➨ "Wait, we need to back up. Your reincarnations are trying to take over my body?" You said slowly just for clairty's sake.

"That is what I just said." Ryha repeated like it was a simple concept to understand. "Not just you, but there are others who have already awakened."

This entire situation made you nauseous. Or maybe it's the after effects of what just happened to you. If there really is an elf trying to overtake you, there's way bigger issues than just what you're feeling. No, something much worse was happening. For starters, reincarnation magic on that large of a scale was terrifying.

Mereoleona's expression didn't falter. "So what you're saying is there's most likely a bunch of elves running around the kingdom?"

Rhya didn't answer her question verbally. Instead, he stood up from the ground and dusted himself off. "I think it's about time we wrap this up, yeah?" His power just didn't stop rising. Before the fight even began, this guy was already multiple levels above you.

His grimoire opened again and you took a step back. It didn't matter if it was a 4v1, he could most likely wipe you, Zora, and Asta out with ease. Mereoleona would be the only struggle. That idea in your head was confirmed when he activated two spells at the same time. A light, and spatial combination.

"If you don't wanna die, you gotta move!" Mereoleona shouted as she powered up her own attacks.

Light daggers were raining from the air. And all while he was just jumping from portal to portal, taunting you guys, and evading the fiery brigade. You watched carefully, and calculated where you needed to go each time you dodged a strike.

Even then, it was hard to keep up. You could only move so fast, and with the extra addition trying to take over, it was keeping you from moving at your full speed.

Asta did what he could, deflecting whatever came his way. He got to stay stationary with that tactic, while you and Zora were jumping around the field without breaks.

"Hey, do you think your trap magic could help us out here?" You called out to him.

Zora didn't answer for a moment. When he did, he sounded irritated. "Be patient."

During the times you have seen him fighting, most of the tricks he's used were set up a day in advance. Or prior to the battle. Can he even do anything if he's constantly being bombarded?

Maybe not a question you should ask. Might piss him off more.

If he wasn't, you might as well give it a shot. Just as you pushed your hand out to bring your grimoire forward, a rumble nearly knocked you off your feet. You froze.

Another mass surge of mana.

Was Ryha not enough? Who was about to come join him?

The cave wall cracked, and then not so suddenly, crumbled and someone broke through. Really, something broke through.

When the dust cleared, you focused on who it was. It was... Captain Rill riding on some stone dragon-like creature? Except immediately, you could tell it wasn't really him. The red markings, and unmistakable golden glow was evident.

"Oh no, they got Captain Rill!" Asta exclaimed.

His picture magic was already incredibly powerful, you doubted he needed elf drugs to enhance that. You tilted your head to the side and squinted. "So is that what I looked like?"

"Sure is." Zora stepped up, breathing heavily. "Except your power levels didn't raise all that much."

"What, is that supposed to be some sort of insult?"

"If the shoe fits." He scratched his head. "But no, I mean it in a literal sense. I'm assuming since you didn't fully take over like that guy on the snake, you didn't get the full effect." His gaze shifted over to you. "Which, by the way, you still have that mark on your face."

Your hands moved to your cheeks. Useless action since they didn't feel any different. Nothing indicated that you had elf marks on your skin. Nothing else besides what he just told you anyway. "I'm not possessed. At least... I don't feel like I am."

Either he wasn't swayed by that answer, or he didn't care because he had the blankest expression on his face. The only thing that wiped it off his face was Asta's voice which you're sure grinded his gears.

"Wait... they got him too?" His voice fell.

"How have you not figured that out? You didn't feel the–" Zora cut himself off quickly. "Forgot he can't sense mana."

Asta grumbled and pointed his sword in his hand. "We're gonna save you Rill!" He declared rather loudly. "Maybe my sword can snap him out of it?"

You thought about the idea, and it didn't sound bad in theory. However, you weren't sure if something like this could just be erased that easily. "Test it on me first. That way, you can see if you can remove what little elf magic there is in my body. If not, then you're definitely not getting through to Rill."

He wasn't against the idea, so he walked up to you with the anti-magic sword. It was huge, especially compared to him. He turned it to the side, in order to not jab you with the pointed side. Carefully he tapped it on your head and took a step back.

