"How can it be meaningless?"
Asta explained, "We are fighting to be selected for the Royal Knights Squad, whose goal is to defeat Midnight Sun. Neither I nor anyone else can fight alone!"
"We need to cooperate with the Mages here and collectively defeat other experts."
"...And among our opponents this time, there's a formidable individual who isn't just royalty, but also the vice-captain of the Coral Peacock. Of course, I want to have a good spar with him!"
Listening to Asta, Nancy was about to say something more when Zora suddenly grabbed Asta's finger, which was pointing into the distance.
"Ow! What are you doing, you bastard?!"
A frivolous yet somewhat helpless voice rang out: "While I don't plan on having a friendly spar with royalty, for my own purposes, I'll reluctantly make use of you for a bit, you shorty..."
"As long as we can fight together, use me however you want, you masked weirdo!"
"Alright... since that's the case, I'll start by briefly introducing my magic..."
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While Asta's team was discussing tactics, Kirsch, the vice-captain of another Coral Peacock team, along with two other members—Magna of the Black Bulls Squad and Sol, the dark-skinned woman from the Blue Rose—were marveling at Asta's peculiar performance.
"Tch..." Kirsch pressed his hand to his forehead, saying with immense disgust, "My beautiful magic was defiled by that commoner's pitch-black stuff!"
"How infuriating!"
Magna's lips curved into a smile: "That was to be expected, wasn't it?"
"Don't underestimate Asta just because he's a commoner... though I'm a commoner too..."
"Huh?" Kirsch turned back, showing a look of disgust, "You're a commoner too?"
"Uh-huh, is there a problem with that, Mr. Royal?"
Cherry blossoms appeared like clouds beneath Kirsch' feet. He stepped on the cherry blossom clouds and swiftly flew towards Asta's team, his disgusted voice echoing in the air: "How dirty! Who wants to cooperate with commoners in battle!"
"I'm enough on my own; I'll take care of them! You two just guard the magic crystal!"
Sol, left behind, watched Kirsch charge in alone, a little troubled: "Seriously, men are such stupid creatures! Do they only know how to act rashly on their own?"
"This is a three-person team match!"
Magna, who was also left behind, was full of confidence, "Hehe... is that so... then I'll act according to my own preferences too!"
"Black-faced woman, the task of guarding the magic crystal is yours now. I'm going to give Asta and them a surprise."
"Huh? No way! If anyone's going, it should be me, you stay here, glasses boy."
Magna was a bit angry: "I told you not to give me nicknames! Black-faced woman! And when have you ever seen a man stay home to guard the door? That would be a disgrace, wouldn't it?"
Just as the two were discussing how they should act, a beautiful girl in silver armor appeared in their line of sight. She walked step by step across the fluffy grass, the red patterns on her armor gleaming in the sunlight.
"Eh? Someone's coming, but it seems to be just one person."
Sol and Magna stopped their argument.
Magna adjusted the glasses on his nose and looked carefully: "Oh my~ It seems the opponent specifically chose to come after that narcissist left, completely disregarding us."
The grimoire floating beside him rapidly flipped pages, and flames emerged from his empty hand. The flames condensed into a baseball bat, which he casually rested on his shoulder.
Next to Sol, a three-meter-tall brown Earth Golem also materialized.
"Since that's the case, let's take her out first. Then, we won't have to worry too much about a two-on-three situation."
"Bang!"
The baseball bat struck, launching fireballs with crisp sounds. One fireball after another flew out, the fiery red orbs tracing sharp trajectories through the air.
"Flame Magic: Exploding Blazing Demon Ball!"
"Take this, take this!"
The scorching fireballs swept across the grass, rushing towards Nancy. The intense heat didn't make her dodge. Just as the fireballs were about to explode, she smiled.
A defiant yet somewhat fanatical smile.
It was a state completely different from her usual self.
It was like the battle with Philemona, the Earth Spirit user, in the Dwarf King's vault that day.
The fervent battle genes hidden within her body awakened like an instinct, easily controlled with a mere flick of her hand.
Now, Nancy, having experienced the Demon God Cerberus incident, had long accepted her passionate side. In battle, she was as hot and intense as flames burning through her blood.
Bright yellow magic materialized in her hand. The moment the fireball exploded, a fist interwoven with bright yellow and silver shattered the fireball. The scattered flames caused no harm to Nancy at all.
In the firelight, Nancy stomped heavily on the ground. As the mud and grass parted, she leaped out, her silver-armored figure charging like a swift-flying sword. Silver light collided with the fire, and the red-flying fireballs dispersed all around.
Towards the steadily closing distance and the magic that caused no damage, Magna changed his strategy. The three-leaf clover grimoire with a skull on its cover flipped another page, and he struck another fireball.
Unlike the Exploding Blazing Demon Ball from before, this fireball, the moment it was struck, split apart like buckshot, bursting from all directions to attack Nancy.
Amidst the flowing firelight, Nancy suddenly threw a punch. Strangely, the flames that touched her fist dissipated as if they had never appeared. Suddenly, the fireball directly exploded on Nancy.
The consecutive fireballs kicked up black smoke and ash.
"Haha~ It worked!" Magna laughed at the sight, "This was originally something I prepared for Asta, the disappearing fireball. I didn't expect to use it on you first."
"Amazing, right, black-faced woman!"
He eagerly showed off his achievement to Sol beside him, but when he turned, he found Sol staring intently into the lingering smoke cloud. Her magic perception was far superior to Magna's, who was a commoner with low magic power!
"Be careful... she didn't...!"
Before Sol could finish her sentence, Magna saw a silver light burst out. The silver figure's speed was even faster, and in a blink of an eye, she was already close to their side.
Magna, who had intended to continue swinging his bat, was suddenly stopped by a sharp gaze. Goosebumps instantly rose all over his body, as if he was being stared down by a terrifying beast.
It was far beyond anything Captain Yami's "pets" could compare to!
Sol commanded the brown Earth Golem to attack. As the brown Earth Golem moved its body and swung its large hand down towards Nancy, Nancy, like an arrow, directly pierced through the Earth Golem. Her silver-armored hand slightly opened, directly grabbing Sol's neck, dragging her along the ground, leaving black tracks.
"Sol!"
Magna suddenly snapped back to reality and quickly prepared to swing the baseball bat in his hand.
But at that moment, an Earth-armored soldier holding a greatsword appeared behind him. The greatsword, formed of stone, swung and instantly cut through the magic crystal, pausing at Magna's neck.
"Second Round, First Match Selection Exam, Team B wins!"