The Three Brothers: Black Clover x Male OC(Harem)

by EternalOG

Blake didn't have magic for most of his life, but he tried his best to not let it get under his skin. His family at the Hage Church helped keep him upbeat and positive. At 15, he attains a powerful grimoire, with some sort of unknown entity attached to it. At 19, he takes the exam with his brothers, Asta and Yuno. What goes from there?

20. Page 19 - And Pump The Adrenaline

Black Clover - The Three Brothers

Within the Magic Knight Headquarters' kitchen area, Jamo, the Head Chef, stood before the shortcake who saved the lives of his fellow chefs and he. She who had given such care for the dish that he made, he was sure his motivation for the work would never cease to exist as long as he thought back to her.

Yet, despite all that, Charmy's the one who appears to be indebted to him, as she sits on her hands and knees alongside her sheep cooks, requesting something of him.

"You seek answers on where to find the most delicious cuts of meat?" he questions, to which Charmy nods.

Blake had offered to take Charmy on a date after she had gotten back from her mission, same as he did with Grey. Charmy, however, was particularly invested in perfecting a dish, trying to find the perfect ratios of different tastes to give absolute satisfaction within the meal, so she was content with Grey having a date with her Meal-Saving Prince first.

Not only had she made quite the progress on that project, she planned to progress on her sweets and dessert skills, having heard Blake and Gray compliment that shop's treats.

It wasn't just that. Seeing Grey have such unadulterated heart-melting happiness on her face just made Charmy even more excited for when she'd go on one with Blake!

But what would they do, Charmy wondered to herself. She'd be happy just going around town, working her way through the food challenges all the local restaurants and shops had to offer with Blake by her side—as they had done a few times before Charmy's feelings surfaced. However...

Charmy and Blake stood outside a restaurant, staring at a displayed sign on the center of the entrance door. It was a drawing of Charmy and him.

ONE OR THE OTHER! RESTAURANTS CANNOT HANDLE THE BOTH OF THEM!

A bead of sweat dropped from Charmy's head, while Blake looked at the paper blankly.

"WHAT KIND OF BULLSHIT—"

Setting aside that unfortunate event, it may have been a blessing in disguise. It made Charmy want to up her game. She was aware that Blake enjoyed any dish that was offered to him—of course he would, that's one of reasons why she loved him so much!—but throughout all her time of knowing him, she saw that Blake had a preference towards dishes of the salty and savory variety.

"For the one I've dubbed as my Meal-Saving Prince, I want to find the most mouth-watering, tear-jerking, eureka-forming meats! So that we may feast together in a paradise of nummies!" Charmy declares, as her sheep bleat alongside in agreement. She bows her head before Jamo; Her sheep do the same. "That's why I ask of you to share your culinary wisdom, so that I may acquire such delicious nummies!"

"I...I see!"

Jamo was taken aback.

Her eyes. The drool hanging from her lip. Even her forehead! They all glisten so brightly and it's no wonder! It's not just out of deep love of the cuisine, it's also all for the love of another who shares in that appreciation!

Jamo could still feel the hesitance within him, telling him to reconsider. To put this girl and the one she loves through such a task may be too much to handle. But...

With th ose two loves combined...is there anything that could stop this shortcake?!

Jamo would not let his doubts get the better of him, he won't rip away a moment such as this from the one who saved his life!

"To attain what you seek..." Jamo says, crossing his arms. "You must tread upon the lands of a Grand Magic Zone!"

"You got it!"

With excitement, Charmy stood and punched the air alongside her sheep, envisioning the awesome ways she'd take on such beasts and rise victoriously. Before that can devolve into how giddy she'd get from Blake praising how amazing she is and how her dishes are the best, she stops and raises her hand.

"Yes!" Jamo asks.

"What's a Grand Magic Zone?!"

---

"Vanessaaaa!" Blake whined, lightly tugging on the bottom of his coat while the top part was pulled opposite of him by said woman. "Give me back my coat! You've been hogging it for the past hour!"

They both lazed on the couch, with empty glasses of alcohol swaying left and right on the floor from all the other commotion going on around them.

"Come on, Blake, you're not being fair..." Vanessa whined back, hiccuping in the middle of it. "You've had it all day, let me give it a little love now! It's my baby too, you know..."

"Huuuuh?" Blake's blush from the alcohol deepened for a moment, before shaking his head and saying, " I've had this coat for the past 5 years of my life, it's my baby!" He'd say, pulling the coat towards him and Vanessa along with it, before she did the same to him.

"And I brought new life into it when you asked me to! Now it's mine as much as it is yours, darling." Vanessa said with a giddy little giggle.

"That is..."—Blake hiccups again—"Some of the wackiest logic I've heard in my life, sweetie!"

A stare-off would occur between the two, this being the closest they've ever had to an "argument". They'd narrow their eyes, slowly inching closer to each other with a pout on their faces.

...

"Astaaaa! Vanessa's being mean!"
"Noelleeee! Blake's being mean!"

They cried out in unison to the two. While Asta lifted his head to look at the two with a confused expression as he did his pushups, Noelle looked at them, sitting on a chair near Asta, and sighed with a disappointed look, her hands occupied with petting Nero.

"Seriously? You're both grown, figure it out on your own." Noelle reprimanded.

"Ice cold!" Vanessa and Blake replied as Noelle looked blankly at them, before returning her attention to Nero and holding a small smile on her face while Asta just gave them an apologetic smile and returned to his pushups.

"U-Uh, Blake...Vanessa..."

The two hummed as they turned to look at Grey, who had been sitting beside the two and giggling at the little spout they were having. They get small smiles as they watch Grey twiddle her thumbs around as she continues.

"Maybe you guys could...sandwich the coat between you two?" Grey offers, putting her hands together in a clap.

Blake and Vanessa lazily blink at the girl, and for a moment Grey thinks the idea may have been dumb, but then she watches the two close the gap between each other and embrace, making the coat stuck between them and then they begin to giggle to themselves.

"Thanks, Grey!" They said together, looking back at the girl. The words were slurred, but that didn't stop Grey's cheeks from getting rosey.

"I-It's no problem, just glad to see you tw—ah!"

Suddenly Grey finds herself being the one sandwiched between the two drunks. The coat they were fighting over now covered her like a blanket. On one side, Blake wrapped an arm around Grey's hip, while the other was atop her hand with his head resting on its side. On the other, Vanessa had her arms around the girl's shoulders, her face nuzzled into the one closer to her.

"Grey's a smartie-smart. Good Grey!" Vanessa praised.

"Smartie-smart..." Blake found himself lowly giggling at the made-up word. "Yeah...Grey's the best smartie-smart!"

"I-no-I-I'm just-"

Grey was overheating at the moment, she couldn't get herself to speak coherently.

"Jeez, they're gonna end up killing the girl," Magna said with a groan, eating his pudding as he sat crisscross on Asta's back—eating it in peace since Luck was out on a mission with Gordon.

Then, Finral's portal appears. Yami, Gauche, Charmy, and Finral come through it before it closes.

"And here she comes to complete the set!" Magna muttered good-heartedly as he watched Charmy, with a bigger smile than usual, skip her way over to the three cuddling on the couch.

"My Meal-Saving Prince, I've returned!" Charmy exclaims, jumping through the air to land on Blake's back, wrapping her small arms around his neck and squishing her cheek against his.

Blake gasps with a smile, "My Smug, Gluttonous Princess, you're back," he says happily, ready to return the squishiness but Charmy suddenly attacks, pinching and pulling at his cheeks. "Ah! Ow! Charmyyyyy, whyyyyy?!"

"You got it wrong again, Blake," Charmy reprimanded with a pouty tone,"I'm your Smug, Gluttonous Queen, Blake! Queen! Queen!" She'd repeat, pushing Blake onto the couch as she continued her offense.

"Oh-ho-ho, you messed up now, Blake!" Vanessa teased, pulling Grey closer as she raised her fist, cheering, "Get him, Charmy! Get him!"

"D-Don't be hard on him, Charmy!" Grey murmured, trying to give Blake some slack.

Blake apologized and apologized, yet none of that made the girl cease her pinching and pulling. The drunken haze lifts for a moment and Blake remembers, When all...all else fails...!

He lightly grabs Charmy's wrists, pushes himself up, and kisses her.

Immediately, Charmy ceases to do anything else aside from enveloping herself in the kiss, wrapping her body around Blake's torso. It didn't take long for their tongues to come into contact, Charmy's tongue swirling around Blake's to make sure she got every bit of flavor Blake had put his taste buds through that day. She had always been so domineering in their kisses that he, especially now, found it difficult trying to overtake her in that regard; He'd say it was surprising but considering how their first kiss went, it wasn't really.

By the end of it, Blake felt like he was in even more of a daze than before the kiss, his head shaking slightly and the redness in his face deepening even further.

"Or maybe they'll kill him first, it's hard to tell..." Magna remarked.

"Sounds like a heavenly way to pass onto the afterlife..." Finral says exasperated, dragging his feet to his room after going through more failed dates. Magna looks at him peculiarly.

