Disclaimer: Black Clover is owned by Yūki Tabata, Studio Pierrot, and Shonen Jump.
Saga 34: The Anthem Part 1
Quatre Refugee-State, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Noon
Grumbling on his desk, there were now several complaints coming from both sides stacked up to the ceiling that Julius had to address.
And over 90% of them were borderline nonsensical.
"Marx," he called out from behind the towers of papers, "do me a favor and burn everything on my desk."
"Bur sir, surely that counts as negligence to duty-!" but before he can protest, Julius shoves one of the nonsensical complaints to his face. "... Nevermind, I'll have a bonfire arranged in short notice."
"Thank you," nodded the Wizard King as he then looked aside the 10% of the complaints that were worth addressing (matters regarding on food, shelter, resource acquisition, and relations between various aligned factions present).
Clerical work was usually dealt with others, with Julius himself have veto power, but the lack of manpower became a constant issue.
As a result, with the exception of Marx (the only competent administrator that he knows), he has to all the paperwork all by himself since there's no one else qualified (and those who were are too dead to even work).
"... I hate my life," groaned Julius as he then slogged through the stack of formal complaints the best he could.
Eventually, the complaints worth addressing were resolved (legally), and with him liberated from his work (and Marx not present), he decides to go for a walk (after leaving behind a note).
Upon walking outside and into the streets of Quatre, the atmosphere felt... odd.
Majority of the people in the capital-turned refugee state hailed from Common and Forsaken Realms, and the few remaining ones native to the Noble Realm/their current location were bunking with not only people from a lower caste, but also foreigners who they perceive as bloodthirsty barbarians (not without reason).
Granted, some of them are adjusting to this transitions better than the others, but the rest...
"Watch where you're walking!"
"Do you know who I am?!"
"You'll be forgotten, that's what."
"Lose a little weight and maybe your rotund girth won't brush our sides."
... Were all just one bad drink away from engaging in a brawl. Even the King, Augustus Kira Clover XIII, was shunted to the realm of irrelevance by the Thaumaturges, due them being bigger, stronger, and having less qualms to horrifically injure (and then heal spotlessly) anyone crossing them (mostly the remaining nobility).
At first, he enjoyed the schadenfreude, but even then, some of it kind of went too far...
"MY ARM!"
"MY LEG!"
"MY BALLS!"
"MY ASSHOLE!"
... If he actually started directly intervening, then it would stretch his responsibilities too thin (or make himself off as a tyrant). Thankfully, no one died (yet), but it was all too clear that neither sides were too happy cohabitating, yet have no other choice since there have been increasing reports of autonomous clay dolls (the same ones native to the former Diamond Kingdom that the Blue Rose Knights ran into several months back) and the possibility of there being wild Demons prowling about, it was a case of "struggling together."
"That's enough," one of the other Thaumaturges intervenes on the confrontational atmosphere. "Come with us."
"Everyone, clear out," a Purple Orca Magic Knight spoke out. "... Goddammit, another one."
Thankfully, some cooperated with Julius to form a provisional peacekeeping force, but even he knew that it was a half-measure at best.
"Thank you for your hard work, as always," Julius remarked as his indirect subordinates saluted.
"INCOMING SHIPMENT!" a Thaumaturge crier hollered as the gates then opened, revealing Saiga and a contingent of Blue Rose Knights entering the settlement with a cart of dead Demons behind them.
"GET THEM TO A CONTAINED AREA FOR CREMATION!" ordered the other Thaumaturge before he spotted one in the pile twitch. "MOVEMENT!"
"Never a dull moment around here nowadays..." sighed Julius as the pandemonium was being addressed (violently) before running into Saiga.
"... Thou art having a rough day?" the old High Inquisitor greeted as he then offered him a bottle of vodka. "Then thou art shall be needing this."
The Wizard King grumbles for drinking from the bottle while sitting next to the wizened Highlander.
"... Tell me," the bearded man spoke, "... how art this Kingdom during more peaceful times?"
Julius sighs before answering. "... Everyone kept their problems to themselves, more people were around, and despite this kingdoms' many flaws, it was a good place to live in."
Saiga nods in approval. "... Perhaps I was too harsh in mine judgement earlier on," he smiled slightly as he watched the settlement and its people cohabitating. "... Perhaps deep down... I was resentful of those living peaceful lives whereas mine were nothing of strife and survival."
The two men sighed as they drank in the middle of the day.
"... Perhaps we were too spoiled," Julius remarked. "So wanting to naught save for a daily warm meal and happiness for ourselves that we began to disregard all that which may disrupt our tranquility before sound judgement."
