"Hmmm... That... doesn't look like the right way..."
"Dumb-sta! Where did you bring us!?!?"
"Eh? But I'm sure I saw something here..."
Asta, Noelle and Ray stood in front of a dark tunnel, creepy sounds coming from it.
"OH. MY. GODS!!!!" Noelle shrieked and pointed at Asta. "We should NOT have listened to him!!!"
Asta scratched his head sheepishly.
Ray sighed as he turned on his heels and retraced his steps.
It had been half an hour since Yuno's group had left for the treasure room. Since then, they had been trying to find a way towards it, but with no avail. After exiting that massive room, they had randomly selected this tunnel and followed. But after quite some time of walking and dodging trap spells, it had led them straight to a dead end.
In the anime, Nero had helped Asta and Noelle by leading them towards Luck. But now, she was perched on his shoulder, refusing to budge. At all.Ray sighed and chuckled lightly. Nero gave him a side-eye, her stoic mask back onto her face after her initial outburst at Ray's arrival.
"Hey, Nero. If I remember right, your mana sensitivity is very high, right?" Ray asked, his lips curving upwards in a suspicious smile. Nero turned her head fully towards him, then slowly tilted it to the side, as if asking, 'Yeah. So what?'
"Can you please help us..." Ray pleaded. He had no other option. No one here had any scouting related skills.
Noelle had a hard time controlling her magic, and her only usable spell right now was the sea dragon's lair, the shield type water creation magic she learned in the Saussy village.
Asta was never in the equation. He didn't even have magic.
And Ray? He was so caught with training himself at combat, that he forgot to create a detection type spell for himself. His only detection type spell now was his Soul Sight, which had already merged with his normal sight after his little Underworld episode.
Nero stared at him without blinking. Asta and Noelle were busy arguing.
Since, Nero wasn't showing any signs of helping, He decided to go extreme. Quickly, after making sure no one was looking at him, he planted quick kiss on her head, and asked again, with puppy-dog eyes.
"Pwease?" He pleaded, as he felt his ears gradually grow hotter by second.
'All for the plot... all for the plot... all for the plot...' he repeated in his mind like a chant.
Nero looked absolutely stunned. Her little eyes widened to the max, and her body stiffened, like completely. She felt her feathers bristle and her body, particularly near her face, took on a weird tinge of red, merging seamlessly with the red already on her body, yet, simultaneously standing out in the most absurd of ways. A blush.
Their staring contest attracted Noelle and Asta's attention. The man looking at the bird like a cute dog, and the bird staring at the man with wide eyes.
Noelle and Asta shared a quick look.
"Umm... Ray? Is... everything alright? What's wrong with Nero?" Noelle asked.
Ray blinked and then sighed, returning to his usual calm look. He smiled slightly.
"Well... I was just asking Nero if she could help us with... You know. The mana sensing thing." Ray said, running a hand through his hair.
"Whhhoooaaaaa!!! Nero can sense mana!?!?! That's amazing!!!!" Asta exclaimed, with those annoyingly unique star eyes.
Meanwhile, unnoticed by anyone, Nero, perched on Ray's shoulder, lifted a wing to the spot he kissed her and her tinge of red grew stronger.
'I-if you say it like that...' Nero thought, her mind replaying his dog face and her feathers ruffled in excitement. 'How do you expect me to refuse...'
CHIRRRPP!!!!
With a loud chirp, she took off from his shoulder, circled the group then flew away, flying towards a particular direction.
Ray blinked. Then a slow grin plastered on his face as they quickly followed.
"Looks like she agreed." Noelle said, with a sigh of relief.
They all rushed behind Nero, following her.
Scene Change - 10 minutes Later
WHOOSH!
"FNRR-RRGH-RRGHR-GH!"
"Eeeekkk!!!! What's wrong with this place?!?! The Gravity has gone insane!!!"
"Hmmm... Weird indeed. It looks like the abundant mana in this place wrapped the gravity in this place. Like the previous large room we were in. There, Mana had wrapped the space, distorting and creating that weird structure with tunnels everywhere."
"UGWOUUU!!!"
"STOP ANALYSING THE SITUATION AND HELP US INSTEAD!!!!!" Noelle yelled at Ray, who was floating upside down, hands behind his head. Asta was using pure strength to cling and move along the ceiling.
They had stumbled onto this hallway-corridor-room, while following Nero.
The gravity here was zero, much like how it is in space. Ruined debris floated around lazily, moss floated in air and a mini channel of water flowed on the ceiling.
"Meh. I can't do anything. We'll need a massive mana source that can put enough magic pressure on the magic already present in this room for it to negate its effects. You got that much mana? No? Didn't think so." Ray said, giving Noelle an unamused side-eye.
Nero sat on his stomach, as they floated forward slowly but steadily. She had calmed down by now, but if one looked closely, you could see faint traces of that weird, tinged redness still plastered near her face.