"Ooooh, not bad, Charmy~" Vanessa said. Blake had long since taken the wheel on who was in control of their kisses, so seeing him being able to be left in a state like that, especially by Charmy of all people, was certainly fun to watch.

So...So passionate! Grey was in awe of Charmy's boldness.

Meanwhile, Charmy hummed as she licked her lips with a satisfied smile, hands on her lips as she sat on Blake's lap. "I accept your apology, la," She says before remembering what she needed to do. She points a finger at Blake. "No, one more thing, actually!"

Oh boy...

"Yeah, yeah you got it," Blake says breathily with a wave of his hand, "Whatever...Whatever you want, Little Miss."

"Yay!" Charmy quips, before she reaches out and places her hands on his cheeks, close enough for their noses to graze by and tickle each other. "Tomorrow, you and me are going out on a date!"

"And Charmy continues to take the initiative!" Vanessa said with a laugh, her hands secured around Grey—who adjusted herself, moving closer to the woman behind her.

Those two have certainly been more friendly with each other... Gauche, of all people, remarks internally.

"Huh..." Blake says slowly before a giggling chuckle escapes him. "A date with you, Little Miss? Sounds lovely."

He'd remark as Charmy was elated and took the opportunity to snuggle into Blake for a bit, eagerly awaiting for tomorrow to come around.

---

Grand Magic Zones.

Areas bathed in such exceptionally dense and powerful mana that the environment itself becomes affected by it. The animals that live within have become practically soaked in the natural mana. When properly cooked, these animals' meats stand at the top of the cuisine hierarchy.

It's rare for the meat to even be available—having to track through difficult terrain and fight such untamed wild beasts can be dangerous, even for experienced Magic Knights, and isn't seen as a high priority. Even for those who pride themselves on fine dining, there's no point if you aren't alive to eat it, or the bother of offering condolences to grieving family members over such matters.

But, frankly, all that crappy logic—or very sensible logic actually—could be thrown out the window when it came to Charmy and Blake. They've gone on ahead, making their way closer and closer towards the Forest of Goliaths—a Grand Magic Zone opposite of the direction of the fabled Witches' Forest, drawing close to the border between the Clover Kingdom and the Heart Kingdom.

Charmy was on the path to acquire such nummies and share with her Meal-Saving Prince, to see that smile adorn his face after every last delicious bite of the food she'd make for him. While the delicious food was certainly a great addition, for Blake, the excitement he saw Charmy had for this occasion mattered even more. If he could keep that smile on her face, it would make all this worth it.

The greenery was certainly beautiful and thriving, even the soil and dirt they tread seemed to be vibrant, helping to bring life to all the trees and plants, more and more coming into view.

Even still, the journey had its problems. Similar to the dungeon from almost two months back, the mana felt suffocating and was giving Blake a headache as he had to adjust to it again. Sure, using Reinforcement Magic aided them in later traversal, but Blake had only stumbled upon that fact by accident, he hadn't even noticed he was coating himself with it till recently.

It helped Charmy for the most part, though she muttered something about constantly adjusting the temperature of the flame so that the meat doesn't become under or overcooked. Blake felt that. He felt himself having to adjust and strengthen his Reinforcement Magic as well.

However, this was made even more difficult by the effect of this particular Grand Magic Zone's distorted environment—an increased gravitational pressure.

While Blake was adjusting to the intense mana fine enough, just as he did in the dungeon, it was proving difficult for Charmy the closer they got to the area, as the mana surrounding them continued to grow stronger in its intensity.

"Come on, Little Miss! Envision all the food in your mind, walk for it! Fight for it!" Blake encourages, walking backward so he can keep his eyes on Charmy.

"Must go on...for the most...delicious nummies...!" Charmy spoke raggedly, stretches of seconds growing longer between each step she'd try to take.

On the cusp of the outer forests, where the pressure of the mana would truly begin to take its toll on the souls—brave and stupid alike—who journeyed to this point, Charmy had unfortunately faltered, dropping to one knee with her last step. Her magic control was better than many would expect, but it wasn't enough to keep her Reinforcement Magic stable to traverse an environment such as this.

She could feel that reality upon her. The more pressure placed upon her from the distorted gravity, the more it interfered with her concentration. It ripped away the coating and continued as if it wished to see her squashed, flattened into the ground for daring to think she could put her hands on the animals who resided here.

Quickly, Blake bolts to Charmy. He wraps a protective arm around her waist and dashes to take them back to where the pressure of the mana and gravity isn't as strong.

"Catch your breath, Little Miss. It's alright."

He puts them at a nearby tree, letting Charmy rest against it and get ahold of her Reinforcement Magic again before she immediately tries to run further ahead. Her outreached hands clawed into the air, even as Blake kept her in place by the hem of the shirt.

"No! I need to go, they're mine! I must take their meats!" Charmy demanded.

"You won't be able to eat the meat at all if you're flattened like a pancake." Blake reasoned. He saw how much strain the pressure had on Charmy and if she had to deal with that while fighting these fabled beasts, it wouldn't turn out well.

"I don't care!" Charmy said with a whine. She turned back to look at him with a string of drool hanging off her lip, "No matter what, we're gonna feast!" She shouted in determination. Whatever got in her way, she wouldn't let it stop her from giving them the food-filled loving date she intended this to be!

Blake could see that determination in her eyes. He sighed and gave her a small smile. Even still, he couldn't let her continue in good consciousness. If just the outer area caused that to happen to Charmy, any further in and...no, he didn't want to take that chance with her.

"We'll get to feast, Charmy, I'll make sure of that," Blake says, picking the girl up by her sides—making her go quiet, then giddy—and moving her back over to the tree, standing in front of her. "We'll just divvy it up is all. I'll go collect the meats, you and your sheep cook it up. All that classic stuff and whatnot."

Charmy opens her mouth to refute—she wanted to do this together!—but then she stopped, as her imagination took hold of her.

Napping upon a cloud of cotton, her dreary eyes would open to be met with a breathtaking sight. Blake was walking towards her, dragging the defeated corpses of various beasts in his hands by their fur, while over a dozen were stacked upon his shoulders. She'd run forward, to make sure he was okay, and he'd lay them all out before her—the rewards he reaped by overpowering such creatures.

She'd gaze upon such delicacies in absolute wonder and looks back up at Blake to thank him, but finds her heart stunned at the sight as he drops to one knee, making it so that he has to look up at her . His breath was ragged, smudges of blood adorned his features, and his eyes a deeper shade than that looked upon her.

"No doubt this will all taste delicious." Blake would say, flicking the blood off his face with his thumb before he reached up to caress her cheeks in his hands, drawing closer and closer to her...

"But I want to indulge in my Queen's taste for a bit, if she'd let me..."

...What is going on inside that head of yours, little miss? Blake wonders as he watches Charmy roll around in the grass, giggling delightfully to herself, hands cupping her face.

Once she gets ahold of herself, Charmy fishes out a dessert from her emergency stash within her own Cloud of Holding spell.

"H-Have some brownies, for good luck! Show those beasts what for!"

Blake takes the container from Charmy and has a quick bite—just as many other times, he almost wants to cry from just how good it is. After a nod and reassuring hug, he sets off to enter the outer area of the Forest of Goliaths and continues as far as needed to acquire that which Charmy sought, while she concluded that now was a good time for a nap.

---

Blake had made it close to the center of the forest. The pressure from the gravity increased immensely, but he had taken his time adjusting and controlling the coating of Reinforcement Magic needed to keep him protected. His efficiency with his Magic Control would certainly be tested today.

Not just that, he can feel them gazing upon him—for the past few minutes actually.

Well, at least they were nice enough to let me finish my brownies.

And with the last one down the hatch, Blake stretches, "Alright, who's up first?"

Immediately, Blake snaps back and brings his arms up to block an attack. He was successful, but the force was enough to send him back a few feet. His footing wasn't planted properly.

He shook it off, making sure his protective layer was fine, and looked upon the first beast. A large creature covered in black fur—and the black fur appeared to be meshed with large shards of rock protruding along its body. A Rockrilla; Its red eyes narrowed at Blake and the beast's face was contorted into a snarl; It roared a battle cry, baring its canines at Blake.

Man, all this mana really does something to ya.

In return for the battle cry, Blake cocked his head and made a gesture with his hand, taunting the creature.

With a beating of its chest like a drum, the Rockrilla charged forward. Craters were left in the ground with each attack that failed to hit as Blake maneuvered out of the way. It was relatively quick-footed, despite its hulking stature, but Blake proved to be faster at the moment. He slid underneath the beast as it attempted an overhead attack, and immediately twisted around to slam a fist reinforced with magic into the beast's back.

Blake was surprised, I can't make a dent in it!

That brief moment of being stunned allowed the beast, with something like a smirk on its face, to twist around and slam its massive, rocky forearm into Blake's side. He didn't have time to dodge and grunted in pain as he brought an arm up to block, reinforcing his body with Magic to defend. But as his eyes focused on that attack, Blake left himself vulnerable to getting a powerful kick slammed straight into his chest. A breathless gasp escaped him as he got sent flying through the air, inevitably crashing through some of the massive trees behind him.

