“Alright,” Asta smirked as he walked through the woods with a good-sized bag draped over his shoulder that was wafting dark magic off into the air. “I went out and bought the tamahagane then had Yami fill these with as much of his dark magic as possible. I told him I’d charge him, and in a way, I did. Hehehe,” Asta snickered as Nero sat on his shoulder with her usual ‘I don’t care, I’m pissed for no reason at all’ stare. “He practically looked like a skeleton due to mana loss from it just laying on the floor like that! AHAHAHAHAHA!”

Nero just rolled her eyes.

“I know you don’t care, but it was pretty damn funny to me,” Asta let out a satisfied sigh, “But to think my magic power alone is enough to contend with a captain-level mage. You have to admit that’s a pretty impressive feat, especially seeing as how I’ve only been using my magic for about a year.”

“I have to admit it was a rather impressive battle,” came a familiar voice.

“So, you were watching that, too,” Asta stopped, and his facial features became stern. He slightly turned his head to the right, “I really am not surprised with how much power you have at your disposal,” Nero also looked over, and her eyes widened slightly as she felt the mana coming off the figure before her.

“Big brother, why are you here this time?” Asta kept his eye locked on his older brother. He was the one thing he knew he would never stand a chance against, one of the driving forces for him to become stronger, but that would have to wait for a long time, as he knew Edward had a reason for being right here and now. “I know it was not just for compliance or quick healing, as there is no need. You only show up if something significant with me or the storyline is going on.”

“Correct, little brother,” Edward gave Asta a smile as he pointed at the sky, “You broke Yami’s sword before the fight it would normally have been broken in. You’ve also developed your forging skill to the point you can create and imbue magical weapons with abilities and skills all their own.”

“Get to the point already,” Asta demanded as he dropped the bag he was holding and drew his sword, pointing it at his older brother, “Or I’ll cut off your damn head and have you tell me the hard way!”

“You and I both know that wouldn't work on me,” Edward chuckled lightly as he was suddenly gone, and then Asta felt his presence right behind him. Asta quickly turned around but saw nothing and then turned back to see his older brother standing where he’d just been “I’m here to give you a bit of a challenge in the form of forging your captain’s new weapon. If done right, you’ll have created one of the most powerful katanas this world will ever know,” he explained as several bags blurred into existence by the alchemic sage, “It will truly be the greatest pinnacle of your craft that you’ve created so far.”

Asta put away his sword, “Why are you going out of your way to interfere this time? Last time we spoke, you said you aren’t helping from the start.”

“Because I’m not directly becoming involved with you or the events of this timeline,” Ed smirked, “I’m simply giving you an edge in the coming trials that lay ahead of you, little brother. You couldn't have forged this sword at the level you were at previously, due to the sheer amount of danger it puts you while simply trying to handle it during its initial construction and sharpening phase. Seeing as how you were able to fight on par with Yami and even cut his drastically magic-empowered sword with your own, it means you’re ready. Are you willing to listen to my instructions and follow them to a ’T’?”

Asta gave a single nod.

“Good,” Edward tossed his brother a white wooden box, “Open it, and you’ll see a sample of one of the materials I’m providing you with.”

Asta looked down at the box in his palm and steadily lifted the lid on the box. Inside was what appeared to be a crystal of some sort. It had a wide array of light-hued opaque colors that ranged between tans, blues, and greens all swirling in various patterns. He could also tell that this was old, very old actually, perhaps a fossil of some kind, but yet, it was still full of life energy. It was like no other crystal Asta had ever seen or felt before, because not only did it have life in it, but it also had the aura of an extremely powerful beast that could tamper with and even forcefully change the very world itself.

“This thing has been dead for millions of years, and yet, it's still filled to the brim with life energy,” Asta looked at his brother, “How? What is this?”

“That, little brother, is but an extremely small piece of the singular tooth of a titanic class dragon called a Derous from the world of Toriko,” Ed told him. “It was a dragon that at one time ruled over its whole world when it still had breath in its body, and even after its death, it still radiates that same powerful aura. This dragon only had a single fang in its maw, and you’re holding only the smallest of bits from it. This fang is so strong it can’t be damaged by normal means, and there is only one material in that world that has the ability to shape this fang shard,” he said, causing one of the bags to open.

There on the ground was a pile of golden glowing pieces of shimmering gold.

