The prince of the Spade Kingdom
"Vice-Captain?!" The Black Bull Magic Knights said with shock expressions on their faces.
"You guys have a vice-captain?" Rin asked as she and Donna try to remember the Black Bulls ever mentioning about having a vice-captain.
"No….Well, I wasn't aware anyway…." Vanessa responded before glancing towards Finral, the "wheels" of Yami.
The same with Grey and Gauche.
"Nope. Don't know anything myself." Finral said, knowing what is going through everyone's minds.
"I'm pretty much a vice-captain in title alone. It gave me a lot of freedom as a Magic Knight, and I only visited the hideout of the Black Bulls…..only once." Natch explained to the confused expression.
"So why haven't you shown yourself to them?" Rin asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Because I hate the Black Bulls." Natch responded in a blunt tone of voice, causing the Magic Knights to become shock.
"Huh?!" The Black Bulls exclaimed all at the same time.
"I hate people who don't do things right. Back Bull is a "squad of outlaws" who have bigger damage that earning, right?" Natch asked, yet only met with silence from the other Black Bull Magic Knights.
"Even though you people took a more active role during the ordeal against the Eye of the Midnight Sun, it doesn't mean that your mistakes can be erased. A vulgar drunkard witch. A spatial Mage who is sloppy against woman to the point it would effect the mission. A fallen noble who was a prisoner. A runaway Mage who prefers to hide behind a mask. A Mage who is crippled to the point that he spend mostly in bed, even though he has been starting to become more active." Natch began to list the Black Bulls.
"There are two others who aren't present, but a lower-class who looks like an ill-natured gangster and another lower-class who looks terrible and wears and provocative mask." Natch finished his opinion on each member.
"He's certainly judgmental." Liebe whispered to Dämmerung.
"Not now, Liebe." Dämmerung responded back.
"What about Captain Yami?" Rin asked whilst raising an arm.
"I hate him. He's rough, violent, savage, irresponsible, unprincipled and unfaithful." Natch listed, causing everyone, mainly the Black Bulls, to become angry.
"Even though he possess a rare form of magic and is skilled in combat, he easily got captured." Natch further explained without a hint of sympathy.
"Hey! He was tired out after the battle against that creep, even with the three of us helping him." Donna pointed out whilst Rin and Liebe nod their heads in agreement.
"True, especially the Devil that Dante is hosting, but that doesn't change the outcome of the battle." Natch responded whilst shrugging his shoulders slightly.
"…...So what now?" Finral asked, causing a heavily atmosphere to appear around the room.
"I'm not sure how much that Devil host blabbed, but the Tree of Qliphoth ritual won't be starting until 3 days from now. So I want to save him, then you have time to train and get stronger." Natch responded, causing everyone to become confuse.
"And how would you know that?" Gauche asked, still feeling annoyed at the vice-captain of the Black Bulls.
"Up until now, I was infiltrating the Spade Kingdom." Natch responded, causing everyone to become wide-eyed.
"I've been giving Natch support during his time in the Spade Kingdom." Dämmerung added whilst raising an arm.
"So you and Liebe are citizens of the Spade Kingdom?" Donna asked, making Dämmerung and Liebe to nod their heads in response, which in turn cause the wielder of Ikazuchi to become concerned.
"I heard that a captains meeting is being held. we should get going." Natch said, making Dämmerung nod his head in response
"Hey! What right do you have to attend a meeting on our behalf?!" Gauche demanded, making Natch glance over his shoulder.
"I may not be taking my role as vice-captain of the Black Bulls fully, but I'm still qualified to take part. Plus the both of us have important information to show to Sir Julius and the rest of the captains." Natch explained before he and Dämmerung made their way out of the room.
"He's super mean." Grey said, making the other Magic Knights to nod their heads, making Liebe sweat-drop.
Elsewhere in the Royal Capital, Julius, the captains and vice-captains, which includes Yuno, are gathered in the meeting room.
"And that concludes the report I was given from Donna. The Tree of Qliphoth that connects the underworld to this world….the requirement to create that is Yami and Vangeance."" Ryo finish explaining, him having telling everyone the report that covers the battle between the Black Bulls and the two Sword of Logos Magic Knights against Dante.
"You don't say...to think that those two got abducted." Rill commented in a worrying tone of voice.
