Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Final Match

And here it is, readers, the last chapter of the Royal Knights Exam Arc. I gotta say, it's been quite a task to write seeing that each chapter is just one fight after another, and as you may already know, I like to add both length and detail to my fights to make them more enjoyable to read, so it took longer to get them completed. Luckily for me, the 80s aren't going to be like this. Well, that's enough rambling from me, enjoy the chapter. Cya.

A few seconds passed before Kenos and Yuno broke their handshake and a moment of silence replaced it as the two merely looked at one another, their expressions clearly displaying the utmost respect they had for their fellow knight. Oddly enough, it was Noelle who broke the silence as she cleared her throat loudly, earning their attention.

"Well, our fight has come to a close, and we came out the winners. Now that that's been handled, something else needs to be addressed," she said, quickly pulling out her wand. "Kenos!"

The solar mage ducked right on time, dodging a waterball aimed at his face, he wasted no time backing up. "What the hell?! What did I do now?!"

"You told Zuka that I only had a small handful of spells. I was trying to hype myself up y'know, make myself seem like a bigger threat, but then you had to go and ruin it!" she answered, firing another waterball his way.

Like before though, he dodged it. "How is any of that my fault? Perhaps you shouldn't have done your regular 'proud royal' routine,"

"Don't think you can get away!" the girl screamed in comedic anger as chasing ensued.

All the while, their teammates watched in confusion. "Should I be worried?" Yuno asked aloud.

"Beats me, I've never seen them do this before," Zuka replied.

"This looks like normal sibling behavior to me," En added. "But I fear it can get dangerous if we don't do something,"

"That is enough!" a new voice exclaimed, soft yet stern, stopping the two Black Bulls immediately, their attention turning to Glynda as she walked to them.

"I know your squad can be rowdy at times, but you shouldn't be acting like this," she said, her voice still retaining that soft strength. Glynda's attention shifted to the water mage. "Noelle, Kenos is right, he isn't at fault here,"

Those words made the royal flinch. "But…,"

The older woman placed a gentle hand on her head. "You don't have many spells, even though you're a royal. You must've worked hard for them, didn't you?"

"Yeah…really hard,"

The vice-captain smiled. "Then don't prop yourself as something you aren't. Be proud of the few skills under your belt, not ashamed of them, they're yours after all,"

"... You're right," Noelle said, putting her wand down. "Kenos, um, I'm sorry for the outburst,"

"Don't worry, it's cool,"

She then turned to Glynda. "That's the second time today someone from your squad talked to me like that. I wish I knew you both when I was still a kid,"

"Happy to help,"

"Damn, she defused the situation in no time," the three spectating knights thought together.

Yuno began to summon a large gust of wind. "We ought to head back up, I'll take us there," he ordered the wind to lift them up and bring them back to the platform.

"I made it all the way to the finals. I'm going to have to give it my all, defeat isn't an option, but I do wish Asta could've been my opponent. I hope you'll be watching though," he began to think before a cheer broke his train of thought.

"Yuno!" Klaus ran to him. "What a match! That form you used was incredible! What do you call it?"

"Um, Spirit Dive,"

Letoile reached them. "Spirit Dive? How'd you come up with that?"

"Well, the first part of the name is obvious. As for the second part, since our battle with Arbus is what started the road to gaining this power, I wanted it to be named after the most important part of that whole ordeal…which to me, was… diving in to protect Sister Lily. She's the closest I ever had to a mother,"

"Aw, that's so sweet," Letoile couldn't help but say, making Yuno's face turn red with embarrassment.

Charmy flew over to them, jumping off her cloud. "You don't have to feel embarrassed about it, it's a good reason. Instead, be glad that you won your match," she said, before walking to the solar mage. "And as for you Kenos, you did your best,"

"Thanks," he responded, soon noticing Alice and Ryusei along with his siblings watching him. "I'll be back, it appears I have some people waiting for me,"

"Same here," Zuka spotted her own group.

Vanessa came over and wrapped her arm around her younger squadmate. "You did an amazing job out there, Noelle, I'm so proud, especially of that new spell you used, that totally took me by surprise. Are you ready for the finals?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, Rill's team won't know what hit them,"

Glynda noticed the thread mage's gaze on her and quickly put a hand up. "You don't need to worry about me, I'm okay. If I had to lose, I'd rather it be here than earlier,"

Vanessa smiled. "That's a relief," her expression then turned to something a little more bewildered as she pointed to someone behind the woman. "I think you may want to tell that to him as well,"

Glynda raised a brow in confusion, but that confusion ended once she heard a familiar cry.