“This is Melk Stardust, a special type of whetstone used to sharpen even the hardest of materials from the same world,” Ed said as one of the stones floated up into the alchemist’s palm. “The dust that the sharpening produces is edible. but I don’t recommend eating it. as it can be highly addictive if not used in the right ways. But, the dust that you’ll produce will just fade away. I cast a spell to make sure of that.”

“I’m not a food guy anyways,” Asta shrugged.

“I never said you were,” Ed added as a golden ripple formed in the air to his right, and out of it came a long box that he grabbed ahold of. “This is another piece of the derous fang. You will grind it down using the Melk Whetstones I’ve provided for you here,” he then held up his finger, and a grey bubble grew from the tip, “This is one of my ID Fields that will last an entire month. It’ll be more than enough time for you to forge both swords. Once you reach your forge, simply crush it, and it’ll expand outward. You’ll know how to dispel it once done.”

“Wait, you said both swords, but I'm only making one,” Asta pointed out.

“I guess you’re right,” Ed smirked, “Well, you’ll have to forge the dark magic sword then figure out how to apply the derous fang to it. You have the skills and powers you’ll need for this job.”

A red vortex opened up next to the alchemical sage.

“Oh, and one more thing, just food for thought… In the hands of its creator, the knife had the ability to cut through a mountain range with barely a single swing, so just imagine what a sword of this caliber will be capable of?” Ed said before leaving, “You yourself pointed out how much life force a single fang speck has. That being said, the knife that was made with a shard like the one you have had the ability to regenerate severed limbs and missing organs alongside being able to even help someone recover from the brink of death.”

“I can’t allow something like that-” Asta started to say.

Ed held up a hand, silencing his brother, “The only way to use this skill of the knife is for the wielder to possess the skill to see and pass the knife in the gaps between cells without damaging them. You can’t outright bring someone back to life or outright totally bring them back to full health either. Neither you nor your captain have the ability nor the ability to gain such a skill. Now, good luck,” he waved as he walked through the portal, and it closed.

Asta let out a strained sigh. “Well, he went through the trouble, so I might as well take the advantage and run with it for now,” he told Nero as he gathered up the left-behind materials and then ran off with his loot to his forge.

“First thing’s first,” Asta said as he took out the ID sphere and crushed it, allowing the field to spread out. “Alright,” he smirked as he threw off his shirt, “Let’s get started.”

A Few days later in the ID Field…

Asta brought his hammer down hard on the sword he’d forged from Captain Yami’s dark magic-infused tamahagane. He’d been busy forging the katana and was now ready for its quenching and straightening. Asta pulled the blade from the flames and immediately plunged it into a troff of oil on the opposite side of the forge. He wriggled the blade around slightly and then pulled it out.

He immediately eyed it from the tip down to the tang, making sure to take note of any major warping. Not noticing any warps, he sandwiched the sword in between two equally sized timbers and lashed a strong rope around them.

“Alright then,” he wiped the sweat from his brow. “That one’s done for the time being,” he looked to the long box and bag of glowing yellow whetstones his brother gave him. Opening the box, he found a much longer piece of the same fossilized fang Ed had let him hold. “Your turn,” he smirked as he took hold of the fossil piece and noticed that though it was extremely sturdy, it was still extremely light. “And I’ll also need one of these,” he added as he reached into the bag and pulled out a rectangular Melk whetstone.

Asta set the stone down on a table nearby then grabbed a stool and placed it in front of the stone and table. He steadily began to pull the Derous sliver across the whetstone. Time steadily passed as Asta gradually wore down the Derous sliver to somewhat of a general shape.

“Ed wasn’t kidding about this stuff,” Asta remarks as he gingerly slid the sliver down the whetstone. “I’ve been working on this for nearly eight hours and have barely made a dent in this stuff. I was at least able to draw it down to look more or less like a sword. The real trick is going to be getting this to play nice with the dark steel. Normally, I’d just heat them both up and fold them in on each other. I’ll focus on that later on,” he sighed as he went back to work.

Asta continued to work until he reached what he considered a decent point to call it a day and stopped to get some food and rest. He left his tools out where they’d lay, as he was the only living being in this pocket dimension outside of Nero, and Asta knew the she-bird wasn’t interested in them, let alone strong enough to even lift them.

While he waited for his food to cook, Asta pulled out a strange string instrument from his black grimoire and laid it across his lap before placing what looked like curled-over fingernails on the tips of his dominant pointer and middle finger as well as his thumb.

The odd instrument caught Nero’s attention, and she flew over and sat across from Asta.

