"Is Akeru also the same rank as Captain Yami?" Asta asked with an astonished expression.
He wasn't the only one who was surprised by that.
Yuno and Klaus were also surprised by it, though they didn't show it as much as Asta.
"Yeah, weren't you also present during the time when Akeru was telling about his mission details?... Oh, I guess you also don't know about the Eight Shining Generals, do you?" Noelle asked with an unimpressed expression.
Talk about the level of obliviousness.
"Who are they?"
Klaus explained to him how they are equivalent to Captains of the squads, though they are weaker than their Clover counterparts, at least from the rumours.
"Damn, Akeru is really strong. I really want to try fighting him once."
"You could ask him when we get back to the base, he does entertain Luck's challenges," Noelle just shrugged, not stopping him from challenging him.
It would be a good experience for him.
"That sounds fun, I am really excited about it."
It was around that time they moved to a different hall, which was clearly designed to hold a banquet.
"This is really good." Asta was the first one to dig into the food without much care about his manners.
"This is not really bad."
Noelle was impressed by the efforts put into preparing this event.
It was comparable to what royals usually expect from their events.
Around that time, Asta soon started getting insults from multiple people around.
"He eats like a pig."
"As expected from a commoner."
"Even if Black Bulls are out of negative stars, they would still be the lowest of the lowest."
"Is that two members of Golden Dawn beside him? Are they his friends?"
Klaus and Yuno soon started getting negatively impacted by this.
"Where is Mimosa?" Noelle suddenly asked Klaus, who just now realized that Mimosa was missing.
"She said that she would be back after a while," Yuno said with his usual impassive expression.
Before anybody could say anything, somebody beat them to it.
"Oh, if it isn't my younger sister. I hope your time in your squad has treated you well," Solid taunted with a grin.
Noelle's eyes narrowed as she looked at Solid.
"Yeah, it has been quite a wonderful time, I dare say."
Solid was caught off-guard by her reply, momentarily forgetting what he was going to say.
"It must have suited you, after all, trash does find itself comfortable in the garbage," Nebra, who was behind Solid, spoke.
Asta's expression, which had remained unaffected by the surrounding insults until now, had finally changed.
"Hey, who are you funny-haired people? What's your problem?" Asta put his plate down on the table and looked at the duo.
"Funny-hair?" Nebra muttered, her expression turned rageful.
If looks could kill, Asta would have already died a thousand times.
Solid seemed to be faring better than Nebra; however, he too was angry.
"You seem to have grown more brazen after you joined those group of misfits. As your brother, I must educate you about your position again." He said to Noelle as his grimoire started flipping.
Noelle's grimoire also started flipping, her expression unreadable.
'I knew it! This was inevitable since the moment I saw these two in the hall.'
Noelle had anticipated this long before and had prepared herself for the possible showdown that was happening now.
Before either Solid or Noelle could conjure any spell, somebody beat them to it.
Multiple threads made of mist could be seen rushing towards them at blinding speeds.
Noelle on instinct tried creating a water barrier around her.
'I won't make it.' Noelle realized that she was too slow.
CLICK
A clicking sword could be heard followed by multiple clicking sounds.
'How can he move so fast?' Despite seeing it multiple times, Noelle was still amazed by how quickly Asta's hands moved as he moved his normal-looking sword.
Just like that, Nebra's attack was dispelled by Asta.
Asta's sword now had a pale bluish hue quite similar to the colour of the threads in the middle.
"If you wanted to fight, then say so from the start," Asta slashed his sword, a flying slash with the same colour as the one his sword was glowing with.
In the next instant, a big water bullet clashed with the flying slash.
Both sides cancelled each other.
"It seems you do have some skill for a commoner," Solid said with a disinterested expression.
However, internally he was baffled at the commoner in front of him.
Noelle completed her defensive spell, a water barrier surrounding both her and Asta from all sides.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Tsukimi looked at Rill with a droopy expression.
She would have rather slept in her bed than be here.
If not for being called personally, she would have definitely skipped it.
"It's fine, just a minor scuffle. Neither of the captains of their squads has made a move, so it's probably fine," Rill just shrugged.
"Where is the captain of Black Bulls? Isn't it compulsory for captains to attend?"
"Well...He must be busy," Rill said with an awkward smile.
He really wanted to say that the man was probably slacking off, but he was afraid that someone might overhear it and tell it to Yami.
He didn't want to have a conflict with that scary man.
"Asta, you have to take the offensive role. I will focus on defending," Noelle said without any change in her expression.
"Okay!"
It was a polite way to hide the fact that she didn't have a proper offensive spell.
Noelle's gaze shifted between Nebra and Solid, seemingly gauging their next moves. 'We are doomed. If it was just Solid, then it would have been fine as he is just a Fifth Class Senior Knight. However, with the presence of Nebra, everything changes.'
Her gaze then momentarily landed on Nozel who was silently staring at the spectacle with an impassive look.
'Well, at least he isn't making a move. Then again, maybe that might be a good thing as it would make the other captains make a move... right?'
BANG
Her musings were interrupted as multiple drills made of water bombarded her barrier.
The barrier stood despite the bombardment.
"Now's our chance, attack!" Noelle said while looking at Asta.
Asta's expression turned into a determined one before changing again.
"So, how should I attack?" Asta asked, confused.
"..." Noelle had a lot of things she wanted to say to the idiot in front of her, but she held back.
"Just do the thing with your sword."
Noelle stretched her hand in Asta's direction.
The latter's confused expression finally changed into one of realization.
"Ohh!"
Asta's sword now sported a blue colour in the middle which disappeared after Asta slashed.
A blue slash was launched upon the world as it dashed towards Solid.
It phased through the barrier from the inside and neutralized a water drill.
What followed next was a series of flying blue slashes being launched by Asta which were neutralized by Solid's drill.
This occurred until Nebra made her next move.
Multiple threads made of mist covered Noelle's barrier, and a lot of force was exerted by those threads on the barrier, threatening to destroy it.
'Oh no! I won't last long.' Noelle realized that her mana consumption for keeping the barrier had increased by a few folds.
"Hehehe, isn't this quite ironic to one battle that happened in a similar setting a few years ago? Sadly, the result of this battle would be anything but the result of that battle." Nebra's words reminded Noelle of the battle that occurred between Nebra and Solid versus Leopold and Akeru 3 years ago.
"We will see about that," Noelle said without any change in her expression.
She was just putting on a brave front as she knew that at this rate, the inevitable outcome would be unfavourable to her.
Just as she thought that her barrier was going to break the next second, somebody decided to intervene.
"It's about time for this farce to end."
Nozel finally made his move.
***
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