Chapter Twenty-Four: The Fall of Light
Day 5 is here, so here's another chapter, hope you enjoy it. Cya.
"You managed to survive that, I must say, I'm impressed," Licht said with an approving nod.
"Impressed my ass, you're really starting to piss me off," Yami said as he charged forward towards the light mage. "Don't you underestimate me, it's time I show you the power of a Magic Knight Captain!"
"Hey Captain Yami, what are we supposed to do?!" Asta asked.
"What're you talking about, you and Kenos can go fight that spatial guy, use what you've learned," the dark mage replied.
"Yes sir, you ready, Kenos?" Asta asked, turning to his squadmate with a serious look on his face.
The solar mage nodded before giving the same look. "You know it," he replied. "This can be my chance to use Ki,"
"It appears we both have an enemy to fight, good luck to you, Valtos," Licht said as the two began running towards the Black Bulls.
"And the same to you, master," Valtos said back as they divided, each going to meet their targeted enemy.
"You told me that you wouldn't let me get another hit on you, why don't I just prove you wrong quick," Yami reminded his opponent as his grimoire flipped through pages. "Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dance of the Eclipse!" he exclaimed as a black mass surrounded him before vanishing.
"Where did he go?" Licht wondered aloud before Yami appeared right behind him.
"This spell is really handy for getting the drop on opponents, time to get that hit in," Yami said as Licht's face contorted in surprise, the captain's katana became enveloped in darkness as he prepared to strike.
"An impressive attempt, Yami Sukehiro, but I intend to stay true to my words, Light Creation Magic: Radiant Shield of Justice!" Licht exclaimed as a circular shield of light with intricate designs appeared on his back, protecting him from the dark mage's attack.
"Damn it, and I was so close to doing it too," Yami muttered as he jumped into the air to strike Licht from his front side.
"You didn't think I'd fall prey to an attack like that, did you?" Licht asked rhetorically as he jumped out of the way. "I think it's time I got a little more serious,"
"Is that so, then I guess I could do the same," Yami plainly retorted.
"Light Magic: Sky-Rending Flash!" the light mage exclaimed as the orbs of light appeared again, firing their beams.
Yami quickly anticipated the movements and backed out of the way, but just as he did, a shadow loomed over him, he looked up to see that it was Licht. "Huh?"
"Unlike the last time, I won't give you time to recover, Light magic is the greatest attribute when it comes to speed, so I'll take full advantage of it, Light Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!" he exclaimed as the swords of light descended on his opponent.
"Shit," Yami muttered as he tried to quickly cut the swords before they hit him, but he wasn't prepared for them directly after another attack, allowing one to bypass his watch, forming a decent sized cut on his shoulder.
The light mage grinned as he saw this. "It seems I was the one who was able to land an attack in this time,"
"Don't get used to it," Yami said as he charged forward, darkness covering his blade once more.
Licht knew what he was going to do and formed a singular light sword as the two clashed once again, exchanging attacks over and over.
The dark mage continued attacking, but he also used this as a chance to look at his opponent's grimoire, his facial expression slightly changed as he backed up from Licht, a strange look was on his face.
"What's with that look, is something the matter?" Licht asked, confused by the contortion of his enemy's face.
Yami pointed at him. "Your grimoire, it's from the Clover Kingdom, not to mention it has four leaves, that's a rare one you got on you," he stated with a bit of a carefree tone.
Licht raised a brow. "That's correct, what about that is a problem?"
"You have a grimoire of this kingdom, yet you want to usurp it, is that right?" the dark mage asked.
The light mage nodded. "That's right, the people in this kingdom are corrupt and selfish, and they must be eliminated, having a grimoire native to this kingdom doesn't change that goal one bit!"
Yami silently gritted his teeth at his opponent's words, his mind went back to something Julius told him when he first came here, so many years ago.
"Your name is Yami, right? Hello, it's nice to meet you, my name is Julius Novachrono, I've heard from the people around that you're not from here, well, let me be the first to formally introduce you to the Clover Kingdom, I know it could be strange at times, but you'll love it here, I promise you," the wizard king told him, all with a big smile on his face and his eyes full of joy and enthusiasm.
Yami gripped his katana tightly. "You know something, light guy?" he began.
