The Brightest Star

Chapter 7

Immediately after introducing himself, Liebe lunged at Asta with a large sword, slicing about an inch off of his hair as Asta was able to dodge. The blade was rusty and corroded, black with an earie red energy radiating from it. With it being in the state that, Asta was surprised it could slice through anything. As Asta was regaining his bearings, he was hit in his chest with a palm strike coming from Estarossa. Asta was knocked back towards Escanor and Mael. "You may have the power but not the experience to go up against Mael." said Escanor. Mael nodded in agreement. "The two of us shall handle him. You combat the devil." Mael ordered. Before Asta could retort, Mael and Escanor lunged toward Mael leaving Asta in front of Liebe. Asta charged at Liebe, hellbent on subduing him. He was unable to do so as Liebe continuously swung his large blade. Dammit! I need something to be able to deal with that sword of his. As if a dog had been whistled to return to it's master, Rita had fallen from out of nowhere. Asta smirked and grabbed it's handled and hefted it over his shoulder. Now he was ready. He and Liebe charged at one another, parrying each others slashes. Using his speed to his advantage, Asta got behind Liebe and slashed him across his back, sending him flying a couple yards away. Asta stayed on guard as to not let the demon gain an edge over him. 

He was right to do so, as Liebe channeled his Anti Magic into his sword. This had the effect of making nearly triple in size. Asta had to channel both his Sunshine and his Moonlight magics into Rita. As if they understood each others thoughts, Asta and Liebe released their own respective slashes. There was a power struggle between the two. "Come on!" shouted Asta as he willed his magic slash to push harder against Liebe's Anti Magic.  Asta's magic forced Liebe's own Anti Magic against him. With that on top of being hit with the power of the sun, Liebe was overwhelmed and overtaken. In defeating Liebe, Asta had unconsciously created a contract between the two of them. Asta glanced toward Mael and Escanor to see how their bout was going, intent on offer assistance where it was needed. He witnessed Escanor and Mael simultaneously fire large magic blasts toward a battered Estarossa. The blasts made contact and exploded on impact. Estarossa had been defeated.

While the two enemies were out for the count, Asta, remembering that he could still use his magic, cast Fire Magic: Ring of Fire. It was a captivity spell that would not only contain whomever was inside the ring, but also slowly drain them of their mana. How this worked on an Anti-Magic devil was probably due to the recently formed contract. It had only taken about five minutes for the two of the to awake. Liebe had of course tried and failed many times to destroy Asta's magic spell. "I want to know why the two of you are here." Asta demanded. Liebe simply turned his back with a huff, refusing to forgo any information as to why or even how he had ended up here. Estarossa on the other hand didn't really mind all that much. " From the looks of things, I am sure you have already been told that you are the reincarnation of the two men standing behind you." stated Estarossa calmly. " What does that have to do with you doing here?" Asta asked, not knowing where the commandment was going with his explanation.

 " I am sure you've no doubt noticed the similarities between Mael and I both in stature and power." " I have noticed that. What are you? A devil with a transformation magic attribute or something?" Asta asked not really caring for any jokes Estarossa might be playing right now. "I assure you that Mael and I are of much closer relation than you think. said Estarossa with a smirk. Asta thinking he had figured it out asked if he was a cousin or a twin. "No you are still quite wrong. Mael, why don't you tell him the way in which we are connected?" he said as he looked towards Mael with the look of a sly fox. Asta turned towards Mael and asked how the two were connected. There was a long pause before he answered as he had dreaded the day he would have to explain his past to the young Asta. " Estarossa and I are one and the same. two different sides of the same coin." As he said this, Escanor looked towards the ground as he had known of Mael's past life as Estarossa. Asta looked at Mael with confusion. How could Mael, an angel be the the one who was currently standing within his Ring of Fire.