"Hmph. Seemingly, they probably let their guards down. Two of the so-called captains….." Charlotte stated in a calm tone of voice, yet inwardly feeling worried herself.
"We did our best….At least the Dark Triad has a power that overwhelms a captain. What was worse is that….he wasn't even in his full power yet." Yuno said in a grim tone of voice.
"Kha! That's interesting! You are over estimating because your scared, right? Almost-dead magnificent vice-captain of the Golden Dawn!" Jack said with a wide grin on his face, causing Yuno to gain a scowl on his face.
"Stop it, Jack. In the meanwhile, this world and the underworld might be starting to connect…..No, there's a possibility that it is connected already." Fuegoleon said in a serious tone of voice.
"Kha! Then, this world is already over?" Jack questioned in a raised eye-brow
"To prevent that we must move, but there are too many indefinite factors." Fuegoleon commented with a frown on his face.
"Hmmm. The condition of Yami and Vangeance is unknown too." Kaiser pointed out, starting to become worried.
"Ehhh! Is it because they're already dead…..?!" Rill questioned, gasping at the thought.
"Don't speak with a light speculation." Charlotte said with a slight glare, causing Rill to jump in fright.
"This is ridiculous! Nothing's going to proceed with a meeting like this. I'm going back." Jack said as he stood up off his chair and began to make his way towards the door.
"Wait. you aren't planning on attacking the Spade Kingdom aren't you." A voice spoke, causing the captain of the Green Mantis to glance over his shoulder to see that the speaker is Nozel, also standing up.
"Huh?! Who in the world for a dumb like that! Even if I did, it doesn't matter with you guys….!" Jack responded, becoming annoyed.
"Hesitate all you want/What do you mean by it doesn't matter, you fool! You think having it your way is allowed as a captain!" Charlotte demanded angrily, interrupting Jack.
"I also want to finish that foolish man with my hands." Nozel said in a serious tone of voice.
Before any other word can be spoken, the temperature in the room increased.
"You guys...that's enough!" Fuegoleon said as he stand up, the flames of his right arm becoming more fiery.
"How is this meeting becoming messed up without Captain Yami…...is Captain Dorothy still sleeping?!" Ryo thought as he notice how the captain of the Coral Peacocks is "sleeping".
"….." Julius remained silent as a sad expression appeared on his face.
"It's good that the desire seems enough. But I hate people who can't even hold a meeting properly." A voice suddenly spoke, causing everyone everyone to become startled before turning their heads towards the direction of the voice to see Natch and Dämmerung suddenly standing in the room.
"Can you be quiet for a while, captains?" Natch asked in a serious tone of voice.
This immediately caused everyone to become on guard.
"Who are you two?! intruders?!" Charlotte demanded as she and everyone else got their magic at the ready, with Ryo taking out Gekido.
"Hm?" Natch simply responded before suddenly four Devils appeared behind the captains/vice-captains, which cause a cold atmosphere to appear in the room as well.
"Devils? That man is a Devil host?!" Fuegoleon thought as he glanced to the side to look at the Devil behind him which possess the head of a dog.
"I believe that I'm qualified to attend this meeting as well." Natch said in a calm tone of voice.
"Natch is the vice-captain of the Black Bulls. He's being in the Spade Kingdom, spying. Although I didn't know he was a Devil Host either. And you…..?" Julius explained before trailing off as he turn he turn his attention towards Dämmerung.
"I'm Dämmerung. I've been helping with Natch's search." Dämmerung introduced himself.
"The Black Bull's vice-captain?" Charlotte questioned, becoming surprise.
"If it's Yami's squad, the vice-captain could be anyone…" Fuegoleon thought, knowing that the Black Bulls is a small squad.
"This guy…..I've seen him before…." Jack thought as he stare at Natch for a few seconds before a memory appeared in his head.
"Hey...aren't you…..but your magic was…." Jack began to say before trailing off, becoming confused.
"That man is gone." Natch responded before making his four Devils disappear along with his own set of horns.
"Now then. We're short on time….I'd like to move onto the main topic. Please, everyone sit." Natch said, making all the standing up captains sit down.
