Chapter 197

False Hope (まやかしの希望) is the 197th Page of Yūki Tabata's Black Clover.

Summary
As Asta and Mimosa arrive in the room, Mimosa notices the situation that is happening and wonders about the devil. Asta also notices that devil and wonders what it is, but thinks about how he may already knows the answer to that question. The devil comments about how some uninvited quests have arrive, but decides to deal with them later. The devil decides to deal with Patolli first and uses his magic to bring Patolli to him. Patolli figures out how the devil's magic works and how the devil used that magic to mimic Ronne's magic. Patolli get angry and tries to attack the devil, but the devil easily destroys the spell. The devil then pins Patolli in mid-air by spearing him with spears.

Yuno sees this and tells Asta that the devil is the mastermind behind all of this. Asta agrees with Yuno and both charge towards the devil. The devil defends himself by having rain blade, which Asta and Yuno try to defend against the blade. Asta notices that their are real blades mixed in and tries to dodge them since his Anti-magic won't work on them. Yuno also continues to dodge the blade with his magic but comments about how it taking a like out of him. The devil uses his magic to pin Asta and Yuno to the ground and then continues to crush them into the ground. As Mimosa yells Asta and Yuno's name, the devil says that he won't allow anyone to get in the way.

The devil comments about how Licht and the first magic emperor caused his last incarnation to fail. The devil then says that he had chosen Patolli as his next target, and that it was easy for his to reincarnate Patolli once he applied tragedy to him. Patolli says that his was Licht that had reincarnated them, since Licht had entrusted his final hope to them. The devil informs Patolli that he was the one that had reincarnated all the elves, which shocks Patolli. The devil tells Patolli that Licht would have never wanted to eradicated the humans, and that the revival of the elves and the revenge for the tragedies inflicted were all lies. The devil then tells Patolli that he has been walking the path that he had prepared for Patolli, along with all those that he had stringed along. The devil finally tells Patolli that he has arrived at a future that Licht would not have wanted and his incarnation in the flesh. Patolli says that he was chosen by the clover like Licht, which the devil says that he was chosen has the perfect pawn. The devil says that Patolli did a good job, which Patolli screams out for what he had done. The devil also says how its hilarious how both the elves and human's dreams and desires make the ultimate playthings.

Both Asta and Yuno get back up and express how their dreams would never lose to a piece of trash like the devil. Ryha notices the Licht's child inside of Yuno has awakened since the mana is swelling around Yuno and withering down all the physical objects nearby him. The devil wonders if the devil within Asta is resonating with his mana, since the Anti-magic emanating from him is disintegrating all the magic around him. As Asta and Yuno rushes towards the devil, Mimosa notices Asta is taking care of all the magic blades while Yuno is taking care of the real blade that are being thrown at them. Asta and Yuno then express how if the devil is getting in their way, then they will just have to destroy him.

Trivia

 * The chapter was mistakenly numbered as the 178th chapter in the weekly publication.