This was one hell of a chapter to write and I am pleased with how it turned out. Enjoy, more soon to come…

Every one of the Black Bulls were immediately scattered throughout the Temple’s coral cavern network. There were plenty of priests and priestesses strung through the caves, though some were more illusions that led to traps placed by the grand priest. The bulls did what the bulls do best and did their own thing.

Asta walked through the blue coral and stone tunnel he’d landed in.

“At least dweller made it a bit easier on Noelle to navigate the currents,” he stretched as he walked along. “I’d really rather not waste my efforts on these temple priests and priestesses but at least they provide something to do…”

He yawned as he kept walking, while behind him lay the remnants of sea creature-themed masked individuals as they littered the cave floor along the route he was taking.

Priest’s hideout…

“Wow….” the high priest drank from a glass and munched on snacks, “That boy of yours is really something else. Not only is he able to fight on par with our people, but he’s able to do so without any magical assistance at all. It looks like he’s more bored than he is tired at all.”

“Yep,” Yami smirked, “That’s our boy Asta for ya. He’s pretty much a counterbalance to most mages who mainly just blast magic spells at their opponents. His fighting style is close combat, and the fact his body is pretty much in peak physical shape means he doesn’t tire out very easily after a few skirmishes. When he does use his magic, he mainly uses it to augment his surroundings, so he can do more physical damage.”

“You sound like you’re speaking from experience?” the priest smiled.

“Cause I am,” Yami crossed his arms, “His fighting style is actually pretty similar to my own, but differs in the way he can use his magic to affect the area around him and use it to his advantage.”

“So, he’s more physically strong than magically strong,” the priest stroked his beard, “But still, he has mana, and once he runs out, he’ll tire out rather quickly with such a physically taxing routine.”

“Guess again, gramps,” Yami continued to smirk as he munched on snacks, “Asta grew up his whole life without magic. It wasn’t until he got his grimoires that it was awakened. Technically, he’s only been a mage for about a year now. He can go for hours while training.”

“What?!” the priest looked over, “That’s not possible! Every creature in this world has mana. You can’t not be born without it, or you’ll be dead at birth.”

“I never said he didn’t have it,” Yami waved his finger back and forth, “I said he didn’t awaken it till just recently, but that little bit of misfitedism helped him develop his body to the point he doesn’t need mana to survive or even fight.”

“I think I understand now,” the priest nodded, “Not having access to his magic allowed him to develop his body and also his stamina, meaning he’s an outright monster in terms of a drawn-out battle when it comes to magic.”

“Yep,” Yami smirked.

“Well then!” the priest clapped, “Let’s see how he fairs up against my grandson. Kaito is an excellent match-up in terms of an opponent!”

“Bring it on, geezer!” Yami laughed.

Temple Tunnel System…

It wasn’t long before Asta came across his first real opponent. A rather wide priest with an octopus mask stood in front of him.

“Great,” the priest grumbled under his mask in displeasure, “Looks like I got stuck with the runt of the litter…”

Asta looked at him then turned around and started walking away with his hands in his pockets, thoroughly displeased with this guy’s attitude and attire.

“Hey, where the hell are you going?!” the octopus yelled in outrage.

“I lost interest in you,” Asta shrugged, “You talk too much, and the smaller of your guys put up more of a fight. So, far more entertaining than hearing a guy like you talk down to me just cause of my height.”

“Little bastard,” the octo-priest lunged at the mage.

“So annoying,” Asta rubbed the back of his head then took the hand and grabbed ahold of the priest's masked face and slammed him backwards into the ground, shattering the mask and leaving the owner in a small crater.

Asta walked on through the tunnels for a bit longer before coming into a more open area.

“Took you long enough to get here!” a happy voice came from across the space.

Asta looked over and saw another priest. Like the last one, this one also had a rich-themed mask, but unlike the last one, this one was a marlin-themed mask. The priest himself leisurely danced about with a set of decorative-looking swords.

“You must be related to that Joker-looking high priest,” Asta looked over.

The priest stopped, “Yeah, I know grandpa is a little funny looking to an outsider.” The priest laughed as he stopped dancing and looked at Asta. “But how did you know we were related? You haven’t even seen my face.”

“Your Qi is very similar,” Asta pointed. “In fact…. Your Qi is nearly identical to a girl I met yesterday named Kahono,” he added.

This statement had the priciest totally excited, “So, you're one of the guys Kahono was talking about! She’s my little sister! My name’s Kaito. Nice to meet you!”

“You have your gramp’s outlook on the world,” Asta scratched the side of his head, “The name’s Asta.”

“Again, it’s so nice to meet you!” Kaito laughed as he crossed his swords, “I’m really grateful to you all, 'cause it’s thanks to you we can leave here!”

“You’re certainly a lot friendlier and rearing to go than the octopus,” Asta raised his knuckles and cracked them, “Hopefully, you’ll last a lot longer than a millisecond,” he chuckled as his light and dark magic grimoire floated out and opened, allowing the Light and Dark magic katanas to come out of it.

“No way! You are a swordsman, too?!” Kaito happily laughed. “But wait…” he noticed the magics wafting from the blades. “Those weren’t made from your magic…”

“Nope,” Asta smirked, taking a stance, “I forged them while infusing them with my magic!”

Asta rushed forward, and the two swordsmen clashed, sending a flurry of sparks through the air. Asta used a quick series of attacks, while Kaito was on the defensive, using a much more elaborate style with sweeping movements, showing his swords were far from just decorative. The confrontation finally broke apart, with both mages landing on the opposite sides of the area from where they started, only one of them letting out strained breathing.

Asta crossed his swords in front of himself with a smirk on his face. “Not bad,” he chuckled.

“I’ll say…” Kaito caught his breath with his own smirk under his mask.

“I think I need to get serious now…” Asta calmed his breathing as he took a new stance. “Water breathing…” he breathed out a steady stream of air. “Waterfall Basin!” he yelled out as jumped onto the ceiling in an instant and then propelled himself off it, straight for Kaito.

