Black Clover - By My Side (Asta X Noelle)

Chapter 31: The Royal Knights Exam (Part 13)

[It appeared as though humanity would be destroyed by demons. But a single mage saved them all. He was called the wizard king, and he became a legend.]

Asta POV:

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I tighten the grip on the hilt of my sword, holding the tip of the sword near Finral's brothers' neck. Is hand is still in the air. He was about to kill Finral.

"You better not move," Magna says while holding his fiery bat.

"If you do- we'll kill you." Luck, in a position ready to attack, threatens him as well.

"This match was already decided," I begin, "there was no reason to do this. Your name was Langris. Why go this far?" 

I look over to Finral's body, which lies motionless on the ground. He's in bad condition. His body is full of holes. Why the hell would his own brother do this to him?

"I was merely taking out the trash. My brother and the rest of you Black Bull failures aren't even worthy of standing on the same battlefield as me. Much less being Magic Knights." Langris begins to lower his hand, "disappear."

Ready to stop his attack, I thrust my sword forward. But before I can make contact, I'm stopped. Suddenly, the Wizard King appears along with Marx and old man Owen. And just as quickly as they appeared, Magna, Luck, Langris, and I are stuck within his magic.

"That's enough," The Wizard King begins, "this is no way for Magic Knights to behave."

The Wizard King lets us out of his magic, and we fall onto the ground. I pick up my sword and look over to Finral. Noelle is by his side, along with old man Owen, Vanessa, and Rogue. Finral should be alright. But still- I look over to Langris in disgust. Everything he does leaves a sour taste in my mouth. First, he'd unnecessarily sacrifice people, and then he'd try to kill his own brother. 

"I'm sorry, Wizard King, but I can't let him get away with this," I say, pointing my sword at Langris. 

"With all due respect, Wizard King," Langris grasps the palm of his hand. "But I as well would like to continue this as well."

The Wizard King sighs. "Very well. I'll let you two continue this spat. However, this is a tournament; therefore, we will be using the tournament rules. Think of this as just the semi-finals match. I'm sure that you two are ready to go, but you'll have to give us a little bit of time to set up." 

"That's fine by me." I lower my sword and walk over to Finral, whose been put on a stretcher. 

Noelle stands by my side and grabs my hand, "he'll be okay. We don't have to worry. Right?"

My grip on her hand tightens, "of course we don't. Finral is stronger than he looks."

"If you say so, Asta."

Finral's stretcher is hoisted up, and he's taken off the battlefield to a medical room. 

"I'd like to ask everyone but Asta and Langris to clear the battlefield, please." Says the Wizard King.

"What's going on?" Noelle asks, looking at me, confused.

"The semi-finals match will be happening right now. My team against Langris'. I don't like the way he does things. So I'm going to make him acknowledge us- by totally crushing him!"

The look on Noelle's face changes from confusion to worry. 

"Don't worry; I'll be fine! Plus, I have Xerx and Mimosa to watch my back." I try to reassure Noelle, but by the looks of it, it doesn't work.

Noelle's eyes begin to tear up. She lets go of my hand and instead hugs me tight. "I don't want to see you get hurt like Finral. You better come back to me in perfect condition." Her voice begins to crack, "if you don't, I'll be sad. Make sure you win. I'm royalty. So you have to listen to what I say."

Her voice is fragile. Hearing her say this makes my heart sink. She's really worried about me. 

"N-Noelle. Don't worry. I'll be okay." I return her embrace, hugging her tight, but she doesn't stop crying.

Noelle cries while I hold her in my arms. What do I do? My mind starts to go blank. How do I calm her down? In a panic, I move in and kiss her on the lips. Noelle squeals as I kissed her out of nowhere, but she doesn't back away. Instead, she kisses me back. Her lips are as soft as ever. This is something that I'll never get tired of. 

We part lips, and I look Noelle in the eyes. Her face is flushed red, and her tears have stopped. 

I place my hands on her cheeks and wipe away the remaining tear streaks, then place my forehead on hers, "I promise I'll come back to you, Noelle." 

Noelle places her hands on top of mine, "I believe you." She smiles and lets go of my hands, "good luck, Asta."

[Chapter 31 end]