Chapter One Hundred-Ten: Worthy of Being the Strongest

"Oh hell yeah!"

Returning to the Shadow Palace, Mereoleona was running through a long middle pathway, making the statement with complete joy. And why wouldn't she be? Her comatose brother was finally awake, no longer would she have to worry. It may not be a feeling she constantly has, but it was one she didn't mind for the occasion.

Letting herself cool down a bit, she assessed the environment along with her situation. "I'm not exactly sure why we were separated, but perhaps it was for the best, this place is massive. If the elves were also separated, spreading out will give us the best chance of taking them down as quickly as possible,"

In the distance, she spotted a room, coming to a halt. Her eyes narrowed as she could feel a singular strong elven signature. "There's an Apostle in there, but I'm not sure who, it could be Licht," she found herself chuckling. "Imagine if it's Rhya? With his Third Eye bomb gone and his helpers elsewhere, he won't be able to stop me from finishing him off this time,"

With a relaxed posture, she walked into the massive room, her face juxtaposing her body language as she was grinning like a madwoman. "Apostle, I know you're in here! Quit hiding and show yourself!"

"Who's hiding? I'm right here, lady!" a fierce voice called out in response from above, the royal looked up to see Vetto sitting on a platform, his legs crisscrossed while his chin was resting on his palms.

The flame mage raised a brow. "Based on the appearance of your skin, I take it you're Vetto the Despair? I read the report on you from when the Black Bulls encountered you in the Underwater Temple. Shouldn't you be dead…and older?"

The beast mage shrugged. "Tons of people have come back from the dead tonight. Is my being here really that strange?"

"I guess not," she replied, crossing her arms. "And as for why you look like a teenager?"

"Some additional measures had to be taken to bring me back the second time around. You understand how it is?"

"I suppose," she answered dryly.

"Glad to know you think so," he stood up, crossing his own arms. "You know a bit about me, but I don't know anything about you. What's your name, chick?"

"You may call me Mereoleona Vermillion," she introduced herself.

"Vermillion? So, you're a royal?" he deduced. "You shouldn't be much of an issue, I've faced your kind before, in my past life, and in this one,"

Mereoleona was partially surprised by that last part. "In this one?" she repeated, but then it came to her. "Oh, you must be talking about Noelle. I wouldn't call her a non-issue. Didn't she take your arm off? That's what the report said at least,"

Vetto waved it away. "Eh, that was a fluke. Besides, thanks to some help behind the scenes, I'm way stronger now, even though I don't have my grimoire,"

It then dawned on the woman that what he said was true, his grimoire wasn't around him and he had no satchel. "Why don't you have one?"

"It's just for the time being, once we kill you all and establish our perfect elven utopia, Fana and I will go for some,"

"Fana the Hateful? So, she's back too? Oh well, I suppose she's someone else's problem, you're mine,"

Vetto cracked his knuckles. "Don't get cocky. I may not have a grimoire, but I can still pull a few spells off. Like this one, Beast Magic: Bear Claw!" he jumped down, firing three slashes while in mid-air.

Mereoleona dodged them, noticing that he was now coming at her directly. "If you think you can beat me in a fistfight, you're sorely mistaken! Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium!" her fist caught fire as she met the strike with one of her own.

The clash between them was a short one as the human won, sending him flying upwards, but he used that to his advantage as he landed on a platform, using it to boost himself west.

The royal grinned. "Don't you go thinking you can run away from me! The hunter will always catch her prey!" she was in hot pursuit, electing to use the same platform he did earlier, her body being up in the air while he ran across the ground.

"Flame Magic: Calidos Bestia!" she fired the flaming beast's head, aiming right in front of where he'd be, hoping it'd kill his momentum and stop him in his tracks, but instead, he skillfully weaved around it.

"You can't get me with that old trick!" he ran toward a wall, running on its surface for a little while before jumping up. "Beast Magic: Sly Cobra!" the translucent snake tail appeared on his leg, but instead of using it like he did in the Underwater Temple, he performed a high kick, using it like some kind of whip.

Mereoleona intended to do with him what she did during the first battle with Rhya, letting the tail wrap around her wrist, but rather than grunting in pain, she tightened her grip and took control of it, spinning Vetto around and sending him flying, a small crater forming from the impact. "Okay, I wasn't expecting that," he groaned.

"Alright then, I'm ready. Where is it?!"

The beast mage was still in the crater, but moved his body up a bit to get a better listen of her question. "Where's what?"

"I already said that I read the report on your fight, I know all about your little tendency to go on a rant about despair," she clarified, landing back on ground level. "Bring it on!"

Vetto didn't say anything back, exiting where he was as he too landed. "Nah, I think I'll pass this time around. If you don't mind me being honest, that was all just a coping mechanism,"

The royal raised her brow. "A coping mechanism?"

"That's what I said. Back then, despite wanting to put everyone who stood in my way in a state of despair, it was me who was feeling the most despair. I wanted everyone to feel the hopelessness I was feeling at that time. But now, everything's better, my friends are all back and we're close to reaching our goal, it's got me feeling more hopeful," he poured his heart out, but then he cracked his knuckles loudly. "I don't need to see you in despair, nor do I want to. What I do want, on the other hand, is to see you dead,"

"You have just as good a chance of killing me as you would at using flame magic, aka, you don't stand a chance!" she exclaimed, rushing straight at him, but he was ready, using his feet to set up a spin that got him out of danger.

The elf was now beside her, he knew that she'd be there for only about another second or two, so he swung his fist back and threw the punch directly at her face, returning the favor from before as she was now the one to form a crater upon crashing into the wall. "Remember what I said, don't get cocky! You may be tough, but at the end of the day, it's me who's going to be left standing! Hahahaha!

