Akame ga Clover

by stringdog

Death is the end…or is it? Reborn in a new world where magic is everything by Fate itself to counter a threat that violated the laws of nature Akame and Tatsumi must first regain their memories of their past live and then fight to protect the Clover Kingdom from the threats that it will face but who will accept people like them? The Black Bulls of course.

41. Chapter 41: Underwater

Here is the fortieth-first chapter in this story released in accordance with the release schedule. I know it's a little later than expected but such is life though hopefully it won't be this bad again for a while. Anyway, Noelle has learned a new spell and it's perfect for the job at hand. It may be untested as she only just learned it but there isn't time to test it because the full moon has risen and so it's time for the Black Bulls to head to the Underwater Temple which means it's all on Noelle to get them there safely. That is all that I have for the administrative stuff I have for y'all and there are no guest reviews that need a response, though I thank you for your support of my work, or questions to answer so I will end this here. Do keep them coming as your support is the best motivation for me to keep producing chapters at this kind of rate. That is it for this pre-chapter note so it is time to sit back and enjoy the forty-first chapter in Akame ga Clover.

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to these two great animes.

Chapter 41: Underwater

"Well, it's finally time." Yami said his back to the calm water as the full moon rose in the sky behind him while the whole Squad minus Gordon and two others stood before him with their robes on and fully prepared for the mission to come. "The mana in this area is the weakest it will be and basically our only chance to get through the currents the mana creates around the Underwater Temple. If we fail we'd have to wait another month and I'm not going to be happy if that happens. So, you ready to go and get that stone?"

It was less than 24 hours since Noelle had managed to gain more control over her magic and in the process learn a new spell that would be perfect for the job. She was the only one in the Squad who could take them there, at least until Finral visited, so it had to be her but it hadn't been an easy route to get to this point.

Naturally, the main issue had been Noelle's control or lack thereof. Yes she could perform a strong defensive spell thanks to learning it in Saussy Village but that was it. That was her only spell and while her mana reserves were vast thus allowing her to turn her raw mana into a powerful attack by simply blasting it out she still had accuracy issues especially with human targets.

Sure Noelle could hit Magna, directly or indirectly, but that was about it when it came to using her magic, otherwise she lacked control over it. It was that lack of control that worried her as without a transport spell and only a dome based spell in her grimoire, the only way that Noelle could manage the trip to the Underwater Temple was to learn to control her magic to transport them in a protective ball of water.

Alas for almost a week that seemed like it would be an impossibility as she kept trying to master it with Asta and her new friend Kahono's help. However, no matter how hard she tried she couldn't manage to control it and forge it into what she needed it to be even knowing that Asta could help if she lost control and Kahono could restore her stamina with her Song Magic.

It was frustrating and Noelle was starting to lose faith until the very thing she was trying to avoid was suggested, she should let her magic go wild and lose control and then see what happened. After all, Asta could save her with his Anti-Magic so it wasn't like she was in danger.

It made sense as it was something that Noelle hadn't tried yet but she was still hesitant to do so given what had happened the last time she fully lost control and let her magic run wild. However, she didn't have much else to so she went with it and it almost killed her. In fact she was on the brink of giving up and couldn't even do what Kahono had suggested and think of a happy memory because she had none from her family.

That was when the Black Bulls had shown up on the beach, all of them minus Yami, and cheered her on with words of encouragement and support. Their arrival and presence was perfect as they reminded Noelle that she did have happy memories, her memories with them.

As such she drew on those memories, the ones she made with the Black Bulls, even the ones that haunted her nightmares at times though those were specific ones and it was her squadmates who were there for her after she faced what she had to face regarding the dark underside of the Clover Kingdom, to regain control of her magic. She especially focused the ones with Asta as he was the most prevalent one having been by her side since she joined but all of the Black Bulls played a part in giving her good memories. It was from that that Noelle was able to learn a new spell that would be perfect for this mission.

Now it was finally time to put that spell to work and while it was basically untested seeing as Noelle had used up all her energy to learn it and was half drowned in the process so the spell had ended shortly after she'd learned it and she'd fallen to the ground. Asta had quickly rushed to catch her in his arms like a princess, which she of course chastised him for and didn't like at all, not one bit and certainly not to the level of dreaming about it and wishing Asta would carry her like that again, so she was safe and after that they'd celebrated on the beach.

