The Eye's First Offensive
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of The Fallen! The first major threat to the Clover Kingdom has revealed itself and they aren't taking prisoners! Or are they? Read on to find out and speaking of reading a new feature has appeared on Pat reon that will allow you to view posts for a small fee without becoming a member! That means starting with this week's newsletter onwards I'll be selling my posts so if you're strapped for cash or just want to see something specific, a small fee of three dollars is all it'll be to take a look at one of my posts! At least if I'm understanding this thing correctly. Now then that's enough business talk, so on to the story!
Clover Kingdom: Magic Knight Headquarters
It seemed an impossibility, yet it was clearly happening now; the Clover Kingdom capital was under attack. With that fact in mind, the captain of the Silver Eagles, Nozel Silva, and the captain of the Crimson Lions, Fuegoleon Vermillion, stepped up. "Siren Tium," Fuegoleon turned to a tall member of the Golden Dawn with a blond braid, "I believe you have magic that's good for gathering information."
"That is correct," he answered in a deep voice before activating his grimoire, "I'll use my Stone Model of the World to get a better grasp on the situation." Dirt and sand materialized out of nowhere then and began clumping together and reshaping itself. In the next minute a miniature model of the Clover Kingdom Noble Realm was formed. And it was an amazing reproduction.
Not only was the model an exact replica but it also showed what was happening in real time, including reproducing magic and voices. "Interesting," Megicula mused, "for this level of detail to be possible he must send his mana through a given area while creating the replica here simultaneously. It is certainly an impressive manipulation of magic."
"We can be impressed later," Asta remarked as he did his best to take in every detail of what was happening. Thanks to the demoness he'd undergone a number of exercises over the years to improve his memorization skills and they were paying off now. He was able to take note of everywhere an attack was happening in the Noble Realm while also thinking up a few relevant questions. 'For this many troops to attack the capital simultaneously and without any warning probably means the enemy has a skilled spatial magic user,' he surmised, 'but that shouldn't be possible under ordinary circumstances thanks to a barrier that's maintained around the clock by mages to prevent such attacks.'
It pointed to an unfortunate possibility; there was a traitor somewhere in the ranks. "We must decide how to allocate our forces and resources," Fuegoleon mused aloud.
"Sir," Asta raised his hand, "permission to accompany you to your destination?"
"Granted," the Crimson Lion captain formed a large flaming lion behind him, "after that display earlier I'm curious to see what else you're capable of. Black Bull girl, you'll come with us as well." Noelle was surprised at the order but gathered her nerves and nodded. "Now it may chafe for some of you to take orders from me but now is the time to act. I shall head out and secure the North, the Silver Eagles will take the Central District where the enemy is strongest!"
"Very well," Nozel agreed as his younger brother formed a water eagle for the three magic knights to stand on.
"Blue Rose Knights, you take the East," Fuegoleon further ordered. The dark-skinned woman with captain Charlotte formed a large earthen golem for them to stand atop in response.
"As loath as I am to take a man's orders," Charlotte declared, "my grievances must be set aside for this emergency."
"Golden Dawn, split into two teams to secure both the Northwest and the West," the Crimson Lion captain assigned.
"We will safeguard the people of the Noble Realm," Alecdora declared as Yuno formed a floating boat out of wind to lift him and Mimosa up alongside the man. Klaus took the other two Golden Dawn members in his steel chariot.
"Remember, failure today will bring shame to the magic knights," Fuegoleon declared, "do not let the enemy get away!" Everyone shouted an affirmative before launching out of the windows in their specified directions. Though it didn't escape Asta's notice that Charmy was hiding under one of the tables. Alas, it was a minor issue that would need to be dealt with later.
It was the events transpiring outside that were of greater concern right now as fires had sprung up all around the Noble Realm with enough smoke rising into the air to blacken the sky. People were running and screaming in terror as they were pursued by strange attackers. Fuegoleon's lion stopped above a spot where the enemy seemed the thickest. "What are those things," Noelle asked as they got a better look at the creatures.
Though they resembled people, the assaulters were decayed and rotting. It was like the capital was under attack by the dead, which wasn't far off. "I've certainly never seen a type of magic like this," Fuegoleon remarked. Asta, for his part, said nothing and instead quickly leapt off the flaming lion and slid down a nearby roof.
His sword was out before he even hit the streets below and he began swinging. As anticipated, the corpses were made by magic and quickly ceased functioning when cut by his anti-magic blade. Asta also occasionally used his anti-magic bullets, aiming for and blasting apart the necks of some of the more distant attackers, effectively decapitating them. 'For a magic user to spawn this many, they must have a large amount of mana,' the ashen-haired boy mused, 'the best approach is to locate him and take him out, that should be enough to end the spell.'
As he advanced, Noelle and Fuegoleon also dropped to the streets below and began firing off their own magic. The royal girl noted where Asta was aiming and fired her water shots at the upper bodies of the corpses, tearing them apart with the force of her attacks. As for the Crimson Lion captain, he easily reduced any attackers that got close to him to ash while the flaming lion he commanded also swatted away any trying to assault his blindside. "Your friend swings that blade quite well," the captain noted, "perhaps a little too well, he's getting ahead of us."
"I don't call him dumbasta for nothing," Noelle admitted while blasting apart more corpses, "but he plans ahead farther than most think. I'll bet he had some ridiculous strategy planned out before he even jumped." She wasn't wrong, either, Asta was advancing at a quick pace and only stopping long enough to rescue any civilians he found before continuing to cut through the undead army. It would be when he heard the screaming of a young girl that he came upon something unusual.
