Asta looked down at Theresa, who was bleeding out.

Asta:"Come on, Sister... Stay with us!"

Neige was on the floor writhing in pain while Gauche began to crawl forward.

Gauche:"Old hag, wake up! You can't die on me! If you keeled over now, Marie would be sad! And I... wouldn't be too happy about it either."

Theresa:"Take... take care of them... the children... It's always the same. No matter who wins on the battlefield, it's the weak who pay the greatest price. Children are innocent, untouched by sin. They were the ones I wanted to protect. And so I left the battlefield behind and devoted myself to the church."

She coughed up blood as Asta called out to her.

Licht:"What kind of nonsense is that?"

The blades of light lodged in Sister Theresa dissipated as Licht literally looked down on us.

Licht:"No one is pure. You're all tainted by sin from the moment of your birth."

Asta:"You're insane!"

I growled at him as Asta pulled out both of his swords from his grimoire. I got in a fighting stance as Licht began crying. He held onto Sally and looked down at her.

Licht:"Just look at you, Sally. Poor thing. They've hurt you so badly."

Sally:"I tried, Master."

Licht:"You did well, but now it's time for you to rest. Valtos."

Valtos:"Yes, sir."

The spatial magic user created a portal, and Licht gently held her over it as the portal began to gently pull her in.

Sally:"Bye Asta, catch ya later."

She then turned her attention towards me.

Sally:"Bye-bye (Y/n)! Don't forget, precious, you belong to me."

Please just leave me alone!

Valtos:"I'm to blame for this. I shouldn't have sent her here by herself. This outcome was... unexpected."

Licht:"You needn't feel responsible for what happened. We all know how they act. No doubt they resorted to underhanded tactics."

"You're saying that about US?! After what that psycho did to those kids?!"

Licht:"You know, the sister was wrong before. It isn't the weak who pay. Not at all. It is the strong who have been victimized. Envied. Feared. Discriminated against. Persecuted. And stolen from."

Asta: What's he talking about? That's crazy!

Licht:"For its crimes, the Clover Kingdom cannot be forgiven! Instead, we will destroy you as you so richly deserve! And build a nation of our own!"

Above us, there were dozens upon dozens of light blades.

Asta:"Where do you get off acting like we're the bad guys here?! You and your group of psychos started all this! You jerk!"

In an instant, one of the many blades was lodged into Asta's right thigh.

"Asta!"

Licht:"I refuse to listen to that kind of filth!"

Asta was gritting his teeth in pain as I flipped through my grimoire to find a spell that could help me.

Licht:"It's painful, really. Seeing someone as disgusting as you with that grimoire."

Asta: My grimoire? Never mind! I need to stay focused on his attacks! They come so fast I can't even see them! What do I do? The only thing I can do is use my sword to block any fatal blows.

Asta then began to run as the magic blade dispersed. I just spit on the floor before my fists were engulfed in flames. I ran alongside Asta as we charged at Licht as we yelled at the top of our lungs.

Both:"WE'RE NOT DONE!"

Licht:"Yes, you are. I'll be taking that grimoire."

Licht managed to appear before us in the blink of an eye and readied a magic blast at us. Right as the blast was ready to fire, a katana pierced through it and dispersed it into plain light particles. Captain Yami seemingly dropped out of nowhere as Licht teleported across the cave.

Asta:"Captain Yami, what are you doing here?"

Yami:"Why am I here? Well, kid, I must've gotten lost. Anybody know where the bar is?"

Behind him stood Finral, who was just chuckling nervously.

Asta:"Really?! You were looking for a bar?!"

Yami reached out and began squeezing Asta's head.

Yami:"Sheesh, you got rocks in there instead of brains? That's what people call a joke. I'm a Magic Knight, and there's trouble, that's what I'm doing here, idiot. We heard what was going on, but everyone at the hideout was useless as usual, so here I am. I'll kill 'em all later."

They seriously couldn't pull it together just this one time?!

Finral: This is why we're here? I wish he'd just let me sleep.

