I'll show you what real style looks like!" Magna announced as they stepped outside the hideout.
He pulled out his beloved, heavily modded flying broom—a hideous metal-studded thing with flames and skull decals. The words "Super Magna Special Ver. 3" were etched on the handle.
"So… ugly…"
Noelle whispered in horror.
"HEY! This baby took me weeks to build! It's got grit, it's got personality!"
"She looks like a flying death trap," Asta muttered.
"Shut up and get on!"
As the trio prepared to take off for their very first official mission as magic knights, none of them knew that a storm was quietly brewing far beyond the borders of Saussy Village...
"I'm not talking about Magna, but if you model your broom after the First Wizard King, 80% of the population would either worship it or burn it as heresy..."
Asta's comment was sharp and cutting, and honestly, his instinct wasn't far off—Magna's "Honglinger's Majestic Destroyer" looked less like a broom and more like something cobbled together in a garage with leftover scrap metal and demonic influence.
Click!
Magna instantly froze like he'd been turned to stone. Ugly and cremated...?
"You two idiots! You don't understand art! This broom is a masterpiece of raw style and performance!"
Magna roared, stomping over to mount the broom that he had personally heavily modified. It looked like it barely followed the rules of aviation—more scrap heap than sleek transport.
The broom, which Magna affectionately called "Crimson Lion Roar" (here, keeping "Honglinger's Majestic Destroyer" for flair), was powered by his fire magic—and while it could fly, it wasn't exactly made for comfort, let alone carrying three people.
"You go first!" Noelle gestured at Asta. Sitting in the middle would mean being squished between Magna and Asta, and the idea of being in such close contact with Asta made her cheeks burn.
Asta picked up on her unspoken embarrassment and didn't push it. He just nodded and mounted behind Magna.
Soon after, he felt Noelle's soft and hesitant weight press against his back.
"Let's go!" Magna shouted.
FWOOOSH!
The broom ignited with explosive flame propulsion, launching them into the air with a thunderous blaze. The sudden acceleration made Noelle instinctively wrap her arms tightly around Asta's waist.
"This is purely for safety. Nothing else," Noelle muttered, blushing furiously.
"Got it!" Asta grinned, perfectly content.
****
Magna's fire-powered broom consumed a massive amount of mana, and by the time they reached Saussy Village, he was completely winded, panting like he'd run a full marathon.
"I feel like I've been lit on fire myself…" Magna wheezed, collapsing dramatically on a boulder.
Noelle, still learning to control her Water Magic and lacking the precision of someone like Finral or Yuno, had been unable to help with transportation. So, that left the heavy lifting—literally and figuratively—to Asta.
Luckily, the target—wild boars that had been terrorizing the village—weren't much trouble.
"Five points!"
"Another five points!"
Asta grinned as he cut down wild boars one after the other with his Demon-Slayer Sword, his anti-magic weapon easily overpowering the creatures.
"Let's just say… the real wild animal was me," he joked, sheathing the massive sword on his back.
Magna stared in disbelief. "He already took down seven of them?!
Noelle watched with wide, admiring pink eyes. "He may have no magic… but he's seriously strong."
With their task seemingly completed, the trio began descending toward the village—but then, Asta's expression turned serious.
"Wait…"
He looked down the hillside. A thick, unnatural fog had descended upon Saussy Village, completely blanketing it.
"This isn't normal," Asta muttered.
"Right… There's no way villagers could make fog this dense with normal means." Magna frowned. "This reeks of magic."
"Then the village must be under attack!" Asta concluded, gripping the hilt of his sword.
"But why Saussy Village?" Magna muttered. "There's nothing here worth stealing!"
He clenched his fists. This was his home. He owed the people here.
"We're going in," Asta declared.
"We'll lose our way in that fog," Noelle warned. "It's too thick. That magic could disorient us completely."
But Asta smiled. "Don't worry. I'm the guy who can cut through any magic!"
