"What's going on here?"
Conrad and his two companions flew to the side of the broken wooden stake. The shattered stake seemed to be the only thing with a solid shape left in this warped space.
All around, the ground was split with cracks; from one great fissure, magma spat and fumed. The sky above had turned molten, as if the whole world might ignite.
"There must've been a huge battle here. The magical residuals are chaotic." Edward frowned and carefully probed the flow of magic in the space.
The violent, noisy afterimages of spells made him uneasy.
"Find that crazy woman first. We are the Wizard King — nothing to fear." Jester said this with obvious arrogance.
Conrad was the leader: the 27th Wizard King of the Clover Kingdom and the predecessor of Julius.
Ten years ago Conrad set a plan in motion to overthrow the Clover Kingdom, but Julius sealed him away with time magic. When Patolli killed Julius during the elf invasion, the seal weakened and Conrad escaped.
This time he hadn't rushed. Conrad planned carefully: use the Imperial Sword — Elsdocia — to locate three previous Wizard Kings who had been accidentally "asleep" and form a Wizard King coalition to destroy the Clover Kingdom and establish a new order.
To that end Conrad resurrected Edward, the 20th Wizard King who used Ice Wedge magic, and Jester, the 16th Wizard King who used Barrier magic. Now they had come to awaken the 11th Wizard King, Princia, and continue their scheme.
All of these Wizard Kings had one thing in common: they had been persecuted by the royal family and forced from power. Some had even been put to rest for it.
"Come out." Conrad pointed the Imperial Sword at the broken stake and a blue beam shot from the blade.
He expected the familiar crystal coffin to appear — but it did not.
"Come out." Conrad tried again, voice tighter this time.
Jester snorted beside him. "27th Wizard King, what are you doing? This isn't a target practice."
"Shut up." Conrad's confusion deepened.
Had someone beaten me to it? Who could have taken the crystal coffin that could only be summoned by Elsdocia?
Adam was already nearby, bringing Princia with him and approaching Conrad in silence.
He had read of the legendary Imperial Sword in old scrolls: a divine weapon that stored the accumulated magic and memory of successive Wizard Kings — their souls and wisdom locked away inside. Wielding it as a weapon was as dangerous as it was glorious.
Using the snake's invisibility, Adam crept closer to Conrad while the three Wizard Kings muttered about Princia's sudden absence.
Adam reached out for the Imperial Sword and tried to pull it toward himself.
"Who—?"
Several golden key-shaped sigils appeared beside Conrad and with a click gusts of elemental magic — wind, thunder, fire — struck in the direction of the sword.
Seeing the danger, Adam shoved Princia aside and stepped forward to contest Conrad for the blade.
"Who are you?" Conrad demanded. The Imperial Sword flared with a brilliant blue light.
"Give me the Imperial Sword. It's too temperamental for you — you can't control it!" Adam didn't answer. A dazzling white aura burst from his body.
With a resounding bang, he resisted the elemental assault and braced, palms on the hilt, pulling the sword with all his strength. Neither man would yield.
"Princia, why did you awaken early?" Jester and Edward circled, bewildered. Princia held a magic book, clearly shaken and uncertain of the strange situation.
"Help Conrad deal with that brat first." Edward said, distrust raw in his voice. For the sake of their plan, they had to eliminate any obstacle.
Just as Edward and Jester prepared spells from their grimoires, Princia stepped directly between them and Adam.
They had assumed Princia would side with the Wizard Kings, but she surprised them: a black-and-white chessboard appeared in front of her hands.
"Princia, don't forget the nobles' crimes against the Clover King. That boy's magic grade is probably that of the royal family. Don't aid their tyranny — join us in revenge." Edward shouted.
Princia's body trembled, but at her core was one simple truth: she cared for Adam's safety.
"Legion Magic: Purgatory Game!" she cried.
The chess pieces leapt from the board and transformed into magical soldiers of various shapes, charging at Edward and Jester.
"Barrier Magic: Midnight Sanctuary!" Jester roared.
"Ice Wedge Magic: Absolute Freezing!" Edward bellowed.
A transparent, ultra-cold material shrouded the three attackers in a tight sphere. The chamber inside the ice-cage sank to unbearable cold; even Princia's teeth chattered from the chill.
Edward raised a towering ice fortress and unleashed a deep-blue beam of cold. Wherever it touched, the summoned soldiers froze into crystalline statues.
Jester condensed countless barrier shards into a spear and hurled it at Princia.
"I'll fight!" Princia pushed aside the spear and charged Jester. She wanted to finish this fast — handling two Wizard Kings alone was more than enough strain.
The ice light swept across the battlefield; many of Princia's magic soldiers were encased in ice. Jester's razor barriers rained down in shards.
"Queen Shadow Warriors!" Princia shouted. From her chessboard she summoned four armored magic soldiers, each bearing chess-piece shields.
They shifted positions constantly in the air and dove toward Edward.
Edward, less nimble than Jester, became Princia's primary target. He and Conrad refused to let her succeed, hammering her back with spell after spell in an attempt to starve her of power and crush her.
Adam decided he could no longer withstand Conrad's magical onslaught. He changed tactics.
"I'd rather break it than let the enemy have it," he thought.
Pushing the divine strength of the Ox to the extreme, Adam struck the Imperial Sword. With a crashing click, the blade fractured under the strain of the two opponents.
"My sword!" Conrad roared, gripping the hilt as only one-third of the blade remained intact. The other two-thirds lay split off.
Adam's magic immediately wove around the broken pieces. Two-thirds of the blade were fused to a new hilt of Adam's own making — his mana folding metal to form a replacement.
"I will kill you, brat." Conrad snarled, fury and disbelief in his voice. He had expected the Imperial Sword alone to answer his will — not to be wrested and broken like a child's toy.
The battlefield trembled as the two sides prepared for the next, deadlier exchange.
...
Author's Note:
The full completed version of Black Clover: I Awakened the Power of the Twelve Zodiac Talismans is now on Patreon!
🔥 I also have a Additional 18+ fanfics now available for readers who enjoy exclusive mature stories. 😉
1.Dragon Ball: Oolong's Sex Adventure
2. Elements of Lust – ATLA & Korra Mixed Smut
3. Doraemon: Filtering with Nobi Tamako
4. The Naive Me Who Became Someone's Everyday Secret
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