Volcano

"HA!!"

*BOOM!!*

Unleashing the full force of their mana potential, the sound of explosions rung through the air as intense waves of heat was blown in all directions. While Mereoleona's flames were wild and uncontrollable, Grim's blue flames were controlled and hotter allowing him to compete with this lioness.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" The two laughed as the pavement was starting to melt from the sheer clash of their flame mana.

"Not bad! But lets take this a step further!!"

Hearing Mereoleona's comment, Noelle and Leopold looked at the two of them with horror.

'Just the pressure from their mana is already melting the surrounding area! If these two actually started firing off spells then this whole area might have been vaporized by now!'

"You want to take this higher?" Grim laughed holding his ground and surrounded by a blue flame aura. "Then lets take this higher!!"

Hearing the words from these two psychopaths, even the ever chill Yami began to worry.

'Shit, how long are these two gonna go at it? I really need to take a dump.'

Charlotte on the other hand was astonished by Grim's performance. While she couldn't gauge his combat ability from this encounter, just the fact that he was able to withstand Mereoleona's mana was a feat in itself.

Raising the heat even further, the mages behind Mereoleona found that it was beginning to get harder and harder to breathe. One of the Crimson Lion members even passed out from the lack of oxygen.

With the increased humidity and evaporating sweat combined with the current lack of moisture in the air, more and more magic knights started going weak in the legs.

"Hmm?" Realizing that something was wrong, Mereoleona who was just beginning to tap into Grim's fire magic potential abruptly withdrew her aura.

"What!?" Seeing the fiery aura rescind, a confused Grim watched as Mereoleona went to check up on the magic knights before turning back to him.

"Sorry kid, but if we go any further we might end up killing someone."

Taken aback by her words, Grim's lust for battle couldn't handle stopping mid way as he snapped back with some harsh words. "Who gives a flying fuck about them! If they're weak enough to die from something like this then they don't deserve to call themselves knights! And besides! I'm not satisfied yet!"

"Grim..." Noelle whispered as she looked at him with shocked eyes. While he might not have singled her out specifically, the Grim she was looking at right now only seemed to have eyes for Mereoleona. If anything, he probably couldn't even see her or Asta at the moment.

"Not satisfied eh?" Mereoleona smiled. "Well come with me and I'll satisfy you to your heart's content."

"What?"

"I know a place where we can go and won't be disturbed. So whaddya say? Wanna go on a trip?"

"..."

Clenching his fists, Grim stared hard at Mereoleona. After a minute had passed, the surrounding blue aura rescinded back into his body as he took on a calmer demeanor.

"Lets go."

Seeing him agree, Mereoleona picked up an unconscious Crimson Lion member and slung him over her shoulder before pointing to the distance.

"Now then, lets go enjoy a hot spring!"

---

Surrounded by lava and rocks all around them, Asta, Yuno Noelle, Yami, Charlotte and Leopold stared at a currently active volcano with expressions filled with shock and confusion.

'What happened to the hot springs!!'

Grim on the other hand had no words, after all, he'd spent nearly 5 years training in a magic beast infested forest, fought a against a race that was thought to be extinct, conversed with an alternate version of himself that was living in his mind and made a king contemplate the meaning of his existence. A volcano was nothing in comparison.

[A/n: FACTS!!]

"WELCOME TO THE ULTIME VOLCANO!!" Mereoleona announced to the group as the volcano erupted behind her.

"Due to the powerful mana embedded deep underground, this beast of a volcano is constantly spewing out lava to the point that no ordinary human could possibly reach its summit!! But that just makes reaching its summit all the more satisfying! So how about it!? Bet you're all so excited, you can't wait to tackle this beast! Now then, lets head for the top!!"

While everyone was musing over how crazy this whole situation was, Leopold was looking at the volcano with stars in his eyes.

'If I can reach the summit... I'll definitely become stronger.'

"Hey Asta, let make this a competition, whoever reaches the top first wins."

Ignoring the surrounding chatter, Grim turned to face Mereoleona with fire in his eyes.

Sensing his gaze, the lioness faced him.

"So whaddya say? Up for a little hot spring soak?"

"I came here to fight, not mess around in some stupid contest."

"Ha! You're a real interesting one." She laughed. "But as much as I want to fight, you're just not on my level yet."

*BOOM!!*

Upon hearing her words, the fires that he had been restraining burst out in a wonderful blue fury.

