The cave was too small for the sheer weight of the mana clashing within it.
Yami Sukehiro didn't move fast. He didn't need to. Every step he took was heavy, deliberate, and terrifying. The darkness radiating from his katana wasn't just a visual effect; it was a gravity well, pulling at the light, the sound, and the very hope of everyone watching.
Lencar stood near the wall, his Mana-Conduit Claymore still glowing with residual heat. He watched Yami with the eyes of an analyst witnessing a perfect dataset. This is it, Lencar thought. The benchmark. This is what pseudo Stage 0 actually looks like when applied to combat.
"You're full of openings," Licht said, his voice cold. He floated in the air, light gathering around him like a halo. "Light Magic: Light Whip of Judgment."
A lash of blinding light cracked through the air. It moved faster than sound, aiming to decapitate Yami before he could lift his sword.
Yami didn't even blink. He tilted his head slightly to the left. The whip of light hissed past his ear, singing a few strands of his black hair.
"Fast," Yami muttered, lifting his katana. "But you're telegraphing your intent. You think because you're fast, you don't need to be tricky. That's why you're going to lose."
"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash."
Yami swung. The darkness erupted from his blade, not as a beam, but as a wave of devouring void. It clashed with Licht's next volley of light arrows, eating them whole. The impact shook the mountain, sending tremors through the floor that knocked Neige off his feet.
"Finral!" Yami barked without looking back. "Stop shaking and make yourself useful. Get the injured out of the line of fire. Lencar, kid, you hold the perimeter. If anything gets past me, burn it."
"Understood," Lencar replied instantly. He shifted his stance, his Vector Perception Field expanding to cover the group.
Just then, space twisted near the ceiling. A dark portal opened, and Valtos emerged, his face twisted in a scowl. "Master Licht! I have returned!"
"Good timing, Valtos," Licht said, dodging another heavy slash from Yami. "Distract the boy with the Anti-Magic. He is the variable we cannot account for."
Valtos turned his gaze to Asta. "You... the one who nullifies magic. You are a stain on this world!"
Valtos raised his hand. "Spatial Magic: Myriad Black." Dozens of black portals opened around Asta, firing bolts of condensed mana from all directions.
"Wha—?! Hey!" Asta yelled, swinging his Demon-Slayer sword wildly. He deflected one, two, three bolts, but there were too many coming from too many angles. One grazed his shoulder; another cut his cheek.
"Asta!" Finral yelled, trying to open a portal to redirect the attacks, but he was too slow.
"Don't help him!" Yami's voice cut through the chaos like a knife. He was locked in a high-speed duel with Licht, parrying light beams that moved at literal light speed, yet he sounded like he was giving a lecture.
"Listen up, shrimp!" Yami shouted, ducking under a light sword that severed a stalactite behind him. "You're reacting with your eyes. That's why you're getting hit. Your eyes are too slow. Your brain is too slow."
Asta gritted his teeth, deflecting a bolt that nearly took his ear off. "Then what am I supposed to use?! I can't sense mana like you guys!"
"Stop looking," Yami ordered, blocking a massive blast from Licht with a one-handed swing. "Feel. People act like they have five senses, but they're wrong. There's heat. There's muscle tension. There's the displacement of air. There's the intent to kill. We call it Ki."
Lencar, watching from the sidelines as he deflected a stray light arrow aimed at Sister Theresa, nodded. Ki. The universal sensory data stream. Asta's only path to high-level combat.
"Ki?" Asta repeated, breathing heavily.
"Yeah," Yami grunted. He suddenly vanished, reappearing behind Licht in a burst of speed that defied his bulk. He swung his sword, forcing Licht to block with a shield of hard light. "Close your eyes, stupid! If you can't see the attack, feel where it's coming from!"
Asta hesitated for a split second, then squeezed his eyes shut.
"Valtos is arrogant," Lencar called out, his voice cutting through the noise. "He aims for the vitals. Center mass. Head. Heart. Predict the vector, Asta."
Valtos sneered. "Closing your eyes? You mock me!" He fired five bolts simultaneously.
Asta stood in the darkness of his own mind. He heard the sizzle of magic. He felt the shift in the air pressure. He smelled the ozone. There... and there... and there!
Asta moved. He didn't swing wildly this time. He stepped to the right, ducked, and swung his sword in a tight arc.
Clang! Clang!
The bolts were deflected perfectly.
"I... I felt it!" Asta yelled, his eyes snapping open, shining with excitement. "I saw him without seeing him!"
"Good," Yami grinned, a feral look crossing his face. "Now stop playing with the spatial guy and crush him."
Yami turned his attention back to Licht, who was hovering higher now, frustration evident on his face. "You possess a strange power, foreigner," Licht said to Yami. "Darkness that absorbs light... it is the antithesis of my speed."
"I'm not a foreigner," Yami said, cracking his neck. "I'm the Captain of the Black Bulls. And you hurt my squad."
Yami glanced briefly at Lencar, who had just used a Wind Magic burst to knock Finral out of the way of a falling rock. "And hey, kid," Yami grunted. "I owe you one. For keeping the shrimp, the mirror-freak, and my wheels (Finral) alive until I got here. Drinks are on me later."
Lencar allowed a small smirk. "I prefer tea, Captain. But I'll take the credit."
"Cocky," Yami laughed. Then his expression went dead serious. "Now, watch closely. This is how you surpass your limits."
Yami gripped his katana with both hands. The darkness didn't just coat the blade; it expanded, swallowing the light in a ten-foot radius around him.
"Dark Magic: Black Hole."
The suction was instant. The light arrows Licht had prepared were dragged out of the air, spiraling into the void around Yami. Licht's eyes widened. "My magic... it's being pulled in?"
"Darkness has gravity," Yami said, stepping forward. "And gravity crushes everything. Even light."