Aftermath of the war
Entire silence seemed to fall across the entire area as the remaining piece of Lucifero's body crashed onto the ground, dead.
"Hehe…...it's our…...victory….." Saber muttered in a weak, yet happy tone of voice as he fell onto the ground, falling unconscious as his armor disappearing along with his dragon features disappearing.
"…..Is everyone dead?" Zoous questioned as he stared at the battle zone as it seemed that everyone isn't moving.
"Hmm. I wouldn't be surprised if they are still alive, but they seemed to have taken a lot of damage." Storious responded, making Zoous nod his head slightly.
Storious then began to chuckle.
"It's amusing. Even though they manage to win the battle, that was only 50% of Lucifero's power." Storious commented, making a grin appear on Zoou's face.
"So there is a chance that Lucifero will make his come back?" Zoous questioned, feeling excited about him having a go at the Devil King.
"That could…?" Storious began to say, but stop when he and Zoous spotted Adramelech approaching Asta and Lucifero.
"Hm? What is that Devil doing?" Zoous asked, raising an eye-brow.
The two Megid Generals watched as Adramelech stared down at Saber for a few seconds before turning his attention towards Lucifero.
The second layer Qliphoth Devil bend down and stabbed the Devil King in the chest and tore out his heart.
"Now this….is what I wanted." Adramelech said as he stared down at Lucifero's heart for a few seconds before turning around.
"Well then….see ya." Adramelech said to seemingly no one has he started to fly away.
"…" The two Megid Generals stared at the disappearing Devil.
"…...That Devil must have some sort of strange hobby….." Zoous commented in a blank tone of voice, making Storious nod his head in agreement.
"Come on. Let's find those two and leave, there's nothing left here." Storious said before turning around and began to move.
Zoous stayed where he stood for a few seconds before following Storious.
"…." Asta's eyes blinked open as he slowly regained consciousness.
"….!" Asta's eyes widened as he quickly sat up in the bed that he's been laying on.
"W-whoa!" Ekrixi exclaimed as he jumped in surprise. "
Grandfather! Grandaunt! Where…..?" Asta said as he glanced around the room that he, Ekrixi and Shan are in, an infirmary where Sayo, Bahadur, Yuri and Finsternis are also present.
"We're in the Spade Kingdom resistance force temporary base that they have made before the invasion." Ekrixi explained, causing the wielder of Rekka to become surprise.
"Why are we here?" Asta asked, starting to become confuse.
"Isn't it obvious? To get some rest, you and the others just fought the Devil King." Shan pointed out, making Asta nod his head before realizing the condition he's in.
"Hm? I feel better than I would expected." The wielder of Rekka commented as he saw his less graved wounds.
"From what we've been told….." Ekriki began to explain.
Flashback(Start)
"What a mess!" Tassel thought as he made his way across the battlefield, him being the first to recover from the sudden release of gravity magic.
The book-keeper finally approached the fallen group that fought Lucifero.
"Being the closest to Lucifero, I wouldn't be surprised if some bones are broken." Tassel muttered as he examine everyone.
"W…..who…..?" A voice spoke, causing Tassel to jump slightly as he saw that Yuno is still conscious.
"I'm Tassel. Nice to meet you." Tassel introduce himself with a small smile on his face.
"…" Yuno, despite his injuries, became tense.
"Hey! I've been helping out on your side!" Tassel explained before regaining his composer.
"Anyway, these people will need healing, immediately." Tassel said, a serious expression appearing on his face whilst Yuno glanced at everyone who took part in the battle against Lucifero.
"Right." Yuno said before opening his Spade Kingdom Grimoire and teleported Mimosa next to them.
"Y-yuno…..!" Mimosa in a startled tone of voice before glancing at the injured people.
"…..I'm sorry. But I'm completely ran out of Mana…" Mimosa said, causing Yuno to gain a stunned expression on his face.
"Where's that Black Bull Mage?" Tassel thought as he glanced at the surrounding area…...whilst holding back Primitive Dragon who seemed to on the verge of attacking Yuno.
As if responding to Tassel's thoughts, a gold spatial portal appeared and the Black Bulls came tumbling out.
Whilst this cause Yuno, Mimosa and Primitive Dragon to become on guard, Tassel's face lit up.
"Hey, Charmy! She needs her Mana recovered." Tassel said whilst gesturing towards the Vermillion haired girl.
"Say no more!" Charmy shouted as one of her cotton-made sheep instantly started to make a meal.
