dead tissue samples that I picked up with my [Gel Magic] treatment a couple hours prior," the scientist pointed out. "Lo and behold, your current enhancements aren't enough to save your ass from being fried by your own [Hellfire Magic]. And remind me, what color were your flames post-upgrade?"

"Bright blue, nearing azure," she answered, for which the scientist let out a soft sight of disappointment.

"Those kinds of flames can get hot up to three-thousand degrees celsius, honey," Sally commented. "My enhancements are enough to prevent you from turning into charcoal, but we need to find a longer-term solution to this issue of power balancing."

The two then began to think of how they can solve this problem at hand. [Hellfire Magic], by all metrics, was simply a hotter and deadlier version of regular [Fire Magic].

"Hey..." Angra spoke, "doesn't one of us has a stronger version of a regular elemental magic? Think he might know a thing or two that we don't?"

Sally scratches her head before pounding her fist atop of her palm in realization. "Ah! Tesla!" she remarked. "[Plasma Magic] is basically like your [Hellfire Magic] in terms of principles!"

The two then immediately go out to look for their resident ghost in a repurposed corpse for a shell throughout Agartha's ruins. After minutes of running about, the two find Nicholas sitting next to Valtos, both enjoying reading good books together.

"Good evening," said the ghost inside a prepubescent's dead body. "To what affairs have you ladies come all the way here for?"

"Tesla, we need your help," said Angra.

"I was thinking that her brand-new [Hellfire Magic] might be similar to how your [Plasma Magic] works in conjuncture to regular elemental attributes," Sally explained. "We're starved for ideas, so we figured you might know how your experiences can help her... cope with her newfound powers."

Tesla then looks towards Valtos, for which the latter nodded before going back to burying his nose into his current reading material.

"Alright, excuse me," said the ghost as he accompanied the two back to the operating room. Upon reaching their location, the three then began their brainstorming. "So, what are you looking for out of this?"

"My current enhancements to my own MNA made me flat-out immune to [Fire Magic] as a whole," said Angra, "but it's still not enough to withstand my own [Hellfire Magic], which is like around three-thousand degrees-hot."

"Celcius or Fahrenheit?" Tesla asked Sally.

"The point being, it's fucking hot," Sally dodged the question, "is there anything I might not be aware of?"

Tesla then ponders for a few moments before answering. "You managed to establish the body's natural defenses, but what if further alterations can be made to facilitate the excess heat?"

"Like how?" asked Angra.

"You know how steam kettles and pot lids have vents in them to let out excess steam?" Tesla pointed out. "It is to create a counterbalance to the property's naturally-generating heat. The human body can regulate excess temperatures to an extent, but your [Hellfire Magic] has proven itself to be too powerful for the body's natural regulators to withstand."

"And simply making my body heatproof isn't enough?" said Angra.

"You're only thinking on the surface level," said Tesla. "Now answer me this: what would happen if said steam kettles and pot lids didn't have those openings that let out steam? What would happen if they just let their vessels continue to generate heat without restraint?"

"... Uhh," Angra scratched her head, "... it would... I dunno, explode?"

Tesla nods. "Now what would happen if your [Hellfire Magic] kept generating heat inside of you rather than outwards?"

The two women then immediately visualize a human body exploding into charred giblets, much to their shared horror and disgust.

"... That would totally suck," Sally remarked. "And a loss of a valued subject in the process? How abhorrent!"

"So you're saying that I need to graft in vents into my body just so I don't potentially explode from from using my own magic?" said Angra.

"While alive, my [Plasma Magic], while powerful, resulted in me getting migraines from the excess neuroelectricity generated," explained the ghost. "Back then, I directly wired my head onto a spare portable battery just to store the damn thing before converting it into a proper outlet for my poltergeist experiments, and this current body, while I am still able to feel like a regular human, is by all intents and purposes, dead, meaning that it no longer has a cap on how much of my own [Plasma Magic] can it withstand."

Sally then walks over to a chalk board and begins writing down the calculations at hand. "... Even through the application of heat vents can raise the threshold..." she muttered to herself as her held white chalk scratched against the blackboard, "... it still won't be enough... at best, all it can do is delay the inevitable!"

"Your [Hellfire Magic] is too powerful for any human to withstand it. Even the likes of the Wizard King himself pales before its full potential," said Tesla, "so unless we can somehow modify you out of your 'humanity,' I'm afraid it's a lost cause."