“It’s called a lap guitar,” the bird tilted her head to the side. “Just watch and listen,” Asta said to her as he started to strum and pluck the string to create an odd, yet mellow and fulfilling music.

“That’ll do it,” Asta said as he returned the instrument to the grimoire. He fixed himself his meal and sat down at a nearby table but simply propped his head against his hand and stared at his food, “How exactly am I supposed to merge a nearly indestructible crystal with a dark magic metal? Hehe… Quite the task you’ve put in front of me, big brother…”

He let out a long-strained sigh, “I’m sure I’ll figure it out. Generally, when Ed tells me I have what I need, then I’ll figure it out,” Asta snarked. “Oh well, I’ll get to it when I get to it, I guess. Itadakimasu,” he remarked, then clapped his hands together.

Suddenly, his eyes shot open, and he looked at his clasped his palms together. He slowly opened his palms and looked at them. He closed his hands and opened them repeatedly before coming to a realization.

“I am so stupid,” Asta slapped himself in the face and slowly dragged it down. “I have plenty of the unused tamahagane and some smaller pieces of the fossil. I don’t really have much choice, but if I can,” he clapped his hands, and they sparked with blue electricity, and then grabbed a hold of his spoon. The electricity flowed into it, and as it did, the spoon transformed into a fork.

“I’m no master of it, but Alchemy is the only solution. It seems I have enough control I can at least mold and model material,” Asta smirked as he stabbed his steak with the fork. “And that’s all I really need,” he said, lifting the food to bite into it to rip off a small chunk.

Nero flew over, and Asta sat a plate of steamed pot potatoes in front of her.

He swallowed his mouth full of food, “Still, with this skill, I should be able to do things a little bit easier that as well as make specific tools and adjustments as I need to. I can do this!” He clutched his fist while Nero pecked away at her food.

A few days later…

Asta had been sharpening the fossilized fang sliver for nearly four days now. He had ground down quite a lot of the entail rough shape from a sliver to that of a generally shaped form of a katana blank.

Asta wiped the sweat off his brow and then looked outside the window, “I really wish I could see more color than just this dully off-color imitation.” He went back to sharpening right away, and Nero soon flew into the room. “I know it's boring in this closed space Nero, but you had the chance to leave, and you chose to stay.”

He held the blank up, dripping with water and shimmering with gold flicks from the Melk Whetstone particles on it.

Asta looked at his reflection cast in the blank due to the light of the fire. “As the saying goes, you made your nest, now you’ve got to perch in it,” he added as he started sharping again. “Or that's the bird version of it anyways. My next issue is merging the blades of the swords. I can’t simply fuse them, cause then I’d have a sword twice the lengthen of what I need…” he set the blank down, “If I cut it in half, then I could… no, cause then they’d fall apart while I applied the heat for setting them…”

He walked over to the table and looked at the sheath that held the dark magic katana. “Hmmm… A jacket method… The spine of the blade would be the only area that wouldn’t be totally covered. There’s a lot of dust from the fang on the sides of the workbench that isn’t contaminated with unknown materials, or…” he picked up a sliver of Melk Whetstone and clapped his hands together, then transferred the charge to the sliver, molding it into a sort of tool with a wedge-shaped end.

“This is all I can do for now,” he sighed, “But the more work put in, the better the payoff. I think I’ll save the dust from this, just to be sure that they’ll be pure.”

Once Asta had reached what he’d felt like a good point in the blank's overall shape, he decided to start to carve out the blank. He set up smaller Melk Whetstones in lines on either side of the blank, thus standing it up perpendicular to the ceiling. He then took his wedge-shaped tool and started to run it down the spine of the fang-sword blank.

“This is going to take a while,” Asta clicked his tongue, “but the effort put into this sword makes its end result all the sweeter!”

Five days later…

Asta flopped back on the ground. “My back!!!!!!!” he called out.

Nero sat on the table and looked down at him with the same spiteful look on her face.

“You’d be in pain, too, if you’d spent nearly all day hunched over a whetstone, grinding for five days straight!” he shouted at the bird.

The bird merely gave a quick unwavering single blink.

“Shut up!” Asta shouted. “Why did my unknown animal understanding power have to transfer over to this world?” he grumbled as he lay splayed out on the ground. “And the music helps feel the void of being here alone, with just you! Unnecessary my ass! Of course, it’s necessary! I can’t believe I resorted to imagining having a full-on conversation with such an unresponsive bird!”

