Chapter 67: The Selection Tests.

The hot spring trip came to an uneventful end after that and the Royal Knight Selections began...

The candidates were sorted into teams of three with randomly chosen members from different Brigades. The matches started and the teams fought with valor to earn themselves a spot in the Royal Knight Brigade, but the thing about selections was that it always chose the strongest.

It had always been like that, the better would be preferred, the stronger would dominate the fields while the weak will be left cowering in the corners. Aster arrived late as per his usual, stealing the Royal King's flair when he was about to address the knights.

"So, you done with the speeches?" Aster asked Julius with a straight face.

Seeing the Knights confused and Julius smiling weirdly, he turned behind to see the disgruntled face of the Royal King and without a dime of respect or courtesy, "what are you doing here? Sit on the throne and wait for the matches to start, like a good king. Off you go~" he spoke as if he were speaking to a naughty child but the Royal King who had heard of the snowfall in Diamond had it investigated.

Even though he was way too enraged right now, he did not dare to make a 'peep' before the person who caused that calamity as a little joke. The exalted Augustus Kira Clover XIII knew that neither he nor his kingdom could manage with the aftermath of provoking a man... no, a monster like him.

Despite the reluctance, he went to the throne prepared for him and took his seat, it would seem like there was nothing wrong if it were not for the scrunched-up face he was making.

Julius explained the system and the Knights were all revved up for their matches as their teams were displayed. Madoka and Koro Sensei were placed together with a random dude from the Coral Peacocks, who was sweating so hard that the poor chap might keel over from dehydration even before he manages to throw a spell in the match.

"Now, if you please~" Julius left the stand to Aster, who walked up and looked at the empty field before him. With a wave of his hand, eight different terrains were formed for the matches to start simultaneously.

"The ground is set, fight to your heart's content, I will watch your backs and there is also the best healing mage right here. Do all that you can and if that's all you've got, push yourself to go beyond. We bulls have a saying, 'if it's not enough, break your limits, right here, right now!!!' Can you guys do that?" Aster asked the Magic Knights gathered for the selection tests.

"YESSS!!!!!!!!!"

"Good, start the matches! Marx, you and Cob manage the sets and keep the displays in order. I will make sure none of these knuckleheads take things too far." Aster smiled and floated above the battlegrounds, watching each and every move of the participants, while Athena was also on the lookout for anything that gets past Aster.

The matches began and Madoka and Ryu were taken out and directly selected because of their overwhelming combat prowess, if they continued to stay in the selection, it would be like having tigers fighting bunnies.

The participants were not a single bit dissatisfied, for they knew that these two were monsters they were better off staying away from. The Crimson Devil Madoka and the Flash Koro were not in the same league as them, while Koro would simply knock them out with a single hit, Madoka was different, she was a war-maniac, if she thinks that she is not having fun, she would decide to beat up her opponents with her bare fists.

That was way too embarrassing and painful for the others to bear, even the cherry blossom narcissist did not dare open his mouth in fear that Madoka might beat him up again.

----

Well, it was a few months ago when the two met on a mission to destroy a bandit lair in the mountain pass to the noble realm, the flowery fool dared to spout elegance, beauty, and what not to her and even dared to call her a war-maniac who would never find a husband.

If this was the Madoka of the old, she would have either sneered at him or laughed it off as needing a husband is for the weak, but now, the things were a little bit different.

How?

Even though she had no idea, the first impulse she had was to clobber the bloke and she did, she clobbered him with her bare fists and left him hanging from a tree before she left the Magic Knight Headquarters.

Yes, the moniker of Crimson Devil was given by none other than our friendly neighborhood narcissist.

-----

Back to the matches at hand, the spat between brothers was getting a bit too hot for the norms, Aster was going to let them be, but when he saw Langris was about to mortally wound Finral, he frowned.

A thin curtain of mist formed around Finral and absorbed the balls of destructive spatial energy, the crystal behind Finral was shattered as expected and his team lost. Marx declared Langris and his team the victors, but the vice-captain of Golden Dawn had different plans.

He roared and assaulted Finral again, and this time with a maddened frevor that was not something that could still be compared to anything that defines normalcy.

"Stand down, the match is over," Aster spoke from high up in the air, the authority in his voice that was enhanced with mana was something like a decree from God.

The Royal King who had always thought that his mana was the most sublime and exuberant, knew how inferior he truly was, he shook his head and wiped the precipitation off his forehead as a single thought crossed his mind, 'what is a King before a God?'

Langris and Asta's teams made a draw while Yuno and Rill fought each other in the finals, the airhead of a Rill somehow managed to fail to keep his mana in check and it destroyed the crystal he was supposed to be guarding.

Point to be noted: Do not stay anywhere near Rill when the airhead is fighting, you might get caught up unwindingly.

All of this came to an end with peaceful silence and Zora decides to leave. Julius meets up with Zora and thanked him for pointing out the mistakes of those that lost since the ones that want to become strong will take his advice and grow stronger.

Julius then says that it might be time to put on his own robe, which Zora remembers when a Magic Knight captain gave him a Magic Knight robe. Zora tells Julius that he has never heard of someone named Ideale and that he is a super mage that happened to walk by while walking away.

The masked bastard tried and remained cool throughout the whole drama, he might have been a jerk, but he was what a Magic Knight should try to be, he might be in the black, but his heart was in the right place.

---------

The members selected for the Royal Knights:

Asta - Black Bulls

Noelle Silva - Black Bulls

Luck Voltia - Black Bulls

Zora Ideale - Black Bulls

Aster - Black Bulls

Yuno - Golden Dawn

Mimosa Vermillion - Golden Dawn

Klaus Lunettes - Golden Dawn

Hamon Caseus - Golden Dawn

Shien Tium - Golden Dawn

Korogane - Golden Dawn

Nozel Silva - Silver Eagles

Nils Ragus - Silver Eagles

Ben Bunfunk - Crimson Lions

Ruben Chagar - Crimson Lions

Mereoleona Vermillion - Crimson Lions

Madoka: Crimson Lions

Kirsch Vermillion - Coral Peacocks

Puli Angel - Blue Rose Knights

En Ringard - Green Praying Mantises

Rill Boismortier - Aqua Deer

Fragil Tormenta - Aqua Deer

Cob Portaport - Mage Attendant to the Wizard King

A/N: So, now comes the Finale...

The point is, give me the power stones, I need to feed my addiction...

The first bonus chappie will come tomorrow...

Cheers!!!!