"And perhaps we were too cold-hearted," Saiga nodded, now dropping his pretense in favor of a more informal manner of speech. "We had to believe that we were doing the right thing. We had nothing outside of our own self-professed belief in a land of endless death and savagery."
The two men shared in their conflicting beliefs and how it all came to be up to this point.
The fact that it required lot of people dying at the hands of the forces of Hell and their indirect, yet wide-reaching machinations to realize this was both a blessing and a curse.
Julius, in spite of his internalized cynicism, began to slowly reevaluate his perception on their current state of affairs.
"... You know, despite everything," Julius smiled with a shrug, "... this is an improvement."
"My men are finally letting their guards down more than usual," Saiga remarked. "Why, about half of them aren't wearing their helmets unless it's time for battle rather than all the time! Granted, when they do that under the Patrem Inquisitor's watch, then I cannot guarantee that they'll come out unscathed."
The two of them share a laugh as the chaos before them simmers down before everyone goes on with their usual day. "... Well, that was a good drink and all," the Wizard King then gets up from where he was sitting on. "... I'm gonna head elsewhere."
"Take care now!" Saiga then waved him goodbye as Julius made his way through the other parts of the town.
Passing through once where the tents were erected, he then comes across the three youths in charge of the Seabed Temple's children, all of them looking over an ancient looking tapestry.
"Oh?" he then approached the table where the three of them were sitting around at. "... Pray tell, but what can this be?"
"... The Sea God's Scripture," Mago explained, his seaweed-like hair (from the lack of humidity) now tied up into a loose ponytail. "Ever since the elder priests left us three with this, we been racking our heads over what these can do."
"Anything new?" asked Julius. "... You know that there's no one watching the Royal Library, so feel free to take anything you want."
"We did," Kiato pointed out as he pointed towards the stack of books back at their tent. "... At least the ones we can find intact."
"I found a few ancient sonnets that I integrated into my own [Song Magic], but anything related to this right here? No such luck," Kahono replied with a nervous chuckle. "... Call it a hunch, but I think this thing is even older than contemporary scripture."
Julius then looks at the tapestry itself. "... Are the faded letters an issue?"
"I mean, unless we find a way to restore them-" Mago's complaints were then immediately addressed as Julius uses his [Time Magic] to restore the Sea God's Scripture back to mint condition. "... Never mind."
"Hey look! I can read it clearly now!" Kiato exclaimed as all three of them looked down at the restored scripture. "Thanks a million, Wizard King!"
"Not gonna lie, I'm also curious on where this will take us," Julius pointed out as he leaned in. "... Permission to stick around?"
"Sure!" Kahono replied as the four of them began gleaning through the texts.
"Let's see here..." Mago began reading the lines from the scroll. "The world began as nothing but an endless ocean... called 'Chaos'... born of Chaos came mankind... from mankind came arrogance... what the heck all of this mean?"
"I think it sounds like history... but it seems to be read in a fantastical manner akin to myth," Kiato pointed out as he brushed his fingers across the tapestry, causing the pictures to then move. "What the?!"
Kahono then taps on the scroll's surface. "... It's rippling... as if we're touching water."
Julius attempts the same, but only to illicit no reaction. "... Guess it's your people's thing, then," he sighed in disappointment. "... Well, I'll leave it to you guys. I'll stop by when I'm not too busy, okay? Good luck!"
As Julius excused himself, he then spotted the remaining Black Bulls taking care of Hage's orphans in Yuno and Sister Lily's stead. Unlike last time, he chooses to keep his distance from them out of respect, watching them go about their days as best they could.
Grey herself was proving rather adept at handling children, if a little awkward. While Gordon was seemingly paralyzed in nervousness as the more nimble of the children present began climbing onto him like a tree.
"They'll be fine," he nodded before heading back towards his office, now fully rejuvenated enough for up to tomorrow's hard work.
As soon as he headed back, he then spots a new stack of reports related to the sudden appearance of a giant forest emerging from within Spade Kingdom's borders.
He'll deal with it when it becomes a problem.
Earth Spirit Temple, Formerly-Diamond Kingdom, Evening
Throughout the winding underground tunnels below the dead Diamond Kingdom, slithering in its shafts were numerous Liliths running their operations in secret.
Information of the surrounding territories were being passed around, their army was being manufactured from common rock and soil, and their leadership were just as aloof and passive as usual, albeit for different reasons.
For Yama, the Prince of Death, ever since the night where all of his spells have disappeared from his grimoire, he'd been sequestered in Mammon's former cell, trying his damnedest to recover whatever morsels of his former power.