A cloud of dust was formed from the impact, obscuring the flame mage from sight, but as it dispersed, Vetto's laughing quickly ceased. Mereoleona walked out from the crater as if it were nothing, merely wiping some blood around her mouth.

"That was a pretty impressive move you pulled there, but you're going to need a lot more than that if you want to accomplish anything substantial against me. I fought five elves single-handedly just earlier tonight, with one of them being Rhya,"

The beast mage was a bit shocked to hear that, but he didn't let it show. "Is that so? Well, with this new body, I think you might find me even tougher than them,"

"Tougher than them, aye?" the flame mage repeated his words as she grinned in a similar manner to when she first arrived in the room. Her fists ignited brightly as she punched her palm, ready to keep going.

"Then make sure you do a good job of entertaining me!"

"So this is the Shadow Palace? I must say, it's a strange place indeed," Fuegoleon commented as he walked through a different pathway while also doing a general scan of his surroundings.

But as he kept walking along, he stopped and knelt suddenly, placing both hands on the ground firmly. "What's wrong?" Salamander asked him.

"I'm not sure why, but I'm feeling a slight draft, but it only reaches a few inches above the ground, that's strange," he replied, but then his nose picked up the faint smell of smoke, his eyes widened to see his blazing hand lightly scorching the part he placed it on, quickly retracting it before standing.

He looked down, seeing the handprint that was now permanently etched on the surface. "This new arm of mine will take some getting used to,"

"It will, but worry not, for in time, you will master it," the spirit said back in encouragement.

"Thank you," he returned the sentiment as he kept walking, but now his eyes were focused on the small lizard that was currently standing on his shoulder. "Salamander, I noticed that when you speak, you tend to communicate through some kind of mental link. Are you capable of conventional speech?"

"Sadly, no. Spirits of my kind haven't developed anything that would allow us to do so the way you humans would talk. Is that a problem?"

"Not in the slightest, I just find it a little funny. You speak to me through a mental link, while I speak to you through speech, to anyone on the outside who's none the wiser, I look like I'm a crazy person who's talking to myself,"

"I suppose that is quite humorous," it agreed. "It makes me somewhat grateful that the elves knew of me before Fana became my partner, or else things would've been quite awkward for the first few days,"

"You don't say?" the flame mage said back. "So, what else do you want to talk about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you may have chosen me to be your partner, but I don't see why things have to remain completely professional around us. If we're going to be with one another for a while, it only makes sense that we be friends. Let's start off with something easy, what kind of things do you like?" he explained before asking.

"Hm, no one's ever asked me that before. Let's see…I like fire,"

Fuegoleon laughed. "Of course you like fire, you're the flame spirit. Was that a serious answer, or were you trying to tell a joke?"

"The former, I don't exactly have a sense of humor. But let's see…I also like the feeling of napping under the sunlight rather than the shade, it feels more comfortable to me," it replied.

"That's nice. Perhaps I can join you for one after this is all over?"

"I don't think that will be necessary. After all, you did just wake up from a coma, I think you've had more than enough sleep,"

The flame smiled playfully. "That doesn't count and you know it," he was about to say something else, but then he stopped. "Salamander, do you feel that?"

"Yes, it's that draft you mentioned before, it's a little stronger now, and it's coming from there," the spirit answered as they both saw the entrance to a room not too far in the distance.

"I can sense elven mana coming there as well. An Apostle is in there, no doubt,"

"Enter with caution, Fuegoleon,"

"I will," he replied, preparing his guard for any kind of sneak attack before he started making his way toward the room. "If the draft is coming from there and the Apostle is there as well, it must be a product of their magic. But why would they do something like-,"

He shut his own mouth, because the very second he entered the room, there was Eleos, standing to his right with his hands behind his back, only a foot and some extra inches in between them. The royal almost felt the urge to jump back from the sudden proximity, but he resisted.

"Kaiser Granvorka?" was all he said.

"Not right now. I am Eleos," he corrected him, his tone strangely polite. "I had an idea there might have been intruders, so I stationed myself here, and it looks like I made the correct decision,"

Fuegoleon now turned to face him straight, the elf noticing the spirit on his shoulder. "So, you're the one who has Salamander now? You should consider yourself lucky you didn't find yourself up against Fana, or things may have gotten ugly,"

"Maybe they would've, but I consider myself even more lucky to have run into you instead," he responded. "Kaiser, you need to fight back against the elf, you have so much at stake. Before I reached the Royal Houses, I ran into your wife. She told me that you were always back home after a day of work, but this time, you didn't show up, and then all the elf attacks started happening, worrying her even further,"

He then clenched his flaming fist tightly. "I told her that if I found you in danger, I'd do everything in my power to help you. She doesn't want to lose you, Kaiser, especially after she told me…how you lost him,"

Those last four words managed to reach him as the elf's body squirmed and shook, however, just as fast as it came, it vanished as Eleos took a series of deep breaths, ending with him resuming his prior posture.

"My apologies for that," he said before walking towards the center of the room. "So, shall we begin?"

"Begin what?"

"You came to battle us and attempt to put a stop to our plans, did you not?"

"Yes, but I must confess, I was expecting something a little more underhanded," Fuegoleon replied, following him, the distance between them now expanding to twenty meters.

"Sneak attacks at the start of a fight are dishonorable, and if any of my brethren employ it, then shame on them. I firmly believe that no matter how despicable the opponent is, a fight is to begin civilly and with proper etiquette. After that though, whatever happens, happens,"

"So where does the draft I felt come in?"