"Boss lady!" the bronze mage ran and hugged her. "Please don't be sad, En was awesome, but so were you, your fight was by far my favorite!"

"I'm touched by your concern, Sekke, but you don't need to be, I am fine,"

"Honest?"

"Honest,"

Kenos waved as he neared the four. "Hey all, sorry I disappointed you,"

"It's alright, sure your team got their ass beat, but it's the semi-finals, things are just going to be tougher," Ryusei was the first to say anything.

Alice followed suit. "What Ryu said, but what he forget to add was your impressive fighting,"

"She's right," Oxanna agreed. "You had Yuno on the ropes multiple times, especially when you used your wyvern spell on him,"

"And even though that transformation of his is also impressive as well, if the crystal wasn't important to the battle and the two of you kept fighting, I have no doubt you would've come out the victor. You've had Angel's Child for longer and more time to train it," Dante finished.

"Thanks, but it would've been cool to fight against Rill's team in the finals, it seems it wasn't meant to be though, I wish Yuno and Noelle the best of luck," Kenos told them.

"You're taking this quite well," the five noticed Sylvester approaching them.

"The match is already over, nothing I can do about it, might as well just accept it. And if I ever do get bummed about it again, I'd rather it be after the exam is done, right now, my squadmate needs my support," he replied.

"I'm really sorry, captain, it looks like I won't be fighting against you after all," Zuka began upon reaching her group.

Rill shook his head. "Don't sweat it, if anything, you should be proud of yourself. You were head to head with a royal and held your own, it didn't even look like you were struggling much,"

"Um, yeah, you have a point," she agreed. "Good luck, I'll be rooting for you,"

"Great, I'll make sure to win, that's a promise,"

The capital mage then raised his voice. "To our two remaining teams, don't be in a rush to report, there will be a ten-minute break before the battle in order for Team P to rest!"

En faced Yuno. "A rest will do us some good, especially for you. I can only imagine the toll your body must be feeling from using Spirit Dive,"

"Actually, I don't really feel that drained," the wind mage confessed.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't feel like I've lost much energy," Bell shared the same sentiment as her partner. "That does make some sense though. Our bodies practically merge whenever you transform, meaning we share the toll,"

"Which also means we can transform a lot more often," Yuno deduced with a small grin. "I like that, our form is much more energy efficient than both Black Asta and Angel's Child,"

Klaus chimed in. "Now that you mention him, I wonder how Asta is doing,"

Speaking of the magicless mage…

"How's that, Asta?"

"Much better, that's the spot, Mimosa, keep going,"

"Will do, please feel free to tell me when to stop,"

"You got it, but that probably won't be for a while, this feels really good,"

"Can't argue with you there, Asta, when I had my turn with ginger, the sensation was like nothing I've ever experienced," Zora said, resting lazily on his chair as he watched Mimosa direct her magic at the center of Asta's back.

"Tell me about it, I never knew using recovery magic on specific sore spots could be so soothing," the swordsman said back in a tone of blissful comfort.

"I'm happy to be of help," the plant mage smiled, slyly wiping the drool oozing down her mouth from witnessing the black bull's ripped back. "But if it's alright with you, Asta, could I ask you something?"

"Go ahead, I'm listening,"

"Why did you look distressed during Yuno and Kenos' fight?"

Asta was admittedly caught off guard by that, but didn't refrain from answering. "I was just feeling frustrated that I wouldn't get to battle one of them. They were giving it everything they had, and now, Yuno has a form like me and Kenos, I would've loved to see how far a battle between us would go during the finals, I bet it would've been epic,"

"But we didn't make it," Zora bluntly stated.

"I know, and that means I can't keep being frustrated, when the final match starts, Yuno is going to have my full support,"

"And Noelle will have mine," Mimosa added.

The ash mage gave both of his teammates a blank stare, before he shrugged. "I see, good for you then,"

"Um, Xerx?"

"What is it, shorty?"

Asta paused, thinking about what to say, and then said it. "Well, since we're all getting more comfortable with each other, I was wondering if I could ask you something,"

Zora narrowed his eyes. "And what exactly were you going to ask?"