The process was slow, tedious, and inefficient. Before his loss, he had ten years of nonstop studying to develop his arsenal.
Ten years cannot be compacted into a few months even with the reality-altering powers of [Death Magic], nor can he use said [Death Magic] to bypass the lack of progress.
As for Cleopatra, she's been confirmed AWOL after her disappearance.
In short, the entire organization that was watching all of the four nations from the shadows were now on the verge of falling apart. And the only reason why the other Liliths stuck around were that the reports of Thaumaturges now establishing a base at Clover Kingdom territory was enough of an incentive to keep their heads low, lest they accidentally expose their own operations.
As much as about the majority of the Liliths hated their leadership, they hated everything else not them even more. In a word, their underground base, once a bastion of orderly routine and meticulous planning, now halted into stagnation, slowly becoming no different from Hell and its Nine Circles itself.
"... Shit, man," one Lilith remarked. "... What are we even doing here anymore?"
"Don't look at me!" another replied as he and his friend sat next to each other. "... I mean, dying and going back to Hell only sounds like a good idea... but then what? What is the point? What is the point of doing anything anymore?!"
Before Yama, before Cleopatra, the Liliths were nothing.
They were akin to wild animals in Hell's ecosystem, regarded neither as pest nor a threat. A complete nonexistence where even the lowliest of [Stygians] hunted them down for food on a good day.
Cleopatra was the one who uplifted them all. A chance to find purpose beyond simply living and dying on repeat under Satan's nigh-inescapable dictatorship.
A chance to think. A chance to feel something. A chance to become proper Demons and Devils.
Now both of their leaders have left them to rot, marooned in a world filled with people they consider no different from the denizens of Hell.
"... We wait?" asked the Lilith.
The other shrugs, waiting with his partner.
Inside Mammon's former cage, Yama's once-discarded humanity began to resurface.
And he hated every microscopic feature of it. His head hurt every time he picked up and read a book. The stagnant air around his skin was beyond irritating. And worst of all was that his heart no longer felt safe by the account of simply existing.
"... I need more data," he grumbled, hating every second of his own existence. "... This problem must be stopped... at peak efficiency."
It was now time.
Yama then exited his hermitage as he strode past his useless, despondent subordinate Liliths before making his way towards the core where all of the production of his golems were being welled from.
Inside the globule was still Lardos, whose body was in incoherent mess unable keep himself together nor comprehend anything happening to him save for serving as Yama's own perpetual mana engine to keep up his production at a steady pace.
"I no longer need you anymore," Yama then cranks the module connected to the device past its limits, now completely siphoning of his mana to boost the production rate by 666%, killing him slowly as Yama then approves a clearance to deploy every last clay golem they have to spread out and collect data to pool it back towards him.
All of the golems lined up, whether they were finished or not, were all sent up to the surface to begin their march for their creator's benefit.
"Now with them out of the way..." Yama then walks towards another part of the Earth Temple where he could pick up Cleopatra's scent, finding himself before a mural depicting a fiery colossus, "... I can now get some answers from the traitor."
Even though Yama was only at a mere 10% of his original power, he only needed 1% to sustain enough of a leverage. And additionally, even though he has lost all of his powers within his Hollow Diamond grimoire of [Death Magic], he still retained his common knowledge within his memory.
Meaning that he still knew how to be semi-autonomous, not like the weak child he was ten years prior. Dressing himself in deep violet and black robes before wrapping his head with a wide bandana that combed his hair into a semi-straight mop.
From the corner of his eye, Yama then spots a rusted sword with curved edge that was worn from years of being unused and left out in nature's mercy.
"One of the many things that Cleopatra had brought back from the surface..." he remarked as the Prince of Death then took the blade. "... [Death Recovery Magic]."
The rusted sword then glows green from his own spells that he'd not only recovered, but refined towards greater precision, as evidenced by the rust around the sword beginning to disappear.
"[Damage Destruction - Restoration]," by applying the concept of [Death] onto the sword's "damages," the weapon then returns to its former glory, now revealing itself to be a kamitsurugi.
The blade then acknowledges its new master, the name [Fushigiri, the Mortal Blade] echoing in the Prince's mind.
With that in mind, for the first time after ten years, he steps out into the outside world.
... And he hated every moment of it, but not as much as he hated the fact that his Cleopatra pulled a fast one on him, one that he will amend by disposing of her like the loose end that she is.
Quatre Refugee-State, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Morning
Another day in the office, now addressing the issues present between all sides cohabiting Quatre.
"Can't afford to keep picking on the Nobility despite them holding a lion's share of resources..." sighed Julius. "... No no, don't go there, brain. Compared to the past, they're reasonable in comparison."
