Luck was losing.
I could see it in the way he moved. His steps were slower now. His lightning wasn't as bright as before. The smoke was getting thicker, filling the room like dark water rising from the floor. It pooled around our feet. It climbed the walls. It made everything hard to see, hard to breathe, hard to think.
The Diamond mage was playing with him. That was the worst part. He wasn't even trying to win fast. He was enjoying this. Hiding in the smoke. Popping out to hit Luck from behind. Then disappearing again before Luck could hit back. Like a cat playing with a mouse before eating it.
"You're getting tired, little Clover mage." The man's voice came from everywhere and nowhere. It echoed off the walls. It whispered from the shadows. "Your lightning is strong. I'll give you that. Stronger than most mages I've fought. But lightning means nothing if you can't hit your target."
"Shut up!" Luck spun around and threw a bolt at the voice. It lit up the whole room for a second. I saw the man's outline in the smoke. Then the bolt hit the wall. Stone exploded. Rock fragments flew everywhere. But the man wasn't there anymore. He had moved before Luck even threw the bolt.
"Missed again. That's the twelfth time you've missed. Are you even trying? Or are you just throwing lightning at random and hoping something sticks?"
Luck's grin was gone. His face was angry now. Real angry. Not the fun kind of angry he got when he was fighting someone strong. The bad kind. The kind that came from pride being hurt. His teeth were grinding. His fists were shaking. His lightning was crackling so hard it was burning small holes in the stone floor around his feet.
"I don't miss," Luck said. His voice was low. Dangerous. "You just keep running like a coward."
"Running?" The smoke shifted to Luck's left. "I'm not running." It shifted to his right. "I'm fighting smart." It shifted behind him. "You're the one fighting dumb. Rushing in alone with no backup and no plan. Just lightning and hope. Tell me, little Clover mage, what happens when hope runs out?"
The man appeared behind Luck. His body formed from the smoke like a ghost taking shape. He was big. Tall and wide with arms like tree trunks. His grimoire floated beside him, the diamond on its cover glowing with grey light. He pulled back his fist and the smoke wrapped around it, turning solid, hard as rock, harder maybe.
Luck tried to turn. He was fast. Really fast. But the smoke had slowed him down. It was in his lungs. In his eyes. In his ears. He couldn't hear the man moving. Couldn't see the punch coming.
The fist connected with Luck's back. Right between the shoulder blades. The sound was like a tree branch snapping. Luck flew forward, his body spinning through the air, and hit the ground face-first. The stone cracked where he landed. Dust rose up and mixed with the smoke.
"See?" The Diamond mage walked toward Luck. His footsteps were slow and heavy. "Dumb."
Asta was shaking. His hands were so tight on his sword that his knuckles were white. His whole body was tense like a spring about to break. "Ouga, we have to help him! He's getting destroyed out there! That guy is punching holes in him!"
"Not yet."
"NOT YET?!" Asta's voice cracked. "He just got hit so hard the floor broke! That's the third time he's been knocked down! How many times does he have to get hit before we help?!"
"He's still conscious. He's still fighting. If we jump in now, he won't learn anything. He'll just be mad that we took his fight away."
"What if he gets killed?! What if that guy decides to stop playing and just finishes him?!"
"He won't. The Diamond mage is arrogant. He's having too much fun hurting Luck to kill him quickly. And I'm watching. If it gets that bad, I'll step in."
Noelle was biting her lip. Her grimoire was open in her hands. Her fingers were trembling. "This is hard to watch. He's our squadmate. Shouldn't we just... shouldn't we help him even if he gets mad about it?"
"Luck has been fighting alone his whole life," I said. My voice was calm but I was watching everything. Every movement. Every breath. Every flicker of Luck's lightning. "He told me once that before the Black Bulls, he went through three other squads. They all kicked him out. Not because he wasn't strong enough. Because he couldn't work with anyone. He would run ahead on missions. Ignore orders. Fight enemies alone that should have been fought as a team."
"That sounds like him," Noelle said quietly.
"He joined the Black Bulls because Captain Yami was the first person who could beat him in a fair fight. But even here, he still fights alone. He runs ahead. He doesn't wait for backup. He thinks depending on others is weakness. That asking for help means you're not strong enough."
"It's not weakness," Noelle said. Her voice was soft. She was looking at Luck on the ground, trying to push himself up. "Depending on others is... it's how people survive. My siblings never helped me with anything. They said I had to learn on my own. But I didn't learn. I just kept failing. It wasn't until I joined this squad, until you all helped me, that I finally cast my first spell."
