At the start of the battle, Charles thought Lucius was showing weakness due to some trap, but it turned out to be for the boring reason of "clones."
Charles really didn't understand what psychology drove Lucius to use this method against him.
Actually, the higher level a strong person was, the more they instinctively rejected abilities or people similar to themselves, let alone identical copies.
Charles had seen a theory in Broken Blade Academy's materials. Perhaps because that world had "Blazers" involving fate, scholars had a special hypothesis.
All similar abilities shared the same power source, and the stronger a Blazer was, the more they naturally occupied of fate's share.
If identical individuals appeared in the world, one's own fate in the power source would be dispersed. The more individuals, the more fate would be scattered.
Though fate was mysterious and even unobservable, it undeniably could influence a person.
Having fate dispersed sounded like nothing good.
Charles had witnessed firsthand that in that world, the strongest ability user called "Superman" Abraham was actually a clone of "Tyrant," mass-produced as military weapons.
The result was that Abraham's displayed power couldn't compare at all to that legendary Tyrant who had suppressed the entire dark world.
But fate was too mystical - Charles's own understanding was that the strong absolutely couldn't be manufactured.
Even clones with identical magic power and magic, identical bodies and even identical genes, absolutely couldn't reach the original's level.
The training, research, and battles experienced in growing to this point would leave unique imprints at the most fundamental level - that was what mattered most to the strong, and power clones couldn't replicate.
Charles spun his body half a circle, kicking out with both legs simultaneously, sending two Luciuses reaching for him flying.
Grabbing the head of a Lucius in front of him in midair, Charles inverted directly, twisting off his head as his body rotated.
Two more Luciuses charged together, both reaching for Charles.
Asta arrived just then, the Demon-Slayer Sword and Demon-Dweller Sword appearing in his hands simultaneously. The anti-magic-wrapped blades forced both Luciuses to retreat.
Charles righted his body at this moment, releasing Fire Dragon's Roar. Several Luciuses too close were directly swallowed by flames, while others had to dodge away.
A pitch-black slash then flew through the flames, directly cleaving through one Lucius's body.
Despite eliminating an enemy, Asta showed no joy. He had also defeated several Luciuses, but the number of enemies before them showed no signs of decreasing.
"Damn, just how many are there? At this rate, we'll never finish fighting them all!"
Asta couldn't help but feel anxious. Through continuous training, he could now achieve partial devil assimilation and unleash more concentrated anti-magic power. The original five-minute devil assimilation limit had also extended to fifteen minutes.
If this dragged on further, his devil assimilation time might run out without even seeing Lucius's true body.
Charles's patience was nearly exhausted too, but fortunately he finally found his target.
Lucius's magic power was too massive, filling the entire area with his magic aura and severely interfering with Charles's perception. It took considerable effort before Charles locked onto Lucius's true body's location.
Looking up at the sky, Charles said, "So he's up there - really thinks he's a deity!"
Though he'd found Lucius's position, these clones below probably wouldn't let him pass to find him.
Charles gritted his teeth, beginning to consider whether to unleash something big to clear out these bothersome guys at once.
But on second thought, that would definitely consume large amounts of magic power. Lucius wasn't an opponent he could face in an incomplete state.
"Magic Domain - Shadow Hunting Ground!"
Just as Charles was troubled, mud-like black shadows spread over, enveloping all the Luciuses.
Charles turned to look and saw the somewhat disheveled Nacht.
Lucius turned his head, looking at Nacht with a cold expression.
Though these clones seemed helpless before Charles, not just anyone could mess with them.
Time magic opened as Lucius was about to dispel the shadow magic binding him. But to his surprise, the shadow domain didn't break - though violently fluctuating, it held on.
Lucius naturally understood that Nacht alone absolutely couldn't do such a thing. Sure enough, a figure shot out from the shadows.
"Dark Magic - Death Thrust!"
Three Luciuses within the straight line extending from Yami's sword tip were all pierced through.
"Dark Magic - Dark Warrior × Zetten - Crescent Star!"
A Lucius who broke free trying to attack Yami was pulled into collision with the pitch-black blade and split in two, revealing Yami Ichika in black demon god armor behind.
No wonder the time magic of so many clones couldn't break Nacht's magic domain - two dark magic users were assisting him.
In the previous battle, after sensing the magic power of Yami and his father, Yami Ichika had directly abandoned Asta and rushed over.
Under the stimulation of Yami's father, Yami Ichika had finally remembered the memory of massacring the clan.
Following classic plot development, Yami had protected the wavering Yami Ichika and rarely used gentle methods to encourage his sister to pull herself together.
Then the siblings joined forces to show their filial piety.
Charles didn't understand what kind of person Yami's father was or what he had done. Anyway, when the Yami siblings acted, they showed no mercy, directly eliminating their raving old father.
Immediately after, both rushed back to the camp to support Nacht who was in a hard fight.
Morgen had simultaneously used his own light magic and the dark magic Lucius had granted him.
Yami and Morgen had served under Julius when he was still Magic Knight Captain, even making a name as the light-dark combination.
Yami understood then that the opponent before him was no longer his close friend, so he teamed up with Nacht again after their battle with Lucifero.
Light and dark vs. dark and shadow - the shadow combination that persevered in their will ultimately won. Morgen, who had become a puppet, was predictably defeated by Yami and Nacht.
Learning from Ryudo Ryuya that Charles and Asta had directly attacked Lucius's stronghold and encountered trouble, Yami and others immediately moved to provide support.
Yami retreated before Charles and Asta, his back to them, "Leave this to us. You two go end everything completely!"
Asta looked at Yami and Yami Ichika standing side by side and showed a silly smile, "Captain Yami's misunderstanding is resolved - that's great!"
Yami knocked the back of his sword on Asta's head with a dark expression, "You talk too much!"
Charles smiled, patted Asta who was holding his head, then flew directly upward.
Several Luciuses still tried to block him, but numerous tentacles extended from the shadow domain to bind them.
Nacht had already entered devil assimilation state, "How long are you going to keep chatting!"
"Coming!" Yami responded, gripping his katana with both hands.
"Then let's try this technique!"
Yami slashed horizontally, the slash of condensed dark magic power directly cleaving through the Luciuses bound by Nacht.
"Zetten!"
If even Asta could master Zetten after short-term training, how much more so the true protagonist Yami.