“Butoah Magic!” Kaito calls out, entering a sort of trance as he gives into his mana, “SEA GOD’S DEFIANCE!”

Both of Kaito’s swords swept upward with such force that, when they hit Asta’s dark magic katana, the ring of the clash echoed throughout the temple’s entire cave system. It sent Asta into a spin in mid-air.

Asta himself was put off a bit, as he didn't count on Kaito having a counterattack spell, and he also didn’t count on Kaito’s trance. As soon as Kaito entered his battle trance, it became incredibly difficult to read Kaito’s Qi.

“Water Breathing,” Asta tightened his grip on his light katana and made the necessary preparation to alter his attack and use his spinning to his advantage, “Lateral Waterwell!”

“Sea God’s Whirlpool!” Kaito called as he narrowly danced out of the sword’s reach with a pirouette.

Both magic users smiled at each other, Kaito's face still obstructed by his mask.

“You’re good,” Kaito said, “You were fighting hard with just your raw strength before, but as soon as you started using that magic and battle technique, I was almost outmatched! Those attacks?! You attack as if you’re one with water yourself! I narrowly escaped that last slash!”

“You sure?” Asta smiled as the mask fell off Kaito’s face, due to a clean cut right down the middle.

“OH, WOW!” Kaito happily said, “This is going to make the win all the better!”

“Sorry, kid,” Asta said as his grimoire flipped its pages, “But the gloves are off now. I wasn’t using my magic earlier, but seeing as how you can fight like that, I can’t afford to take you lightly anymore. Dark Magic, Full Body Reinforcement!”

Asta’s dark magic covered his entire body from head to toe. Asta’s body then gave off a thump with a sudden surge of power.

Asta rolled his neck with a couple of pops, “Now,” his gaze was now much harder, “Light Magic, Particle Light Transmission!”

Asta vanished in an array of golden sparkles and reappeared behind Kaito. The dark and light swordsman swiped upward with a hard strike. Kaito had just enough time to cross his own swords in a somewhat successful attempt to shield himself but was still sent back, with one of the blades being sent flying from its master’s hand in the process.

Kaito just stared, “You… you really are amazing….”

“Honestly, these spells don’t cost all that much magic but can drain it rather quickly, especially with how quickly they wear off and need to be reapplied,” Asta looked at him, “It's not my usual style of attack, but for an opponent like you it, I’m more than willing to use this spell combo,” he pointed his sword, “But I’m not so dishonorable that I won’t fight a man without the means for him to fight to his fullest either. Where’d the fun be in a fight like that?”

“Now, pick up that sword, and let's continue!” he gives a wild smile.

Kaito quickly activated his magic with his own smile. “With pleasure!” he said as he quickly dashed for his sword, and the dancer’s clash continued.

The Grand Priest’s Hideout…

“That boy of yours is a lot more of an oddity than you initially let on,” the priest stroked his bread, “Not only is his physical strength off the charts, but he wields not one but two magics, and opposing ones at that, not to mention the amount of magic power he’s now reading is like a tsunami amongst tidal waves.”

“I told ya, didn’t I?! Ahahaha!” Yami slapped his knee with a glass in his hand.

“Oh, some of the others have met up with our higher-ranking mages!” the priest clapped as Luck and Magna were double teaming a water magic user, and though they were putting up a decent fight, they were still losing, “Those two are strong, but that fight won’t last much longer. My son has the most powerful attack magic out of all of our current upper tier priests. Oh my…. that little silver girl just met up with my granddaughter. This could be a decent show.”

“Well, don’t be a hog and put on big mode,” Yami ordered.

“With pleasure,” the priest snapped, and the image relayed itself.

Another open Cave Chamber….

Noelle stood across from her opponent, a priest in a pinkish robe and pinkish dolphin.

“No way!” she excitedly called out, “Noelle you're my next opponent??!”

“Wait, that voice,” Noelle’s gaze hardened.

“NOELLE!” the Dolphin waved, “It's great to see you made it!”

“Why don’t you take off that mask?!” Noelle called back.

The dolphin nervously flinched, “Crap, I really need to stop being friendly with familiar faces…”

“I know it’s you, Kahono!” Noelle pulled out her wand and activated her grimoire, “I heard you sing just the other night, after all. If you’d think I wouldn’t recognize my new friend’s voice just because of some goofy getup and a silly mask, then you must not think very highly of my perception skills.”

“Goofy?!” Kahono shot back as she pulled off her mask, “These are the traditional robes of the Seabed Temple, not to mention my family! And what do you mean silly?!” She got in Noelle’s face as she pointed at the mask, “Dolphins are some of the smartest and cutest creatures in this world! Turn them pink, and their cuteness only multiplies by a hundred!” she fumed as her ponytail strangely shifted to the shape of a pulsing vein.

Noelle just held up her hands with a twitchy smirk.

“So, you knew it was me from the start,” Kahono huffed. “Well, it doesn’t really matter, 'cause once we beat all your friends, everyone will know the name of Kahono, the Sea Idol,” she posed with a victory V as she smiled with a wink and stuck out her tongue.

“I’m guessing you want to sing to the masses, then?” Noelle closed one eye and crossed her arms.

“Yeah!” Kahono excitedly danced about a little, “It's mine and my older brother’s dream to be idols. Him with his dancing, and me with my singing!”

“That’s quite a dream,” Noelle gave a confused look while scratching her cheek with one finger while looking off to the side.

“Mhmm,” Kahono happily nodded, “It's why we’re going to beat you and your other friends! Grandpa promised us that if we beat you guys in this game, me and Kaito can go out on the surface and leave town to finally fulfill our dreams! What are your dreams, Noelle?”

“My dreams?” Noelle looked up and thought about all that has happened to her so far and what she wanted to do to prove to her family, but she mostly thought about Asta and her possible future with him. “At this point, my dream is to show my arrogant brother older brothers and sister that I’m not a fuck up.”

