"Turns out Spade's army is pretty trash. They couldn't even last a full 10 mins against us."
"Well. We do have several wizard king level mages. And that's not even including the ones still looking out for us as reinforcements."
"Welp. Let's get this over with."
Two magic knights said to each other as their platoon walked into Royal castle of Spade kingdom.
And they weren't the only ones, as every one among the hundreds of magic knights shared similar thoughts at the moment.
The siege on the capital was a fully one sided battle. And the captain ranks haven't even made a move so there was a evident difference in strength.
However despite being surrounded, a single figure looked down the roof of the castle with a uncaring attitude.
Dark haired, with a fur coat carrying the spade symbol on its back, the man looked down upon the defeated and surrendered people of army.
At the same time, a figure barged towards him with a scroll in hand, a messenger or maybe a soldier with a report.
"Lord zen—"
Splat
But before the soldier could speak, Zenon crushed him with a giant fist made of bones, turning him into a paste and a stain on the ground beside Zenon.
"I knew you people were worthless but this is beyond my expectations. To lose to a bunch of kids while the leaders haven't even showed themselves... Pathetic."
Zenon turns around to looks at the shivering soldiers behind him.
"Scram! If you show me your face again, I will kill you morons myself."
"Yes! Your majesty! " X 7
The soldiers darted away in fear, their bodies overtaken by terror as they even forgot that the castle was already about to be captured by the knights.
But Zenon didn't care where his lackeys went. To him, the only person he could trust was either one of his siblings or he himself.
Yet, just as the soldiers left, a wave of spacial magic surged behind Zenon, making him turn his head to the side as he noticed a portal forming but didn't bother attacking it.
"Have you watched enough, Clover kingdom scum."
"Now now. That's not a very nice way of talking. We even went as far as to announce our entrance to you."
Yami's voice reached Zenon as he walked out of the portal alongside Yuno, Finral, Nero and Jester.
The two lock eyes, only a moment of silence as the small thread of silence surrounding them began stretching by itself.
And then, with no warning or words, Zenon swipes his hand, launching dozens of bones spears from the ground while conjuring hundreds from below.
Yet, The moment the spears appeared in front of the group, they shattered into a pile of bone dust.
"Bone magic? That's one nasty type of magic. I wonder how it feels knowing you never have to worry about fractures."
This time it was jester's voice, his eyes looking ahead while his face grinned into a mocking expression.
Moments ago, he had conjured a barrier without Zenon noticing, in fact he even conjured another barrier surrounding the entire castle within the seconds Yami was talking with Zenon.
Barriers were his specialty, and with Nero by his side, the sealing and formation effects were almost instant without wasting a single ounce of extra mana.
Yet as soon as Zenon noticed the barrier, he didn't frown or get surprised in the slightest, instead he kept looking ahead while his grimoire slowly floated up to his arms.
"With this much mana, You must be wizard king Jester who was revived recently. But... Whoever you may be, this place is my turf, not yours. " Zenon said with a calm expression, his body transforming into his Devil contractor state as spacial mana flowed in his body.
The barrier shook violently for a second. The winds grew stronger and sharper beneath the influence of extreme amounts of magic.
And amidst all of that chaos, Zenon raised his hands, his lips parting as he casted a spell.
"Space magic: Twisted pathway. "
It was simple deflection spell that most spacial magic users had but with vast amounts of mana fueling it.
The spell activated without a chant, showcasing the proficiency Zenon carried in his craft. However even Zenon's heart almost caved in as the two blades were barely deflected of their paths a inch away from his face.
Had Zenon been even a second too late, His head would have been sent flying and chopped in half. Through, his casting speed helped him escape a pathetic death.
Meanwhile Yami and Yuno clicked their tongues, becoming regretful that they failed to end the battle the moment it started.
The two looked at each other, then they looked back at Zenon who had sweat flowing down his forehead like crazy. However they didn't panic, as they had a single advantage they haven't used yet.
"Don't hold me back, wind boy! This bastard's head is mine! "
"Heh." Yuno smirks at Yami's declaration, "In your dreams, captain Yami."
The two dart forward as strips of light, their feet and magic carrying then forward as they arrived with their swords swinging but only hit air as Zenon teleported behind them.
"Space magic! Eras— koff! "
Zenon was interrupted before he could cast, his body sent flying backwards as a boot mark formed on his chest with exact size as Jester's.
He looked ahead, finding a mini portal right in front of where he was before, with a single boot sticking out it while the other portal was in front of Finral, Jester and Nero.
"Sorry to interrupt but that grand reward is mine! All those thousands of gold coins placed for that bastard's head will be going into my pocket instead of someone like a gambler or a emo boy without any interest in business! "
It was at this moment Zenon realised the truth. To the people in front of them, he wasn't an enemy or a target, he was just pinata of fortune and the realisation made him furious.