"And what might that be?"
The dark mage's face grew deadly serious. "I was sort of sure of it when we were first introduced, but now it's official...I really don't like you,"
"You might've been able to deflect my attack on me earlier, but that's because I was underestimating you, so I won't do it again!" Valtos exclaimed as he fired an array of spatial orbs at the two Black Bulls, with the spherical projectiles coming from a variety of directions.
However, that did not phase the swordsman as he gracefully sliced every orb that came his way in half, with the Demon-Slayer Sword in his left hand, and the Demon-Dweller Sword in his right, he grinned. "This is awesome, thanks to learning Ki, I can anticipate and counter every single one of these attacks,"
The swordsman was doing incredibly, the solar mage, however, not so much, he had done his best to use Ki, but he kept failing every time, he then resorted to using his eyes and ears to anticipate the attacks, although it wasn't as effective as the powerful technique.
"Why is this happening, why can't I do it, Asta practically picked it up instantly and is using it like a pro, I know that Captain Yami said that it would probably take some time for me to learn, but he also said I had the right idea, so shouldn't I be able to just use it a little bit," Kenos thought with a tone of great frustration.
Valtos noticed the solar mage's struggle from afar. "That boy with the swords is countering all of my attacks, but that other boy is a different story, he's just barely managing to hold on, I should take advantage of that while I have the chance," he said as his grimoire flipped to a page before stopping.
"Spatial Magic: Swift Space Slash!" he thought as he did a cutting motion with his hand, sending a purple crescent-shaped slash at Kenos, while maintaining the array of orbs descending on the Magic Knights.
"Just keep going, I can do this all day!" Asta exclaimed as he continued to cut or deflect the orbs, he then looked over to see how Kenos was doing, a small frown touched the swordsman's face when he saw his squadmate struggling, but he then noticed something, some sort of purple attack, heading straight for Kenos, however, the solar mage was too busy trying to avoid the orbs to notice it.
"Kenos, look out!" Asta exclaimed as he ran in front of the black-haired mage and crossed his swords, protecting his friend from the attack.
"What in the world?" Kenos wondered aloud as he just saw Asta standing in front of him. "Is something the matter?"
"Valtos sent an attack your way, but I saw you didn't notice it, so I came to guard you," Asta replied.
"Oh, well thanks a lot, I...watch out!" Kenos was about to say, but ended up exclaiming as an orb struck Asta right in the shoulder.
"Ah," the swordsman said in pain. "That one hurt a lot more than the ones he was firing at us in the beginning, he meant what he said, he isn't holding back,"
"I'm sorry,"
Asta turned to his squadmate, his face showed sadness, but mostly anger. "Kenos-," he wasn't able to finish as the two were put back on the move evading spatial spheres.
"What do you mean, why are you sorry?"
Kenos sighed as he struggled to cut every orb that came his way. "It's obvious that Ki is needed to get the upper hand in this fight, but I can't use it, while you can, while I'm doing my best just to not get hit, you're successfully cutting or deflecting every orb in your vicinity, you even had to move in to protect me from Valtos' attack, and that left you vulnerable, which in turn got you hurt, I'm a liability to you,"
Asta peered at his injured shoulder before shaking his head. "You're wrong, you're not a liability,"
"What?"
"Even since I met you, when we've fought together, you were never, ever, a liability, sure you can't use Ki right now, and sure I might get hurt protecting you from a few attacks, but don't think that makes you any less capable in this situation," Asta told him.
"You really think so?" Kenos asked.
"You bet," the swordsman said back, doing his best to give a thumbs-up.
"Thanks," the solar mage said back.
Asta nodded as he began to think. "It's good that Kenos is feeling better, but we have to find a way to beat Valtos, he's been keeping us at bay for all this time, and we haven't had a single chance to go on the offensive. He's creating portals in random spots which in turn let him fire orbs from random spots, so what I have to do is anticipate where he'll make a portal before an orb comes out of it, and with Ki, I should be able to now,"
Although he was moving a lot, Asta began to take deep breaths. "Concentrate, focus, anticipate where the portal will be, you can do it," he thought deeply, he then turned his hand sideways, and lo and behold, a portal formed right there.