"That was just me getting a feel for the attribute. It's a very strange one, no one back in my time had vortex magic, but it does share some similarities with wind magic. I digress though, are you ready?"

The captain's arm burned brighter as Salamander engulfed itself in flame, emerging in its larger form, and landing behind its partner. "We're ready!"

"Good, then we shall begin," Eleos' grimoire flipped to a page. "Vortex Magic: Refusal Helix!" he exclaimed as magical wind encircled the elf, covering a wide distance.

"We need to begin strong, but not too strong. Kaiser is known as 'The Ultimate Shield', the defensive capabilities of his magic are mighty, and the elf's power will only strengthen it, so we must make sure not to exhaust ourselves for no reason," Fuegoleon relayed the info to his spirit partner, his grimoire turning to a page. "I'm going to need your help for this one! Flame Creation Magic: Spirit-amped Leo Rugiens!" the fiery lion appeared in front of him as Salamander blasted the beast with additional fire, causing it to grow in size before releasing its devastating blast.

Unfortunately for the captain, the blast hardly did anything. "Try all you wish, human, but Refusal Helix will stop all attacks from reaching me, especially magical ones,"

Fuegoleon sucked his teeth, but then he narrowed his eyes, doing so to focus on the finer details of the opposing spell. "Since his defense isn't created out of anything solid, but rather something gaseous, there will be small gaps. That's what I have to use!"

He had his grimoire flip to a different page. "Flame Magic: Sol Linea!" the blue beam fired from his chest region.

"I told you that it won't work. I advise you to try a different-," Eleos was saying, but he was promptly silenced as the beam went through the gaps, ultimately missing, but nearly hitting his head, not missing a chance to singe some hair.

"No matter how powerful the defense, there will always be a weakness, you just have to stop and look closely!" the man exclaimed.

"So, you used the gaps to attack me? Impressive. I will respond in kind!" he raised his voice, the magical wind around him tightening up. "I'll use more power to cover every gap, and after that, I'll take my turn to attack! Vortex Creation Magic: Helix Daggers!"

At his command, the wind that was exuding from the main amalgamation condensed and shaped itself into a multitude of daggers, all coming at him.

"Fuegoleon, hop on!" Salamander told him, lowering its head.

"Okay!" he mounted the spirit as it soon took flight, moving skillfully throughout the air to dodge every dagger that came their way.

The flame mage stared down as Eleos stared back at him. "Y'know, Salamander, I have the strangest feeling that if my sister was here, she would've broken through his guard by now and wouldn't have to be flying around to stay safe. I wonder how she's doing?"

"You're going to have to move faster than that if you wanna keep up with me!" Vetto exclaimed as he was currently on the run, Mereoleona some meters behind him.

"Are you trying to mock me or something?!" she now caught up to him, the two running side-by-side. "Of course I can go faster, you're the one who needs to keep up!"

"That's a pretty dumb thing to say when I'm matching you beat-for-beat!"

"Oh please, I'm not even trying!"

"What a coincidence, neither am I!"

The two mages each then reeled a fist back, killing their speed almost immediately as they threw their punches, but they didn't result in a clash, rather, their punches landed cleanly.

"Now that's what I call a good right hook!" the woman grinned, ignoring the slight bruise on her face.

"Same here, that power wasn't bad!" the elf did the same while ignoring his own bruise.

"It's good, but I'm still better," Mereoleona was the first one to follow up. "Flame Magic: Calidos Brachium!"

"Let's hope it still works! Beast Magic: Rhinoceros Armor!" Vetto countered, covering himself entirely in the translucent protection, tanking the punch head-on, but instead of being sent flying, he was only pushed back a single yard.

"I'm a lot more durable with this on, you're going to need to pack more power than what you've been using if you wanna hurt me. That is, unless everything you've done so far is your best?"

In response to that question, the woman burst into laughter. "You elves, always underestimating us!" she leaped into the air, standing on a small floating rock. "I've got enough power to level this place ten times over, but why stop at telling you, I'm a woman of action! Flame Magic - Mana Zone: Calidos Brachium Barrage!"

She launched a multitude of punches at blinding speed, the shape of her arm hardly visible as Vetto's armor became bombarded by flaming fists.

"I wasn't aware you knew Mana Zone," the beast mage voiced.

"You are now!" she exclaimed back. "Are you going to use your Mana Zone?"

"Sadly, no. I don't know the technique, only Licht was able to pick it up before we died the first time. After me and the rest of the Third Eye came back, we poured most of our time into locating the Magic Stones,"

"The Magic Stones?" she repeated, a detectable amount of contempt present. "Those blasted things cost my little brother his arm, and nearly his life!"

"That was his mistake!" Vetto exclaimed back. "If he wasn't wearing one, he wouldn't be targeted, plain and simple! Blame him, not us!"

"You can't seriously think that makes any sense!" Mereoleona punched even faster, noticing the armor chipping away, more and more broke away over time. Once it was nearly destroyed, she stopped the spell, boosting herself down with a fist ignited. "He wasn't to blame, you menaces are! You should've just stayed in hell!"

She punched with tremendous force, the defense spell coming undone before the one who cast it was sent flying, skipping like a stone multiple times as he eventually slowed down.

Vetto was wincing in pain, but he wasn't down yet as he stood up. "Now that makes no sense, not in the slightest! We were killed unjustly! Do you really expect us to just sit around and live with that?!" he broke into a mad dash. "Beast Magic: Bear Claw!"

