Episode 162

The Great War Breaks Out (大戦勃発) is the 162nd Page of Yūki Tabata's Black Clover.

Summary
Dante Zogratis is standing in front of a wall of ice. He talks to himself about how evil is humanity's true nature, and a devil-like shadow stretches out behind him. As he lifts up into the air, Dante wonders what kind of human the Arcane Stage mage Yami Sukehiro is. Meanwhile, Vanica Zogratis and her Dark Disciples approach the border of the Heart Kingdom. Vanica hopes that Lolopechka and her allies will provide entertainment while she, Vanica, crushes them.

Lolopechka is doting on Charmy Pappitson and feeding her more fruits because she finds the Black Bull's plump frame to be adorable. Mimosa Vermillion and Noelle Silva worry about Charmy being spoiled. The Magic Knights discuss the impeding confrontation with the Spade Kingdom. Luck Voltia and Leopold Vermillion are looking forward to the fighting, and Leopold notes that they have taken over additional towns along the Spade Kingdom's border. Rill Boismortier and Charlotte Roselei have returned to the Clover Kingdom for a captains meeting, while Asta and Finral Roulacase have left to take gifts to the other Black Bulls. Lolopechka suggests that they all take this time to relax, and Gadjah smiles at seeing how happy Lolopechka is. Suddenly Lolopechka and Undine react as they sense six people infiltrate the kingdom. They create viewing screens and a map showing where the six mages landed after they crashed through the defensive barrier. Even though she has alerted the other Spirit Guardians, Lolopechka is worried since all six invaders are Zero Stage mages with devil powers. Additionally, one of the six is Vanica, the devil host for Megicula, the mention of which catches Noelle's attention.

After killing about a hundred people, Vanica and Robero Ringert, one of her Disciples, are walking toward Lolopechka's palace. Robero suggests that they head there right away, but Vanica wants to kill more people to make sure Lolopechka is motivated for their fight. Vanica punches and stomps on Robero, which he enjoys.

At the Black Bull base—now located in the Neutral Zone near the Spade Kingdom as the first line of defense—Asta and Finral arrive with the food and are greeted by Vanessa Enoteca, Grey, and Gauche Adlai. Finral then heads out again to fetch Yami from the meeting. Asta is amazed at how busy Finral has been with traveling, and Finral mentions that he will take a little longer to get to the Clover Kingdom and back since he has to break up the distance into multiple stops.

Gordon Agrippa is still studying at home with his family watching him. Jonna offers Gordon a sandwich, the sight of which reminds Nathan of his first date with Jonna. Roxanne asks to hear more of their story, but Gordon wants to focus on his studies.

Back at the base, Grey is creeped out by the memories of Gordon's home. Vanessa mentions that Henry Legolant is resting since he has used so much magic power and they do not have many people or Charmy's magic-restoring food to replenish him. She also mentions that Magna Swing and Zora Ideale have been off together ever since Magna was denied training in the Heart Kingdom. As Dante appears outside a window, Henry wakes and sounds an alarm. Gauche looks out a window and notices that the whole base is floating in the air. Since Yami is absent, Dante is hoping that the other Black Bulls will entertain him while he waits. Vanessa immediately summons Rouge to protect them. Henry rearranges the base into The Raging Black Bull, while Gauche creates an array of large mirrors. Together, they launch Large Reflect Refrain and Mana Rocket Punch at Dante. Insulted by the insolence, Dante increases gravity, causing the spells to slam the spells into the ground, as well as creating a crater below and snapping the surrounding trees in half. The base survives due to Rouge's protection. Dante recognizes the cat as Arcane Stage magic and is intrigued to learn that the Black Bulls has another besides Yami. Asta then flies out of the base and sends a Black Slash at Dante, who dodges out of the way. When Asta sends out additional Black Slashes, Dante tries to divert them with Gravity Magic, but the Anti Magic negates the effect. After dodging them as well, Dante pulls several trees up into the air, crushing Asta amongst them. However, Asta survives, thanks to Rouge. Dante is impressed that the cat can avert even death, so he flies around Asta and breaks down the base's door, looking for the cat's owner. Vanessa summons Rouge back and warns the others to stay behind her. Asta flies back to the base, but since Asta is no longer protected by Rouge, Dante snaps his fingers, increasing gravity and slamming Asta into the ground below. Struck by Vanessa's beauty, Dante introduces himself as one of the Dark Triad and asks Vanessa to be his woman. The Black Bulls are shocked to find out he is one of the Spade Kingdom's leaders.