“Ooooo…” Kahono gave Noelle a sly look, “Royal girl knows how to use dirty words. I can blame Asta can’t I?”

Noelle’s face immediately turned red. “SHUT UP!” she yelped as she shot a water ball out at the siren mage.

“Oh, that was close!” Kahono jumped back wide, letting the ball hit the wall, “I think we’ve chatted enough. I certainly hope you put up a lot more fight like that, instead of just falling asleep, like the sheep gnome girl.”

“I most certainly will,” Noelle said with a confident smirk as he raised a hand, causing the moisture to condense around her into water, “Charmy typically won’t put up much of a fight unless you mess with her food, so you probably caught her while she was fishing or something.”

“Wow!” Kahono laughed, “Look out for Detective Noelle, bad guys!”

“No,” Noelle smiled.

She waved her hand back causing the water to turn into rods, and then blew a breath, lowering the temperature around her, so you could see her breath while turning the water rods into ice spikes. She then gave a sharp flex with her fingers, sending the spike rocketing at the musical mage on the other side of the chamber.

Kahono’s eyes widened and activated her magic. With a single huff of her voice, she managed to knock most of the spikes off coarse enough to keep from spearing her.

“What the heck was that?!” Kahono said out of sheer shock and awe, “I thought you were a water magic user, not an ice-type mage?!”

“You need to do a little homework, Kahono. Ice is just water that’s had its temperature lowered to become solid!” Noelle smirked as she motioned her arms to control the remnants of the waterball on the wall behind her opponent to try and grab Kahono.

“Song magic!” Kahono smiled, “Explosion Notes!!” she sang, causing the water to be blown away from around her. “I know that, but how can you use it like that? I didn’t even sense any magic from that first ice attack?!”

“It’s called water bending. You can thank my boyfriend for this power,” Noelle’s face hardened as she used her magic to create a sword blade on the end of her wand and used her bending to turn it to ice. “The extra detail I found out very recently is that when my magic water is much denser than normal water, and when I use this power alongside the water I make with my magic, its attack power is nearly three times that of even my normal water blasts!”

“Round two,” Noelle pointed her ice blade, “I may not have attack spells, but that doesn’t mean I can’t attack with other means. Asta didn’t just teach me how to bend, he also taught me how to properly use a sword!”

Noelle rushed in.

“Wow,” Kahono said in amazement as she pulled a set of daggers out of her sleeves and used them to block Noelle’s strike.

“I’m not the only one with hidden skills,” Noelle said as she performed a series of three strikes that Kahono blocked with her dangers.

“Sure,” Kahono jumps with a confident smile as she twirled her daggers in her hands with the tips oriented downward as she jumped at Noelle. “I’m not much of a frontline fighter. As you can guess, my song magic is much more of a supportive type of magic. Normally, my older brother is the fighter and I support him with my songs. That being said, both my dad and brother Ed decided I need a little side training for my own safety when I couldn’t rely on Kaito to keep an eye out for me,” she activated her magic. “Song Magic, Tempest Howling!” she sang as she got much faster.
Noelle used her own blade to parry several of Kahono’s slashes. The siren mage wasn’t all that strong, but she was definitely fast. If Noelle hadn’t had her training with Raava on how to move with the ebb and flow of water to better understand her bending style, she would’ve definitely been covered in shallow cuts.

A single drop of blood fell from the cut on Noelle’s cheek onto her hand. She looked down and saw it and recalled Asta’s usual state of mind in his fight, and then she recalled Kahono calling them her friends.

Noelle started to chuckle.

“Ah?” Kahono froze for a second. “Please tell me you’re still sane?”

“I’m perfectly sane,” Noelle wiped a tear from her eye, “But I think I’m going to stop holding back.”

“Holding back?” Kahono raised an eyebrow, “Since when?”

“Since the start,” Noelle said as water started to drip from her ice sword. “I was subconsciously keeping my attack as not lethal as possible. But now,” she said as her water magic coalesced on her blade while taking a familiar stance. “Bending Magic, Bending Water Slash!”

Noelle sent a glistening crescent straight for Kahono, who in turn performed a back flip to jump out of the way, with the tip of her ponytail being cleanly sliced off.

Kahono took a closer look at the crevasses that the slash was cut through and noticed that they were all smooth enough to show your reflection.

“You were holding back,” Kahono laughed, “Let's continue with round three then!”

Grand Preist’s hideout…

Yami leaned in and looked extremely close at the images of Noelle fighting. In doing so, he noticed an ever so familiar visage appear next to her.

“That cheeky girl,” Yami laughed, “I can’t believe she’s actually using it! Ahahahaha!”

“I never expected her to fight like this,” the grand priest held his chin, “And what are you talking about?”

“That little bastard there,” he pointed at Asta, “taught that one,” he pointed at Noelle in the main image, “how to use the sword, and she’s not using just any style either. She’s using mine.”

“What?” the grand priest looked perplexed.

“Noelle is pretty damn powerful, even by royalty standards,” Yami explained, “But she can’t always control that massive amount of mana she has either. She doesn’t even know any actual attack spells either.”

“That's not true! I just saw her try to blast my granddaughter with a spell!” the grand priest shot back.

“That wasn’t actually a spell but just something she can do with her raw magic power,” Yami waved a finger, “My own magic is similar to hers in terms of power output, the difference being her’s has a faster conjuring speed but less control, while mine’s slower to react, but I can control it. I compensate for the slower spell time by using small spells and a sword. Similar to Asta, but like little miss waterworks, I use a single sword. It seems as though our boy has been teaching her my sword techniques on the side, but it wasn’t until she gained proper control with her current self and newest spell that she could properly control this new technique.”

“I see….” the grand priest said, only half understanding, “Let’s keep watching.”

Outside the Temple…

Meanwhile, within a massive orange whale-like magic form, several white-cloaked figures and an extremely hairy and well-built man with his active grimoire at the center swim through the currents. The sealifisc construct easily traveled through the turbulent currents until it was in the calm of the reeves around the Seabed Temples. It easily made its way through the water straight to the temple, avoiding all the riff-raff below in the town.