"Luck doesn't know that yet. He has to learn it the hard way. And lessons like this... you can't teach them with words. They have to be felt."
The Diamond mage appeared again. This time he came from above. He dropped down through the smoke like a stone falling from a cliff. Luck was just getting to his feet. His back was still hurting from the last hit. He didn't see the man coming.
The mage hit him with a fist wrapped in solid smoke. The punch caught Luck in the shoulder and spun him around. Before Luck could recover, the mage hit him again. A left hook to the ribs. Then a right to the stomach. Then an uppercut that lifted Luck off his feet and sent him crashing onto his back.
"You know what your problem is?" The mage stood over Luck. The smoke was swirling around him like a cloak. "You think you're special. You think being strong means never needing anyone. But real strength? Real strength comes from knowing when to ask for help. I have a team too. They're in other parts of this dungeon right now. We work together. We cover each other's weaknesses. That's why the Diamond Kingdom keeps winning. That's why we'll take this dungeon's treasure. Because we understand something you don't."
"Don't lecture me!" Luck pushed himself up. Blood was dripping from his lip. His nose was bleeding too. There was a cut above his eye. "I don't need help! I've never needed help! I'm strong enough on my own!"
"Then why are you on the ground?"
Luck screamed.
It wasn't a word. It was just a sound. Raw and angry and full of everything he was feeling. His lightning exploded around him. Blue-white bolts shot out in every direction. They hit the walls. The ceiling. The floor. The whole room shook with the force of it. For a second, the smoke was pushed back. I could see the Diamond mage clearly. He was standing twenty feet away with his arms crossed, watching.
Luck threw both hands forward. The lightning gathered between his palms. It wasn't wild anymore. It was focused. Compressed. A sphere of pure electrical energy that hummed with power. He had been saving this. Waiting for the right moment.
"LIGHTNING MAGIC: MJOLNIR STRIKE!"
The bolt was massive. Bigger than any he had thrown before. It shot across the room like a spear of light, burning through the smoke, heading straight for the Diamond mage's chest. The air crackled. The stone floor split along its path. It was the kind of attack that could end a fight in one hit.
But the Diamond mage was already gone.
The smoke swallowed him before the lightning reached its target. The bolt hit the far wall instead. Stone melted. A hole big enough to walk through appeared where the wall used to be. Steam rose from the edges. But the mage was untouched. Unharmed. Already reforming from the smoke behind Luck.
"Good power," the voice said. "Really good. If that had hit me, I might have been in trouble. But you telegraphed it. You gathered your mana. You shouted the name. You gave me plenty of time to move. Bad aim. Bad timing. Bad strategy."
Another hit. This one came from the side. A kick to Luck's knee that made him stumble. Then a punch to the back of his head. Then another to his spine. Luck went down hard. His face hit the stone. His lightning flickered and died.
"Anger makes you predictable. Predictable gets you killed."
Luck didn't get up this time. He was still breathing. His chest was moving. But his hands were shaking. His lightning was barely a spark now. Weak and unsteady like a candle in the wind.
"Luck!" Asta couldn't hold back anymore. Tears were forming in his eyes. "OUGA, PLEASE! I don't care if he gets mad! I don't care if he yells at us later! He's our friend and he's getting hurt and we have to HELP HIM!"
I watched Luck on the ground. His back was rising and falling. Slow. Too slow. The Diamond mage was walking toward him again. This time his hands were wrapped in more smoke than before. More solid. More dangerous. He was done playing.
"Luck." I raised my voice. Not shouting. Just loud enough to carry across the room. "Do you know why Captain Yami put you in charge of this mission?"
Luck didn't answer. He was staring at the floor. His hair was covering his eyes.
"It wasn't because you're the strongest. It wasn't because you're the fastest. And it definitely wasn't because you're good at following orders. It was because he wanted you to learn something. Something you can't learn by fighting alone."
"I don't..." Luck's voice was rough. Broken. "I don't need..."
"You do. You need us. Just like we need you. That's what a squad is. We're not here to steal your victory. We're not here to prove we're stronger than you. We're here to make sure you GET a victory. Together."
The Diamond mage laughed. It was a deep laugh that echoed through the smoke. "Touching speech. Really. I almost cried. But it won't matter. Once I finish this one, I'll deal with you too. Then the treasure in this dungeon belongs to the Diamond Kingdom. Every gold coin. Every magic item. Every ancient artifact. All of it."
