'There's a rumour that the diamond kingdom was raising mage warriors with artificially amplified magic... They chose children with powerful magic... put them in fierce competition... embedded magic items into them to enhance their powers... and in the end... made them kill each other! Could it be... that the last survivor of that death match... was this guy?!' Klaus clenched his fists.
'No matter who the opponent is... this isn't acceptable! What is this. I'm a noble! A member of the Golden Dawn! I let my comrade be wounded easily... I'm being shielded by a younger member! A peasant!'
"This... Could never be alright!!!" Klaus yelled as his Grimoire flipped to another page beside him.
Steel Creation Magic: Fierce Spiral Lance!
*WHOOSH!*
*BOOM!*
A huge lance with a spiral head appeared in his hand. The lance rotated at a high speed and launched towards Budget Jozu.
The grimoire beside Mars flipped to another page.
Crystal Creation Magic: Talos Doll!
A crystallized copy of Mars appeared in his position while Mars himself retreated a few steps.
*CRACK.*
*BOOM!*
The lance crashed against the doll and blew up into pieces.
'What...? A crystal copy?!?!' Klaus thought internally as he quickly created a shield.
*WHOOSH!*
*BANG...*
*BOOM!*
The copy jumped high and drop kicked the shield. A large crater appeared as the shield buckled under the force of the impact, almost crushing Klaus's arm on the other side.
Klaus stumbled and lost his footing.
"Klaus!" Yuno yelled, despite his injuries. Suddenly a massive sword appeared in his peripheral vision. His eyes widened as his already battered body refused to move.
'No... I... refuse to die!!!' Yuno thought.
*VMMMMM...!!!*
*WHOOSH!*
Suddenly a massive amount of wind engulfed him, pushing him backwards. That was the last of his magic reserves. Now he had nothing left.
The sword came for him again.
"Why do you persist. Just give up." Mars said. His face stoic and indifferent.
"I'm... Not Giving Up!!!" Yuno declared, bracing himself for tanking the attack.
Behind him, the crystal clone had raised its foot, towering over Klaus, about to descend and end his life.
*WHOOSH!*
*SLASH!*
*WHOOSH!*
*BOOM!*
Two figures darted into the room. One stood in front of Yuno, the massive sword already cut in half. The other stood in front of Klaus, grabbing the clone by the neck and lifting it up. Swords lay in both their hands.
"Hey, pale dude. Hands off this guy. Yuno's... MY RIVAL!!!" Asta yelled at Mars, his demon slayer sword in his hands vibrating from the impact of cutting through crystal.
"Watch it mister. We don't want a Golden Dawn member dying, while all Black Bulls make it out alive. Aren't we supposed to be the weaklings and scumbags? What's wrong now?" Ray teased Klaus as he threw the clone aside.
Klaus turned red. Ray helped him up. Luck and Noelle had already rushed onto the battlefield, right behind them.
'Wha... What's going on?! We're the Golden Dawn, and we couldn't fight his powerful magic... But these... these commoner Black bull twerps just...' Klaus thought internally but was cut-off as the clone rushed at them again.
Ray, now annoyed by the clone, was about to rush forward and end it when Luck intervened.
"Mine!!" He said, as he kicked its face into oblivion. The clone self-destructed.
'He's-! Yes, He's the one who caused trouble at the entrance exams by thrashing his opponent more than necessary! "Luck the Cheery Berserker"! So, he was the other black bull?!?! I knew he was trouble!!!' Klaus thought internally.
"What's wrong with me?! How could I let the BLACK BULLS save me?!!" Klaus exclaimed, clutching his head in frustration.
Ray raised an eyebrow and teased, "Hey, don't overthink it! We, the magic knights, save people. Even uptight glasses guys."
Klaus deadpanned. '... I'm done.'
Noelle approached Mimosa, who was a safe distance away, using her plant magic to heal herself.
"Mimosa!!" Noelle exclaimed.
"Oh, I wish you hadn't seen this... It's just as you said. I'm slow." Mimosa replied through heavy breaths.
*hmph!*
"True. You've always been like that. So, I'll just... Have to protect you!"
Noelle stated as her grimoire flipped open beside her.
Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Lair!
A Dome made of Whirlpools appeared around Mimosa's healing carriage.
While all this was happening, Asta, Yuno and Mars were having a Fucking staring contest.
Finally, Asta spoke. "Are you the guy who took out the Golden Dawn team!?" He yelled.