Since then Noelle hadn't used any magic so as to recover as much of it as possible and as a result she was all rested and ready for this, albeit still nervous. That nervousness wasn't shared by others, however.

"Oh yeah we are!" Asta cheered in response to Yami's question. "Bring on the Underwater Temple! We're coming for you!"

"Just you wait Magic Stone, you're going to be ours!" Magna yelled his voice just as loud as Asta's as he looked up at the sky. "This is real man's work! I can't wait!"

"Just you wait tasty seafood that I've never eaten before!" Charmy said brandishing a two forks as 4 Sheep Cooks sharpened knives and dancing behind her. "Soon you will all be in my belly!"

"Yes, so many delicious fishes to eat." Akame said joining in with Charmy her harpoon that she'd brought with her for the mission in one hand. "Stuff that no one has eaten before I bet and possible even whale or turtle meat to add to it as well."

"Might be hard to hunt from Noelle's spell." Tatsumi pointed out which got a glare from both his girlfriend and Charmy. "But we can make a note of what we see."

"We'll find a way." Akame said. "Where there is meat there is a way."

"I'm just hoping for some rare vintages to sample down there." Vanessa said rubbing two bottles on her already red cheeks. "Or maybe they'll have a unique liquor that is made from something underwater which no one else has had before, that would be great, hic."

"Who do you think we'll fight down there?" Luck asked electricity sparking between his fingers. "Whoever they are, I hope they're strong so let's go already!"

"Hurry up, the sooner we go the sooner we get back and the sooner I can see my darling Marie." Gauche said with his usual nosebleed. "And I'll have a new story for her that will make her so proud of her big brother. Well? What are you waiting for, let's go."

"And I can get back to all the beach babes!" Finral added excitedly. "They're all going to be waiting for me."

"Along with their rejections." Tatsumi said helpfully while Grey exhaled through a snorkel the big guy while still wearing the floatie. "Don't forget those as well."

"Hey, there may be new ones who actually want to date me." Finral retorted a mixture of hope, optimism, and desperation in his voice. "Just cos you have your beach babe doesn't mean you can rain on my dreams."

"True I do have a beautiful babe and she looks great on the beach." Tatsumi said causing Akame to blush next to him as she gripped her harpoon thoughts of fish briefly out of her mind. "So perhaps you'll get there someday Finral."

"Alright enough of the chatter, I'm gonna presume that all this means that you're ready." Yami said cutting off the babble that was going on. "Good, this is just what I want to hear."

"Which means that you're up Noelle." Asta said turning to Noelle where she stood next to him and smiling at her but she didn't respond right away as she was still deep in thought about her coming task. "Huh, you ok? You're not getting nervous are you?"

"What, me, nervous, no way!" Noelle said with a squeak but Yami, Tatsumi, and Akame, who was strapping her harpoon to her back now that they were about to leave, could all feel that that was not the case. "It's not like there's anything for me to be nervous about after all! I told you that I was fine yesterday, remember."

"Easy Noelle it will be ok." Vanessa said with a laugh as she got in front of Noelle and offered her the bottle of wine that she was holding. "Here, have a sip of this to calm down, you're as stiff as a board so this will help ease your nerves."

"How about you not offer the person we're trusting with our lives alcohol?" Magna asked aghast. "That doesn't sound like a good idea."

"Magna's right." Tatsumi said. "But it will be fine, we all trust Noelle and know that she'll get us there without issue."

"Yes she'll show us so many tasty fish to feast one when this is over." Akame said. "So she's got this."

"Fishy, fishy, you're so yummy I can't wait to have you in my tummy!" Charmy added with a little dance as she continued to brandish her forks. "Come on Noelle, I'll make sure that you have the best fish that you've ever had after this, that will help."

"When you're under a lot of pressure, things can go wrong even when they've got right every time before that simply because of that pressure." Yami said with an exhalation of smoke before he started walking forward his voice cutting off any of the chatter once again. "So just remember that all you gotta do is try and relax. That and if you do screw this up, Noelle, then I'm going to kill ya. Got it?"

