Children of the Future: Shadows of the Past (A Black Clover Fanfiction)

The Battle Over Spade

A/N: Hiya guys! So...it's been a while since I've updated this series as well and I apologize! I've just been distracted and dealing with creative burnout as well as IRL things, so this just got pushed to the back burner (even though this chapter has been mostly complete since September). This chapter is pretty short compared to the others, but hopefully the next one will be longer, and I hope you all enjoy~!

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Yuno and Ralph stood outside on one of the castle walls and just stared up at the sky, it was completely dark save for the bright full moon that hung above their heads. There wasn't a single cloud or star in the sky, making the darkness look even more unnerving and odd than it already was. Obviously a mage had done this, a pretty powerful one at that, but the question was... who had done it?

" Yuno!" He heard Neva call from beside him, and he turned to face her as she approached. She had changed out of her dress and was now wearing an outfit similar to the one she wore when she was a member of the Golden Dawn, showing that she was ready for a potential battle.

" What's going on? Why is the moon out?" Neva asked as she walked up to him, he shrugged a bit and shook his head.

" We don't know," Yuno told her simply as his gaze drifted from the sky to his wife. " Obviously it isn't good, and it means that something's coming...but the question is who and what."

" Devils?" Neva asked, her voice soft and tinted with confusion. " Or maybe Angels that were leftover from Lucius? But neither of those makes any sense, especially since we wiped them all out 20 years ago." She muttered as she heard her husband sigh from beside her.

" I know, but look at Herz, she was hiding for a long time before Liebe and Asta found her. So maybe there were more Devils hiding, biding their time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to present itself to them." Yuno explained, and he watched Neva's eyes dance around in thought for a few moments.

" You have a point, especially since that's similar to what Zagred did with the Elves back then. He waited for thousands of years for the right time, person, and place to appear so his plan would come to fruition." Neva muttered as she stared at the vast darkness that surrounded the kingdom. " So, do you think we're dealing with Zagred level devils? Or Zogratis level ones?"

" Both," Yuno answered as his amber eyes narrowed. " The one that cast this spell is at least a High ranking one, but whether it's the leader or not, I don't know." Neva nodded before she noticed Yuno turn to face the darkness as well.

The surrounding air was cold, tense, and anxious. No one knew what to expect, they couldn't see very well beyond the castle walls, and could only rely on the moonlight and their mana sensing, which meant they were all basically blind. No one moved, no one breathed, they just stood there waiting, ready for an attack.

But the silence of the night was suddenly broken by loud screams, shrieks, and yells floating up to the castle from the town below them. Colored lights began to flash like fireworks as spells were cast, and booms rang out and echoed all around the area as buildings were destroyed. Yuno's eyes widened and he turned to Ralph.

" Already on it, sir!" Ralph quickly said as he gathered some men and women around them and ordered them to go to the town and see what was happening. They saluted and quickly used their brooms and magics to fly down to the town.

The cries, shouts, and spells continued to float up to the castle, and with every passing minute they grew louder...and louder...and louder. Before they suddenly ceased. There were no more lights flashing, no sounds of screams, it was dead silent save for the whistle of the ice-cold wind that swept through.

" Report, somebody report! What's going on down there?!" Ralph shouted into his communication device, only receiving silence in response.

Yuno and Neva looked at each other for a moment, their hearts pounding anxiously in their chests, what the hell was going on...? If the battle was over, and they had won, then shouldn't the Mage Defense Force members be contacting them or be on their way back to the Castle by now?