"…" The two Golden Dawn Magic Knights and cyan-coloured dragon gain black expressions on their faces as they watched the cotton-made sheep made the final preparations.
"Eat up!" Charmy exclaimed as she shove the plate into Mimosa's face.
"Ehh? Eh?!" Mimosa exclaimed, gaining a startled/shock expression on her face.
"Come on! Hurry up and eat! Eat!" Charmy encourage the Vermillion haired girl.
"But….wait! Without a fork and a knife, I…." Mimosa began to come up with an excuse, but her voice died in her throat.
"Just shove it in your mouth already! We don't gave time for this!" Magna shouted in annoyed tone tone of voice.
"The Black Bulls…..sure are an energetic squad." Yuno thought with a blank expression on his face as he and the others watched as Mimosa quickly eat the food.
"My Mana is replenished!" Mimosa said, a confident expression appearing on her face.
Flashback(End)
"And that's pretty much happened." Shan finished the story, causing the room to become quiet.
"….The Black Bulls sure are a strange bunch." Bahadur commented after a few seconds of being silent, him and the others having slowly woken up throughout the story...although Finsternis hasn't moved.
"Yeah….they do like to cause a ruckus during their missions." Asta admitted whilst sweat-dropping.
It was at that moment that Asta realized something.
"What about Donna? Is she okay?!" The wielder of Rekka asked, starting to become worried.
"..." Both Ekrixi and Shan became quite.
"...She's n-not..." Asta said, trying not to think of the worse scenario.
"...Due to the wound that she received from fighting Lucifero...Er...well..." Shan began to reply before trailing off.
The colour started to drain out of Asta's skin.
"Have there been anymore confirmed deaths?" Yuri asked, resulting in him getting kicked by Sayo.
"...Yes. Mostly from those with low Mana and not being able to handle Lucifero's gravity magic." Shan responded, making Yuri nod his head whilst rubbing the spot where Sayo kicked him.
"...Where is she?" Asta asked in a low tone of voice.
"Donna's in another part of the Spade Kingdom's resistance force's base. But for now, you should rest." Ekrixi said, halting Asta.
"But-" Asta began to object, but his grandfather place a hand on one of his shoulders.
"Asta. I understand that you want to "visit" Donna, but you just fought a dangerous opponent and even though you have been healed, proper rest is also needed." Ekrixi explained in a firm, yet soft, tone of voice.
Asta was about to speak again, but a voice spoke.
"Sir Ekrixi is right. Plus it will put a strain on your mental health if see Donna right now." The voice explained and when everyone looked at the new comer, Asta's eyes widened.
"Hm. And this was once the Spade Kingdom's castle." Olivia commented as she examined the current condition of the Spade Kingdom's castle, plus town, reduced to ruins, mainly thanks to the two battles against Lucifero.
"Yes, meaning a lot more cleaning up for us to do." Ryo responded as he observed the multiple people who are helping out with clearing the rubble, despite their bodies still recovering from the effects of Lucifero's gravity magic.
A big thanks to the clearing up is directed at the mechanical beings that reside within the Wonder-Ride books, including those belonging to Asta, Bahadur and Sayo.
Olivia also has her Vellamental-constructs helping out.
"So...I was informed that the swords-woman of lighting has...fallen..." The chief witch spoke, causing Ryo to stiffen slightly.
"Yes. She was seriously injured when projecting Asta from Lucifero." Ryo explained, causing Olivia to raise an eye-brow.
"Was that some form of redemption?" The chief witch questioned, deciding to keep the thought to herself.
"So what's the situation of the other side?" Ryo asked, referring to the Devil invasion that occurred within Wonder World, deciding to the change the subject.
"The last I know is that the other branches of the Sword Of Logos are dealing with the clearing up as well where Miss Shindai suggested that we head over to this side, the side where the most damage is dealt." Olivia explained, making Ryo nod his head slightly.
"I suppose that Kris and Shamshir hurried over to the Spade Kingdom when the gateway for the Devils to enter Wonder World closed." The wielder of Gekido thought, thinking of the most likely scenario.
Elsewhere in the ruins of the Spade Kingdom castle and the town, Takdir is helping with clearing the rubble.
"Come on! Don't dawdle about!" The fused witch called to those close by.
"You do realize that they're still recovering from the effects of the Devil King's gravity magic." Domi pointed out as she pass some rubble to one of Sayo's white mechanical foxes, who took the pieces before heading in a direction.