Then as he can continue on his work, his crystal ball then lights up, receiving an incoming transmission.
"Report," he spoke back as the projection then clears up to reveal Captain Kaiser of the Purple Orcas.
"I bring urgent news!" he addressed. "My men have brought reports of sightings of a whole army of the same earthen puppets making their way towards Quatre!"
Julius gulps before replying. "Show it to me."
The orb then projects the image of a literal army of earthen golems all marching towards where they were at.
"My men and I are evading their detection and are following their trail," Kaiser explained. "Estimated time of arrival is about three hours. We'll update on the situation as it shifts!"
"Affirmative," Julius replied. "Be safe out there and come back alive."
Upon finishing his message, he then informs Marx to gather whatever available leadership from the current coalition of people to assemble an emergency war cabinet for the upcoming chaos.
As the people were gathered, the meeting began. Representing Clover Kingdom were Julius Novachrono, Damnatio Kira, and King Augustus Kira Clover XIII. Representing Avalon's Order of the Spade Cross was High Inquisitor Saiga Popov and his Thaumaturge 4th Chapter's Captain, Sergei Daletski. Representing the Seabed Temple were Kiato, Kahono, and Mago. Representing the Witches Forest were several witches taking care of their Queen's crow familiar, with one of the said familiars having developed sapience patterned off of its owner, making it essentially its master's stand-in in case of emergencies.
No one questioned the last inclusion.
"Thank you all for coming at a short notice," Julius began.
"I'm out of breath to even submit a formal complaint," Augustus shook his head. "... So, how are we to do this?"
"We know for sure that the enemy this time are those enigmatic clay golems that the Blue Rose Knights have first spotted several months prior, but now in greater numbers and as a veritable army," Marx explained as he then unfurled a giant map of Clover Kingdom around everyone. "Currently, the Purple Orcas during their dawn patrol have spotted them advancing through the Forsaken Realm from the North and making traction towards our capital."
"Why point out the obvious?" the crow cawed.
"Because aggravatingly, that's all we know about them," Damnatio grimaced. "All we know for certain is that they're capable of adapting in multiple scenarios, their intellect and coordinative abilities vary depending on model, and every time we try to bring one back for analysis, they're reduced to dirt before we can study them any further."
"And no, my [Time Magic] didn't work in repairing them," Julius pointed out. "... Or at the least, when I did, they were simply 'repaired' back into common rocks."
Saiga ponders in deep thought. "... So in a way, something was molding them in something else entirely," he pointed out. "And the moment when they're 'destroyed,' they revert back to common rocks rather than as clay dolls."
"That sounds awfully familiar..." Mago reminisced. "... Wait! Maybe...! Maybe its like how materials can be repaired, but spells made of the same material cannot be 'repaired' back into their 'spell' forms! Like how a spell from [Water Magic] being recreated by [Time Magic] will only go back to being merely the element since to do so in the first place requires the caster to be affected to affect the spells!"
Julius nods. His [Time Magic] can't reconstruct a flying fireball after it had exploded into embers, only that the spell's trajectory being rewound back to its caster, but still retain their pre-established flight path.
It was an odd childhood, asking commoner children to throw fireballs and other spells at him just to study magic. He wondered where they are now, or if they're even alive.
"So I kinda heard that those clay dolls... absorb things before they run off," Kahono pointed out. "... Call me crazy if I'm wrong, but what if their object is not to kill us... but to 'collect' us?"
Sergei turns his head towards the songstress. "... She may have a point," the Chapter Captain agreed. "This whole place is crawling with all sort of people from varying walks of life. So by a Demon's logic, there's something to be gained from it."
"The 'whydunit' aside, how do we stop them?" asked Kiato.
"Given their reports of being able to sink into the earth and swim in it like water, immobilization is the best option we have," Julius remarked. "I can use my [Time Magic] to hold them all in place, but if so much as one slips through, then said enemy is likely to kidnap me, undo my lock in a second, and endanger everyone else in one fell swoop. Powerful as I am, I only have enough mana sensitivity to keep lock on so many at once, a pair of eyes with relatively-limited range of sight, and a requirement that I need oxygen to breathe."
"Wait, what about erosion?" asked Damnatio. "Your [Time Magic] can reduce them to dust, correct?"
"Only for them to come back intact later, then yes," the Wizard King pointed out. "... It's as if you're all expecting me to age the world itself to death."
"So, find a way to deny them access to earth in the first place, given that as long as they're connected to it, they're functionally immortal until their master deems them as such," Saiga nodded. "... Tempting as it is to turn the whole floor of the settlement into impenetrable steel, I propose for a simpler solution."