Nero then sharpened her glare.

“Okay… sheesh…” Asta threw up his hands, “Girl in a bird's form… You sure have become touchy about that subject since I told you I knew what you are.”

He then turned his gaze back to the ceiling and then over to the whetstone. On top of the sharpening stone lay the accumulation of the past few days of Asta’s well-spent time. He’d successfully turned the derous katana blank into a semi-transparent sleeve that would fit over the dark magic katana blank.

“At least I managed to get the damn thing done and keep the dust off the floor,” he sighed as he looked at the large pile of crystalline powder on a plate and piece of cloth next to the whetstone.

“I did have some success with the alchemy trials,” Asta painfully sat up with a groan. He looked at his hand and clenched it, making a fist with a smirk as he looked at his forge, “I’m still going to do things using it, but I’m still going to use traditional practices thrown in, just tweaked with the alchemy.”

Asta stood up and Nero suddenly flew on top of his head and started to vigorously peck.

“OWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!” Asta howled out in pain before falling square on his butt.

The bird stopped her assault, allowing the smith to rub the sore spot on top of his head.

“Geez, you could’ve just said take a break for a couple of days,” Asta hissed.

The bird's gaze narrowed slightly.

“Alright, I’ll take a break!” Asta threw up his hands.

A Day Later…

Asta sat buck naked in a deep pool of water. Nero effortlessly floated on top of the hot water, doing her best to maintain her usual pissy facade.

“It might be an improvised version of the one I built up the mountain from here, but it sure does the trick,” Asta let out a sigh of relief as he sat with a towel draped over his head. “You should be careful not to stay in here too long,” looked at the red-faced bird, “You’re not used to the heat like I am. Even with this younger body, I had to recondition myself to a lot of stuff.”

The bird merely glared at him.

“Look,” he held up his hands, “I’m not going to play as if you don’t have a part to play in the future of this world, cause you know I know you do, but at the same time, you still need to take care of your health. What are you gonna do after the events of the plan come together anyway?”

The bird was more than a bit took aback by this question.

“I know what should happen, yes,” Asta booped her beak. “But with me making this sword, it could very well change things, and maybe not for the better. I do care about some of the people in this world, but at the same time, my goal is to get home. I have two other wives there, not to mention my daughter,” he said with a bit of longing in his voice, “Rebecca already said she'd come with me, with her brothers and sisters. I’m not going to force the other girls to come, but I’d be very happy if they did come with me. But at the same time, I know they won’t…”

Nero was a bit stunned at that remark, too.

“I can tell you what will happen, too,” Asta leaned back and hid his eyes under his bangs, “But I think you already came to terms with what’ll happen a long time ago…”

The bird didn’t react this time. If he would’ve looked down, then Asta would’ve also been met with the same look he was hiding from his current sole companion. He knew her pain, in a way, but at the same time didn’t, as he could find solace in the fact the people he’d spoken of that were close to him could go on in this world, whereas the one that he’d spoken of close to her, could not.

The two didn’t speak or move for some time. He didn't speak to her only get out of the water in silence; she did the same but took refuge in a nearby tree. Asta felt her pain but knew it wasn’t his place to step in, so he left her to be alone and fixed her a hot meal of steamed pot potatoes then took them out to her.

“I may not be from the world you know, Secre, but maybe… I’m the world you need,” Asta said as he set the food under the tree she’d perched in. “Just… think about it…” he said as he left Nero alone with the food.

Nero just stayed in the tree, and a couple of drops of water fell near the plate from the tree’s branches.

Two days later after dispelling the ID Field…

Asta had taken some of the derous fang dust from hollowing out the blank and laid it out in a straight wideishly-thin line. It was just a small amount of the dust, but the line ran the length of the katana.

“Even when using alchemy, this stuff is incredibly difficult to work with,” Asta cracked his knuckles, “Luckily, this is pure dust from the fang, and I’m not trying to fuse it with anything. Alright, no time to waste!”

He clapped his hands together and then placed one over the dust line. In a flash and crackle of blue electricity, the dust particles came to life in a way. Steadily, they writhed as Asta kept his sight on the task at hand. Soon, the electricity died down. Asta reached down and pulled up a smoking, semi-transparent sliver of derous fang.

“With it bonding with itself, I was able to make a cover for the spine,” Asta inspected his handy work. “Looks fine to me, but we’ll have to let it completely cool down before we know if we can use it,” he said to Nero, who’d been watching from the table usually used for eating, “It may not fit perfectly, but it’ll still be more than good enough.”

