While the Black Bulls engaged in mortal struggle against the cultists. Luck still trapped in an alternate dimension has an emotional moment with his formerly deceased mother.
Common rationality would immediately dispel this moment as a dangerous illusion meant weaken the will of the victim with the aim of leaving them vulnerable. But for some strange reason, Luck knew deep down within his soul that he really was before his mother. Everything about her even her mana was perfect, no fabrication could be this good.
"Luck. Are you alright?"
Staring at the woman with tearful eyes, the same mischievous grin still plastered on his sweet face.
"Yeah. I'm alright, Mom!"
The Woman smiled as she walked up to her son whom she wrapped in a warm hug. The Turbulent mana within Luck stopped boiling as his spirit eased into the moment.
For the first time in a long time, he felt safe. Loved. Understood. At peace. All these positive emotions made him happy, not just the passing validation of victory against a strong opponent but genuine meaningful happiness.
Cleaning off the streaks of tears with her hands, the woman kissed his forehead, reaffirming her eternal love for her child.
"I am proud of you. Thank you for winning for me."
The Final embers of Lightning on Luck's body diminished leaving him completely exposed. He had finally done it, the one driving force behind his every action, the promise that burned within him to always ensure absolute victory.
His wish to make his misfortune mother proud. After her death, he thought she could no longer observe his victories and cheer him on and now finally he saw that she knew it all.
What does this mean now- should he continue fighting or just retire. The Answer came in the most unexpected way,
"Mom. Should I stop?"
The Sight of her son still seeking her approval made the woman smile, her answer was her turning her head sideways in refusal.
"Don't. You now have so much to fight for. I Love you either way so fight because it is something you love. I always want to see you grow, nothing brings me more joy."
With watering eyes, Luck asked a heart wrenching question,
"Will it make you stay?"
The Woman brought up her son's hands and intertwined them firmly in an eternal reassurance,
"I will be with you in glory, always"
Luck's Mana boiled once more, far more vibrant and energetic than before. The once blue colour slowly morphing into a unique magenta glow as the ensuring whirlpool of power created a cocoon around the two souls.
A Never before seen union began, one that merged their individual experiences and traits on the fundamental level of their existence.
This shared maternal affection became a catalyst for a cosmic apotheosis, the figure of his mother degraded into a conceptual flow of experience and merged with Luck.
What resulted from this exchange was a perfected version of Luck, still in his usual Human veneer without any creation magic on but now having a fluid orange hue of extremely concentrated mana around his form which released miniature arcs of Lightning like a rising prominence on the sun's surface.
"Since a proper battle was what you desired, I decided to ensure you were in your highest possible optimal state in order to maximise the thrill of our coming squabble."
Luck gave a smile, this time something was different, it wasn't a mischievous grin. It was a genuine peaceful smile without any the usual high Powered insanity of delirium just perfect control and pristine grace.
"Sure, Let's go"
Luck says as he kicks against empty space and leaps towards the Black curtain which dissolves revealing a shrivelled humanoid mass of wormholes, crystalline fragments and writhing static all held together by tentacle like protusions emerging from the wormholes binding the entire construct together.
An beautiful grey eye opens up in it's torso, within that second all the twinkling stars morph into swarms of alien monsters and launch at Luck from all directions who tears through the horde easily on his way to his adversary.
The two clash, each with a satisfied grin at the edge of their mouths.
….
The Heart wrenching epic of Father Yules struck a blow in the already wavering Faith for humanity in Asta's heart.
The Validation he had once held onto being the one thing that allowed him to justify his repulsion and aversion towards people like Yules was snatched from his grasp.
In many ways, they were suspiciously similar, his current state mirroring their individual life situations. His now he still has to make peace with while Yules had fully let himself morph into the image of his misfortune.
The Once daring boy was now forced to confront this crisis of identity.
"It would appear our time alone together is at an end. My superior has arrived."
The Film dissolved and the recent arrival walked towards them followed by the serpent Apostle, Raymoon in his human form and the Black bulls suspended in the air by grotesque pairs of hands, all of them injured and unconscious.