"Alright, here we go!" Asta exclaimed as he quickly threw his swords to the side, the two blades lodging themselves on the ground.
Valtos was taken aback. "You've thrown your only weapons aside? Have you gone mad?"
"Not even close!" the swordsman retorted as he slightly crouched down before jumping into the air, right into the portal, soon appearing right in front of Valtos.
"This is called...winning!" he exclaimed as he punched the spatial mage right in the face, sending him into a wall, however, this time he fell unconscious.
"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!" Yami exclaimed from afar as he fired the slash of darkness at Licht, the light mage dodged it, but Yami merely used it as a way to reconvene with Asta and Kenos.
"How are you two holding up?" the captain asked.
"Just fine, did you see it, Captain Yami, I beat Valtos with one hit, all thanks to Ki," Asta said ecstatically.
"Is that so, well nice job kid," Yami said back before turning his attention to the solar mage. "And what about you, Kenos?"
Kenos sighed. "Still no luck,"
"I see, well, it's like I said, you'll learn it eventually," the dark mage said to him.
Kenos wanted to change the subject. "So, how are you holding up?"
Yami groaned as he blew smoke from his cigarette. "That light bastard is really troublesome, I can see why he's the leader of their little group,"
Meanwhile, Licht landed on the ground after dodging Yami's Lightless Slash attack, he turned his head to see Valtos, unconscious.
"Valtos, they hurt you again, now they're really going to die," the light mage muttered as he watched the three Black Bulls standing together, his grimoire flipped through pages. "Light Binding Magic: Light Chains of Bondage!"
At his call, yellow chains of light constricted around the feet of the three enemy mages.
"What the, I can't move my legs," Yami said, bewildered by the sudden confinement.
"I can't move either," Asta added.
"Hey!" Kenos yelled in Licht's direction. "What have you done?!"
"This is a binding spell of mine, I don't use it very often since it's very ineffective against moving targets, meaning whoever I choose to use it on must be standing still," the light mage explained.
"Well, that explains why he didn't use it against us earlier," Kenos muttered to himself.
"And now that you can't move, it's about time that I finish you, behold the strongest spell I have!" Licht exclaimed as he floated into the air, his grimoire flipping through one page, the mage was then surrounded by a large sphere of yellow translucent light. "It will take some time to charge, but once it's finished and I release it, the three of you are dead,"
"Wait, you said that the spell will just take some time to charge, so what, you think we're just going to sit around and let you do it, do you take us for idiots or something?" Kenos asked rhetorically as his grimoire flipped to a page. "I do have an option, we can still move our arms, so I'll just show you my own mightiest attack, Solar Cross Destroyer, then we'll see who'll be dead,"
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, when I'm charging this spell, it becomes very sensitive to outer contact, if you use your spell, my spell would explode, destroying everything around it, and I think you know what will happen to you all if it does," Licht said back to him.
"Oh, well damn," the solar mage said plainly. "I don't have any more options,"
"Good, so accept your fate, mages of the Black Bulls, it's been an honor to fight you, but your time has come to an end!" Licht exclaimed as his attack continued charging.
The faces of the three mages contorted to one of fear and uncertainty. "Ah shit," they all thought.
"Gauche, are you out there!"
Finral exited the cave and ran outside, the spatial mage of the Black Bulls was met with a cold breeze that came with the snow and wind.
"Finral, we're over here!" a voice exclaimed, he turned to see Gauche calling to him, beside him was Marie and Marco on his right with Theresa and Neige's unconscious bodies to his left, the rest of the children were behind him.
"There you are, Kenos told me you were outside," Finral told him.
"How are they doing in there?" the mirror mage asked.
"They're doing just fine, Captain Yami is in there with them," the spatial mage replied as he formed a portal. "Let's get these kids back to the town,"
Gauche went first, carrying Theresa and Neige, Finral stayed on the other side to make sure all the kids got through and that none were left behind, he also carried the three unconscious children as he was the last to go through the portal before it closed behind him.
The mirror mage looked behind him and saw the footprints Asta had found earlier, they were now lightly filled with snow.
"Alright, all of you go back to your parents!" Gauche exclaimed to them.
They didn't wait for another second to do what they were told. "Thank you!" they exclaimed back.
