The festival was at its end and everyone began to walk home. While this happened, Juvia and Kyoya were walking around for a bit. Soon Juvia looked toward Kyoya.

"Well then Kyoya, goodbye for now. I'll meet you at the Royal Knights Exam."

"......yeah, I guess so."

When Juvia heard Kyoya's tone, she began to worry. But before she could ask him what was wrong, Kyoya already walked away. While he was alone, he was starting to think to himself.

"Asta and Yuno are far better magic knights than I am. Besides, I couldn't even save three people and i'm always fighting the urge to run away from people stronger than me. How can a coward such as myself be called a magic knight?"

"I didn't imagine i'd run into you this early."

When Kyoya turned to the side, he saw Noelle standing before him. Soon he tried to smile and asked Noelle why she was here.

"Well I was looking for the idiot, but you just so happened to be nearby. What about you?"

"Just doing some thinking. Don't worry it's not really important."

Noelle nods her head as she walks ahead. While this happened, Kyoya decided to follow her and help her look for Asta. As they were walking, they saw the doors to a bar wide open. When they looked inside, Noelle was surprised by who she saw.

"Oh, Mereoleona. How nice to see you. Well then, we'll be going now."

As Noelle said this, Kyoya and herself tried to run away but were caught by paws made of flame magic. Kyoya was squirming as he tried to escape but stopped as soon as he heard laughing.

"Hahahaha. You got yourself caught too, Ice Stripper? Sucks to be you and the runt. After all, Sisgoleon got a hold on you."

"Why? Why are all the flame magic users I meet are either loud or crazy? Sometimes they're even both. The only chill one I have met was Benimaru."

Yami was laughing at Mereoleona capturing Kyoya, Noelle, Asta, and Yuno. However, he stopped laughing as he felt one of the Mereoleona's paws grasping his head. Not only him, but Charlotte and Sol were also caught in her grasp. Soon Kyoya looked at Asta, with a confused look.

"Where the hell is she taking us?! Are we gonna die?!?!"

"Apparently a hot springs."

When Kyoya heard this, he was surprised by how nice that sound. Maybe this captain wasn't completely out of her mind and he just judged her prematurely.

~At Ultime-Volcano Mountain Trail~

"This woman is bat shit insane!!!!!!!"

Instead of a hot spring, all Kyoya and the others saw was a giant erupting volcano with a strong sense of mana. Soon Mereoleona looked at the Crimson Lion Kings and the other people she brought with them.

"This is a strong magic region. Deep underground, there is a volcanic belt that's laced with mana so lava is constantly being spewed. Normal humans can't make it here, but if you reach the peak then you'll find the most relaxing hot spring you can imagine. Now let's reach the peak!!!"

"Woman, you are insane!!!!!!!"

"Stop complaining!!!"

Kyoya instantly got hit on the head by Mereoleona. However, he knew that this place is the worst possible scenario for an ice mage like himself. That and he hates being hot and sweating. As he took a step forward, he began to use Mana Skin like he did against his fight with Xanxus.

"Coating my body with my mana to protect myself. That part is easy, but in a magic region like this I need the coating to adjust to the constantly changing mana here. Now that I have a plan, it's time to reach the peak!!!"

Kyoya created multiple platforms of ice in order to jumped higher and higher up the volcano. However, everytime he jumped to a new platform, the previous one melted due to the heat. While this happened, Yami and Charlotte were also using mana skin as they were scaling the mountain.

Soon everyone began to use the technique, except for Asta, as they attempt to climb the mountain. While this was happening, Yuno was also using wind magic to fly himself to the peak. Soon Yami began to think to himself as he cuts rubble after rubble that were falling down on him.

"I get it now. Sisgoleon brought us to be examples for her squad. Especially Charlotte and Ice Stripper, their magic is an awful fit for a place like this but they're still holding their own. Plus the Golden Dawn's ace rookie is close to their age so that makes them competitive. Guess she's sharper than she looks....."

"What are you idiots doing?! I thought I told you to climb!!!!!"

".....or maybe she's just mean. I don't know anymore."

While this happened, Yuno looked at Kyoya as he kept making platforms out of ice to keep moving upwards. Soon Bell flew next to Yunk sat on his shoulder as she caught Yuno staring at Kyoya.

"During that last mission, Kyoya basically carried the entire thing on his shoulders while me and the others got defeated by one member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. I need to get stronger no matter what."

"Alright, i'm high enough now. Guess I can change tactics a bit. If i'm doing this, I might as well have fun while i'm at it. Ice-Make:Grappling Hook!!!!!"

Kyoya creates a pair of four-pointed grappling hooks with chains that connect with the Ice-Make aura around his hands. As they latched on to some rocks, Kyoya swung himself higher. As the hooks melted, he made another pair as he repeated this process. Soon Kyoya found himself standing at the top of the volcano.

"I actually made it. Guess i'll wait for everyone el-"

Kyoya suddenly turned around as he was ready to launch an attack. He felt something strangely familiar heading for where he was, when he did he was surprised to see Asta.

"Asta......no. Of all the powers he could've gotten....why......why does he posses one as well?!?!"

Kyoya was surprised by Asta's appearance. How could someone with no mana pull off a transformation like that? However, before he could question it, Asta flew past him. As Asta was flying while holding his anti-magic sword, he saw that he was heading for Mereoleona. As Charlotte and Yami stood next to Kyoya, Yami and Kyoya put their hands together as they saw Mereoleona punch Asta into a wall. Soon they both said what they were thinking out loud.

"Rest in peace, runt/ya midget."