Fuck! Adapting to live in this place isn't a joke...

Living in an environment like this, it's no surprise that, to evolve fittingly, the animals that inhabit it would grow strong and durable.

It was difficult—needing to use Reinforcement Magic not just to neutralize the forest's adverse effects, but also reinforcing his body for combat proved tricky.

Even so, things were just beginning. As Blake's descent crept upon him and he saw the Rockrilla heading for him, he drew on his Wind Magic to push himself above the trees. The sight from above would've been breathtaking, but Blake had to focus on not hacking up more blood. Water Recovery Magic would have to do for the moment for his cracked sternum and ribs.

Alright. I wasn't sure but my control over the rest of my magic should be—

However, only seconds later, Blake could feel himself being pulled back down—It wasn't by the gravity, his reinforcement was fine, but by vine-like branches latching onto and wrapping around his body.

Crap!

Blake would've slammed into the dirt but quickly used Cotton Magic to form a dense cloud atop the ground, cushioning his fall. Just as Blake could break himself free from his restraints, the beast—a tiger whose fur was as green as the nature around them—pounced on him, slamming its paws into Blake that he had to block before holding the beast off as it tried to dig its teeth into his neck.

It's ferocious...but this one isn't as strong!

A strained laugh escapes Blake, "Aren't you fucking adorable? Sorry, I ain't in the mood for cuddles!"

He slams the back of his fist into the Tiger's snout—a weak spot that makes it falter and gives him the leverage needed to push himself up. He digs his fingers into the tiger's neck fur and twists around to toss the tiger some distance ahead. The tiger recovered quickly and from its front and hind leg—which Blake finally noticed to be branch-like in appearance—the branches that had been used to make him plummet before were sent out again, stabbing into the dirt and pulling the tiger down, giving it back its footing.

An animal that's been bathed in so much mana, its body has become able to use some magic of its own...b adass!

With a smirk, Blake dashed forward to continue the battle but found himself suddenly knocked off-course, like a sudden powerful gust of wind just came through. He creates a blade from Steel Magic and stabs it into the ground to slow himself down. He's only given a second to see what caused it before the beast at fault made a ferocious stride and slammed itself headfirst into Blake, making Blake's boots dig deeply into the dirt as he tried to counter the beast's weight. Yet, Blake can't help but have a brief smile on his face because—

"Holy shit, you got wings?!"

The beast he was battling now was very much bear-like in appearance, its white and brown fur almost like a swirling pattern—yet the large, thick white wings adorning its upper back proved it couldn't just be that. Perhaps a result of two different species breeding?

Whatever the case, this is awesome!

Using the momentum to his advantage, Blake drops onto his back to let the beast be above him so that he can bring his legs up and slam into it, making the winged beast wince in pain as it gets sent into the air.

"Let's see how you like it!" Blake taunts as he scrambles to his feet and swipes his arm across as a gesture for his Wind Magic, sending out a powerful gust of his own, to make the creature slam into the trees behind it as it landed back on the ground.

It failed, however, for the creature brought its wings in front of itself like a shield, nullifying any force the gust would have had.

It doesn't seem able to fly, but it uses those wings for ranged attacks and defense?

Blake would've thought that was cool but had to shoot his eyes up above him at the Rockrilla from before, its fists brought together preparing an overhead attack. Blake used the opportunity to cast his Spatial Magic above him to redirect the attack—however, what came forth instead was a wobbly warping of space that soon dissipated into nothing.

Crap, I'm still having difficulty using it in a place like this!

Since that didn't work, Blake relies on a quick use of Vine Magic to pull himself toward one of the distant tree's branches, taking advantage of the shockwave from the Rockrilla's entire body slamming into the ground to blast him forward. As he flies over the branch he wrapped his vine around, he lets his body swing back the way it came, bringing up his legs and ready to slam his feet into the side of the Rockrilla's head—but any major momentum he could build up soon dies with one quick swipe of the Tiger's claw into the vine, making Blake drop.

Blake's attempts to stand back up are thwarted as, even with his Reinforcement Magic up to defend, gashes across his body appearing, the handiwork of the Tiger.

Not as strong...but way faster, fuck!

Things would get bad if it continued any longer and Blake could feel the other two beasts ready to join in the pounce. They were going to tear him apart from all sides...

Damn, I gotta get serious already? Ah well!

Outstretching his arms with a growling laugh, black gales of wind gathered under Blake's command and blasted away everything around him, the three beasts included—even the bear-like creature's wings couldn't defend it from being sent back.

It wouldn't stop there, for the beasts in their dazed state would soon be met with surrounding clouds of pitch-black smoke, courtesy of Blake's Prison of the Fallen King. This feeling of suffocating darkness closing in and being cut off by their allies in nature would make the instinct of fear begin to creep into them, and they would be right to feel so inclined.

The winged beast's attempts to push away the black smoke with powerful gusts of wind had only made it so Blake took care of it first—and as the smoke spellmasked Blake's presence, it was nothing but vulnerable to attacks. The moment it raised its wings, it suddenly howled in pain as several Crystal Magicblades, manifested by Blake's Harpe spell, pierced through them. The blades would tear through and rip the wings apart till nothing but stubs atop the creature's back were left. But soon, the aching pain grew numb. For its last few seconds of life, everything became numb as a crystal blade wielded by Blake would be driven into its jugular.

Trying and failing to escape from the smoke, the Rockrilla could only grow more enraged—it's strong sense of smell and sight hurting it as the smoke began to stuff up its nostrils and irritate its eyes, making it lash out and throw its fists wildly around it. A growl of pain escaped it as it felt like its side was slashed into by claws, making the inside of its body tingle in a sensation of burning pain that continued to rise as the slashes came one after the other.

It threw its fists into whatever direction the attacks came from, trying to hit the attacker—but all that strength meant nothing if it wasn't fast enough to land a hit in the first place. The final nail in its coffin was the claws of Blake's Thunder God Gauntlet tearing through all the rock, then all the muscle deep within the beast's chest, piercing right through its heart, an instant death.

Only the tiger was left...but Blake wouldn't need to hurt the creature any more than it already was. This smoke that surrounded the creature, that perverted all the natural mana it touched—the mana that the creature had such deep ties to—it was taking a toll on this creature the most. The beast just lay on the ground on its side, barely able to breathe, and the sight made Blake dissipate his Lightning spells, they weren't necessary, nothing was. He knelt before the creature and softly ran a hand along its head.

Nothing felt right to say but he was the one taking this creature's life, he could at least make its last moments soothing, slowly pulling away the smoke as its life faded away.

Once the smoke cleared, Blake stood and looked between the three fallen beasts. Before each one, he bowed out of respect for the spar they gave him, telling them their meat wouldn't be wasted.

After he laid the last beast into his Cloud of Holding spell for storage, he simply stood. Behind him. He was already aware of the beast and its pack that had been making their way closer to him after he activated his Smoke Magic spell.

He turned back and faced the leader of the pack, with wide eyes. It stood tall on all four legs proudly, its monstrous size putting it head-to-head with the surrounding tall trees. Many scars adorned its pale purple skin and it even appeared to be missing one of its large, curved horns, the one still present protruding out of the creature's long and wildly flowing silvery mane. Accompanying it were five other creatures of the same species, however: They were smaller, their skin a much deeper tone of purple, and their manes were purple as well. Young cubs.

All that damage and yet it still stands. How many Magic Knights have tried to take you down? Blake thought with a smile that showed the beast and its pack was more than welcome to challenge him. Though, he might be getting a bit too cocky—Blake can feel that this beast will be a bigger threat than the last three combined could ever be.

"Don't worry, we'll won't waste any of you either." Blake assured, letting his grimoire glow as it floated beside him, aiming a confident smirk as the beast who snarled and bared two rows of jagged fangs labeled its teeth at the human who'd dare make a mockery of its domain. It planted its feet firmly, ready to annihilate this worthless prey before it

"Now come on then, let's do this—!"

Blake's words died in his throat before he could finish as, seemingly out of fucking nowhere, something far above the trees slammed into the back of the Behemoth, causing an ear-shattering roar of sheer absolute pain to burst out of the creature's lungs.

Blake barely realized what had happened until the after-effect of a shockwave had whipped him straight off his feet! He reached forward and cast his Sand-Armored Guard spell, creating a knight of black sand and using it as a barrier to prevent the overwhelming force from pushing him back any further. It was successful but barely anything was left of the sand-knight after it was over.

Blake ran forward to go back to where he was, making sure to thank Sanders for the assistance—to which the sand creation gave a weak thumbs-up with what was left of its hand.

Dust clouds of dirt covered the area where Blake had been—but from it, Blake could see figures sprinting closer towards him. No doubt they were the five smaller Behemoths and he was ready for them to attack, yet the reality was much different. He could tell from the terrified looks on all their faces.

They weren't running at Blake, they were running away from whatever the fuck shot down from the sky! Yet, that just made him want to get closer even more to see what had done it.

As he approached his destination, a mere few footsteps away from dropping into the crater made from the disastrous impact of what happened...