He walked over to the table where the dark magic katana and derous sleeve were resting. Asta set the spine cover down next to the sleeve.

“It's hard to believe we’ve been in here for two weeks already, well, two in this sub-space anyways,” Asta sighed. “If my older brother hadn’t tasked me with this stupid fang add-on, I would’ve been done by now,” he growls. “Still, it's really helped push my skills as a smith and alchemist. This last task took too much concentration, so I’m calling it a day for now. It’s gonna take all the strength, stamina, and willpower I can manage to finish this forging.”

“Let’s rest for a couple of days,” he said to Nero. The bird flew to his shoulder, and the duo left the forge for the next few days.

The sun steadily rose. Even though it was an illusionary time flow in the ID, it still flowed as if it would normally would if it were in the real outside world. Asta’s hair had grown to partially cover his ears, so he’d taken to tying a bandana around his head to keep his hair out of his eyes.

“Alright!” Asta cinched the red bandana around his head then walked over to a wall and took a pair of tongs from their place on the tool wrack. “Time to start the finishing of this blade,” he said, using the tongs to grab the tang of the dark magic katana blank. “In you go,” he said as he set the blank into the forge and retracted his tool.

He grabbed a handle next to the forge, proceeding to pull it out and then push it back. He repeated this action several times, forcing the fires in the forge to swell with every pump.

“Phase one, complete,” he remarked as turned to the derous fang sleeve pieces as he set up another pair of tongs to loosely grasp them. “Phase two commencing,” he said, turning back to the forge and using his firebending to blast fresh flames into the furnace.

Asta kept a steady stream of flames going in the forge. He kept heating the katana blank until the metal burned, standing out as it glowed white-hot from having been submerged in the flames.

“It’s time!” Asta smiled as he quickly reached in with his tongs and took out the blank.

He then took a hold of the main sleeve with its tong and forced it onto the burn blank.

“No time like the present!” he shouted as he dropped the tong he used to hold the sleeve and threw his hand out, using his metal bending to summon a hammer from the wrack before using it to beat on the sleeve and blank several times, causing a loud ding to ring throughout the shop.

As the metal started to lose its glow, it turned from white to a glowing orange.

“Phase two complete!” Asta said as he thrust the newly fused plank and sleeve back into the infernos of the furnace.

“Phase three, rinse and repeat of phase two!” he threw a palm out, shooting more flames into the forge.

He did exactly as he’d said and repeated the process with the spine sleeve and fused it onto the blank. Asta then once more placed the blank back into the forge, reheating it and then pulling it out to hammer once more before he reheated it one final time, then pulled it out and quenched it in a trough of oil. Once more, he pulled the blank from the oil and made sure it was straight before lashing it in between a set of borders and set it outside to gradually finish cooling.

Nero, in the meantime, had taken it upon herself to go into the trees away from him to think.

Asta walked back into his shop and looked at the leftover tamahagane he hadn’t used in his fusion experiments. They were all scattered across the floor in a far corner of the room.

Walking over, he took one from its resting place and held it up. “I wonder?” he pondered as he then activated his black grimoire and covered his hand in anti-magic. He sharpened his mind, locking onto the tamahagane while also focusing on his control over his anti-magic. Steadily, the substance crept onto the tamahagane, turning it black with a reddish sheen.

“That was a bit easier than I thought,” Asta raised an eyebrow, “But now I can focus on this project, seeing as how the important one is done for now.” He looked outside, “This’ll also be so easier compared to that pain in the ass.”

Asta grabbed several raw used tamahagane from the floor and got right to work on his next blade.

Two days later…

Asta had finished not only captain Yami’s katana but also the anti-magic katana. Being inside the ID field showed, as he looked rather rough as far as his appearance went. He had a good bit of stubble on his face, and his hair was rather shaggy, while he also gave off the scent of ash and oil. On his back, he had a bag that held both his captain’s sword and the anti-magic katana, while on his shoulder was perched Nero.

“Alright,” he said. “We’ve been resting for a couple of days since getting out of the field. It's hard to believe only a day passed while we were in that thing,” he sighed, “It really makes me wonder how strong he really is if he would really get serious…”

Nero turned her head to face him.

“No, I’m not even going to dwell on it, Nero,” Asta commented as he started walking as his black grimoire floated up next to him from his satchel. “My older brother is far older and much more powerful than anything you’ve ever seen or will dream of.”