That was it then. It was a botched deal for godlike powers that doomed Angra.

A single taste of ambition, so addicting and mind-bendingly euphoric, that she had forgotten what being a human being really means.

It means to be born with a "limit." And Angra, powerful as she'd become, was still "human."

"... What is this feeling?" Sally asked to herself as tears wet her glasses. "... I didn't reach perfection... but why am I feeling despair?"

Tesla sighs as he laid his hand onto Angra's shoulder for comfort. "We tried our best. That's all it matters."

"Aww come on," said the voice of pure evil, "that's it? You're just gonna quit even though it's far from over?"

Everyone looks up to find Morris/Mammon perched atop of the operating light's leg as if he weighed as much as a single feather.

"Yo," greeted the embodiment of pure evil, "how y'all bitches be doin'?"

"Okay, who's talking? Morris or Mammon?" asked Tesla.

"Does it really matter?" said the monster. "We're both the same."

"What do you want, you walking piece of shit?" Angra growled. "Come here to mock us?"

"Ah ah ah, that particular moment has already passed," he pointed out. "So, to look into your eyes, I can tell. Mentally and spiritually speaking, you did let go of... well, being 'human.' But while resolve is good and all, a strong body is also needed. Doesn't necessarily have to be a human for a base."

"What are you getting at?" growled Angra, still thinking that this pus of pure sin and malice was only "helping" her to just fuck with her.

"Hear me out," said the thing of darkness, "back when I was but a humble scientist..."

"Who isn't one," Sally rolled her eyes.

"... I have actually heard of a small, but significant rumor that I put on the backburner for while due to logistical reasons," said the evil incarnate. "Apparently, somewhere in the Heart Kingdom's lands, a Dragon's skeleton is rumored to be buried under a certain ancient civilization like that of Agartha."

"... A... Dragon?" said Angra, her voice straining itself out of sheer disbelief. "You mean... like those... flying lizard monsters... who breathe fire... and are usually killed by knights in shining armor... like the ones... in fairy tales?"

"Actual, real Dragons were far superior," said the monster. "To put it into retrospective, they were the ones who taught Elves how to use magic in the first place. By that, Dragons are the world's very first mages to have ever existed. Not to mention, the strongest, with said position still unrivaled, if they still exist to this day."

"And what does that have to do with our current situation?" said Tesla.

"Well for one, said Dragon's skeleton is the source of mana that is still rich enough to sustain an entire Grand Magic Zone to this day," said the thing. "Not only is it a good source of potentially the world's purest mana, but if possible, we might be able to recreate Angra's body to something that can use [Hellfire Magic] properly."

"Like some sort of Dragon-human hybrid?" Sally commented.

"Oh come now, I've looked through your notes while you weren't looking," smirked the bastard. "Before you were brought back to life, your notes mentioned creating spare bodies for souls of your former leaders to reincarnate into. Can't you do the same for Angra? For me, it's easy as breathing to recreate her base components for her upgraded body."

"But won't that mean I'll have to die first before I get shoved into an admittedly-kick ass new bod?" Angra protested.

"Hey, you got two experts who dabbled in fields of research that allows one to cheat death," said the monster of darkness. "Add that uncouth necromancer, and suddenly, transferring you into a new body will be as easy as changing into a new pair of pants."

Angra lets out an annoyed sigh, already beating herself up for coming this far into the rabbit hole that she willingly dove into. "Fine," she grumbled, "so when's it gonna happen?"

"How about a field trip?" suggested the composite monster of a mad scientist and a greedy Demon. "Across the lands of the unknown Heart Kingdom, like another archeology expedition!"

"Alright, I'll bite," Angra sighed before she looked at the other two for their consent. "What about you guys?"

"Eh, I'm down," said Sally, "as long as my lab is stocked with new material to work with."

"And I still have yet to break in this body of mine properly," said Tesla. "Exercise is good and all, but now I wonder... how well would it hold in the strains of the real world?"

"Go ask the others if they wanna join," said Morris/Mammon as he took a seat on the operating table. "Come back here once the party has been assembled!"

The three then began to go around the ruins of the city of Agartha to see if any of them would come along Angra's journey for her new body.

"A journey to find a Dragon's skeleton?" spoke Valtos in his dimly-lit reading room. "... Normally, I'm against chasing after fairy tales, but if the madman says that it exists, then a part of me can't help but go along to simply prove him wrong and mock him. But if it is true, then I'm in it for the experience."

