The Diamond Weapon

Just after Lucas's fight against Mystic, he met up with the three Black Bulls. Two of which he had met earlier in the dungeon, being Asta and Noelle, whereas the other was someone he just recently met - Luck. After a quick exchange, the group decided to join forces for the time being and to make their way to the treasure room.

"Say, Lucas, are you sure you want to be with us?" Asta asked the Light mage.

Lucas turned around in confusion as he walked alongside the group. "Um, I don't mind being with you three... why, is there a p-problem?" The mage thought he had done something wrong as he became slightly defensive in his response.

However, much to Lucas's relief, Asta and the others did not feel weird being with another squad member at all. "Nah, there's no problem! It's just...", Asta started to rustle his hair a lot, making it slightly flat, but with downward spikes. He then made it so he had one tuff of hair hanging off from the side of his face. To then finish his odd behaviour, he made circular shapes with his thumbs and index fingers and brought them to his eyes. "That Four-Eyes guy was so sure that the members of the best squad in the kingdom would make it there first, but since you're here does that mean you automatically lose? I mean the squad isn't whole without you, right?" Asta questioned.

Lucas, feeling surprised by how Asta, who is still a stranger at this point, was acting so carefree around him. He also had a slight chuckle in response to Asta's antics of impersonating Klaus. "Oh, that race he was on about? I never really wanted to compete in the first place to be honest... I'd rather have had our two squads join at the start to make things more f-fun!" Lucas responded, twirling his fingers again as he felt his nervousness raising.

Asta widened his eyes at Lucas's comment. "You're a really cool guy, you know that?" The short-statured mage smiled which saw Lucas's cheeks start to blush.

"C-cool?! No, I d-don't think so...", Lucas smiled.

There was a few seconds of silence between the four mages as they traversed their way through the dungeon's hallways. To break that, Noelle started to speak.

"You must be a pretty impressive mage since you managed to defeat that Diamond Kingdom soldier on your own, right?" The Silva slowed her pace down to walk alongside the Golden Dawn mage. Luck was still in front, guiding the rest towards the treasure room as he had the best magic and mana sense out of all of them, and Asta and Noelle were towards the back with Lucas.

Lucas looked behind him and eyed up the floating binding spell that he had summoned to trap Mystic. "My Coils of Trapped Light is a pretty strong spell, so I don't think I have anything to be worried about... but it's still a bit intimidating to have someone like that just floating behind us", he thought first. Lucas then responded to the royal Silva. "Th-thanks, Noelle! Though it was a really difficult fight for me, nonetheless...", his eyes fell to the floor as he walked, darkening the mood slightly.

"I see. Well, whatever. The main point is that you won so I guess that's all good then", Noelle crossed her arms and tried to act mature.

"Noelle's a bit... odd. I can tell that she's a really nice person, but she masks it with that added maturity. Maybe I'm looking into it too much", he thought to himself.

The conversation was then interrupted by an all too familiar shout. "Lucas, Noelle! Luck found an opening and it looks like there's something going on over there! Let's hurry!" Asta started to run off.

Noelle immediately followed behind. "B-Bakasta! Don't go off on your own again!"

"These people... they're a bit odd, but I kind of find that quite cool", he smiled and rushed off towards the three Black Bulls.

In another part of the dungeon, Yuno, Klaus and Mimosa were interrupted by an enemy mage who had brutally injured the Plant mage with his powerful magic. Klaus was kneeling beside Mimosa who was in her Dream-Healing Flower Basket.

"Move", the spiky-haired mage ordered as he walked forward.

Yuno glided towards the front of his other two squad members and brought out his grimoire. He took a notice of Mimosa's state and realised that if he were to fight, he would have to be careful since there would be no Recovery Magic. He also looked towards Klaus who was busy tending to the injured royal and knew that he wouldn't be able to receive help.

Yet, he kept flicking through his four-leafed grimoire. His mana started to swell up and the wind that was emanating from him increased in intensity.

"You fool! The mission was to get to the treasure room!" Klaus started to shout, though Yuno was not listening. He was focused on the enemy in front of him.