The bird was a bit startled by that comment.

“Trust me,” Asta pulled his slayer from his grimoire, “It's better if I don’t try and explain what he’s… become is what I should say. His power, his real power, or at least the part I’ve seen is… It felt like I was drowning in a sea of tar without even having the chance to call out for help. And this was some time ago, too. I’ve got no doubt that Edwards's power has only grown even more since that time. Still, god or whatever beings are out there have mercy let alone try and help us if he should ever unleash his full power on anyone…”

Nero could tell Asta was terrified by this very idea, and he was never terrified in all the time they’d spent together. She couldn’t help but wonder what was the being Asta called his older brother and what was it that he could do to cause her friend to be shaken up so much, just to be a guess at what his older brother could theoretically do.

“Enough foreboding,” Asta said, quickly shifting topics as he surfed on his slayer through the air.

“The people we’re going to meet aren’t your run-of-the-mill type either. Hell, one isn’t even human,” that caught her full attention, “Just keep an open mind, okay? The anti-magic katana I forged is actually for him, seeing as how he’s the only other being in this whole damn place that can use it. They’ve never seen my face either, so I’ll be wearing a mask for a good portion of our time, at least until I can explain things, okay?”

Nero knew full well what that meant and simply nodded once.

It took no time at all for Asta and Nero to arrive at their destination. They were now on the fringes of the Clover Kingdom’s forest area. They were fairly deep off the beaten path, to the point no one would consider living out here, let alone looking for someone if they went missing.

Below them was a small cabin, and outside swinging a massive sword was a demon who looked to be roughly around Asta’s age. He was nearly identical to Asta in the looks department, that is if he looked like a sharp-toothed demonic reflection.

“He’s on our side,” Asta immediately said as he pulled out a mask and hooded robe from his black grimoire and placed it on his face. “Trust me when I say he can’t stand his own kind. He was thrown out of the underworld for having no magic at all,” he explained, causing the bird’s head to quickly turn.

“Though, that did save his life in the end and allowed him to meet her,” he pointed to a woman who came out of the cottage.

She resembled Asta in a feminine way at least.

“All will be made clear to you soon, Nero,” Asta said as he jumped off his sword and plummeted towards the ground, leaving her to flap next to the weapon.

He landed with a loud thump, kicking up a large dust cloud in the process.

“Mom, watch out!” Liebe jumped in front of his mother.

The silhouette in the dust cloud reached up and from above came the Demon Slayer. The sword flew through the area, pulling away the dust to reveal Ferris’s cloaked and masked form.

“Good to see you’ve been keeping up on your training kid,” Ferris remarked.

“Ferris!” Liebe exclaimed, “I was ready to cut you into pieces!”

“You couldn’t if you tried, Liebe,” Ferris chuckled as his slayer flew into his hand, allowing him to return it to his black grimoire.

Nero soon flew down and perched on his shoulder.

“I really wish you’d let us know when you’re planning on coming out here,” Richita held the bridge of her nose, “So, why are you here this time? Training or visiting?”

“Visiting, actually,” Ferris reached over his head and pulled one of the katana out of the bag and threw it at the young demon, “And to give the lad his new sword. It took a little while to get the right materials to make it, but I was able to craft it in the end. It's by far the best sword he’ll wield to date.”

Its sheath was solid black with what looked like a scale pattern on it, with flowers adorning the mouth around the mouth of the sheath. The pommel was a bit on the wider side for a katana, with a black coloring that matched the tsuba, but unlike many katanas, it had a tassel hanging from it.

Liebe didn’t hesitate and drew his new weapon from its sheath. The spine of the sword had little circles evenly cut into it and was black with intricate red-scrying in a pattern that resembled the patterns one might see in a fire as it danced, while the edge was a mirror-finished silver. The tsuba was a flat-black color in the shape of a six-petaled flower, with its own intricate marking that led into a black leather-wrapped hilt with a red-ray skin to break up its color.

He immediately felt a surge and pulse all over his body as soon as the weapon was completely out of its sheath. This weapon was made for him, tailored to him, and most of all, it was an existence of him. It was alive in some form of the word.

“So, it does recognize you as its master,” Ferris chuckled.