Valtos then follows after the assembled three as they all headed into Rades's rancid-smelling workshop, where he's currently assembling a giant zombie construct made of dead Thanatophages, the bricks of an old building that the former had assimilated into ala a human's physical muscles, and his lesser zombies that he'd stored in his magic for later use now acting as the supports for the derelict bipedal behemoth that he was assembling.

"What do you want?" said Rades. "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"Rades, we're going on a journey to find a Dragon's skeleton that might be buried somewhere around this Kingdom," said Angra. "You coming with? I mean, I'll probably let you have some of its bones for your playthings if we do find it."

"... Tempting, but as much as I like to, [El Gigante] is a project that requires constant care!" Rades stated.

"You know that I can just store the whole thing in my [Spatial Magic], correct?" said Valtos. "Morris was kind enough to explain a certain spell that another [Spatial Magic] user from an organization called 'Crypteia' had used. I think it was called... [Unopening Red Room]? I think you can still work on the fly as we travel."

Rades grumbles to himself before giving in. "... Fine," he stated. "I'll come along. But on one condition. I call dibs on the skull, you hear?"

"Reasonable," Angra remarked, "I only need like, what, one bone?"

"If what that bastard says is true, then yes," said Tesla. "One bone from a Dragon should be more than enough for a high-quality mana source."

"Sweet," Rades grinned. "Valtos, if you may?"

"Aww, he learned how to ask for things," Sally smiled as Valtos transported the unfinished [El Gigante] into his [Spatial Magic] spell based off the [Unopening Red Room]. "How sweet."

"Whatever," Rades brushed her off. "So who else? Usually, that's how this shit rolls: bunch of folks walk around town and ask randos if they wanna come, it's basically like a funeral."

"... Well, gonna shove that depressing imagery aside," Angra remarked. "Come on! Let's see if the bosses want in!"

The assembled five then head towards where both Helena and Alister were hanging out at, in hopes of recruiting them on their journey.

"Sorry, but no," said Alister. "If it's really that important, then I rather not let my crashing 'karma debt' fuck you over at the worst timing possible."

"Wait, since when was the last time since your karma debt came crashing into your doors?" said Angra. "It's been months and nothing bad happened!"

"Oh no no no no no, it's not a matter of 'if' it's going to happen, rather, a case of 'when' it's going to happen," he pointed out. "I've been, by all measures, have been pushing my luck, so the least I can do is to make sure that none of you guys are caught in my blast of misfortune. Even my [Fate Magic] saving you all will ultimately make the coming damnation that much worse."

"Okay then," Sally then looked towards Helena, "what about her?"

"TAKE ME AWAY FROM AGARTHA, THEN YOU'LL HAVE TO PRY BOTH OF MY ARMS OFF OF MY SHOULDER BLADES," she then hissed like a cat as the mad archeologist clung onto the masonry as if it were her own baby.

"And people call me crazy," Rades mumbled.

"That and well," Alister speaks, "... someone needs to guard the base while you guys are away. Only logical that if the worst comes to pass, then at least I'll be the one to take them down with me rather than you guys."

"Huh, thanks," Angra smiled slightly.

And with that, the assembled party then all head towards the monster for their upcoming journey towards the rumored Dragon's skeleton.

"So this is everyone?" spoke the damned thing. "... Good. I have my map and compass ready. Along with provisions that will last us about a year."

Rades looked at the so-called "provisions" that the monster was referring to. "... Uh, they're just pills."

"Each capsule containing a week's worth of calories," he stated. "We're gonna be hoofing it, and an army marches on its stomach!"

By the coming dawn, their journey will soon begin. One that will let them get closer towards destiny.

"But first..." spoke out Sally, "... I now need to graft in some cooling vents into Angra's back. As a proof of concept for her new body at best, or a stopgap measure at worst."

Their journey wouldn't begin until Angra's next operation was finished, much to everyone's chagrin.

Western Jungle, Heart Kingdom, Dawn

"... (Hide)," ordered Akane as she shoved Mari's head down while something buzzed over their heads.

As the two crouched, both sensed faint mana signatures akin to Dragons flying over them.

"... (Elder sister)," she whispered, "(don't tell me that Zio has caught wind of our flight)."

"(No, it's not her. That I can tell)," she pointed out, noticing faint traces of [Wind], [Lightning], [Iron], [Water], [Fire] and [Earth] attributes above them, each akin to a Dragon's, albeit severely muddled compared to the real deals. "(Some madman must've replicated them to an extent)."