"Klaus... I'd rather reach the goal with all of my teammates. It's better if we all go together!"

Klaus was dumbfounded at the scene in front of him. First of all, he noticed that Yuno disobeyed another direct order from him, though that wasn't nearly as important in the context of the situation. The next thing he noticed was Yuno's mana and it's immense power.

"This peasant... he's no ordinary peasant!" Klaus thought to himself.

The enemy mage wasn't backing down though as he continued at his pace. Yuno walked towards him too and the battle was about to start.

"Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Hawk + Wind Blades Shower!" The Wind mage summoned two spells at the same time, ready for battle.

"Simultaneous spell activation? Even high-level mages have trouble with doing that!" Klaus thought to himself.

Yuno extended both of his arms forwards so that his spells would follow ahead. His Swift White Hawk was jetting towards the enemy mage with the Wind Blades Shower encircling the first spell. With a loud roar from the first spell, they both made contact with the enemy.

"How's that?" Yuno shouted out, thinking both of his spells had hit and injured the enemy. The massive amount of wind circled around the room and slightly obscured Yuno's vision. He was sure his spells hit.

As the massive amount of wind subsided, what was revealed shocked the three Golden Dawn mages. The enemy mage was unscathed and instead of moving or dodging around the spells, he simply stood in place. However, there was something that countered the spell.

There was a huge sword floating in the air that came from the enemy mage. The enormous construct was made solely out of crystal and mineral structures that have been closely packed together to make a hard and sturdy, whilst also heavy, sword.

"Hmph. Your puny spells are no match for my Laevateinn", the enemy mage thought. He remained cool and calm on the outside, and seemingly on the inside. He then took a quick look behind him and furrowed his brow. "Where are the other two? Well, no matter. This guy is just another obstacle I have to overcome". With a quick turn towards Yuno, he advanced with his

"Th-that's imp-impossible!" Klaus shouted out. He was surprised at what was in front of him, but also shocked to see Yuno fail at even scratching his opponent. "Even with Yuno's double spells... the guy just...", the Steel mage struggled to comprehend the sequence of events.

The Golden Dawn Wind mage stood, mouth open and conscience full of surprise. "He took out my spells like they were nothing, and what is this overwhelming mana I sense from him? There's something strange going on...".

Yuno continued his onslaught of attacks with another dual spell activation. "Wind Magic: Towering Tornado + Tornado Fang!" The mage from Hage formed an intense tornado that shook the room from top to bottom. The faint winds that came from the small cracks in the cave, leading to the outside, merged together with the tornado's immense force and caused it to grow even stronger than it usually could. The other spell that he summoned made it so another tornado formed but this time it transformed into powerful drills that were aiming at the spiky-haired enemy mage.

"This time for sure...!" Yuno shouted out as he directed both powerful spells towards his opponent.

The cave started to shake with the sheer power of the attack, and Klaus and Mimosa were sure that the victory was imminent.

"Mineral Creation Magic: Laevateinn", the opponent summoned. His tone of voice sounded bored as he repeated the same spell that easily rendered Yuno's attacks useless.

Yuno was struck with disbelief. He was panting heavily yet he had only just started to fight. "This guy, it's not just his magic that's powerful but his presence alone is...", he gulped.

"The way the enemy is fighting and the way he looks...! Those stones, they remind me of those rumours...", Klaus thought back through his knowledge of the world. "If I'm connecting the clues properly, then those embedded stones amplify the user's powers. The only place that would experiment on human bodies like that is... the Diamond Kingdom!"

As Yuno kept on fighting despite the obvious power difference, Mimosa turned to Klaus and she had the same suspicions as her Senior. "Klaus... this mage must be from... that kingdom, right?" She spoke weakly.

"... You're right, Mimosa. I'm afraid we're in a tough spot if he is from that place!" The Steel Magic user responded.

"What they do... it's terrible. Experimenting on kids... making them fight to the death just to turn them into weaponised soldiers... Agh!" Mimosa cried out in pain. She turned slightly as she started to get angry thinking about the Diamond Kingdom's terrible methods and unfortunately put more pressure onto her wounds that were slowly healing.

