Chapter 204 - Turning Point

'What kind of magic is this?'

Laying in a broken pile of rubble and covered in dust, Megicula lay stunned at the fact that even at 70% Vanica had no way to resist Grim's power. Even with her taking control of half of her body and buffing it even further, she was unable to fully comprehend just how any of this was possible.

"What a stimulating experience."

Musing to herself, both hers and Vanica's interest in Grim deepened.

"He's great isn't he~" Vanica smiled enjoying the feeling fighting someone waay stronger than herself.

Feeling the damage in her arms slowly begining to heal, the beating of Vanica's heart sped up as she cleaned herself of the rubble and flew high into the air.

"WOW!!" She gasped marvelling at the distance they had travelled.

"He's something else!"

Seeing the two in the air, Grim's mana roared out once again as he shot up and started to bare knuckle beat her.

 

 Hitting her from side to side with rapid tenacity, blood flowed out of her mouth like a fountain.

 BANG-BANG-BANG

As if fireworks were going off, the power of his [Breath of Blue Flames] enhanced punches exploded out recolouring the sky and stunning every dark disciple and Clover/Heart ally below.

-This mana...

-Lady Vanica!!

-GRIM!!!

With every successful punch, both the sky and ground trembled as the power of [Blood Magic] and [Curse-Warding Magic] fought back against the raging flames.

*BOOM!!*

Staggering backwards and coughing out several mouthfuls of blood, the bloodied smile on Vanica's face continued to widen.

"MOREEEE!!" She roared calling out her [Red Beast].

*RAAAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR!!*

Facing the oncoming fist of the [Red Beast], Grim's body burned with blue light.

"BRING IT ON!!"

Grinning wildly and brimming with magical power, he gathered the power of the blue flames into his fist and threw it forward.

*BOOOM!!*

Colliding with the curse powered blood fist, the heat in his own attack seemed to spread through the red beast as the surface of its body began to boil and produce bubbles.

*POP!!*

Suddenly exploding all over the sky, both Grim and the Vanica/Megicula duo were caught off guard.

-Fire

-Water

-Lightning

-Beast

'Just what is his magic?'

Reigning over her own layer in the underworld and having come across many human mages in the human world via her contract with Vanica. Megicula had seen many different types of magic types in her long life. But even with all that experience under her belt, she still couldn't figure out what Grim's magic attribute was.

The only thing she could gather was that his power was arcane in nature and far surpassed that of a stage 0 mage.

It was just a shame that Vanica was unable to bring out anymore of her power. She really wanted to see how he would handle the true power of Curse-Warding Magic.

Sharing similar thoughts to her, Vanica too was unsatisfied with the amount of power she currently wielded. While she was enjoying what she could, she knew that there lay a higher layer of ecstasy just out of her reach.

Burning with anticipation and wanting to face another desperate attack, Grim once again blitzed the two.

 

*FWOOSH!!*

"What!!"

Grabbing hold of her face in a manner reminiscent of what Mereoleona had done to him not to long ago, leaving a sonic boom behind he charged into the sky with a grin plastered across his face.

Reaching a good enough height, the sound of the air exploding behind him rumbled out as he shot down and dive bombed the palace from above.

"HERE WE GOOOOOO!!!"

*BAAAANG!!*

Crashing straight through the roof and using Vanica's body as a battering ram to shatter through the ceiling. The combined sound of both of their laughters resonated out as the two crashed through several layers of ceiling before finally hitting the ground floor where Noelle and the others resided.

*BOOOOM!!*

Hitting it with enough force that the floor shattered upon impact, the sound of Vanica's laughter continued to ring out as Grim tunneled into the earth below. 

"Aughhh!!"

Scrambling away as the ground caved in beneath them and the ceiling above them threatened to crush them, various reactions escaped from the mouths of Noelle and the other girls.

"LADY VANICAAAA!!" The dark disciple fighting Mimosa screamed losing his footing and falling into the pit.

Tunneling deeper underground and with a tight grip on her face, the palm of his hand glowed with blue light as he said-

-RENGOKU

---

"Damn it!"

Watching Svenkin get up from the ground despite killing him for the 4th time, Luck couldn't help but curse aloud. To make matters even worse, Grim's mana had long since alerted him to his presence.

*RUMBLE!!*

Feeling the ground shake, his eyes suddenly went wide as both he and Svenkin looked towards the palace.

*BOOOOOOOOM!!!*

Erupting out from underground, a huge pillar of blue flames shot out from the ground and into the sky breaking through the clouds and reaching unknown heights.

---

-Underground-

Laying on the ground with wisps of smoke rising off from her body and covered from head to toe in burns and bruises, the barely breathing Vanica couldn't hide the crazed grin on her face as she looked up at the glowing Grim.

"This was perfect❤︎." She giggled. "What's next~"

'Hah. This girl's a riot.'

Unable to help himself, he lay down next to her and answered.

"...The gate to underworld..."

-Lets open it.

---

Waiting for Vanica's wounds to recover, Grim sat by her side and stared at the bright blue sky through the hole the two had made in the palace's ceiling.

Breathing in deeply, he closed his eyes and felt the negative mana in Vanica's body bubbling and healing her injuries.

Interestingly enough, her recovery speed surpassed his own.

While her power left a lot to be desired, he simply chalked it up to her being a human. Whether she acknowledged it or not, she was using power that didn't belong to her. It was only natural that her usage of it would be somewhat disappointing. Probably why she relied on her blood magic so much.

Asta and Yuno on the other hand were far better at using their borrowed power in comparison. Whether it be devil or spirit, the two of them surpassed both Vanica and Loropechka in terms of pure synergy.

"You done yet?" He asked eager to get to the Spade Kingdom.

Feeling like she had recovered enough, Vanica sat up and flashed him a beautiful smile that her dark disciples could only dream of.

"Hehehe yeah."

Wasting no time, the feet of the two began to leave the ground.

"Point the way towards the Spade Kingdom."

"Mmm hmm." She nodded as they rose out of the pit and soared into the sky.

"Lady Vanica!"

But just as the two were making their departure, a voice called out to them from below.

"Hmm?"

Lowering her head to see who was calling her, her previous look of happiness quickly morphed into that of disgust.

'Ugh, what does he want.'

But just as she was about to do something about him, a different voice caused her to pause.

"STOP!!"

Flying down from above and returning to her human form, Secre helped move some of the rubble off the other girls before looking up at Grim with a complicated gaze.

"Grim..."