In his black form, Asta flies back up behind Dante and attacks, but Dante evades, flying away from the base, and is surprised to learn that the Clover Kingdom has devil host of its own. Asta attacks with Black Divider and then Black Meteorites, but Dante dodges them all, which surprises Vanessa since they are fast attacks that track mana. Planning to help Asta attack from multiple directions until Dante makes a mistake, Gauche makes his way to the top of the base and then multiplies Asta. All of the copies are in the black form and target Dante with Mirrors Meteorite. However, Dante draws on 50% of his devil power and warps the space in front of himself, diverting the Astas around him. Once the copies disappear, Dante steps on the original's shoulder and slams him into the ground, creating a crater. Dante keeps Asta pinned down with his foot and gravity. Dante points out that they should be able to find common ground because they are both devil hosts, but Asta doubts that they ever could since he has seen how Dante treats the citizens of the Spade Kingdom. Dante accepts Asta's disgust as a compliment and explains his views on malice. Dante mentions that humans are their truest selves when they unleash their negative emotions, to which Asta counters, saying that overcoming those negative emotions with a strong heart is true humanity.

Finding Asta's answer to be strange for a devil host, Dante increases gravity further, but Rouge saves Asta once again. This angers Dante, and he reprimands Vanessa for using her magic for the sake of any other than him. He then draws on 60% and forces Rouge to expend all of its magic power and unravel. At the same time, Henry also runs low on magic power. The base gives into the gravity, and sections slide off. Dante uses gravity to pin Vanessa, Gauche, and Grey in midair and lift them out of the base. Intent on forcing Asta to give into malice, Dante pulls a boulder out of the ground and condenses and shapes it into a large sword. As Asta pleads for Dante to stop, Dante snaps his fingers, sending the sword through Gauche's torso.

Shocked by the sight, Asta has a brief memory of a woman dying. Overcome with rage, Asta goes berserk, draws on more of his devil's power, and lashes out at Dante, swinging an enlarged Demon-Slayer Sword. Dante doges the attack and is delighted to see the change in Asta. Asta's swing negated the gravity holding up his squadmates. As they fall, Grey transforms the ground below them into cotton, cushioning their landing. Meanwhile, Asta whips the lengthened Demon-Slayer Sword at Dante, as well as drawing the Demon-Dweller Sword to unleash a flurry of Black Slashes. Dante then asks Lucifero if he recognizes Asta's devil. Lucifero does not and mentions that the only high-ranking devil that should be in the living world should be Zagred. He also points out that magic negation is a lowly skill so Asta's devil must have little magic power. Dante boasts that the Dark Triad have the mightiest of devils. He then throws more boulders at Asta. Although the Anti Magic whip smashes the boulders, Dante's gravity causes the pieces to still rocket forward, forcing Asta to dodge them. Vanessa worries about Asta's berserk state, as well as the severity of Gauche's injury, noting that even Secre Swallowtail's Sealing Magic might not be enough to save him. Grey cries over being too weak to help out and the uselessness of her magic.

Dante shapes three massive swords and launches them at Asta from multiple directions. Asta spins rapidly, blocking the swords, and then lets out a Black Slash. When Dante warps out of its path, Asta anticipates where Dante will reappear and propels himself at the spot, surprising Dante. Asta's swing manages to scratch Dante's cheek, and Dante warns that Asta will regret doing so.

Fights

 * Black Bulls vs. Dante Zogratis