"Frankly, I don't care!" she didn't bother dodging this time, just punching the spell head-on, defeating it as she dashed at him as well. "Aside from the lives of the bodies you've robbed, your problems don't concern me!"

Once they got close to one another, both mages then threw a powerful punch, their hair blowing to and fro from the resulting shockwave.

"Well, they're going to become your concern once we send those pesky human souls to hell in our place! All we need is the final Magic Stone!"

"Huh? There's another one you need? Then why are you here and not out looking for it?!" she demanded as they broke the clash, backing up from one another.

"Patri says the one who has it will come to us," he replied.

Mereoleona was unfamiliar with that name. "Patri?"

"Oh yeah, you don't know. The one who you've known as Licht, the one who took down your brother, he's not the real Licht, his real name is Patri, and he's been assuming the name of our elven leader,"

"I see. So if this person hasn't shown up yet, that means your grand plan is on hold," the flame mage realized, grinning as she cracked her knuckles. "Which also means I can afford to take my time beating you into submission!"

"In your dreams! You'll die way before that can happen!" Vetto's fists lit up with dark orange mana as he let loose a rapid barrage.

"What did I say about not underestimating us?!" she met his barrage with her own as they were locked in a stalemate, but as they were, a similar thought went through both of their minds.

"I'm not going to lose to you!"

"Rill, can you hear me?! You have to snap out of it!"

The battle against Lira was going on for a few minutes now, the possessed picture mage sending out a small army of demonic-looking animals, with Asta making the prior statement after promptly cutting them down.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?!" Lira exclaimed from where he stood, still high up. "This Rill is deep within me, he can't hear you, and if he somehow could, I'd never let him do anything about it! Picture Magic: Game of the Gods!"

The paint he used combined together to form the Zeus-esque figure, Lira then dunked his brush in yellow paint, drawing a cluster of thunderbolts that the spell held, firing each of them one by one.

"Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower - Shotgun!" Mimosa attempted to counter it with her own set of attacks, but nearly all of them had been beaten, the opposing spell continuing their way.

"I got it!" the swordsman handled the rest, deflecting them away. He then pointed at the elf. "I don't care what you say, you can't have Rill!"

"I say I can! What are you going to do about it?! Picture Magic: Ouroboros Rampage!" he deployed two snakes.

"I'm going to stop you, that's what!" Asta retorted, the ground giving out under him as he blitzed forward, dragging the Slayer across the sides of one of the snakes, going on until half of its body was slit. "Mimosa, I'm leaving this one in your hands!" he told her, setting his sights on the next one.

"You can count on me, I might have come along to do healing, but I'll do the best I can to fight as well! Plant Magic: Magic Cannon Flower!" she shot the beam again at full power, the weakened snake succumbing to it as it crumbled away into nothingness.

Meanwhile, Asta was running head first at the second reptile as it was coming at him too. He then leaped off the ground, landing on the snake's back while it was in movement, the magicless mage doing his best to keep his feet planted firmly as he trekked over to its head region.

"Take this!" he raised his large sword with both hands, swiping it down with all his might, cutting the snake's head off, and jumping off as the rest of its body crumbled away. "See? You can't beat us, we're taking Rill back!"

"What's with you? Is this guy your friend or something?" Lira asked two questions.

"Well, I wouldn't say we're particularly close, but I do consider him a friend. That's why I'll save him from you! You don't have the right to take away his life like that, he has a family, he has friends, he has his squad, and he has a dream!"

Lira paused, focusing on those last two words. "A dream, you say? Yes, I can see it in his memories," he closed his eyes and focused. "He wants to paint a masterpiece, to create something of worth, something that will finally let people understand him and see his magic for what it truly is," he opened his eyes. "It's an alright dream, but he doesn't need to be here to make it happen,"

"And why is that?" the plant mage asked.

"Because I'm here!" he yelled his response, his tone joyous. "I think his magic is pretty cool, and under my control, I'll create his masterpiece for him while he can enjoy spending the rest of eternity in hell,"

Asta pointed at him. "You're insane! You can't just fulfill his dream for him, that defeats the whole point!"

"Watch me," he simply replied. "What about you two? What are your dreams?"

"My dream?" Mimosa repeated, not seeing the issue in declining. "Well, I want to be a great healer someday, one of the best in the kingdom's history…and find myself a nice husband," she replied, blushing at the last part.

"And as for me, I want to be the next Wizard King!" Asta replied more passionately.

Lira raised a brow. "What's a Wizard King?"

"Were they not around during your time?" the swordsman asked, and was met with a shake of the head. "The Wizard King is the highest authority among the Magic Knights, as well as the strongest mage in the country,"

The possessed picture mage resisted the urge to laugh. "How do you expect to be the strongest magic user in the country when you don't have magic?!"

"As you can see, I don't need it. I've been managing just fine with anti-magic," he answered before saying something else. "Now, I want to ask you a question. Why are you suddenly so interested in dreams?"

Lira's expression shifted, becoming somewhat serious and sad. "Why? Because I died young. You know what they say about the young, that we're so full of dreams, the same is true for me. When I still looked like me, I had tons of dreams, I wanted to become talented, make something of myself, meet more people, and to someday find that special someone. But then, your kind showed up, and in a matter of minutes, all those dreams disappeared in an instant alongside my dying body,"

He stopped, the two royal knights believing he was done, but they were proven wrong as he continued. "It's not fair! None of us deserved that, but we had to live with it and die! Why did my dreams have to vanish?! Were they not more important than your envy and greed?! So now I'm making do with what I've got, and Rill is all I've got! If I can't have my dreams, I'll have his instead!"