"What's with that metal thingy on your jaw?" the swordsman bluntly requested. "Did you hurt yourself?"

Mimosa nodded. "Y'know, I've been a bit curious about it too. I don't recall ever seeing anybody else with one on,"

"I didn't hurt myself, it's a stylistic choice, it makes me look more intimidating," he answered.

Asta scratched his head with a confused look. "But you're a vice-captain. Why would you want to intimidate people when others look up to you?"

Zora chuckled. "That's ironic, coming from you, after all, nothing I do can ever hold a candle to the leader of your squad,"

This caught Asta's attention. "You know Captain Yami?"

"I've…heard of him. He's referred to by some as 'The God of Destruction', a guy you don't want to piss off if you value your life in any way,"

"Yeah, you have a point there, he can be really scary sometimes," Asta mumbled before sounds from the screen caught his attention.

"The match is starting!"

"The ten minutes are up! Will our last two teams advance!"

The time had finally come, and both groups of three were ready. Despite all having calm demeanors as they marched ever so closer to their destination, the tension was high, they knew what was on the line: victory, and with it, a virtual guarantee to be part of the Royal Knights.

Defeat was not an option.

With one last step, they arrived, staring each other down. It wasn't much of a shock that Rill was the first to break the silence. "I have to be honest, when I asked Julius to let me participate, I was confident that I'd make it to this point, but never did I expect you three would be the ones facing me here,"

"Perhaps, but tell me, are you expecting to lose as well?" Yuno fired, exuding confidence.

That only made the captain laugh. "I really like your spirit, but I'll have to disappoint you there, our victory will create one of my best masterpieces,"

"Enough banter, can you just start already?!" Augustus called from afar.

"Of course, your majesty," the capital mage complied, raising his hand. "This is it! The final match! Between Team I's Rill, Nils, and Ruben against Team P's En, Noelle, and Yuno!"

He said no more as the six knights headed out, all of them flying to the battlefield courtesy of the golden dawn and the aqua deer. About two minutes passed before they landed, separating themselves by a fairly large distance. They wasted no time pulling their grimoires out and each turning to a page as their crystals materialized by them.

"Ready! Match begin!"

In a matter of seconds, Rill formed his lump of paint and jumped on. "I'll take this. I leave the rest of them up to you!" he locked the crystal onto himself and flew north, his teammates staying to contend with the enemies down south.

"I'll go after him, I can fly," Yuno told his team, but then he paused, glancing at Rill as he got further away. "I'd better take our crystal too, I'm the strongest offensive mage among us, and if things start to get ugly, I can transform,"

"I suppose that's fair, after all, I protected the crystal last round, it's your turn anyway," Noelle joked with a playful smirk.

"If you manage to defeat those two before the match is over, come and assist me. Do your best," those were his last words before zooming off, passing over the picture mage's team.

"Damn, it looks like Rill is about to have his work cut out for him, that rookie is no pushover," Nils mused.

Ruben raised a brow. "What are you talking about? He's a captain, that rookie will hardly make him try," he said. "Now let's take care of them,"

"Right. Ice Magic: Crystallized Frost Wave!"

"Sandstone Magic: Stone Riser!"

The members of Team P watched as the pair of large attacks came their way. Noelle, however, was unfazed as she stepped up. "Stay behind me, Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair," she put her wand up, forming the powerful dome which stopped the spells immediately.

"No way," the two men gasped.

"Let's move quickly," En said as the dome fell. "Fungus Creation Magic: Running Mister Mushroom!"

He summoned his trusty mode of transportation as they both mounted it. "You'd better hold on," he advised as the girl braced herself. "Full speed ahead,"

At his command, the mushroom took off, running over twice the speed it had before.

"Our attack didn't make it through, what do you suggest we do?" the ice mage asked.

"We should split up. Since neither of us has the crystal, our best bet is to stall with one-on-one fights to give Rill time to beat that rookie," the crimson-clad knight replied.

"Really? I think you'd do better staying together," a voice cut in. The knights of Team I turned around to see their enemies rushing in before leaping into the air.

"It would make it so much easier for us," Noelle completed her statement. "Water Magic: Sea Dragon's Waterball!"

"Oh no you don't! Sandstone Magic: Rock Storm!" Ruben met the attack with one of his own, resulting in a stalemate.