"Hmph. It wasn't hardly an easy battle for everyone." Takdir commented, causing Domi to nod her head slightly.
"How's that elf soul within you doing?" Takdir asked, she having heard that the wielder of Eien No Midori hosts two souls.
"She's currently resting. We're taking turns in helping with the clearing up." Domi responded, making Takdir nod her head slightly.
"I suppose that method is less taxing...unlike me..." Takdir thought, the fused witch thinking that it would have been better if she was in her separate components.
"There. That should be support you for now." Secre said as she used her sealing magic to "heal" some wounds of one of the Spade Kingdom resistance force member who nodded their heads before walking away to help the others.
"Thanks for helping out with the healing. The number of healing Mages have greatly reduced due to the Devil King's magic..." Mimosa said with a small smile on her face before it slowly disappeared.
"...I'm...sorry that I wasn't able to heal Donna. The attack that she received from the Devil King struck a vital organ, killing her instantly." Mimosa explained, a saddened expression appeared on her face.
"..." A saddened expression also appeared on Secre's face.
"Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned Donna." Mimosa thought, starting to become guilty.
"...First our bonds with Asta have been broken, and now the departing of Donna..." Secre thought, feeling mentally damaged.
"S-seriously? There's nothing you can d-do?" Rin questioned in a stunned tone of voice as she stare at Fana and Fana(elf).
Currently, Rin, Rintaro, Fana, Fana(elf), and Mars are within the area where those have died have been brought and are standing in front of the bed that holds Donna's body.
"I'm afraid not." Fana responded whilst shaking her head.
"But didn't your powers brought you back to life in the past?" Mars asked, giving Fana a confused look.
"The only instance when the resurrection happened was after...that final exam and Morris did throw me away when he was dissatisfied with his experiments on me. So it could be that the resurrection aspect of my magic is limited. Plus Donna's body is inflicted with a huge amount Demonic Mana." Fana explained, causing Rintaro to gain a thinking expression on his face.
"...Donna was struck by a Demonic Mana-infused attack during the Table of Revelations incident." Rintaro commented, remembering how Donna got struck by Calibur's attack.
"But didn't Mimosa healed her before the Demonic Mana spread?" Rin pointed out, causing Rintaro hum slightly.
"It could be that the Demonic Mana didn't completely disappeared, going into a dormant state. That punch that Lucifero threw at Donna was probably covered in Mana-skin which in turn cause the Demonic Mana with in her to flare up." Rintaro suggested, causing Rin to nod her head slightly.
"...If I still had a contract with Salamander and I was able to access to Saint Stage, then that would probably gotten rid of the Demonic-Mana was also enhancing my magic." Fana(elf) commented with a thoughtful expression on her face.
Rin and Rintaro perked up at this whilst Fana raised an eye-brow at her.
"I highly doubt you would have been able to access Saint Stage in the first place since you were contaminated with Demonic-Mana yourself." Fana pointed out Fana(elf) was flooded with anger whilst under the effect of reincarnation magic.
"True. Plus Spirit Dive was forcefully achieved through that Alter-Ride I was given." Fana(elf) responded with a thoughtful expression on her face.
"This is so bizarre." Mars thought, seeing it strange that two identical people, who aren't even born-twins, are talking normally with each other...although Fana did have the shock of her life when she saw Fana(elf) for the first time.
"So...what's going to happen now?" Rin asked whilst glancing towards Donna's body, which is covered by a bed sheet.
"That's something we'll figure out later." The wielder of Nagare responded, causing the wielder of Hayate to nod her head.
"Queen Lolopechika! You should be resting." Domi exclaimed in a shock tone of voice as she attempted to keep Lolopechika sitting on the chair.
"But I want to help out!" Lolopechika responded as she struggled against Domi's grip.
"Haaaah! Whilst I agree that Lolopechika should be resting, she's so cute when she's struggling!" Undine thought in her head as she observe the scene.
With the spirit of water, her size has greatly reduced due to her using all of her Mana when in Saint Stage with Blades, now possessing a similar size to Bell.
The scene of Lolopechika being forced to remain in her seat by Domi is watched by Gahja who has a small smile on his face, the guardian of lighting having decided to take things easy due to his body still suffering from the battle against Megicula, him having pushed his body over its limits.
"…...Why are you glaring at me?" Sebastian asked as he spotted Tetsuo from the corner of his eyes.