"See, no pressure at all, none whatsoever!" Asta said trying to mitigate their crazy Captain's tough love approach while Noelle let out a very undignified yelp at Yami's words as her hair briefly stood on end. "You've got this Noelle, I know it."

All that made Noelle almost take a step back but as she did she looked around at her squadmates and they were all smiling at her, support clear on their faces. If she failed they all could, and likely would, die deep underwater where their bodies would never be found, or die again in Tatsumi and Akame's cases, but they weren't worried about it. They were putting their trust and faith in her because she was their friend and squadmate and that alone filled her with confidence and pride. She was a Black Bull and she was going to do this for her Squad and ensure that they got to the Underwater Temple safely.

"Alright, let's do this." Noelle said with a smile the confidence clear in her voice and ki to those who could read it. "Get ready because here we go."

Before anyone could say anything else Noelle walked forward at a fast pace and made her way to the sea but didn't walk into it. Instead she came to a stop just before it, about halfway between the water's edge and the Black Bulls, as her grimoire glowed and floated up before her as it flipped to the right page for her new spell. With it there Noelle held her hands out before her and crossed them at the wrists with her palms splayed as she cast her spell.

"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Cradle!"

Instantly a circular whirlpool of water appeared beneath Noelle's feet on the sandy beach before it spread out and under all of them while still in a circle. It then whipped up and around them taking up a lot of sand in the process that covered the water as it formed a clear blue sphere of rapidly spinning water with blobs in a ring around it, the speed of the spin sending the sand off it. The inside of the sphere was free and the Black Bulls floated inside it, amazed and laughing as Noelle mentally controlled the sphere forward and over the water able to keep it above the surface while maintaining mental control over it.

"I did it!" Noelle said happily her smile broad as she looked out and down over the dark blue waters below them. "I cast the spell and it worked!"

"We all knew you could do it Noelle!" Asta said from behind her before his voice got a bit strained. "But, um, the space isn't that big and we're getting a bit squished in here."

"It's all Grey's fault." Tatsumi said as their large squadmate was pushing all of them except Yami against the walls of the sphere which also showed them how sturdy the spell was and how it didn't feel like water but with Grey and the floatie that Grey had on squishing them none of them could marvel at the impressiveness of Noelle's magic. "Grey, we love you buddy, but maybe now's a good time to use that strong Transformation Magic of yours to make it easier."

"Or at least get rid of the floatie thing." Magna complained. "You're big enough without it. Akame, can you puncture it for us."

"I can but it won't make much difference beyond providing a bit of air." Akame said though as she was getting squished her main concern was for the haft of her harpoon. "Grey's still needs to transform into me or Charmy, we're the smallest members so that would take up the least amount of space."

"How about I kill Grey." Luck said helpfully. "That should work."

"Just transform into someone smaller already." Finral said and as he did there was a bang and a puff of smoke as Grey did just that which caused all of them to let out sighs of relief. "There we go."

"Ha, well then peons, is this better for your comfort?" Grey said now an exact double of Charmy right down to her voice thus ensuring that the least amount of space she could take up was being taken up. "Though stay down there beneath me like you deserve."

"Can we shrink the attitude as well?" Asta complained. "One Charmy with that attitude is enough."

"Also while Charmy is a Junior Magic Knight First Class, I'm still the only one here other than Yami who's above that." Tatsumi pointed out. "And Akame would be if it wasn't for…well…"

"My felony conviction." Akame said helpfully as she examined her harpoon to make sure that it was still intact while they all began to float in the sphere now glad for the space. "But I don't mind and thanks Grey, this is much better."

"I aim to please now bring on the fish!" Grey-Charmy said in a perfect imitation of Charmy's attitude, which was to be expected as Grey could very accurately mimic all of them when she took their forms. "Come here fishy fish!"

"That wasn't bad at all, Noelle." Yami said as he grabbed her head from above while looking out in front of him the same way Noelle was. "The first stage is complete now all you have to do is take us to the Underwater Temple."

"Right, don't worry Captain, I've got it covered." Noelle said seriously while internally she was happily squealing at Yami's compliment as Yami removed his hand from her head. "Hang on tight everyone."

