The atmosphere in the cave was thick with the scent of impending execution. Vetto stood over Yami, his shadow engulfing the Captain. Fana hovered above, her Salamander glowing with renewed energy. Rhya leaned against a rock, picking his ear, ready to interfere if anyone tried to run.
"You fought well for insects," Vetto rumbled. "But insects are meant to be crushed."
Yami wiped the blood from his mouth, standing up shakily. He held the broken hilt of his katana. "Hey, beast-breath. You broke my favorite sword. Do you know how hard it is to find good steel in this kingdom?"
"Despair needs no steel," Vetto roared, bringing his fist down.
ZZZRT!
Space ripped open.
It wasn't the muddy, ominous portal of the Third Eye. It was a clean, sharp tear in reality.
"Slash Magic: Death Scythe."
A blade of invisible, severing mana sliced through the air between Vetto and Yami. Vetto leaped back, his beast instincts screaming at the sharpness of the attack. A deep gash appeared in the ground where he had just been standing.
"Keke! Looks like you're in a pinch, Yami!" a manic, screeching voice echoed.
From the spatial tear, a tall, lanky man with a mantis-like grin stepped out. Jack the Ripper, Captain of the Green Mantises.
"You look pathetic, foreigner," a cold, regal voice followed. Nozel Silva, Captain of the Silver Eagles, descended with a grace that mocked the chaos around them, his mercury magic swirling like a liquid shield.
"Yami... are you... are you hurt?" A flustered, yet trying-to-be-stoic voice came last. Charlotte Roselei, Captain of the Blue Rose Knights, stepped out, her briar sword drawn, her eyes darting to Yami's chest wound with hidden panic.
The Three Captains stood in a line, creating a wall between the Black Bulls and the Third Eye.
Yami let out a long, relieved sigh. "Took you guys long enough. I was about to start biting people."
"Who are these clowns?" Vetto growled, sniffing the air. "They smell... strong."
"Stronger than you, you ugly rug," Jack cackled, licking his blade. "I'm going to slice you into ribbons!"
"We received a distress signal from one of the Black Bulls," Charlotte announced, raising her briar whip. "To find the Captain himself in such a state... truly, the Black Bulls are a disgrace." (Though her internal monologue was screaming: Oh my god, Yami is bleeding! I need to save him!)
Nozel didn't speak to the enemy immediately. His cold, violet eyes swept the battlefield. He assessed the damage. The glass floor. The destroyed ceiling. The battered Licht.
And then, his gaze landed on Lencar.
Lencar was kneeling on the ground, gasping for air, supported by Asta. He was trying to suppress his mana, to hide, but in his exhausted state, his control slipped. The sheer volume of mana he had cycled to block the Salamander—a feat that should have incinerated a commoner—left a residual signature that was impossible to ignore.
Nozel's eyes narrowed. He felt the density. It wasn't the raw, unrefined mana of a peasant. It was compressed. Structured. And the volume...
That boy... Nozel thought, his brow furrowing. I remember him from the exam. The with fire and wind magic. The one we all ignored. His mana capacity right now... even in this exhausted state... it rivals a Vice-Captain of a magic knight squad...
"You," Nozel said, his voice cutting through the tension. He wasn't looking at the Third Eye; he was looking directly at Lencar.
Lencar froze. Variable: Nozel Silva. Attention attracted. Bad. Very bad.
"Captain Silva?" Lencar managed to choke out.
"You blocked the Spirit Salamander's breath," Nozel stated, not as a question, but as an accusation. He looked at the scorched path of the fire that had parted around the boy. "A commoner shielding against a Great Spirit? Impossible. Yet, the evidence is before me."
"He's pretty interesting, huh?" Jack grinned, looking at Lencar with a disturbing hunger. "He smells like burning ozone. Maybe I should slice him open later and see how he ticks!"
"Focus, you idiots!" Yami barked, stepping up beside them with his broken sword. "The kid is mine. You can harass him later. Right now, we have three monsters who want to wear our skin as pajamas."
The Captains turned their attention back to the Third Eye. The standoff was legendary. On one side, the strongest Knights of the Clover Kingdom. On the other, the strongest warriors of the Elves.
Licht, still slumped against the rock, laughed weakly. "The Captains... The pillars of this corrupt kingdom. Perfect. We will crush you all here, and the Clover Kingdom will fall."
Vetto stepped forward, his mana flaring green and wild. Fana's Salamander hissed, flames dripping from its jaws. Rhya sighed, opening his grimoire.
"Well," Rhya muttered. "This got complicated. But I guess copying three Captains is better than copying one."
Lencar pulled himself up, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Asta. He watched the backs of the Captains.
This is the threshold, Lencar realized. I am no longer in the background. Nozel saw me. Jack saw me. The data is out. I can't be a ghost anymore.
He looked at his trembling hands, then at the titanic clash of mana about to erupt.
If I survive this, Lencar thought, a grim smile touching his lips, I'm going to go into hiding.
"Don't die, Lencar!" Asta shouted, raising his sword.
"You neither, Asta," Lencar replied. "Let the big guns handle the front line. We handle the strays."
As the Captains charged, the cave exploded into a kaleidoscope of Silver, Green, Blue, and Despair.