"C-careful there, Mimosa...", Klaus spoke worriedly.

"I-I know... it's just... experimenting, especially on children who are supposed to be the future is just s-so wrong. I'd never forgive them", the Vermillion added as she lay in her basket. "L-Lucas... we need you...".

Klaus looked ahead and saw Yuno struggling to keep up, and to the left he saw an injured Mimosa. "I... I'm a Noble and I couldn't protect my teammate. I'm a Noble and I'm letting my junior, a peasant, protect me. This kingdom... the Royals and Nobles are the strongest right, yet I'm not showing anything to prove that... Ah! I've had enough of this!" The mage stood up and summoned a quickfire spell that attacked the Diamond mage. "Steel Creation Magic: Fierce Spiral Lance!"

A speedy and straight lance shot out from the ground and headed for the enemy mage. With a loud sound and plenty of dust and smoke being formed from the impact, it looked like the Senior Knight had made his mark.

"Klaus!" Yuno shouted. "Th-this is good. Maybe with the two of us we can do this!" Yuno and Klaus then looked towards the enemy and were surprised yet again.

"Mineral Creation Magic: Talos Puppet". Like I've said already, your attacks are meaningless before me. Move... and don't make me repeat myself", he spoke with the same demeanour as usual.

The man created a mineral clone of himself that easily stopped the Steel mage's attack from hitting. With its right hand, he blocked the force of the spell and still looked disinterested. The clone then started to run forwards and attack Klaus, who barely managed to dodge it.

"Klaus-!" Yuno couldn't manage to even finish saying his teammate's name before a large shadow covered his face. He looked up and it was the large mineral sword and it started to swing at the Wind mage. Quickly though, Yuno dodged it by surrounding himself with his wind and swiftly floated away.

"This has gone on far too long! Wind Magic: Tornado Fang!" Yuno quickly zipped towards the Mineral mage and began his attacks once more. A quick Wind spell zoomed in but was blocked by the heavy sword once more.

"Then how about this?" Yuno flew across the open area, bouncing off the walls and ceilings, landing on the floor to then propel himself even quicker as he jumped off. He was trying to confuse the enemy's senses by increasing his own speed. Yuno coupled this with his barrage of Wind spells, yet nothing seemed to be working. "I need t-!"

As Yuno started to think of a different strategy, he was whacked away by the blunt edge of the mineral sword. His back impacted the wall behind him and caused blood to leak out of his mouth in a shock of pain. "G-gah!" The Golden Dawn mage coughed out.

Just before the enemy mage sent the sword for the killing blow, Yuno instinctively moved out the way and continued to fight. This time, as he sent another Wind Magic attack, the mage covered himself in a coat of mineral and crystalised armour. "Just what is this guy?!" Yuno thought, much to his annoyance.

"Your magic is nothing against me, as I've told you. Give up, it's no use", the enemy pointed out.

"No use, huh?", Yuno thought.

FLASHBACK - 10 YEARS AGO:

"It's no use, Asta", a young Yuno spoke to his foster brother as they trained together.

Asta, no matter how hard he tried, could not get past Yuno's wind blockade and this training had gone on for hours. Yuno constantly asked if they could stop, but Asta was not the one to give up.

"Not yet! I'm not quitting until I hit you!" The energetic, ashen-haired kid rushed in towards Yuno once more, but the same exact thing happened. Yuno's spells propelled Asta backwards and he landed on his face in the dirt.

"Asta, please. You'll get hurt", Yuno replied. His face growing dark with worry for his foster brother.

Asta took his head out of the dirt and repeated those same words that have been ingrained into Yuno's mind. "Not yet! No...

"I'm never going to give up!"

FLASHBACK - END

"If there's anything I can learn from that idiot, then it's not giving up!" Yuno thought to himself as he smiled. Covered in bruises and blood spilling from his mouth, he still had the will to carry on fighting.

Luck flashed forwards towards the immense mana he had sensed. He bounced off the walls, floors, and ceilings and traversed his way through the hallways and cave systems.

