"Hey! We don't need help from you! We can handle him just fine!" Klaus shouted, forcing himself to his feet, despite the blood trailing down his brow. His pride still burned brighter than the wounds on his body.
Saru, standing between them and the Diamond mage, tilted his head innocently. "Huh? But you look like you're going to die any second now."
The blunt observation hit Klaus like a slap to the face.
"What did you just say?!" he roared, his face turning red as he stumbled forward—but his knees buckled, nearly giving out.
Just as a hulking mineral clone charged in from the side, aimed straight at Klaus's exposed flank—
CRACK!
Saru appeared like a blur. His foot collided with the clone's chest, instantly shattering it into sparkling mineral dust with a single kick. The echo of the impact thundered through the dungeon.
Still mid-spin from the kick, Saru pointed his staff at the Diamond mage with a bright grin.
"Hey! Why are you targeting the weak?" he asked dramatically, with a cheeky smile. "Your fight is with me."
The words echoed.
And behind him, Klaus froze.
"…He… He just called me weak," Klaus muttered, clutching his head in disbelief. His voice trembled. "How… How did it come to this…? I was saved… by a Black Bull?" His pride was cracking faster than the mineral clones.
Meanwhile, Noelle ran over to the injured Mimosa, kneeling beside her and casting a glowing protective barrier with her spell.
"Sea Dragon's Cradle!" she whispered, encasing Mimosa in a swirling sphere of protective water.
"You alright?" Noelle asked, her voice softer than usual.
Mimosa nodded weakly. "I'll… live. Thank you…"
Back at the front, the Diamond mage narrowed his eyes. His emotionless voice cut through the room.
"You're all the same. Stepping stones to sharpen my magic."
With a gesture of his hand, twenty mineral clones erupted from the ground like jagged statues coming to life, each pulsing with violent mana.
Asta gritted his teeth and took a step forward. "I'm going too!"
But Saru threw out an arm to stop him, blocking his path with the staff.
"Nope. You protect them." Saru said, not even turning to face him, his tone suddenly calm.
Asta blinked, surprised. "Huh?"
Saru looked back with a grin, fangs peeking from his mouth. "I've got this. Just watch, rival." His golden eyes shimmered with excitement. "This guy's kinda cool, after all."
The Diamond mage scoffed. "Cool?"
Saru twirled his staff, the air around him warping from the speed as he spun it once and rested it on his shoulder. Then he reached up with a casual hand and plucked a few hairs from his head.
Everyone watched, confused.
He held them up… and blew.
The hairs sparkled in the air—and in an instant, four identical Sarus appeared around him, each with wild eyes, identical grins, and a perfectly matching staff spinning in their hands.
"Now it's fair." All five Sarus said in perfect unison.
The temperature in the room seemed to change.
"HUH?!" Asta's jaw dropped. "How the heck did he do that?!"
"Doppelgänger magic?" Mimosa whispered weakly. "No… They're exactly like him… Even the mana is the same!"
Klaus's eyes widened. "I hate to say it, but… he's on a completely different level."
Noelle's face went pale. "Wait… did he create living clones out of hair?! That's disgusting—and impressive!"
Even the Diamond mage flinched slightly. "What kind of magic… is this monkey?"
All five Sarus turned toward him at once, five identical smirks creeping onto their faces.
With a wild roar, Saru and his four clones surged forward, blurs of gold, tan, and red streaking through the dungeon like unleashed storms.
"Come on, come on, come on! Let's play!" one clone shouted, spinning his staff like a wheel before slamming it into the nearest mineral clone's face—shattering it instantly into shards.
"WOOOOO! Tag, you're dead!" yelled another Saru as he launched himself off the wall, flipping over two more mineral clones before jamming his staff downward—CRACK! The stone cracked like glass beneath him, the enemy clone reduced to rubble.
The Diamond Mage watched, eyes narrowing. "Tch… These are just illusions. Cheap tricks won't—"
BOOM!
One of Saru's clones punched through a mineral clone's torso like it was made of dry clay, then twirled and kicked the top half into the other, shattering both.
"Illusion? You wish!" the real Saru shouted as he skated past on Nimbus, flipping off it and landing a double-kick that sent two clones flying like broken statues.
The mineral clones fought back, swinging thick, jagged arms and summoning spikes from the ground—but Saru's clones danced through them, flipping, spinning, laughing like madmen.
