"Are you insane?!"
Yami's voice, for once, lost its lazy drawl. It was sharp, cold, and edged with a killing intent that made the very stones of the training yard seem to sweat. "You want to put him in a ring with the nine strongest mages in the kingdom and poke him?"
Julius's smile didn't falter. "Precisely. Consider it a stress test. A controlled experiment."
"There's nothing controlled about it!" Yami snarled. "We don't know what his limits are! Hell, we don't know if he has limits!"
"That," Julius said, his eyes gleaming with intellectual fervor, "is the entire point of the experiment." He turned to Saitama, who was now idly trying to balance a rock on his head. "Mr. Saitama, how would you feel about participating in a friendly sparring match? There will be a banquet afterwards. With very high-quality food, I'm told."
Saitama looked up. The rock fell off his head. "A free meal?"
"Of course," Julius beamed.
Saitama shrugged. "Sure. Whatever."
Asta looked between the three men—his blunt, protective Captain; the gleefully dangerous Wizard King; and the man who could end the world by accident. He felt like a tiny boat caught between two colliding tidal waves.
"Lord Julius, with all due respect," Marx interjected, his voice tight with protocol, "Pitting an unregistered, mana-deficient individual against the combined might of the Magic Knight Captains is… unprecedented. It could be seen as an act of treason!"
"On the contrary, Marx," Julius said cheerfully, "it will be a valuable lesson in national security. We have grown complacent, defining power by the mana in one's blood. We need a reminder that the world is far larger and stranger than we believe."
His gaze met Yami's, and the playful energy vanished, replaced by the cold calculus of a king. "Think of it, Yami. We just faced a Qliphoth incursion that brought us to our knees. We are facing devils. Who is to say what comes next? If there is a power in our midst that operates outside the laws of magic, it is my duty to understand it. To quantify it. Even if I have to risk breaking a few captains to do so."
The implicit threat was clear. Cooperate, or I will proceed without you.
Yami's hand clenched and unclenched. He was cornered. Refusing a direct order from the Wizard King during a state of high alert was not an option. He had tried to hide his impossible new recruit, to shield him with the anonymity of the Black Bulls' chaos. Now, the brightest, most dangerous spotlight in the kingdom was about to be aimed directly at him.
He sighed, the sound a low, smoky growl of resignation. "Fine."
He stabbed a finger in Julius's direction. "But you're buying the drinks after. For my whole squad. For a month."
Julius laughed, his good humor fully restored. "A reasonable price to witness the impossible. It's a deal." He turned and, with a final, curious nod to Saitama, walked away, Marx hurrying to keep up.
The moment he was gone, the tension broke.
"Did that really just happen?!" Magna yelled.
"Saitama is going to fight all the captains?!" Finral squeaked, looking faint. "Including Captain Fuegoleon? And Captain Nozel? And Captain Vangeance?!"
Genos stepped forward, a holographic tactical map already shimmering in front of his face. "This presents a unique data-gathering opportunity. Sensei's combat capabilities against elite magic users have never been formally documented. I will need to prepare my observation drones."
"This is insane!" Noelle exclaimed. "The Royal Knights will never stand for it! My brother will throw a fit!"
Asta was just staring at Saitama, a look of awe and terror on his face. He'd seen the casual, effortless way Saitama had dealt with his full-force attack. Now he was imagining that same impossible defense against something like Fuegoleon's Spirit Magic.
Saitama, oblivious to the panic he'd caused, yawned. "All this talking is making me sleepy. Is it time for that meal yet?"
Yami ignored him. He was staring grimly into the distance, running calculations of his own. Julius wasn't just curious; he was a master strategist. This "demonstration" wasn't just a test of Saitama's power. It was a political move. A message to every noble, every captain, every spy from other kingdoms.
This is a power that belongs to me. This is the new standard.
But Yami knew something Julius didn't. He had seen the look on Saitama's face when he threw that Serious Punch. He'd felt the shift from bored bystander to cosmic weapon. Julius thought he was testing a cannon. He had no idea he was asking a sentient nuclear bomb if it minded getting a little warm.
"Asta," Yami said suddenly, his voice low and serious.
"Y-yes, Captain?!"
"You're the only one here who has actually touched his… whatever-it-is with Anti-Magic. You felt something, right? A limit?"
Asta nodded, his expression grim. "Yes, sir. It felt like… a cage."
Yami looked from Asta to the nonchalant man stretching in the yard. His mind was made up. If this farce was going to happen, they needed an ace up their sleeve. Something no one, not even the Wizard King, would see coming.
"Good," Yami grunted. He tossed Asta his grimoire, which the boy caught on instinct. "Before this stupid duel happens, you're going to get very, very familiar with that cage."
He turned and looked Asta dead in the eye. "Because if things go sideways in there… you're the only one who might be able to ring the bell and stop the fight."