"As you are all aware, the Spade Kingdom intends to open the gate to the underworld. To that ends, preparations for the ritual of the advent of Qliphoth are no doubt underway at the castle. Yami and Vangeance will serve as the core of that ritual as sacrificial offerings. From this point on, over seven days, the advent of Qliphoth will begin. Seven gates will gradually open. Seven levels. Inside are ten Devils matched to Qliphoth in separate locations. The deeper the level, the stronger the Devil. The upper Devils are the equals to the Dark Triad. The lower Devils are even more powerful. And if the final Devil, Lucifero, emerges, this world is finished." Natch explained, causing the room to become tense.
"As the catalyst for the advent, Yami and William will die as well. Conversely…..until the gates are fully open, the will both be alive." Natch further explained before becoming quiet.
"This man. He acquired all this information from the heart of an enemy country…..but what about the other person?" Nozel thought before giving Dämmerung a quick glance.
"Why would the Dark Triad do something that dangerous?!" Rill asked wide eyes.
"Probably for no reason we could understand." Natch responded before speaking again.
"As Magic Knights, you've seen far too much of it already, haven't you? Scum who hurt others without a second thought for the sake of their own desires. Who feel no guilt as long as they benefit themselves they are the paragons of that breed. What are they thinking? I don't care. I don't even want to understand it." Natch explained as an image of the three Dark Triad members appeared in his head.
"Unjust evil. They're the type I hate the most. Even if god and Devils forgive them, I never will." The vice-captain of the Black Bulls said, a cold expression appearing on his face.
"Dark….." Dämmerung thought, gaining a slight scared expression on his face.
"That said, I can't defeat the Dark Triad. I know my own limits. I can do my best but no more." Natch said, a more warmer expression appearing on his face.
"Three days from now, the advent of Qliphoth will start and the gates of the underworld will start to open. With quick speed, we retake Yami and Vangeance and destroy the tree of Qlithoth. This time, it's our time to strike." Natch responded, making everyone to nod their heads.
"With my magic, we'll be able to infiltrate the castle unnoticed, then we'll storm the Dark Traid and take them out separately. Dante has gravity magic. Vanica has curse-warding magic and blood magic. The one with spatial and bone magic is Zenon." Natch explain the two types of magic that each of the Dark Triad members possess.
"Zenon…" Yuno and Ryo thought, remembering the person that attacked the Golden Dawn's headquarters.
"However, my magic won't let a crowd along. We need to choose the best individuals for the inflitration." Natch explained the weakness of his magic.
"Unless we manage to boost the efficiently of your magic." Dämmerung pointed out, causing Natch to hum slightly, musing over the thought.
"Alyssa may have a magic item that can help with that." Ryo thought, knowing that the merchant may have something that can be of use for the infiltration.
"Let me go, please." Yuno said as he stood up off his seat.
"I know it's insolent of me to ask. But….I'm begging you." Yuno said in a firm tone of voice.
"Huh?! Are you an idiot? You already lost once! There's no way you're getting picked." Jack said as he point a finger at the vice-captain of the Golden Dawn.
"Yuno...we do understand, but remaining here and defending the Clover Kingdom is an important mission." Fuegoleon pointed out, causing a frown to appear on Yuno's face.
"….." Dämmerung stared at the vice-captain of the Golden Dawn for a few seconds before speaking.
"There is something I want to say to you." Dämmerung said, causing Yuno to become curious.
"As you are well known about the resistance force that oppose the Dark Triad within the Spade Kingdom, a member of that group entered the Clover Kingdom in hopes of approaching you." Dämmerung explained, causing mostly everyone to become surprise. "
"That's correct. He explained that it was through Sebastian that the resistance knew about my whereabouts." Yuno explained, making Dämmerung to nod his head.
"Now that you've been told about your roots. Do you think that it would be wise to tell everyone else?" Dämmerung offered, causing a small frown to appear on Yuno's face.
"What's going on?" Kaiser asked, raising an eye-brow whilst starting to become concerned at how a Spade Kingdom Mage has entered the Clover Kingdom, even though he is technically on their side.
The same thought is going through everyone else's minds.
"He told me….that I'm from the royal family of the Spade Kingdom." Yuno responded, causing everyone to become wide-eyed.
"You're a prince?! S-seriously?!" Rill exclaimed in a shock tone of voice.
"How true is this claim?" Charlotte asked, finding this information dubious.