"Letting them into the city is ill-advised unless we find a way to shelter the civilians," Damnatio pointed out. "... How about we set a trap for them?"
"Given the size of their army, I doubt subtlety isn't an option!" the crow cawed.
Julius then goes over the old reports before noticing an interesting detail regarding the behavior of the clay dolls. "... Come to think of it, it is reported that they are inclined to be attracted to mana like flies to refuse."
Everyone then looks over the shared report before coming to a consensus.
"So much for subtlety then," the crow deadpanned. "Now who's gonna be the bait?"
Everyone's eyes then turn towards the King.
"... Why are you all looking at me?" asked Augustus.
"We have an hour and thirty minutes," the Wizard King ordered. "Let's move!"
Wastelands, Formerly-Diamond Kingdom, Morning
"... I'm lost, aren't I?"
Cleopatra then looks up from her map before finding nothing but the endless wastes before her.
The very same that she'd seen repeatedly for countless days.
"Stupid plan in hindsight, but why did I enable that brat to erase every single life on this country?!" she bemoaned. "Am I so mad for power that I became blind to the consequences?!"
Cleopatra herself was a being attracted to power. First was Lucifer, for despite his attempts to appear humble, the Death Adder at the time was able to detect a well of surging might within the Anti-Bird form. Then came Yama, whom she tried to raise as her version of her object of affection, only for it to go too well and later prove worthless after losing all of spells during that night where there were more spells than stars in the night sky. And finally, her propensity of seeking out Goliath was to simply see it's power to reduce a kingdom into a barren husk of its former glory... and promptly use it to erase her prior two mistakes and start fresh.
In essence, she worshipped nothing but power. And power she will get.
That is the crux of her sin, [Abhorrence]. A muddy fusion of love and hate, both stemmed from the disgust of everything below her standards.
"This map is almost worthless," she grumbled to herself before restraining herself from throwing the map away (cruddy as it is, she can't afford leave behind any leads). "... Now think, Cleo. If I were a giant monster made of fire... where would I hide?"
As she continued her journey towards finding a great power, her scales then notices something rather peculiar.
Moving her tail in and outwards from a certain boundary, there felt a difference in the air's temperatures.
"... The sun doesn't discriminate," she then hissed her forked tongue to get a better read on the overall feel for the heat, noticing that one side of the wastelands were hotter than the other. "... Of course. If I were a fiery giant of death...!"
She then transforms into her Death Adder form as the Demoness then slithers on her belly across the arid and cracked earth.
"... Then I'd go to a place where no human would survive their journey towards!"
Quatre's Proximities, Noble Realm, Clover Kingdom, Morning
"Are you sure that this is going to work?!" King Augustus asked as he was seen hung around his waist from a suspended pole held by Saiga while everyone else was working on their "container" unit (for the clay doll army).
"You'll be fine," Saiga "reassured" the neurotic monarch. "... Just hope that the pit is big enough to contain all of them."
Just before Quatre's walls, a large, deep pit the size of a dried-out lake was bored out thanks to everyone's efforts. Once the pit was dug out, layers of impenetrable steel (provided by Saiga) coated the dirt, turning the hole into a giant bowl.
"Hey!" Sol cried out. "You think just trapping them in a pit will be enough?"
"We're already busy with finding ways to contain them, so unless someone has a method to imbue destructive magic in said trap, I doubt we can modify our plans any further," Damnatio rebuked. "For now, focus on what we realistically can do."
Overhearing this, Zora knew that the [Earth Magic] user had a point. "Container" feels like a mere step in a greater plan that is missing its greater pieces.
"My [Trap Magic] sub-specialty can work, but that might compromise on our pit mouth's overall mass," he thought out loud. "... Just who is good at hiding things in plain sight? ... Besides me?"
"Watch out!" Grey's voice cried out before sounds of cluttering were heard. "... Sorry!"
"If you're able to walk, then keep moving," Sergei remarked.
Zora's cogs in his mind began to turn. Okay... maybe she might my way in... but what is present but unseen-?
Suddenly, he then thinks of Yuno's [Wind Magic].
"... Eureka," he snickered before he revealed himself. "Oi Grey! I need you to do me a favor!"
"M-me?!" she squawked. "... Wha-what is it?!"
Zora then hands her one of his magic bomb stones. "Can you use your [Transformation Magic] to turn this into air?"
"Uhh, sure?" Grey then converts the stone imbued with excess magic into transparent air.
"Alright, stand back!" Zora then uses [Reinforcement Magic] on his arm before brushing through where the bomb was last seen, causing the air itself to explode and send the masked Magic Knight flying past Grey.