"(What do we do)?!" asked the younger twin. "(Fighting all six of them at once will most likely result in our deaths)!"

Akane grit her teeth in frustration, realizing that fighting powerful foes at this juncture would hamper their efforts of bringing the traitor's head back to Hanafuda, as per their mission has stated fifteen years prior.

"... (For now, use [Sōten]/[Blue Sky])," ordered Akane. "(Calm all five of your senses and blend in so that even the winds and the earth won't dare sully our presences)."

Both sisters then calmed themselves down to an extent where both their heartbeats couldn't be heard from either of their enhanced hearing. As their bodies melted into their surroundings, both their ki and mana blended together where to the point, they were all but invisible to any outsiders.

As the name of the technique suggests, the users of [Sōten] become like the blue skies above: hidden in plain sight, where not even the six pseudo-Dragons could even pick up on them, mistaking their presences for the surrounding area rather than as actual people.

The were so well hidden, not even the wind or the kicked-up dirt even so much as touched them, just as untouchable as the blue sky above. In fact, this was the same technique that Mari had used to deflect a stray thunderbolt (from Ziz, not that they were aware of) that came down upon them a few days prior.

The ultimate armor to [Zetten]/[Sky Cutter]'s ultimate sword. Only those who've perfected the art of ki had access to the level of divinity where no one can touch them... as long as they maintain their calm. But for the Mitsurugi twins, who were practically raised in high-stress environments even before reaching this continent (in part of their mother and her borderline-torture of a training regimen they went through since they were three years old), calm was easy as breathing to them.

Of how long they had to stay this way, at least a whole week without food or water. Only by then, they can move so that they can find ways to feed themselves.

From above, the six DEVAs buzzed as they surveyed their surroundings to seek out their enemies. Problem was, Caligula didn't tell who they were, not that he cared or bothered.

The only things that they know were their names: Rudra, Indra, Vishnu, Varuna, Agni, and Brahma. All that they knew were rudimentary at best or full of gaping holes at worst. Their knowledge was so lacking that they don't know how to speak, despite having human mouths made from their human and elf-composite bodies that they were born into.

All they knew was that with their powers, they're going to have to learn about living as they go along with their instincts that only tells them to "kill". So they hoped to find one live human being to feed and learn from as they flew above the silent jungles.

"... (Elder sister)," whispered Mari, "(your ki... it's almost reaching that level)."

"(I know)," answered Akane as she smiled evilly, "... (that damned traitor will grovel before my budding [Haten]. It will make beheading him much easier)."

Ulster Territory, Spade Kingdom, Morning

Upon a day or two after their deployment, Roland and Rinaldo trek across Ulster non-stop to find the convoy that went missing a few days ago. Crossing the open fields was the easy part. The hard part was dealing with its inhabitants.

"Merde," cursed Rinaldo as he sheathed back his [Froberge], "we're wasting time."

"Gotta give them some credit," said Roland as he took back his recently-stolen [Durandal] from a dead body of a man who he'd beaten to death with his fists, "they got moxie in place of actual brains."

Rinaldo groans in frustration as he walks ahead of his compatriot. "Come, we must find the missing caravan before it's too late."

"They can take care of themselves, right?" Roland pointed out. "I mean, they're strong, that's for sure."

The tall-hat wearing Paladin then draws his Relic as his liquid metal sword's mercurial bulb acted as an improv compass towards magical anomalies. "Well, it's still reacting to something," said Rinaldo as he looked as his Relic's pulsating orb of mercury floating above his sword's handle. "Normally, a Dungeon's emergence would be the most likely culprit. And given that it's signature is strong enough to block out our connection with the Clover Kingdom, I figured that this magnitude will be akin to a Dungeon that can be classified as another Grand Magic Zone within a Grand Magic Zone."

"Man, Dungeons?" Roland scratched the back of his head. "Shame Ruggiero ain't here. Guy's a Dungeon maniac."

"We'll have to make do, unless you're willing to trek back about over 50 miles of foot traffic in less than a day," the Paladin pointed out. "And before you do, don't."

"... Wasn't gonna," he grumbled to himself.

And so, the two Paladins kept walking east, across the glades that were either populated with hostile bandits outside of the trifecta's influence or a hungry Wilderbeast looking for a quick snack.