Multiple crystal Clones started forming behind Mars as he replied. "And what if I am?" He asked, his face stoic and expressionless. "The weak are the first to go. The just how it is." He said, tilting his head like stating a universal fact.
Crystal Creation Magic: Talos Doll Swarm!
Hundreds of Crystal clones appeared behind Mars, all ready to attack.
Mars raised his hand, signalling the start. All the clones rushed forward, closing the distance.
"Whaa...!"
"All at once! Look at those numbers!"
"I can't wait to fight!!"
"Eeeek!!"
"How fun. Moving targets huh... Looks like a challenge." Ray muttered, grinning as he jumped high and stood in air, using Hirenkyaku.
He raised his Ginrei Kojaku, and fired rapidly. The sound of the bowstring being drawn and released started echoing in the chamber. Arrows whizzed overhead. The clones fell with each release.
Meanwhile, Mars headed straight for Asta, swinging his massive sword. Asta just cut it in half again. Mars slammed the ground with his feet creating a crystal avalanche. Asta hacked it apart and rushed forward, slamming his sword into Mars. Mars barely managed to activate his defences.
Crystal Creation Magic: Nemean Armour!
Asta Negated the Armour, destroying it with ease and slamming his sword into Mars's abdomen, sending him flying.
'They're Strong!'
Unknowingly, everyone present in the room, thought of the same thing as they saw Ray clear out the horde of Clones, and Asta slam Mars into oblivion.
"Impossible! Mere peasants with weak magic could never..." Klaus started again, before Noelle interrupted him.
"You've been Whining for the past several minutes! Just shut up!"
Klaus turned around in surprise.
"That's Asta's and Ray's power. Asta Negates Magic. Ray uses something related to souls." She said, a rare look of serious plastered on her face.
"He... Negates...? And... Soul related...!?!?" Klaus's face hardened.
'What unsuitable powers for these peasants!'
"Then fortune simply blessed them with their powers!!" Klaus said.
"..." Noelle didn't respond for a second. "Just watch. You'll see whether it was luck or not!!"
Mars slowly stood up from the rubble he had crashed into.
"Hey? What gives! Done already, ya jerk?" Asta yelled, as Mars slowly stood up.
Suddenly, he rushed forward, as a huge amount of crystal erupted around him, encompassing him and forming a huge armour.
Crystall Creation Magic: Titan's Heavy Armour!
The hand slammed down, almost crushing Asta, But was suddenly destroyed by a well-placed Heilig Pfeil from Ray.
"Hand's off." Ray said. "That's my teammate and childhood friend that you're touching."
Mars ignored Ray, thinking Asta was more dangerous, because of his magic negation.
"What... Are you..." He managed to say.
"I'm a human... who was born with zero Magic." Asta replied, as he stabilized his breathing.
"Absolutely no magic?! Then he really did luck into his Abilities..." Klaus muttered.
"Even so... I'm going to be the Wizard king. I'm going to prove it. That's why I'm alive!!!" Asta yelled, as he stood firm and pointed his sword at Mars.
Although Ray had destroyed the crystal arm before it could hurt Asta, it still destroyed his robe around his arms. From the gap, One could see well defined Muscles bulging and twitching with power and anti-magic.
'Look at his body!!! How hard has he trained!!! The Wizard king?! Is he serious?!!' Klaus thought.
Suddenly, Yuno perked up.
"No way. I'm going to be the Wizard king." he said simply.
Asta's eye twitched and he turned around to retort, when Mars took advantage of the brief opening, launching himself forward.
*WHOOSH!*
*CRACK.*
*BOOM!!!*
Asta barely managed to notice the attack. However, Ray took over. He appeared in the titan's path out of nowhere and slammed his Reishi coated, Blut Vene enhanced fist into the titan's body.
The crystals surrounding the Titan's Chest plate exploded outwards as a fist shaped crater appeared on it. Mars flew backwards.
"Whhhoooaaaa!!! Close Call!!! Thanks Ray!!!" Asta said cheerfully, as if he wasn't about to get hit by an 200 pound Diamond Titan.
Ray rolled his eyes. "You get distracted too easily Asta. Don't focus on child-like bickering during a life-and-death fight." He said, looking squarely at Asta, like a mother scolding her spoiled son.
Mimosa burst out laughing from her healing cradle. Noelle, unable to resist the spread of the laughing virus, joined in.
"What're you laughing at?" Ray demanded with an amused expression.
"Your chemistry is hilarious!" Mimosa exclaimed, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Meanwhile, Mars crashed back into the wall across. A wall of dust rose.