You didn't feel any different. "Did it work?"

Asta frowned. "You still have the lines on your face."

So it didn't. If that's the case, and not even Asta can revert whatever magic this is, what were you supposed to do against them? Rhya was already an issue, and if there's more of them, this was not going to go over well at all.

Speaking of which.

If that one power surge from Rill was anything to be worried about, the three additional ones you felt were downright horrifying. Asta couldn't even feel it, so maybe he should feel lucky or honored because this was completely unbelievable.

The mana was so intense it was going to make you lightheaded sooner or later. When you looked back up, there were three more elf possessed knights descending from the hole in the roof of the cavern. You couldn't remember their names, except you recogonized the one in the center which was the loud one with angel wings from the Blue Rose Knights.

Now, you were undoubtedly outnumbered. "Alright, we need a plan. One that'll get everyone out of here alive."

Asta nodded in agreement, readying himself for another fight. His expression hardened. "We'll have to watch each other's backs if we want to do that."

Zora's voice sliced through the moment. "Have you two gone insane? Yeah sure the runt can't tell but I'm sure you know just how low our chances of survival, nevermind winning are."

"I do know." Of course you did, but this was the Royal Knights. Did you really intend to run away? At least, not yet you didn't.

Mereoleona's blazing aura shut you up. It always had that silencing effect. "You three aren't going to do a damn thing!"

She pushed her hand out from her side, generating repeated fireballs straight into the side of the rocky wall. You watched her in confusion, trying to figure out why she was putting any effort at all into destroying a new hole into the cave space.

Until you weren't so confused. But that same moment that you figured it out, was the same moment that Mereoleona grabbed all three of you with her flaming claws and tossed you straight out the new exit she just created.

Personally exiling you from the fight.

Even if you wanted to protest, she was bringing down every rock to cover it back up, making sure nobody can go out or in. Which also means she was there alone. A battle against five extremely powerful enemies.

All. By. Herself.

She wasn't gentle at all, and that fact was made clearer when your back hit yet another smooth cold wall. You laid there for a moment in the semi quiet tunnel. With your eyes shut trying to erase everything that was happening from your mind.

That didn't last long because Asta let out a guttural shout of frustration. "We have to go back. If we leave her there, she won't make it!"

That was true.

Zora stepped up to him, and grabbed him by the cape collar. "No way in hell. Do you really have a death wish?"

Asta struggled against that grip. Twisting and turning trying to escape, or at least make a stand. "Of course not, but we can't just run!"

"Running is the smartest choice we have!" He shouted back at him. "At the very least she has a better chance than us. If we go waltzing back in there, we're going to die. We need to come back with an actual plan and not hot just headed energy. If that's all you have then please, be my guest and go see how she'll feel when you get in the crossfire and get your stupid ass killed."

That speech certainly had some truth to it. It made a lot of sense to you at least. No point in going back without any real way to win.

"But that's fair at all." Asta's voice lowered, which caught your attention. "We should all survive together, we didn't make it here because we wanted to pick and choose who lived. We're here because we wanted everyone to live. So why should we run when our job is to get everyone out safely?"

It's a classic Asta speech. One that actually held no real substance besides 'everyone has to make it, and nobody is left behind'. His motives and ideals must be way different for him to even say something like that.

But with them those two in the divide, it quickly made sense that it was up to you to decide what happens. And while you were extremely ready to run and hit the deck, something about Asta's determination made it difficult to do that.

"Well Zora, I think he has you beat here." You found yourself saying. "He has a weird talent for making people listen to him. I was ready to just leave too."

"So why are you listening to his fantasy instead of listening to my solid reasoning?"

It was weird. Weird because something your mother always told you stuck into your mind. The best defense is an unforeseen offense. If she were in this situation, there's no way she would've ran. Your dad wouldn't either. His wisdom was cut short, but this was something you were almost positive he would want you to do.

"Personal reasons." Was an easier answer. "We shouldn't retreat, and if anything, you're the one who can help us save her." Zora's traps could actually be very useful in this situation if you played your cards right.

He looked between the two of you, trying to convince at least one of you to see things his way. When that failed, he groaned. "Whatever, what's your grand plan then?"