Yami:"What the hell are you doing anyway? I gave you knuckleheads the day off. Maybe what you need is a more permanent vacation."

"We would, but that guy over there is the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. So we got a big problem on our hands."

Finral:"No way! Not them again!"

Yami:"Oh yeah? Here, I've been picturing a super buff guy who ate cows whole or something. Not some scrawny freak."

Valtos:"So the captain of the Black Bulls showed up. Should I summon the Third Eye?"

Licht:"No need. You see, the captain here is a wielder of dark magic. I'll enjoy pitting my power against his."

"Finral..."

Finral:"Yeah (Y/n)?"

"Can you take the others back to the village?"

Finral:"Sure, but what about you and Asta."

"I'm staying. I've still got plenty left in the tank!"

Asta:"I can still fight too!"

Both: Plus, this is my chance to see Captain Yami in action. No way am I missing out!

Finral:"Gauche! And whoever you are... can you walk?!"

Gauche:"See to the old hag first! And hurry!"

Finral:"Right! Got it!" Never mind that I'm actually your superior.

Finral got his grimoire ready and told Captain Yami the rest was up to him. Yami glanced over his shoulder and told Finral that he better be coming back. In a flash, Licht tried to attack Finral when his back was turned, but Yami quickly reacted and destroyed the attack with his katana.

Yami:"Are you tryna mess up my ride or somethin'?"

Finral: His ride?

Finral soon left with Theresa in his arms with Neige and Gauche following him. Asta and I stayed with Captain Yami as Asta was stunned at how he blocked the attack from Licht. Yami explained that his sword was a katana, which came from his native country, the Land of the Sun. He decided to drop the explanations as Licht sent a barrage of light attacks.

Yami sliced all the attacks with none ever reaching him. Licht then tried to attack from behind him, but Yami was quick to react and deflected the attack without looking. He then reached over and tried to slice at his neck, but Licht was able to dodge. Yami swung at him wildly as Licht dodged all the swings thrown at him. He then teleported to the air and shot swords of light at Yami, who continued to deflect them.

Yami:"So who are you and what's your angle?! Do you go around attacking people for kicks?"

Licht:"My angle? Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time in a certain village, there lived people who had tremendous magic power. They were special. Greatly loved by the mana of this world. They could control weather at will and manipulate the minerals. Their powers were truly godlike. Indeed. Those outside their village came to revere them as divine beings. But then, the people's feelings began to change. Their respect and admiration became fear and envy. They slaughtered their gods in a cowardly surprise attack and stole their power."

While Licht told Yami this story, he continued on with a barrage of light swords as Yami continued deflecting them.

Yami:"What kind of story is that? Who cares? You plannin' to become a bard?"

Yami closed the distance and began running alongside the wall of the cave as Licht hovered through the air and backed away while continuing with his assault.

Yami:"Well, I've got a story of my own you might like to hear. There was once a boy with a bright mind and a pure heart. His father was a fisherman who sent him out to work the sea at a young age. Then one day his boat got wrecked. He fell into the water and washed up at an unknown shore. He looked and acted different than the people there so he got the crap beat of out him a lot! But that was okay! 'Cuz he turned around and beat the crap out of them and became a badass squad boss. The end!"

The two of them descended back to the ground as Yami took a puff of his cigarette.

Yami:"Well? I think it's a pretty good story. Course, it is half my life, so there's that."

Valtos:"Silence! How dare you mock Master Licht!"

Yami:"Whoa, whoa, whoa! That's one seriously freaky face! What are those weird looking lines for?!"

Asta:"Now's not really the time..."

Licht sent out another attack, and Yami deflected it, but part of the attack managed to graze his shoulder.

Licht:"If you're truly a foreigner, then my tale has nothing to do with you. In which case, feel free to leave."

Licht sent out another barrage of light swords towards Yami. He did his best to deflect them all, but a few of them managed to graze his body and cut it in the process.

Asta:"Captain Yami!"