'Those corpses surrounding the girl,' the anti-magic user noted as he turned the corner, 'they've all stopped moving for some reason.' But there was someone who was moving, and yelling, quite a bit. 'Found you.' Asta moved in swiftly then, rushing through the flames and cutting through the corpses in quick succession.
As he was about to strike the culprit in the back, the man noticed at the last second and jumped back in surprise to avoid Asta's vertical strike. The anti-magic user shifted the blade and attempted a horizontal strike, missing the mage by mere inches as he stumbled back out of the way. "So, are you the one behind all this," the magic knight asked as he stood protectively in front of the innocent girl in a yellow dress. She naturally moved behind him, glancing out fearfully from time to time.
"I knew some magic knight would show up, but a Black Bull, really," the man asked. Now that Asta had a good look at him, the man was dressed in rags and black wrappings on his body with long, unruly grey hair and an eyepatch and headband made of black leather that covered his left eye with a strange green eye. "And you're undergrown, too."
"Considering you only seem brave enough to challenge children in person I think it's quite fitting that I'm undergrown," Asta smirked slightly.
"Yeah right, you think a Black Bull with a rusty old sword can challenge my undead army!" The criminal held his hand out over the defeated corpses with a wide smile plastered over his face. But after a moment, nothing happened.
"Well, I'm waiting," the anti-magic boy deadpanned, already knowing the cause of his loss of control.
"You, did you sever my control over them," the man asked as a look of realization crossed his face, "Oh, you must be that supposed anti-magic freak."
"Wow, have I really gotten a reputation already," Asta was admittedly curious about the subject.
"But it can't be right," the criminal put his hand to the ground, "even the Black Bulls, the biggest disgrace among the magic knight squads, wouldn't take on pathetic magicless scum like you!" A shadow appeared on the ground and more corpses emerged from it, "now behold the power of Rades Spirito's Corpse Magic!" The undead puppets attacked once again but as before Asta cut them down in quick succession.
"You don't know the Black Bulls very well," Asta pointed his blade at the Corpse Magic user, "Captain Yami recognizes potential when he sees it which is why he recruited me. And so far, his judgement is looking pretty good considering your magic is being beaten back by a boy with a rusty old sword."
"You really think that's all I have," Rades opened up another shadow on the ground as a new corpse emerged, "you're just like everyone else in this kingdom. You fail to see how powerful I am which is why you all must pay!" What emerged looked more like a mummy with a yellow cloth around his waist and a few belts on his limbs. He also had two of the eyepatches that Rades had on his head, making it appear like a face. "Allow me to introduce you to number four, Jimmy!"
"You think a bigger corpse is going to make a difference," Asta took a two-handed stance with his sword.
"Oh it's not just another corpse," the criminal grinned maliciously, "Jimmy, attack!" Purple floating spectral orbs appeared around the corpse then and fired towards the ashen-haired boy. But like with other magic projectiles he sliced through them with little trouble. 'I guess I should thank Magna for helping me develop a defense against this kind of attack,' he mused while continuing to swing his weapon.
It would take some time for him to get tired of doing this but the rest of the undead army was still attacking the capital, which meant the sooner he found an opening to attack and end this the better. Unfortunately, it was at that particular moment that the little girl jumped out of fear when one attack got too close and nearly fell over. Asta reacted on instinct and caught her but this kept him from swinging back to deflect the last attack and it grazed his right cheek. "Hahaha, is that all you've got," Rades laughed, "I'd be more careful if I were you, Jimmy's special curse shells cause wounds that bleed continuously! Even grazes will prove painful after a while!"
"Let me know when you start using them then," Asta remarked while brushing his cheek off, "because I've taken way worse hits than that toy ball you just threw at me."
"What," the Corpse Magic user noticed that the wound on his opponent's cheek was not only free of blood, it had basically already healed?! "How, your anti-magic only works when your sword hits it!"
"I don't recall ever saying that the sword was the source of my anti-magic," the Black Bull remarked. Though in the background Megicula was yawning ostentatiously.
"What sort of kindergarten curse magic was that supposed to be," she asked in boredom, "I've shot off stronger curses in my sleep. If he was a true curse practitioner he'd have come up with something that caused an effect on the whole body like a curse that makes every wound afterwards bleed continuously no matter where it hits."
"You know I could've removed it myself," Asta pointed out mentally to her.
"Curses are my specialty, let me dabble from time to time," the winged woman shrugged.
"Fair enough," the ashen-haired boy relented on this point.
"You think you're so clever," Rades growled, "you might be able to handle my curse shells, but I bet she can't. Jimmy, dispose of that little pest!" The corpse growled in response before sending more of his curse shells out, this time at the girl in the yellow dress. But Asta wasn't deterred and quickly moved in front of her where he planted his large sword and pulled out his secondary sword that he'd acquired while in the dungeon. He didn't quite remember all the details because he'd been unconscious when it happened but he wasn't complaining that it was here now.
'About time to test this one out anyway,' he figured while cutting through the attacks even more quickly. "Stay behind my sword, little miss," he advised while still deflecting attacks, "I've got this under control."
"What's even the point of that," Rades taunted, "why waste so much energy and put your life on the line for a pest like her?"