With a smile of recognition,
"Father Klein, I have the boy right here but he is not forthcoming with the whereabouts of the book so I tried to convert him to our side"
"No worries, I found the book already, apparently the supreme mage of Clover had hidden it in his personal collection. I have acquired it, though the clover kingdom may need some time to rebuild and assemble whatever remains of their wizard King.."
Father Klein's words made Asta's blood to run cold, the knowledge that the Wizard king was defeated so easily by these people was something he couldn't imagine.
His doubts were diminished when he saw Father Klein materialized said Black book smeared with blood stains and gore.
The Memory of when he submitted it to Julius Novachrono bubbled up and caused his breath to cease, the picturesque smile of the noble king being replaced with a dead body was something he couldn't fathom.
These people were far more powerful than a wizard King and probably the entire magic knight squads combined.
"As expected of the most powerful bishop of the End-time prophets, even an entire kingdom cannot stop your advance.."
Father Yules complimented the priest,
"I thought there was one more left, the Lightning mage?"
Raymoon answered with reverence,
"He flew into the netherspace through the void serpent's mouth, I have not been able to summon it ever since then.."
"How interesting, then let the boy enjoy his new life within that place. As for the void serpent, it will most likely survive, after all the neverending serpent of chaos cannot be killed so easily…"
Raymoon posed another question,
"Will I dispose of these people then?"
Father Yules looked at Asta before refuting,
"No. They will serve us well, I can see a blossoming apostle in this one especially, the rest will join our side sooner or later.."
"If everything is done, we shall make our return…"
"Yes. Father Klein…"
Both Raymoon and Yules drew an upside down cross on their chests as they followed the priest.
Father Klein tapped the ground slightly, causing the deceased apostles' bodies to reassemble and regenerate, when they gained clarity he ordered them to carry the Black bulls with them as he brought out a Spherical device,
"Illoruim Vakta Menfa.."
What followed was the space contracting before tearing revealing the void. The Apostles confidently walked inside the chaotic swirl of energy.
Their bodies wrapped with a Crystalline hue which also accommodated their prisoners.
The Rift closing didn't return the desert to normality, the spatial tear had released cataclysmic torrents of cosmic energy which destroyed the Landscape, obviously as a means of cover their tracks.
...….
Secrè flew all across the clover kingdom searching for survivors. The Earlier attack had left the entire nation crippled, the capital was razed in a bloody battle between the Wizard king and a priest of sorts.
After flying for a while, she found a gruesome sight, the Captains of the aqua deer and green mantis ripped apart from their waists.
She struggled to suppress the climbing bile from her stomach as she flew over the gruesome scene.
"Please…"
The Happiness of hearing Captain Roselei's voice still alive diminished when she saw what had become of the great captain.
Rather than the usual pristine graceful female, in it's place was a writhing fleshy mass of roses and weeds with only the partial part of her face still intact.
The Pungent odor created as her body intertwined in an unholy union with the flowery mass was nauseating.
"Captain Roselei?"
Secrè called out to her, but her delirious reply was heartbreaking,
"Yami?. I knew you would come back, that man… help us… the people …"
Unable to give a reasonable response due to her deteriorating mental state, Roselei muddled between various patches of words each trying to describe a horrible scene or ask for help.
Secrè went up to her, still within her bird form and tried to connect Roselei with her mana in an attempt to seal away the damage.
After minutes of fighting to keep her Spell stable and focused from the surrounding interference, she succeeded in creating a result.
"Sealing Magic: Eternal Seal"
Following a burst of light which saw Roselei return to her human form, Secrè watched the pitiful girl mumble relentlessly still convinced that Yami of the black bulls had come to save her.
…..
Clover Capital. Briefing of the Magic Knight Captains. Six hours ago
"All of you should try your best to cover for the Black bulls…"
Wizard king Julius Novachrono was in the middle of a briefing with the magic knight captains when the door behind them opened.
Such a Confidential meeting being interrupted had to be for an important reason, but rather than the usual servant or guard a young man donning a priestly attire walked in casually.
His deep blue eyes gazed at the captain with a cold, detached look while his average but well-built frame approached them.
His clothing was in the design of the church but all the holy sigils were replaced with an ominous upside down cross underneath a setting sun.