"The member of the resistance force, Ralph Niaflem, cast a spell which showed me memories of the past. Apparently, they evacuated me to the Clover Kingdom when the Dark Triad rebelled against the royal family." Yuno explained, but the captain of the Blue Rose Magic knights still has a frown on her face.
"He does possess the same facial features as lady Ciel. the queen consort of the Spade Kingdom." Dämmerung offered, yet this cause some confusion to appear, along with Yuno to stiffen slightly.
"Are you…..from the Spade Kingdom resistance force?" Julius asked, raising an eye-brow.
"That's correct, Sir Julius. My family held the role of studying Devils for the Granberally family, and currently being a member of the resistance force." Dämmerung explained, causing Julius to become wide-eyed.
"Gzzz. How many Spade Kingdom Mages are entering the Clover Kingdom?" Jack questioned in his head before making a "tch" sound.
"If he's royal, then that explains the large amount of Mana…?" Nozel thought before realizing something.
"If Yuno belongs to the Granberally family, then shouldn't possess one of the rare magic attributes that they possess….." Ryo thought, he seemingly having the same thoughts as the captain of the Silver Eagles, becoming confused at first before a small idea appeared in his head.
"Where is Ralph?" Dämmerung asked, becoming slightly concerned for his fellow Spade Kingdom citizen.
"He's currently within the Sword of Logos headquarters after what occurred at the Golden Dawn's headquarters." Ryo explained, making Dämmerung nod his head slightly.
"So what? Can you and that other resistance member can be trusted? Can we even trust you?" Jack questioned, speaking his thoughts whilst saying the last part to Yuno.
"If I'm not the one to save him, there's no point." Yuno responded in a calm tone of voice.
"It's not just me! Ever since the elf incident, all of you have doubts about captain Vangeance's role as a Magic Knight. I can't blame you for that. After all, he wasn't able to choose between the humans and the elves. But that's exactly why, even though he's hurting now….he's constantly fighting more earnestly than everyone else, as a Magic Knight. Back then, after that guy got me….as I was blacking out, I remember seeing something. As he fought, Captain Vangeance was protecting the Golden Dawn members, plus Vice-Captain Ogami and Mr Daishinji." Yuno said he started to remember the battle between William and Zenon.
"This is true." Ryo said whilst nodding his head.
"Captain Vangeance was captured….because he protected us while he fought. To you, he may be a traitor who once turned his back on the kingdom. But to us, he's the kindest, most reliable captain anywhere! That Zenon guy think he killed the entire Golden Dawn. He didn't wipe us out though. We're alive! Captain Vaneance's spell saved us! We're not done yet! We, the Golden Dawn...are the Clover Kingdom's strongest squad." Yuno said in a firm tone of voice just as wind started to swirl around him.
"You little….quit barking when nobody asked." Jack said in annoyance.
"Would you be quit already?" A female voice responded in irritation just as Bell appeared with her legs folded.
"I'm storing up Mana over here so we can take down that bony jerk! Yuno...is through loosing." Bell explained a serious tone of voice.
"It look like he has a chance after all." Natch thought, a small smirk appeared on his face.
"We'll depart for the Spade Kingdom in two days from now in the morning. I'll send word on the details of our strategy later." Natch said, making everyone nod their heads.
"In that case, we ought to contact the Heart Kingdom to coordinate our moments." Fuegoleon pointed out, making a frown appear on Julius's face.
"Yes, however…...communication from them have been cut off for some reason. We tried everything to reconnect, but nothing worked….." Julius explained, causing everyone to become worried.
"Yesterday. All members of the Dark Triad left the castle along taking members of the Dark Disciples with them. Whilst this allowed Natch to act more freely, it could be a possibility that Vanica had decided to attack the Heart Kingdom. Members of the resistance have reported how Vanica "visited" the Heart Kingdom not to long ago, so it could be that she decided to "visit" Queen Lolopechika again." Dämmerung explained, causing everyone to become more worried.
"…" Nozel remained silent, but started to frown.
And there we have it, the captains meeting where Natch gave his idea on the invasion on the Spade Kingdom along with Yuno's origins being revealed. Since the captains are aware that the Spade Kingdom's royal family possess three rare forms of magic, some of them are confused on how Yuno is wielding wind magic instead.
Please review and until next time.