"Because unlike you I'm not an idiot," Asta remarked calmly while still blocking shells, "have you even thought this whole thing through?"
"What's that supposed to mean," Rades narrowed his eyes.
"You mentioned earlier that no one in this kingdom acknowledged how powerful you were," the anti-magic boy reminded, "if recognition is what you're looking for, you're not going to get it if you kill everyone. There won't be anyone to acknowledge you then."
"These people had their chance!" The criminal yelled, "now they'll learn the hard way that the weak die and the strong live to grow stronger!" But as he fired more attacks off, a small dome of water formed around the girl. "What?! Who the hell are you?!"
"Really, what mess have you gotten yourself into this time," Noelle asked in seeming indignation, having finally caught up to him, "did you not even notice how far ahead you were getting? You better say 'thank you' for me bailing you out again."
"I had the situation under control, but thanks for coming to help," Asta gave her a thumbs up.
"Whatever," the royal girl crossed her arms and turned her head to hide her slight blush, "you can move freely now so take care of this lowlife."
"I second that!" An unfamiliar voice declared as flames came forth and incinerated several newly summoned corpses. A man who looked like a younger version of captain Fuegoleon with shorter, unkempt hair and a long braid going down his neck landed nearby. "Allow me, Leopold Vermillion, to demonstrate his prowess in combat!"
"If you can keep me covered, go wild," the anti-magic boy smirked before grabbing his other sword and charging forward. Jimmy attempted to fire more curse shells, but they were quickly cut down while Leopold burned up any other corpses trying to get in his way. As soon as he was in striking distance, Asta spun and slammed both swords into the corpse, sending it flying into the wall behind Rades.
"What, down after a single hit," the Corpse Magic user backed up in surprise.
"The size of the corpse doesn't matter if you control them all the same way," Asta pointed out, "you could throw a giant at me and I'd still be able to disable it with one hit."
"Oh, you think so," Rades raised his hand to the air, "then why don't you try something like this: Alfred!" This time a corpse appeared in the sky, one that was missing its arms and legs and was completely wrapped up in black leather straps that only let long white hair out while a small brown cape covered its shoulders. What made this one unusual was the fact that it was floating in the air with electricity crackling around its body. "Let's see you take on a flying opponent, Alfred, attack!"
The corpse grunted in affirmation before sending a bolt of lightning at Asta. But like always the anti-magic boy kept his cool and swatted the attack with the flat of his larger blade. It succeeded in sending the lightning bolt back but the corpse moved out of the way before attacking from another angle. Asta deflected more of the attacks, not needing to move an inch while he contemplated what to do next.
Noelle and Leopold attempted to aid him but were stopped by another corpse puppet that appeared. It looked like some kind of fat rag doll and its magic was mud-based tendrils which made him a bad match for the fire wielding mage and Noelle's currently limited offensive attacks. "How do you like that," Rades cackled, "that anti-magic sword doesn't mean anything if you can't hit your target!" 'You think he's the only target I can aim for,' Asta had to stop himself from smirking as he readied to fire an anti-magic bullet from his fingers.
But before he could act, a sudden blast of flame engulfed Alfred. The heat was so intense that the corpse caught fire and burned away. "No, impossible," the criminal stared in shock, "Alfred was reduced to cinders in one strike?"
"Forgive me for interfering in your fight," came the now familiar voice of Fuegoleon Vermillion, "I felt it necessary as I believe it would be a great shame for a magic knight of your caliber to die here." He put a reassuring hand on Asta's shoulder.
"I did have a plan," the Black Bull revealed, "but I still welcome your help, captain. The quicker we can end this the more people we can save."
"Well said," the Crimson Lion nodded in approval, "it pains me to admit it, but Yami had greater foresight than the rest of us. Even without magic you've handled this difficult situation well. Tell me, Asta was it, why did you become a magic knight?"
"It was the first step on my journey to become the Wizard King," he answered seriously.
"What?!" Rades barked in disbelief, "you think a magicless shrimp like you can become the Wizard King?!"
"Is that so," Fuegoleon smiled ever so slightly before stepping forward, "then you should know that makes us rivals. With that being the case, allow me to show you what you may be up against in the future." He stopped a short distance from the Corpse Magic user then.
"Well, well," the criminal chuckled, "so the captain of the Crimson Lion Kings is my opponent now, the great Fuegoleon Vermillion!"
"Tell me," the captain demanded, "what is the true purpose of this attack? It's too sloppy to be an invasion but too organized to be some random act of terrorism. Who are you and who are you working for?"
"So you really don't know, can't say I'm surprised," Rades ran a hand through his hair, "I was inducted as a magic knight six years ago, I was even a top candidate!"
"You were one of us, not possible," Fuegoleon narrowed his eyes.
"Oh it's more than possible, I was inducted into the Purple Orcas," he revealed.
"You, I remember now, you're Rades Spirito," the Crimson Lion recalled, "why are you working with criminals if you were a part of their squad?"
"Because those shortsighted fools kicked me out," Rades spat, "they said my magic was dangerous, forbidden, but they were just frightened by what I could do with my Corpse Magic. Thanks to them I wasn't just exiled from the magic knights I was exiled from the entire kingdom! No one cared enough to stand up for me even though my skills were greater, greater than even the nobles! That's why I've come here today, to get revenge on the magic knights!"
"Don't lie to me!" Fuegoleon barked, "you expect me to believe you did all of this simply for revenge? What are your true motives?"