"Well, well. Looks like our little game ends today, Bhemy!"

What Blake never expected to be the culprit—

"I promised to take this other horn of yours and I've finally made good on it!"

—Was an absolutely feral-sounding woman with unruly vermillion hair flowing past her shoulders akin to a lion's mane to be standing atop the head of the massive Behemoth—and Blake could visibly see the life in its eyes fading away as it watched the woman holding up the other horn she had broke off high in the air with one hand, maniacal laughter of victory echoing through the forests.

What the fu—?

"Oi. Brat."

She was staring into the sky, but Blake knew there was no one else she must've been talking to. Once her head fell to stare directly up at him, he could feel almost every bit of him freeze up, the sweat on his face becoming cold instantly, seeing this woman baring a smirk that could turn into a manic smile at any moment.

"You the one trying to steal all my fun?"

---

Tired eyes gazed upon the ledger Julius was halfway through writing, blinking slowly as he could feel himself being pulled toward the hazy allure of a late afternoon nap. He always did wonder if it was possible to run into Captain Dorothy in moments like these—

In any case, he's jolted out of it as he hears something knock against his desk. After shaking his head and yawning, he turns his head to the left to look at his assistant.

"Ah, nice to see you, Marx," Julius greeted with a closed-eye smile.

"Julius." Marx said with a bow.

With about six years having passed since Marx had become an assistant to Julius—only a few months into his position of Wizard King after he, alongside many other Magic Knights, was forced to put an end to Conrad Leto, the previous Wizard King, and his treasonous uprising of rebellion three years prior—he had inevitably become much more informal with the man. It had been hard to get used to, but it was under Julius' request.

Speaking of whom, he finally noticed what Marx had set upon his desk.

"Ooh, Coffee!" He said with a happy clap before picking up the 28-ounce mug filled with the drink. "I'm certain you made sure to—?"

"Fill it to the brim with as much sugar and milk as it can handle to the point where it's barely considered coffee? Yes, Julius, I remembered."

"Excellent, thank you!" Julius replied, ready for the concoction to fill him back up to his usual exuberant manner as he sipped.

Marx shook his head, almost disappointingly. It wasn't a matter of differing tastes that made Marx so disagreeable—even though anyone in their right mind would know simple, yet elegant, black tea was a far better choice compared to...whatever Julius was having.

"You've been awake for the past 48 hours and all you've been replenishing your energy with is small meals and that. It's a miracle your heart hasn't just stopped." Marx said. It wasn't like this was the first occurrence.

Julius smiled fondly. Marx wasn't wrong in that regard, even Owen has jokingly asked him if he had a few backup hearts he wasn't telling them about.

But, he just shrugged. "Whatever helps get me through all this paperwork."

Marx's fingers pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm just saying, Julius, if you learned to manage your time properly, you'd be so much better off—"

A mock gasp leaves Julius' mouth, a hand placed over his mouth. "You dare to use my own puns against me? Why I'd never!"

Marx's eyes narrowed as his hands grew tense from irritation. "I...that wasn't—oh for the love of, just STOP!" He pleaded.

Yet, Julius just laughed as he usually did when he was able to rile Marx up—a common occurrence if that was any measurement to go by—before continuing to sip his drink.

"Ah, I've been meaning to ask, how are our attempts at locating her?" Julius asked.

Marx sighed, knowing exactly who Julius was referring to. "Hardly anywhere. Even our most experienced scouts would find trekking through the places she resides in difficult. Not even our long-range communication spells work properly."

Julius chuckled. Yes, that tended to happen with Grand Magic Zones. "That may be another reason she spends so much of her time there, among other things." He remarks, knowing how she'll only return home for, at most, a collective two months out of the year. She'd only return for longer than that if absolutely necessary.

We may need to make use of Sir Portaport's efficiency with Spatial Magic.

He hums, his hand rubbing beneath his chin. "If I remember my past talks with Captain Fuegoleon correctly, I believe he mentioned how around this season is when she'd spend her time in the forests that occupy the Grand Magic Zones more than the others."

Normally, Marx would feel the need to reprimand Julius for not divulging that helpful bit of information sooner—but this time, something else took precedence, and made him stutter in his words. "Are...Are you sure?"

Julius raised an eyebrow, curious at that reaction. "Is something the matter?"

"A few hours ago...some Magic Knight Scouts reported in. Said they saw two other Magic Knights heading towards one such location, the Forest of Goliaths." Marx explained.

"My oh my, they must be rather brave to do so! Any idea who they were?" Julius asked, interested.

"From the Black Bulls. A short girl and...I believe the other was that young man recently recruited from the Exams a few months back—the smaller one's older brother?"

A big smile hit Julius' face immediately at the realization. "Blake!"

"That's his name, right," Marx said with closed eyes and an understanding nod, though the nervousness in his expression was still apparent. "I just find myself dreading what could occur if those two end up crossing paths."

"Oh! ...Oh."

Even Julius has to set his mug down as he thinks that through.

And the next moment, Marx finds himself busy pulling Julius away from the opened window he intended to make his escape out of.

"Come on, Marx, let me go! I want to see it!" Julius whined as Marx dragged him back by his red robe.

"IF YOU'RE GOING ANYWHERE, IT'S TO YOUR QUARTERS FOR A MUCH NEEDED NAP!"

---

Blake could feel it, the deep erratic pulsing of his beating heart as this strange woman's eyes were locked into his like she was ready to turn him into her prey.

"With that punch you gave me, I thought you would've been a more challenging prey. I shouldn't have expected much from an urchin like you."

Instinctively, his fists clenched. It infuriated him. He'd never accept anyone looking down at him that way ever again. Especially not by a fucking Royal.

"Never expected to meet a Vermillion out here." Blake regarded, turning his head slightly.

"Oh ho, aware of my lineage, are you?"

"Oh please, no amount of dirt and grime can cover up your fancy duds. The hair's a dead giveaway too." Blake said, running a finger through his locks.

So is the insane amount of magic emanating from her, but I don't need to bring that up.

"Is that so," The Vermillion woman chuckled, enjoying herself spinning the torn-off horn in her hand, still standing within the crater she made and atop the dead, broken body of the Behemoth. "Might as well then, the name's Mereoleona Vermillion."

That's quite the mouthful. Does sound nice, I suppose.

"Blake, of the Black Bulls. A pleasure to meet you."

It was less a greeting, and more like a challenge.

Mereoleona's eyes widened slightly in recognition, then narrowed as her smile deepened. "So you're one of the little upstarts from the exams my imbecile of a little brother wrote to me about. The one who can copy the magic of others!"

Blake's brows furrowed momentarily before he involuntarily gulped down a ball of saliva at the realization.

This is...Captain Fuegoleon's older sister?!

...He has an older sister?!

"Perhaps he wasn't just blowing hot air after all. Only a few months as a Magic Knight and you've already learned to control Mana Skin, even in an intense environment like this. Not too bad, I suppose!"

"Mana skin. Mana skin..." Blake repeated, looking up at the sky, lightly pressing the tips of his fingers against his temple. "Is that what I've been doing?"

Mereoleona frowned, "You didn't even know?"

Humming as he lost himself in thought for a second, Blake figured, "I guess it did feel different than usual. More like it was surrounding my body than just strengthening it from within," He said, shrugging. "Cool name, I'll start making use of it."

"Cheeky."

A peasant with this amount of magic, and able to almost completely master Mana Skin without even realizing it? Interesting. Very interesting...!

"You never did answer my question from before," Mereoleona remarked, throwing and catching the horn in her hand repeatedly.

"Ah, that's right," Blake realized, scratching the back of his neck. "Getting a spar from these beasts was just a fun add-on. Honestly, I'm just here to get their meat for me and one of my girls—"

Before he realized it, Blake instinctively swiped his arm to create a spatial portal—for Mereoleona had suddenly launched the Behemoth's horn at Blake with blinding speed. It was successful—the horn went through the portal and the attack was nullified!

Hey, I did it! Wait, where did I even send it—?

"FOOL!"

The feeling of Mereoleona's reinforced fist slamming into his cheek was there before Blake even realized she had moved from her spot. It knocked him completely off his feet, catapulting him god knows how much distance and through almost a dozen of the gigantic trees that encompassed the forest before he could get enough of a grip to focus his magic and create a dense wall of Cotton Magic behind him, nullifying most of the impact of whatever he slammed into next.

A mixture of expletives ran through his mind in between questioning whether the light he saw was from his life flashing before his eyes or just her flaming fist. ...Both. Both could work.

"One beast can't just intrude upon another's domain and expect to tread as it wishes, taking its prey."

As he picked out the splinters and healed himself with Dream Healing Flower Cradle, Blake watched Mereoleona stalking forward, slowly closing the gap between them. All that magic power he felt within her was now flaring out in enveloping hues of orange and yellow. She bore it with a jagged-like smile and a dangerous look in her eyes, one that Blake was familiar with.

"If you want to roam in my territory, you better be able to take it from me first!"

"Lady, I ain't got a clue on whatever the fuck you're going on about," Blake responded, the black vines surrounding him relaxing, dissipating alongside the blue flower petals. His mouth still tasted of iron, even after he spat out the blood.