"OMIGOD!" the [Transformation Magic] user cried out in panic, the explosion catching everyone's attention.
"No sweat," Zora reassured as he raised his sizzling arm. "... Had to prove something."
"Prove what, exactly?" asked Damnatio as everyone else walked towards him.
"I overheard a conversation between you and that [Earth Magic] chick from the Blue Rose Knights, and it got me thinking," Zora began as he looked at Sol. "... She has a point. If the enemy is simply contained, then there still lies a possibility of them breaking out if our plan falters for even a second. So rather than just use a simple pitfall... I propose we... enhance the lethality."
"You mean like putting spikes at the bottom?" asked Juniper.
"Close, but you got the idea," Zora remarked as he then turned towards Grey. "... Thanks to my recent experiment, I concluded that Grey's [Transformation Magic] doesn't just convert the physical properties of objects or spells, but it can also choose to preserve the spell's initial properties."
"So you're suggesting that we put spells into the bottom of the pit?" Damnatio pointed out. "But which ones?"
Gordon raises his hand. "... My [Poison Magic] is corrosive enough to melt stone if I try hard enough."
"Will it also melt the steel covering the earth?" asked Cole.
"I can help," Captain Charlotte raised her hand. "My [Thorn Magic] can act as a second snare to prevent them from leaving the pit."
"Alright, but I got one more thing to add on top of that," Zora then looked towards Sol once again. "Can ask you to dig another hole? Also, Cole and Grey, come with me. I'm gonna need your guys' help."
As the plan's modifications were forwarded to Julius, Captain Rill of the Aqua Deers was busying himself painting an armor set for King Augustus to serve both protection and as amplifier for his [Light Magic].
"Hmm... is this too much gold?" he asked himself as he stood before an absolutely-gaudy looking set of knight's armor painted in 100% gold. "... I mean, too much gold and it'll look too sandy... maybe some brass?"
"As long as it sticks out like a sore thumb, it should be fine!" the crow familiar cawed as it perched on top of his head. "Polish the brass and surface detail the gold! The latter adds more sparkle-!"
Two Witches then panic as they ran towards the crow screaming before retrieving it. "We're so sorry!"
"No problem!" the Captain Rill replied before continuing with his work.
"OKAY! I DUG OUT ANOTHER PIT! NOW WHAT?!" Sol shouted out.
Zora then forcibly drags Saiga to their second pit. "Hey old man, can you make another steel dome?"
"For what?" he replied as Zora then whispers his intentions into the old High Inquisitor's ear. "... Hm, I see. Very well, then!"
From the old man's shadow emerged Freki.
"Be grateful that I'm only tolerating doing charity work on my worshipper's behalf," snarled the wolf God as he then placed his paw onto the earth around the pit, transmutating the soil and dirt into a solid metal bowl. "You better not ask for anything more."
"That's all we'll be needing, thanks!" the masked Magic Knight replied as the wolf then receded back into the High Inquisitor's shadow. "Alright! Lift this sucker up!"
Sol then summons several [Raging Mother Earth] golems to scoop the metal pit out of the ground it was dug out from before placing it to its side.
"Alright, fill the pit back in lest someone falls in by accident," Zora requested Sol.
"Sheesh, you're such a slave-driver," grumbled the Blue Rose Knight as Cole and Grey were then brought next to the excavated bowl.
"Alright! I got the snares ready!" Charlotte cried out.
"The briars are tipped with my most potent of [Poison Magic] and are to be triggered upon physical contact..." Gray pointed out. "Now how do we hide them?"
"Leave it to me!" Rill then paints the surface above the pit into a mural that seamlessly blended in with its surroundings. "There! Now everyone step away and let the paint dry!"
"Speaking of paint, is the armor done?" asked Julius.
Rills gives him a thumbs-up. "And it's a perfect fit!"
Then King Augustus Kira Clover XIII comes waddling in, decked out in a full suit of golden and brass armor that of its surface reflected the sun's rays to blinding levels.
"Yep! It's definitely striking!" Charlotte covered her eyes as everyone else did.
"It's going to work, no doubt," Saiga nodded in approval before catching attention of something else. "... Speaking of."
From afar, Captain Kaiser Granvorka along with his contingency of Purple Orcas come flying in atop of their Captain's [Vortex Magic]'s twister.
"THE ENEMY APPROACHES!" one of the Magic Knights atop of the funnel cloud yelled. "ETA THREE MINUTES!"
"EVERYONE! TO YOUR STATIONS!" Julius ordered, causing everyone to move.
Saiga then lifts up the armored monarch by a pole connected to a line hanging King Augustus by his waist like a fishing lure.