"You'll find that some reasons are just that simple," Rades summoned another floating corpse then, this one wearing a white robe with gold lining on the front and sleeves, "I'll take you all out and make you regret ever looking down on me!"
"Enough talk," A large flaming lion standing easily ten feet tall formed behind the captain then, "the time has come to fight. Flame Creation Magic: Leo Rugiens!" The lion unleashed a torrent of fire that assaulted the area in front of it. But despite the intensity of the flames the corpse was not turned to ash like the last one. The reason as to why became clear when the flames faded, revealing a white spherical barrier protecting both it and the Corpse Magic user.
"Meet my number one, Carl!" Rades declared, "he was quite good with defensive magic when he was alive and that's not all he can do!" Purple glowing spots appeared on the barrier then which fired off arrowheads that were covered in the same purple color as the cursed shells from earlier.
"Flame Creation Magic: Ignis Columna!" Fuegoleon called out as a tower of flame encircled his body, incinerating the projectiles before they could get close.
"So you've got a defensive barrier too," the criminal laughed while continuing to assault the tower of flame, "but what can you do now that you're warding off all these attacks?"
"You assume my control of my magic is so poor that I can only attack or defend, but you're wrong," the Crimson Lion declared as a beam of pure blue heat suddenly shot out from the tower of flame. It hit one of the portals the projectile was coming out of and went straight through the puppet called Carl. With a groan the corpse suddenly went up in flames as the barrier around Rades fell.
"What, how did you get through Carl's barrier," Rades asked in slight fear now.
"Simple," Fuegoleon responded, "I noticed the areas in the barrier you were attacking from were weaker for a brief instant and waited for my chance to strike. My flame magic that you just witnessed, Sol Linea, possesses both power and speed, making it perfect for this type of situation. You were quite mistaken in believing I've never come up against this type of tactic before."
"No, this can't be, I should've won," the Corpse Magic user stated, still in disbelief.
"Listen to me, Rades," the magic knight captain stepped forward, "you may possess powerful magic and the talent to wield it in a number of ways. But wielding them without a just spirit is nothing more than savagery and your inability to recognize that is exactly why you were banished from the magic knights!" It was about this time an explosion went off nearby. The reason for the explosion was Noelle and Leopold defeating the final corpse puppet with a combination of their magical attributes.
"Brother, this pile of ash is finished!" Leopold declared with a triumphant fist pump.
"Very good work you two, you've proven your worth as both magic knights and as royals," Fuegoleon nodded before turning his attention back to their opponent.
"No, I can't lose, I'm stronger," black and purple energy began to radiate from Rade's hands, "you'll see, YOU'LL ALL SEE!"
"Flame Creation Magic," the Crimson Lion Captain stated calmly while walking forward, "Leo Palma." Flames sprang up around the criminal in the shape of lion's claws and latched onto the Corpse Magic user, holding him in place as his grimoire dropped to the ground.
"What, what is this, let me go, I'll show you how strong I am!" Rades struggled in vain against the claws as Fuegoleon picked up his grimoire with another Leo Palma.
"I have a number of questions for you, but first I'm going to take a look at your grimoire," he flipped it open and immediately noticed an oddity: there were only two spells. While not technically the strangest thing he'd ever seen, he was most concerned about the second spell. 'Is this a revival spell,' he glanced up at Rades and noticed some odd details about him now that he had a better look at the man. Chief among them being that a large amount of the man's hair had fallen out after being grabbed by the flaming claws.
'Is that artificial hair,' Fuegoleon wondered as he glanced at the unnatural strands that had fallen on the ground. It appeared the man before him had lost most of his hair and his skin seemed soft like pudding while being the color of sour milk. His teeth were cracked and some were even missing. The criminal's entire body seemed frail with seemingly no muscle and bones that appeared brittle.
But it was the tips of Rade's fingers that made the captain's eyes widen. They'd torn off on his right hand and the tips of his bones were visible?! 'All those leather bindings,' he mused, 'they aren't just decorative. This man, is his body decaying?' "What's that look for?!" Rades snarled, "I don't need your mockery on top of everything-!"
He paused suddenly then. Asta's ear twitched while he approached. 'Is that a voice?' The anti-magic boy wondered. Then something strange happened. "Asta," Megicula spoke up, "I'm sensing spatial magic on a large scale."
"What, spatial magic?" He asked in confusion, "But this guy's Corpse Magic was summoning in the attackers. If there's spatial magic being used right now, then that voice I thought I heard?" The question answered itself as everyone else looked around, noting a very ill omen.
"Huh, the other magic knight's mana," Noelle voiced the thought on everyone's mind, "it's vanished!"
"So you do have at least one other accomplice," Fuegoleon fixed the criminal with a stern gaze, "who and where are they? With you immobilized I doubt they have the power to take the capital or challenge the Wizard King yet they sent the magic knights away. What was your real goal here?" Rades hung his head for a moment until a chuckle escaped from his lips. The chuckle developed into full-blown laughter as he lifted his head back up with a manic smile on his face.
"What's our goal here," Rades grinned, "it's you! Fuegoleon Vermillion!" Asta saw movement on the ground then as a shadow appeared.
"LOOK OUT!" He tried to reach for the captain, but the shadow leapt up, surrounding the magic knight with black tendrils. In the next instant they closed in on him and seemed to suck the man into the ground. And in the blink of an eye the shadow was gone, having taken the captain with it.