"Is this really the way mister Nero?!?!?!" Asta yelled from up.Nero merely glanced at him before breaking eye contact and looking straight forward.
"Mister Nero!!!" Asta whined. Then he saw something floating beside him, hidden behind some floating debris. He moved closer and that 'thing' started running.
It was a treasure chest with legs.
"Huh." Asta muttered, before screaming. "Hey! That's the treasure!"
"No, it's not!" Noelle exclaimed. But Asta was already rushing towards it.
"Wait Stupid-sta! it's obviously a trap!!!" She yelled.
Asta ignored her and grabbed the chest. Suddenly, the gravity returned.
Everything in the air fell back to the ground. Ray was floating upside down.
He quickly grabbed Nero, shielding her with his right hand as he flipped in air and used Hirenkyaku to stabilize. Simultaneously, He used his Einarmiger Bogen to shoot down and destroy large debris that was too close to them.
Noelle and Ray dropped down safely on their feet, while debris fell. The mini river of water flowing above also splashed down, drenching them.
'All that... just to get drenched. seriously bro?' Ray thought as the corner of his mouth twitched in annoyance.
"Awright! I got it!" Asta yelled as he firmly grabbed the box. Ray already knew what was in it and quickly looked away.
"Hey! No! Stop that! Don't open it! It might be a trap!!!" Noelle exclaimed, but Asta opened it anyways.
"Whoa..."
"urpblech"
Inside were neatly arranged organs. The full pack. Including stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines. Everything. The worse part?
It.
Was.
Fucking.
Alive.
The stomach grumbled. The Heart, tucked away in the back, beat steadily.
Probably because it didn't need to breathe, it didn't have lungs. But even without that, the scene wasn't any less gruesome.
"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR SHOWING ME, SHORT-STA!!!"
"It's not my fault!!!"
Nero watched them with a stoic face, as if she was secretly questioning her life choices.
Ray quickly closed the lid and kicked the chest away looking absolutely done. Now, he was secretly glad that Vacuans just turn into Reishi after death, instead of leaving their physical bodies behind. Because if that was the case, then... considering how he and Yhrael used to kill them... Well, let's just leave it at that.
Nero's expression softened slightly when she looked at Ray, before steeling herself.
'No. As much I care about him, he has to be used to such scenes. In the future, when HE resurrects, a much gruesome scene will be painted. One, that will make THIS look cute.' she thought to herself as she flew into another tunnel adjoint to this one after signalling the others to follow.
About halfway in, the tunnel split into two. Nero flew and perched back onto Ray's head and pointed to the tunnel on right. The tunnel was quiet, but occasionally, strange and unnatural gusts of wind would come from the tunnel.
'Looks like Budget Jozu has already begun clashing with Yuno's group.'
"Awright!!! let's go quicky before Yuno gets there!" Asta said, already walking towards it.
"Wait! I feel Luck's mana. I think he's fighting someone." Noelle said looking at the tunnel to the left.
Ray blinked. 'Huh. Pretty sure they didn't find Luck this way... Looks like the story is changing subtly. Is it because of me?' Ray thought internally.
"Oh, is that so? Then let's go help him!" Asta stated. Rushing out and heading towards the other tunnel. Ray merely followed
Scene Change - Luck's Side
DUN! DUNN!! DUNNN!!!
Luck was locked up in a gray pillar with something swirling in it. A man stood in front of him.
He was a hairy man with medium-length black hair. He also sported a mustache and a goatee, which only covered his chin. One of his notable features was a huge scar, in a shape of a straight line, that crossed his upper left chest to his lower right chest. Additionally, he wore a headpiece on his forehead, which had three diamond-shaped ornaments, positioned to the right side of his forehead.
"Win... I have to keep winning or else..." Luck muttered to himself, his eyes wide as he was caught in the solid smoke pillar.
"You know what? It looks like your dragging some kind of chain." The man- Lotus Whomalt said, scratching his goatee, while staring up at Luck.
"What I want... Will go away..." Luck continued muttering to himself, ignoring Lotus.
"Here. Let me unbind you from these chains and set you free..." Lotus said, sighing as he muttered under his breath. "Forever... Man... I hate cutting promising buds in the nip."
"Wait... What is it... That I wanted...?" Luck questioned himself as the smoke tightened its grip around him, threatening to crush him.
SLASH!
WHOOSH!
Suddenly, a black sword cut the crushing smoke pillar, dispersing it.
"Oh. Here's another Impetuous one. And what are you? Hmmm?" Lotus asked, retreating a few steps back decisively.
Asta lifted his sword and shouldered it.
"HIS FRIEND!" He yelled, as he and Noelle stood protectively in front of Luck.
Ray meanwhile approached Luck and helped him up.