The night was then filled with the joyous sound of parents reuniting with their children, the cries of relief echoed into the sky.
Gauche and Finral smiled. "I guess we can say this is a mission accomplished," the spatial mage said.
"Not yet," Gauche said back as he motioned to Theresa and Neige who were behind him. "We're going to need to get these two some medical attention,"
"Hey, you there, Black Bulls!" a voice exclaimed, the two mages turned to their left to see a man wearing a cloak.
"It's a capital mage," Finral noted.
"If anybody's been injured, bring them into this house, we'll heal them!" he exclaimed.
"Alright, let's bring them over there," the spatial mage said as he and Gauche ran over to him, but as they got close, the capital mage noticed something.
"Um, excuse me, sir, is there anything wrong with those children?" he asked, pointing to the three kids Finral was holding.
"I'm not too sure, their magic signatures are pretty weak though," Finral answered.
The mage walked over to him and inspected them. "Well, from what I can see, they've suffered no forms of physical damage, all they need is some rest,"
The spatial mage nodded. "Thank you, Gauche, take those two to the house to be healed, I'll go ask around if there are any parents who are missing a child, once I'm done, I'll meet back up with you,"
"Okay then," the mirror mage said as they split ways.
"Wait brother, I'm coming with you two!" Marie exclaimed as she ran in his direction.
"We're coming too!" Luca and Marco added.
"Shouldn't you head back to your sister's house?" Gauche asked.
"Not yet, we want to make sure Sister Theresa is alright," Luca replied.
The mirror mage sighed. "Fine then, you can come," he said as they arrived at the house, once they walked inside, they noticed three beds and five more capital mages. Gauche laid Theresa on one bed and Neige in another, three mages walked to each one and cast their healing spells, a light surrounded her.
The old lady began groaning, Gauche quickly walked to her side as she began to slowly open her eyes. "Where...am I?"
"You're back at the town," Gauche quickly replied. "You took a bad hit back at the cave, right now, you're being healed,"
"Is that you...Gauche?" she asked before a small smile appeared on her face. "I wanted to tell you that I'm proud of you, you came back to help us,"
"Don't get your hopes up, old hag, I only came back because Marie asked me to," the mirror mage said with crossed arms as he averted his gaze from the nun.
"I know, Kenos told me, but at least I know that you can fight for others, you crazy sister lover," she said. "So, where are the others, are they back at their homes?"
"No, they're still fighting that Licht guy in the cave, but my captain is helping them too," he replied.
"I see-...ah!" Theresa said before exclaiming in pain.
"Sister Theresa!" the three children exclaimed.
"Damn it, she's a lot more injured than we thought, increase the strength!" one of the capital mages said as the light around her became brighter.
"Oh no, don't you dare die on us!" Gauche exclaimed, pointing to Marie, Marco, and Luca behind him. "Marie still needs you, and so do the rest of these kids, you can't leave, Theresa!"
Although she was still in pain, the old lady chuckled. "Theresa? You know, it's actually kind of strange to hear you call me by my actual name, the only other time you've ever said it was when we first met, you remember that time, right?"
"Well duh, how could I forget, Marie was in it," Gauche replied plainly.
"You can be a real idiot sometimes, you know," Theresa said as the two of them thought back.
[Flashback]
Town of Nean. Two Years Ago.
"Nean? Nean? Now, where is that damned town?" Gauche wondered aloud as he flew through the sky, looking for the large town, in his hand was a map given to him by a mysterious stranger who merely sent it to him via a spatial portal.
The mirror mage kept looking down to see a large landmark that Nean had: a large clover on the top of one of the town's biggest buildings.
"Where is that clover?" Gauche asked himself before finally noticing what he was looking for, he grinned. "Finally, I found it," he said as he descended.
Upon landing, he began looking around. "Damn this town is pretty big once you're on the ground level," he quickly noted. "But that's not why I'm here, I'm here to see a very special person,"
"Gauche!" a voice exclaimed from behind the mage, he turned around and smiled at the person in question.
"Marie!" Gauche exclaimed as blood ran down his nose, he ran towards his little sister and picked her up. "It's so good to see you, Marie, and check it out," the mirror mage pointed to his Black Bulls robe. "You're looking at a Magic Knight,"
"Really, awesome, you're so cool!" the little girl happily exclaimed.
