https://youtu.be/5zSx8QD-fkA

"W-where are we?"

After being swallowed by the same spatial magic that took away the other magic knights, the lions found themselves enclosed by endless white surrounding runes circling around them.

"Can you sense the other magic knights?" Fuegoleon peers down at the red-haired girl who shakes her head.

"Not even a single one of them. Could they get moved to somewhere else?" She wasn't caring too much about the others, mostly Asta, Yuno and Leopold well-being, as she no longer can feel any of their presence.

Kana glance over the circling runes and tilt her head, frowning. 'They look fami—'

Before she can understand what's happening behind her, her eyes grow heavy, and the last thing she saw was her captain's disbelief expression.

"You're—"

And—

The smell of fresh grass.

-Back at the North District-

"You bastard! What have you done to them?!" Leopold heatedly grabs Rades's collar, pissed to have his brother and junior got stolen away right in front of him.

The rogue mage's smirking attitude and taunting him wasn't helping his anger at all; wildly, he solely laughs away right over the young lion's face.

"Leopold!" Noelle shouts while still holding injured Asta. "He's not the spatial magic-user." She recalls him. "That spell pinpointed him, so there's no way the spellcaster could've cast it from far away. Where could it be?"

Asta glance toward the piles of defeated corpses before closing his eyes and move away from the youngest Silva, taking her by surprises.

"Huh? Asta?"

Suddenly, he dashes over the pile on the left side and wields his anti-magic sword. "You're right there!"

One out of the flying corpses disappears through spatial magic, the same one that took away Fuegoleon and Kana.

"He was hiding among the corpses?!" Noelle spoke up, just surprise as Leopold is.

"I'm impressed you found me." A deep voice rang from on top of the building near Asta. "I figured I'd be found if I used magic to transform, so I went to the trouble of making this filthy disguise. What are you, an animal?" He takes off his disguise, unveiling his true face. "But it appears that it's over now."

"Over?" Asta repeats in confusion.

"What's over?" Leopold asks, eyes not leaving the wavy grey-haired mage.

Suddenly another portal widely open, and two bodies fall out of it.

There laid Fuegoleon with blood pouring out of his missing right arm. Eyes open, yet they look lifeless, just as his body wasn't moving at all.

Asta, Noelle and Leopold couldn't utter a word at sight in front of them; the water magic user finally let out a scream of fright, followed by the boys, who was shaken by the state of the captain of Crimson Lion.

"Onii-sama!!!"

Both royals hurry over them while Asta, who just about to followed them got stopped by his injury that getting worse.

"H-his arm—" Noelle stutters, not able to believe the crimson-haired man, but another figure catches her peripheral sight making her run over where Kana lay, unmoving. "Kana! Kana!" She shakes the girl after noting that she just out cold, not in the same conditions as her captain.

The red-haired groggily opens her eyes and immediately scrunch her face, blinded by the bright. "W-what happened? I thought—"

Her question interrupted as something fall out of nowhere, and she can see that it was her captain's grimoire, but that wasn't what she's focusing on, but the pool of blood surrounding Fuegoleon catches her attention.

"C-captain?" Stammering in disbelief, she instantly on her knees. "Captain! CAPTAIN!!!"

"H-his grimoire!" Noelle point at Fuegoleon's grimoire. "It's still intact, which means— he's still alive! We have to stop the bleeding!"

Kana glance over it then back to her captain; her grimoire flips open by her side. "Honō Kaifuku Mahō: Hasu no hōshi! (Fire Healing Magic: Lotus Spores!)" Several loti appear and glow around her. Its spores softly fall around her captain's injury, but the lotus is glowing faintly, proving that her mana wasn't enough for her to hold the spell for so long.

"I-I don't think I can heal him any further!" Her eyes are brimming with angry tears, feeling hopeless by herself for being weak at the moments while the man that she recognizes the most on the brink of dying.

