Black Clover: Nah I'd Lose (UPDATED)

(Guys, this week's goal is 600 Powerstones

Whether this fic would continue or not would depend on the support I would get.)

'Let's see, what will mostly happen if they don't understand? Though the resources House Vermillion provided, especially the library, were valuable, I have milked their worth fully, so the only thing I would lose is my friendship with them,' Akeru coldly calculated the worst-case scenarios.

'Sigh, on one side, I am risking losing my friendship now; on the other side, I am risking losing my friendship in the future. Though, the latter would hurt more because it would seem like a betrayal,' Akeru finally made a decision.

The world, which was moving slowly for him, started moving faster.

"Well, the thing is that I tried to catch him off-guard, but it failed, and I was sent flying like a ragdoll backward. He, by then, had decided to end me directly, but a magical beast—a boar, more specifically—charged towards him."

"Due to the short time gap, he didn't have much time to react, and in a cunning move, sent a spell towards the caravan directly, burning all the kidnapped children. That too, with a spell that didn't kill them instantly but prolonged their suffering, as he wanted to distract the boar for more than a second."

Kirsch's eyes hardened, and a look of horror appeared on Mimosa's face.

"Though… initially, I had a chance to free them, I didn't, as it would have slimmed the chances of my silent escape alone," Akeru looked down, not meeting anybody's gaze, especially Mimosa's.

He hated betrayal, and he was not ready to be a hypocrite, so he came clean instantly.

"After that, the guy had more time to cast a proper spell and kill the boar. However, this all distracted him from my approach from behind, and I killed him in one swoop."

"..."

"..."

'Fuck, I should have said this from day one when I met them. It wouldn't have made this so awkward. Though, that case itself is complicated to deal with,' Akeru internally sighed.

He had seen this coming, but it seemed that his friendship was going to be compromised in the end after all.

"It's fine, Akeru. You did what was best for you in that moment. Not everyone can be a hero every time."

Akeru looked up at Mimosa's reassuring smile.

"I guess," he blandly said.

However, internally, he was massively relieved.

Kirsch didn't comment on anything, and they moved toward their location in silence, with occasional chatter between Akeru and Mimosa.

On nearing a location, they encountered a peculiar sight.

There was a granny in red sitting on a boulder.

Akeru and the granny's eyes met.

"It's you!"

"It's that coward brat!"

Both of them said at the same time.

The Vermillion siblings had question marks on their faces but didn't let their guard down.

One felt it was unusual for a granny to be in a grand magic zone, and the other could clearly see the strength of the granny in red.

"I didn't really expect to see you again," she said.

"Neither did I. But my hunch at that time was correct—you had something nefarious planned for me when you lured me like that."

(A/n- Reference to chapter 8: Dodging A Bullet)

"Do you know her?" Mimosa asked.

"Yeah, she tried to kidnap me once before," Akeru said.

Mimosa put her hand on her mouth. 'Is the commoner realm that dangerous for a random kid?' she thought and internally decided to warn her younger royals from going there.

"No wonder you ran away. Though it seems fate has other plans, as it has delivered you right to my plate," the granny chuckled ominously.

She still couldn't sense any mana from the other party but was amused to see him having a mana field.

She estimated his strength to be around an Intermediate Level Magic Knight, similar to the royal girl near him.

'What a talent to reach Intermediate Level at around 15. It's a shame I didn't capture him back then. Though he might be talented at mana control, that itself has its limits,' the granny speculated.

Her deduction about there being limits to mana control was correct; however, she had made one massive error in her judgment.

She was most wary of Kirsch, as she had recognized him already.

It's common knowledge to recognize one of the Vice-Captains.

"Hehe, we will see about that. Last time, I decided not to take care of you out of pity for your old age, but let me correct my mistake today," Akeru shamelessly said, startling both Kirsch and the granny.

They could instantly see through his lies due to one knowing the granny's strength and the other knowing Akeru's strength before he came to the Vermillion House.

'Still Spectator.'

For Akeru, the world disappeared, and only the granny in the red cloak remained.

He started deducing her strength, personality, and fighting patterns—all based on his previous interactions with her, what his mana field was sensing, and her current behaviour, along with observing her Ki.

Though this process typically took a lot of time, due to his absurdly heightened thought process and focus, he could afford to do so.

'Second or Third-Class Advanced Knight. I was right in assuming her to be an old monster back then; otherwise, I would have died,' Akeru marveled at how many times he had come close to death.

Suddenly, Akeru felt the granny going away from his sight.

'Huh?' He suddenly realized that it wasn't her who was going away but himself being pulled back.

He instantly deactivated the spell and looked at the world around him.

His eyes widened as he felt a slender man with brown hair almost pressing a dagger against his throat.

He also saw cherry blossoms, which made the man retreat.

'I didn't sense him before with my sensory field,' Akeru noted.

"How moronic—you are on a battlefield. Anything could happen. Don't use that spell recklessly."

Akeru smiled wryly.

'I would have probably died without Kirsch intervening. That was a rookie mistake. "Silent Spectator" does give me intense focus, but it always has the flaw of not perceiving the surroundings due to the immersion it causes,' Akeru took this to heart directly.

"My bad. Thanks for saving me," Akeru earnestly said.

"It's fine. You're inexperienced. Just be more cautious next time," Kirsch said with a neutral tone.

He carried a serious demeanor, clearly radiating a no-nonsense mood.

Kirsch created a beautiful clone of himself, which took Mimosa away from the battlefield as he deemed it too dangerous for her.

"Not on my watch," the brown-haired man said.

'Daylight Magic: Twenty-Fold.'

In the next instant, he disappeared from his position and appeared in front of Mimosa with a dagger in his hand.

"How about no?"

The brown-haired man's eyes widened as he felt a hand coming near his throat.

He instantly changed his direction and retreated.

Kirsch's clone didn't miss the opportunity and moved Mimosa away.

The granny's eyes widened upon witnessing the boy she deemed to be at Intermediate Level clearly demonstrating Senior Level prowess.

A robe of purple lightning covered Akeru.

It was the only spell he had obtained from his grimoire for lightning: Orion's Mischief.

This spell allowed him to achieve a speed close to the top speed Fuegoleon had shown in their spar last year.

'This guy—his speed increased by around 20 times compared to his normal speed. Normally, I would be four times faster than him. However, with that spell, he is five times faster than me. The only reason I got to Mimosa before him was because I predicted him with my Ki and was closer to her,' Akeru frowned.

"John, take care of the boy. I will handle the Vice-Captain." With that, the granny in red and Kirsch began an epic battle.

"That did surprise me. However, it won't happen again," the brown-haired man, named John, disappeared from sight after saying that.

'Daylight Magic: Hiding in Plain Light.'

He had only a few spells in his grimoire, and he had perfected two of them to reach the heights they had reached today.

This spell allowed him to use the sun's light to hide from not only mana sensing but from all senses.

Though he was significantly weakened when the sun was out, from what he could see, there were still a few hours before the sun would set.

'I could kill the boy countless times in that span,' he thought while activating his other spell, which increased his power by twentyfold.

Though it took a toll to activate both of these spells together, he could sustain them for some time, which was generally enough to get the task done.

In the next instant, he appeared near the boy, who was wearing a purple lightning robe with occasional lightning sparks releasing from it.

To him, the boy seemed ignorant about his imminent demise.

However, unknown to him, the boy in question was internally shocked when he saw the man use that spell.

***

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