Asta's eyes showed pity for the elf. "Look, Lira-,"

"Oh wow, you can finally use my name for once! It's a miracle!" he didn't miss the chance to make a jab.

The magicless mage made no attempt to retort. "Look, Lira, I know what happened to you was really crappy, and if I had the chance to do something, I would in a heartbeat, but Rill is innocent in all this, taking his dreams along with everything and everyone in his life isn't fair to him, just like the massacre wasn't fair to you. Even if I understand, I can't allow you to succeed, what you're doing is wrong,"

Asta ended his heartfelt speech, but instead of reaching the possessed captain, it just made him go into a rage. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Just shut up and die already! Picture Magic: Scream of the Mystical Dragon Vouivre!"

He dunked his paintbrush into multiple colors aggressively, forming the feminine chimera-like dragon as she roared. "Kill them with everything you have! Don't hold a single thing back!"

Vouivre kept her mouth open, preparing to let loose the devastating blast, worrying Asta. "This isn't good, that was the spell Rill used in the finals, it was able to go toe-to-toe with Yuno's Spirit Dive, and it's stronger now,"

"Do you think you should transform?" Mimosa suggested.

He shook his head. "I shouldn't risk it now. Licht is here too, and I don't know when I'll run into him. You saw what happened when Yuno and I fought him, we didn't stand a chance, even while transformed, I shouldn't waste it,"

The plant mage then came up with an idea in her head. "I'll take care of that spell then, boost me towards her!"

"Okay!" he cupped his hands together as she backed up before running forward, jumping on his hands as she was sent flying at a diagonal angle going northwest.

"Plant Magic: Magic Control Grass!" she created the seeds, waiting until she was directly above the dragon before throwing them with deadly accuracy, the seeds landed in her mouth before the royal clenched her fist, grass and vines sprouting.

"What are you doing?!" Lira demanded.

"You'll see," Mimosa answered as she landed. "Close your mouth!" she ordered, the opposing creation obeying, but while she said to close her mouth, she never ordered her to cease her attack. And with no place to escape from, the blast released within her, causing her to violently implode.

"No!" the elf exclaimed before beginning to mumble to himself.

"That was awesome, Mimosa!" Asta congratulated her as she reconvened with him.

"Thanks, I knew it was a bit risky since there was always the possibility the implosion could have a wide blast radius, but luckily, that wasn't the case," she said back. "Now we can focus on going directly after-,"

"AHHHHHH!" a screaming voice cut them off from above, the mage stared up to see Charmy falling their way, but she was able to deploy her wool cloud to break her fall. "I'm safe!"

"Charmy?!" the two exclaimed in shock.

The teen stood up quickly. "That's me,"

"What are you doing here? Weren't you supposed to stay outside?" her squadmate asked.

Rather than answer them, the cotton mage crossed her arms. "How rude. Why are you asking me all that without even taking some time to say hi to your own brother? Hey Yuno, did he always have a tendency to sometimes ignore-," she turned around, expecting to see the one she came with, but he wasn't there. "Huh?"

"Hold on, Yuno's in here?" Mimosa now asked.

"Yeah, but he and Bell were just with me. Where'd they go?"

"You must've gotten separated from them when you arrived, the same thing happened to us," Asta explained before smiling. "If Yuno's around here, our chances of winning go up big time,"

"Wait a minute," Mimosa then recalled something. "Didn't Emmanuel say the door to the Shadow Palace would be closed even though the palace itself remains? How did Yuno get in?"

"I was surprised at first too, but then a necklace Yuno had on started glowing and it reopened the door," Charmy told them.

"The necklace he's had since forever?" Asta asked for specification and was given it with a nod, but that just left him confused. "How could it have done that?"

"Maybe it's really a special kind of magic item?" Mimosa threw out the idea. "Heck, what if it's a Magic Stone?"

Asta held his chin. "I mean, that is possible, but where would he have even gotten it from? He's had it since he was a baby,"

Charmy shrugged. "I guess we'll learn more in the future,"

"No, that isn't it either!" their attention quickly shifted to Lira, the elf currently giving the humans his back as he erratically scratched his hair. "That spell isn't strong enough, neither is that one, and that one can't even attack! I need to make something stronger, something that can kill the humans with ease! But what?!"

"What's up with him?" the petite girl inquired.

"I'm not exactly sure," her squadmate replied.

"Hm, he looks and sounds frustrated," Charmy held her chin before summoning a wool cloud, hopping on it as she flew over to him.

"What's she planning?" Mimosa was curious.

Asta softly slammed his fist on his palm. "I think I know. She must be planning to sneak attack him while he's distracted,"

"Why can't I think of something more powerful?!" Lira kept on yelling to himself. "I'm supposed to be stronger than them, this shouldn't be happening!"

"Hey there," a voice greeted politely as a finger tapped his back, his anger dying down temporarily as he turned, seeing the girl with a bowl of pasta in her hands. "Want some?"

"What is she doing?!" her allies thought with comedic shock.

"Huh?" even Lira was flabbergasted.

"If you're having trouble coming up with something, you need some thinking food. Here, eat up and all the inspiration will come rushing," she said with a smile.

However, instead of accepting, he slapped the bowl aside. "Get that shit away from me! Like I'd ever eat food prepared by a human, you probably poisoned it or something!"

But Charmy wasn't listening to his words, her attention was fully focused on the bowl, watching as it plummeted and landed, the pasta spilling over the ground. Her eyes grew dark. "You just made a big mistake, buster! Cotton Creation Magic: Strike of the Sleeping Sheep!"