“So, it wasn’t my imagination or gut feeling,” Liebe held the blade aloft and looked at the reflection of his eyes on the edge, “It’s alive…”

“In some form of the word, yes,” Ferris slightly nodded. “I used dust from the fang of a derous dragon when I was folding the steel in on itself. The dust is from an incredibly durable tooth but it's just dust, so it was more manageable to craft than its older brother still on my back but, this sword is meant for my commander,” he explained, “As you said, that sword is alive in a way and thus can only be wielded by certain people that it accepts as their master. It's nice to see that I was right to create it. I named it, the Demon Slasher.”

“I gratefully accept it, master,” Liebe bowed, causing Nero to roll her eyes

“Now, onto the next reason why I came here,” Ferris looked to Richita, “I have come to tell you exactly who I am, where I come from, why I am here in this world and my connection to the two of you.”

“I think we better go inside for this,” Richita said immediately.

Inside the cottage…

“Tea?” Richita offered, “Though I know you usually don’t, as you’d have to take off the mask, I still like to offer.”

“Yes, I would like some,” Ferris nodded.

“Wow,” Liebe laughed, “What’s the occasion? Are you finally gonna show us your face?!”

“Yes, I am,” Ferris responded.

“Liebe,” Richita scolded her demon child. “Wait, what?!” she turned to look at the magic knight, slamming her hands on the table.

“I had a very good reason for hiding my face from the two of you,” Ferris explained, “It has to do with your past Richita and the past of this world.”

“What are you talking about?” Richita said.

“I know all too well you had a son and left him in the care of a church orphanage in the village of Hage,” Ferris explained.

“You’ve seen my son?” Richita pushed, wanting to know the details.

“You’ve met my brother?” Liebe asked.

“Sadly, no,” Ferris stated. “I know how you left him there for his own sake, due to the effects of your body’s effect on creatures, but I can’t say I know what happened to him outside the fact that I know you left him at the church. I do have some knowledge of what was supposed to happen,” he said he reached up and pulled the mask from his face to reveal himself, “As I am an Asta from another world.”

Lieb just stared while Richita froze.

“Mom?” Liebe asked.

Richita slumped back in her seat. “So, you're my son from another world?” she looked at him.

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” Asta sighed, “Allow me to explain what I am, where I came from, and what exactly I know of this world.”

Asta started his explanation.

“So, you’re not even actually Asta,” Richita held her head.

“No, I was turned into Asta when I was sent to the world I came from before this one,” Asta sipped his tea, “I was an entertainer in my homeworld and a martial arts practitioner. When I woke in this world, having reverted to the body of a seven-year-old and no way home, I was stuck. I have knowledge of the events in this world but no solid time of when they’ll happen, so I’d figured I’d try and make use of myself at least until I had the means to return home.”

“How do you know you can ever get back?” Liebe asked, “It sounds to me like you’re stuck here.”

“I know I can get home somehow because someone originally from my world came here and then went back to steal an artifact from my wife while planning on returning to this world with the said artifact,” Asta said instantly, “She is the key to opening the portal back. I have people counting on me, my kingdom, my friends, my wives, and my daughter, to come back to.”

“Kingdom?” Liebe raised an eyebrow.

“Wives and a daughter?!” Richita shouted, “Just how old are you exactly?”

“Technically, I’d be in my mid-one-hundred and thirties by now, if you count the years I’ve been in this world,” Asta said nonchalantly, “My age is nothing compared to some of the others of my kind, but we’re getting off-topic.”

“Yeah, you said you knew about the future?” Liebe pointed out.

“I actually have knowledge of this world's timeline in general, just no set dates for events,” Asta tacked on.

“Then, how’d you know exactly when to come and save us?” Richita got straight to the point.

Asta pointed at Liebe, “That’s kinda because of him, or at least my version of him.” He then held his hand up and a black katana with a skull-themed tsuba materialized in it, “I can’t maintain this sword’s materialization for very long, as I’ve barely used this skill and due to the fact my body isn’t mature enough to handle it. That factor extends to the spirit this sword embodies.”

Asta again concentrated. A black whirlwind covered the black of his katana. The wind then sprang from the sword into the seat next to Asta, before it started to form into a humanoid shape while solidifying. Soon, the wind dissipates to reveal another Liebe.

He looked at the other him, then at his mom, and finally at Asta, “Thank you, Asta…”

“Don’t thank… me just… yet…” Asta huffed, “This is… incredibly taxing… on me… So say what… you want… because… I can’t materialize… you for very long…”

Asta’s Liebe nodded once then looked to Richita, “As you can tell, I am another version of Liebe, one that hasn’t been through the best of times. I was beaten and abused not only in the underworld but also once I made it to the human world, as you no doubt heard from him,” he motioned to his other-self, “That all changed once I met my mother. We were very happy for a few years.”