But then, he smiled, as black lightning shaped around his limbs, forming his Thunder God's Gloves and Thunder God's Boots.

"But I wouldn't mind putting my hands on another Royal again...so if it's a fight you want, I'll give you it!"

Blake launched forward, throwing himself into his flurry of blows against Mereoleona. His strength was being amplified with his Lightning and Reinforcement Magic, yet she blocked every single punch. With his enhanced speed, he zipped out of her eyesight and—barely a second later—he was above her, ready to slam his heel into the back of her head. Just as quickly, somehow, a cloak of flames covered Mereoleona's back forming into a lion's paw, blocking the kick, while another gripped him by the top of his head, securing him in mid-air. Mereoleona looked back at him with a wide-eyed smirk.

"Not bad. Put your back into it more!"

Oh shit—!

Retracting one of her flaming paws, Mereoleona took into a dash, driving Blake through the dirt headfirst and pulling him back up only to slam his head further into the crater he made, then whipped him sideways through another tree. She would've continued, but by quickly creating a spatial portal, Blake reached through it and tore himself free from the flaming paw with his sharpened lightning claws. He retracted, dashing back away.

"Goddamn!" Blake laughed, bringing his gauntlets forward and firing off crackling black and blue orbs of condensed Lightning Magic!

"[Copy Magic: Thunderbolt Destruction]!"

Mereoleona's glowing red grimoire floated beside her. A coating of flames engulfed her right arm before quickly condensing into her fist as she slammed it directly into the first orb. The bright yellow and orange flames incinerating all the black-blue lightning that came its way

"[Flame Magic: Calidus Brachium]!"

She destroyed it so easily!

"Next!"

Then came a short battle of attrition. From his direct counter with Holy Water Bullet and Holy Fist of Love to his attempt to lock her down with Sand-Armored Guard, and even the surprisingly powerful Sleeping Sheep Strike, this Royal madwoman tore through it all. He could barely finish casting the spell before she already found a way to deal with it! Mana Sensory barely cut it, it was like she could actually predict his attacks!

And all with that one goddamn spell—cAlIdUs BrAcHiUm! There was nothing fancy or tricky to her fighting style, it was overwhelming brute force through and through atop of insane speed and durability! But, honestly, Blake didn't mind it in the slightest, he respected the hell out of it!

Gotta give her points for simplicity, I suppose!

Blake jumped through his weakened sheep monster, Floofers, with his flaming mallet in hand, the claws of his gauntlet gripping deeply into it.

[Copy Magic: Fiery Judgement!]

Something was different this time, they were both caught off guard. As the flaming mallet slammed into her side, Mereoleona realized who Blake had copied the spell from—for the briefest of moments, the memories of that woman made her vulnerable. As for Blake, he realized something strange—his black and blue lightning was enveloping his flaming mallet. Strengthening it.

They're...they're combining!

Taking the opportunity given to him, Blake drove his mallet as deeply as he could into Mereoleona's side with a growl, getting his first good hit on her, making her the one careening through a fucking tree!

"TASTE THE BARK, BITCH!" He shouted with satisfaction, making sure to pack on the damage, wanting to see the lioness get burnt by his flames.

"[COPY MAGIC: LEO RUGIENS]! [MAGIC AMPLIFICATION: 10%]!"

20% is still too much for me. Boosting it by this much won't mess up my body and still gives it plenty more power!

Boosted by the Magic Amplification, the lion made of black and blue flames quickly emerged into existence in front of Blake. It was ready to fight, forming the blast of fire within its mouth before even fully manifested and, at Blake's command, it exhaled—turning the trees caught in the black and blue flames into nothing but darkened ash.

Magic Amplification...? A straight forward technique, I like it! Even with that...

Yet, cutting her way through the trail of flames with nothing but a flame paw in front of her to defend, Mereoleona moved forward, the surrounding flames seemingly casting a shadow over her eyes.

"You've got quite some nerve..." She spoke.

"Rugi!" Blake called out his lion's nickname, commanding it to fire off another blast of flames.

"If you're gonna use their spells..."

Rugi did as commanded, but the moment it tried, its mouth was clamped back shut by Mereoleona's flame paw, latching onto it like a muzzle. It wasn't given a moment to whimper before another paw severed its head off, making it dissipate; Blake didn't have time to mourn Rugi, he barely had time to bring his arms up against his torso before Mereoleona's Calidus Brachium gut-punch slammed straight into him: Blood and saliva spewed from his mouth, his gauntlets shattered with a harsh crack, and so did numerous bones in his arms, before he was finally sent back flying.

"GIVE A PROPER SHOWING INSTEAD OF THAT WEAK BULLSHIT!"

Even with all this pain coursing through him, Blake smiled through his bloody teeth. Even with barely any feeling in his broken arms, Blake swiped one of them raggedly and created a spatial portal that took him high into the air above the trees, keeping himself afloat with Wind Magic.

The pain quickly faded away as Blake used Water Recovery Magic and amplfied it, but the slight aching in his body was still there. That was fine, a little pain was good for his focus.

Even from this high up, Mereoleona's mana signature stuck out like a sore thumb. He could feel it practically taunting him.

"Guess there wasn't a point in trying to match her firepower. Least she can't get me up here." Blake muttered, raising a hand as black and blue crystals materialized, forming into a buster sword. He hasn't use this spell much since he acquired it.

"A proper showing, huh? LET'S SEE IF THIS SATISFIES!"

"[Copy Magic: Laevateinn]! [Magic Amplification: 10%]!"

The sword turned from massive to gigantic and he hurled it downward at a great speed, growling.

With an anticipating grin, Mereoleona pulled her flaming reinforced fist back, infusing it with Calidus Brachium, and slammed it straight into the "point" of the blade.

She's...surprised.

Digging her heel into the dirt, fighting against the force of the buster blade, her reinforced fists strengthened with even more magic and she slammed her other fist into the blade as well. She shattered the blade that time.

Even still, she takes a moment to stare down at the back of her hands, perplexed but focused. Some of the skin had been ripped off. Blood was trailing down from her knuckles, dapping the dirt with it.

She was bleeding. He made her bleed.

Her grin returned, becoming a chuckle that quickly turned into manic laughter, bellowing with satisfaction. She had been given a feeling she hadn't gotten in a long while.

"WE'RE FINALLY GETTING SOMEWHERE! COME ON THEN ROOKIE, THAT BETTER NOT BE ALL YOU HAD FOR ME!"

Her arms stretched widely as her words roared, beckoning Blake to keep giving her this challenge, this thrill!

"NOT A CHANCE! I'LL GIVE YOU AS MUCH AS YOU CAN TAKE!" He shouted back, forming three more buster blades, ready to rain them down.

All of this, with near identical smiles filled with battlelust.

---

THE WORLD IS ENDING!

That was the thought running through Charmy's head at the moment.

It all started with that horn that came from God knows where zooming right over her hair bun and ripping through the tree she was napping on! She could barely get her footing even with the ground quaking beneath her feet for the past 10 minutes! And the smoke covering whatever was above her didn't help either!

"Not fair! Not fair! The world can't end yet! I haven't tasted all the delicious nummies it has to offer yet! I haven't been able to share them with any of my friends or even...!"

Blake!

Remembering her Meal-Saving Prince had ventured into the forest, Charmy focuses her control on creating a dense cloud of Cotton Magic she jumps upon and forces it to rise high above in the air, even past the disgusting puffs of smoke.

She searches, moving her cloud around trying to find any trace of him—begging for him to be okay. However, it's not below where she'd find him. Off into the distance, she looks up and sees two figures moving through the air, with massive crystal swords in-between them—One figure was holding onto the blade with their hands, swinging it around and blocking the others!

It was far, but even from this distance, Charmy could never mistake it. Without a doubt, one of the figures was him!

That's one of his spells! Their hair, as white as marshmallows! It's gotta be Blake!

He's...He's in danger!

The crystal blades. One by one they began to shatter, coming into contact with the other figure...and Charmy's heart dropped as she watched Blake's figure rapidly descending back toward the ground, having had his own buster sword sword slammed against him! Even from this far away, the shockwaves could be felt from the unseen impact.

No!

Charmy shot forward atop her cloud, but the sudden increase in gravity quickly made itself aware, making her remember how quickly it could destabilize her magic control. Her cotton cloud was destroyed and her body hit the dirt. Even her hair tie broke apart on the impact, making her long black hair fall loose. The heaviest of invisible weights bared atop her, even as she tried to control her Reinforcement Magic. Anyone weaker would've been crushed in mere moments. However...

Keep going...Charmy Pappitson! My knight...needs me!

Now more than ever, Charmy wouldn't let herself be stopped by something as annoying as gravity—With what was at stake for her, she gripped her fingers into the dirt and tried to stand.

My Meal-Saving Prince...he came here with me to share in the happiness of tasty delicacies—

The one who she could share her love of food with, who made sure to let her know how delectable every dish she ever made for him was, who saved her food from being lost forever. The one who Vanessa and Grey shared her love for him...