Once settled, Ray saw Mars slumped against the wall. He was finally out cold.
If things go according to the plot, Klaus will lock him up and then they will all enter the treasury, leaving Mars alone, and unguarded. Completely unprofessional and unexpected from the Magic knights of Golden Dawn. Black bulls... we can understand that. They're a... Special case. Still. It's a top-tier stupid move. But hey! If it's for the plot, logic goes down the drain! Countless anime have proven that right. And trust me, you don't want me to get started on that shit.
Sure enough, Klaus locked Mars up in a... functionally questionable, but visually stunning steel Cuirass.
"Is that binding gonna hold?" Asta asked, while chewing on some recovery herbs.
"Of Course it's gonna hold! It's not so flimsy a wounded person could break it!" Klaus retorted, with full confidence.
Ray's hands itched to draw his Seele Schneider and cut this guy's ego in half. He'd seriously forgotten how annoying the initial Klaus was... And he was suffering for it, with a first-class seat to top it all off.
"Fine, Yeeesh! Don't be so touchy." Asta grumbled.
Ray cut-in. "I'll stay with him. Just in case. I was anyway not supposed to be here. I just accidently stumbled onto this place while returning. So you guys go ahead to the treasure room. I'll stay." He said, turning on his lying skills.
"You sure Ray? The treasure room's probably gonna have sooooo much gold in it!!!" Asta said with his classic star eyes. "I don't want you to miss it!!!"
Ray shook his head. "Will that gold save you if this guy," He jabs his thumb towards Mars before continuing "Suddenly wakes up and attacks you all?" He finishes.
"He won't be able to break my steel Binding spell! Especially not when he is already weak!" Klaus piped up.
"Jeez... Can you guys not understand that I'm talking about possibilities here?!?! No matter how Stupid it sounds, everything will have a possibility of happening. Also, did you really believe, that your steel can keep diamond in check?" Ray asked, looking straight at Klaus.
Klaus blinked, and replayed how Mars had easily shattered his steel drill.
"Fine. But if the prisoner escapes. It's your fault."
"Yep. Get going now. Shoo shoo."
Once that was cleared out, Asta cut open the treasure door like butter (coz it was made of magic), and the six of them entered.
Nero, however lingered near Ray, broken onto whether to stay or go with Asta. Her job here was to show Asta to his next sword. The Demon-Dweller sword. However, she was afraid that Ray would vanish again, if she let him out of her sight.
Ray, sensing her turmoil, smiled and spoke. "Hey Nero. I know you have something to do there. get going. Don't worry. I won't go anywhere. Not when I've just gotten back." He said, stroking her feathers.
Nero stared him with her usual deadpan expression, but her eyes were darting across his face. Searching for any hidden twitch of his facial muscles, that may give away his lie. When she found none, she sighed and with a stern look at Ray and a shrill chirp, she flew towards the treasury.
Ray's smile slowly vanished as Nero flew through. A transparent Reishi barrier was suddenly erected at the entrance of the treasury. Ray turned around slowly, deliberately staring at a massive rock in the distance.
"Come out. I've already sensed you old man." Ray said, his face no longer smiles.
Lotus stepped out of the blind spot, his hands raised in mock surrender.
The story had changed once again. Lotus wasn't supposed to come back now. Only when Asta defeated Mars a second time and the dungeon started to collapse, was he supposed to return. But since he had come back earlier, it meant that the story had changed, and probably because of Ray himself.
"What bring you back?" Ray asked.
"Oh, nothing much. Just here to make sure you don't kill that kid over there."
He points at Mars. "After all, your stronger than all those magic knights put together. It'll be such a shame to lose one of our eight shining generals in a low-risk mission." Lotus said, with his usual smirk.
"Well? What are you waiting for then? Bring it on." Ray taunted. Lotus was about to speak when Ray cut him off. "Or are you waiting for your miniscule smoke particles to buildup in the room. Do you really think that could affect my combat?" Ray said, a slow grin spread across his face.
Lotus's face darkened. "Looks like I can't hide that from you huh..."
Suddenly, A huge amount of smoke was forced outwards from his body. It mixed up in air, turning invisible.
"There we go. Now, no need to wait. Let's go at it." Lotus said, before using smoke to explode himself forward.
Smoke Magic: White Vine!
Ray Slammed his feet in Air and launched himself up, stepping on air as he ascended, while raining arrows downwards using his Ginrei Kojaku.