"FUEGOLEON!" Leopold yelled before grabbing hold of Rade's cloak, "you bastard! Where did you send my brother?!"
"Don't bother with him Leopold," Noelle spoke up, "he's not the one who cast the spatial magic. But given the pinpoint accuracy the one responsible is close by."
"She's right," Megicula confirmed, "did you sense it too, Asta?"
"Yeah," the Black Bull member thought back as he gathered anti-magic in two of his fingers. He raised his left arm then and fired off a bullet at the pile of corpses that had accumulated nearby. It struck with enough force to send them flying and, as hoped, one of the corpses flew through a suddenly appearing black portal in the air.
"He was hiding amongst the corpses," Noelle almost gagged at the thought as their new opponent appeared from a portal atop a nearby green building.
"Nice observation skills," the seeming corpse dressed in a blue tunic and brown pants complimented, "even with this physical disguise that used no magic you managed to spot me, you're quite the bloodhound." He pulled the dead skin off of his face then, revealing a man with shaggy greenish grey hair, yellow eyes with black sclera and two diamond dotted lines running down either side of his face.
"Who are you?!" Leopold demanded to know.
"I am Valtos," the spatial mage introduced, "I am a member of an organization that desires revenge on this kingdom. And the first step of that revenge has just been completed." A portal opened up in the air before dropping something on the ground, a person. That person was Fuegoleon Vermillion, his right arm now a bleeding stump. Upon witnessing the sight Noelle shrieked in terror and disbelief.
"BROTHER!" The younger sibling yelled as he approached Fuegoleon before collapsing to his knees. "This, this can't be."
"His arm," the royal girl stared in shock before something else dropped from the air. "His grimoire, it's still intact, that means." Noelle knelt and tore off part of her winged skirt, "Leo, I need your help over here, Leo!" But the Crimson Lion wasn't responding.
"You couldn't have lost, no one can beat you," he muttered as memories of his time and training with his brother passed through his mind. "There's no way, this can't be happening." A sudden smack to the face caused him to look over towards Asta.
"Your brother is the kind of man to always remain calm," the anti-magic boy reminded, "you need to pull yourself together now."
"But, if my brother was beaten, what chance, what chance," Leopold continued to babble.
"We don't have time for this," Asta grit his teeth before moving to kneel next to his squad mate, "Noelle, take that cloth you're using and tie it around whatever remains of his arm. We need to tourniquet the wound so more blood doesn't flow out."
"Okay, but what are you going to do," Noelle asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice.
"Apply some scientific theory," he responded while holding out his hands and channeling his anti-magic. Instead of just forming a layer over his skin, he shaped the energy in such a way that it could spin against itself and create friction. Naturally he kept the spinning part contained but let the temperature escape. After a moment, the friction heated up the area around his palms to an incredible degree, easily as hot as a branding iron if not hotter.
'Hope this works,' Asta thought in slight nervousness as he pressed his hands to the wound. "What are you doing," the royal girl asked.
"Thermal coagulation of the bleeding," the Black Bull explained, "I'm trying to sear the wound closed." And judging by the smell of burning flesh and blood it was definitely having an effect. After another moment, Asta removed his hands and inspected his work. "It's not perfect, but the bleeding has largely stopped, and he seems stable, but he's gonna need further medical attention soon."
"Afraid that's not going to happen," Rades declared as he suddenly loomed over them, his hand radiating the purple energy of Curse Magic, "because I'm going to make him pay for humilia-GAH!" A sudden blast of spiraling flames slammed into the Corpse Magic user, sending him into the nearby wall.
"You're right," Leopold admitted as he took a breath to calm his trembling, "being upset won't help in this situation, my brother taught me to always remain calm. So let's finish this Asta!"
"Glad to have you back," Asta nodded as he stood up.
"How pitiful," a voice sounded from seemingly nowhere, "I receive word from the master to come here and find you fighting this? Pitiful indeed." A sudden gust of wind blew then, surrounding them with a cloud of dust. After a minute, the wind suddenly stopped and they found themselves surrounded by multiple figures in white, hooded robes with black lines down the front that were characterized by golden eyes.
"Great, now there's five whack jobs," Asta mused aloud as he looked around at each of them. 'Thanks to that flashy entrance I already know one of them uses wind magic, but what are the others capable of,' he wondered.
"Be warned," Valtos called from above, "the boy with the blades is capable of canceling out magic."
"Oh, is he really," one of the new arrivals revealed herself to be a girl with dark, short curly hair and glasses, "if that's true can I dissect him?"
"Stay focused," the apparent leader, a man with blond hair ordered, "too much time has already been wasted. Let us dispose of these nuisances before the magic knights return."
"Phooey, you're no fun," the glasses girl pouted before holding her hand up. The other four did as well, each one glowing with a different form of magic.
"Leopold, Noelle," Asta readied his blades, "duck." No sooner did his allies do so than the enemy mages start firing. But the anti-magic boy had been getting a good bit of practice on spinning today and quickly rotated around, striking the spells and canceling them out. "I hope you didn't come here thinking your superior numbers would make us surrender."
"Hardly," the leader declared as they charged up more magic, "let's see how you handle even stronger blasts!" But before they could fire Asta threw his larger sword at the leader who just managed to dodge out of the way and accidentally sent his own magic across at a comrade. This disrupted the timing of the other attacks as they came at more random intervals. It was exactly what Asta had planned on as he quickly swung his smaller sword and hit the next spell with the flat of his blade. Instead of destroying the spell, he reflected it towards one of the other mages before turning and repeating the process.