The large sheep appeared behind her, but Lira was undaunted. "Be quiet! Picture Magic: Subterranean Giant's Iron Fist!" the detached fist punched Charmy first before doing the same to her spell, both plummeting, landing with two thuds.

"No!" Asta and Mimosa exclaimed.

"You wanna mess with me, huh?! Fine then!" Lira went on a spree, creating an army of grotesque and abstract creatures, their numbers nearly filling the whole room. "Even if they aren't strong enough individually, they can still work together to kill you!"

Asta gripped his sword tightly. "Ah crap, this isn't looking good. But if we want to win, we have to-,"

He stopped midway as all of a sudden, an eerie feeling filled the room, and not a single person was able to miss it. "This sensation, where is it coming from?"

"How dare you," all eyes turned to Charmy as the black bull stood up, but it became clear that something strange was happening as the girl was growing visibly taller.

Their eyes were now wide in disbelief. "How did she do that?"

"Hey, can I come out now?" a new voice asked, the sound coming from her sheep, but in a matter of seconds, the wool shed itself completely, revealing a wolf underneath, only serving to shock the others more.

Lira, however, was able to recover faster as he realized something. "Wait a minute, this mana that's coming from you, it's familiar," he began, landing on the answer. "You, you're part dwarf, aren't you?"

"What?!" Asta and Mimosa exclaimed, staring at Charmy whose face was blank, but then it shifted to a more comedic one.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" she yelled before inspecting her body. "Damn, and what the hell happened to me? Not that I'm complaining of course. I finally have a rocking body to match my infectious personality,"

"Lira, start explaining, what the hell's a dwarf?" Asta wanted to know.

However, it was Mimosa who spoke first to answer. "From what I remember in stories, dwarves are a race of small people who usually dwelt in caves or other dark places, any spot that was rich in minerals since many of them were blacksmiths. I didn't think they were real though,"

"Oh, they're real alright," Lira said. "What I want to know is how a human-dwarf hybrid even exists here at this time. Even 500 years ago they weren't around, legends said their race left the continent after some great catastrophe,"

Charmy stared at her hands. "So, I'm some kind of hybrid?" she wondered aloud, her eyes involuntarily wandering to her grimoire, but that brought shock to her as well. "No fucking way!"

"What's wrong?" Asta asked.

"Look!" she showed them her book, revealing that it had undergone a change in color and design, no longer being white, but instead brown.

"That is strange," Mimosa said. "A grimoire shouldn't change appearance like that,"

Charmy raised a brow. "What? No, I don't care about its appearance, I'm talking about this!"

The two knights quickly moved closer, inspecting her grimoire, and that's when their eyes widened in the highest form of disbelief. "What the hell is that?!"

What exactly did they see to illicit such a response? In the center of Charmy's grimoire, the clover that was typically there was gone, and in its place was a new image: a simple crown design, with three tips.

"That…That isn't possible," Mimosa shook her head slowly. "There's no kingdom here with that kind of symbol,"

"Who cares where it's from? Can we battle now? I'm starving," the wolf said impatiently.

"And since when could you talk?!" Charmy questioned him.

The wolf shrugged. "Don't know, and right now, I don't care. Aren't you feeling famished as well?"

All of a sudden, the human-dwarf hybrid began to drool. "You're right, I'm suddenly itching for a meal. Say, you got a name?"

"Call me Fenris,"

"Okay then, Fenris, let's eat," she opened her changed grimoire, using the only spell in there at the moment. "Food Magic: Glutton's Banquet!" a large pair of utensils manifested in Fenris' hands as began to devour the opposing spells.

"Food Magic? That's not her attribute," Asta was confused. "Does being a hybrid give her an additional attribute or something?"

"I guess so," Mimosa answered.

Charmy began glowing as her body surged with magic power. "Asta, Mimosa, you two get going, leave this guy to me!"

"Are you sure?" the swordsman asked.

The cotton/food mage gave them a thumbs up. "I'm sure, Fenris and I are going to teach him the importance of a good meal,"

"Okay then, good luck," the two ran out of the room, arriving at a middle path, but they kept running, soon spotting another room.

"Hey, I'm sensing elven mana in there, but it's faint," the plant mage said as the two entered cautiously, but instead of being met with an active combatant, their eyes fell on an unconscious Baval.

The royal gasped. "It's David, someone must've beaten him,"

Asta pulled out the Destroyer. "Then I owe them one, they saved me the trouble of having to fight him," he placed it on him, undoing the reincarnation.

"Let's keep moving, and if we're lucky, we'll run into someone else,"

"Flame Spirit Magic: Salamander's Breath!" Fuegoleon exclaimed, the spirit launching a fireball, but the best it could do was somewhat damage the vortex, let alone get past it.

"I've got you now," Eleos directed the daggers in their direction, but they quickly flew away, staying in movement across the air.

"He isn't making this easy. Apart from that one Sol Linea, no other attack has managed to get past. Do you have any plans?"

"Perhaps we should try splitting up. If we do that, we can make him split his focus," the flame spirit suggested.

He nodded. "It's worth a shot. Flame Spirit Creation Magic: Dragon Wings!" the wings materialized behind him as he hopped off, the two splitting up.

"Flame Magic: Sol Linea!" the captain flew around, firing the chest beam, the attack not affecting Eleos in the slightest.

"Have you given up? That attack hardly had anything behind it," the possessed vortex mage mocked.

"Hardly," the royal responded. "Flame Spirit Magic: Salamander's Blaze!" he exclaimed in his mind, the spirit firing its powerful blast from elsewhere.