The arrows passed harmlessly through Lotus as he changed direction midway, rushing after Ray. Ray frowned. Elemental intangibility was seriously broken.
Smoke Creation Magic: Smog!
As Lotus chased after Ray, a dense, Light gray-ish cloud of smoke erupted from his, blocking Ray's vision up to 5 meters in front of him.
'This guy has amazing instincts. He blocked my Vision to prevent me from shooting my arrows huh. If it was any normal archer, he'd be cornered. Too bad I'm not one of those 'Normal Archers'. With Soul Sight I can just spot his soul and strike. But that'll take all the fun out of it won't it.' A grin spread across his face again.
'Looks like I'm slowly becoming a Battle maniac. Man... How FUN!!!!' A chuckle escaped his mouth, as he put hand on it, hiding his grin and trying to calm himself.
Smoke Creation Magic: White Blow!
Lotus's fist Came flying at Ray out of the smoke. Ray twisted his body and dodged it. Still grinning, Ray rushed towards the direction the fist came from, equipping Seele Schneider while doing so.
Suddenly, time slowed down. His entire vision swam. A grid like pattern erupted in his vision. Ray's eyes widened. His life was in danger. That's the only time his battle instinct will activate. He turned his head slightly and caught a massive diamond arm in his peripheral vision.
Blut Vene!!!
Reishi Enhancement!!!
*Vmmm....!!!!*
*Smack!!*
*Crack.*
*SLAAAM!!*
*BOOOM!!!!*
The Chamber shook as the fist connected, and Ray was sent flying downwards and crashed to the ground.
'Damn it! I let my guard down!!! I didn't think Mars will recover this fast. I'm pretty sure it took him 7 to 10 minutes to recover, after Asta and the others left for the treasury, in the manga!!! But it's barely been 5 minute here!!! Could it be...' Ray's eyes flicked to Lotus, who was now standing beside Mars, as the smoke cleared out. He had an empty vial in his hands.
'Recovery potion...' Ray's eyes narrowed. 'Fuck.'
"Alright. No more holding back. Let's do this." Ray muttered, cracking his neck with his right hand as the Ginrei Kojaku formed in his left.
Mars slammed his hands to the ground. Hard.
Crystal Creation Magic: Talos Doll Swarm!
A huge amount of Crystal Doll-clones appeared behind Mars
Beside Him, Lotus also spread his arms.
Smoke Creation Magic: White Fog!
From Lotus's body, a Huge amount of smoke was released. It wasn't like before, where you couldn't see beyond 5 meters. Lotus wouldn't use that move here, since that would also be an handicap for Mars. Instead, this smoke was barely visible, but you knew it instinctively, that it was there.
Lotus turned into smoke and vanished into the surroundings.
"Not bad." Ray muttered as he raised his Bow and notched an Heilig Pfeil.
Heilig Pfeil: Minenfeld!!!
The Pfeil Launched forward, screaming as it tore through the air and fell right in between Ray and Mar's legion of Diamond Dolls.
Suddenly, a huge amount of Reishi exploded outwards, spreading in a uniform circle around the embedded arrow. Multiple arrows, similar to the first, appeared with in that circle.
Ray stood there, calmly notching another Heilig Pfeil. Filling it bit-by-bit with Reishi.
Heilig Pfeil: Focused Shot! + Heilig Pfeil: Homing Shot!
*VMMMM...!!!*
The arrow hummed with power as it lay on his bow.
Mars didn't react to any of Ray's actions and merely waved his hand. The Doll-Clones behind him, burst into action, Rushing towards Ray.
The first Doll-clone entered the circle of fallen arrows. However, the moment he stepped in, the doll accidently entered the Range of an arrow, 4 meters away. The arrow exploded, taking the doll with it. The same scene occurred as the other dolls entered the field and were blown apart. The ones that survived? Shot down by Ray. It was a fucking Exp Event. Too bad, the system didn't work on Exp.
Lotus, flying around in the smoke in his intangible form, felt the explosions against his skin. Even though nothing could hurt him in this form, he still shivered.
'What a terrifying kid! He can take down such a large number of Mars's Clones! I've seen how sturdy they are. Yet this kid's blowing them apart like they are made of sand!!!' Lotus screamed internally.
Mars, meanwhile, gave up on his Dolls, and instead used the surviving one's heads as a launchpad to propel himself towards Ray.
Ray calmly summoned his Seele Schneider and transformed his Ginrei Kojaku into his Einarmiger Bogen.
"Lets do this. C'mon." Ray taunted.
___To Be Continued___