The summer sun shone above their heads as the morning winds across the plains combed past them and the grass around their feet. But as they kept walking, nature's activity began to dwindle slowly.

First, there were now less [Wyverns] flying about before they all gradually began to disappear. Then, the ground itself began to shift into steady bumps. And finally, flowers and small trees were found to be growing around them.

That last bit of information was the most disturbing. "Hey," Roland spoke as the two walked, "there aren't supposed to be any trees in Ulster, right?"

"Unless it's a work of a Dungeon," answered Rinaldo as the bulb atop of his sword began to fluctuate wildly towards one direction. "We're getting close. Prepare for combat."

Roland then drew his massive [Durandal] from his sheathe while Rinaldo's [Froberge]'s mercurial bulb shifted into that of a rapier blade. The two then slowly approached where the sprouts were growing steadily bigger and bigger, with each further step slowly giving away into a venerable forest.

"... Something's not right," Rinaldo pointed out as the two went further into the unfamiliar wilderness closing in on them. "Throughout my whole 30 years alive I've seen enough trees to know one thing."

"What's that?" asked Roland.

The fact that the wilderness itself was closing in on them wasn't a metaphor.

"... Trees don't walk."

Every single tree around them cracks open their bark formations to each reveal a pair of glowing yellow eyes shining in black pits and a jagged maw with splinters with each point the size of knives lined up together in a sloppy row.

"SHIT! [TREANTS]!" Rinaldo exclaimed as he then transformed his mercurial blade into that of a saw-toothed one. "ROLAND!"

"LET'S KICK SOME ASS!" he replied as the two Paladins then swung their Relics, deforesting an entire horde surrounding them with a total of two swings of their mighty blades. "Wow, they're not so tough-"

The stumps left behind either began growing back rapidly, or the severed halves quickly reattached themselves back to their bodies. Rinaldo then looks down at the ground around them, seeing that they, and the entire forest around them were directly drawing mana from Ulster, the land and its absurdly-rich mana, itself.

"Fighting is a useless endeavor!" said the disciplined Paladin. "RUN!"

The two Paladins then retreated after they quickly break out of the shambling horde of bloodthirsty tree monsters after cutting them down a few more times. As they tried to run back from where they'd came in from after successfully shaking off the horde, another problem then occurred.

"Uh, Rinaldo?" spoke Roland as the two ran in the direction where they came from. "... Where's the exit?"

There was no longer an exit in the forest. The two of them were now trapped in an endless sea of trees where for each single blade of grass in Ulster's glades there was a tree and a whole army of murderous [Treant] after them.

"... We got suckered in," he growled as he then pulled out his communicator from his satchel. "CONTROL, THIS IS PALADIN RINALDO! DO YOU READ ME, OVER?!"

Nothing but static was heard from the speaker, much to the serious Paladin's frustration.

Roland then looked around the phantom forest swarming with [Treants] between each thicket and gentrification of nature around them. He then looked at his Relic [Durandal], now cleansed of its impurities thanks to the power of love from its temporary user, was now slightly vibrating in his hands.

"... They're close," said the nude Paladin before turning back to his comrade. "Hey Rinaldo, help ain't coming, right?"

"Guess not," he grimaced. "Still, this ain't like the Zogratis. We're now playing nature's game in its Dungeon."

"And waiting at the center, I'm assuming is the guy who reforested the whole damn sector of Ulster," Roland pointed out. "Hopefully, none of the Ulsterian people actually see what's what or they're gonna get super pissed."

"Or they'll just start chopping the trees down and sell what's left of it as lumber," Rinaldo rolled his eyes. "God forbid if they actually start building houses like the fucking Grinberryall clan. We don't need a rerun. With that said, we should probably conquer this Dungeon before things get really out of hand, for I have a gut feeling that this forest won't stop expanding outwards anytime soon."

"Silver lining," said Roland as he then gave a tree next to him a hard kick, causing different kinds of fruit to fall out of the same tree. "Don't have to worry about starving to death."

"I would be very worried if all of these trees produced different kinds of fruit all at once!" said the other Paladin before Roland shoved a mango into his mouth. The Paladin then actually tastes the fruit, finding it moist enough to be its own water supply while tasting like cold honey. "... Goddamn, this tastes wonderful."

"I know right?" exclaimed Roland as he ate his banana, peel and all.

Rotten Elysia, Neutral Territory, Evening

Despite his previous inclinations, Caligula himself wasn't actually flying towards the Heart Kingdom's last stronghold for the final battle. If anything, he can't afford to.