With that she moved the sphere up and then down to the water's surface, the speed of its rotation sending ripples out over it as it fell to the surface and then punched through it sending a stream of bubbles upwards. As expected, the sphere held and as soon as the displacement cleared the Black Bulls gasped at the sights that greeted them as they could clearly see out of the bubble, the light from the magic that made it showing the depths in ways none had ever seen before. As if to emphasize this a while school of fish swam past it as they began to move through the water.

"Wow, this so cool!" Asta said his eyes wide as he tried to take in everything that he was seeing. "Your magic really is amazing Noelle!"

"It's almost like we're flying through the ocean itself." Finral added as Noelle blushed at Asta's compliment while making sure she was looking out into the ocean so that no one noticed. "It's unreal to see them like this. It's like seeing a flock of birds just, well, they're fish so I guess it's a school not a flock."

"All those yummy fish are just begging to be turned into lunch." Akame, Charmy, and Grey-Charmy said with the two Charmies floating on either side of Akame as the girls all pressed their faces to the sphere and drooled a little at the sight of the fish.

"Hey Noelle, new plan for when this is over." Akame said as she backed up her harpoon back on her back following her earlier check. "We're doing some serious underwater training to ensure that you have a lot of control over this."

"Before then get us closer to those fish so that Marie can get a better look at them." Gauche said a mirror in his hands that was connected to where Marie was so that she could marvel at the fish as well. "I want to show her them in greater detail now that we're using magic to go underwater."

"It doesn't work like that you moron." Noelle said as she moved the sphere through the water. "Though while I know Akame has an ulterior motive…"

"No I don't." Akame lied glancing around but no one believed her at all. "I just want to catch a lot of fish that can't be caught without this spell…I mean I want Noelle to master the spell."

"Don't try to dig out of this babe." Tatsumi said with a sigh though Noelle was actually fine with this training as she might need this spell again so getting better at it wasn't a bad idea even if the reason for it was Akame's gluttony. "We knew your plan the moment Noelle mastered this spell."

"Fine." Akame said unphased by it. "Charmy, you're with me when we train Noelle."

"Agreed." Charmy and Grey said at the same time and just as the image of Marie in Gauche's mirror got fuzzy and then vanished.

"No, come back my angel!" Gauche said to his mirror. "I'm lost without the sight of you. What's going on?"

"It's not wonder you lost the connection; I can already feel how strong the mana is getting down here." Vanessa said as she looked out at the water around them. "A simple spell like that won't work from here."

"Um, what's that?" Noelle asked ignoring the chatter as she looked out and they all saw what looked like a series of tornadoes only underwater and made up of the currents around them as they violently rotated before them as the sphere approached. "Because that doesn't look natural."

"Whatever it is, it doesn't look good." Magna said. "What do we do about them?"

"Probably just go through them as I'm pretty sure we've reached the Strong Magic Region." Yami said as he looked at the vortexes before them. "Akame, any familiar senses?"

"I don't really try to sense mana anymore now that I read ki, well other than when I'm using Mana Zone, but yeah it's similar to the place I was abandoned in and told to survive." Akame said as they entered the currents and began to be buffeted about causing some of the Black Bulls to yell in panic. "Course being underwater is worse but that's just the environment."

"If this is what it's like to be down here when the mana's at its weakest then I don't want to see it at its strongest." Finral complained. "This is some intense mana!"

"Man a Strong Magic Region is something else." Asta said as they were whipped about by the currents. "How did you survive in one Akame?"

"Experience, violence, and rapid adaption." Akame said calmly. "That and I just knew deep down that I had to survive, that there was more to me being there than just a slave sent to either become a weapon or die in the process."

"Well are we going to survive this?" Magna asked. "Because I'm just hoping that this bubble thing isn't going to pop. It will hold, right?"

"You must be extra scared as a Flame Mage, Magna." Luck said his usual cheery smile on his face. "All this water around you can't be good seeing as you can't use your magic if the bubble pops."

"Please, I have no idea what you're talking about." Magna said turning to get in Luck's face. "I've never been scared in my life."

"Then let's get out and test the water." Luck said with a laugh as they carried on. "Shouldn't be too hard to test that theory."

"Best not to." Tatsumi said as calm. "And we'll be fine, we all have faith in Noelle."

"Yeah we do!" Asta said stars in his eyes as Charmy and Grey-Charmy began to cheer as well. "Noelle, Noelle, she's our man, if she can't do it…"

"Will you three shut up!" Noelle shouted angrily as she turned to glare at them though she did appreciate the support. "I am trying to concentrate! This is hard enough without you lot distracting me."