The whale soon crashed straight into the Temple through its walls and unloaded its cargo of Eye of the Midnight Sun cultists and their leader, Vetto of Despair.

Vetto looked around the temple's blue coral interior, “If this is what these humans call a temple, I’d hate to see what they call a hut…”

“Master Vetto,” one of the extras, came up next to the leader, “your orders?”

“Find the magic stone,” Vetto commanded, “Kill anyone you come across that stands in our way.”

“Sir,” another mage came up, “it seems that we have more than just the local temple mages to deal with.”

“Hmmmmm?” Vetto looked at him annoyed, “The Clover Kingdom?”

The mage nodded.

“Well,” Vetto eagerly snickered, “This is most fortunate indeed. Not only do we get the magic stone, but we also get to kill a squad of Magic Knights, too! I can see their faces twisted with such delicious despair now!”

“Scatter and kill any Magic Knight you come across!” Vetto threw up a hand.

“Sir!” the mages called out before scattering into the tunnels.

“Now, let’s see what prey I can find,” Vetto chuckled.

Noelle’s Area…

The girls had stopped their clash midway, as they felt the vibrations of the Eye of the Midnight Sun’s entry into the temple.

“Please tell me you felt that?” Kahono asked her friend/slash opponent.

“Ah duh!” Noelle looked at her. “Could it have been an earthquake?”

“It was too short, even for a small tremor,” Kahono said, “I'm guessing it was from someone else’s fight, or…”

Two white-robed mages appeared from either tunnel behind the girls and immediately cast spells at them.

Noelle immediately counterattacked after dodging a poison blast by changing the state of her ice blade to that of water and turning the weapon into a whip. She used his shocked state to knock the mage’s grimoire away and used his shock to bind and knock him out.

Noelle saw the pin on his cloak, “The Eye of the Midnight Sun,” she growled, “If they’re here, then we have a problem.”

“So, you know these guys?” Kahono said as she dragged her own opponent over and tossed him on top of his comrade.

Suddenly, two familiar voices rang out through the tunnels.

“Hello, everyone. This is the head priest-”

“And your captain, you numbskulls…”

“Currently, we have invaders throughout the entire temple, so we're changing our game up…”

“Yeah. Whoever takes out the most enemies wins!”

“The top eight will have the deepest wish granted by me!”

“Get cracking!”

“These are the cultists we’ve been fighting for a while now,” Noelle pointed, “The whole reason we came here in the first place was to get the magic stone before they did. It looks like they had the same plan as us…”

“Low tide,” Kahono laughed, “Wait, you said cultists, so these guys have a group?”

“Yeah, and quite a few powerful mages with extremely diverse and powerful magics, too,” Noelle nodded, “If we had to deal with these guys, I assure you there are most definitely more wandering around in your temple. Truce?”

“Of course!” Kahono winked, “I don’t want anyone interrupting our fight! It's just plain rude!”

“You lead the way,” Noelle motioned with a hand, “This is your house, after all.”

“Right!” Kahono smiled as she thought. “We should head this way and meet up with my dad!” she pointed to Noelle’s tunnel.

“Let’s go!” Noelle motioned again, and they took off.

Asta and Kaito’s area…

Kaito and Asta had both been thoroughly enjoying the fight they’d been taking part in, to the point that neither noticed the small quake that shook the temple. They both just chalked it up to either of them powering up for an attack or one of their clashes.

Neither of the fighters showed any signs of backing down, and they were both so enraptured in the fighting that neither noticed the Eye of the Midnight Suns mages sneaking up on them.

The opposing mages activated their grimoires and prepared to fire off their spells.

The flare-up in mana caught Asta and Kaito’s attention and both shot at their new opponents. Asta wasted no time and quickly ended the mage’s life via cutting off his head and ending any spark of life in his body, while Kiato just proceeded to knock him unconscious.

“Who are these guys?“ Kaito Asked and then turned to Asta and proceeded to freeze in place, “You…. Killed him…”

“Yeah, so?” Asta swiped his sword, throwing off the blood. Kaito noticed his much harsher gaze and overwhelming bloodlust. “These guys are from the cult that wants to wipe out the Clover Kingdom, called the Eye of the Midnight Sun. They don’t hesitate to use, hurt, or even kill those of the Clover Kingdom, no matter who they are. They want to fight to kill, so I do the same.”

“I guess you have a point…” Kaito looked at the now headless lifeless body off to the side. “I think it’s a bit cold-blooded to just kill someone like that.”

“I don’t want to hear a lecture about mercy,” Asta glared coldly at the boy. Asta eyes thoroughly unnerved Kaito this time, “If these two are here, then that means there are more of these bastards crawling about your temple, and I have no more time to play this little dancing session.”

Suddenly, two familiar voices rang out through the tunnels.

“Hello, everyone. This is the head priest-”

“And your captain, you numbskulls…”

“Currently, we have invaders throughout the entire temple, so we're changing our game up…”

“Yeah. Whoever takes out the most enemies wins!”

“The top eight will have the deepest wish granted by me!”

“Get cracking!”

Asta threw up his katanas, and they landed in the dark and light magic grimoire. Then he grabbed the book and placed it back in its satchel before pulling out his black grimoire and opening it to pull out his Demon Slayer sword.

Kaito was even more shocked by the fact that Asta pulled out a second grimoire.

“You have two?” he called, and it even more unnerved Kaito by the fact he was lifting such a large sword with one hand with such ease as if it was a one-handed weapon.

“Yes,” Asta said as he turned and pointed the weapon at the dance mage, “And if you're going to stand around gawking or judging my methods, then I’ll leave your squeamish ass right here to deal with these bastards your way.”

Kaito looked at Asta’s face, and it was no longer the face of the teenager who he’d been playfully fighting with only moments ago but the face of a hardened fighter who’d seen death many times.