"... If we come out of this alive, may I keep this armor?" the foppish monarch asked. "... I find it quite comfortable."
Saiga ignores his request. "... Everyone's ready," he grinned. "NOW!"
Flailing and panicking, Augustus then brings out his jewel-encrusted grimoire before opening its pages. "[LIGHT MAGIC: ABSOLUTE MONARCH OF DIVINE BRILLIANCE]!"
A giant light copy of the monarch is then erected around the caster, the gilded surface of his armor amplifying the projection through its reflective properties.
Seeing the light, the rumbling cloud of dust kicked up by the army of the Prince of Death's clay dolls all march towards it like moths to flame.
"HERE THEY COME!" Augustus cried out.
"Let them," Saiga grinned as he then laid out their bait.
The clay dolls then all converged towards the brightly-lit Augustus, their feet stamping onto the earth now all jumping up towards the monarch's projection.
"NOW!" Saiga ordered as the illusory ground then gave way, revealing the deathtrap below as he reeled in the semi-catatonic monarch over and away from the open hole, causing the rest of the clay dolls to fall into the pit, and those who were to be pulled in by Charlotte's [Thorn Magic]'s briars set below.
"It worked!" the Blue Rose Knights Captain exclaimed as Augustus landed behind where she stood.
"Don't celebrate just yet," Gordon then spots several of the clay dolls attempting to climb out by using each other as footholds while his own [Poison Magic] wasn't corroding them fast enough. "... Keep them in there-!"
"Don't bunch up your panties just yet, folks!" Zora then came in from above, carried by Cole's [Wind Magic]. "DO IT!"
From above at the skies, Grey, Sol, and Cole then undoes the former's [Transformation Magic], reverting the air itself back into the second metal bowl.
Upon its reformation, the shell's upper-half then slams shut atop of the pit like pot's lid, trapping the clay dolls inside and leaving them to decay.
"HELL YEAH! IT WORKED!" Sol cheered as everyone else down below cheered as well.
"Now to seal the deal..." Zora remarked as he then threw his specialized magic stone bombs that were modified by Grey beforehand, so that rather than explode, they instead burst into adhesive compounds akin to tar or tree resin.
They were thrown into the gap formed between the two halves of the metal shells trapping the clay dolls in their pit, preventing any possible chances of their escape. And just for good measure, Julius uses his [Time Magic] to accelerate the adhesive's drying process until the two halves were absolutely sealed shut.
"Anyone we missed?" asked the Wizard King.
Damnatio closes his eyes to check for his surroundings. "... Negative," he replied. "We're in the clear!"
Now the celebrations reached its peak, as they brought down an army in one fell swoop through the collaborative efforts.
With the threat of the Demon's clay dolls out of the way, everyone then returns to Quatre with good news...
"Well aren't folks having the time of your lives."
But suddenly, all they can hear was a malicious candor echo in midday.
People tried to speak, but none were able to even vocalize their thoughts, let alone hear themselves breathe.
It was as if sound itself had disappeared.
"Now you may be thinking," the voice echoed. "To whom is responsible for taking away one of the five senses vital to the mind as if he'd just shut the front door of his own house?" the voice then chortled wickedly. "... For the uninitiated, I suggest you look up."
Everyone does, and spots a winged silhouette perched atop at the highest tower of what once was the Clover Kingdom's Royal Palace. Set before the burning sun was none other than a Demon akin to a humanoid bat, with a pair of iron spikes nailed around its blindfolded eyes.
"If you could all speak now, I'm sure you'd all be exclaiming that why is a Demon doing out in broad daylight," the Bat Demon spoke as he then took out a black apple with its skin patterns resembling a pair of crossed-out eyes and a stitched-up smile. "Here's a hint, your little king's mana was impossible to resist while I was flying silently in the sky."
Saiga in all of his efforts, tried to stop the Demon even as if the others couldn't hear him run or yell, causing him to trample over his allies as he futilely attempts to stop the Demon.
"But enough jabber," the Demon then tossed the black ADAM into the air and into his open mouth before swallowing it whole. "LET'S GET THIS RAVE STARTED! INVOKE THE [LAW OF SLANDER]!"
As soon as the invocation was invoked, in the backdrop of complete silence quieter than itself, then came a bombardment of screams of horror and maddening fear, blasting everyone's eardrums into bits, the combined resonance blasted throughout the whole settlement causing the very ground to quake.
I heard something about that guy
Didn't he do something sus back there?
Everyone has their own secrets that they rather not get pried
They said good friends keep some things to themselves from each other...
But is that really trust?