That part you didn't think about yet. "We need to get back in first–"

"Already done." He crossed his arms. "I told you to be patient earlier. I set some things up as a last resort to escape, not to break back in. But it'll work the same way."

A grin came across Asta's face. "Wow, I knew you were gonna be real important during this. Here's what I was thinking though. You know that move you used during the exam that reversed and doubled attacks and then spit them back at who threw them?"

"What about it?"

"If you use that when all 5 of them use some combination move thingy, then it'll all work out for us! Then we'll get Captain Mereoleona, and we can run for it!"

He stared blankly. "You're aware that even if I do that, two times the attack power is not going to be enough to knock them all out."

That's true, but you added in something. "True, but what if we bounced it around each other and then threw it back at the elves?"

"You want to play volleyball with a shit ton of mana?"

"Got something better?"

Silence filled the air. Well, silence until the fight from the other side of the wall was kicked back up. You could hear Mereoleona yelling, and the floor was vibrating and rumbling. She was giving it her all.

"Y/N," Asta looked at you. "I think you should summon Aegis. He's your best shot at bouncing it back to me."

Getting him againafter already summoning him not too long was going to be a challenge. But you brought your grimoire out and took a breath.

Marionette Roulette.

Eyeing the shadow, you were shocked to see the largest one form. "Did it on my first try."

Aegis rose from the ground, imposing as ever. Zora explained what was going to happen. Basically, he has one magic circle on the inside from before. He just has to create the other one now, to get back in. Once that happens, he's going to do the first double-boost, to retain the elf magic. Which will get bounced to you, and quadrouble it. Then, you throw it to Asta, and it'll... whatever it is to the power of sixteen? Or something of the sort. The math wasn't computing in your head.

Zora begrudgingly created the magic circle that was going to bring you back inside. It reminded you of spatial magic just without... the spatial aspect? Or perhaps it did hold that aspect, just in the ash type way.

"If we die, I told you so. I told both of you so."

Aegis was at the front, Zora said if anything happened too fast, at least your puppet will take the beating before he does, since he was right behind Aegis. Then he counted to two, not three, but two, before your group went zipping through the magic circle.

It happened way too quickly for you to even feel the way your body reacted to it. Suddenly you were back right in the midst of the fight. Mereoleona was standing, but she was silent. Bleeding from just about every body part she had. But she was alive, and that feat was impressive in itself.

Just as Asta had predicted, the elves were going to use a combined spell against her. Overkill, in your opinion. Which just meant that Zora's window of time was cut down by nearly all of it, because it was basically already charged up.

Once it fired, you watched him work carefully, and took your position. Aegis stood in front of you, ready to bounce it from him, to Asta. It was easy in theory.

Before it was even your turn, your head started to feel light, and your stomach churned. That feeling of another lifeform entering your bloodstreams was coming back. At the absolute worst time.

It was too late to warn anyone about it. Zora had already returned the elves spell to you and it was about to strike. However, Aegis knew what to do, blocking it, and reducing the impact of the attack. Now, all he had to do was throw it to Asta.

"Aim for–" But your words slipped into a mess. You jerked your hand, connecting a string to Aegis in order to control him like that, but that's when you completely blanked.

...

Instead of Asta receiving the volley, it was directed straight towards Mereoleona who stumbled on her own two legs.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Zora shouted, his voice already holding a tone of 'I knew this wouldn't work'.

Even if he wanted to protect Mereoleona, his speed would have to be unmatched in order to make it back, and the second his legs moved, he froze. More so, he froze when he realized why the plan didn't work.

"Move your ass rugrat!"

The words barely finished leaving his lips before Asta stepped in at the command, and swung his sword at the large mass of power. A baseball-esque finishing move. Homerun even.

You shivered and put a hand to your head and felt the throbbing subside slowly. Another failed attempt to possess you? There was a good chance that whatever elf wanted—or didn't have a choice on the body— was trying to take over you, wasn't a fan when you tried to attack their people. Makes sense why they'd try to give it a shot again.

It also was a little frightening that you were being stalked by such an elf. Since they couldn't get you, they for damn sure were going to make sure you couldn't injure any of their friends.