"This mana and presence... I can't believe how overpowering it is. I sense a similar one from the enemy Lucas has trapped", the Lightning mage focused. He then realised what was actually happening in front of him. "Hey, Lucas!"

Lucas was running right behind him, alongside Asta and Noelle, and perked up immediately when he heard the Black Bull's call for him. "Y-yes, Luck?" He responded.

"I sense some crazy strong mana from over there and I'm willing to bet that it's your squad mates fighting an enemy similar to the one behind you.

At that point, Lucas picked up his speed immediately and started to catch up to Luck. "This... this isn't good! As I'm running, I can now sense what Luck was speaking about... we need to hurry, everyone!" The Light mage ordered.

"Wind Magic: Towering Tornado!" Yuno summoned one of his regular spells to try and find a way past the Diamond Kingdom mage. He quickly shot one and made it follow the enemy.

"You... just do not know when to give up, do you? Give up... Now!" The enemy raised his voice for what seemed like the first time in the encounter. He moved his Laevateinn towards the incoming spell and blocked it effortlessly.

"I won't!" Yuno shouted in response. "Wind Magic: Tornado Fang!" In a quickfire response, the Wind mage gathered wind energy in the middle of his two palms and, with a throwing motion, fired some sharp wind constructs towards the spiky-haired mage.

The same pattern followed. The enemy was stood in the middle with Yuno's spells having no effect on him. "Move", he ordered.

"I won't move!" The Wind mage roared in response.

The man with the mage stones, the man who was proving to be a difficult foe, the man who had no scratch on him, lifted his right arm slowly which then also moved his enormous mineral sword with it. In the air, it switched directions and the sharp edge was facing Yuno's entire body, ready to hit and cut it apart. "Last chance. Give up", he ordered. However, instead of waiting for a response, the man motioned his arm downwards, making Laevateinn move at an incredible speed towards Yuno.

"I won't give up!" Yuno, with a last-ditch effort, fired a weaker spell towards the crystalised sword that was above. With an impact and the sound of crystals and minerals being scratched, the dust disappeared yet the sword was intact. The enemy was about to win.

"There! It's Yuno fighting some enemy!" Noelle pointed out. As she did, she heard two pairs of footsteps running off and as she looked at who it was, they were both almost out of sight.

"Yuno!" Asta screamed, he was slightly faster than Lucas who was just behind him.

"Yuno... I can't let him die!" Lucas clenched his fists. "Hey, Asta. I have a plan but just trust me on this. Don't ask questions!" He shouted.

Asta, without questioning, accepted the proposition that the Light mage offered.

"Light Creation Magic: Energy Whips!" Lucas wrapped the spell around Asta's waist. Within two seconds, he pulled him back and then immediately let go of his spell so that it would propel Asta in the air and towards Yuno with an even greater speed.

"Please get there in time! Your Anti-Magic sword is the only way!" Lucas pleaded.

The mineral sword's sharp end was inches away from Yuno's head. The pupils in the Wind mage's eyes were wide and the look of pure fear was plastered on his entire face. He couldn't even close his eyes as the strike was that close to him.

Yuno looked on, but just to the side of him a black and grey flash zoomed just past him and quickly slashed the giant mineral sword in two clean cuts. The sword essentially evaporated as it severed and within the middle of it, was the one person Yuno was thinking about during the latter part of this ordeal.

Asta had cut through the enemy's magic using his Anti-Magic broadsword with ease. Yuno looked towards Asta in awe, but then coming off from his body were the fading essence of a magic that he was very familiar with.

"L-Light Magic? Then t-that means!" The mage turned his head around and saw another face he was hoping to see again. Lucas was right behind the Wind mage, breathing heavily and sweat falling from his head.

The enemy was silent as his spell failed, yet the quietness was broken by the ashen-haired mage.

"Hey, you pale guy. Hands off...", Asta started.

"Yuno's my rival!"

"Yuno's my friend!"

Both, Asta and Lucas shouted in unison as they confronted the Diamond Kingdom mage.