That got them all to shut up as Noelle turned back to the currents and put all her focus into getting through them. They all had faith in her and if she needed quiet to focus they would give her that as they silently supported Noelle while she navigated them through the currents.

The quiet was just what she needed and Noelle was able to, albeit barely, navigate her way through the roiling currents that made up this Strong Magic Region. It almost felt like the mana was helping her and Noelle leaned into that as she controlled the sphere.

"This will work, I know it." Noelle said to herself but as the sphere was quiet they could all hear it.

"Oh man, all this movement, I think I'm going to be sick." Vanessa said suddenly as she held her hands to her mouth. "Not good."

"Don't you dare think about it wino." Gauche said. "You shouldn't have gotten drunk before this."

"Just hold on Vanessa, I think we're almost there." Noelle said as she controlled the sphere as best she could. "I can feel it, the currents have let up a bit."

Noelle was right as a bright light suddenly filled their vision for a moment before suddenly they all gasped as they seemed to pass through the last of the violent currents and reached what felt like a calm part of the deep sea. When it did calm down, and they could see again, they all marveled at the sight that was before them.

What was before them was a vast stretch of calm, peaceful, sandy ocean floor dotted with several corals and other reef structures that stretched out all around them. Thanks to the clear waters they could see all of this as they slowly moved through the water amazed at everything especially after what they'd just been through to get here.

On top of all this was the sea life. Countless fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors swam around from eels to standard looking fish that they'd expect to find served up for food as well as styles of fish that they'd never seen before. There was even a ray slowly floating through the water above them that they noticed when it partially blocked out the light that seemed to be able to pierce these depths. It wasn't just fish though; they could see crabs and other crustaceans and even a turtle swam by a reef they floated through the water.

"So cool." Asta said repeating what he'd said when they first entered the water. "This is even more impressive than earlier."

"Wow." Charmy and Grey-Charmy said happily. "Look at all the fish!"

"They look delicious." Akame said licking her lips. "I wonder what they taste like."

"They're beautiful." Vanessa added her nausea clearly gone.

"And peaceful, they're not afraid of us at all." Tatsumi said. "I doubt many have seen what we're seeing now."

"Yeah and there are some really funky looking animals here." Asta said as he studied the various fish that swam past them. "I don't even know what most of these things are."

"Well few would seeing as you need magic to get here and there aren't many spells out there like Noelle's but some are really crazy." Finral said as he gestured to one that looked like a larger than average but standard fish save for the fact that a bright blue glow was coming off it and surrounding it. "Check that one out, it's glowing."

"You know, it kinda looks like…" Magna said as he sensed it. "Yeah it's not just looking like it, it is magic! That's really cool. How do you think it got like that because that's clearly not natural."

"If I had to guess it's all the mana we're feeling." Yami said, he understood fish better than anyone in the Squad thanks to his past in the Land of the Sun before he had to flee to save Ichika so he could deduce more than the others though even he hadn't seen many of the species present. "Probably messed with how they evolved around here."

"That's all good but the bigger question is do they taste good?" Charmy said drooling as she brandished a fork. "And how does the mana affect the meat."

"Yes let's catch one and find out if the flavor has also evolved." Grey-Charmy added mirroring Charmy right down to the drool and fork.

"Agreed." Akame said a she pulled off her harpoon and drooling as well. "Now to figure out how to spear them. Noelle, try to get us closer, Vanessa, I need some threat. I think I have an idea."

"Come here little fishy fish!" Charmy and Grey-Charmy said in unison as they, along with Akame, neared the edge of the sphere.

"Not so fast." Magna said grabbing Charmy and Grey-Charmy by the collars of their robes while Tatsumi grabbed Akame around the waist and pulled her back, which had the added effect of causing her to melt into his embrace and enjoy it though her eyes were still on the fish with a hungry, predatory, look in them. "Thanks Tatsumi, you're the only one who can hold Akame back for many reasons. Now are you three idiots seriously willing to die for a little food? Plus we really don't need another bottomless pit around here, Grey, we already have Charmy and Akame."