That’s when Kaito realized, Asta was so much stronger than he’d intentionally let on.

“I won’t stop you, but can you at least try not to kill them?” Kaito sincerely asked.

“I’m not making any promises,” Asta lowered his sword, and then turned and started running, with Kaito hot on his heels, “We can’t waste stamina or time with running, so we’ll use my sword to move as quickly through the tunnel network as we can. You’re the map.”

“Sword?” was all Kaito could say as Asta proceeded to grab him by the collar of his robe and then jumped on his sword, surfing on the mana through the tunnels.

Elsewhere…

Luck and Magna were both panting heavily while covered in scratches, as they teamed up against a hammerhead shark-masked priest.

“This guy is strong,” Luck smiled, “If you want to take a break, it’s fine with me. I can take him by myself.”

“In your dreams, runt,” Magna grinned ear to ear, “I’m just getting started, but feel free to duck out at any time you start to feel tired…”

“Hahaha!” the priest laughed, “I must admit I like your fighting spirit, and you’ve been putting up a decent battle. I’m sorry for the trouble my old man has caused you, but he does like his games. It gives all of us so much-needed entertainment down here as well!”

“Wait, that old coot is your father?!” Magna shouted across the chamber.

“Yes, and proud of it!” the priest belted. “Now, as much fun as this has been, I say we call this fight to a close. I’m very much against bullying the weak, even if they are as strong as the two of you. Water Creation Magic,” he called out as his grimoire floated up in front of him, “Poseidon’s Hammer!”

A gigantic arm holding a Warhammer made of water materialized behind the priest when suddenly, an orange blur came out of nowhere and rammed into the unsuspecting magic.

Luck and Magna stared for a moment as they felt the mana coming off the guy standing in the dust cloud that had just blitzed their opponent. Magna was shaking in fear just a little, while Luck was shaking with anticipation at the prospect of fighting someone even stronger than the last guy. He’d been so focused on his current battle he hadn’t been using his mana sense to keep an eye out for anything outside of his and Magna’s immediate vicinity.

The dust settled to reveal none other than Vetto standing over the priest, who was slumped over on the floor.

“Hmph,” Vetto wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Too easy… Now, to find more prey,” he turned and started to walk away.

Suddenly, two familiar voices rang out through the tunnels.

“Hello, everyone. This is the head priest-”

“And your captain, you numbskulls…”

“Currently, we have invaders throughout the entire temple, so we're changing our game up…”

“Yeah. Whoever takes out the most enemies wins!”

“The top eight will have the deepest wish granted by me!”

“Get cracking!”

“Where ya going?” Luck and Magna said in unison.

“Uhhhh….” Vetto turned and looked at the duo. “Oh, there was more prey here already. Good. I can enjoy the hunt that much….” he saw the robe Magna was wearing, and suddenly, a huge evil smile revealed his triangular-shaped teeth across his face. “That robe... You’re both part of the squad that brat who wields the Demon Slayer is from. I will thoroughly enjoy crushing all of your hope and bring you the greatest of despair. Then, I'll find every one of you Clover Kingdom hazbin mages and crush them like yours. FINALLY! I’LL TAKE DOWN THAT BRAT AND SHOW HIM ALL OF YOUR BLEEDING CORPSES FOR WHAT HE DID IN THE LAST FIGHT! AHAHAHAHA!”

“Demon Slayer?” Magna raised an eyebrow.

“That’s the name of Asta’s biggest sword!” Luck pointed out, “So, you fought against Asta and won? Now, I'm even more stoked!”

“If this guy beat… Asta?” Magna said in shock and then thought. “if he fought on par and bested our guy, then this guy is crazy strong… I'm with you bud!” Magna clenched his fist, as he shook with anticipation.

“First, he injured Licht, then he tried to kill Fana, and then, he made all of us retreat!” Vetto cried out in anger, “I will bring him the greatest despair of all!”

“Try it, pal!” Magna raised a hand with fire over it, “Captain Yami gave us our marching orders, so we're not going anywhere!”

“This is going to be so much fun!” Luck crowed with electricity.

“Then, please, draw the hunt out as long as you can!” Vetto charged forward.

Elsewhere…

Gauche was sitting on his butt, panting slightly.

“Damn these Eye of the Midnight Sun bastards!” he huffed as he plopped on his butt, “Not to mention the fights with the priests of this stupid temple. I barely have any mana left!”

“So, who’s that?” came a familiar voice.

Gauche looked over and saw Charmy munching seafood her sheep had caught, with her pointing a spoon at the blue-haired figure hiding behind the mirror mage’s back.

“Oh this,” Gauche said as he moved out of the way to reveal a jittering blue-haired young woman wearing a black bull’s robe.

She was a young woman of average height. She has light blue hair in a bob cut, with some strands hanging in the front. She wears a white, sleeveless shirt and a pair of dark blue, high-waisted pants that cinch just below her knees. The pants have five connected flowers on the waist, with the middle flower being the largest and the ones on the side getting smaller.

“This is Grey, or what she really looks like, anyways,” he added as he pointed.

“WHAT!?!” Charmy blurted out with a mouth full of food, causing Grey to jump and cower behind Gauche again, “But I thought Grey is a guy that blows smoke all the time!”

“As you can tell, she’s pretty shy. As to why we’ve never seen her actual face until now, that’s because she’s run out of magic,” Gauche explained with an annoyed tone, “More importantly, how can you be fishing and eating at a time like this!?!”

“Cause I already took care of my guys!” Charmy happily munched away as she pointed to several bound and gagged cultist mages. “You two should join me. I used up a lot of magic earlier, and so did you. Can’t fight on an empty stomach, after all!”

“That’s right,” Gauche looked at the food. “Her magic can help us recover our mana, or at least enough to fight back…” he picked up a crab leg and munched down, “But we should really hurry.”

“Um…w-why?” Grey spoke.

“Cause we need to find Asta,” Gauched said with deep concern.