...Of all the reasons why I can finally come out...it's this?

—and now he's getting hurt because of it! I need to come to his aid!

"I'm coming...don't worry, Blake...!"

Whatever, who am I to complain?

Then, slowly, the weight seemed to lift off of her...until there was nothing—no increase in gravity, no weight upon her shoulders, it was all taken away. Charmy didn't bother wondering why any of it was happening: Why her strides were longer, why everything on the ground seemed just a bit farther away, why everything about her felt...bigger. With her loose black hair flowing behind her, she dashed forward and kept moving. And right behind her, without a knowledge, was a sheep of her creation, with hollowed-out eyes...and stitches running down the center of its face.

After so long, I can finally begin to feast on such delicious mana!

"YOUR QUEEN'S GOING TO SAVE YOU!"

---

Mereoleona leapt directly into the air as the buster blades descended upon her, yet by somehow maneuvering herself in mid-air, she had easily dodged—scratch that, she ran alongside the edge of the fucking blades, hopping her way up between them and leaving them behind! She broke them by the force of her jumps!

Blake used the third blade to bring up as a guard against Mereoleona's flying fist! The few moments it cracked before it completely shattered gave Blake the time needed to create distance between the two.

"Alright, I call bullshit, how the fuck are you flying?!" He remarked with a pointed finger at the levitating woman, while also immediately generating six more crystal buster blades.

"Save all the questions till after you finish the lesson!" She shouted back, throwing herself at him to continue the fighting.

"Like hell I'd let you be my teacher!"

A dance of flying blades and fists followed. Even against seven points of opposition, Mereoleona was only left with a few scratches, a gash at best. Even as he used his Spatial Magic to redirect missed attacks against her, it barely worked—It was like she barely had a blind spot; Her perception, reflexes, and speed were truly on another level. Her pure strength proved to be even above that as, for what had to be just a way to fuck with him, she grabbed one of his buster blades by the hilt...AND JUST STARTED USING IT LIKE AN ACTUAL FUCKING SWORD!

You've gotta be kidding me! I'm trying to pull it away from her but I can't get it out of her grip!

The weight of the blade wasn't a problem for Mereoleona as she blocked and swung against the other five blades, shattering them.

Before he can generate more blades, his magic sensory—while weakened from his draining magic—allows him to turn back just in time to counter four blasts of fire with Holy Fist of Love.

Where the hell did those attacks come from?! Wait...did they—?

"You need to focus on all your opponents, imbecile!"

Blake's eyes snapped back, a nervous smile on his face—cursing himself for getting distracted.

All he saw was Mereoleona hanging over him, that fanged grin of hers on her face, with his crystal blade held beside her, and immediately slammed it into his slide. The force had certainly left him with plenty of cracked bones on his left side, alongside the protruding crystals that digged into his skin, infuriating his scars with pain as he was ragdolled through the air and back down into the ground, crashing through the grass and dirt before it all halted by a sudden slam into a tree.

"Well, that's certainly not good for the noggin." Blake softly said to himself, tapping a hand around his head to. Everything was where it should be and his brain's still working, good. He healed his broken bones with amplified Water Recovery Magic—he was going through quite a bit of his magic, especially with all of his uses of Magic Amplification.

As Mereoleona descended from the air, Blake held an interested smirk on his face. "Alongside your insanely high reserves of mana, you've learned how to take the surrounding mana itself and use it to fuel your magic attacks? I can't lie, that is pretty badass." Blake said, pushing himself back up, his hands tensed slightly.

Mereoleona had a smirk herself, "Spare me the praise."

Her fists raised, meeting the crystal blades that came through spatial portals on either side of her head-on, shattering them on impact.

"It doesn't do well as a distraction."

Blake shrugged with a smile, "Can't blame a guy for trying," he said, creating another spatial portal behind him that Mereoleona allowed him to go through.

Her eyes looked all around her as she dashed through the forest, searching for where he was, before she suddenly whipped back behind her, met with a figure covered head-to-toe in pitch-black smoke. The smoke quickly pulls away, revealing Blake casting another spell, causing powerful black gales of wind to twist together as they form between the two.

Smoke Magic to slip past my mana detection? Not bad at all!

"[Copy Magic: Towering Tornado]! [Magic Amplification: 15%]!"

The forceful black tornado quickly formed to its full power. Not only did Mereoleona need to actually put some effort into keeping herself grounded against its powerful gravitational pull, she was dealing with all the massive trees around her being pulled straight into it as well.

Regardless, she just cackled, destroying any that got in her way. How fun!

Meanwhile, Blake portaled himself back into the air, watching what he's caused with a bird's eye view, his massive tornado far surpassing the height of the trees surrounding it, ripping them free from their tough roots, even a few of the beasts appeared to get caught in its wake.

He rests his hands in the pocket of his coat, humming. "Yeah...Mother Nature definitely hates my guts," he says, gritting his teeth slightly from the irritating pain of the shallow cuts that appeared along his arms and upper body after amplifying Towering Tornado. After looking upon his tornado for a moment, he flipped through the pages of his grimoire, wondering briefly about before.

Even as areas of the forests became completely vacant and desolate from the tornado's destruction, her rampaging figure could still be made out, tearing through anything in her way. Mirroring an action from before, she used the airborne trees as mere platforms to bring her up into the air, then followed it with flying towards Blake.

"YOU NEED MORE THAN THAT, ROOKIE!"

"OH, IS THAT SO?! WHAT A SHOCKER!" He shouts back with a smile, beginning to cast Raiden's Lightning Bolt.

For their second bout in the air, Mereoleona notices a change. Even as he kept her occupied offensively, switching between Raiden's Lightning Bolt and Inferno Fire Blast, he seemed much more focused on evasion, making much more use of his Wind Magic's flight and Spatial Magic portals to keep himself just out of her reach. Not only that, but those attack spells she bothered to dodge, she noticed they immediately vanished. What was he planning?

"Guess I need to up the ante again!" Blake remarked, using Magic Amplification at 10% for his lightning bolts and fireballs, launching and switching between the spells one after the other at Mereoleona.

Of course she met them head-on with her fists. "There we go, I'm feeling a bit of a spark now!" She laughed, happy to feel the crackling of the black and blue lightning hit against her skin, and flames that could actually have a hope of singing her. But then, her eyes widened. A spatial portal blocked her view, but she could sense the lightning bolt had gone through. Quickly, she senses around her, expecting Blake to have it come from a different direction.

But that doesn't happen, instead, her eyes look back behind her and widen in surprise.

The tornado raged on even stronger, for now it had turned into a swirling inferno, the black gales of wind engulfed by even darker flames. Shreds of blue flames pulled through, alongside the devastating charges of lightning that struck all around it, at anything unfortunate enough to be within its range.

The sight...it was enthralling enough that she's only snapped out of it once Blake slammed himself against her, sending them closer towards it! They gripped and tug at each other, landing rough hits and kicks wherever.

She bellows a laugh every time the lightning strikes her, electrifying her. She pushed back against Blake, pulling away the hand he gripped onto her face. "So that's where all your weak-ass attacks went," She leaned her head back and slammed it right into the bridge of his nose, "Not bad, I'm a bit more impressed now!"

It stunned Blake, but not enough to let her go. Instead, he pulled back a fist, casting Thunder God's Gloves,and threw a haymaker right into her chin. "Let's see you talk like that after you're incinerated to a crisp!" He shouts back, his tone almost deranged, ready to land another hit on her.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, brat!"

Instead, he's thrown off-balance by the sudden spike of magic power emanating from her, stunning him long enough for her to land a punch to his throat—at a speed much faster than he expected. With a growl, she slams the back of one hand across his cheek, then her other hand grips tightly around his throat—and she laughs as she flies them higher into the air.

As they reached a height past even the terrifying tornado and Blake's neck still in Mereoleona's hand, she violently twisted them around, threw him into the center of his fiery storm, and immediately slammed attack after attack into Blake's creation! At the very least, he's made her feel like going this far...

"[MANA ZONE - FLAME MAGIC: CALIDUS BRACHIUM BARRAGE]!"

Ignoring the pain of the impact, Blake forces himself up from the crater. Only a moment to defend himself from flaming fists raining on him from above, he casts an amplified Sea Dragon's Nest. It wasn't just Mereoleona in the air above delivering an onslaught of attacks—from right outside his infernal tornado, even stronger blasts of fire were attacking his tornado, eating through it. Incinerating it. Overpowering it. They would soon begin to land on his Sea Dragon's Nest.

"ENGRAIN INTO YOUR HEAD THIS POWER! REALIZE JUST HOW FAR YOU HAVE TO GO TO OVERCOME IT!"

Mana Zone...? So that's the technique she's learned to produce such overwhelming power!

All of Blake's concentration was forced into keeping his barrier up against Mereoleona's everlasting beatdown, while she had become hyper-focused, focused only on destroying the raging inferno. Even still, his teeth gritted in a smile.

Focused only on each other, they didn't realize the chilling mana making its way closer and closer to them.

---

"Well, I still don't get how you went from being a sheep to..." Charmy stared and blinked at the creature she was riding atop of, who looked straight back at her. "...This. But, you'll help me save him, right?"

