Tricks

"Yami!!" Asta yelled in surprise.

"Yami..." Grim frowned.

Taking a puff out of cigarette, Yami couldn't help but sigh. "Looks like you guys have gone and gotten yourselves into trouble again."

Looking at Licht standing a bit away from him, Yami's eyebrows furrowed.

'This guy's mana... why does it feel bottomless?'

Comparing Grim's and Licht's mana was quite interesting to Yami. While Grim's mana capacity was outrageously large, it still felt like it had an end even if he couldn't sense it. But this guy... he was an entirely different beast.

"How did you know that we needed help?" Asta asked walking over to their side.

"What do you mean how did I know? Obviously someone from the town you were in called the magic knight headquarters and reported about a vast kidnapping incident. And since the black bulls were the closest squad in the area they left it up to us to deal with the issue. Though I never would have guessed that you'd be facing someone so troublesome."

"Troublesome? Not unbeatable?" Grim commented.

"Unbeatable? Just cause he has high mana doesn't mean shit if I can cut his head off."

Falling silent for a moment Grim eventually nodded.

'True, having more mana just means I can win in a war of attrition, but if I fought someone stronger and more skilled than me, then my mana reserves wouldn't mean much unless I could drag the fight out.'

"Master Licht." Valtos called out while Yami and the rest were talking.

"Do you want me to get reinforcements?"

"No." He shook his head. "I'm quite interested in fighting against a dark magic user."

"Very well." Valtos bowed.

"Hey brats." Yami called out to Grim and Asta.

"Can you still fight?"

Surprised by the question, both boys looked at each other before replying in union.

"OF COURSE!!"

"Heh, then make sure to watch closely." Saying this, dark magic burst out from his blade as he walked towards Licht.

"To think a human would willingly approach me like this..." Licht smiled. "How DISGUSTING."

Waving his hand forward, he fired off a rain of light shards at the three of them.

Seeing this, a look of concentration appeared on Yami's face as he took a step forward.

*SWOOSH!!*

*SWOOSH!!*

*SWOOSH!!

"Oh? You were able to defend against my attack... How interesting."

'He blocked them!' Grim and Asta's eyes went wide.

"Interesting?" Yami frowned. "Its been bothering me for a while now, but who the hell are you?"

"WAIT! YOU DON'T KNOW!!" Asta exclaimed.

"Should I?"

"He's the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun."

"Really? I thought he'd be some big burly guy who could eat a cow in a single gulp."

'What kind of people have you met in order to come up with such an image of a person!?'

"I don't know whether to feel disappointed or not."

---

"Hey Finral!" Asta called out. "Can you get this guy some help." He pointed to the bleeding Neige. "He was hit by that guy's light attack and I don't know how long he has."

"O-Of course!" Finral stood straight and opened up a portal. "I'll make sure not to leave his side."

"Oi!" Yami called when he saw Finral tiptoeing away. "You better come back."

"Ah?"

"What? You weren't expecting me to walk all the way back home were you?"

"N-No! Of course not! Its just that I'm running low on mana at the moment and coming back will be hard on me. I mean it, really."

"You mean it huh? Well I really mean it too. So after you're done dealing with that guy. Get your ass back here."

"Y-Yes captain!"

---

"To actually talk so casually while facing me. You really are an arrogant one aren't you." Licht smiled before activating his spell.

[Light Magic: Light Swords Of Conviction]

*TING!!*

*TING!!*

*TING!!*

*TING!!*

*TING!!*

Yami blocked all the projectiles.

'Woah.'

"Hmm... How about this."

Flashing forward at an inhuman speed, Licht appeared behind Yami and prepared to use the attack that he initially planned to use to kill Grim.

"YAMI!!"

*BANG!!*

Covering his blade in dark magic, Yami spun around and broke the attack with a slash of his sword.

"I-Incredible..." Asta muttered with his mouth wide open.

"So this is the power of the great heretical magic knight." Licht smiled.

"Hey you, have we met before?"

Hearing this caused Licht's eyes to widen slightly before returning to normal.

"I don't know anyone who uses light magic, so who the hell are you?" Yami asked pointing his sword at him.

"Heh, you really are an interesting one aren't you." He laughed before continuing. "Let me tell you a story captain of the Black Bulls."

"Hmm?"

"Once upon a time there was a village filled with people who had an abundance of magic power and were loved by mana. They could change the very weather and mold the landscape to their will. To others they were revered as Gods. People from outside the village even came to worship them and receive their wisdom. But as time went on, those very people who worshiped them became fearful of their power and coveted it for themselves. So they hatched a plan to trick the villagers and take their power through slaughter killing them all."

Finishing his story, Licht looked at the three of them. For some reason, hearing that story caused Grim to feel a weird sense of sadness that he quickly brushed off.

"What was the point of that?" Yami asked confused before clearing his throat.

"But if we're telling stories then I guess I can tell you mine."

"Wait what?"

"Ahem, once upon a time there was a boy whose parents were fishermen. At a young age the boy's parents sent him out on a boat to fish, but being getting ship wrecked one day he drifted up on the shores of an unknown location. He was then met by all sorts of trouble due to cultural and racial discrepancies, but he beat the shit of those people and then became the boss of his own, the end. So how'd you like my life story?"

"HOW DARE YOU MOCK LORD LICHT!!" Valtos suddenly yelled after hearing Yami's story.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP GHOST FACE!!"

*TING!!*

'Tch, his attacks are getting faster.'

Defending against Licht's sneak attack, Yami noted that his attacks were getting faster as he felt a bit of the light shard graze his shoulder.

"I guess that story doesn't really mean anything to you considering that you're a foreigner."

[Light Magic: Light Swords Of Conviction]

Fending off the attacks again, Yami started talking.

"You were the one who did that to Fuegoleon weren't you?"

"Correct." Licht nodded.

"After all that meticulously planning and scheming I finally had him fall into my trap."

"Figured that must have been it because." Yami's aura suddenly changed.

"There's no way he'd lose to a weak ass attack like this!"

[Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Avidya Slash]

Channeling his dark magic into his sword, Yami released a darkness slash that escaped his sword and flew at Licht.

"Eh?" Licht's eyes widened in surprise as blood seeped out of the wound that appeared on his face.

"MY LORD!!" Sally and Valtos shouted.

"Y-You wounded me..."

'He wounded him...'

"You couldn't have beat him without resorting to tricks huh." Yami's voice rung out amidst everyone's shock.

"But now that there's no tricks or traps that you can hide behind, I'll show you the true power of a magic knight captain."

"Heh." He smiled after hearing his threat.

"Oi brats." Yami turned to the two boys. "You've been watching right?"

"Yes." They both nodded.

"Good, now do what I just did."