“Asta can handle himself!” Charmy waved it off, “He’s almost as powerful as Captain Yami, after all.”

“Y-yeah…” Grey added, “I’m sure he’ll be okay, for a little while at least… He’s very strong…”

“You two have no idea just how powerful Asta really is…” Gauche stated with a bit of a cold sweat as he thought back to the kidnapping incident, “He fought with four captains and three captain-level mages from this cult by himself in a berserk state and was winning…”

The girls both looked at Gauche.

“The look in his eyes though… It wasn’t the one he had when he normally fights… It’s the look you get whenever you want what’s in front killed by your own hand…” he stated, “I don’t much care for him, as it means he would still be around Marie, but at the same time, he’s still a comrade who is more than willing to help me save my sister if I needed help and asked him for it. I can let him become that… Whatever he turned into and risk my darling Marie…”

“This… must have been bad if you this s-shaken up!” Grey stammered slightly.

“A few more rounds, and we’ll be good to go!” Charmy remarked as she shoveled more food in her mouth.

Elsewhere…

Asta and Kaito sped through the tunnels on Asta’s Demon Slayer, while Kaito had taken it upon himself to get out of Asta’s grip via persuasion and take the lead to show Asta around, or at least stir him towards

“Bad guys ahead, brother,” Kaito said, “Three in total!”

“I’m quickly running out of patience,” Asta said with a grim tone as he drew his Demon Decapitator katana, knowing it was the most precise sword for this situation to take out his enemies without killing them.

“Please don’t kill anyone!” Kaito cried out as anti-magic covered Asta’s sword.

“Black Shattered Crescent!” Asta shouted as he sent a black crescent slash out that broke into three smaller crescents that immediately honed on their targets, taking them out and knocking them out while also draining them of a small amount of their mana and converting it into anti-magic, empowering Asta.

“Dude!” Kaito called out as he jumped in front of the anti-mage, forcing him to stop and land on the ground.

Asta froze for a minute as he got a good impression of what was going around in his surroundings using his earthbending’s tremor sense.

Asta shot back to his feet and glared at Kaito, causing the boy to shrink back slightly as Asta’s pupils became slitted.

“They’re not dead, you idiot,” Asat snarled, “And you’re wasting my time!”

He turned, walked over to the nearest opposite wall, and concentrated on his breathing while using his earthbending. Asta reeled back and slammed his fist into the wall, causing it to explode and reveal the next tunnel on the other side.

“It’s going to eat up a bit of stamina, but it’s faster than pointlessly zipping through the fucking tunnels,” Asta clenched his fist as he walked through the hole.

Kaito was left to stare. “Just.. what… is he?” he asked himself. “Later,” Kaito shook off the feeling, “If he’s this upset, he must know something bad is about to happen,” he took off after his rival.

Temple chamber…

Noelle and Kahono had stopped, as they felt an extremely large amount of mana coming their direction from the tunnel across from them. Not only did this enemy have an extremely large mana pool, but it was exuding so much killing intent and bloodlust it was almost like they were being stared down by an invisible beast stalking its prey. Neither of these girls could move from the spots where they stood.

“Damn it….” Noelle choked out.

She knew this pressure all too well, or at least another version of it. It was similar to how she felt at the time she looked in Asta’s eyes, back when she helped him and Magna save the village from the ice mage, Heath Grice.

“Move, damn you!” she forced herself to say as she moved her legs to break free from her fear, hitting her knees in the process.

Noelle was now on all fours, heavily panting as she did her best to recompose herself mentally. Kahono rushed to her friend, her concern for Noelle’s well-being overpowering her fear, but just barely.

“Noelle, are you alright?” Kahnon helped the silver-haired girl to her feet, “Come on, we need to…”

“Too late…” Noelle steadied herself while clutching her wand, the water she’d been using on it now a puddle on the ground in front of her.

“My game sure is plentiful here,” Vetto laughed as he entered the chamber across from the girls, “What luck I have! A temple mouse and A clover field mouse!”

Vetto stopped for a minute and looked at Noelle. “You’re not a normal one are you?” he smiled. “So much magic power. If I had to take a stab at it, then you’re not a field mouse at all but a palace rat!”

“Yeah. I’m royalty. So what?!” Noelle pointed her wand.

“I will enjoy bringing you the purest despair of all!” Vetto said with a very evil and very big fanged smile from ear to ear.

“Kahono,” Noelle called out.

“You have a plan?” the singer looked at her friend.

“Not really, more like advice,” Noelle said as what started to gather around her, “Thanks to Asta, I’ve picked up a few more things than just fighting skills, like how to determine a mage’s basic fight type.”

“What do we do about this guy?!” Kahono gave a nervous grin.

“His body’s overall build is similar to Captain Yami and Asta’s, meaning he’s a close-range fighter who specializes in one-on-one combat,” Noelle explained, “His magic is probably a type that works to augment his body’s innate skill and overall function in such situations. His spells are mostly going to be attack spells or support spells that work on his body to help him get close and unleash his power.”

“Not to mention that vast magic power he’s giving off,” Hahono gulped.

“Yeah, I’d say he nearly has much power as Captain Yami or Asta,” Noelle nodded as sweat dripped off her cheek.

Kahono focused on what her friend just said about Asta, but she hadn’t felt even a drop of magic from the boy. If what she said was true, then that meant Asta was able to completely hide his power, and he was more than strong enough to take on the whole temple by himself.

“Whatever we do, we can’t let him close the gap or get his hands on us,” Noelle raised her wand. “Cause if he does, then we’re dead. Can you handle support for me while I do most of the attacks?”

“Sure thing,” Kahono said. “Leave it to me! Song Magic: Neptune’s Aria!” she sang and buffed Noelle’s magic’s potency and her physical stamina.

“Let’s see what you can offer me, prey,” Vetto smirked as he crouched. “Beast Magic: Bear Claw!” he said as his magic covered his hands, and he dashed forward.

