"What is Anti-Magic?"
For the longest time, Nova assumed it was simply the opposite of magic — that if mana was the world's positive force, Anti-Magic had to be the negative. A neat polarity: creation versus destruction, light versus dark.
But the World Tree had corrected him.
Anti-Magic was not the reverse of mana. It was not a shadow or a counter-current. Anti-Magic was a type of magic in its own right — a branch of the special attribute known as Nullification Magic.
Unlike elemental attributes that add something to the world — fire burns, water flows, wind cuts — nullification erases. It strips away any mana-formed structure, reducing spells and enchantments to nothing as though they had never existed.
Among the special attributes, nullification stood only slightly below the supreme ones — Time, Fate, Destruction, Life, and a handful of others that shaped the laws of reality itself. So only supreme elements can content against Anti-Magic.
Anti-Magic was nullification taken to the extreme: a pure, refined quality of erasure powerful enough to unravel nearly any to all types of magic.
This was the reason why no one born with mana could ever be worthy of the five-leaf clover grimoire that contained Liebe. For anyone with natural mana, their own flow would reject it, making it impossible to wield or control.
Only Asta — born completely without mana — could resonate with it. The very flaw that made him an outcast in this world was also what made him the only one able to gain and use the five-leaf clover grimoire.
World Tree created this Anti-Magic, so that it could later help it break those chains that bound it.
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Nova finally shook his head, dragging himself out of his thoughts. He had reached the familiar stretch of open fields where Yuno usually trained. The grass here bent in long arcs under the wind, and the faint hum of mana lingered in the air — evidence of repeated use.
Sure enough, Yuno stood in the center, eyes sharp and focused, his grimoire floating steadily beside him. A circle of green mana surged at his feet, expanding outward in controlled bursts.
With a flick of his wrist, currents of wind whipped into shape, condensing into a dozen razor-sharp blades that shot toward a cluster of worn wooden poles stuck into the ground. The poles splintered and fell, but the blades didn't dissipate. Instead, Yuno twisted his hand and the currents curved back like obedient hawks, circling him before dispersing harmlessly.
Nova raised an eyebrow. 'See? I told you all he's the child of destiny. Just look at that mana control. It's only been a few months since he got his grimoire, and he's already able to manifest mana into elemental form without even casting a spell.'
'Yes, that wasn't a spell. Low-level spells like this aren't worthy of being imprinted in a four-leaf clover grimoire. I have the entire magical knowledge of the Potter and Black family libraries, plus what I gained from the Harry Potter world. Even then, my Reality Wish Grimoire has fewer than fifty spells imprinted. And thirty of those were created during Harry's time inside the World Tree's core.'
So one can see just how picky a four-leaf clover grimoire truly is. It disdains weak, low-tier magic. Four-leaf clovers are born of luck and destiny, and they amplify their owner far beyond the norm. Not only do they bring fortune to their wielder and those close to them, but they also multiply mana capacity, control, power, recovery, and growth by at least twenty times compared to a three-leaf clover grimoire.
According to the World Tree, the peak rank of a three-leaf clover grimoire holder is the First Rank peak. But the peak of a four-leaf holder is at least Demi-God, with a real possibility of reaching Godhood if all conditions align.
Currently, in the Black Clover world, only three people hold the potential to reach Demi-God: Yuno, Asta, and Julius Novachrono.
Yuno is obvious — he will eventually hold two four-leaf clover grimoires. Asta, chosen by the World Tree itself, carries Anti-Magic. It's difficult for him, since Anti-Magic is bound to Liebe's essence, but not impossible.
As for Julius Novachrono, his case is unique. His grimoire is both coverless and massive — a giant grimoire. Grimoires tied to supreme elements aren't bound by three-leaf or four-leaf classifications. As long as the wielder doesn't die prematurely, a supreme-element grimoire's path inevitably leads to godhood.
In fact, Julius has greater potential than even Yuno. If we remove outside factors like sudden death, and give both Julius and Yuno equal resources and their grimoires at the same age, Julius would still ascend to godhood faster, consuming fewer resources. That is the nature — the aura — of a supreme element.
Some might argue that supreme elements are harder to cultivate and take more time. But that difficulty applies only to those who gain supreme elements later in life. For those born with them, the growth curve is entirely different.