Whilst the wielder of Sezume is helping with the clearing, he seemed to have his attention more focused on the wielder of Aerkurufuyu.
"If I see a single scratch on Aerkurufuyu, you are dead….." Tetsuo responded with a dark aura around, something which cause those close by to quickly avoid the two Holy Sword wielders.
"You should really get out of your headquarters more, plus, should you be focused on all of the Holy Swords rather than just Aerkurufuyu. If your plan on attempting to kill me, then be prepared to feel the wraith of my wife." Sebastian thought, imagining a scene of Tetsuo running away from an angry Helga.
"And that's sums up the report." Reika said as she explained whilst passing some papers towards Master Logos.
"Thank you, Miss Shindai." Master Logos said with a small smile on his face.
"Now that the whole Advent of Qliphoth ordeal is over, we can start…?" Master Logos began to thought, but stop when he saw a small frown on Reika's face.
"Is there something troubling you, Miss Shindai?" Master Logos asked, becoming slightly concerned.
"It's nothing important…...but the battle against Lucifero….I thought that there would have been...…." Reika began to say, but stop when she couldn't find the right words to say at first.
"It's just that, whilst they received serious wounds, I would have expected more deaths." Reika explained, causing Master Logos to raise an eye-brow.
"You're not happy that there should have been more casualties?" Master Logos asked, causing Reika to shake her head.
"Of course not, Sir. It's just that, the outcome of the battle against the Devil King seems…...too favorable for our side." Reika explained, causing Master Logos to nod his head slightly, understanding what the wielder of Noroshi is saying.
"The answer is simple." A new voice spoke, causing both Reika and Master Logos to turn their heads towards the source of the voice where a smile appeared on Reika's face.
"An outside force has been controlling the battle's flow, leading to a more favorable outcome." The person, a male who possess short black hair whilst wearing the robes of the Sword of Logos Magic Knights.
"Controlling the flow of the battle against the Devil King? That would require great power to accomplish….." Master Logos commented, a small frown appearing on his face.
"I have some bad news." The person spoke, causing the supreme leader of the Sword of Logos to perk up.
"What sort of news?" Master Logos questioned, starting to become concerned.
"It would seemed that during the invasion of the Devils, someone sneak into the base a freed our prisoner." The male explained, causing a concerned expression to appear on Master Logos's face.
"What should we do?" Reika asked, becoming concerned herself.
"…" Master Logos became silent for a few seconds before speaking.
"It would seem that some termination is required." Master Logos finally spoke, causing both Reika and the male to nod their heads.
"Gha! Why can they just leave us alone!" Desast exclaimed in an angry tone of voice.
Currently, Desast and Cupiditas are basically running away from Storious and Zoous.
Whilst the two Megid Generals seemed keen on taking Desast and Cupiditas with them, the two have other ideas.
"Heh. You really are interested on keeping your freedom." Cupiditas commented with a smirk on his face.
"Of course!" Desast responded, snorting slightly.
"Well…...I like to see those two attempting to capture me now that I have this." Cupiditas said as he took the object that he has been filling up with Demonic Mana, an Alter-Ride book.
"Plus I've acquired something else..." Cupiditas thought, a smirk appearing as he took out a second Alter-Ride book.
"..." Asta stared at the ceiling whilst laying on a bed, memories between him, Donna and Luna appeared within his head.
"Why did it had to end like this?" The wielder of Rekka thought, a part of him wondering what would have happened if things went differently in the past.
"Asta." A voice suddenly spoke, causing the ash-white hair teen to become startled before turning his head towards the source of the voice.
"What's wrong, Houyan Long?" Asta asked as he sat up and picked up "Elemental Dragon".
"I know that this seems like a inappropriate moment time, but….there's something you should know." Houyan Long's voice spoke from the Wonder-Ride book which glowed in conjunction with the pyro dragon's voice.
"What's wrong?" Asta asked, noticing the slight hesitation with Houyan Long's voice.
"In the distance past, it was me and the rest of the Primordial Dragons that were responsible for creating the multiple layers of the Underworld, each with their own seal to prevent Devils from entering the human world through normal means. However, the cost of such a feat is the destruction of our physical bodies and a large portion of our Mana." Houyan Long began to explain, causing Asta's eyes to widen.
"Even though the Devils are securely sealed within the Underworld, Fenglong held the responsibility of monitoring the Underworld with his All-Seeing gaze, focusing on Devils that have made contracts with humans and moving between the Underworld and the human world." Houyan Long continue his explanation of the world of Devils.