"No," I said. "It belongs to us. And so do you."
I stepped forward. My feet cracked the stone. The wheel behind my head started turning faster. The golden light cut through the smoke like dawn breaking through night.
"Luck. I'm going to ask you one time. I'm not going to ask again. Do you want our help?"
Silence. The smoke swirled. The Diamond mage was somewhere in the darkness, waiting for me to make a move. Asta was holding his breath. Noelle had her grimoire raised. Even the torches seemed to dim, waiting for what came next.
Then Luck spoke. His voice was quiet. So quiet I almost didn't hear it. But I did.
"...Yes."
I nodded. "Good. Asta. The smoke. Cut all of it. Now."
"FINALLY!" Asta exploded forward. His legs pumped so hard the stone cracked under his feet. His sword came up, the black blade bigger than his whole body, and he swung it in the widest arc he could manage. "ANTI-MAGIC! GO GO GO!"
The sword cut through the smoke like a hot knife through butter. It wasn't just clearing a path. It was destroying the magic completely. The grey clouds didn't just part. They vanished. Gone. Erased from existence like they had never been there at all. The anti-magic ate through the smoke magic in a wave, spreading outward from Asta's blade, clearing the whole room in seconds.
And the Diamond mage was exposed. No smoke. No shadows. No place to hide. Just a big man with a diamond grimoire standing in the middle of an empty room with a shocked look on his face.
"What?! How did you—my smoke! What happened to my smoke?!"
"NOELLE!" I shouted.
"Water Creation Magic: Aqua Lance!" The spell shot from her palm. It was straighter than before. More focused. The training with Magna was paying off. The water spear cut through the air and hit the Diamond mage square in the chest. It wasn't strong enough to knock him down. But it made him stumble. Made him lose his balance. Made him drop his guard.
"Luck! Now!"
Luck was already moving. He had gotten up while the mage was distracted. His lightning was back. Brighter than ever. His grin was back too. But it was different now. Not the wild grin of someone fighting alone. The grateful grin of someone who had friends at his back.
"LIGHTNING MAGIC: THOR'S HAMMER!"
The bolt was even bigger than before. It filled the whole room with blue-white light. The Diamond mage tried to summon his smoke, tried to dodge, tried to do anything. But his smoke was still gone. Asta's anti-magic had cleared it too completely. He had nowhere to run.
The lightning hit him dead center.
He screamed. His body locked up. Every muscle in his body contracted at once. His arms snapped to his sides. His legs went stiff. His head jerked back. His grimoire fell from his hands and clattered to the floor. Smoke rose from his clothes. From his skin. From his mouth.
He stood there for a long moment, frozen in place, electricity crackling over his body. Then his eyes rolled back. His knees buckled. And he collapsed, unconscious before he hit the ground.
The room went quiet.
The only sound was the crackle of leftover lightning and the heavy breathing of four tired Magic Knights. The smoke was completely gone. The Diamond mage was completely out. And Luck was still standing, his hands smoking, his grin wider than I had ever seen it.
"I..." He stopped. Swallowed hard. His voice was rough from all the smoke he had breathed in. "Thank you. All of you. I couldn't have... if you hadn't been here... I was going to lose. I was going to die. He was too strong for me alone."
"You would have figured it out eventually," I said. "Maybe after a few more hits to the head."
Luck laughed. It was a tired laugh but a real one. "Yeah. Maybe." He looked at Asta. "Your sword is insane. You just erased all his magic. Just like that. One swing. Gone."
Asta puffed out his chest. "Anti-magic beats everything! Well, except physical stuff. And some other things. But mostly everything! It's the best magic that isn't magic!"
"It's pretty amazing," Luck said. "I'm glad you're on our side."
Then Luck looked at Noelle. "And you. Your aim is getting really good. That lance was almost perfectly straight. You hit him right in the chest. If he hadn't been so big, it might have knocked him down on its own."
Noelle's face went red. She tried to look proud but her blush ruined it. "It was nothing. A royal always hits her target. Eventually. Most of the time. When it really matters."
"A royal who can actually fight. I like it."
Noelle's blush got even worse. "I said it was nothing! Stop complimenting me! It's weird when you're nice!"
"And you." Luck turned to me. His grin softened. "You knew, didn't you? You knew I needed to learn this. That's why you waited. That's why you didn't jump in right away. You wanted me to figure it out on my own."
"I knew you needed to learn that you're not alone," I said. "We're your squad. We're here for you. Even when you run ahead like an idiot and pick fights with people twice your size."