"Shit,"

"Don't worry, Noelle, I've got it. Fungus Creation Magic: Fighting Mister Mushroom," En declared, two buff fungi spawning from the ground as the two landed.

"Hmph, is that it?" Nils asked confidently.

The fungus mage responded with a smile. "Why of course not, Fungus Magic: Growing Mister Mushroom," he repeated his tactic against Glynda, using the spell to create a ring to surround all four of them. "Now that's it,"

Noelle pointed at them. "You're outnumbered, it's four against two, you don't stand a sliver of a chance,"

To her surprise, neither Ruben nor Nils appeared worried, in fact, the two men were grinning.

"You think odds like those are going to scare us?" the former pointed back.

The latter crossed his arms. "I'm inclined to agree with my partner, underestimating us will only end badly for you,"

"Alright then, if you're so tough, show us what you got," the royal challenged.

"Gladly," they said back as both parties broke into a sprint towards each other, giving a great battle cry as their fight began.

"I'm getting closer," Yuno muttered as flew through the sky, his opponent was now within sight, but his gaze then went down, the terrain catching his eye. "This area looks a lot rockier, and there's even a body of water not too far ahead. I never saw any of those during my match, we must be really far away then,"

And far away they were. With that fact in mind, there came a problem.

"I can't see Yuno at all!" Charmy was the first to declare.

"Yeah, neither can I!" similar complaints came from the other knights.

But Julius already had a solution. "No need to fret," he said calmly, pulling out a magic item and activating it, creating multiple familiar projection screens throughout the platform, displaying the wind mage's pursuit.

"Thanks a bunch, Julius," Kenos said, the time mage returning the gesture with a thumbs-up.

With a clear sight of the chase now, the solar mage watched intently. "Give it everything you got, Yuno, facing Rill alone won't be easy,"

Back with the golden dawn, he was only getting closer, in fact, he was sure the enemy was within earshot. "Hey!"

The picture mage quickly turned his head back, almost startled at the sight of someone else, but that didn't stop him from smiling. "Hello there, I didn't think someone would be following me this soon, although I'm kind of glad it happened, a fight would be great right now," he told him as he also noticed something else. "You brought your crystal with you as well. Are you copying me?"

He was met with a smirk. "Maybe. You don't have any issues with that, do you?"

"Of course I don't. We artists do that all the time, there's a quote we have within our social circles: imitation is the greatest form of flattery,"

"Oh really, is it now? Interesting," Yuno responded, flying up higher and launching an arc of wind.

"It is, allow me to show you," Rill countered by dunking his paintbrush into a light gray paint, meeting the wind attack with one of his own, canceling it out.

The wind mage flew back down to an even level. "Why thank you, I feel so flattered," his grimoire flipped to the next page. "Wind Creation Magic: Celestial Trident of Notus!"

At his command, the weapon materialized beside him. Under normal circumstances, the trident was to be used as a close-quarters attack, but Yuno knew trying to get up closer and personal with Rill of all people was a fool's errand. So instead, reeling back his arm, he let the spell fly straight, whistling through the air as it did.

"Picture Magic: Game of the Gods!" Rill summoned the figure resembling Zeus.

"Uh oh, it's that spell again, you know what that means?" Luck rhetorically asked no one in particular.

Despite that, Klaus chose to reply. "Uh oh is right, Yuno had better be careful, or else his own spell will become his worst nightmare,"

And just like the steel mage predicted, the painted god caught the trident, its body rotating as it threw the spell back where it came from faster than before.

"Crap," was all Yuno could say, the trident moving too fast to evade, so with the small time he had, he created a veil of wind. Once he did, he was hit, thankfully, it didn't pierce him, but that didn't stop the force from pushing him back a substantial distance.

"My turn to go on the offensive," Rill said, dunking his brush in red paint, then blue, then brown, launching spheres of fire, water, and earth.

"Look out!" Bell cried.

Once Yuno regained his footing in the air, he skillfully soared around, dodging whatever attack came his way, but even though he was, his mind told a different story. "Shit, the speed behind these are ridiculous, I can't afford to lose concentration for even a second,"

"Nice work, Yuno, that's how it's done," Asta cheered.

