Devil Knight of the Makai Order

Chapter 15: A New Knight is Born

  (Leon's p.o.v.)

  I had just arrived at the Senate to report my assessment about Asta to the Watchdogs. I made my way through the halls until I came to the door to the meeting room where the members of the Senate were there waiting for me. I walked inside and saw numerous people who radiated a white colored glow. They turned to me and one of them asked, "I take it that you have assessed the child of prophecy, Garo?" I replied, "Indeed, though it was Bado who tested him and gave his assessment." "Oh? Well, since Bado is known to be a judge of character, I will take his opinion all the same. So, is he worthy to dawn the armor?" I replied, "He is, and I believe that he has made a breakthrough as well." This made the Watchdogs curious as another one of them asked, "What kind of breakthrough?" I answered, "He has come up with a way to extend the time limit for using the Makai Armor, without needing to make a dark pact with Messiah." They were all surprised to hear this and I explained, "During his match with Bado, Asta was about to summon his armor but chose to coat himself in Anti-magic first. Then, after the time limit had expired, he was still unaffected by the exposure to Soul Metal. He didn't even become a Lost Soul Beast either, he just stood there in his Hagane Armor perfectly fine. When Gaia asked him how he was alright after the time run out, Asta explained that he used a technique that he learned of during his time as a Magic Knight of Clover Kingdom. It's known as Mana Skin, a technique that involves the user to coat themselves in a layer of magic power for protection against harmful forces, such as the intense from lava. Granted, he said that he had only tested his idea that one time, and he has work to do before it could be made practical, but I believe this is a great boon for the Order." The Watchdogs of the Senate were all intrigued by this new discovery and one of them replied, "This is definitely an interesting discovery. I believe that Asta will be a great Knight of the Makai Order." Another concurred, "Agreed, though let's see if he can remove the pact with Messiah from Kiba first." They all agreed and they turned to me before saying, "Garo, bring Asta here tomorrow afternoon. We will present the Armor of Kiba to him and he will attempt to use his Anti-magic to remove Messiah's corruption." I replied before turning to leave, "Understood."

  (Asta's p.o.v.)

I had took Asuna up on her offer and brought Liebe, Alice, and Leafa with me to have dinner at a restaurant that Kazuto's lover recommended. As we all ate, we began talking about various things. During our chat, Liebe asked, "Hey Alice, I've been curious about this for a while now. Why did you join the Makai Order?" She stopped eating and put her fork down before saying with a depressed tone, "It's not something that I prefer to talk about, it's a story of deep pain and anger." Liebe seemed to have a curious look on his face at hearing her reply as he too had experienced a life of pain and anger himself and wanted to know what she had went through, but chose not to ask further as he respected her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring up painful memories." He said to Alice. She replied, "It's okay. But I'll tell you when I'm more comfortable with it." He nodded as he answered, "I understand." There was an awkward silence between everyone at the table until Asuna spoke up. "Now, now, let's not start getting gloomy, we're here to celebrate. So, let's celebrate!" She cheerfully said and we all agreed before going back to enjoying ourselves until it was time to return to our dorms and turn in. We knew it was going to be a big day tomorrow as Leon would likely come to bring me to the Senate.

 
  Timeskip - Next Day

  We were studying and training hard as we usually do at the academy. Currently, it was combat class and Liebe and Alice were sparring and having fun doing so. I've known him for a couple months, and I've only seen Liebe genuinely happy when Alice around. When I first met him outside my mindscape, I could only feel anger, hate, and sorrow in his Ki. When he and I started attending the academy, I still didn't sense any real joy from him even when he began teasing me and Leafa. It seemed like to me he was just doing that to kill his boredom from all those years he's been stuck in my grimoire. But when Alice came into the picture, he tell that he was genuinely feeling happy being around her. It was surprising to say the least, but at the same time, I felt happy for him. He was finally experiencing joy after so long, since the days he was being raised by his adopted mother. And seeing him smile alongside Alice, made me feel like he had found something to fight for other than revenge against his mother's killer, that was something I wished to be true.