Black Clover - By My Side (Asta X Noelle)

Chapter 27: The Royal Knights Exam (Part 9)

[It appeared as though humanity would be destroyed by demons. But a single mage saved them all. He was called the wizard king, and he became a legend.]

Asta POV:

"Goddamnit, you cool-masked jerk guy. We're supposed to be working together."

"What makes you think I'll do that. Especially after you erased all my hard work," Xerx says as he looks down on me and glares. 

"There's no time for that! We're up against a vice-captain! We have to work together," I turn to Mimosa for reassurance, "right!"

"Right?" Mimosa says with an awkward smile on her face. 

"Fine," Xerx retorts, "but I have no intention of being all buddy-buddy with you royals."

"That's okay, as long as we fight together."   

Xerx looks to the distance and lets out a long sigh. Finally, he begins, "My magic attribute is ash, and my specialty is trap magic. However, I'm not able to set them up instantly. Traps that are of higher quality take more time and require more mana. If I rush too much, then they'll break pretty easily," Xerx looks back at me, with a sour look in his eye, "I even pulled an all-nighter for this, and you destroyed those traps like they were nothing."

"You were serious about that," I laugh awkwardly, "my bad." Part of me feels a little guilty for erasing his work, but he basically cheated. So I shrug it off.

"I can use three types of traps: landmine, pitfall, and binding. Each of them is one use. So, what would you like to do?"

I think of what to do with the influx of information that was just given to me. What could we do that would take the vice-captain by surprise? Maybe we can do something with the landscape? Or maybe have them chase me into a trap? But would that even work? They would most likely feel the mana from the traps.

Interrupting my train of thought, Mimosa taps on my shoulder, "I think that if we take care of my brother, we could easily win. So we have to find a way to incapacitate him. Therefore, I suggest we use that cave over there," she says, pointing into the near distance. "I think if we can trap him in there, our chances of winning skyrocket."

"Do you think that the royal will be dumb enough to run into a cave? It's not like my mana will be completely invisible. And if he's really a vice-captain, he'll probably be able to tell that I've hidden my traps there."

"You may be right, Xerx," Mimosa frowns.

"No," I interject, "that plan could work!"

"And how the hell will it, you shrimp?"

"We just don't rely on magic!"

"Good idea, Asta," Mimosa says excitedly, "but that means I'll probably have to buy you some time."

"That would work perfectly. I'm glad we're on the same page!"

Xerx raises his eyebrows, "what the hell are you two on about?"

"Xerx, I'm gonna make a hole in that cave over there. With nothing but these," I say, holding my fists in the air.

A mixture of surprise and confusion fills Xerx's face. He looks at both me and Mimosa, but our faces are as serious as ever. Xerx holds his and to his face and lets out another sigh. 

"So you're digging with your bare hands? That's the stupidest thing I've heard all day."

"Jokes on you, I'm using my swords," I say as I laugh smugly. "Alright, let's get going! Xerx, you set up weak traps around the cave to make it look like those traps are our only plan. And Mimosa, you hold them off for as long as you can. Maybe destroy their crystal if you can." 

"I'm on it, Asta," she says as she runs off. 

"Let's go, Xerx."

I walk over to the cave and look behind me. Although begrudgingly, Xerx is following me. But that's beside the point! Finally, we'll be able to do this as a team. Those Eye of The Midnight sun guys are no joke. But this will bring us a step closer to beating them. Not only that, but when we win here, we'll be closer to the finals. This means I get to fight against Noelle soon. Suddenly, I find myself holding back a smile. This is going to be exciting!

[Chapter 27 end]