The young captain was swiping his hands during the entire duration of the attack, but seeing the result stopped him temporarily. "Damn, you weaved around those pretty easily. But I suppose that's my fault…,"

He began stretching his arms around, as if he was getting ready for a workout.

"...I'm moving much too slow,"

It wasn't hard to tell from the expression the golden dawn made that he was damn near horrified. "Too…slow,"

In no time, Rill was on the attack again, launching spheres at a speed that made his prior attempt look like a joke.

Like with his trident, the wind mage tried to create a veil to protect himself, but before he could, he was already getting bombarded by spheres, forcing him to fly away, but it was futile as he was caught and the bombardment repeated. A cloud of dust formed mid-air with Yuno soon falling out from it, plummeting toward the ground.

"Yuno!" his squadmates yelled worryingly.

Luckily for him, he wasn't out of the fight yet. Using wind to halt his descent and remain airborne, he straightened himself, grabbing his arm as he panted.

"Are you okay?" the spirit asked, quickly examining the dust and light bruises littered throughout both of their bodies.

"I'll manage," he answered, looking behind him, he breathed a sigh of relief that his crystal had yet to receive any damage.

"Now that's a better result," Rill said with satisfaction. "Are you ready for more?"

Yuno's grimoire flipped to its first page. "I won't give you the chance, I'm not giving up! Wind Magic: Towering Tornado!"

The younger boy's move succeeded in its purpose, but the picture mage didn't appear deterred by the turbulent winds. "Hm, I think I have a way to get around this," he said, fearlessly flying closer to the tornado.

This action warranted shocked reactions from the crowd. "Is he crazy?" Magna wondered aloud. "The powerful winds will just blow him away, it's a waste of effort,"

"I wouldn't be too quick to write him off," Oliver disagreed. "If one thing about our captain has been made clear over the course of his battles, it's that he's no idiot. Whatever he's doing, there's a reason,"

Yuno shared the same conclusion as the wood mage as he observed the aqua deer's action. "I can't let my guard down, he must be trying to dispel my tornado. In that case, I need to be ready to attack in the split-second he does so,"

But to what would later be his disbelief, as Rill got closer to the tornado, he dunked his brush into gray paint and kneeled, letting the brush make contact with the lump of paint below him, said lump taking on a gray color and becoming like wind. He then stood back up, his hair and clothes blowing to-and-fro in the wind as proximity to the tornado became around three meters.

Yuno narrowed his eyes and began to prepare a spell. "He's about to do it, I can't miss this, here's my opportunity to destroy his crystal. Wind Creation Magic: Swift-,"

He quickly cut himself off, feeling something unbelievable. It was just a literal second ago that he felt Rill's mana near the tornado a fair distance away, but now he felt it somewhere else.

Right behind him.

"How the hell did he just do that?" Letoile wondered.

"I don't have the slightest idea. Did he use some kind of spell?" Charmy speculated.

"No, it didn't look like it," Kenos tried to answer her question. "At least, I don't think so, everything just happened so fast,"

"What a move!" a fourth voice joined in with a soft shout, making everyone in the group turn in their direction.

Vanessa couldn't help but be surprised by the one who stood out. "Grey?"

The transformation mage noticed all of the glances directed at her, so she covered her face and blushed profusely. "N-No, don't l-look at m-me,"

Oxanna leaned towards her little brother. "Um, is she going to be okay?"

"Yeah, Grey's just really shy,"

"Odd, she didn't sound shy when she praised Rill's move,"

The thread mage put a hand on her hip. "Speaking of Rill's move, you looked pretty intrigued by it. Do you know how he pulled it off?"

"U-Uh, yes," she replied before transforming into the solar mage. "Kenos, do you mind if I take your appearance?"

"No problem, you didn't even need to ask,"

"Thanks," she bowed her head respectfully. "As for how he did it, Magna wasn't wrong, under any other circumstance, if Rill got too close, he'd get blown away. So he found a way to fix it,"

"Really? How?" Magna asked.

"From what it looks like, he can have his mode of transportation take on different attributes while still retaining control of it, so by transforming it into wind and taking control of it, instead of being repelled by the tornado's wind, he's moving along with it," she began explaining.

"What about the speed blitzing part?" Klaus asked this time.

