(A/N):
Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.
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Patolli's eyes were still wide—
"...."
Still shaken by the sensation of his own swing being interrupted by nothingness—
When another threat materialized behind him.
Asta.
Charging like a wild beast.
Roaring like a battle siren.
Swinging his Anti-Magic greatsword with reckless fury—
"TAKE THIS—! YOU WON'T TOUCH MY BROTHER!!"
The shout hit Patolli a split-second before the sword did.
It was loud.
It was stupid.
It was so Asta.
But it was effective.
Patolli's instincts screamed—
DANGER.
DEATH.
He teleported at the last possible heartbeat,
A flare of golden light bursting from where he had stood.
Asta's sword cleaved the air with a thunderous crack,
Tearing apart the ground instead.
Jak the Freeze skated into view behind him,
Slapping the back of Asta's head with his frosty palm.
"HEEEH—DON'T SCREAM DURING A SNEAK ATTACK, YOU MUSCLED TURNIP!"
Asta wheeled around indignantly.
"HUH!? HOW IS IT A SNEAK ATTACK IF I DON'T SCREAM!?"
Jak didn't answer.
"...."
He simply flicked a tiny glowing snowball past Asta's shoulder.
A silent, crystalline arc.
It hit the ground behind Asta with a small tink.
Then—
BOOOOM—!!
A pillar of frozen mist erupted upward,
Instantly forming an ice wall taller than a house.
A brilliant light blade slammed into the wall from the other side,
Shattering chunks of frozen crystal—
-THUD.
But not breaking through.
Patolli reappeared several meters away, teeth clenched.
"...."
He hadn't even seen the snowball.
He hadn't anticipated the timing.
This creature's magic—
It defied prediction.
It defied mana-flow sensing.
It defied instinct.
Patolli's fingers twitched around his light-sword hilt.
'…I can't read him.Even with an elf's senses—I CAN'T READ HIM.'
Jak twirled on one toe, arms spread dramatically like a showman taking a bow.
"HEEHEE—YOUR AIM SUCKS, SHINY BOY!"
Asta brandished his sword,
Sparks flying off the anti-magic edge as he set his stance.
"STOP CALLING HIM SHINY BOY—FOCUS!!"
Jak leaned in, whispering a loud, goblin-like croak.
"I AM FOCUSED. YOU'RE JUST LOUD."
Asta puffed up, veins bulging.
"BECAUSE YOU NEVER TAKE ANYTHING SERIOUSLY—!!"
A spear of golden light suddenly shot between their heads.
Both froze mid-argument.
Slowly, their eyes tracked the burning line the spear left in the air.
Jak's voice creaked.
"…Okay maybe we take this one seriously."
Asta nodded rapidly.
-Nod
"YES—VERY SERIOUSLY!!"
Patolli extended both arms, eyes glowing with murderous intent.
Light magic surged like a rising star.
"I will not be stalled any longer.I will KILL the anomaly first—and then deal with the anti-magic brat."
Jak's grin widened.
-Grin
"...."
Asta's grip tightened.
Both lowered their bodies, ready to strike.
Patolli's breathing grew sharp, uneven—
Not out of exhaustion,
But calculation.
Jak the Freeze was unreadable,
Asta was unpredictable,
and the Witch Forest was filling with captains and the Witch Queen herself.
He didn't fear dying.
He feared losing the plan.
'The magic stones… the resurrection… Lichts will…'
'If I use that spell here… The wide-area Judgment Light. I could kill dozens—maybe hundreds… But would the Clover King really allow it? Would he let me strike down innocent witches just to save himself?'
His jaw trembled.
"...."
His golden eyes flicked toward the fight at the border of witch forest—
Toward the overwhelming mana of Yami, Dorothy, Charlotte…
The Witch Queen burning like a furnace of blood magic…
'No. This battlefield is all wrong. This anomaly—this King—is not predictable. His grip tightened on his light blade.'
"…TCH. NOT HERE. NOT NOW."
Jak tilted his head, icy grin widening.
-GRIN
"AWWWW—RUNNING AWAY ALREADY?"
Asta brandished his sword:
"GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT PROPERLY—!!"
But Patolli was already moving.
Light wrapped around him—
Fast, sharp, blinding.
For a heartbeat, his form flickered like a dying star.
Then—
—FWASHHH!
He vanished.
Completely.
The light blade he'd formed dropped from the air, dissipating into motes of gold.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Silence fell.
Asta blinked rapidly.
Jak stopped mid-skate,
Sliding to a halt with a disappointed groan.
"…STRATEGIC RETREAT."
The icy alien croaked.
-Crock
"SMART BOY."
Asta stomped the ground.
"COWARD STRATEGIC RETREAT—!!!"
Several witches, still shaken by the sudden attack,
Exhaled in mixed relief and outrage.
Their grimoire pages fluttered closed as the tension finally released from the air.
Jak tapped a clawed finger against his chin.
"HE WON'T BE GONE LONG..."
Asta frowned.
-Frown
"Where did he go…?"
A cold wind blew through the clearing, scattering the remnants of Patolli's magic.
Ben—
Still transformed as Jak—
Glanced toward the direction Patolli had vanished.
Inside that crooked, ice-blue smile…
"...."
There was calculation.
Because whatever Patolli had truly come for—
He hadn't gotten it.
And he would come back.
THE BATTLE OF THE WITCH FOREST...
The clearing trembled under the clash of spells.