The wolf growled, speaking even with his mouth closed. "Whatever lets me get some grub."

Charmy jumped off the wolf, landing in front of it, witnessing the battle before her as her grimoire—no longer its usual bright white color, now a dark brown—floated beside her, flipping to the page of a spell never seen before.

"We're in the same boat then," Charmy remarks, salivating drool running past her chin. "Cause I'm plenty hungry too...!"

The wolf smiled, displaying his sharp canines, as a large fork and knife materialized in his paws. "Yes...YES!"

"[Food Magic: Glutton's Banquet]!"

---

Instantly, both Blake and Mereoleona finally felt the presence of that third presence. The electrifying infernal tornado, the barrage of fire blasts Mereoleona had pelted it with, and even Blake's Sea Dragon Nest, the two battlers were left to witness it all pulled into and gorged upon by—

Where did that big-ass wolf come from?!

WHY DOES IT HAVE A FORK AND KNIFE?!

HOW IS IT EATING MAGIC?!

Blake...was in shock.

Mereoleona may have normally been annoyed at the interruption of her battle, but even she found her interest peaked. That magic...it feels different than anything I've encountered. No way is it human, She thinks, as her eyes move from the wolf to the person in front of it. There's a curious spark in her eye. Watching...feeling. The magic power of whoever this newcomer was—it was growing to tremendous heights!

Once Blake can pull his eyes away from the—admittedly awesome—wolf, his eyes widen.

Even with all the strange differences in her appearance: The substantial increase in her height, the way her once oversized hoodie now fitted firmly, the way her magic was different and its power that Blake never would've expected to be coming from her, and especially the way her eyes were glowing a dangerous red hiding their usual color. None of that would stop him from recognizing her.

"Charmy!" He calls out.

Immediately, the surge of magic power settles and the red in Charmy's eyes fades, letting their regular soft and warm green color come through. She's still as she looks upon Blake. With as long as she did, Blake thought something else about her may have changed—

"Blake!"

—But no, false alarm. Instead, she crossed the distance between them in an instant—faster than Blake could barely realize—and threw herself towards his crouched figure, sending him straight to the ground, arms firmly wrapped around his back.

Blake groaned a laugh, "Oh jeez," He said with a smile as one hand wrapped around the small of her back and the other propped against the ground, internally remarking how what's pressing right against his torso definitely got bigger. "Man, where've you been hiding this side of you?" He jested.

"I'm so happy you're okay!" She exclaimed, not listening to what he was saying as she shook her head into Blake's chest—even with her growth, she was still about a head shorter. "Even for the yummiest dishes in the world, I don't want them if I have to give you up!"

Blake was sincerely speechless, with a blush that deepened quickly. Coming from Charmy, that was a hell of a declaration, practically proposal territory. It made him smile; Even with these strange changes, she was still the Charmy he knew and loved.

"Don't worry, Charmy," He says, pushing strands of hair away from her face—whatever this transformation was about, he couldn't deny how it emphasized her beauty. "You won't need to choose, you'll get the best of both worlds if I have anything to say about it." He promised.

Charmy grew giddy, her fists shook with a smile—but then it suddenly grew into slight irritation?!

"Why do you make me have to reprimand you?!"

"Ow! Ow! Not again! Charmy, hey! What's this for?!" Blake pleaded for an answer, forced to defend himself with himself from Charmy's fist slams.

"You can't be using outrageous spells in a place like this! Think of the animals! The fresh fruit! The plants! Think of all the sources of mouth-watering nutrition, recklessly lost because of all this! You need to apologize! Apologize!"

"Okay! You're right! To the animals, fruits, plants, even the trees! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Good." Once Charmy heard that, she immediately stopped and pulled Blake in by his coat collar, peppering him with kisses. "You're forgiven!"

"So, have you two gotten your fill yet or are you gonna go and start mating right here too?"

Oh crap, how did I forget she was here?

While Blake felt rather embarrassed by Mereoleona's blunt words, they barely even registered for Charmy. The look in her eyes darkened and she pushed herself off Blake's lap, turning back to face the woman.

"Are you the one...who put their hands on my knightly prince?" She questioned, her magic power beginning to flare wildly again, in hues of yellow.

With a single leap, her wolf stood beside her, snarling at the Royal woman with a hungry smile. "She has plenty of tasty mana to gorge on, I'll make sure to get my fill!"

"Holy shit, you can talk too?!" Blake shouted up at the massive wolf.

He regarded the boy with only a look but didn't say anything to him. That hurt Blake's heart.

Hearing Charmy's question, Mereoleona simply cocked her head. "So what if I am?"

Instead of responding, Charmy gritted her teeth—she dashed and slammed her fist into Mereoleona with so much force, it launch the both of them miles away! The wolf was quick enough to follow!

Meanwhile, Blake was nothing but flabbergasted. He looks left! He looks right!

"Where the fuck did they go?"

---

Charmy's fighting style was overly simplistic, more so than even Mereoleona's or Blake's—but damn did it still pack a hell of a punch! She was making good use of all the magic power that wolf was giving her! Wildly, she threw punch after punch that reverberated shockwaves across the area of the forest they battled in, even with Mereoleona blocking each one with multiple flaming paws.

In regards to pure physical might, she's even outclassing him!

Her next punch, Mereoleona blocked with a flaming paw and used three others to latch onto Charmy, but the wolf intervened in time. It swung its oversized knife that forced the flames she created to leave her body and funnel them into its stomach with the fork, immediately transfering to Charmy as pure magic power that increased her might!

The wolf occupied Mereoleona's attention momentarily, slamming his paws into the ground, rupturing the ground beneath her—the moment she began to propel herself in the air with Mana Zone, Charmy immediately tackled her back down the ground!

"You need to apologize too!" She demanded, her hand gripped onto Mereoleona's ankle as she slammed her into every direction of the ground she could. "To the meats, the fruits, the plants, all of it!"

All the while, Mereoleona cackled. "Try a bit harder if you want me to beg for forgiveness!" She taunted, twisting her body to slam a kick into her chin, sending the girl flying. She recovered quickly, halted by the wolf's interference.

I don't have to bother with that wolf, it barely gets in the way. Still, t here's no point in using my ranged spells currently. As I saw before, that wolf of hers could even feast on the enhanced magic of my Calidus Brachium Barrage, all I'd be doing is replenishing her strength.

My reinforced fists it is then!

For several more minutes, they continued their battle of pure melee combat. Sincerely, Mereoleona appreciated the girl for putting her at a handicap—if she couldn't go all out, limiting her options could provide an entertaining experience as well!

"The moment you realized I was the one who hurt your mate, you wasted no time in fighting me to defend 'em! You've earned some of my respect for that!"

"Of course I would! What fair maiden in love wouldn't?!"

Their fists made contact, slamming straight into each other, and they did so for the next several punches. Mereoleona's eyes widened in excitement at the feeling of the bones in her fingers beginning to crack, but it wasn't just that.

Whatever's going on with her, it's making her magic spike even more. She's outputting even more of that strengthening magic than before!

"He means that to more than just me! He means that to the two waiting for us back home too!"

Keep it com—!

—Huh?

Something about what Charmy just said makes Mereoleona stop herself for the briefest of moments—and it's with that, Charmy closes the gap and delivers a surprisingly devastating punch to Mereoleona's gut.

"You're making them worry for him...so on their behalf, I'm giving you a heavy thrashing!"

Charmy drove her fist high, with enough force to launch Mereoleona into the air! Normally, Mereoleona would simply gain back control with her flight from Mana Zone, but even that was troublesome. Charmy and her wolf followed her into the air, landing punch after kick that could rock her body through the air!

As she let this flow, Mereoleona could admit she was impressed! She's even capable of using a property of Mana Zone!

"[Copy Magic: Sea Serpents Coil]!"

Voices, exactly five, echoed those words from behind and a second water, five dark blue threads of water magic took shape into a serpent and wrapped around Mereoleona, restraining her. Snapping her head back eagerly, she sees Blake alongside four other copies of him, with a spatial portal closing behind them.

These spells, don't they belong to two of the Silva brats?

Mereoleona laughs, "All this for me, you shouldn't have!"

All five Blakes smiled in response. "And here comes the best part!" He echoed, as they all raised an open palm.

If any of my flames could burn her properly, it'd be these!

"[Copy Magic: The Inferno's Cyclone]! [Magic Amplification: 10%]"

Spiraling black and blue flames generated from all five Blakes bore into Mereoleona. How strange, it didn't affect the Water Restraining Magic, it simply ignored it, only damaging her! The longer it went on, the flames would continue to grow stronger and stronger, and with her magic seemingly locked down, only her base durability would defend her from it. Meanwhile, Charmy still threw hit after hit into her!

And she relished in it all.

Excellent!

While any regular mage would've been cut off entirely from their use of magic, that condition was a non-factor for her...because she was Mereoleona fucking Vermillion.

She turns her head slowly, looking back at Blake.

"Why don't you get a taste of my blue flames?"