"That's the second portion of his move," she continued. "By no longer using the control over his transport to keep it moving along the tornado, the winds repelled him outwards. But that wasn't it, the only way he could've moved that fast using that strategy is if he changed his control to work with the repelling force of the wind, practically rocketing him in whatever direction he wants,"

It was Dante's turn to lean near Kenos. "That girl's pretty smart,"

"Yeah, she is,"

Grey shifted back to her regular form and covered her face. "T-There y-you g-go," she stuttered, running away and hiding behind Gauche.

"A very sufficient explanation, I must say I'm surprised though, I never knew the Black Bulls had someone like you on their team," Klaus praised. "The question now becomes if Yuno can get out of this situation,"

Back with Yuno, he grit his teeth, trying to turn as fast he could, but the picture mage was faster. "Time to finish this," he said, about to demolish Team P's crystal with a magic bullet.

"Back off!" help came in the form of Bell, who took a deep breath and blew, suddenly pushing the captain off of his transport and on his way to the ground.

"I owe you big time for that one, but I need your power, we can destroy his crystal while he's falling," the wind mage said, using the spell he couldn't before.

"Wind Creation Magic: Spirit-amped Swift White Bow!" his second weapon formed five arrows, and with another blow from Bell, they were zooming on their way to the target.

Unfortunately, Rill had already landed without a single scratch. "Can't say I saw that coming," his mana sense then kicked in and he noticed the arrows. In response, he swirled brown paint around, forming a clean square wall of rock, blocking the attack effortlessly.

"Oh c'mon, even my boost didn't work," Bell pouted.

"My turn again," Rill rapidly swiped with his paintbrush, cutting the wall into multiple medium-sized cubes, and with the aid of red paint, fire ignited under them as he launched them Yuno's way.

"Not this again, I need to fly faster," the wind mage turned around and was on his way, the numerous projectiles already behind him. He quickly curved right, but they followed him. "It's a seeker-like attack, aye? That makes things easier,"

Yuno once more changed his direction, flying down where Rill was. "Hey, smart play," the captain formed a new lump of riding paint and flew off, his opponent behind him, the projectiles, however, crashed into the ground.

"Things are starting to get intense," Zuka commented.

The two mages continued the chase, the scenery changing from the rocky terrain to a body of water, but no matter how fast Yuno was moving, Rill was faster. "I need to slow him down. Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Hawk!"

The avian flew ahead of him, close to reaching the aqua deer, but the hawk was quickly cut apart by a slash of water Rill sent. "Picture Magic: Rising Sea Drake!" he dunked his brush in blue and green paint, forming the lizard-like dragon before the creature dove into the water, resurfacing in front of Yuno, stopping him and leaving Rill to continue on and create a large pillar of ice that rose into the sky.

Said pillar had caught Yuno's eye. "He's up there, I shouldn't be wasting time down here! Wind Magic: Crescent Moon Sickle!" he exclaimed, slashing the drake in half, leaving nothing in his way as he flew forward and began to ascend the ice.

Up in the pillar, Rill held his chin, looking at a circle of red and blue paint. "Nice, now I just have to wait," he mused before seeing Yuno come up. "Perfect timing," he mounted his mode of transportation and jumped off.

The wind mage was close to getting to the top, but then his eyes widened as he saw the older boy descend, passing by him. "Bye!" he cheerfully told him, but before Yuno could do anything about it, the pillar exploded, trapping him in a spiral of red and blue paint.

Rill's grimoire flipped to a page. "Now for the finishing touch. Picture Binding Magic: Twin Grasps!" at his call, the two colors of paint became large winding hands that encased Yuno. "There we go, that's looking good. Time to-,"

He was cut off by the hands getting destroyed by a spiral of strong winds, and Yuno at the center of it, saying nothing as he fired a powerful two-handed stream, which Rill easily evaded as a third chase ensued, now leaving the water area and nearing a mountainous space.

"Bell, we need to kick it up a notch, lend me your power,"

"On it,"

"Awesome. Wind Spirit Magic: Sylph's Breath!"

Rill heard the declaration of the spell, turning to see the bullet approach him, however, instead of being the least bit intimidated, he was starry-eyed. "Spirit Magic? Wow! I've been wanting to face that!" he landed on the side of the mountain, twirling his paintbrush, and commanding his tome to flip pages.

"Picture Magic: Myriad Gladius!" he rapidly alternated through six different colors, creating a hextet of the Roman swords, each a different attribute. The swords connected tip to tip and rotated like a drill as, similar to Kenos the round before, defeated the spell.