Father Klein Modred.
"Greetings, citizens of Clover. Please which one of you is the supreme magus known by the Wizard king…"
All the Captains in their usual haughtiness, gave the intruder a vicious glare but rather than be intimidated, he stayed put waiting for an answer.
"I am. Please what do you need?"
Nozel saw the uncomfortable look on Julius' face as he complied with the stranger's request, this made him to tense up too at the prospect that this individual could be significantly more powerful than the greatest mage in history.
All the magic knight captains seemed to notice this too.
"I would like to procure the Black scripts of the Beyond which I heard of is in your care"
Julius Novachrono turned to Marx,
"Do you know where this Black Book is?"
Marx noticing the increasing tension within the room hurriedly gave his response,
"Ummm… No sir"
Julius slyly made a request,
"Would you please get it from the vault"
Marx complied and left the room, rushing down the stairs. With his magic, he sent a distress call to all the squads.
Everyone immediately leaped into action, storming the castle with their brooms and portals.
The Captains kept their mana boiling, ready to react at any moment, still they couldn't comprehend why this person who didn't give off any noticeable trace of his mana was such a threat.
Vangence stood up and offered his seat to Father Klein who accepted with gratitude, doing this allowed him to be in a better position to both retailate and negotiate.
An act of friendliness to an obvious enemy.
"So tell me what you wish to do with this Black Book. If you must know it has forbidden magic written within it's pages?"
Julius posed this question to test the resolve of the intruder who calmly replied,
"Well, I need it to contact someone, it is important for this world's future"
Vangence in his usual polite gesture,
"If we can know of this threat or goal better, maybe we can help.."
Before they could finish conversing, Captain Jack the ripper of the mantis launched a well aimed slash at the neck of Father Klein.
"Huhuhu… I don't have the patience to endure this nonsense, come at me."
The Rest of the Squad seeing that the friendly demeanor had been broken immediately whipped out their grimoires and stood on alert.
The Dust settling revealed a bone chilling scene, Father Klein sitting perfectly still without a scratch. Their shock over the fact that someone took the full force of a magic knight captain without even protecting himself or flinching.
Unbeknownst to them, Marx who at that time was rushing towards the approaching members of the golden dawn- Yuno. Mimosa and four eyed, fell to the ground.
Mimosa rushed to help him turning him over, their eyes shook as they saw his upper body separated from his abdomen.
"I though we were having a friendly conversation and I was even willing to let you all live but if I must do this to further my task, then I will ask again release the Black Book to me."
They all looked at each other with gazes that said, "No!!".
Father Klein sighed as he got up and turned to Julius who was also glaring daggers at him.
"Thank you for your hospitality then."
Father Klein paused as a massive tree sprouted from his belly, tearing his body apart. Vangence had struck too.
"Ha… Nice one"
Jack in usual erratic manner complimented the hit.
"You shouldn't have been so brash."
Vangence scolded Jack's behaviour just as Julius was about to yell something,
"Vangence!!!"
Watching in slow motion as a fleshy protrusion erupted from vangence's neck rapidly dissolving and reforming his body until all that was left was the reconstituted Father Klein and in the place of his former body was Vangence, carrying the brunt of all his damage.
All the Captains stood, eyes wide with horror at what they saw even Julius was agitated, visibly shaken by the death of his beloved comrade.
With rageful eyes, they all attacked without a word, their combined force demolishing everything in their path as Father Klein weaved through each and every attack with surgical precision.
Seeing their captains in motion, all the knights stood by, in the hopes of the swift destruction of their adversary. With gladden hearts, the entire kingdom cheered on their protectors.
Unbeknownst to them across, the Kingdom, countless individuals perished without a peep. Either from being scorched by unseen flames, sliced apart or crushed and blasted away by invisible bursts.
This went on until an anti-bird flew over the battle field and transformed into a girl.
"Stop you are killing the people!!"
This terrifying proclaimation made all the magic knights especially Julius turn their heads in her direction. Just as the Captain of the purple orcas trying to escape the scene in his invisible state exploded in a burst of heated gore.
"How did I not see this?"
Julius Lamented in his mind,
"Easy I simply changed what you could see"