Fana panted heavily,
Her Spirit Magic flickering like a dying flame.
She was powerful—
Ferocious even—
"...."
"...."
"...."
But not against three captains and the Witch Queen united.
Witch Queen her blood-red magic twisted through the air like serpents, sealing escape routes and suppressing Fana's spirit output.
Dorothy half-floating, half-dancing, her dreamlike attacks distorted the battlefield, bending angles and disorienting Fana's aim.
For some reason Dorothy felt she shouldn't use pull Fana into her dream.
Her instincts warned her and she followed it.
Charlotte vines of steel-blue briar lashes cracked through the air, cutting off every opening Fana tried to exploit.
Yami cigarette burning low, eyes sharp, muscles coiled—
"Kid… you picked the wrong forest."
Fana growled, golden eyes blazing.
"For the sake of the my people… I WON'T FALL HERE!"
The fire spirit behind her flared violently, unleashing a torrent of blazing mana.
The ground ruptured.
Trees buckled.
Even the Witch Queen's robes fluttered under the pressure.
But they held.
Dorothy warped the path of the incoming flames.
Charlotte's runic vines wrapped the fire into a spiraling cocoon.
The Witch Queen's blood sigils pulsed,
Snuffing the spirit's rage for a brief, critical second.
That was enough.
Yami stepped forward, sword raised.
His mana swelled—
Not outward, but inward, compressing like a black hole.
"Dimensional—"
Fana's eyes widened in horror her instincts warned her to avoid.
"...."
'Oh no—!'
"—SLASH!"
The black blade of anti-magic and distortion cut through space itself,
Racing straight toward her.
She couldn't dodge.
She couldn't block.
She couldn't—
-FLASH!
A burst of golden light exploded behind her.
Before the slash could reach its mark—
A hand grabbed her shoulder.
Teleportation magic swallowed them both.
PATOLLI APPEARS...
He materialized in the open, light cloak fluttering as Fana collapsed to her knees.
Charlotte's eyes widened.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Dorothy froze midsong.
Yami's brow twitched.
And the Witch Queen—
Blood magic humming—
Slowly narrowed her eyes.
Patolli held Fana close, glaring at the four opponents.
"This battle is over."
His voice was calm, but beneath it—
A fracture of panic.
Yami's grip tightened on his katana.
There was something about Patolli's stance…
His magic presence…
His face…
A memory flickered.
The Golden Dawn's captain.
The soft voice.
The strange unease in the meeting room.
Yami's jaw clenched.
"…Oi. You—"
Patolli's eyes met his.
Golden. Cold.
Inhuman.
Yami scowled even harder.
"Why the hell… do you look EXACTLY like William…?"
Patolli didn't answer.
Then his gaze flicked to the Witch Queen—
Specifically to the teal, teardrop-shaped magic stone hanging from her ear.
The final one they needed.
He memorized everything.
The power surrounding it.
The defenses layered around the Queen.
Her latent fury.
'Not yet.'
Not today.
He wrapped his light around himself and Fana—
AND VANISHED.
The vines withdrew.
Dorothy exhaled.
The Witch Queen lowered her hand, crimson sigils fading.
Yami spat out his cigarette and crushed it underfoot.
"…Tch. Slippery bastard."
Charlotte looked toward where Patolli had stood.
"Captain Yami… about what you said. That he looked like Captain Vangeance…"
Yami didn't look at her.
"It's just a hunch."
But internally?
His suspicions were no longer small, whispering shadows.
They were crystallizing into something dangerous.
Something inevitable.
The battlefield was still shaking.
Ash drifted.
Magic residue crackled in the air.
Where Patoli and Fana once stood—
Only scorched ground remained.
They were gone.
Escaped.
Charlotte lowered her spear slightly, breath uneven.
Dorothy's humming faded as she scanned the empty space.
And then—
-TSSSHHH—
A cold wind swept across the ruined earth.
Ice spread in a perfect spiral, glittering beneath their feet.
-KEKEKE!!!
A laugh—
Smooth, sharp, playful—
Echoed through the mist.
Charlotte turned instantly.
"...."
"...."
"...."
Dorothy perked up.
"W-Wait… that voice—"
The temperature dropped.
-SLIDE—
A tall, thin figure glided into view, skating effortlessly on a trail of frost.
Hair like jagged blue ice.
Eyes glowing with a cool, dangerous rhythm.
Elegant limbs trailing frozen arcs of energy.
Jak the Freeze.
Ben.
But not the Ben's transformation they usually saw.
He slowed to a stylish stop, one hand flicking frost into the air like confetti.
Charlotte's heart skipped.
"...."
"...."
Dorothy gasped.
-Gasp
"B-Ben…?"
Charlotte managed.
The alien tilted his head and smirked.
-Smirk
"YUP,"
He said casually.
"YOU GUESSED IT."
He touched the glowing Omnitrix emblem embedded in his chest.
Icy light pulsed in response.
"THIS IS MY NEW TRANSFORMATION,"
He continued.
"JAK THE FREEZE."
Frost swirled along his fingertips—
Quiet, elegant, controlled.
Dorothy clapped excitedly.
"Oooooh~ he's so shiny and SCARY!"
Charlotte swallowed hard.
-Gulp
She wasn't sure whether to stare, speak, or just catch her breath.
"...."
Jak rolled his shoulders, frost spiraling behind him like wings.
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(Author's POV)
(A/N)Thanks for reading the chapter!
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