Licht:"You've avoided mortal blows, but how much longer will your luck hold?"

Yami:"Are you the one who messed up Fuegoleon so bad, huh?!"

Licht:"That's right."

Both Asta and I had our eyes widen in shock.

Licht:"I prepared so very carefully, and he walked right into my trap."

Yami:"Figured as much, these little darts wouldn't do anything to a guy like him. He'd take you down!"

Yami closed the distance and tried to engage in close quarters combat. The two dashed all across the cave and did what they could to injure the other, but neither one could. Yami landed back on the ground, then used a spell.

Yami:"Now, Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!"

Licht tried to avoid the dark crescent attack, but he barely dodged it as it grazed his cheek and caused blood to trickle down from his wound.

Valtos:"Master Licht!"

Asta: That was amazing! I've never seen anything like it before!

So this is what Yami can do...

Yami:"Of course you used a trap. You couldn't win unless you played dirty."

Valtos:"Why you..."

Yami:"Stop dancing around and come at me head-on! I'll show you what a squad captain can do! Think you can handle it?"

Licht only smiled at Yami as he still had our backs turned to us.

Yami:"Were you two watching?"

Both:"Yes, sir!"

Yami:"Good. 'Cuz now it's the runt's turn."

Both:"Yes, sir!"

Asta:"Wait! There's no way I can do that!"

Yami:"Yeah? Last time I checked, I was still your captain. Which means if I tell you to do something, you do it. The sooner you wanna be a real man, Shrimpsta."

He began squeezing Asta's head as he started to kick the air and try prying Yami's hand off his head.

Licht:"Fascinating. The power of dark magic."

He then used a healing spell to patch up the wound before readying more swords of light.

Yami:"You ready to go?"

Asta:"Please, sir, this is impossible! I can't do what you just did. You remember I can't use magic, right?"

Yami:"I'm not talking about that last attack, moron. I'm talking about this move here where I block his stupid little lightning bolts. See?"

Asta:"How did I hit something if I don't know it's there?"

Yami:"Guess I got no choice. I'll explain it to you once. For 500 Yule. You wanna know how I've been able to respond to his attacks? It's because I've been picking up on something the people in my country call ki."

Asta:"Ki? You weren't sensing his mana?"

Yami:"Nope. A person's glance, their breathing, their scent, the way their muscles move, the hint of their presence. Take 'em together. All that living energy people give off, that's called ki. All I've been doing is reading his ki and predicting his moves. You've never done anything like that before?"

Asta:"Actually... yeah..."

Yami:"That's my fighting style. I combine the ability to sense ki with my magic and the strength of my muscles. Think of me being a buff magical swordsman!"

Asta:"You're not kidding about the buff part! Your neck is as thick as a tree!"

Yami:"Heh. Have you seen your neck lately?"

Valtos then stepped up to attack and sent a magic blast through a portal towards Asta, but Yami blocked it for it.

Yami:"Hey, good timing. Practice on the evil scarecrow over there."

Asta:"Wait, you want me to take on that guy?! We just talked about this there's no way I'll be able to-"

Yami:"There's a saying where I'm from. Whatever happens, a warrior never goes back on his word. You did say you were gonna be the Wizard King, right? This is where you gotta push past your limits. If you don't, your path ends here."

Asta:"Yes, sir."

Asta squatted and got ready to detect the next attack, and he knew where it was coming from, but the attack hit his leg.

Yami:"Nice try! You thought I wouldn't notice you using just one of your senses? The only thing you had working were your ears. That isn't reading ki. If you wanna do this right, then you gotta feel it with your whole body. You got that?!"

Asta:"My whole body?"

Yami:"Yep. Don't rely only on your ears or just your eyes. It's like something in between intuition and prediction. Now do it right this time, or I'll kill ya."

Asta then concentrated as he closed his eyes and waited for the next attack. He sensed it and turned around before smacking the attack back with his sword. He sent the blast back into the portal, which spat it out into Valtos' face.

"Way to go, Asta!"