"I'm still going to run ahead. I can't help it. It's who I am."
"I know. But next time, we'll be right behind you. Whether you want us there or not."
Luck looked at the three of us. His eyes were a little wet. He blinked fast to hide it. "You guys are the best squad I've ever had. The only squad that didn't kick me out. The only people who came back for me even when I was being stupid."
"That's what the Black Bulls do," Asta said. "We're the worst squad in the kingdom. Negative thirty stars. But we take care of each other."
"Negative thirty stars," Luck repeated. He laughed. "That's really bad."
"The worst!"
"But we're going to fix it. Starting with this guy." Luck nudged the unconscious Diamond mage with his foot. "So what do we do with him? We can't just leave him here."
"No," I said. "We take him with us."
I walked over to the fallen mage. He was still breathing. His chest was rising and falling in a slow rhythm. The lightning had done its job. He wouldn't wake up for hours.
"A prisoner is worth more than a corpse," I said. "The Wizard King wants information about the Diamond Kingdom's movements. This guy is a high-ranking mage. He'll know things. Troop positions. Future attack plans. The names of other mages working near the border. If we bring him back alive, the Magic Knights can interrogate him."
"We'll get stars for that!" Asta shouted. "Real stars! Positive stars! Maybe enough to get us out of negative!"
"Maybe even enough to reach zero," Noelle said.
"That's still not good!"
"It's better than negative thirty."
"Everything is better than negative thirty!"
I pulled the Diamond mage up by his collar. He was heavy. Really heavy. Probably close to three hundred pounds of muscle and scar tissue. But I had carried heavier. The boulders I used to train with were twice this weight. I slung him over my shoulder like a sack of grain.
Then I noticed his grimoire on the floor. The diamond on its cover was still glowing faintly. I picked it up. A mage's grimoire was their most valuable possession. Without it, they couldn't cast spells. If I took this, he would be completely helpless. No smoke magic. No escape. Just a big man with no way to fight back.
"Taking his grimoire too," I said. "He won't be casting any spells without it."
"Smart," Luck said." I didn't get beat up for him to get back again"
"You got beaten up because you ran ahead alone," Noelle said.
"Details. Minor details."
Yuno and the others caught up a few minutes later. Mimosa had her mapping spell open and was looking at the Diamond mage on my shoulder with wide eyes. Klaus was adjusting his glasses and muttering something about improper prisoner transport. Yuno just looked at the unconscious mage, then at me, then at the mage again.
"You captured him alive," he said. It wasn't a question.
"He'll have information. About the Diamond Kingdom. About other mages in the area. About whatever they're planning."
"The Wizard King will want to talk to him."
"I know. That's why I took his grimoire too." I held up the diamond-covered book. "He's not going anywhere."
Yuno nodded. It was a small nod. But it was respect. "Good work."
"Thanks. Now let's get to the treasure room before any more Diamond mages show up."
"The race isn't over," Yuno said. He looked at Asta. "You got here first because Ouga carried you. That doesn't count."
"YES IT DOES! Teamwork counts! Luck said so!"
"Luck got punched in the face twelve times. His judgment is questionable."
"My judgment is FINE!" Luck protested.
"You can't even stand up straight."
"That's from the punches! Not the judgment!"
Klaus pushed past everyone. "Enough arguing! The treasure room is just ahead. Nero showed us the path while you were fighting. If we hurry, we can claim it before any more Diamond mages arrive." He looked at me carrying the unconscious prisoner. "Though I suppose having a captured enemy mage is its own kind of treasure. The Golden Dawn will be impressed."
"The Golden Dawn isn't getting our prisoner," Asta said. "We caught him! He's ours! Our stars!"
"We helped find the path."
"You showed up after the fight was over! That doesn't count!"
"It counts partially!"
"No it doesn't!"
Yuno ignored them both. "Let's go. The treasure room is waiting."
We moved as a group. Me carrying the Diamond mage on one shoulder and his grimoire in my other hand. Asta bouncing with excitement. Noelle trying to look dignified despite the dirt on her face. Luck limping but still grinning. Yuno calm and silent. Mimosa and Klaus following behind.
The dungeon was almost cleared. But the real prize was still ahead. And whatever was waiting for us in that treasure room, we would face it together. All seven of us. Golden Dawn and Black Bulls. Rivals and allies.
And somewhere in the shadows, more Diamond mages were probably already on their way.
(Author note: Ding! Binding vow completed from the author's side.)