The first one didn't see it coming and took a full blast of wind while the second just managed to block it with their own magic. "Don't forget about me!" Leopold yelled while firing his own spiral flame attacks at the mages before moving in for close range attacks. The surprised enemies backed away or evaded his wild attacks while attempting to regroup.
"I've got this," one of the enemy mages opened his grimoire, "Tree Creation Magic: Magic Draining Roots!" Several branches grew out of the ground and attempted to ensnare the two fighters but Asta easily sliced through them while Leopold battered them to ash with a combination of punches and fire magic.
"They fight like wounded beasts without fear," the leader noted, "but that doesn't mean their teamwork is superb." He opened his grimoire and summoned several small swirling winds around him. It was about when Asta and Leopold were finishing off the magic draining roots that he saw his opportunity. It came when Leopold broke one of the roots in half and the flaming branch fell towards Asta who batted it away.
"Now, Wind Creation Magic: Piercing Tornado Needle!" Drill-like tornados shot out of the gathered wind portals and headed straight for the anti-magic boy who just managed to deflect them in time. Leopold, however, was less lucky and took a shot to the shoulder that caused him to stumble. Asta moved in the way to deflect the remaining shots but he was already a little off-balance from the first volley and couldn't set up a proper defense. The result was the ashen-haired boy taking several hits from the tornado needles.
Fortunately, Asta's body held up against the onslaught and didn't sustain any serious damage. Unfortunately, some of the needles managed to impact against his head, hitting him hard enough to cause a concussion. 'Shit,' the ashen-haired boy stumbled from the impact, 'I'm… starting to lose consciousness.' Everything that happened after that was a blur, but he did catch the name of the organization before he passed out: The Eye of The Midnight Sun.
An Unknown Amount of Time Later in An Unknown Location
'What in the world is this feeling?' Asta's eyes slowly opened and he realized he was floating in some kind of, gel? "Asta, keep calm," Megicula advised, "don't let them know you're awake."
"So I did get captured," he tried not to sigh externally, "what happened to everyone else?"
"They're fine," the demoness assured, "the other knights showed up just in time to defend them but weren't able to stop the criminals from escaping."
"I see. Well, the good news is I seem able to breathe in this stuff," Asta noted, "if I keep still and try not to draw any attention, I may be able to escape."
"Better make it sooner rather than later," Megicula advised, "they seem to be debating on whether or not to kill you." 'Guess it's a good thing my swords return to my grimoire after a bit,' the ashen-haired boy mused as he carefully watched his kidnapper's movements. They entered into what looked like an old church or temple with columns leading up to vaulted archways and a stone floor. But then something unexpected happened; a man stepped into view, a man no one expected.
"Hi there," the Wizard King greeted, "you kept me waiting." To call what happened next a fight would be far too generous. In an instant he was up close and blew apart two members of the Midnight Sun in the blink of an eye and the plant magic user only got off one spell before he was also wasted. The others recovered from their shock eventually and began attacking in mass, but Julius moved around their projectile attacks at blinding speed, so fast he could barely be seen.
Then he was behind them and it was over. The Wizard King cast a spell which stopped all of the criminals from moving and had the added bonus of stopping the gel magic user's spell. Asta landed on his feet as the gelatinous prison came apart around him. "Megicula, what sort of magic was that just now? I can sense something, but I can't see anything," the anti-magic user noted.
"That was almost certainly Time Magic," the winged woman mused, "I couldn't see it myself, either, but I have seen other wielders of such magic in the past and they make similar movements and gestures. It's a rare form of magic but, as you saw, obviously very powerful when wielded by a master. Still, it might be good to check, could you ask him about it?"
"I will," Asta got to his feet.
"Hello again, it seems we keep running into each other," Julius approached with a smile, "are you hurt anywhere?"
"No," the Black Bull member shook his head, "or at least nothing that won't heal quickly on its own."
"That's good to hear," the man nodded, "if I recall you said you wanted to be the wizard king. If that's still the case, then I suggest you carefully consider everything you've seen here. This is only the smallest example of the sort of power you'll have to outmatch."
"Speaking of power, what sort of magic are you using to hold them," Asta asked, "I can sense mana, but I can't see anything."
"That's only natural. My particular type of magic is Time Magic, and it can usually only be seen by the wielder," Julius explained, "The best most others can do is feel it out."
"This may sound like a silly question but what's 'time' in this case," the anti-magic boy further questioned.
"It's not as silly as you might think," the Time Magic user raised a finger, "in this case, 'time' is the excessive duration of a thing or how long a thing's actual existence is. This duration is how we define the concept of time and it works prior to movement while also being independent of it. Something that has no successive duration is eternity, similar to the relationship between God and extraterrestrial space."
"So in short you're identifying eternity with God himself," Asta surmised, "and that your Time Magic works by affecting the duration of things?"
"That's certainly close enough," Julius smiled, "it's always a little complicated to explain as those of us who wield the magic have a natural understanding of how it all works, at least to a degree. I once saw a fire wizard try to explain their magic to a water wizard and only ended up confusing him."
"Then could you also show me something," the ashen-haired boy hoped he wasn't stepping on sensitive territory with this last one, "can I see your grimoire?"