“A few years?” the first Liebe spoke, “What exactly happened to me, I mean you?”

“The day the demon king Lucifer possessed my body,” Asta’s Liebe hid his eyes behind his hair while tightly clutching his fist. “You died that day,” he turned to Richita, never raising his face, thoroughly shocking her, “And… it was my very hand that caused it…” he said as he wept, his tears hitting the floor.

This shocked both Liebe and Richita.

“It was me that sent Asta here to prevent it from happening again,” Liebe cried, “I couldn’t save my mother, but I could at least do whatever was in my power to stop it from happening again.” He looked up at her with tears streaming down his face, “I’m glad I could keep you alive this time…”

Richita walked over and wrapped her arms around him, “Thank you for doing so much,” she said softly in his ear. “It’s going to be okay,” she started to stroke his head.

Liebe finally broke down crying and wrapped his arms around her. “Mom, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” he repeated over and over again.

Richita’s Liebe looked at Asta, “How much longer can you keep him here?”

“As long… as I… have to…” Asta tightly gripped his zanpakuto.

Eventually, Asta’s Liebe quieted down and fell asleep on Richita’s lap. Asta had poured as much of his spirit energy into his zanpakuto as he could muster and left it in the room with Richita. He knew his Liebe needed this, and if it would help quell some of the burning rage in his heart, then Asta was glad to do what he could. Asta and Richita’s Liebe decided to go outside for a while, in order to give the others some peace.

The duo sat outside under the light of the setting sun with a table and hot tea between them.

“You’re a good person, Asta,” Liebe said, “You do remind me a lot of mom in that regard. I have no doubt if you’d lived with us, you’d have turned out this way, too. I’m glad to call you my brother.”

“That trick really drained me,” Asta wiped the sweat from his head. “And I feel the same, Liebe, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me to reveal myself. I would love to call you my brother. I would’ve also loved to call Richita my mom over the one who raised me.”

“What was she like?” Liebe asked.

“Well, she did raise me and love me for the most part, but at the same time, she and my father wanted me to follow the paths they’d set out for me,” he said, “Though most of this focus was on my older brother, as he was supposed to be the one to go out and be the first successful member of our family unit.”

“The way you’re talking leads me to think he wasn’t one to do as told,” Liebe pointed out, “But also that you care and look up to him.”

“Not too far from it,” Asta pointed out, “Our parents tried to force him to follow their way, but he just fought them all the more, to the point they severed nearly all ties with him. Me and my younger brother stayed in touch, more me than my younger. My older brother was the reason for my decision to leave and seek out my own path, too. My parents didn’t take it too well, but as I was more controllable and made something of myself in school, they let me slip by. In turn, that allowed me to go out and learn to be a somewhat successful actor, stunt double, and martial artist.”

Asta sipped on his tea, “I looked up to my older brothers, then he became displaced, but in our world, he was legally declared dead. My parents not caring was the final straw for me, so I stopped talking to them altogether. I knew he was still alive, so I started a little search in my spare time, and that eventually led me to the life I lead now.”

“You mean the one with the three wives and daughter while leading a country and world hoping?” Liebe raised an eyebrow. “It must be nice to lead an exciting life like that.”

“It's a pain at most times but fun at others,” Asta chuckled, “I originally wanted a quiet life and nothing to do with saving the world. Sure, I’d help if others summoned or if it was the right thing, but never did I want to be a king. Now, I have wives and a kid, more eventually, but also people I train and lead, people who count on me. Sure, I've occasionally acted like a monarch, but never actually had to be one. Now, I can’t see myself living any other way. Eventually, I’ll have to leave my world, but that’s not for a long long time.”

“What will you do after you leave here?” Liebe asked.

“There’s a battle coming soon, and I need to prep but also go see someone important to me,” Asta's cheeks flushed, “I mostly plan on working as a knight until I either find the girl who came here from my world to this one and back, or see if the portal opens on its own near the town I arrived in, whichever comes first.”

“Be sure and come by a little more, at least,” Liebe said, “I think my twin brother would really appreciate it if you did.”

“I’ll do what I can,” Asta nodded, “You two can always move to my world if you want to.”

“I’d like to, but you’ll need to talk to mom about it,” Liebe looked at him.

“Oh, I plan to,” Asta nodded, “I plan to…”

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