"Yo. You ok?" Ray asked, showing of his signature smile.
Luck blinked at him, then slowly smiled.
"Your back." he said simply.
"Yeah."
"Let's fight later."
"Sure."
Meanwhile;"Well, Well... Friends to the rescue hmmm? That's quite a problem for me."
"We're your opponents, Mister!" Asta yelled.
Lotus was about to reply when Luck abruptly cut in. "That guy... Is my prey!"
"I'll... Do this alone!" Luck said, his eyes carrying his usual mix of mania and craze. But this time, there was some desperation and drive to prove something mixed into it.
'Because if I don't...' He continued in his mind. 'Mom won't accept me.'
RUSH!
WHOOSH!
Saying this, he launched himself at Lotus, without giving Ray and the others any time to reply.
"Fine... Do whatever you want!!!" Asta said.
BZZZTTT!!!
KRACKLE! KRACKLE!
Luck clashed with Lotus, using his lightning god's gloves to attack crudely.
WHOOSH!
Lotus turned briefly into smoke and used the smoke to propel himself backwards, dodging Luck's attack.
DUN! DUNN!! DUNNN!!!
SLASH!
Suddenly, Asta was right there, swinging his sword downwards and cutting off Lotus's escape route.
"And I'll do what I want... and save you!!!" Asta finished his sentence.Luck looked towards Asta, stunned.
"Like I'd actually abandon you!!!"
'I think...'
"I dunno... what you think of me!!!"
'...I was trying not to notice.'
"But you're... my friend!"
'I have them too now... I've made friends... That I can count on." On Luck's face, a genuine smile bloomed Not his berserker grin, but the oh-my-god-I'm-so-touched-right-now type of smile.
'I'm sorry mom... But I'm not alone anymore.'
DUN DUN!!
"True. Fighting together... sounds a lot more fun! 🎵" Luck said, getting up and standing in front of Asta and Noelle, with Ray standing off to the side.
WHOOSH...
"Yeah... This is not good. Not at all... Looks like this old guy's going to have to get serious too!" Lotus said as a shadow fell over his eyes and his smiling face turned into a serious one. A huge amount of smoke was exuded from him as his Grimoire flipped to a new page beside him.
"Uh oh. Here comes Budget Smoker's Moku-Moku-no-mi awakening move!" Ray joked, as he summoned his Einarmiger Bogen.
Noelle glanced back briefly, giving him a confused look, while Asta and Luck didn't even react. Asta was used to Ray muttering such 'nonsense', while Luck wasn't even listening, his focus completely on Lotus.
Smoke Creation Magic: Prison of the Fallen King!
Suddenly, a huge amount of dense smoke surrounded them, boxing them in. The four instinctively stood back-to-back.
"There's no escape kids!" Lotus's voice rang out from the smoke encirclement.
"No matter who we fight. We, the black bulls will always win!" Asta yelled, rushing forward with his Demon-Slayer Sword held high.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
The anti-magic properties of his sword dispersed the smoke at that region for a second before being covered by surrounding smoke. Asta blinked, then continued cutting desperately.
SLASH! SLASH!! SLASH!!! SLASH!!!! SKAAAAASSSHHH!!!!!
"AARRGHHHH!!!! I cut and cut, but there's no end to it!!! it just comes back!!!!" He yelled. Behind him, Noelle and Luck were also attacking the surrounding smoke, but it barely made a dent.
BWOOSH!
BANG!
Suddenly, the smoke nearest to Asta converged, creating a kind of a fist, that slammed into his face, making him stumble backwards.
"Waaaa... My head feels funny..." He muttered in a daze.
"This is bad. The smoke's getting thicker. If this keeps up, we'll suffocate! We have to defeat the mage! And fast! There's no other way!" Noelle said, covering her mouth and nose with her hand, trying to avoid inhaling the smoke.
"Alright. enough playing around, get close to me guys. I'll handle this." Ray said as he raised his Einarmiger forward and ran his left hand along its length.
Heilig Bogen: Mode; Einarmiger Bogen -> Mode; Ginrei Kojaku!
VMMMM!!!!
The short metallic bow lengthened. The colour changed to a glowing blue. A spider web like design appeared near its handle.
"Get close to me. If you don't... I can't guarantee your safety." He said again.
Quickly, Asta, Noelle and Luck came close to him, bodies almost touching. Noelle's face reddened as she felt Asta's breath on her neck.
TWANG!
WHOOSH!
Ray raised the bow high and notched an Heilig Bogen, then fired.
Heilig Pfeil: Volley!
WHOOSH!
The Pfeil rose high, almost touching the ceiling before it went into free fall.
Almost immediately the arrow split into thousands of normal reishi arrows and fell down.
Ray quickly dispelled any arrows within a radius of 2 meters around them.
Asta and Noelle look at the shower in a daze.