"Certainly, this way," the man led him outside before pointing upwards. The sky seemed to distort slightly as the concealment spell on it faded, causing Asta's eyes to widen. What was revealed to him was a rotating grimoire, turning in a clockwise pattern with no seeming cover. But what made it surprising was the grimoire's sheer size, it was as big as Clover Castle! "Yeah, that's a pretty typical reaction to anyone seeing my grimoire for the first time. It is admittedly a little breathtaking."
"That's one way to describe it," Asta admitted with a nod.
"Now, speaking of questions, I need to interrogate our little miscreants," Julius headed back in past the time-locked criminals and stood next to a large stone tablet with what looked like places to put gems in. "Tell me, what is this for and what were you hoping to accomplish with it? Actually hold that thought, I just realized you can't answer as you are so let's save this conversation for when we get back to the Clover-." He stopped then as he sensed something. Asta did as well and looked around.
A bright light filled the chamber then as a new enemy appeared floating just above the tablet. Asta drew his sword on reflex but was only able to make out the barest details of the white-robed man. The sound and feeling of more magic being wielded was heard and when the light faded, the man was gone and so where the criminals! "What happened just now, was that Light Magic," Asta asked.
"Indeed," the Wizard King smiled wryly despite the situation, "I think he was even faster than me. Thanks to him all the others escaped, well, except for this one," he indicated one of the Midnight Sun members who was still floating in Chronostasis, "He was probably their leader, if I had to guess." Any further conversation was halted by a suddenly appearing white portal.
"I finally got through," the blue-haired man in the portal sighed in relief, "Sir, where are you right now?"
"Oh Marx, sorry I was a bit busy," Julius explained, "I had to suspend our transmission magic for a bit."
"You can explain later, right now you're needed at the medical ward," Marx informed. Judging by the sound of his voice, it wasn't good news.
A Few Moments Later: The Medical Ward
Once again the Wizard King demonstrated the might of his abilities. One minute they were in the temple and the next they were out in front of the medical ward where all the other knights, including his and Yuno's squad mates, had gathered. Naturally they were relieved to see him return safe and sound with Klaus of all people being very vocal about his worry. They were quickly informed that the barrier had been reinforced and that transmission magic had been restored.
The bad news was that Fuegoleon's injuries were severe. Though his wound had been treated he'd still lost an arm and now it was unknown when he would wake up. The enemy's objective had apparently been the red pendant he possessed and more than likely it was one of the missing jewels meant to go into the stone tablet at the temple. They'd also found that this group, The Eye of the Midnight Sun, had been linked to other smaller scale attacks by dissidents, all likely looking for the other magic stones.
Though another odd concern that popped up was Leopold Vermillion declaring himself the anti-magic boy's rival and vowing that he'd grow even stronger than his brother, even going so far as to brand his own forehead with the same mark as Fuegoleon. In fact, all the knights vowed to get stronger due to this unfortunate wakeup call. It would be after this that they all went their separate ways to dispense their duties and Asta and Noelle received a basket of treats from the girl they saved earlier in the day. Naturally this attracted Charmy who revealed she'd snuck into the castle by encasing and shrinking herself into a small bit of wool that fit into Asta's hood.
He'd noticed it early but chose not to say anything, though that topic was quickly overshadowed by Charmy's odd declaration about Yuno being her 'Meal-Saving Prince' or something of that nature. But thankfully once all was said and done they were able to head back to their base.
That Evening: The Black Bull's Base
Asta sat down on his bed and let out a sigh of relief. It had been a rather taxing day for obvious reasons but he also finally had a moment to breathe and unpack everything that had happened. "Megicula," he began, "are you still there?"
"I am," the demoness assured, "my other contractor is currently busy with affairs that don't require my aid so we should have plenty of time to chat. And I already have an idea what you're going to ask."
"The Wizard King," Asta recalled, "you said you had an odd feeling about him and that you recognized the way he wielded his magic."
"I recall a demon wielding his magic in much the same way as the current Wizard King," Megicula confirmed, "a demon that goes by the name of Astaroth. I'd need a chance to examine the man more closely to be sure but I believe he possesses or is possessed by a demon of at least a similar sort."
"Is that something we should be concerned about," the anti-magic user put a hand on his grimoire as he asked this question.
"It's hard to say at this early stage, but even if it is a concern there's nothing that can be done about it at your current level," the demon woman pointed out, "you saw his power today. The amount of strength and skill you possess right now won't be enough to bring him down. For now we'll need to bide our time so that you can get stronger and become a match for him."
"Alright then," Asta nodded in understanding, "there's also another problem. Yuno's contract, do you know how I can break it?"
"I know the spirit, Sylph, quite well," Megicula answered, "that includes a method for breaking her contract. However, that too will require waiting for the right moment. If we confront her now she'll take Yuno's soul out of pure spite and malice. At that point it'd be better to kill him right then and there as his body will be nothing but an empty shell without his soul, merely existing until the body finally dies."
"That is a problem," Asta admitted, "I guess the next thing I need to do is strengthen my Soul Magic."
"You should be proud that you were able to note the oddness in Julius Novachrono's soul," the winged woman pointed out, "Astaroth is not an amateur in that department, he even used his power of Soul Magic to change his appearance."
"Still, I can't see souls yet, just feel them," the Black Bull member reminded.