"Especially contracts made with the more powerful Devils?" Asta guessed and he could sense the pyro dragon nodding his head in agreement.
"Indeed, especially those connected with the Tree of Qliphoth, a dark ritual that we didn't foresee come into existence." Houyan Long responded, remembering the feeling of frustration when he and the other Primordial Dragons learned about the ritual created by a group of Devil-worshipping Mages, despite being reduced to a spiritual existence.
"…..Why are you telling me this?" Asta asked, starting to become confuse.
"Going back to Fenglong, he carefully kept on a close eye on the three ruling Devils of the Underworld, Lucifero of gravity magic, who also possess the name "Satan", Beelzebub of spatial magic and Astaroth of time magic." Houyan Long listed the names of the three strongest Devils of the Underworld.
"Astaroth….." Asta muttered, feeling a slight chill due to how he share the first part of the time Devil's name.
"Despite Fenglong's firm concentration of overseeing the Underworld, somehow, Astaroth completely disappeared from the Underworld, bypassing his gaze, which eventually lead to Megicula being named as the strongest Devil of that level of the Underworld." Houzai explained, causing Asta's eyes to widen in shock.
"Megicula…..isn't a part of the Tree of Qliphoth…." Asta thought in a shock tone of voice.
"A-are you saying that a Qliphoth Devil somehow managed to leave the Underworld without the Tree of Qliphoth ritual and is roaming around the human world, or Wonder World?" Asta asked, attempting to keep calm.
"I don't think that Astaroth broke out of the Underworld alone, we were aware that someone made a contract with the Devil that controls time before his disappearance. So whoever made the contract with Astaroth is the one responsible with aiding the time Devil from the human world. This all occurred roughly 20 years ago." Houyan Long explained, making Asta nod his head.
"Just great! We just won a war and prevent multiple Devils from entering the this world and Wonder World, but there is already a powerful Devil, one of the three ruling Devils, already within the human world!" Asta exclaimed in his head.
"Do….do you know who made the contract with Astaroth?" Asta asked, a serious expression appearing on his face.
"….Fenglong isn't able to automatically know which human a Devil made a contract with until he further investigate, but….." Houyan Long began to say, but his voice trailed of.
"But what…..?" Asta asked, starting to become concerned.
"..." Houyan Long became silent, not wanting to damage Asta even further.
And there we go, everyone is dealing with the aftermath of the invasion...along with the confirmation that Donna is dead. So how will Wonder Clover progress from this point onwards? The chapter also include Houyan Long telling Asta that it was the Primordial Dragons who sealed the Devils within the Underworld before revealing that the third ruling Devil King of the Underworld, Astaroth of time magic, has disappeared from the Underworld, but decided to keep some key information a secret.
I'm going to be away next week, so I won't be able to update the story.
Please review and until next time.
Howard576:
1) Donna surviving...Um...
2) I think that it was more surprising that Hanto saw two Dark Shomas with Kenzo instead of one.
neostardustdragon101: Sorry about that, but I suppose you could say that some faint attachment still exists within Asta's subconsciousness.
Dragstorm rider:
1) I suppose it would have been nice for all of the revealed Kamen Riders to have fought Lucifero, but for Noelle, she's unconsciousness/resting from being freed of Demonic Mana, Bahato is sealed in his Grimoire, plus it is unlikely that he would work together with the Magic Knights in the first place. With Sebela and Durandal, the Shindai siblings would have been dealing with the remaining Devils in Wonder World.
2) That seems the most likely course of action for Asta since Donna is now gone.
3) It may go in that direction, but a certain someone will have other ideas.
4) We just have to wait and see on what happens next.
parth1510:
1) Thanks for the finishing move for Slash.
2) It's a part of the story, I guess.
3) From the looks of things, Asta seems to be considering the idea of meeting his friends again.
4) Things seems to be changing in those aspects.
5) No, I don't have any fan-art on the OC Kamen Riders.
mastergamer14:
1) Asta's armor will be based on chips due to how Hage village grows Nomotoes, Yuno's armor will be caramel based sweets due to the golden-brown colour, and Noelle's armor will be based on a Yule Log/Buche de Noel due it being a French desert.
2) If the five were kidnapped and experimented on, then everyone would freak out when they rescue them and see their new "forms".
3) I'll consider the idea.