The long-awaited battle between the mysterious Black Bulls Vice-Captain. Nacht and the leader of the Dark Triad, Dante, is finally here! Well, accompanied by someone we least expected to play a role in such an important fight between two devil hosts. It is none other than Yami’s frienemy (?) captain of Green Mantis, Jack the Ripper. We got some great angles in this chapter, so without further ado:

Nacht’s Devil Union form

Ever since Nacht mentored (bullied?) Asta into achieving his Devil Union form, we have been curious about both of their forms in action. With Gimodelo in charge of training Asta further, Nacht summoned his second devil named Slotos. He donned the Devil Union Mode: Equus. It is mentioned that this Devil Union mode’s special characteristic is toughness. The union mode covers him in armor that even withstands a direct attack from Dante.

This leads us to believe that all of Nacht’s devils serve a different purpose, and he uses them as the situation demands. This also further falls in line with the idea that Asta can probably create a field/region of Anti-Magic around him with his and Liebe’s Devil Union mode. All magic that touches this region will automatically either repel or nullify. Nacht’s other powers, courtesy of his devils, will also be a thing to look out for in the further episodes!

The battle

The fight started off with Jack using his Death Scythe: Lunatic Slash releasing a bunch of slashes. But Dante confirmed something we already knew at the very beginning of this fight. He has come back and he has come back stronger.

Dante is seen with the scar that Asta’s Anti-Magic left on him, almost like a reminder to avenge his defeat. He is bored with the weak players in front of him and uses his Gravity Magic making Jack lose his foothold. This worries Nacht as he knew just how unbeatable Dante was himself, and he the best chance all of them had to win was to bank on one possibility.

It is finally revealed to us just what the role of Jack is here. The one chance was Jack’s Slash Magic that can cut down even that which cannot be cut. However, this possibility was currently struggling even to move, while Nacht realized that he cannot land a critical hit to Dante!

Jack’s story

Storytime! In times of desperation, the unbeatable weapon is a good flashback for a shounen character! Jokes aside, we go back to Jack’s childhood. He was born to a commoner hunter father who made his living by hunting small game. When his father realized Jack’s Slash Magic, he was happy as it was befitting hunting. Jack’s father’s mantra was to never cross swords (you know, blades?) with someone stronger than himself.

Jack had accepted and gone along with this ideology until his father came back home dead one day. He had crossed paths with a savage animal for sure and with his lack of ability to fight, had undoubtedly lost. It was when Jack went to find this “lord of the mountain” that he realized he is strong. He can fight against stronger things and live proudly.

It was that day he decided on joining the Magic Knights and arrived at his own mantra too, “I just want to take those who are considered strong and slash them into ribbons!”

Power of flashback: successfully achieved! Jack sharpened the blades on his body by moving and cut through Dante’s Gravity Magic itself! He rose after a series of insults and provocations from Dante, going full out with his new manipulated blades. We, and even Dante and Nacht, probably thought nothing had happened after a flurry of the attacks, but..wait! Jack’s attacks left Dante bleeding! He showed us that he might be the captain of a squad named after insects, but he deserves to be called a captain in all sense!

Sasuga, Jack-dancho! You gotta give to a person when even Nacht is impressed!

Here is an interesting angle I found in a comment section somewhere: people don’t really realize that Jack’s magic is like a down-graded version of Asta’s Anti-Magic in the sense that both can “cut” through magic! Well, we have the winners from the three duels, and all of them are the Magic Knights! But, is it really over?

“Undying Bodies”?

In the last few chapters including the latest, we saw the fearsome and infamous Dark Triad fall like a house of cards against the Magic Knights of the Clover. Although the fights were breath-taking, we know that no shounen works out this way without the MC present. And we very well know Asta is on his way, while we have no news on Noelle, Mimosa, and Secre who were recovering in Elysia.

Where is our poetic justice, Tabata-sensei?

Plus, the title and cover of this chapter are pretty suspicious too. I am almost certain that a plot twist is about to come, maybe in the form of a devil or two being set free from the Tree of Qliphoth, or the Dark Triad getting up and saying “don’t we deserve an award for all that acting?”. Also no lies, the Asta deficiency is real! So, what do you think? What will happen, Asta, devils, or something else? Let us know!