"Sometimes the best game is the kind you have to risk your life for." Akame said. "Nothing tastes better than a kill you earned in a life or death struggle, especially if you cook it yourself outside on a spite over an open fire."

"Now why does that fill me with dread." Yami mused as he felt a creeping sensation run down his spine before he shook it off. "Nah just a feeling like a bad dream, well more like a nightmare, so it must be nothing. Anyway, it looks like that's out destination."

"Yeah, everyone, look." Noelle said getting their attention and causing everyone to look out in front of the bubble as it was floating and gape at the sight before them. "Those whirlpools, they're forming a magic barrier and an extremely powerful one at that. There's no way that my spell will get us through that."

Noelle was right, before the Black Bulls was a massive dome of water that was in a lot of ways similar to Noelle's Sea Dragon's Lair spell only on a larger and more majestic scale than what she could make. The magic coming from it was immense and even with Noelle's power levels there was no way she could punch the sphere through it. Luckily, they had a different solution to the problem before them and one that this barrier clearly had never anticipated because, well, no one anticipated it.

"Figured as much which means that you're up kid." Yami said pointing at Asta. "Go and smack that thing with your sword and cut us a path through it. That should work."

"Er, Captain Yami, sir." Asta said a little hesitation to his voice.

"Yeah what is it?" Yami said the gruffness rising in his voice.

"Well, the thing is, this is my first time at the beach or any large body of water for that matter." Asta said looking out at the barrier before them and not at Yami. "And it taught me something really important about myself. I, er, well, it turns out that I don't know how swim. You'd have thought I'd realized that before now but, well, I didn't so it's kinda funny if you think about it."

Asta began to nervously laugh at that as he rubbed the back of his head while pointing out the problem that he was facing. It was, of course, no excuse and as he was laughing Yami grabbed him by the back of his robe and lifted him up in the air of the sphere.

"Well the good thing is that you don't have to swim to do what you have to do." Yami said as he moved Asta to look at him before turning and walking forward to the edge of the sphere as Asta began to protest, not that anyone was paying him any heed at this point. "I suggest holding your breath, you'll need to do that much at least."

"Hey, can't I do this at my own pace?" Asta asked as he protested while everyone just watched knowing that this was how it was going to go down. "That would be a lot easier you know."

"No, I'm the Captain so that means your pace is my pace and my pace is you do this now, got it." Yami said as he glared at Asta who shrieked but his tone brokered no argument as Dark Magic swelled around Yami's right hand and forearm where he held Asta. "Good now get ready and…"

With that Yami used his raw strength, boosted with Reinforcement Magic, to toss Asta forward and out of the sphere right at the barrier before them as fast as he could while Asta let out a scream. The rest of the Squad watched as Asta shot through the water towards the barrier knowing that despite his complaints this was well within Asta's capabilities.

That was proven a moment later when he pulled his great sword out of his grimoire while underwater and got it out in front of himself so that he could pierce the barrier point first and thus burst through it and into the area that was encased by the dome. Thankfully, the size and power of the dome was such that simply having contact with Asta's sword wasn't enough to fully dispel it entirely but it was enough to punch a clear and large hole in the barrier that Noelle was able to guide the sphere through in Asta's wake and into the area before it closed up with only a small amount of water coming in through the hole.

What they ended up in, moments after Asta hit the ground chest first and slid over it before he came to a stop and started gasping about needing air, was a large, dry, area on the sea floor that was protected by the dome. This was clearly where the Underwater Temple was and it seemed to be able to sustain life so there wasn't a need for the sphere anymore. As such Noelle guided it down and then ended her spell right as the sphere was directly above Asta while he was getting up causing him to be driven back into the ground and gasp as water rained down on them.

"Thanks kid, I knew you could do it." Yami said as he walked away to survey the area. "That was no problem at all."

"I can't believe that we didn't die!" Magna shouted raising his arms. "We're alive and we made it!"

"See, I knew you were scared." Luck taunted. "You even wet yourself."

"Shut it lightning boy that's sea water and you know it." Magna said as Luck laughed.

"The mana is too strong down here for me to contact my darling Marie." Gauche said looking at his blank mirror from where he was standing on top of Asta. "That's annoying, she's no doubt worried sick about me."

"Er, Gauche, please can you get off me." Asta said his voice muffled from where his face was in the ground. "You're standing on me."