The black-haired teen soon landed many meters across from him. He couldn't help but clench his fists, worrying Bell a bit.

"Yuno?"

Her partner grit his teeth. "How is this possible? I haven't landed a single attack on him, we used everything we had. Is this all I can do against a captain?"

"Don't lose hope, we can still win this!" Bell tried to reassure him. "We haven't used everything,"

Yuno took a glance at her and sighed, smiling for the first time since the match began. "You're right, we aren't done, let's do it," he said as the spirit exerted all of her power and slowly started vanishing. "Wind Spirit Assimilation: Spirit Dive!"

"Okay, now he's serious," Kenos stated. "This might be it,"

Zuka gave him a playful look. "Depends, might be it for who?"

Yuno gained a look of confidence as he finished transforming. "It's time I follow up on my promise to win,"

"You're going all out now, this may be the moment I was waiting for, the moment to create my masterpiece!" the picture mage squealed excitedly.

Yuno slowly raised his left hand. "If this is the moment you were waiting for, then I won't hold back, I'll use even more power than I did with Kenos. Wind Spirit Magic: Spirit Storm!"

"Picture Magic: Scream of the Mystical Dragon Vouivre!" purple and white paint surged and became a chimera-like dragon with feminine features, shooting a massive purple beam of magic. The two respective attacks destroyed the ground on their way to each other before they collided, resulting in a powerful shockwave.

The flash of colors along with the force caught everyone's attention. "Crap! That power is off the charts, I can feel it all the way from here!" the solar mage shouted as he, and everyone else on the platform put their arms up to protect their faces from the wind.

And it wasn't just them. "What the hell is happening?!" Noelle screamed, her arms up as well.

"It looks like Rill and your teammate are responsible!" Ruben replied.

Rill couldn't help but smile. "You're power is impressive, Yuno,"

The golden dawn had the same look. "Right back at you, that's some spell,"

"Thanks, you should've seen how I made it, I-,"

Crack.

Both mages turned their heads back, seeing a crack had formed on their crystals, earning gasps from them and everyone else watching.

Yuno narrowed his eyes. "The force of our clash is becoming too much for our crystals, if this keeps up…,"

"...One of them will be destroyed," Rill finished. "Moving isn't an option, either of our crystals would be vaporized before we could get away, so all we can do…,"

"...Is win!"

"Looks like it's become a race," Zora commented. "The crystal that can last the longest will decide who wins, but it isn't just up to that,"

"What do you mean?" Mimosa asked.

"What I mean is that it's not just up to the stamina of their crystals. From what it looks like, the residual power from the clash is what's doing the damage, so if one them comes closer to winning, that'll increase the residual power the enemy crystal has to endure,"

"Which means the stronger one among them will win," Asta concluded. "If that's the case, then I know Yuno has this in the bag, Rill may be a captain, but his transformation should give him the edge,"

"We'll just have to see,"

The clash was still going, for the time being, they were in a perfect stalemate, but Yuno was no longer satisfied with that when his crystal became riddled with more cracks. "It can't stay like this!" he increased the power of his blast.

More cracks were forming on Rill's crystal too, but he didn't look as worried. "Let's add some power!" he increased his own blast.

The wind mage immediately felt the pushback, the ground cracking underneath his feet. "Such power, but…I won't give up,"

"Y'know something, Yuno," Rill began to say. "This has been so much fun,"

"What? Fun?"

"Yeah, all of the matches I've been in have been a blast, and this one is the most enjoyable of them all. I'm so glad Julius gave me the opportunity to experience this. So, have you enjoyed yourself so far?"

Yuno was initially dumbfounded by the question during such a crucial moment, but he recalled prior events anyway. He was able to firmly put Alecdora in his place, have an epic solo fight with Kenos, and now, he was doing this. He had his answer. "I guess I have enjoyed myself,"

"Good, then you won't be too bummed when you lose,"

"That's what I'll be saying to you,"

With that, they both kicked up their attacks up an extra notch, more cracks forming, closer to destruction.

It was the final stretch, and everyone knew it.

"C'mon, captain!" Oliver.

"You're so close!" Shauna.

"You've got this!" Fragil.

"I know you can win!" Zuka.

"I have faith in you, young master!" Walter.

"Keep pushing!" Klaus.