The blatant truth of the difference in their power made itself known with unmatched, overwhelming destruction. The serpents restraining her melted from just the heat and Blake's swirling black flames were swallowed by even hotter bright blue flames! All around her, blastwaves of pure flame magic rippled, engulfing everything—even the air itself—in its wake. It was fast, so fast that Blake barely had time to launch himself towards Charmy, protective instincts taking over him. Even for the wolf, these flames could burn a hole through even his stomach! But he charged forward, putting himself in front of Blake and Charmy and took in as much as he could to, minimize the devastation of the flames!

"[MANA ZONE FULL RELEASE - FLAME MAGIC: CALIDUS BRACHIUM PURGATORY]!"

---

All Blake could feel was the unbelievable force that sent them shooting back toward the ground—then all of a sudden his eyes shot open with a heavy gasp. Damn, how long was he out for? In front of him was a path through the dirt their bodies had obviously dragged through before impacting the cliff behind them. Once he got the bearing of their location, he looked down at the girl still secured in his arms.

Blake smiled, relieved. Charmy didn't have major injuries from the looks of it, she just looked to be taking a nap, even snoring a bit. Though he grew confused—she was beginning to shrink!

"I only had a little appetizer, yet I must become caged in again already. How tragic."

Blake turns to his left and witnesses the wolf itself shrinking. Cotton was growing all around it, enveloping its body.

"I suppose I owe you some thanks, her determination for you allowed me to have that bit of freedom in the first place. Be sure to take good care of her."

After Blake internally calmed himself down from hearing the wolf actually talk to him, he nodded firmly.

As the cotton almost completely covered the wolf, its face becoming disguised by that of one of Charmy's sheep, it gave a farewell.

"Till we meet again, strange being..."

With that, the wolf was no more. Just a mere sheep that pop out of existence a second later.

"...A bit rude, I have a name."

Moments later, Blake saw Mereoleona's figure come into view, carrying some things upon her shoulders. With only a bit of distance left between them, the bodies of more than half a dozen defeated beasts were thrown towards Blake and Charmy.

Blake immediately goes to stand back up. "Give me a second to get her somewhere safe, and I'm more than ready to—f-fuck!"

He curses as his legs give out, dropping him back to the ground. Well, that's new...

Mereoleona chuckled, "Don't be an idiot. I can already tell that last attack took the rest of the magic you had left."

For the moment, there was no more fun to have if their spar continued.

"Fine then. And the beasts?" Blake questioned, eyeing the lifeless bodies.

"I got to have quite the entertaining spar today, broke my boredom for a bit. Consider it a reward for you and..." Mereoleona's words trail off as she finally takes notice the change in Charmy. "Why is she so small now?"

Blake chuckles, "Truth be told, this is what she normally looks like. I ain't got a clue about what that transformation was all about," He says, sighing.

Mereoleona looked upon Charmy peculiarly. Her magic doesn't have that same chill to it anymore, nor does it feel inhuman anymore.

She chuckled, looking up at the sky, recollecting memories of back when she was a child. "I knew there was more to those stories than just being fairy tales."

Once her foolish younger brother awakes from his little nap, she'll be sure to annoy him over the fact that she was right after all.

"Hey, what'd ya say? I'm still...a bit drowsy," Blake said, not fully gathering what Mereoleona said.

"Don't bother worrying about it." She responded, looking down at him and pointing towards the beasts she threw at them. "As I was saying, I've had my fun here, so I'll be heading elsewhere. Help yourself to the spoils."

"Oh, sweet...cool." Blake drawls, blinking up at her with a lazy smile. "How may I offer my thanks to the most buckwild Royal I've ever met in my life?"

Mereoleona smirked. "You want to repay me? Keep training that power of yours, because this won't be our only battle, I'll make sure of that." She declared, absolute authority in her words. "That is, of course, if you haven't grown scared yet." She taunted, cocking her head.

Blake exhaled a hoarse laugh, "Yeah, you wish. I'll be counting the days till then."

"Good."

Mereoleona planned for that to be her final exchange with Blake, turning away to venture elsewhere. However...she remembers something Blake said and stops, turning halfway to let her eyes gaze upon him.

"One more thing...you said that you came here with one of your girls?"

"Hmm...? Oh, yeah, I guess I did..." Blake whispers. His eyes look away, sheepishly scratching his cheek with a finger, before looking straight back at Mereoleona. "I have...two other partners as well." He admits, seeing no point in bothering to hide the fact away. If someone wanted to have a problem with it, boo-hoo for them.

That wasn't the case with Mereoleona, however. While it certainly raised her brow, there didn't seem to be anything else to it.

Except...for that smirk her lips pulled into.

She hummed. With that, she took off, already outside his range of mana sensory. Not that Blake cared, he was more interested in looking through his grimoire.

And throughout all that, looks like I only copied her base Calidus Brachium spell. I know jackshit about Mana Zone or whatever she called it, so I guess it makes sense I wouldn't be capable of copying them yet. Though, I didn't even copy that...Food Magic, Charmy called it?

A wolf companion would've been cool. Ah well, Nero's more than enough.

Recalling the battle, he remembers how Mereoleona could morph her flames into the shape of those lion paws, even without a spell.

I never even thought of manipulating magic in a way like that. Sure my magic already provides plenty of variety, but if I can learn to get more creative and deepen my control over my magic further, it'll only help me be prepared for next time.

But...not just that. The way my magic seemed to meld together...like they could combine. Both times it occurred, it strengthened the spell's power greatly. I'll make learning more about that a priority.

Without a doubt, Blake was absolutely looking forward to his next bout with that woman.

But that's for later. Here in the now, after again storing the beasts for later consumption and offering his respect, his lower body strength is stable enough to walk to a tree and quickly work his way up to one of the higher branches, where he'd rest his back against the upper trunk. Meanwhile, Charmy slept comfortably in his lap, unbothered by the movement.

With a smile, he whispers, "You're a lot more mysterious than I would've expected you to be. Though, I doubt you know much about it anyway since you're...well, you."

Whatever the case was, it didn't matter. Big or small, she was still his smug, gluttonous Queen.

Making sure they were secured, he'd begin drifting off into sleep. A cuddly nap would do him so much good.

---

The Ultime-Volcano Mountain Trail.

It's a Grand Magic Zone said to be even more dangerous than the Forest of Goliaths. While the latter may crush you undertow, a regular mage would be lucky to even breathe properly in the presence of the former, with the scorching feeling of their throat and chest being burned from within. Hell, it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine the heated air becoming so unbearable that an unfortunate soul would be left with their skin sloughing.

There was a reason Mereoleona considered this her home away from home.

It was night—the time when the volcano settles itself down and the lava recedes, and for those who could trek through the hellish experience to reach the top, a paradise awaited them. A hot spring that could only be described as heavenly with the relaxation it brought to those who bathed in it.

This is where she rests. Most of her body was submerged, but she kept her arms above the water. She had them propped on the rocky ground that led to the crater of the bathtub, and her eyes were closed, silent with her thoughts.

They were all occupied by the battle she had hours ago with the rookie in Yami's squad. She'd never bother denying that the longer that battle went on, the more he had piqued her interest. Mereoleona didn't sense a shred of fear in him. No, only a drive to prove himself, to prove his strength, all with a hungry smile on his face.

Though, even with all the different types of magic he displayed, he could learn to be more creative.

Of course, that truly was just a matter of experience. There was no doubt that with time, his power would grow exponentially. Mereoleona doubted it would even take that long. Perhaps tales reminiscent of what was said about the 11th Wizard King's power at such a young age would ring similarly for him. Mereoleona could feel herself smiling intensely at the thought.

There was a short list that Mereoleona held in her mind of the people she thought could ever have the chance of besting her in battle. Most of the list would be erased if those related to her were excluded, leaving only a handful of names. Even if it was only one battle, that was all she needed to cement Blake's placement in that list as well.

And if the day were to come, of an all-out battle between them where he'd stand as the victor?

It only makes sense. The strongest of the pack tend to have multiple mates after all...

Black Clover - The Three Brothers

There's the 20th chapter done. Wow, crazy how time flies. Hope it was worth the wait

Feedback is always appreciated! I'd like to know how I did with the action and with Mereoleona's characterization specifically!

Review Responses

Djinn: Thank you, glad you enjoyed the fight!

WebtoonKing: I plan to!

Guest: Thank you! Yeah, after some internal debating and putting it through "The Harem Lens", I decided Blake and Mereoleona would have a fun dynamic to explore, an interest between the two could be reasonably formed, and, maybe above all that, the reactions of the other characters to that event would be fucking funny.

Fanfiction is My Life 4EVer: Hell freaking yeah, glad you enjoyed it! Classic Dommy Mommy Behavior.

wellingtonlucas282: De nada, que bom que voce gostou!

Bromega2477: Flirt fight? Fist fight? Whatever works! It's been yeaaaaars since I've seen BrotherBear, that's really sweet!

Bromega2477: I think the dream realm may just be tied to Dorothy, no one else has entered it without her putting them there.

FunkoHero15: Thank you, Mereoleona's fucking awesome. We'll get there eventually!