Cursed Souls

*SWISH!!* *SWISH!!* *SWISH!!*

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!!"

*BOOM!!* *BOOM!!* *BOOM!!*

"C'MOOOON!!"

Covered in cloudy black armour and zig-zagging his way through the numerous strands of spell destroying runes that rained down on him from above, long trails of yellow coloured lightning lagged behind Grim's figure.

"SWISH!!*

Shooting off the ground and twisting in the air, a long strand of runes shot past his chest mid twist and slammed into a unexpecting Nacht.

"Pfft!!" Grim grinned as small bolts of lightning slithered across his armour.

[Breath of Storm: Fourth Form - Storm Chaser]

*CRACKLE!*

*ZOOOM!!*

Utilizing [Breath of the Storm] and [Hyper Focus], he moved through the air like a blur of black and yellow light as he shot through the gaps in [Decaying World].

'Incredible!'

She marveled.

Watching Grim effortlessly move through her spell despite her partially manifestated self buffing its power, Megicula's eyes went wide in shock and awe as a lightning coated fist covered in dark wind suddenly appeared mere centimeters away from her face.

*Craaackle!!*

'Such pure mana.'

Feeling the hot sting of lightning brush against her skin, she was thoroughly impressed by the power Grim was exhibiting. Compared to the elf form that she had seen before, this fusion of magical elements was far more interesting. Not only had he managed to achieve a balance between both the wind and lightning element, he maximized their potential!

'Grim... You just can't stop surprising me can you?'

Inhaling sharply, the lightning on his fist lit up her entire figure as it drew ever closer.

But-

[RED BEAST]

She wasn't done yet.

*RAAAAAAAWWRRRRR*

Activating the [Unbound Slave] spell on Vanica, she forcibly activated her blood magic and summoned out a mutated version of the red beast.

Using [Curse-Warding Magic] to artificially draw out the spell's full potential, the body of the beast rippled with demonic power as it clawed its way out from Vanica's figure and let out an ear shattering roar that shook the entire battlefield. Unlike the times when Vanica activated this spell, the moment Megicula took the reigns everything from its appearance to its power completely changed!

Covered in all sorts of runes and bearing two ram-like horns identical to the ones on Megicula's head. Its power was incompara-

[Breath of Storm: 2nd Form - Dark Tempest]

Giving no fucks about this random ass power up, Grim's fist moved through its body like a hand through water.

*Splaaaaaaaaaaaaaat*

"...Eh?"

Firing off a spell that completely stripped away whatever it came into contact with (even magic) from his fist, Megicula's ultra powerful [Red Beast] was defeated in under a second as its remains splattered across her face and the floor.

'W-What just happened?'

'My [Red Beast]... Where'd it go?'

But that wasn't the end, not losing the momentum that he had built up, his fist continued flying towards her face.

If such a spell hit her in her current state, not only would her manifestation fail. Her body and soul in the underworld may also suffer a backlash as a result.

!!!

But in that moment between his fist striking her face and her manifestation failing, time seemed to slow to a crawl as the black substance finally finished consuming the rest of Vanica's body and Megicula's flesh finally manifested in the living world.

---

*FWOOSH!!*

"How we doing Gimodelo?"

Flying through air in his recently achieved devil union form, Asta flew at an incredible speed. After defeating the ancient demon that the Dark Triad had sent to the Clover Kingdom with a single slash of his sword, he sped towards the Spade kingdom determined to save Yami and meet up with his friends.

'Hold on guys, I'm coming!'

---

*BOOOOM!!*

Smashing his fist into her face and firing off a second [Dark Tempest] in the process, a frown surfaced on Grim's face as the sensation he felt on his fist was completely wrong.

"I knew it." Megicula coughed as the dust from the collision begun to settle.

"You really are special."

With the dust cloud falling and more negative mana begining to encroach upon the battlefield, Megicula's voice echoed throughout the surrounding area as her figure was finally revealed to the world.

Bearing long and luscious white hair, four devil horns, three eyes and a pale face and petite body, from the neck down her figure was completely black.

She was a certified loli.

With a youthful appearance and a mature air about her, the feeling she gave off was unsettling.

But what really caught Grim's attention was-

"Steel?"

With a thin metallic-like substance coating her body, his fist rested on her steel coated forehead.

'She withstood a spell capable of stripping away magic?'

'Supreme devils... YOU REALLY ARE DIFFERENT!'

"Oh?" A surprised gasp escaped her mouth.

"You actually managed to crack my steel skin."

Manifesting 2/3 of herself and sitting on the completely blackened Vanica's shoulder, the true form of Megicula was not what anyone was expecting.

Only Grim was able to remain calm. To him it didn't matter who he was fighting. Man? Woman? Child? His hands didn't discriminate.

Looking at him dead in the eye, a smile crept onto the she-devil's face.

"At first I thought you were an arcane mage because of the nature of your magic, then I assumed that you might have actually achieved the saint stage due to the purity of your mana and the elven blood that flows through your veins."

'Saint stage?'

"But now that I've manifested, I finally realize that you're both... and neither... Grim... Just what are you?"

"Heh." He grinned back. "I could ask you the same thing. This steel, its another type of magic isn't it?"

*Grins*

"Oh Grim, your power... It really is magnificent. You've once again surpassed my expectations."

"But - its not enough."

*Purple Runes start tightly wrapping around her body*

"Because no matter how powerful you are-

*Cracks on her forehead start to recover*

"My body is under the protection of a high-speed recovery curse."

"As for this steel *looks down at her steel coated arm* Through [Malevolent Femcantation] I not only obtained Acier Silva's soul by cursing her to death, her magic also became mine."

"Mom..." Noelle whispered in a shaky voice.

"And when I claim the third soul to complete [Malevolent Femcantation], not only will I obtain another magic type on top of Blood, Curse-Warding and Steel, but my manifestation will also be complete. By then my power will rival even that of Lucifero!"

"Fufufufu." She covered her mouth and laughed. "How amusing, who would have ever thought that a non combat devil like me would gain the power to stand on equal ground against the ruler of gravity."

"Yeah? That's really interesting but-

*Pulls fist back and summons the storm blade*

"I didn't ask."