➨ "Hey, have you lost your damn mind?"

That was Magna who came up to you after your mini-standoff with Xerx. "You can't just challenge the guy one on one when we still have to fight their whole team!"

"Sorry, it just sorta came out. Besides, we got it."

"Listen. Asta's a valuable and sturdy little guy. He's not just gonna be beaten easily. And you should know that Mimosa is not to be messed with either. Then you have the traps from the mask guy. Oh, and don't forget they're going to get an extra member from one of the disqualified teams for a redemption and you bet your ass they're going to gun for us for a second chance!"

"I understand that." You thought Klaus was bad with his lectures. "Okay so what's the plan this time? Because last time–"

"You played patty cake for the whole round and let us handle the work, yeah we know." Kirsch interrupted. "You have such an ugly fighting style I couldn't even be bothered to give you any assistance or pointers."

"Excuse you?"

"I mean it. Hanging around my darling sister has taught you nothing? This is a test, not an information rally. Lollygagging around the field isn't going to help us get anywhere." He flipped his hair out of his face.

"So what the hell is the plan then? Because you 3 disappeared and did your own thing while you consulted nobody so tell me how that's going to get us anywhere?" You raised your hands in the air, looking between the three of them.

"You play defense." Kirsch said. "That way you can idle around in one area and have it actually be beneficial for us. The rest of us will focus on going forward."

"Ok that's fine with me." It was pointless to say anything different. They were serious, and you weren't. The only thing about playing defense is now if that thing shatters, it is completely your fault.

"Wait." Sol crossed her arms with a determined look on your face. "That little gymnast thing you summoned. Can you summon more?"

"Yeah but it's... a random choice type of thing. So I can't control which one I bring out."

"How many do you have?"

"3. A doctor, an acrobat, and a shield." You listed them off. "So my hope would be to summon the Guardian Shield on the first try. That way protection is guaranteed early on"

"And if you don't? Can the other two protect the crystal?" Magna spoke up.

Pausing, you thought about their individual characteristics. None of the other ones were really built for the type of defense they're looking for. "Not really no."

"Ugh, did you even train at all before coming here?" Kirsch scoffed.

Not enough. Clearly not enough.

"You guys figure something out for the attack plan. I'll... think about defense in the meantime."

You had to put some distance between you and the rest of them to just... think. Whatever you needed to put together had to be done now, because when the game starts, you just need to be continuously alert. The very first mistake will cost the crystal, and you'll give everybody else the last laugh.

—————

"Here is our next matchup! Team B vs. Team C! Also, the chosen mage for redemption will be fighting alongside team B!"

Kirsch led the rest of you guys back onto the newly changed battlegrounds. Sol and Magna were both going over what they had previously discussed. You hoped it was solid.

"Y/N, do you think you got it? If you want, I can stay back with you. My magic is extremely good for protection." She slowed down her pace so she could walk alongside you. "We could let the men do all the work if you want."

"No no, you guys already created a plan, so you need to stick to it. I'll do my best on my end."

She gave you a thumbs up. "Okay. You got this!"

At least someone had faith in you.

Perhaps Kirsch does too. He probably wouldn't give you the most important job if he didn't.

"Alright, let's start this off with me, of course." He announced and used the spell that covered the entire area with his cherry blossoms. It only took a few minutes before everything was encased in pink. Even the smell of the environment turned into a much more floral one.

Afterwards, you brought your grimoire out into play. Before you used Marionette Roulette, you had to send a prayer. Please get the right one.

The shadow on the ground expanded and shrunk, as if taunting you before choosing a size. The darkness finally converged into a medium lump on the ground.

"Shit."

"What happened?"

Before you explained, the weakest puppet rose from the dirt. A poised elegant expression on her ghostly face. Sylvania took a few steps forward, ready to... ah, who knows? She was going to serve little purpose in this situation unless somebody was injured.

"Can't you just pick a different one?" Magna walked in front of her, craning his neck to see her face. "She's kinda creepy."

"I'm on a cooldown." You admitted. "You'll have to give it a few minutes."

A shiver ran up your spine and you looked into the air. There was a shift in the atmosphere, and a dark energy ran through the field. A black mass was spinning around, destroying every blossom in sight. Anti Magic.

"Asta?" Your jaw dropped at his incredible speed. "Damn, I guess we don't have a few minutes. I'll make do with her for now. Go get the crystal."

"Right!" Sol grinned and turned to the blinding blonde man. "Are you ready– uhh, what's up with you?"

You turned to get a better look at what she was talking about. Kirsch was literally... about to start foaming at the mouth. Must be because his spell was erased almost immediately.

"How can someone so ugly pick apart my gorgeous magic? A low life commoner deserves no such power!"

"Why are you tweakin' out over that? There's bigger issues and you're worried about that?" After all that talk he did about you, now he wants to sit here and lose it over tiny things.

"Yeah, who cares if he's a commoner? All that power is bubbling right inside of him. That's how we do things, ain't it?" Magna activated his grimoire too.

That did not seem to settle his tantrum at all. "What? You– you're a commoner too?!"

"So? We already fought once."