"Make our squad proud!" Letoile.

"Go on, win!" Charmy.

"Show him the power that was able to beat me!" Kenos.

"Take him down!" Nils and Ruben.

"You better not lose!" Noelle.

"What she said," En.

"I believe in you!" Mimosa.

"Don't give up!" Asta.

Sweat profusely fell down Rill's face, but his smile was ever present. "VICTORY…,"

In contrast, sweat fell down Yuno's tense face as he gave one last push. "WILL. BE. MINE!"

And at last, one crystal gave out, shattering, putting an end to the clash of magic.

Not a single person present kept their composure, all gasped as they witnessed the result of the struggle.

"No way, I…I can't believe it," Zuka muttered.

"It is what it is I must say," Julius said. "Make the announcement,"

"U-Um, of course!" the capital mage replied, a bit shaken himself as he raised an arm. "Crystal destroyed! The winner of the final match, and of the Royal Knights Selection Exam is…,"

.

.

.

.

.

"Team I!"

Yuno slowly looked back, disbelief of the highest degree evident from his expression as he laid eyes on his broken crystal. "I…lost," the words came out as a slow mumble before he dropped to his knees, detransforming.

"It can't be," Noelle said with the same disheartened tone. En said nothing, but his disappointment was obvious.

"No, Yuno didn't win," Asta's eyes widened.

Bell flew onto her partner's shoulder, a defeated look present. "How? Even after everything we did, we still fell short. I'm sorry,"

"No, Bell, I'm the one who's sorry," the wind mage said as he heard footsteps near him. He stood up, back facing the picture mage, a shadow covering his eyes. "Good match, Rill,"

"Likewise. You were a worthy opponent,"

"So were you,"

"It's all over," Julius stated. "Cob, please make a portal for Team B,"

What seemed like an hour passed as the sun began to set, and all the magic knights were standing around the platform. Asta went to comfort his foster brother, while Mimosa and Glynda did the same for Noelle and En respectively. They all watched as the three victorious mages stood before the Wizard King.

"Nils, Ruben, and lastly, captain Rill Boismortier. Congratulations Team I. On this day, you shall be the first of many, part of the group that will save our kingdom from the terror of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Welcome to the Royal Knights,"

"We're honored," they clover-saluted.

"And as for the rest of you who participated, I'm proud of you, even if you ultimately lost, your efforts today were most admirable, so be proud of them," Julius continued.

"Yes sir!" they all saluted as well.

The time mage clapped his hands together. "With that, this exam has come to a close. Cob, a portal back to the colosseum if would,"

"Okie dokie your majesty," he obeyed, manifesting the large gate as everyone walked through it.

But Julius had his gaze fixated on one person in particular.

"Well, that was quite the day,"

Zora started whistling after making the statement as he walked through an outdoor hall.

"Hello there,"

The ash mage's whistling stopped instantly, his head shot back and lo and behold, Julius was standing there, smiling. "You need something?"

"This isn't the right exit," was all the time mage said.

"I didn't feel like exiting with everyone else. Felt like leaving sneakily," he confessed.

The man's smile didn't waver. "I see,"

Zora narrowed his eyes. "Right. If that's all, I'll be on my way," he said, resuming his walk.

Julius had something else to say though. "I'm glad you came,"

"You were expecting me?" the trapster inquired, not turning this time.

"No, not really, but I'm happy you were able to find a way in. You have no idea how long I've been waiting to finally meet you…Zora Ideale,"

This caught his attention fast. "You know my name?"

"Of course, your father, Zara, told me once. He was a good friend, we and a pair of brothers bonded during a mission we had some time back. I don't think I've ever met a knight like him, well, until recently," Julius explained.

A click occurred in the commoner's mind. "You were one of the ones he talked about. I guess that makes sense, I did see you use time magic earlier,"

"Bingo,"

"It's nice to meet you too then, my dad said a lot of good things about you,"

"As did he about you,"

"So, is that it?"

"One more thing,"

"Lay it on me then,"

"While purple does look good on you, don't you think you should be instead wearing the robe of your true squad?" the wizard asked his final question before teleporting away.

Zora pondered the question, looking down at the robe he stole from Xerx. "My true squad, aye?" he mused, continuing to walk down the hall as the smallest of smiles made itself known.

"That may not be such a bad idea,"