Noelle created a waterball and launched it at Vetto, who smashed it with his hand.

“You’ll have to do better than that!” he laughed, as he hadn’t noticed the water was merely floating in place in the air around him.

“Song Magic: Soothing Lullaby!” Kahono sang and cast on Vetto, causing the beast mage to become slightly drowsy, “Damn, this guy is just focused. Normally, that would knock someone of his size right out, yet he’s barely even drowsy…”

“Thousand Needles!” Noelle called out as she motioned her hand, quickly using her bending to control the water, turning it into a needle cage for Vetto.

“Little royal bitch!” Vetto snarled as he struggled and broke free, blood leaking from the holes all over his body, “That wasn’t magic! WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

“Damn,” Noelle said, “I’m still no good with so much fine point control…” She raised a hand and the water gathered into spikes and froze as she let out a long cold breath. Noelle made a hard motion with her hand, as if she was throwing something and shot the spikes at Vetto.

Vetto’s eyes widened with shock and quickly used his magic. “Beats Magic: Cheetah Charge,” he then took off.

Kahono took in a deep breath and activated her magic, then she let out a booming magical sound wave on Vetto, to slow his movements.

The beast mage could barely dodge most of the ice spikes, with a number of them becoming embedded all over his body.

“Damn you!” Vetto snarled as he reached for the spikes, only to be hit with one of Noelle’s water balls, drenching him while also knocking him on his butt a good bit, “Little bitches, I’m going to enjoy bringing you both total despair.”

Vetto steadily got to his feet, and he started to pull the ice spikes out of his body. Noelle took the chance to partially melt the spikes still embedded in his body and then re-froze them. Vetto felt this immediately, as now whole chunks of his body had totally frozen solid.

“How the hell are you able to control ice?!” Vetto growled in anger and pain as he reached around and shattered the spikes with his grip without removing them. “You use water magic. You shouldn’t be able to do all of this! Beast Magic: Drake’s Warmth!”

Vetto’s body was then covered by his magic, and he began to pulse. As he put on a bit of a light show, the rest of the ice spears still embedded throughout his body began to melt away. As the vapor wafted from his body, his frozen flesh was also starting to thaw.

“This isn’t good,” Noelle said, “I don’t have much magic left, and I pretty much tipped my hand with that last move. I only have my swordsmanship left, and with the way he fights, I wouldn’t last more than thirty seconds, if I’m lucky…”

“Same here,” Kahono said as she prepared herself, “You think we can hold out?”

“We won’t know unless we try,” Noelle smirked. “Time to push our limits!” she held up her wand and once more turned it into an ice sword.

“I like those words,” Kahono pulled out her daggers with a quick spin.

“Oh, so the prey still has more fangs!” Veto smiled as he raised a hand with a strong flex, “I'm going to thoroughly enjoy this and take my time.”

He activated his magic and allowed it to cover his body again. “Beast Magic: Rhinoceros Armor!” he roared with a laugh as he stampeded at the girls.

Elsewhere…

Asta and Kaito burst through a wall once more. They entered the chamber and noticed the signs of a serious fight had taken place here not long ago. That’s when they noticed their comrades laying on the ground.

Asta rushed to Magna and Luck, while Kaito rushed to his father.

“DAD!”

“LUCK, MAGNA!” Asta looked down at them and saw how battered and bloody they were. “Hang in there, guys,” he said as he used his water bending to gather moisture in the air into water and surrounded his friends.

The water then began to glow brightly before it retreated back to hover above Asta’s hand. Kaito was simply shocked at what he just saw. The two knights on the ground who’d had serious injuries, probably some being on the verge of life-threatening, were now breathing much more normally.

“Let me see him,” Asta said as he stood behind Kaito.

Asta spread the water over Kaito’s father, just as he’d done with his friends, and again, it glowed.

“Asta… how…?” Kaito said out of sheer surprise.

“It’s not magic, but I guess you could call it a spiritual healing art,” Asta explained. “It’s a special ability from my homeland that allows us to wield the elements without magic. It's how I broke through the walls so easily, too. Your father is fine. He was just knocked out. We need to hurry…”

Asta turned and headed for the nearest tunnel.

Kaito noticed his face had now grown much more serious than before, as he was now outright glaring with a slight twitch.

“Time’s up,” Asta said, as he shot off like a cannonball through the air.

Kaito shook his head and ran as fast as he could.

Elsewhere…

Vetto somersaulted backwards as he avoided Noelle’s water whip and Kahono’s daggers strikes. The beast mage hadn’t faired as well against these ladies as he’d thought he’d would. His body was littered with holes and covered in gashes.

In all honesty, the girls weren’t doing all that well either. They were both running low on mana, and the extreme physical fighting they’d been doing had started to take its toll on their bodies. It wouldn’t be long before they would succumb to magical or physical exhaustion, if Vetto didn’t get the opening to get his claws on them first.

“I don’t know how much more fight I have left…” Kahono huffed.

“Same here…” Noelle said, “I hope some of the others get here soon…”

Across the chamber, Vetto kept smiling and thinking.

“I think that little songbird needs to be taken out first. Her support magic is a nuisance,” Vetto rubbed his beard with his finger with a snicker, “I know just how to get her, too. Hehehe…” He looked down at his battered body. “I didn’t think these little girls would be able to do this much damage in such a short span of time. I really shouldn’t underestimate my prey. Even when backed into a corner, the sweetest of rabbits will still show its fangs.”

He held a hand over his grimoire, and it flipped through its pages. “Beast Magic: Lizard’s Body!” he said, causing his magic to cover his body.

All of a sudden, his body started to steam, as his wounds started to heal themselves.

As soon as his healing was done, Vetto moved around a little, cracking his joints in the process.

“That’s better,” he rubbed his neck while moving it to either side with a pop and a crick.

His attention was now solely focused on Kahono, who immediately noticed and started to charge her magic. Just as Kahono took in a breath for her spell, Vetto activated his spell with the leftover magic from his healing spell.