No one's hands are clean no matter how long time has passed
So instead be true to yourselves
By saying the quiet part out loud
Because by the time everyone has let it out
Corpses and ruin will be gathered one giant mound.
Synchronization Rate: 666%
[Yetzer], the Demon of [Slander]: REALIZATION COMPLETE
Apocrypha Form: SUCCESS
RAVE (Radical Audial Visceral Execution): ONLINE
"And now, presenting...!" the Demon announced with a flamboyant and boastful voice that echoed with an alien reverb and boomed through the lands. "DJ...! YETZER!"
"ARGH!" Charlotte heaved out. "... I can talk again!"
"HOW DID HE GET UP THERE WITHOUT US NOTICING?!" Damnatio exclaimed.
"I DON'T CARE! GET HIM!" Julius ordered, wasting absolutely no time gunning towards the Demon as everyone else followed.
"Now for today's first track...!" Yetzer then manifests a metal board with two obsidian-black discs spinning on their placed axels. "... Here's the fade-in! [Sound Curse Magic: Soundgarden - EDEN Remix]!"
Everyone that were both heading towards Yetzer and those who were suddenly felt an unbelievable sense of agony coming all of their hearts, causing them to all collapse onto the ground before any of them can reach the Demon, including Saiga and Julius, who both crashlanded onto several buildings through their roofs.
"What the...?!" Augustus gasped as he clutched his heart while falling onto his knees form the surge of agony.
"I HATE PARTY POOPERS WHO ARE RUDE ENOUGH TO CRASH MY P.A. DECK!" Yetzer's voice howled. "FROM NOW ON, ALL OF YOU ARE PLAYING BY MY RULES! YOU WANNA HAVE A CHANCE TO SING YOUR VERSE?! THEN MOVE ON THE BPM'S RHYTHM OR YOU'LL DIE!"
Several moans and groan of agony were heard throughout the city followed up with sounds of bodies hitting the floor.
"Dance, move, and attack on the beat if you wish to even reach me!"
Now Playing: "Twister -NEO MIX-" (Takeharu Ishimoto)
To Be Continued...
Author's Notes: I forgot to mention, but I'm aiming to make the chapters shorter for this fic since not only I want to avoid another "Forest Arc"-problem, but I kinda put this fic in low-priority to focus on my new project: "High School DxD - Re:Incarnation of Malevolence" reboot-fic from dvdryms.
A common complaint may be that Julius is a constant recipient of the "Worf Effect," and part of the reason is that in canon, he's the definition of "Story-Breaker Power" since [Time Magic] cannot be easily countered (via aging everything harming to death). Also, admittedly, I'm running out of ideas to nerf him, and I still want a story to tell (despite my misgivings), so "rule of drama" is in full effect.
And for Yama and Cleopatra having a falling-out... well, I never had plans nor said anything that they'd last. And given that Yama's made too powerful before 1/4 of Beelzebub drained his (and everyone else's) grimoire blank, that was the schism.
I also made the absolutely useless spell from King Augustus Kira Clover XIII useful... by making him into a lure. This both helped Clover Kingdom... and damned it by luring in Yetzer, Rank 11 Demon representing the Sin of [Slander]. And now he's going remix all of Clover Kingdom's faces. Expect him to speak in semi-botched DJ-lingo.
With that, I am going to ponder on how the release schedule for this fic is going to be dealt with since I want to wrap this fic up within this year while pumping out my reboot fic consistently (and one I very much enjoy rewriting).
References:
- This arc's chapter is named after the song of the same name by Good Charlotte.
- One of the texts from the restored Sea God's Scripture from the Seabed Temple is from Ocean Hunter arcade game.
- Yama's "outside outfit" is based off Horobi's from Kamen Rider Zero-One. His restored kamitsurugi, [Fushigiri], is named after Mortal Blade from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
- The crow that emulates Witch Queen Agatha's personality is loosely based off the Kasugai Crows from Demon Slayer, specifically Tanjiro's.
- Yetzer's idea of a RAVE standing for "Radical Audial Visceral Execution" is based off Goddess of Victory: NIKKE's OST, "HOLY CRAB."
- Yetzer's [Soundgarden - EDEN Remix] spell (EDEN stands for "Elimination Determination Encapsulation Nexus"-my acronyms are getting worse, I KNOW) is named after the band of the same name, and also after the Elimination Chamber Festival from Re:Creators. More overtly, it's names after the biblical Garden of Eden, and it's effects after the [Law of Slander] is invoked is reminiscent of what happens to Cadence during the beginning of Crypt of the NecroDancer, where her heart gets stolen by the titular villain, only apply that same curse to a population numbering thousands.