Eleos' eyes widened as he detected a large amount of mana in another direction, turning that way and strengthening the vortex to handle it. "So, that was your plan? Use yourself as a decoy to split my focus while Salamander tries to break through my defense. Smart. You have both good strategic skills and the flame spirit, you must be the strongest mage the humans have on their side. Once I get rid of you, the others should be no challenge,"

Fuegoleon didn't make any response to his statement, but it managed to trigger something as his mind replayed a pair of memories.

[Flashback]

Vermillion Household. Varying Years Ago.

"Children, come here!" a commanding male voice called out.

In seconds, two young children emerged into the room he was in, a young Fuegoleon and Mereoleona. "Yes, father!"

"Children, there's someone I'd like for you to meet," their father brought attention to an older woman beside him. "This is Theresa Rapual, and she will be your magic instructor from this day onward. I expect you to treat her with the utmost respect. Have I made myself clear?"

"Yes, father!" they responded.

He smiled. "Good," he turned to Theresa. "They're in your hands now,"

"Worry not, I won't let you down," she said back as he exited the room. The woman walked up to the kids. "Before we start with practice, why don't you introduce yourselves,"

The boy raised his hand first. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Fuegoleon,"

The girl raised her hand afterward. "And I'm Mereoleona,"

"It's nice to properly meet you both. Now, as your magic instructor, I'm here to help you raise your skills to their highest level, but everyone is different, so I'll fashion my teachings around how you learn best,"

Mereoleona raised her hand again. "If that's the case, is it okay if I go train in the woods?"

The woman deadpanned. "Pardon me?"

Fuegoleon sighed. "Sister, how many times must I tell you, that's not the best way to train, not to mention it's dangerous? It's best to hone your skills in a safe environment and be tested when necessary, the wild is too unpredictable,"

"The unpredictability is what makes it better," she protested. "Life isn't always going to go the way you plan or follow some set of rules. Things are always changing, so you should learn to change with it,"

"Something like that isn't going to matter if you die,"

"Then the solution is simple, just don't die," she slung her arms behind her head.

"That doesn't make any sense,"

"It only doesn't make sense to you,"

Theresa inserted her into the conversation. "Under normal circumstances, I'd agree with Fuego, but seeing as you asked for it so casually, I'm going to take a guess and say you've done it already,"

The young girl nodded. "Yes ma'am, but I've only done it for a few hours at a time, nothing crazy,"

Theresa held her chin. "Okay then, why don't we try this: I let you train in the wild from sunrise to sundown, but you'll carry a communication device with you at all times so I can come if need be. As well as that, each time you return, you'll give me a summary of what you did that day so I can advise you from there. Does that work?"

"Yes, that'd be awesome!" she eagerly accepted it.

"Are you still sure you want to let her do that?" the boy continued his personal mission.

"Remember what I said, Fuego, I fashion my teachings based on the way one learns. If you're too strict, you'll stifle their potential," she told him.

His sister punched her palm before forming a peace sign with her fingers. "Just you wait, I'm going to be such a powerful mage, maybe even one of the kingdom's best!"

"Guess who?"

Time passed for the two siblings, and while they were still young, they weren't kids anymore. As Mereoleona was walking through the Vermillion estate, a pair of hands covered her eyes while a voice playfully asked the question.

"What are you doing, Fuegoleon?" she asked, removing his hands herself.

"I'm putting you in a good mood before we celebrate the occasion. You're the oldest vermillion of the generation and you're getting your grimoire. Isn't that exciting?"

The teen shrugged. "I guess, but I'm pretty strong as is,"

"Well, you're going to need all the help you can get if you want to last in the magic knights," her brother said.

"Excuse me? I won't have to worry about that, because I'm not joining them,"

The future flame mage was surprised upon hearing this. "But, sister, you're incredibly talented and strong, and all without a grimoire. The magic knights would kill for a mage like you to join their ranks,"

"Maybe they would, but being a magic knight isn't really my cup of tea,"

"Well then…I challenge you," he pointed at her. "If I win, you'll take the entrance exam and not try to fail. If you win, I'll never pester you about this ever again,"

She raised a brow. "Are you sure? You're just thirteen, you're going to be at a disadvantage,"

"Even so, I'll try my best," he said back as they each backed up and ran at each other, beginning what would be known within House Vermillion as 'The Tuesday of Blood of Flames,"

However, despite his best efforts, he wasn't able to defeat his older sister.

[End Flashback]

Fuegoleon snapped out his reminiscing as his focus went back on the fight. There was one last plan he could try, but it was risky.

"Salamander, I need you to charge at him with all your strength!" he commanded. "Even an elf can't contend with a spirit, use your strength to tear apart the vortex!"

"Okay!" it obeyed, rushing straight at the Refusal Helix at top speed, slamming into it, trying to claw into it.

Eleos' focus was on the spirit once again. "While your power is indeed great, this is the kind of shield that cannot be broken by brute force!" he expanded it, pushing the spirit back.

"You're right, it can't be broken by brute force, so I tried another way,"

The possessed captain's eyes widened as he turned, and there Fuegoleon was, mere inches away from him, inside the vortex. "That can't be. What about his arm?" he looked, but was surprised to see the flaming arm was no longer there. "So that's what he did. He had Salamander act as bait, not just to divert my attention, but to use its power to slightly weaken the vortex, he then extinguished his arm, so he could slip in,"

"Hey, elf," the flame mage then said. "Earlier, you called me the strongest mage the humans had, but you couldn't be more wrong, there is another,"

"If you're feeling tired, you can just surrender now and let me kill you!" Mereoleona laughed as the barrage of clashes between her and Vetto went on.

"Nope, I can do this all night if I have to," he riposted.