Within the smoke, Lotus felt a shiver run down his spine. He quickly dispersed smoke directly above him and looked up. What he saw made cold sweat run down his back. Hurriedly, he put up a solid smoke barrier.
"How scary. Looks like these kids really want to defeat me. But which one of them did this attack..." He mused, as the hail suddenly descended.
Wssshhh—THUK! THUK! THUK! THUK! THUK! THUK!
The sound of arrows hitting the ground echoed around the chamber. some arrows embedded themselves on the solid smoke barrier. But Lotus himself was safe.
Suddenly, his instincts screamed at him to dodge.
Smoke Magic: Smoke body!
He turned into pure smoke. Suddenly the smoke directly in front of him twisted, then exploded outwards as a powered Heilig Pfeil burst through and passed straight through him.
On the other side of the parted smoke was Ray, holding his Ginrei Kojaku in front of him, the string, still vibrating after launching the powered, Heilig Pfeil: Focused Shot.
Lotus narrowed his eyes, mentally saving Ray's face in his memories.
Ray tilted his head in amusement as the Pfeil passed straight through the man.
'Interesting... Did he just use logia fruit's elementising ability?' Ray frowned internally. 'This wasn't in the manga either... looks like things are changing...'
Lotus narrowed his eyes. He knew he had no escape. The previous shot and the volley had confirmed it.
'I can't keep this intangible state up for long. Maximum 5 minutes. I'll have to take that kid down with me. As much I hate clipping promising buds in the nip, this is kid's a serious threat. I might not make it out alive.' He sighed.
"Sorry kids. Looks like daddy's not gonna be coming home today." He muttered under his breath, as he slowly thinned the smoke surrounding them. His daughter's faces flashed before his eyes. "Daddy loves you a lot."
Smoke Magic: White Vine!
Lotus shot out of the smoke encirclement straight at Luck. Luck, who had sensed him tensed up, his gloves raised in front of his chest in a cross. But the impact never came. Lotus passed straight through Luck. Luck was startled. Then suddenly, as soon as Lotus passed through completely, solid smoke shot out from Luck's body and surrounded him, locking him in (again).
Smoke Creation Magic: Binding Cross Prison!
Without wasting time, He turned towards Noelle. He shoots out a cloud of highly compressed smoke. This increases its speed. The smoke reaches Noelle before she can blink, and then expands, trapping her as well.
Smoke Magic: White Out!
Ray, who hadn't expected these series of events, snapped out of his stupor and fired.
Asta rush forward, swinging his sword. Lotus dodged Asta's strike but didn't bother doing same for the arrows. He had realized something was wrong with Asta's sword and the way it dispersed, not his smoke, but rather the magic that made that smoke itself.
Lotus, after dodging, launched himself forward, towards Ray. Ray retreated, using Hirenkyaku.
"If there's no way to escape, then I'd rather die fighting than Die running!" Lotus said, as both his hands exploded into smoke.
Ray frowned, and stepped on air, propelling himself upwards and forwards, somersaulting over Lotus's head. Asta was already at Lotus's side, sword coming in for an attack.
Lotus's eyes widened. He hadn't sensed Asta. But what made him surprised was that Ray had stepped on air. Lotus had made sure to attack when Ray's feet were off ground.
Asta's sword hit his arm, launching him away.
'Damn it... Am I going to die...?' He thought, as his arm twisted unnaturally.
He flew across the chamber, slamming into the other wall.
Asta and Ray stood there staring as the impact kicked up smoke.
"It's over!" Asta yelled, pumping his fist, when suddenly he realised something. "Wait. How'd that kick up smoke?!?! Isn't it supposed to Kick up dust?!?!"
Ray frowned, watching the distant smoke slowly disperse.
A structure shot out from it.
Smoke Creation Magic: Hustling Lazy Car.
'I Can't die! My sweeties are waiting for me back home!!!'
"See you later kids. You've got a promising future ahead of you!" He said, leaning out of the carriage and waving at them with his good arm.
'Whew. Thank God he chose to run. I kind of liked the guy. Would have been annoying to kill him. I mean, his character's likeable, and he fought monsters like Luck head on with efficient use of magic.' Ray thought.
"Hey wait mister!!! We're not done yet!!! And what's with that car!!!" Asta yelled. The solid smoke that locked Noelle and Luck dispersed. "Arrghhh! I lost him!"
"I would have liked to finish him off, but now's not the time." Luck said.
"We've got to get to the treasure hall."
"You're saying that?!" Noelle exclaimed
"Oh yeah! Whatever! Let's go!" Asta yelled, raising his sword high.Ray merely sighed at their antics.
'Sigh... If I hadn't known better, I would seriously never believe they were fighting at a disadvantage just 2 minutes ago.' Ray thought, marvelling at how these guys stayed so positive and energetic. 'They probably never overthink'