Distant Worlds ~ A Black Clover Story (Fuegoleon Vermillion X OC)

Chapter 5 - An Unrivaled Challenge

                  She said it was going to hurt, but that was an understatement. As soon as his palm meets the seal the room around him dissipates and is replaced by the chaotic energy that must belong to the guardians. It's raw and untamed, ready to devour everything in its path to satisfy its lust for destruction. Never in his lifetime has the Crimson Lion encountered something so intense or savage not even when he faced his sister what would later be known as "Hot Blooded Tuesday". If this really was the guardian's power, there is no doubt left in Fuegoleon why Julius and Ember asked him to re-instate the seal.

Keeping calm, Fuegoleon spreads his mana outward searching for the remnants of the seal. Luckily for him, Alec's fire still burns although it was more like the remains of a smoldering campfire than the flaming inferno he expected. Focusing on the flame and ignoring the stabbing pain from the storm's chaos around him, the captain starts to encourage the flame's growth by feeding it with his own mana. However, as soon as the two energies collided, he recognizes the fusion problem Julius and Ember had eluded to earlier. The flame had been so thirsty that it grabbed ahold of his mana and refused to let go until every last drop was gone. It's almost instantaneously, but the flame grows into a blaze more akin to his own magic. Yet Fuegoleon can not maintain the rate at which the seal drains his magic. At this rate he'll be dead within a minute or two. He tries to grab a hold of his mana, pulling back in hopes to slow down the transfer, but his efforts prove futile. That is until everything around him slows down. The raging river draining his mana calms down to a babbling brook. Just in time Magic King Fuegoleon thinks to himself as the time mage's seal kicks in, stabilizing the energy currents. As Fuegoleon starts to come back to his senses in current room the first thing he notices is the immense heat. It's so hot that Owen has to call forth his water magic to keep him and Marx from getting burned. The next sense to come back to him is sound, which means recognizing the ear piercing screams are coming from the woman in front of him. He can also recognize his own labored breathing as he tries to regain his control over the flow of mana. As the seal starts to stabilize to the point of discontinuing the ceremony, the vermillion haired mage sees the unexpected.

The petite brunette in front of him is covered in burns, whether that's directly from the seal or the hot hostile atmosphere they are experiencing, he doesn't know. It's apparent that even the Magic King himself is in physical discomfort as he fights the same chaotic energy Fuegoleon did, burning his hands in the process. The lion hears someone yelling over Ember's screams to terminate the spell, but whether its Owen or Marx he can't tell. All he knows is there's enough of his energy within the seal to keep it intact and the agony coming from Ember is something he doesn't want to keep experiencing. Pulling his hand back, the spell is effectively broken and the ceremony is complete. Ember teeters where she is, eyes clouded over. It's obvious to everyone in the room that she's hit her limit and then some. Letting out a sigh of relief from the spell's release she falls forward resulting in Fuegoleon catching her. Owen and Marx race over to the three to stabilize their conditions, with Ember's being the worse. As Fuegoleon gently lowers Ember to the ground he hears her manage to vocalize one phrase.

"Thank you". Both Fuegoleon and the Magic King look at one another and smile. They know what they just accomplished was no small feat and will likely never be known by anyone outside the room. Owen rips open his grimoire and casts one of his more powerful healing spells.

"Sir! Did it work?!"

"Well Marx, seeing as we're all still alive I feel confident in saying that it did." The magic king says looking at his hands. They've obtained third degree burns from the sealing. A groan is heard from the floor. Even with Owen's current treatment the residual energy combined with Ember's body being unaccustomed to magic continues to cause her immense pain. However the original seal is more intense in color, albeit it is still smudgy. Another seal now encompasses the first seal. This one, blue in color, belongs to the Magic King himself. Bending over to admire the seal more, the king starts to fan girl over the magic that his Chrono Stasis is keeping in check.