"You better hope that for your sake, that isn't hyperbole,"

"No hyperbole here. That's actually what I sort of did when I fought those Black Bulls in the Underwater Temple, which I'm sure you read all about. However, on a serious note, you're much more powerful than any of them were, even the kid with the Sacred One wasn't on your level, heck, I'd even say their captain wasn't on your level, and he's the one who killed me,"

"What's your point?"

"My point is that you're obviously one of the strongest humans in this entire kingdom, if not THE strongest human. In a way, I'm honored to be the one who takes you down!"

As he finished saying that, Mereoleona ceased her attack, backing up until she was a safe distance from him. "What's wrong? Did you get tired?!" Vetto didn't miss the chance to throw a jab.

"Don't flatter yourself, I'm merely changing up my attack plan," she replied, her grimoire turning to a page. "Flame Magic - Mana Zone: Calidos Bestia!" she made the punching motion, but the attack was coming from behind Vetto.

Granted, the beast mage was able to sense it coming just before it made contact, giving him a chance to use his arms to protect himself, getting pushed off the floating rock, but in a twist of irony, he was now directly above the royal.

Seizing his opportunity, he clenched his fist and let himself fall. "Die!" he punched her right in the face, but instead of flying away from the force, the woman stayed where she was, pushing back against his punch. "How is she doing that?!"

"Hey, buster, you called me the strongest human here. I take it there's a person you're forgetting about," she said, her mind replaying her own pair of memories.

[Flashback]

Crimson Lion Kings HQ. Varying Years Ago.

"There you are, I heard you wanted to talk to me,"

That's what Mereoleona said after spotting her brother. It was a strange feeling for the woman to be walking around the base of a magic knight squad, especially since she wasn't a magic knight herself; she'd often be subjected to stares and whispers by its denizens, wondering what a royal was doing there. But she never paid them any mind, and why should she? Anytime she visited, it was just to see one person.

"Ah, thanks for coming on such short notice," Fuegoleon said, but from the tone of his voice, there was a bit of unease, one his sister picked up on immediately. "We can talk more in my room,"

With that, he led the way while she followed, occasionally passing by other knights, the man greeting them as they greeted him back. In a short two to three, they had made it to the door of his room.

The man opened it, revealing a lavish area that was quite spacious as well. Mereoleona whistled, impressed. "Not bad, they sure do know how to treat royalty around here,"

He waved it away. "Oh no, all the rooms in the base are this size, and even if they weren't, I don't want any benefits to spawn from favoritism, but rather as a reflection of my own diligent work,"

"I see," she made her way to the bed, sitting on it. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Are you aware of the fact that our captain is retiring in the coming month?"

"I've heard a little bit, but you'd think it'd be more, a captain who's about to retire sounds like a big deal,"

"Well, regardless of what the public thinks, it's a big deal for me," he said. "I've heard a lot of members in the squad say they want me to be the new captain,"

"That makes sense, after all, you are the vice-captain,"

"Yes, but that's my problem, I can't be the captain, I'm not the right fit,"

"Are you being serious right now?" his sister stood up. "You're already the vice-captain, you have some experience, but more than that, you're a good mage. You work twice as hard as all your peers and are always looking out for everyone, like for me when we were kids. This squad can use a captain like you,"

Fuegoleon looked at her. "You really think so?"

"I know so,"

"Is this the room he's in? Thank you,"

Mereoleona's voice spoke once again, but the tone was different…a lot more somber, and for good reason. The woman opened the door and closed it, being met with the sight of her comatose brother. The room only had one other chair present, one right beside the bed, so she walked over to it.

But before she sat, she didn't miss the chance to inspect the wound in question, pulling up the bedsheet to reveal a missing arm, her expression not changing drastically as she sat down.

"Hey, I don't know if you can hear me, but I want to say a few things. It's strange, y'know, a part of me wants you to hear what I have to say while the other part doesn't,"

She paused for a minute, letting the silence build before speaking up. "I guess the first thing to tell you is that Julius is making me the substitute captain of the Crimson Lion Kings, he'll announce next week at the Star Festival. I bet you weren't expecting that, the sister that was always indifferent to the idea of magic knights coming on to be their captain,"

"And as for the second thing," she began, a rare moment of hesitation occurring as the words got stuck in her throat, but she managed to say it.

"I miss you," the woman could feel tears building up in her eyes, so she wiped them before they could be seen. "I know I'll never be the kind of leader you are, but I'll try my best and make sure you have a stronger squad to come back to,"

She then took a few deep breaths. "Alright, I need to be off," she stood up, leaning over to give him a kiss on the forehead before heading to the door, but before she could leave, she stopped.

"Hey, Fuegoleon, you almost made your big sister cry. When you wake up, expect no mercy from me,"

[End Flashback]

"Someone I'm forgetting about? And who's that?" Vetto demanded.

In response, Mereoleona grabbed his necklace, pulling him in closer. "A man who can be a stickler, a pain, and far too responsible, but despite that, he's an amazing leader who rallies people behind him, and everyone in this kingdom respects him!"

At the same time, Eleos asked a similar question. "And this other person is?"

Fuegoleon then grabbed his collar, pulling him in closer. "A woman who can be brash, reckless, and stubborn as all hell, but despite that, her spirit is unbreakable and her strength is undeniable, even among those of us at the top!"

"That's why he is…,"

"That's why she is…,"

Both vermillion siblings commanded their fists to ignite one last time, each putting their all into this last strike as they punched with all their might, sending Vetto and Eleos flying into a wall, the force knocking both elves out as the royal victoriously screamed.

"...WORTHY OF BEING THE STRONGEST!"