"I don't care." Gauche said simply. "Only Marie matters but it looks like I'll have to wait to let her know that I'm ok and when I do I'll have a good story for her. Yes it will make our reunion even sweeter."

"This is a strange place." Akame said looking around as Gauche got another nosebleed while standing on Asta. "I can sense ki that's not ours so we're not alone down here but it's not hostile so I don't think we're in danger."

"Whatever it is, it's totally new to us." Tatsumi said from next to her. "Shows just how different this world can be and how amazing magic truly is."

"True." Akame said. "Hopefully they have some new delicacies to try."

"I'll admit that this is nice." Finral said. "Not what I was expecting at all."

"Yeah it's crazy to think that something like this exists at the bottom of the ocean." Vanessa added. "It just goes to show that people will live anywhere so long as magic allows them to."

"Few, that was tough." Noelle said with a sigh not really as focused on their surroundings as they walked as they all began to walk. "But we made it."

"We knew you could do it." Akame said patting Noelle on the back. "Just gotta push past those limits. Next time it will be longer and we'll fill the sphere with tasty fish for a beach barbeque during which I'm sure Asta will finally notice that swimsuit of yours. I wonder if I'll get something as big as what I was roasting after we recruited Tatsumi, that was some good meat."

"More like kidnapped and you didn't share any of your meat with me." Tatsumi pointed out. "Well, you didn't share any of that meat with me."

"You hadn't agreed to join my love so I wasn't going to share my food." Akame said. "But you did shortly afterwards and quickly you showed your metal so all is good."

"True and I wouldn't trade it or anything for the world." Tatsumi said with a smile as they reached the edge of a coral cliff thing. "So…woah."

"Oh my." Vanessa said.

"Wow!" Charmy and Grey-Charmy added at the same time.

"That's something you don't see every day." Akame said.

In the far distance was a giant, natural looking, stalagmite-like, structure that was sticking out of the ocean floor with a large bulbous base, narrow middle bit leading into another, smaller, bulbous thing, and a spike at the top. All around it there were other spikes sticking up and out of the structure and from where they were they could see a set of stairs carved into the coral structure leading up to a large set of doors and man-made carved archway.

That had to be the Underwater Temple and all around it there were many smaller structures of a similar design, all likely naturally occurring given the location, and along with simple bulbous corals all around with spikes on them. It was, in short, a whole town of sorts made from coral and it was a sight to behold.

"So that's the Underwater Temple." Asta said amazed as Nero fluttered out from his hood where the bird had been hidden and flew towards the Temple without anyone noticing. "It's amazing."

"Must be." Yami said look at Charmy, the actual one and not Grey-Charmy, as he pulled out a cupcake that he'd hidden somewhere. "Charmy, whip us up some of your cotton and take us to the Underwater Temple. It's time to get that Magic Stone."

"Roger Captain." Charmy said with a salute and right away she created a cloud of cotton for them to stand on.

In short order they were on a floating cloud of cotton that began to move off the cliff and towards the Underwater Temple while Charmy happily enjoyed her cupcake. With that the Black Bulls had arrived at area that housed the Underwater Temple. Now all they had to do was make their way to it and see what awaited them inside though none of them could have predicted what was about to come once they finally entered the Underwater Temple.

I think that's a good place to leave this chapter off on. Initially this was going to cover the whole trip from the beach to the start of the Battle Royale in the Underwater Temple but by the time they breached the barrier this chapter's draft was already at 5k words so I decided that it could be broken up into two more manageable chapters that dealt with different aspects of the arrival. This also ensured that I was able to finish it and the other chapters in my Black Trio faster while ensuring that the next chapter is shorter so hopefully I can get the next one out within 2 weeks but no promises. Anyway, the Black Bulls can now see the Underwater Temple and are on their way to it but they have no idea what awaits them there. Well, they're about to find out as it's now time to enter the Temple and hopefully retrieve a Magic Stone, how hard can that be? That is all that I have for y'all, however, so I will leave this chapter off here. As always, if you like my story then please follow, favorite, review, PM, etc. it is all appreciated and helps me get better and stay motivated to keep producing more content and any questions asked I will do my best to answer both privately and at the start of the next chapter. Until next time.

Stringdog