𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐎 | 𝐁𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑

three

Asta stood across from the retired magic knight in an open field. Yve rested a relaxed hand on her hip, "You ready?" She called out to the boy, who had drawn his sword from his grimoire.

"Yeah!" Asta yelled, getting into a readied position.

They both waited to see who would make the first move, but neither of them moved. Getting impatient, Asta ran towards her head on. She calmly stood there as he got closer and closer. Raising his sword over his head, Asta let out a battle cry as he swung down. Only for her to easily stop the blade with her hand.

His eyes widened in shock 'How'd she manage to stop its momentum?' Taking advantage of him letting his guard down, Yve punched him in his gut, sending him flying back several feet, before harshly hitting the ground.

Finral and Noelle's jaws dropped at her display of strength. "Mr. Yami, are you sure Asta's gonna be okay..?" Finral stuttered.

"Have some faith in him..." Yami came from beside them, "He'll pull through, he always does."

Asta groaned in pain, slowly sitting up and rubbing his head. 'She isn't even using her grimoire! Just how strong is she?' He reached for his sword as he watched the woman smugly stare down at him. 'I guess I'll have to get serious...' he thought, activating his demon form.

"Demon dweller sword: Black Slash!" He yelled, appearing behind her before sending a series of slashes towards her body, only for her to disappear. Asta gasped in shock, oblivious that she was behind him, he suddenly felt himself being kicked into the the ground, causing a crater to form from the impact.

Yve narrowed her eyes as she watched Asta struggle to get up. 'It seems he has little mastery of his demon, as of now I could easily beat him. But...that anti-magic, I could tell he had it as soon as I touched his grimoire. But why does he have that type of magic?'

She slowly made her way over to the boy, before easily picking him up by his collar. "I wasn't even using a fraction of my power, yet you still can't land a hit on me. You rely too much on your power and charge into battle recklessly! How do you expect to become Wizard King if you can't even fight on par with those who are stronger than you?" She growled.

"Ngh," Asta grimaced, lifting his head to look at her. "That's why...I'll do whatever it takes to get stronger so that I can carry out my duty as a magic knight—to save people and become the Wizard King!" He declared determinedly.

Yve said nothing, his words silently stirring something within her. For a moment, it seemed that Asta's face had
changed to one she hadn't seen in years, she felt a pang hit her chest. Instinctively, her free hand reached for the necklace around her neck, longingly clenching the silver wedding band in her hand.

'As a magic knight, not only is it our duty to save people, but to save their hearts as well. Clover is very dear to me—just like you, my love. That's why...I want to become the Wizard King.'

"Huh? She stopped." Finral pointed out, confused.

Yami stared at her, knowing the reason why she stopped attacking Asta. He took a long drag of his cigarette and sighed. Typical Yve, no matter how hard she tried to hide it, it seems that even after all these years, his death still weighed heavily on her. After all, it was the reason she'd retired as a Magic knight and left the Clover Kingdom without a word.

"It doesn't matter how strong you become—even the strongest aren't exempt from death, "It's a curse. Wizard king, that is. Many people have died in vain for the sake of that title. Death is an inevitable fate we share, and it can creep up on you when you least expect it. So tell me, how are you any different?" She questioned.