Chapter 17: Bull Calves' Horns

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"Damn, this is intense."

Dean and Kek were side by side, unable to even land a hit at their female enemy who was overwhelming in her attacks and defenses, with Dean and Kek deciding to go on the offensive together this time, but Ravel warned them about who the woman was. "So, she really *is* as strong as a captain?" asked Dean overwhelmed while sweating in Berenice's visage.

"What should we do, Dean? Wait for reinforcements?" asked Kek who was also overwhelmed by Ravel's statements, with him sweating intensely too, only for a tap in the shoulder from Dean to calm him a little.

"My instincts have gone crazy the moment she began showing some of her power." confessed Dean to Kek's surprise "If we run now though, she will chase and kill us."he said with confidence in his statement "So, either we fall fighting or managing to survive and end up living as cowards that never tried to surpass themselves." he ended up saying while covering his arms with his spell.

"Heh, you are right, Dean." replied Kek while bringing his dark sword into position "Running from danger and difficulty isn't what Magic Knights do!" he shouted fired up, with Dean smiling at his rival's determination.

"That's how things are, Ravel." said Dean while turning his head at her and having a warm face "So, provide at us at least some ranged support, ok?" he suggested at Ravel who didn't say anything and then looked again at Berenice "Sorry for the long chit-chat." he said while smiling fired up "Time for round two." he claimed as he and Kek rushed together at her.

Berenice slammed a right foot down causing a rush of magic power to surround her right leg, and swiftly dragging it upward and doing so, once her foot emerged from the earth, sent a hail storm of flying debris at the young magic knights! They flew with intense speed and strength, seemingly whistling as they sliced through the air "*Now, children, show me what you can do.*" Berenice thought as she placed her foot down next to the other, ready to react at a moment's notice.

"Sorry, lady, but this is nothing." said Kek as he swung his sword and released a black crescent slash "**Dark Magic: Black Slash!**" he shouted and the slash absorbed all the incoming debris and the slash struck in front of Berenice, creating smoke.

From the smoke then emerged Dean, with him grabbing her hands while having activated his Gorilla Punch spell beforehand "*Damn, she is strong, I can keep her like this for a couple of seconds.*" he thought in his mind. "Sorry, Miss Beatrice, but even Black Bull Calves like us have horns." he said while struggling to restrain her even for a moment "now Ravel, attack!" he shouted in desperation and faith at her, sure that she will take advantage of the situation to deal a good blow at her.

"Uhh..uh" Ravel stood there in shock, unable to move or even blink. Her legs quivered in fear with sweat dripping down her face. "*It's no use*." she thought in her head as images of people shrouded in darkness enveloped her mind. Instead of moving forward to attack, like Dean believed she would, she instead took a step back.

Dean's eyes widened from shock as he saw her being like a frozen statue and then Berenice freed herself, with him jumping back instantly and then he immediately went towards Ravel "Ravel, what are you doing?" he asked as he shook her while grabbing her shoulders "Ravel, snap out of it, please!" he pleaded, but then Kek grabbed him by his shoulder.

"It's pointless. We should try to stall her until others come, by ourselves, come." said Kek and Dean reluctantly agreed without saying anything, with him throwing a concerned glance at Ravel.

"So, any idea about how we can do something against her?" asked Dean while giving a glance at Kek who was thinking and looking at the ground.

"The only thing we could do is to try having one of us work as a decoy against-" he said but stopped upon raising his head, seeing Berenice looking at them intensely and he could swear her look was filled with curiosity.

Berenice's eyes widened once she took a better look at both Ravel and Dean. Suddenly, she let out a loud "Eeeeeek!!!" before quickly dashing forward! Each step causing large craters forming after her feet met the floor "You two are part of Korag's squad! she then slammed a heavy right foot to the floor, sending out a large shockwave outward! Her loud emotional state influenced her magic as her power shot straight up! A wave of thick oddly warm magic power was released. Inside her mind all she could do was picture flashing images of Korag himself, along with her repeating his name, simply going " Korag! Korag! Korag!" again and again in her head.

"Now, I'm going to have *extra* fun killing you two! I hope there are more of you little bulls here to slaughter! Now that I know Korag is your captain, it's going to make it so much better!" she claimed excited before closing her palms and making a tense fist.

Ravel's eyes grew plane white as a sweat drop dripped down her head in complete stun. "Hu?" She managed to say, completely speechless on what she just heard.

Dean and Kek took a fighting stance upon sensing the spike in her magic power and her sudden outburst "How do you know our captain and what's your relationship with him?" asked Dean in a demanding tone.

"*Relationship?*" Berenice thought to herself in a high-pitched embarrassed tone. She then smiled and swatted her hand outward playfully. Despite her doing so "playfully", her magic power concentrated itself to the back of her palm, a single point, the sheer power behind it being devastating "He's just an old foe, I swear! Now, do me a favor and shut up!" she said with a playful smile on her face.

"*She seems like a fan or something.*" was what the trio thought for a moment before Dean and Kek regained their focus "I agree with your plan, Kek." said Dean while cladding feet and hands in magic "I hope everyone is ok" he muttered concerned.