"I'm glad that you think so," he looked around. "So, this is where you've been staying?"
Marie nodded. "That's right, the people here are really nice to me," she replied with a smile.
"That's good to hear," Gauche said with a smile on his face as well.
"There you are, Marie, I was wondering where you went," a voice said, the two siblings turned to see an old lady walking to them, wearing a nun's attire.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you, Sister Theresa," Marie said as she beckoned Gauche to put her down, she then walked to the nun.
"Who are you?" the mirror mage asked plainly.
"I am Theresa Rapual, Marie's caretaker, and based on the information I've been given, you must be Gauche, I've heard many things about you, and not many of them being good, but I decided to not listen to what others say about you and see what you're like for myself," she explained.
"Wait a minute, you're telling me that Marie's caretaker is some old hag, there's no way I'd allow that, Marie is my angel, she must be given the utmost of protection from anyone who wants to harm her, and you don't look up to it," Gauche said disapprovingly.
"Old hag? Well, it appears what the people said about you were true, but I assure you I'm more than capable of taking care of Marie, I also teach other children," Theresa said.
"Those other kids don't matter to me, only Marie," Gauche said as he took out his grimoire.
Theresa raised a brow. "And what are you doing?"
"I'm going to test how strong you are right now, you say you're more than capable of caring for Marie, then prove it, show me what you've got!" Gauche explained.
"Please don't fight, one of you is going to get hurt!" Marie exclaimed with a tone of worry as Theresa rested her hand on the girl's head.
"Don't worry, Marie, this appears to be the only way to convince him, I promise that I won't hurt him too badly," Theresa reassured her.
"Okay then," Marie said as she backed up from them, giving them room for an ensuing battle.
Theresa took out her own grimoire. "I'll be kind and let you have the first shot,"
"Don't underestimate, hag, or else you'll regret it!" Gauche exclaimed.
The nun sighed. "Fine then, so be it, Flame Magic: Sacred Fire Stream!" she exclaimed as she fired a horizontal stream of flame at her opponent.
"Nice try, Mirror Magic: Mirror Shift!" Gauche exclaimed as the two mirrors formed, he disappeared by one and appeared by the other, evading the attack. "You're going to have to try harder than that," he continued as he did it again, this time, appearing right behind the old lady.
"Mirror Magic: Reflect Ray!" he exclaimed, firing the beam of light.
Theresa, however, quickly jumped into the air to dodge the mage's attack.
"What the?" Gauche said, surprised that a woman of her age could pull off such a feat so quickly.
"You told me not to underestimate you, so don't underestimate me, Flame Creation Magic: Hammer of Wrath!" Theresa exclaimed as a hammer made of fire materialized on her left hand, she then swung it back, preparing to strike once she landed on the ground, which was going to happen in a matter of seconds.
"Ah shit," Gauche muttered as she landed, striking him with her hammer, the mirror mage laid on the ground, defeated.
"No way, I only got to launch one attack," he muttered.
"I believe that now you can see that I can take care of Marie, and if you ever doubt me, remember that I was going easy on you today," she said to him.
Gauche slowly got up and put his grimoire back in his satchel when Maire walked over to them.
"Well, I guess Marie is in safe hands," he said as he took Marie's hand. "C'mon, time for some brother-sister bonding,"
She nodded and the two began to walk away, but then the mirror mage turned around. "You cared for my sister when I couldn't, I guess I owe my thanks, Theresa," he said before turning around and walking away.
[End Flashback]
"I swear you were just a little more respectable back then," Theresa said in between breaths.
"Whatever, you beat me, no point in saying something until I could become stronger than you," the mirror mage retorted.
"Is that...so?" she said, her voice starting to weaken.
"Hey, you're going to be alright, hold on!" Gauche exclaimed to her.
"Come...closer," Theresa said, Gauche did as he was told, the old lady placed her hand on his cheek, that part of his face glowing a reddish-orange. "You said that...Asta and Kenos were still in the cave...I want you...to go and help them, if you won't do it for me, then do it for Marie and the children,"
"Fine then, I'll go, but stop talking like this is your dying wish or something," Gauche said to her, his voice becoming a little more worried.