"There is some good news in all of this," Megicula decided to tell him, "as impressive as Astaroth is, his mastery of Time Magic is lacking."
"You call what we saw back there 'lacking'," Asta raised an eyebrow.
"Take it from a demon who delights in researching various types of magic," the demon woman smiled while making a motion that looked like she was adjusting glasses on her face, "to begin with the concept of time he explained to you is not entirely correct. Whoever this Julius Novachrono was before Astaroth got to him, he was a master of the techniques involved in Time Magic but not a full master of the concept of time. Those movements we saw today were instinctive, the kind one does on pure muscle memory because they've been doing it for so long. Furthermore the grimoire you saw was still camouflaged in a way as there exists no grimoire that doesn't have a cover or at that size, believe me I've looked."
"That is somewhat comforting to hear," Asta admitted with a nod, "alright then, I've still got a bit of energy, do you think I could learn a bit more Soul Magic?"
"I think you're ready for some more difficult spells," Megicula smiled, "let's begin."
Nighttime: An Unknown Village
It was a time of celebration, a time of laughter and cheer as the people of this little village danced and sang the night away. What they were celebrating, however, the figure did not know nor care about as she stepped out of the shadows, revealing herself to be a more adult version of Sylph in a black variant of her usually green dress while also possessing a flowing blond braid that reached down her back. She was also much closer to the size of a normal human, not that the man she moved in behind noticed while raising a mug in cheer. It would be the last thing he ever did as Sylph suddenly plunged her hand into his back, causing his cheers to be drowned out by bloody gurgles.
Naturally this action caught the attention of the people sitting next to him and their cries set off a chain reaction that would eventually culminate in the whole crowd of people being alerted. Sylph stuck her hand the rest of the way out of the man's chest, showing that she now had his heart in her hand before crushing it and spraying those sitting close enough with blood. A single scream started it off as other people cried out in panic. The spirit smiled sadistically as she withdrew her arm from the lifeless body that fell to the ground and watched the other villagers try to run. The slaughter began then.
One by one Sylph ended them mercilessly. Men, women, children, not a single one of them was spared from her path of bloodshed. She grabbed some by the heads, jabbed her hand into their backs and ripped out their spines, disemboweled one woman and strangled her husband with the intestines she pulled out, tore off a child's limbs and finished him off at the head. Those lucky enough to get to the edges of the village only prolonged their fates.
Whenever they tried to flee into the forest they'd find themselves in a labyrinth of sorts with no seeming exit but the entrance. Their deaths were always brutal upon reentering the village. Some tried to hide but Sylph always found them and took pleasure in strangling them. When desperation took hold there were even villagers betraying each other, revealing hiding places and throwing their own out in front of her as if it was going to make a difference. And by the time all was said and done, the once festive village was stained red.
Headquarters Of the Golden Dawn
Yuno woke up screaming as the nightmare he just had plagued his mind. He grabbed his head with his hands and tried to calm himself, wondering what had caused such a macabre dream. 'Did my fight with that Catherine woman take more out of me than I thought?' He tried to rationalize. But upon looking around, that concern was soon gone as he found that he wasn't in his room.
Instead, he was in some sort of labyrinth. Not sure what else to do, Yuno advanced forward and looked around. Oddly enough, he seemed to know where he was going in this stone maze and before long, he came upon a platform where Sylph was sitting, in the same form she'd had in the dream? This should've frightened him and in a way it did but there was something else.
One part of him advised caution but another part of him was… ecstatic, to see the Wind Spirit. More than just ecstatic, this part of Yuno was practically demanding he bow down and worship the one before him. But before he could say or do anything Sylph was already in front of him. She said nothing but instead made a small cut on her left hand before suddenly gripping his shoulder with her other hand and forcing him to his knees with a surprising amount of strength.
Yuno tried to summon up his Wind Magic in response to this but found he couldn't for some reason and the arm on his shoulder was unyielding as her claws dug into his flesh. The only time she let go was when she moved that arm to cup his cheeks and force his head back. Even then he wasn't able to escape as she forced his mouth open and raised her other, bleeding hand over it. She curled her ring and middle fingers to cause the blood to seep freely before snapping it shut to control the amount of blood flowing out.
When the crimson liquid entered his mouth Yuno nearly screamed as it felt like molten iron was pouring down his throat. But even if he had wanted to scream it would've been impossible as Sylph forced his mouth closed with her freshly bloodied hand. After several moments that felt much longer to the Golden Dawn member she released him. Yuno, now finally free, coughed and sputtered, trying to spit out what blood he could.
The taste of iron and copper clung to his lips, seeming like the rotten sweetness of an overripe fruit, a sour vinaigrette that rippled with foul, powerful, and searing magical energy. Yuno continued to cough and gag as the seeming fire in his throat burned like bile. All the while Sylph smiled at the sight, pleased with her actions. When Yuno was finally done coughing she waved her hand, causing his skull to split open with a pain so sharp it burned like the sun! Yuno woke up screaming again that night and was beyond grateful that this time, he actually was in his room, and couldn't remember a thing.
So it seems Sylph has her own plans for Yuno. Will he be able to handle what comes next or is he just along for the ride?! I'll let you speculate on that and while you're at it feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! Also, stop by my Pat reon and see about the new feature that will allow you to view a post for a small fee without becoming a member! Last thing, stop in next time as our heroes try to deal with the fallout from the Eye of the Midnight Sun's first major offensive! 'Til then.