In the meantime

Serena was throwing magic bullets at Skia who simply unleashed a wave of shadows with which she blocked them "Tch." Serena was gridding her teeth from being unable to hit her.

"Fufufu, you try so desperately to hit me with mere magic bullets all this time, I almost pity you." said a cocky Skia as then her grimoire flipped pages "**Shadow Creation Magic: Night Claw!**" she said as she had now feline claws of shadows covering her hands, alerting Serena "Fufufu, now it's my turn to attack!" she shouted excited as she lunged at Serena and Shuna.

"**Lightning Creation Magic: Charging Lance!**" once she lunged towards the two, a blast of lightning blew past Serena and shot towards Skia at blinding speed the impact of which would unleash a stream of lightning shooting out in every direction. "Move aside commoner, you're clearly too weak to be here." Shuna said from behind, forcefully moving Serena out of her way.

"Hehehe." laughed Skia as she swiflty kneeled and bent her back to let the spell pass above her "Nice try, Miss Nobility, but you will have to do better than that." she said mockingly and then her grimoire flipped pages again, with Skia having a shadow kunai "Shadow Creation Magic: Night Sting" she said as the shadow kunai multiplied and before Shuna could try anything, Serena created a handful of drones that intercepted them and then fired a magic bullet each. "Are you serious?" asked Skia as she easily avoided them, only to suddenly be hit by two magic bullets in her belly by a smiling Serena as she was in the air "You bitch..." said Skia while landing down and seeing some blood "I WILL DROWN YOU AND THAT NOBLE BITCH IN ENDLESS SHADOWS!" she roared furious as shadows were twisting around her.

Elsewhere

"Ha!" Helen slashed a bunch of hooded mages that fell down electrified, causing the other ones to take a step back from fear, but they were suddenly pierced by gold spears.

"**Gold Magic: Yellow Emperor's Rain!**" said a calm and cocky Aurelius while brushing his hair with his left hand, having a pose of cockiness "If you thought that those pieces of filth could do something against me or my vassals, you must be a low level mage." he boasted while looking at his opponent with his right eye open.

"Who died and made us his servants?" muttered a drained, from all things she was hearing until now, Helen who was ready to cry at any moment from frustration.

"Well, weak or not, you are the only one left!" shouted a battle hungry Aurelius while firing a gold spear that was inches away from scratching his opponent's face and it piercing the wall behind, with Aurelius missing on purpose.

Helen was gripping her fist tightly "Why is that guy playing around? That spell could give as an opening if it was serious, am I wrong, Ale?" she asked angrily her fellow squad member while turning her head at him who was watching everything seemingly relaxed.

Alessandro simply raised his hand, summoning his grimoire to him, as it opened up, flipping through its pages before stopping and a slim, silver katana was drawn out from it. He gripped it's hilt and took a defensive stance. "We can't do much more than force an opening ourselves. Nobles don't care about anything other than themselves or what they can gain. It's why despite their power, we, the bulls, get more done for the kingdom, even if we're looked down upon." Alessandro's eyes then began to glow red, an aura of magic began covering his body. "Mana Skin: Sage's Vision" he called for the name of his technique. Suddenly, he could see the mana in the air in a whole new level, no longer feeling it, but seeing it freely travel in the air, seeing the magic power emitted off of everyone around him. Where most devote their training to gain strength, Alessandro devoted his time to refine his existing skills to a higher degree. This was one of the fruits of his intense labors. "So, lend me your strength Goldie Locks Girl, I'll need it."

Where Ale is usually so calm and composed, Alessandro was just about fed up with the current foe. He was exhausted of hearing such a smug voice, such a cocky attitude, something about it truly annoying him and breaking his peace. He was ready, he focused his magic to his leg before taking off at a drastic speed, his eyes fixated on what lied ahead!

"Goldie Locks!?" wondered for a second a suprised Helen who then smiled "You are right though." she said while gripping her halberd tighter "We, the black bulls, can accomplish more things than nobles who simply play around. " she claimed excited as she gathered magic power in her feet and dashed off along with Alessandro.

"I'll force the opening, you capitalize!" Alessandro's sword then began to glow with a blue aura as it began to draw mama from the air, wrapping itself around his blade. "*My sword has two abilities to it. One, it can draw mana in the air for attacks and two, it can feed the mana directly to me.*" Alessandro thought as his speed shot up, quickly appearing before the diamond mage. "*somewhere like this, where mana is highly abundant, it makes my sword even more of a weapon...*"

Alessandro then released a flurry of slashes, each releasing highly condensed blades of pure magic power! One after the other, the magic blades were shot, storming their way to and around the foe "*But, that means my magic power is plentiful. Which means, I can serve better as a distraction right now*...Goldie Locks, don't waste this chance!"

"I will not!" she shouted as she came closer to the enemy and raised her halberd up "time to show what I got from my training with Mister Bacchus**Thunder Halberd Style:**..." she ended up saying and her electrified halberd's axe blade was covered in an electrified aura that had its shape "...**Thunder Slash!**" she shouted as she brought it down, with it ready to hit the enemy.