"Too slow!"
"Missed again!"
"Why are you punching the floor? I'm up here, genius!"
CRUNCH!
Another mineral clone exploded as two Sarus tag-teamed it, one sweeping its legs and the other driving his staff down like a piledriver into its cranium.
Klaus stared, stunned.
"They're not illusions… they're… fighting as one. The same technique. The same speed. The same insanity…"
Noelle gawked. "What even is his magic type?! Monkey magic?!"
Even the Diamond mage took a cautious step back. "This… shouldn't be possible."
The five Sarus regrouped around the last four remaining mineral clones, forming a circle. All five crouched low in sync—shoulders squared, grins matching.
Then—BOOM.
They struck simultaneously, staffs sweeping low, smashing torsos, uppercutting heads, flipping through the air like acrobatic meteors of destruction. In the span of three seconds—
Every last clone was turned to gravel.
Dust filled the air. Shattered rubble fell like hailstones. And through the fog, all five Sarus struck a pose—staffs resting on their shoulders, chins up, eyes gleaming.
"That all ya got? Pale-face?" they asked in unison.
The Diamond Mage didn't respond—his eyes now locked, sharp and cautious.
The real Saru stepped forward, twirling Nyoi-Bo behind his back and resting it in both hands. His smile was wide.
"
The smoke had barely settled.
The Diamond Mage narrowed his eyes, expecting Saru to strike—but instead—
"You all can back off. I'll handle this loser myself."One of the Sarus stepped forward dramatically, tapping Nyoi-bo against his shoulder with swagger. "Time to show the real power of the Monkey."
"Tch—stop pretending you're the real one, faker!" another clone snapped, grabbing the dramatic Saru by the collar. And with no hesitation, he launched him straight into the ceiling—BOOOOM!
Chunks of rock and dust fell as that clone exploded through the roof and disappeared in a cloud of debris.
"Why are you acting all high and mighty?! I'm clearly the strongest!" said the second clone, cracking his neck as he stepped forward confidently.
"You wish, banana breath!" yelled a third clone as he sprinted in and drop-kicked him in the side. The second clone crashed into a wall, sliding down like a broken toy.
Now a fourth clone somersaulted in midair and slammed his staff onto the head of the drop-kicker. "You're both clowns! Let the real Saru do this!"
"You're ALL idiots!" screamed the fifth clone as he jumped into the air and elbowed the fourth one out of existence, causing him to vanish in a puff of magical mist.
"—Wh—what…?"Klaus's jaw dropped.
"Are they fighting each other??" Mimosa asked, blinking through her healing light. "Aren't they supposed to be… on the same side?"
"Those clones are just as dumb as the original…" Noelle muttered, hand over her face.
"That's the Black Bulls for you," Asta chuckled nervously, scratching his head.
The Diamond Mage, for the first time, looked completely baffled. "Are… are they infighting right now?"
As the chaos escalated, one Saru clone leapt across the battlefield to suplex another, only for a third to headbutt both midair, causing a mid-air explosion of dust and limbs. Another Saru was flailing as he was hurled into the ground like a meteor by his copy.
"I said I'M THE LEADER!!""NO, I AM!!""BANANA RULES!!""YOU'RE ALL FAKE!!""SHUT UP AND FIGHT ME, YOU COWARDS!"
Finally, the real Saru sighed.
Standing on his Nimbus above the madness, he lifted a hand. "Man… I knew giving myself teamwork wouldn't work."
He snapped his fingers.
POP!
Each clone froze mid-fight—mid-slap, mid-tackle, mid-taunt—then vanished in puffs of sparkling golden light, one after another. The battlefield fell eerily quiet.
The real Saru floated down from Nimbus, cracking his knuckles and landing with a thud. He smiled, looking at the Diamond Mage with a cheeky grin.
"Sorry about that. The I don't work well with himself."
The Diamond Mage stared at him in complete silence.
"...This is the weirdest fight I've ever been part of," he finally muttered.
Asta burst into laughter. "I'm not even surprised anymore!"
"Yami's taste in people is just getting worse…" Noelle whispered to herself.
"He's so unpredictable… but so strong," Mimosa murmured, still healing.
Klaus, still dazed, clenched his jaw and looked away. "...We were saved… by that."
Saru grinned, pointing Nyoi-bo straight at the Diamond Mage.
"Now then… let's finish this for real."