Through grit teeth and blue flames, he looked to the Crimson Lions current captain and in a deep voice he said. "Say that again."

'This fire... its hotter than it was in town. Has he been practicing while we were coming here?'

Noticing that Grim's flames had somehow gotten a little bit more hotter, Mereoleona felt her own battle lust rising.

"Oi you lot!" She shouted to the others. "If you don't want to get incinerated you better get as far away from here as possible!"

"What?" Unable to understand what she meant, the faces of everyone fell as Mereoleona released enough fire magic to scorch their skin despite them not being in contact with the flames.

"Time to go."

Watching as everyone ran away, Mereoleona's attention focused solely on Grim's figure.

---

*BOOM!!*

*BOOM!!*

*BOOM!!*

Running as far and fast as they could, the echoes of Grim's and Mereoleona's battle reverberated through the air as several explosions caused the already wild mana in the volcano area to become even more violent.

"What the hell, how are we meant to scale this thing in these conditions!" A random member of the Crimson Lions cursed.

Bursting forward and separating themselves from the rest, Yami and Charlotte shot into the distance.

---

Trading blow after blow, the two magic knights turned the surrounding area into a meteor sized crater as blue and orange flames crashed against each other.

*BOOM!!*

Thrown back by one of Mereoleona's punches, the flame sword in Grim's hand shattered into pieces as he was sent flying backwards.

Concentrating on his fire magic, the blue aura around his body molded itself into the shape of a gas fire torch used on a modern day gas stove.

*HUFF!!* *HUFF!!*

Slowing his backwards momentum with his ability to fly, Grim barely managed to catch his breath and materialize a new flame sword as Mereoleona burst through a smoke cloud above him with a flaming fist centimeters away from his face.

'SHIT!!'

"Calidus Brachium!!" She screamed as her fist made contact with the ground sending several cracks throughout the crater and causing spouts of lava to burst through.

"Hoh? Didn't think you would be able to dodge that one, not bad little cub."

Landing several meters away, Grim's clothes were damp from the excessive amount of sweat his body was releasing. His breathing had long since become ragged as his grip tightened on his sword hilt.

And for the first time since experiencing a fight in this world, the smile that was usually on Grim's face started to falter.

Compared to every other opponent he had faced, Mereoleona was truly something else. Even with his knowledge gained from fighting Yami, he never felt overwhelmed to such a state.

If he fought Yami seriously, he knew that by the end of it he wouldn't even know how he died. Mereoleona on the other hand was the complete opposite. If she fought him seriously he'd know exactly how he died. Unlike Yami who'd probably split his body in half with his katana, Mereoleona was more straight forward. Instead of a quick death like with Yami, she would use blunt force to mercilessly beat him to death.

'Ha... Ha... Hahahahahahaha... THIS IS IT!! THE CHALLENGE I'VE ALWAYS WANTED!!'

Unable to hold it in any longer, the crazed look within Grim's eyes started to shine.

Seeing that look in his eye, Mereoleona couldn't help but compliment him.

"That's a nice look you got there. I gotta say, for a little cub you're almost perfect."

"Perfect? Bitch I'm FLAWLESS!!" Unleashing more of his blue flames, he condensed and compressed them under the soles of his feet.

[Breath of the Blue Flame - 1st Form: Unknowing Fire]

*BOOM!!*

Bursting forward with astounding speed and covered in blue flames, Grim's figure shot towards the grinning lioness.

---

While Grim was busy fighting another battle maniac, Asta found himself alone and struggling against the volcano's blazing heat.

'Dammit! Everyone's already figured out this mana skin thing and gone on ahead.'

Covered in sweat and breathing heavily, Asta looked up at the towering volcano and felt his legs go weak.

'Fuck.'

[A/n: Ha! Looks like Grim's influence is spreading to Asta]

'What's that sound?'

Looking behind him, a dot in the distance seemed to grow bigger and bigger the sound of a high pitched whistle became louder and louder.

'Is... Is that a p-

*BANG!!*

Blowing past him, the dot crashed into the side of the volcano causing a dozen or so rocks to fall from the top.

*Cough* *Cough*

Coughing loudly and covered in dust and soot, the dot whose clothes were more or less burnt by this point crawled out of the hole.

"Fuck! The woman is ruthless! Oh! Hi Asta." Grim waved.