Rather, the fly Demon himself was keeping himself busy rigging the surrounding area with booby traps. From simple pit traps with planted spikes dipped in venom, a few snare and crossbow combo traps, a few more wound-back tree branches each shaft taped with a shit-ton of sharp objects, and of course, rigging the captured Dryad planted with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR (the last one being smaller than the other three, but no less powerful) different Stigmatas as a final "FUCK YOU" (he even has the rolled-up banner saying that rigged the moment said final trap is triggered) to anyone who makes it this far in. What happens if said final trap is triggered, who knows, but it's going be awesome, at least in Caligula's mind.

How did he end up finding four different Stigmata in the same desert country, he honestly doesn't know, but the fact that only around 108 Stigmatas existing at once (when one Stigmata is destroyed, another Demon or Devil is burdened with one in exchange for a power boost) throughout all planes of existence, might hold some credence on why their supposed rarity is crapshoot at best, and wildly inconsistent at its worst.

"Although come to think of it, I think there was a rumor around this world's calendar year of 666 that a massive heist that took place resulted in most of the Stigmatas in Hell being stolen might be the reason why a few ended up in Dama of all places," Caligula snickered to himself. "The rat bitch was smart, except for when it came to planning long term. I mean like seriously, what the fuck were she going to do with those, huh? I mean, these humans are condemning themselves on their just fine, and I guess a little help sending souls to Hell is a good thing, I guess..."

Mentally exhausted, he then plops onto the bulging belly where his first Queen was implanted into his second.

"... What am I doing with my life?" he asked himself. "Do I just exist to be evil and devour everything in sight? I mean, sure, I like who I am as of right now, but... what I am gonna do as soon as everything is done? Buzz around a dead world doing nothing? I mean for fuck's sake, even Hell has more activity than the possible future that I might bring!"

He then pondered how he would define "good" and what can he do to understand it better. Curious, he then buzzed towards Dryad's taped mouth before ripping off her bindings and removing her web-gag.

"... I truly pity the likes of you, Caligula," sneered Dryad, "so focused on the present pleasures that your vision for the future is something that you fear."

"So that's the feeling?" said the fly Demon. "Fear? What can a Demon like me fear more than the Hell I was gestated and birthed unto?"

"Oblivion," she answered, "the endless chaos of the primordial void that came before all creation. Something so vast and massive, darker and deeper than any of us could possibly imagine. Everything begins and ends at the very same point. We're all from nothing and will return to nothing."

"Then why are you so happy about it?" asked Caligula.

The tortured nature spirit belts out a dry chuckle before she gave her answer.

"Because even if I die," she than spat at the Demon as she spoke, covering the latter in her spit, "everyone else will have the last laugh at your expense."

Rather than feeling anger, Caligula was actually contemplative of what she'd just said, almost being impressed at her level of insight into his own issues.

"... You may have a point," said the fly before he shoved the gag back into he mouth. "Maybe everyone will laugh regardless of whether I win or lose. So instead of wallowing at my own potential misery... I'll be sure to make your final moments alive are the worst possible kind of pain and suffering that you can experience imaginable. And the best part? You got the best seat in the house, so prepare to savor it, for I'm about to give my greatest performance ever yet."

With a newfound resolve and a brand-new retrospective to his own evil, Caligula then begins to set up more traps to make the final confrontation even more thrilling. Once finishing rigging about the surrounding five mile-radius with deathtraps, he then sets out to write a letter of challenge addressed to the Queen herself:

To my little bitch (and her friends),

This is Caligula, your unwelcome guest unto your Kingdom (or Queendom) for the past 10 years.

The reason why it took this long for me to talk to directly (as much as I could without spoiling too much; assuming if you haven't, which I'm not so sure), is that I've made a harrowing discovery about myself.

I am a coward. And there's no changing that.

I indulged in slaughter and pillaging because I cannot comprehend good and benevolence. I invaded your prosperous nation of plenty just to spite you. I sent my minions to die at your people's hands because I wanted them to succumb to their own wrath and madness.

Clearly, despite my best efforts, I've failed. Miserably.

I have underestimated humanity and their spirit. It took me a decade to get that through my skull. Although in hindsight, genociding Dama was my form of confirmation bias.

So with that all said, I now challenge you (and your friends) to a final battle.