Fuegoleon's grimoire is starting to falling apart, catching the girl's attention.

"Oh, no..... His grimoire is breaking apart!" The silver-haired girl state and glance over the youngest Vermillion. "Leopold, help me!"

Kana is fully aware of the older boy's face; he is on the verge of breaking down.

"Leopold! Your captain is—"

"That's what you get for talking down to me earlier!" Rades smirks, now free from any restrains, his hands readying to attack.

"Leopold!/Shrimp!"

Both girls shout just in time for the young lion thrown away by the rogue mage's attack.

With Kana entirely focusing all her leftover mana on healing her captain while Noelle is trying her best to stop the bleeding from getting worse, they weren't in any condition of defending themselves.

They can only watch Rades approaches them menacingly, knowing that they won't be able to fight back.

"A righteous heart?! I've always been true to myself!" The rogue mage states, smirking in pride at the sight of a fallen lion. "Keep yappin' in the next world, Fuegoleon Vermillion!"

"Don't you dare come near him!" The red-haired shouts, eyes widen as she stands between the soul corpse magic user and her captain.

"We've completed our mission." The voice came from on top of the building, stopping Rades from coming to closure. "We're leaving before the other Magic Knights come back, Rades." He then raises his hand, and a portal open right under his comrade's feet.

"Hold it— right there." Asta breathed out, struggling to even stand up.

"Asta wasn't it?! I'll eventually kill you and make you into one of my toys. Look forward to that, you little brat!"

Kana watches her childhood friend determinedly rush toward the rogue mage, 'His bleeding is getting worse!'

"Asta!" Noelle couldn't but be worried after watching trails of blood. "Don't."

'He's not going to make it—' The red-haired grits before a thought hit her. "Asta! Throw your sword!"

The ash-blonde haired boy frown in confusion after hearing her idea before he finally understands her meaning. "Cut through the magic!" He summons his second sword and throws it directly at the spatial spiking magic; instantly, the magic burst away, shocking both outsiders.

With a loud battle cry, Asta marches directly toward Rades and swing his more enormous sword. He managed to make a cut on the man's cheek, making him bleed and shouts—

"What the hell are you doing, you little shit?!"

Another portal opens under Rades's feet, but Asta keeps on undoing the magic.

"You have the nerve to say that after hurting all those people?! This—" He throws a punch, hitting the corpse puppeteer directly on the face. "Is pain! This is what you did to innocent people as you laughed about it!" Another punch hit the man on the other side of his face.

"Stop! Getting hurt and bleeding are signs of being weak! Those who lack magic should just get their asses beat by those—"

"What's wrong with being weak?!" Kana shouts, cutting the rogue mage speech.

Everyone attentions are now on her, who are panting as she keeps on healing her captain despite her lacks of mana.

"A great man used to said 'Being weak is nothing to be ashamed of— Staying weak is!!!!!'. The stronger should help to protect the weak ones, not to mock and belittling them!" Her breaths are starting to shake from her body, becoming limps from overusing her magic. "I get that being a commoner and joins the Magic Knights wasn't the best ideas. You aren't the only one who tossed around like a dirty rag for being born as a commoner." An image of a particular spiky red hair that defied gravity flashes.

"Some even die because they become someone who just wants to helps to protect this godforsaken kingdom. Yet here you're whining about it! Then you don't deserve to be a Magic Knights in the first place! They weren't wrong to throw you out!"

"You! You fucking brat!" A purple flame-like appears on his hand, and he throws it at the red-haired who didn't even think of dodging the attack.

"Kana-chan!"

Before the attack can even touch her, something flash right in front of her.

Kana smirks. "Glad you finally join us."

A loud screech escapes Muku as he disperses the flame by swinging his tail, and he took a protective posture in front of his partner.

https://youtu.be/g7Xeh82MzSQ

A/N: I honestly doesn't like this chapter so much, maybe because Kana wasn't doing much....

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