He nearly fainted. "All 3 of you?!" His eyes bore right into yours praying you'd say otherwise.

"Man, I grew up in 3 different Kingdoms. Commoner is probably too high of a status for me."

It was true, but you said it in a joking manner. He, however, took extreme offense in this statement. "So you're... an unattractive nomad?! Ugh!" Flower petals started to circle around him viciously and created a magic carpet looking thing underneath him. "In fact, all 3 of you can sit here. I will go get us the victory." And he flew off.

Literally.

"Mimosa was right, he needs to get hit with a brick." You muttered. "Did you see who was their new fourth member?"

Sol nodded. "It was a fire guy that fought team B first. So they were from... team A, I believe."

"Okay." You turned around and faced the crystal and placed your hands on the rough surface. "Web of preservation."

A semi-transparent coating of string wrapped around it. Covering it like a cocoon. The web is strong enough to protect it from an attack point-blank. But once that happens, it will disappear. Of course it can withstand multiple shots from far away, but still, it's not invincible.

"Oh wow," Sol poked at it with her finger. "I thought you just created puppets."

"That's all I should be able to do." You finished sealing the crystal and took a step back. "But it's different for me."

"How so?"

"Hell if I know." You mumbled in response. Actually you had a few ideas as to why that was.

Your father mentioned to you a few times that having Spade and Heart blood mixed in your veins was going to make your magic develop and show differently. Not because of the land, but the magic that flowed through your parents. At the time you were 15, so you just got the grimoire and instead of listening, you were too busy running around casting spells and wasting energy.

It's a shame he'll never get to tell you that again though. Might've been useful to know more about it, especially about Spade. Heart was basically an open book, your mother loved fluttering around and proudly representing her kingdom.

"Hey Y/N, I have an idea. What if I trap the crystal inside one of my golems? That way we can go and attack them while defending the crystal at the same time. It'll also go and give you the opportunity to... uh... do whatever it is that you do!"

Magna nodded in agreement. "Yeah that sounds way smarter... I think Kirsch just gave you defending duty because you were hella useless last time."

Damn.

"That would be the best choice. So go ahead, Sol." You told her and backed up from it. "So are we going to fully charge them or what?"

"At this rate that seems to be the plan." Magna grumbled. "That stupid pretty-boy ruined everything."

That's when the ground began to shake and a low roar was emerging from the ground. Sol's rock golem was rising to an incredible stature. If you had heard this from anywhere else, you'd be terrified. She was on its shoulder instructing it to consume your crystal, which it did with ease. It reminded you of one of your own creations in a way.

"Holy shit that thing is pretty scary." You had to move your entire head to look up at her. "Which way are you going?"

"I'm going to scope out not too far from this way. Someone might be coming for us already and I'm gonna take 'em down!"

Magna grinned. "Alright then, Y/N, you want to go straight for them with me? That's exactly where I'm heading!"

"Sounds good. We should go now then." You told him.

"I'll race you there!" And then he covered his legs in some type of... fire boots? Immediately, he started sprinting away.

You thought it might've been good to let him know what else you could do, but he seems dead set on doing his own thing regardless. Which was completely fine. Sylvania made no noise when she walked so the presence of her still gave you chills. Rarely. But even then sometimes she would just creep up on you.

She stood shoulder to shoulder with you, a few inches taller actually. Her abilities weren't entirely scarce, but what is she going to be doing here?

You started running in the direction that Magna went while thinking. Sylvania was a doctor, yes. On the other hand, she was probably the most dangerous one you have. She has dark magic flowing through her (unfortunately like all of them) but she can actually use it.

Luckily, Magna was leaving scorched pieces of grass in his wake because he was long gone.

You kept running and thinking. When Sylvania is destroyed by physical touch or any sort of hand held anything, she will leave her poison mark on whoever did it. In fact Langris fell victim to this once during your first days in the Golden Dawn. He punched through her with spatial magic and was inflicted.

Sadly, Vangeance made you heal him. Ever since then, he doesn't dare touch her with his hand. He uses his magic only.

Besides that little last resort type of thing, she is skilled with injuring people upon any type of non-fatal contact. So just touching her with ill intent is going to hurt somebody.

In the distance, you could hear screaming. But it was more obnoxious than it was an injury. Then, a bright light of orange exploded and a laughter like someone was enjoying themselves. Magna definitely.

"Sylvania go," you told her, stopping far enough back from the chaos. You wanted to scope out exactly what was going on, before rushing in. She moved in front of you, and didn't stop her silent sprint. Which wasn't much of a sprint at all, but she's trying.

You stayed behind one of the huge pillars and shut your eyes to see what was happening through her. Magna was firing a volley of fireballs at Asta who was guarding their team's crystal. Next to him... Xerx.

If Sylvania were to go right into the middle of that fight, she's going to be destroyed easily. She'll get blown up which won't only not activate her mark, but you're going to feel that burst right where it strikes.

She's not good at a distance though, that's another issue.

"Keep that distance, move around to your left." You told her and she obeyed, gliding off in a half moon motion.