Asta:"Thanks! That felt awesome! Captain Yami, did you see that?!"

Yami:"Really? You actually managed to pull it off? No way! You're a freak!"

Asta:"But you told me to try it out!"

I looked over at Licht, who watched Valtos fall over. He then turned his attention to us with an angry look on his face. Licht grew furious that we hurt another compatriot of his as he created whips of light and then asked us to predict these movements. He began swinging them wildly as I used Razor Shell to do my best to defend myself. The whips were long and extremely powerful as it began to break apart the cave.

"Look! The ceiling is about to crumble!"

Licht:"Farewell, lowly humans!"

With one last strike, the cave ceiling crumbled on top of us. Valtos sat up and gloated as we were trapped beneath the rubble. The sun shined through the giant hole as Licht smiled in glee. Soon, Asta and Yami burst through the rubble with their swords and yelled at the top of their lungs.

Asta:"Wait! Where's (Y/n)?!"

"RIGHT HERE!"

I lifted up a massive amount of rubble with one hand before chucking it aside. When the ceiling collapsed, my grimoire flipped pages and gave me a new spell just called Strength. And boy, did it speak the truth.

Asta:"Aw yeah!"

I dusted off my shoulders before rolling my neck around and walking over to stand by Asta and Yami. Yami soon got back to fighting Licht as he told Asta to fight Valtos. Yami and Licht were going crazy as Yami held nothing back. They raced all across the cave, leaving destruction in their wake. Asta and I could only stand in awe. He soon landed near us, then told Asta to hurry up and fight Valtos, but he told him to do it in his own way.

Asta charged forward and tried to sense all the attacks, but a couple slipped past his guard. Soon, he opted to toss his swords into the air. Valtos took the chance to go for one final attack, Asta sensed a portal behind him and jumped through it immediately. He appeared from the other end, which was right in front of Valtos. He decked him right in the face and launched him across the cave. Yami himself got a nasty hit in on Licht. He managed to hold him in place before using a spell to leave a massive gash on his right side.

Licht descended to the floor before he praised Yami on his strength and control on dark magic. Though he said dark magic was slow in opposition to his quick light magic. He then started to ready a powerful spell. He then told Yami that he was the second strongest person he's fought so far. Yami asked who was the first, and he told him that the Wizard King was the strongest foe that stood in his way. He hurt his hand so bad that no recovery magic would ever make it right again.

Licht:"This shall be my most powerful spell so far. Too swift for you to evade. Too powerful and extensive for you to draw in as before. There's no escaping fate! This will be your undoing! The moment I cast it will be your last in this world, Captain of the Black Bulls!"

Asta:"Whatever! Not a chance! Don't underestimate Captain Yami! You think you're something special?! Please-"

Yami:"Nah. This could go pretty bad. He's got some nasty magic."

Asta:"WHAAAATTTT!!!"

Licht:"You too, young man. You shall be punished for the harm you've done to Valtos. I'll be taking back that grimoire."

Yami: Anyone with a four leaf clover is gonna have some seriously strong magic. And unless I surprise him somehow, he can just dodge my attacks. So, what to do? ... Nah! It's Future Yami's problem.

Back in Nean

Gauche, Finral, Neige, and several of the kids were in the infirmary as Sister Theresa was getting medical attention. She praised Gauche for having been changed by both Asta and (Y/n). She passed on her magic power to Gauche before falling asleep. Gauche thought she had died before Theresa told him to shut up and that she wouldn't die that easily. Neige also passed on his magic power and did some of the other kids.

Gauche asked Finral to take them back and so he did. When they showed up, they saw Yami had used his Dark Cocoon spell to protect himself alongside Asta and (Y/n). Gauche teleported in front of the cocoon as Licht unleashed his massive spell, Ray of Divine Punishment. Gauche countered with his own spell, Full Reflection.

It created a giant mirror that reflected the attack back at Licht and knocked him out of the air. The blast continued onward and broke the cave some for before dissipating.

End of page 14.