“I don’t think so! Beast Magic: Frog Leap!” Vetto laughed as he lept right to Kahono and got his hand right around her neck, “I’ve grown tired of your little songs. Seeing how your eyes sparkle when you sing, I know just how to bring you the greatest despair!”

Kahono’s eyes widened as Vetto raised his other hand.

“I thought so, hehe…” Vetto chuckled. “NOW. DESPAIR!” he cried out as his hand shot forward, only to stop a mere centimeter from Kahono’s neck. “My, someone just doesn’t know when to wait their turn, hehe,” he snickered as he turned to see Noelle, who’d used her water whip to stop Vetto’s hand by wrapping her whip around his arm.

“I was going to make it quick with this hand,” Vettto smiled as he activated his Bear Claw Magic. He let his arm go slack for a second, causing Noelle to stumble from the new slack in her whip. Vetto then took the opportunity to shred the whip with his claws while causing the whip to return to its usual water state.

He turned back to Kahono and reached towards her throat with his free hand, his magic still active. As he applied pressure to the young girl’s throat, Kahono tried in vain to use her magic. Then, a slight crack was heard as tears started to run down Kahono’s face. Blood ran from her mouth, but she never stopped glaring at Vetto. This thoroughly ticked him off, but he was still more than satisfied.

“Tch…” Vetto chuckled as he tossed the girl off to the side. “No more voice. Now, “ he turned and looked at Noelle, who was back on her feet, glaring at the beast mage with utter rage, “Your turn for despair…”

“YOU THINK I’M JUST GOING TO SIT HERE AND LET YOU HURT ME OR MY FRIENDS ANYMORE?!” Noelle yelled in an act of rage-fueled courage, causing her magic to surge forth and surround her. She raised her wand and pointed it straight at Vetto, causing the water magic to start to gather at its tip, “I’M SICK OF BEING THE PUNCHING BAG, OF BEING THE ONE ON THE SIDELINES!” Images of her elder brothers and sister tormenting her, and her friends/fellow magic knights fighting, while she sat back behind them flashed in her mind, “THE ONE ALWAYS BEING PROTECTED!” Images of Asta coming to save her then played in her mind.

“BEING POWERLESS TO SAVE THOSE A CARE ABOUT!” she shouted, as her gaze shifted to Kahono for a second.

“Where is this magic power coming from?” Vetto asked, “She was nearly out of mana a mere second ago, but now, she has nearly three times the magic power she started the fight with!”

“I’M NOELLE SILVA OF THE BLACK BULLS, AND I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO MY FRIENDS AND COMRADES BY SENDING YOU TO HELL WITH EVERY LAST DROP OF MAGIC POWER I HAVE LEFT!” Noelle yelled as her grimoire flipped to a blank page and writing started to appear down it, “WATER CREATION MAGIC! SEA DRAGON’S ROAR!”

Noelle’s water magic coalesced into the form of a monstrous water dragon’s head that charged straight for Vetto.

Grand Priest’s Room…

“The incarnation of the sea god?!” The grand priest called out, “No, she’s a goddess!”

“That a girl, Noelle,” Yami proudly smiled. “I knew she had latent talent, but to think she could produce an attack spell of that level… “

Battle Area…

“Then, come!” Vetoo shouted as he activated his magic on his right side, “SHOW ME YOUR POWER! BEAR CLAW!”

Vetto slammed his spell into Noelle’s with all his might, but then realized this was something he couldn't handle, as the dragon devoured his spell and forced him back, tearing through the cavern while Vetto struggled to hold the beast’s jaws open. The Dragon’s Roar tore into the beast mage’s body and through the wall behind him, before heading straight into water of the ocean surrounding the temple’s town. All of the townspeople were in awe and started to refer to Noelle as the incarnation of the Sea Goddess.

Back in the temple the dust cleared through the hole in the wall, revealing Vetto to still be standing and very much alive, though he was missing most if not all of the right side of his upper body and right arm.

“You little…” Vetto glared at Noelle through the tremendous amount of pain he was now in.

Noelle just stared at him, shocked at the fact he was talking, or still alive at all.

Images and memories of a wedding from days long past flooded Vetto’s mind. There were many people with blonde hair and pointed ears celebrating and congratulating the bride and groom. The bride herself looked like a normal human. Suddenly, a magic circle lit up the sky and spears of light rained down on everyone present. Many were calling out to ask if it was the work of the humans.

“DAMN HUMANS!!!!!!!!” Vetto roared as a new more sinister magic surrounded his body, while a third eye opened in the center of his forehead. “DEMON BEAST MAGIC: (HYDRA’S FLESH)!” he roared as a red spell circle appeared on his right side, and he suddenly regrew the entirety of the flesh he’d lost.

Grand Priest’s Area…

“How’s that possible?” the grand priest gawked, “Their shouldn’t be any healing magic that can regrow entire limbs like that. Close wounds, sure, but not entire body parts.”

“That magic,” Yami said, as even he was unnerved by this sight, “It’s not right. RUN, NOELLE!”

Battlefield…

Noelle just stared. “I just blasted him with everything I had left…” she shook it off and pointed her wand again, “I won’t run away!”

“Time to return the favor!” Vetto yelled as he readied another spell. “Demon Beast Magic: (Drake’s Breath)!” He laughed as the head of a beast manifested from his magic and shot purple flames at Noelle.

“BLACK FLAME DRAGON FIST!” came a well-known voice, with a fist amidst a torrent of black flame in the shape of a dragon. It tore through the purple flames like paper as Asta shot out and nailed Vetto right in the third eye on his forehead.

“BASTARD!” Asta yelled upon impact, causing Veto to stumble back and hold his forehead.

“You….” Vetto sneered at Asta as he landed in front of Noelle with a hard and rage-filled glare, “I KNEW YOU WERE HERE!”

“Yeah, I’m here now,” Asta seethed as light and dark magic flowed from his body, “And I’m going to make you pay for hurting the people important to me!”