From there you were able to see Xerx clearly, and he had his finger in the air as if he's readying up a spell. He's not making any attempt to aid Asta at the moment, so he's doing something bigger, you know he is. No sign of Kirsch, or Mimosa. Or even that other guy on their team.

Your guess is Mimosa went off with that fire guy and they were heading towards your crystal. So you prayed that Sol was holding her own against the both of them. She was tough, you didn't worry too much about that girl.

Xerx's spell was still in the works, and you were not about to let him finish whatever it was he was doing. That was when you watched as his eyes snapped over in Sylvania's direction. Now, he was staring directly at her–almost through her— and into your soul. He cocked his head to the side and slowly, a fanged grin spread across his face.

But there's no way he was going to leave his post now. That would ruin his plan, right?

Your grimoire flew open next to you. "Fall back on me. We're switching places."

She listened, and just before you left her vision, she was retreating back to your location. You closed in, meeting her halfway and running past her, while she stayed put. Xerx was going to know you were coming, so you moved with caution. He might've laid out some lesser traps at your feet.

Magna's shouting continued, and you popped out from a different side of the rocks. You pushed both your hands out. "Puppet Creation magic: Puppeteers Tempest."

In moments, a swarm of Acro-sized puppets raced onto the battlefield. They were speedy, and honestly... annoying as hell. The squeaking noises and high pitched laughter was too much for your ears. As annoying as it was, it was perfect to create confusion and disarray.

Asta yelped and swung his sword around. "Hey, what's all this?!" He spun in a circle, trying to dispel some of them in his vicinity.

"Magna!" You called out.

"I'm already on it!" Then another fireball ripped through the atmosphere.

You heard a sound coming from behind you, and it was that sound that the trap spells make when being created. You watched a magic circle move to cover and protect their crystal. That meant no matter what Magna did, the spell was going to get shot back.

The first thought that came to mind was what you acted on. You directed the tempest all towards their crystal. There was no way he was going to be able to block the fire and the aggravating storm of pitchy gremlins.

His eyes widened when he noticed what you were doing. "I thought you were going to be a cheerleader for this match too."

"You wish."

As expected, his spell only reflected what you threw at it. As soon as it fizzed away, Magna's should be taking the hit for the win.

"I don't think so!" Asta yelled as he ran through your attack to block the incoming one from Magna.

You reached your hand out. Limb Manipulation. Then the strings appeared over the arm that Asta was carrying his sword in. You yanked on them, making him lose his balance and missing his swing. Still, he cut it just enough. Enough to stop the impact from completely destroying their crystal.

Stepping back, you felt your body pause as another magic circle appeared beneath you. "Damn it." You were stuck. He's too slippery, everytime you take your eyes of Xerx, he pulls something else out.

A buzz crept up your spine. The warming feeling notified you that Sylvania was on her way to aid you. Except you didn't need her to come rushing in. That trait was supposed to be a pro, but it was a con almost every time she did it.

You looked up again, seeing a display of cherry blossoms. Where was he this whole time?

Xerx's face fell. "There's too many of you here. Which means, you have to go first."

He was planning to do something to take you out. From what you've seen he doesn't care about how he does it as long as he comes out on top.

A figure suddenly blocked you, and you'd recognize Sylvania from anywhere. Xerx stopped his movement and cackled. "Oh really? And what the hell do you intend to do?"

He took his arm and slashed her mercilessly from her torso. That same pain spreads throughout the exact spot on your own body.

Almost immediately though, Xerx collapses onto the ground holding his stomach.

"Fuck...!" He hissed and breathed heavily. There was a glowing black swirl where he was clutching onto. That's what he gets.

You were still stuck and apparently missed Asta bringing Kirsch down to the ground. The petals shriveled up on the ground turning brown now.

A loud roar made everyone look over. Sol rose up from the ground with her golem. She had a perfect shot and she wasted no time before taking it. It was like a breath of fresh air.

Victory was finally in your sights. Their crystal was beat up and yours was still protected within Sol's magic and yours.

Or, it was.

Green vines sprouted all over her golem. Mimosa.

She was taking over the entire rock giant.

The crystal that was supposed to be safe in there, was now exposed. Asta was lining himself up to take the final hit.

Not if you could help it.

He was still attached to you, even though now you were basically immobilized, you could move your hands enough to pull back on Asta. He was fighting that though. If his sword touched the strings, it was game over.

Xerx pained groans weren't enough to distract you, though he might've been trying.

Puppet Pulse.

Magna let out another battlecry and swung another fireball at the other team's possession and Asta's form weakened; his sword was loosely being gripped now. There's no way he can fight through that feeling. He was already sluggish and injured. Even if he switched arms, he couldn't move properly.

At least you thought.

The last thing you expected to see was him dropping the sword into his good hand and drawing it back over his head. Then he let it fly, soaring through the air and striking right through your crystal. His sword immediately dispelled your web, and it shattered in front of your eyes.

Just seconds after, Magna's fireball made an impact, exploding the other team's as well. Just not fast enough.

"Team B wins!"

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R the descriptions of the spells too much...?? Im tryna keep em short i swearrr😭