I will be waiting a place once called "Elysia," home to the elves that escaped year 1000's elven massacre and for which I have "finished the job" upon my arrival and takeover.

Come at me with literally everything you got. For it will be a guarantee that most of you will die before you even reach me.

Kiss my ass,

Caligula, the Demon of [Hedonism]

Upon finishing writing his letter, Caligula then grabs one of the spears that he'd pilfered (from a dead Thaumaturge soldier that he found laid dead with a hole bored through the top of his head, which wasn't his fault), wraps the written message itself around the shaft before tying it up with his webs, picks up the polearm, aims it towards where settlement that his minions have swarmed towards for the past years of the siege, and hurls it with his [Mutation Magic] amplifying his muscles to toss the message tied to the thrown javelin across the darkening horizon eastward.

"Hopefully, this won't kill anyone..." he said to himself upon seeing the thrown spear's trajectory. "... Not my problem if it does, though."

To Be Continued...

Author's Notes: This is an intermission chapter due to my very last semester coming up, so I'm putting this fic on hiatus until like somewhere around May, which is the same timeframe when I'll graduate college with two Majors in English fields. After that, I'm stopping my biweekly uploads in favor of regular weekly uploads so that I don't mentally kill myself in the process post-graduation. So with that said, this intermission chapter is here to explain a few plotholes that someone that I'm close to has pointed out, and this is my best attempt to answer all of the questions.

First, the after-action report. One of the two Commander Thanatophages, Kumbahakarna, is revealed to be deliberately made without innate magic while being resistant to all forms of conventional magic warfare. Ravana does have magic, but that's more for him as a built-in feature to keep up his armor rather than expending it for offensive spells. The millipede is made to be a solo hunter, so min-maxing in assassination was the whole reason why it performed averagely against three high-tier mages despite being resilient to deflect three advanced magics from the likes of Meroleona, Jack and Mosin. On paper, it's a "lighting bruiser," but in execution, it's a "master of none" with "armored but frail"-trait built into it. Luck was a factor given that they managed to not get jumped on by the thing, but one critical fail later, and all the Demon can do is fight without any meaningful way to fight outside of its "ambush predator" strategy.

Also, the after action report is meant to show that Gauche isn't just an overprotective siscon. He's practically the only confirmed [Mirror Magic] user in the canon of Black Clover, and with that tidbit, I'm making him a closet expert on how light and refractions work, given that he had to have a lot of time to practice the intricacies of [Mirror Magic] during his stint as a vagrant.

Second, Zio's wild goose chase. Yeah, she's not dumb, but once she enters tunnel vision, you just have to let her prove herself wrong just for her to try something different. In fact, her behavior is slightly a case of "blue and orange morality" trope, since after all, Zio is a Dragon like her peers. But while the ones that were shown were willing to play along with the lesser mortals in the name of leaving behind a tangible legacy once they inevitably die out, Zio is an exception that happens to resemble a typical Dragon in the olden days. They don't think like humans, and are often motivated by their own bias, resulting in destruction. Zio is that, but purely played for comedic irony. She mistakes Taro's hair for Akane's for one. And completely disregards the rotting parts of the jungle coming from the south being Akane's handiwork. But then again, to a Dragon, everything below their level looks relatively the same.

For the Illuminati, their next plot point is going to be trying to find the same Dragon's skeleton to make Angra's new body that could withstand her [Hellfire Magic]. In hindsight, the way Angra and Tesla discuss their workings of their respective magic, I kinda had My Hero Academia's Quirks in mind, with how early on, every power came with their subtle drawbacks, with Uraraka's [Zero Gravity] Quirk being linked to her nausea caused by excess weight-cutting (I think the limit is one or two tons before she starts puking rainbows). And using the various specialties that each member of the Illuminati has, I'm showcasing their potential strengths if they managed to work together properly. In fact, speaking of My Hero Academia, I think Illuminati might be my own take on the League of Villains (pre-Paranormal Liberation Front). Expect them to run into the Clover Kingdom Magic Knights sooner or later, especially Angra (Magna's her younger brother) and Tesla (who is inhabiting a modified version of Luck's corpse).

Speaking of Akane and Mari, the twins are still trekking through the jungles while avoiding a run-in with the DEVAs. During their moment of quiet, I took that moment to expand the ki power system ever since they introduced the [Zetten]/[Sky Cutter] ki technique in the manga, and turned ki into One Piece's Haki system, but rather than simply copying the whole trifecta of "Combat"/[Armament], "Sensory"/[Observation], and "Awesomeness"/[Conqueror], I sought to make it more "Offense, Defense, and Aura"-kind of trinity. Wonder how that will turn out and how the Mitsurugi Clan's matriarch will be revealed, only time will tell.