"Good, it seems you're not a total delinquent after all," Theresa said as she let go of him and closed her eyes.
"Theresa! Theresa!" Gauche yelled.
"Sister!" the children yelled too, tears were in their eyes.
The mirror mage grabbed onto the collar of one of the capital mages. "You useless bastards, how could you let her die like that!"
"Um, excuse me sir, but...she's just fine," the mage said back.
"Huh?" was all Gauche can say as he processed what he was just told.
"Please, do you mind keeping it down, that screaming of yours is making my eardrums bleed,"
Gauche looked down to see Theresa, her eyes open, a small smile across her face.
"Damn you, what're trying to do you stupid old hag, give me a heart attack!" Gauche exclaimed.
Suddenly, the entrance door to the house opened and Finral walked in. "Okay, I brought the children back to their parents. Is there anything else that needs to be done?"
"Yes, one more, I need you to teleport me back to the cave," Gauche said.
"What?" Finral asked, confused by what his squadmate just asked.
"Please, I'm begging you, take me there, they might need me," Gauche said as he put his head down.
"You don't have to beg, just know it's a good distance away, so I'll only have enough magic left to teleport you there for now," the spatial mage informed him.
"That's alright with me, let's go," Gauche responded.
"Okay then," Finral said as he made a portal, the two Magic Knights then entered it, ready for the battle on the other side.
"It'll just take a little longer to charge, then all of you are finished!" Licht exclaimed as his spell continued gathering power.
"So, attacking him won't work, do we have any other plans?" Kenos asked.
Yami turned to Asta. "Hey kid, is it possible for you to deflect the attack back at him?"
The swordsman shrugged. "Maybe, but it's not likely, if this is his strongest spell, there's no way I can deflect it back, it's even harder since I can't move my feet to position myself properly," he replied before he realized something. "Oh, wait, never mind, I threw my swords to the side before punching Valtos, so I can't even reach them right now,"
"Damn it, well, we do have one more option left," Yami told them.
The two boys raised a brow. "And what might that be?"
"Kenos, use Amaterasu's Guard, and I'll use a spell of my own, we'll chain defense spells and hope that it'll be enough," Yami explained.
"But, will it be enough?" Kenos asked.
The dark mage looked uncertain. "I don't know, but it's our best bet right now,"
"Okay then, I'm-," Kenos was about to say when a portal appeared in front of them, Gauche and Finral then ran out of the portal, the latter catching his breath from transporting from a long distance.
"Gauche, and Finral?" Asta wondered aloud.
"Thought you might need some help, so I had Finral bring me here," the mirror mage explained.
"Well, what perfect timing, why don't you take a look behind you real quick," Yami said, they did so and widened their eyes at the spell ready to be released on them.
"That spell looks really powerful, and it feels powerful too," Finral said.
"And we're kind of stuck here too," Kenos pointed out, motioning to the chains binding them.
"It seems like more Black Bulls have come, fine then, I'll eliminate you all at once!" Licht exclaimed.
"That's where you're wrong," Gauche said as he stepped forward. "I've got this,"
"Alright then, prepare to die!" Licht exclaimed, his attack ready. "This is the end, Light Magic: Ray of Divine Punishment!" at his call, a destructive beam of light raced towards them.
"Your spell is strong, but no amount of light can defeat a mirror!" Gauche exclaimed, his grimoire out. "Mirror Magic: Full Reflection!" he exclaimed as a large mirror appeared in front of him, the beam of light then hit the mirror, reflecting right back to its origins.
"WHAT!" the light mage yelled as the beam hit him full-on, sending him to the ground.
The chains then disappeared, freeing the three. "Alright, thanks a lot, Gauche!" they said to the mirror mage.
"Don't mention it," he said back.
"Hey, don't forget about me, I got you here," Finral barged in.
"Oh yeah, thanks, Finral," Gauche said as the spatial mage gave him a thumbs up.
Licht and Valtos had been defeated.
But elsewhere, in an undisclosed location, Sally was suspended in a tube full of a green liquid, in front of the tube, stood a group of three people, standing proudly before it, one was a man, one was a woman, and the other was like some sort of beast.
"Well, Licht's not doing too well," the man began. "So I guess it's finally our turn to join the fight,"