As he spoke, a green anti-magic aura burst from his body. Raising the Demon-Slayer Sword, he slashed the air, and with a single swing, the sword tore through the magical fog, clearing a wide path hundreds of meters long—revealing the village ahead, eerily silent but visible now.
"Let's move."
"It's a good thing I brought you this time. Just getting into Sauusy Village would've been a pain otherwise!"
Magna laughed, trying to sound cheerful, though his clenched fists told another story.
Despite everything, he had a deep bond with this village — and he wouldn't let anyone lay a finger on it.
****
"Go left from here. If something really went down in Sauusy, everyone would've gathered in the square by now,"
Magna said, scanning the area as they advanced.
"You really know this place like the back of your hand,"
Noelle muttered, impressed. Even though Asta was clearing the path through the dense magical mist, it had become impossible to tell which way was north anymore.
Suddenly, Asta's voice cut through the haze, low and sharp:
"There's someone ahead."
Noelle turned quickly. Her eyes widened.
Asta's pupils were glowing a deep crimson — an eerie shift she hadn't seen before.
"What… your eyes…"
she whispered, unnerved by the strange beauty of them.
"I sense strong magic power," Magna added grimly, sweat trickling down his temples.
He didn't need to be told twice — whoever was ahead was no ordinary opponent.
With a powerful swing, Asta slashed through the thick fog with his Demon-Slayer Sword.
The square came into view.
What they saw made all of them stop in their tracks.
The villagers were gathered — old men, women, children — all forced to kneel. Suspended above their heads were jagged, glimmering ice spears, held in place by powerful magic.
At the center of it all sat a man with white hair and wearing the green robes of the Diamond Kingdom, perched on a block of ice like a self-proclaimed emperor.
His legs were crossed lazily, but his voice was cruel and detached.
"Execute them."
SHING!
The frozen spears trembled, poised to fall. But the villagers didn't scream. They huddled together, silent, as if they'd already made peace with their fate.
"FIRE MAGIC: EXPLODING FLAME BALLS!"
Magna roared in rage.
A swarm of blazing fireballs exploded into the sky, colliding with the descending ice magic in mid-air.
BOOM! CRACK!
The fire and ice burst apart, canceling each other out in a brilliant explosion of steam and magic.
"It's the Magic Knights!"
"That's Magna!"
The villagers' expressions lit up with a flicker of hope as they spotted their rescuer.
"Grandpa, look! Magna's here!"
a blond-haired boy sobbed beside the body of an old man.
Magna froze.
His eyes fell on the lifeless form lying crumpled on the ground — it was Sisi, the old man who used to beat him at cards and give him candy as a kid.
"Master…?"
His heart dropped, but anger quickly surged to the surface.
"You bastard… You didn't just terrorize the village… you killed him?"
Noelle's voice rang out with fury. "You'll pay for this! Innocent villagers… children… you don't care about any of it, do you?!"
Her magic surged around her in a spray of silvery water.
Asta's crimson eyes narrowed, locked onto the enemy like a hawk.
They held no warmth — only the cold stillness of battle.
The white-haired commander barely spared them a glance.
"Hmph… Just kids," he muttered.
"Kill them all. I want the village wiped out in ten seconds."
He casually flicked open a pocket watch, starting a countdown.
Asta gave a bitter laugh.
"You really think you can kill us in ten seconds? Try it."
Magna reached out instinctively.
"Asta, wait! Don't rush in! This guy… He's no joke. He's got elite-level mana! We need a plan—!"
But Asta had already stepped forward.
His huge Demon-Slayer Sword rested across his shoulder.
The anti-magic energy around him churned like a storm.
"Noelle, Magna," he said without turning back,
"Leave these clowns to me. I'll take all four heads myself. Any objections?"
Neither of them replied.
Even Magna — hot-headed as ever — knew better than to get in Asta's way when he was like this.
Because right now…
Asta wasn't just fighting to win.
He was fighting to protect — and when he did that, not even a royal general from the Diamond Kingdom could stop him.