Black Clover returned last month after a fandom-breaking cliffhanger and an incredibly painful hiatus. As we enter arc 11, the final arc of Black Clover, mangaka Yuki Tabata promises that Asta will face even tougher challenges on his quest to become the Wizard King.
Speaking of, while most of us still aren’t over the fact that Julius Novachrono is actually Lucius Zogratis, a unique being born with two souls, the fight that ensued between Asta and Lucius has proven to be more than we – or Asta – can handle.
Asta, even with Devil Union, was no match for Lucius, the devil host to Astaroth, one of the 3 rulers of the underworld. Lucius defeats not just Asta, but 8 Magic Knight Captains.
After the fight, Asta finds himself teleported to the coast of Hino Country, the Land of the Sun, which is Yami Sukehiro’s homeland. The country is on a separate continent, far away from Clover Kingdom, and its shogun is Ryudo Ryuya, Yami’s childhood friend.
How did Asta reach Yami’s homeland?
Asta was teleported to Yami’s homeland by Sister Lily.
Lucius had turned Lily into a Paladin, a kind of pseudo angel, using his Soul Magic. He transferred the soul or purified power of the devil, Beelzebub, into her, along with all his magic.
Beelzebub, as we know, has the power of Spatial Magic; after Asta is slashed in the heart and beaten, transformed-Lily strikes her final blow using Spatial Magic, transporting Asta to a distant land.
I believe some part of Sister Lily might still be conscious inside her new angel avatar. She perhaps sent Asta to Yami’s homeland on purpose, because she knew he’d get the help he needed there.
Where is Yami’s homeland?
Yami’s homeland is Hino Country, which is inspired by Japan. It is on a separate continent from Clover Kingdom.
In chapter 336, Yami asks Nacht to try and enter Asta’s shadow. Nacht has the ability to move into the shadow of any person in the vicinity but he cannot enter Asta’s.
They surmise that this means Asta has to be somewhere either incredibly far away, like on another continent, a different dimension, or simply dead.
The most logical option here is that Hino Kuni is on a different continent because as we know from early chapters, when Yami washes ashore the Clover Kingdom after a shipwreck, he is ostracized for looking and sounding different.
Clover Kingdom is likely based on Europe, so it makes sense that Hino Country is Japan.
Also, it uses the shogunate system which is a Japanese social structure; Ryudo Ryuya confirms that he is the current shogun of the country.
They also use a unique style of sword called katana, and study ki, or life energy – both traditionally Japanese.
What will Asta learn there?
Asta is going to get a power-up in the Land of the Sun. Since it is Yami’s homeland, Hino Kuni, a country based on Japan, he will learn something specifically related to it, most likely either involving ki, katanas, dragons, or Japanese gods.
In the latest chapter 337, Ryudo, with the help of his eye (possibly a devil’s eye) can “see” into Asta’s thoughts and memories, and also sense his ki and strength.
He correctly identifies that Asta heart was literally and metaphorically almost broken by Sister Lily, his first love, and the man who looked like Julius, the person he looked up to the most.
Ryudo’s eye also tells him that if Asta were to return to Clover Kingdom right now, he would most definitely lose. Lucius x Astaroth are way too powerful for him to fight, even with Liebe.
Ryudo also knows that Asta has no magical power of his own. He says that since Asta is already here, he might as well get a power-up, right here, right now.
[Note the “right here, right now” phrasing; very similar to Yami’s catchphrase: “Surpass your limits, right here, right now.]
1. Ki Awakening
With Asta landing up in traditional Japan, the most probably power-up is a Ki Awakening. Ki, as we’ve seen in Black Clover, is an extremely rare ability that was unique to Yami before he taught it to Asta.
Yami learned the power of ki from his homeland. But Yami was only 13 when he became marooned on the shores of Clover Kingdom, which means he only had a few years to learn ki from his homeland.
But whatever little Yami knows of ki makes him one of the strongest Magic Captains in Clover Kingdom. This indicates that the full potential of ki might be much beyond what we can imagine.
Ryudo Ryuya probably learned from the best ki-masters in Hino before becoming shogun.
So, it’s fully possible that he teaches Asta the hidden capacity of sensing ki, which will, along with Liebe’s Anti-Magic and his own sword skills, help in him defeating Lucius’s insane power.
Maybe Asta will learn how to infuse ki with Devil Union, his current most powerful attack. This ability might help him get rid of the 10-minute time limit.
Ki Awakening could also simply mean turning ki into offensive attacks rather than using it for dodging and deflecting.
Fans have already been comparing this new Hino Kuni development to One Piece’s Wano Kuni, and it has actually always been tough to ignore the similarities between BC and OP. There is definitely going to be some kind of Awakening happening here with Asta.
2. God Ki
Dragon Ball fans will be aware of godly ki, which a unique ki used by divine beings like angels. Goku and Vegeta used this God Ki to get new Saiyan God transformations and it’s not that much of a stretch to say Asta might do the same.
I mean, for one, Asta already has the hair.
But, an evolved – or purified version of ki, would fit right in, especially now, after Lucius revealed his plan to literally purify mankind.
Lucius introduced a new species different from humans and devils in Black Clover; if there are now canon angels and gods, God Ki most definitely might be a thing.
3. New Katana Skills
How about some Advanced Armament Haki type power-up? Ki infused into Asta’s sword skills? Luffy did learn Ryuu in Wano after all.
I am here for it.
We’ve seen Asta’s Demon-Destroyer Sword negate Reincarnation Magic; maybe a katana power-up can give him more such awesome sword skills that complement Anti-Magic and make use of ki.
Japan is the land of samurai, so Ryudo teaching Asta the true art of swordsmanship would be quite frankly, legendary.
4. Dragon Power
Ryu in Japanese means dragon. Seeing how Ryudo Ryuya has the word “dragon” literally twice in his name makes me think he’s about to teach Asta some dragon-related power-up.
Whether this is literally transforming into a dragon (ahem, ahem, like Kaido) or breathing fire from his mouth, or actually flying is impossible to say.
Though if Asta can finally fly with some new dragon power-up, I’ll be the happiest person here.
Whatever Asta’s new power-up is, Tabata is sure to make it kick ass – kick Lucius’s ass, to be precise.
About Black Clover
Black Clover is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yūki Tabata. It has been serialized in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine since February 16, 2015.
The story centers around Asta, a young boy seemingly born without any magic power, something that is unknown in the world he lives in; and his foster brother Yuno who received the rare four-leaf grimoire and has more magic power than most people! With his fellow mages from the Black Bulls, Asta plans to become the next Wizard King.
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