23 Disappointment
Feeling the outrageous surge of magic power and battle intent flowing out of the two boys, The carefree smile on Lotus's face was quickly beginning to fade.
'If they continue battling me like this, I'll eventually tire before getting the chance to complete my mission.'
For the first time since entering this dungeon, Lotus's carefree attitude faltered as he now looked at the two clover mages as equals.
"I gotta say, you boys really surprised me. But *releases his own magic power* its time for you guys to take a nap."
*BOOM!!*
Without speaking a word to the other, Grim and Luck charged forward at their fastest speeds.
"Sorry kids, but I can't afford to lose here." Seeing them approaching him, Lotus slammed his hands onto the ground and activated a movement sealing spell.
[Smoke Creation Magic: Smoke Binding Cross Prison]
Shooting up from the ground, the smoke below Lotus's feet engulfed the two boys before taking on the shape of a cross.
'I can't move!'
Luck struggled to move as he had nothing solid to push off.
"That should hold you guys for a whil-"
[Breath of Thunder- Third Form: Thunder Swarm]
*BANG!!*
Using thunder swarm to free his body from the smoke cross, Grim dropped back down to the ground and stared at Lotus.
"You really are full of energy aren't you."
"I'm gonna crush you now." Grim replied with a sharp smile appearing on his face.
After battling this guy for quite a while now, Grim had already gotten a read on his strength and was slowly becoming more and more confident in dealing with him. And since the bet between him and Luck was still ongoing, he left him in the smoke cross as he faced Lotus.
"Crush me? Isn't that a wonderful thought."
[Smoke Creation Magic: Degenerate King's Smoke Prison]
"I didn't think I'd need to use this spell against someone like you, but at the rate you're improving I'll have to make an exception."
Activating another spell from out his grimoire, a strong current on smoke started swirling around Grim before trapping him inside a smokey dome.
"This won't stop me." He said to Lotus who merely smiled.
"I know, but this will." As if by command, the dome suddenly blasted some smoke at him. "Have fun suffocating in there."
*Deep Breath*
Taking a deep breath, Grim ignored the smoke and looked at the area Lotus would be at if he could see through the smoke. "You said you fought Yami right?"
"Oh? I thought you'd be trying to hold your breath right about now... But if you want to converse then I guess I can fulfil your dying wish. And to answer your question, yes I did fight your captain back in the day."
"I see... I think I understand now."
Feeling confused, Lotus frowned.
"Understand what?"
"The Yami you fought was years ago right?"
"Yeah."
"And with the amount of years that have passed since you fought him, I'm guessing that he's powered up significantly compared to his past self."
"What's your point?"
"My point... My point is that I was wrong about this whole fight. I thought that by crushing you I'd be one step closer to crushing Yami, but after fighting you for a while now... I can tell you're not even on the same level. He's left you in the dust. Beating you has little to no merrit now. I wanted to fight someone stronger than me... someone who could push me to my limits and force me to either die or evolve. But you... You are none of those things, you're nothing more than a clown using cheap parlor tricks to beat your opponents, if it weren't for your suffocation tactics then I doubt we would have gotten this far. Besides your fighting experience and cunning mind, you are average. I respect you for being able to keep up with me and Luck for so long, but as of this moment, your worth as an opponent is over."
Materializing the beast swords in his hands, Grim used [Sudden throwing Strike] to hurl the swords through the dense dome of smoke and right into the chest of an unsuspecting Lotus.
Stunned by such events, Lotus stood completely still as the pain in his chest slowly caught up to his brain.
"M-My chest... MY CHEST!!"
Now that Lotus was distracted by the pain of having two swords lodged into his chest, the smoke dome around Grim was starting to become unstable as it started to tremble.
'Time to end this.'
[Breath of Flames]
Looking towards the location Lotus's scream came from, Grim got into a stance and held the sword high above his head.
[Rengoku]
Feeling a great amount of magic energy gathering in one place, Lotus turned his head to look at the shakey smoke dome and saw a blinding ray of light approaching his figure from within.
"Fire..."
*BOOM!!*
---
-Dungeon upper levels-
*Rumble* *Rumble*
"Hmm... What was that?"
While Grim and Luck were busy battling Lotus of the abyss, Yuno and his squad were busy dealing with a guy with light purple hair and three small stones embedded in his forehead.
"You cannot win, surrender."
*Heavy breathing*
'Dammit! Even at full-power Yuno still can't win.'
Watching the fight from a distance, Yuno's teammate Klaus couldn't help but clench his fists as he saw the Diamond Kingdom mage man-handle Yuno like he was nothing.
---
"Phew, that was close." Wiping the sweat off of his brow, Lotus barely managed to escape from Grim's attack before activating a smoke spell and escaping with his wounded companions.
"But still..." He looked back at Grim who was just standing there watching him leave. "Fire, lightning and whatever those jaggered swords were... Could this kid have magic that we've been trying to put into our mages? That lightning kid called him Grim, *sigh* I guess I need to report this to my superiors."
Now that Lotus was injured and escaping the area, the smoke magic binding Luck eventually came undone as he landed on the ground near Grim.
"I won the bet."
"I'll win next time!" He grinned and looked at the distant Lotus. "Aren't you gonna chase him?"
"He no longer interests me, you can go after him if you want."
"Nah, he's your prey."
Shrugging his shoulders, the two of them felt a massive wave of mana erupt from the upper levels.
"Woah... Did you feel that?" Luck turned to look at Grim.
"Yeah." He nodded. "I guess there's more fun to be had."
"...Race ya."
"Your on!"
---
"Are you sure this is the right way?"
"Yeah." Noelle nodded. "I felt an incredible amount of mana coming from up ahead."
"Really! You think its the treasure?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Noelle and Asta headed towards Yuno's location.