Fifth, Rinaldo and Roland. The two are now in a Dungeon, for which the entire caravan that was heading to the Clover Kingdom is now trapped in, and yes, the Dungeon Master is none other than that Green Knight who fought against Mikhael, the Archangel of [Charity] who has the power of [Flare Magic]. And for context, the forest Dungeon as of currently in this fic's timeline is about a quarter of Ulster's total landmass, with the implication that it's spreading ala "natural gentrification." This is actually a call-back to my old/deleted Shield Hero OC-fic (don't ask), so expect more botanical horrors to show up like Little Shop of Horrors or House of the Dead 3's [The Sun]. Think of this as my redo without writing another whole fic, and yes, the [Jabberwock] monster from my old/deleted fic WILL come back.

And finally, Caligula. You know how I said prior that he doesn't necessarily enjoy being evil? I had him reflect that by the following personality trait. I sort of based his segment's behavior off of the bored Roman elite who just sits around, getting drunk off plum wine while having grapes fed to him by a slave girl. It's the logical extreme of [Hedonism], it's gonna get super-boring after a while. And Caligula, card-carrying villain-incarnate, is now at that stage. Dryad calling him out for his deliberate lack of foresight was honestly a kick to his ass that he needed to wake him up from his stupor. Sure, he's going end up with nothing regardless of whether he wins or loses, but he has to come to terms with the fact that he's worthless in the grand scheme of things, so he might as well bring everything onto the table just so he can finally find himself.

Also, I finally confirmed the number of Stigmata: 108, after the number of temptations in Buddhism. And of course it had to be Lucifuge's fault that they were distributed throughout the world in the first place, because she literally can't go a whole day without fucking EVERYONE (including herself) over the long run. In hindsight, this act alone kinda justifies her "chew toy" status among the Eleven Elusive Evils despite being ranked third-strongest. She's literally the proverbial "Third the nerd" (that gets picked on).

And no, I did not forget the other parts of this story that I have yet to touch. Astaroth and the Freischutz will inevitably run into Makarov and his goons (who are carrying Atlas's Stigmata) during their hunt for the Lich King, Yuno will have to journey to Spade Kingdom on his own to get some fucking answers (along with an unexpected companion and two new members for his party along the way), and Cleopatra is still searching for Goliath to get rid of Yama, the monster that she'd created, because she doesn't want to play the Game of Armageddon anymore.

There, I said my peace. See you all around mid-to-late May of this year/2023.

References:

- The Saga's title is based off the Franz Ferdinand song of the same name, famously used as an opening of Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.

- Gauche's application of [Mirror Magic] of making himself invisible is paritally inspired by Polnareff's fish tank trick that he used against Alessi in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, albeit with a lots of artistic licensing on my end.

- Rades's new zombie made from the stolen cocoon wrapped around the Black Bulls' old base is named after the giant enemy from Resident Evil 4. It also means "The Giant" in Spanish.

- The Mitsurugi Twins's [Sōten]/[蒼天], spelled as "Blue Sky," ki technique is based off the "Uzura Gakure no Jitsu"/"Quail Hiding Technique" that IRL ninjas used, right down to the calming of breathing to completely hide themselves like rocks when seen in the dark. The first reference to this technique was first shown when Akane came out of the Demonology & Heretical Department Building's moat completely dry. Also, the condition for the user to be "calm" is based off some of Yakuza/Like a Dragon's passive skills where it requires Kiryu to be "calm" in order to gain the passive skill's effects (most of it used as a way to replicate Heat Mode without having to fill up the Heat Gauge). [Haten]/[覇天], meaning "Conqueror," ki technique is this fic's coming iteration of the Conqueror's Haki from One Piece (because honestly, "Awesomeness is a Force" and "Animal Battle Aura" just overlapped for me in my opinion).

- The six DEVAs (Demonic Evolutionary Variant Apostles) are named after the six top gods of Hindu mythology, with an interesting case for Rudra, who was his own god at the time before his character became merged with Shiva, the God of Creation and Destruction (a reference that was used in Records of Ragnarok manga, where the two were best friends). The name "Shiva" will be used later in relation to Caligula's plans.