It didn't matter to him what others thought but Zenon could never accept being treated as prey, never in his entire life.
He had killed his own friend to survive and the fact that same life being treated cheaper than the bounty on his head, was unacceptable.
And when pushed to an edge of his pride, He chose to sacrifice his freedom for a single victory with overwhelming strength.
"Beelzebub! "
The moment Zenon called out the Devil's name, his mind was transported to inner world of his grimoire where he saw beelzebub towering over him.
"Human... Your timing couldn't be better."
"What...? " Zenon questions in confusion at the sudden remark.
However the next second, several other dark figures began popping out from behind Beelzebub, each injuried or cut away with sword marks or having their body parts twisted like squeezed wet clothes.
"More...Devils...? "
"Don't worry, they are here to offer you their power. Not as a host but as a contractor."
Zenon was even more confused, "WHY? This looks shady. You are not trying to conspire against your host, are you? "
But then one of devils floates forward, both of his limbs severed and chopped to pieces while his chest had twisted into a swirling pattern.
The devil looked at him, not with contempt but with a look of submission as it says, "The underworld... Had fallen."
...
"The underworld, has fallen? " Zenon repeated with a terrified gaze, "just what could even—"
The devil interrupts, "you will learn the details later. But if you want to live, its best we run. Run away from the four kingdoms and head towards the bigger continent, and for that... We need your cooperation."
The thoughts that came swirling forward were overwhelming. Leaving even Zenon who only shows expression at the biggest of problems in a daze.
Yet it didn't take long for him to recover, his mind unhesitatingly extending his hand forward as over ten different contact seals popped up on his hand.
Meanwhile Yami and Yuno were launched backwards as Zenon's real body transformed in front of them, covering itself in a armor of different elements of Fire, Lava and Thunder.
"Sh**! This wasn't in the information Asta told us!! " Yami says before he crashes into a wall, causing a hole the shape of his body.
At the same time, Zenon basked in the overwhelming amount of mana that flooded into his body, mana that he needed no one's permission to control.
Within seconds he had grown over five times stronger but the fear of the threat capable of destroying the underworld was not to be taken lightly.
Nonchalantly he glanced at the four people before him, a clock ticking in his mind as his overcautious self deemed them as waste of times and probably Some barricades to his escape.
So without wasting any effort, He aimed at Jester who sensed his attack and erected many barriers between them in the split second.
"Space magic: Spacial... Escape. "
Blink~
Zenon shamelessly turned the attack spell into a escape one, conjuring a wormhole behind while the barrier surrounding him was not being focused on by Jester.
He leaves as suddenly as he grew stronger, Baffling Jester and Nero who were too confused and wierded out to react.
However there was one person who saw through his facade.
" ... Dark magic- "
Yami was standing near the wall he crashed into, his eyes locked into the wormhole and onto Zenon as he lifts his sword above his head. "Dark cloaked-Dimensional Slash. "
The wormhole splits into halves, chopping Zenon's body from his shoulder to his left leg.
However he failed to stop him from escaping and even cut away the barrier, allowing Zenon to escape further away. But even in the split second he was injured in, Zenon turned around, casting a grey spear at Yami's head.
Yet Yami reacted faster thanks to ki sense and managed to dodge the spear, even through he lost the chance to strike again in the process.
The five people who had arrivee could only click their tongues in anger as their arrogance had made them fail their mission. And one thing is for sure, The others would surely make fun of them for this.
Even so, they could still correct their mistakes. So the group rushed towards Finral who had already getting ready to make a portal.
"BRAT! "
"On it Captain! "
The portal opens and within seconds, the group was in the skies, looking down upon the floating bastion as they skydived towards it on top speed.
Simultaneously, Yami was full of thoughts and worry. He had no expected the future Asta told to be twisted to such a degree.
"That brat said this guy will be a spacial and bone magic user at a elite captain level. Then how in hell is he using different magics! "
It was just for a second but Yami thought of a possibility that something similar could be happening on the other main squad's side. The girls squad that was led by Princia and Charlotte could very well be in danger.
Land!
"Quick! Contact Julius and tell him something is wrong! We can't afford any casualties." Yami screams to the closest magic knight stationed.
However midway through his words he noticed it was none other than Noelle, someone of Princia's group.
"Oh! It's captain and the others, Did you guys finish as well?"
"Finish?" Yami raises an eye, "You mean the other target is dead?"
"That's right! It didn't even take us girls two minutes."
The good news relieved Yami a little, but that didn't change the fact that his target escaped.
So while not as stressed as before, he told Noelle to follow him and the group and had Nero tell her the full story of the incident while they left to get Answers from Lemiel and the main commanders.