Take Vanessa Enoteca. She later awakened her fate-thread ability. Her thread magic had the potential to evolve into a supreme element — Fate. But since she wasn't born with Fate itself, she requires thread magic as her medium to access it. The peak of her thread path is the "Red Thread of Fate.
The difference between Vanessa and Julius is vast. Julius was born with the supreme element of Time itself, pure and innate. Vanessa was born with thread, an initiating element, which only carried the possibility of touching Fate.
Julius can directly command Time. Vanessa can only approach Fate through the medium of thread. That single difference is enough to place him on an entirely different level. She needs to cultivate Red thread of Fate to peak and turn entire of her thread magic into Fate magic to become a god, whose difficulty is very very high.
So we can conclude that cultivating a supreme element to God rank is easy as long as one is born with it.
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Nova came out of his thoughts as
Yuno clasped both hands, and the mana around him roared. A focused whirlwind formed, growing into a towering spire of condensed air that tore furrows into the earth as it spun. The pressure alone made Nova's hair stir, and then — with perfect precision — Yuno snapped his fingers, collapsing the vortex into nothing more than a crisp breeze.
The boy exhaled once, chest barely moving, not even looking winded.
Nova murmured. "Impressive. If this is him holding back, I almost feel sorry for the poor noble bastards who'll face him later."
After silently observing Yuno for a while, Nova turned away without announcing himself. There was no need — Yuno's destiny was already carved deep into the world. Nova simply filed the boy's progress away in his mind and headed off toward another familiar spot.
Sure enough, in a clearing not far from the village's edge, he found Asta.
Unlike Yuno's polished mana training, Asta's routine was raw, brutal, and relentless. The boy was shirtless, muscles slick with sweat as he hefted massive tree trunks over his shoulders like they were iron bars. Each drop of the log was followed by push-ups, then sprints, then squats until his legs shook. His body moved with the rhythm of someone who had no magic to rely on — sheer physical force had become his magic.
"...One thousand ninety-eight… one thousand ninety-nine… one thousand one hundred!" Asta shouted, dropping into the dirt for the last push-up with explosive force before flipping to his feet, panting hard but grinning wildly.
Nova leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing, watching in silence. The sheer tenacity radiating off Asta was almost absurd.
Then Asta paused, eyes flashing as he raised his grimoire. The battered five-leaf floated before him, pages flipping open. He gripped his Demon-Slayer sword with one hand, but instead of swinging, he lowered it to the ground. With his other hand, he focused, muttering:
"Ven-Drive — Manifest!"
Dark Anti-Magic swirled, crackling unnaturally in the air before condensing. Slowly, a sleek weapon began forming in his grasp — a firearm, black and jagged-edged, veins of crimson light running across its surface. It looked like something born from defiance itself, shaped by Asta's will to fight differently.
He raised the Ven-Drive gun and aimed at a set of moving targets he had rigged: rocks suspended on ropes, swinging wildly from tree branches.
Bang!
The first Anti-Magic bullet ripped out, distorting the air with its sheer erasure effect. The bullet didn't just pierce the stone — it shattered the mana-laced rope holding it, the fragments dissolving into dust before they even hit the ground.
Asta roared in excitement and kept firing.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Each shot tracked a moving rock, the bullets erasing both the targets and the faint mana traces clinging to them. Some bullets missed, but even then, the Anti-Magic residue warped the air where they struck, leaving faint black scorch marks on tree bark.
Nova's eyes narrowed slightly. So he's using Anti-Magic in projectile form already. Crude, but effective. If he keeps refining it, he'll be able to break ranged spells before they even touch him.
Asta didn't stop. Between firing rounds, he broke into a sprint, rolling, diving, and then switching hands mid-run to shoot at a rock swinging behind him. His movements were unpolished, more brute instinct than technique, but the determination behind each step was undeniable.
By the time his makeshift training was done, the clearing was littered with shattered stone fragments and broken ropes. Asta was breathing hard, sweat dripping, but he still lifted the Ven-Drive gun toward the sky and shouted, "I'll keep getting stronger! Stronger than anyone!"
Nova smirked faintly. And that's why he's dangerous. Not because Anti-Magic chose him, but because he refuses to stop moving forward. That's one of the reason why Asta have the chance to become a god. Its his this positive mentality, when World tree told him this, Nova was left stunned speechless.
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CHAPTER:- [122 - MAGIC KNIGHT EXAM(III)] IS AVAILABLE ON MY P@TREON