Chapter 278

The Mantis's Ax (蟷螂の斧) is the 278th Page of Yūki Tabata's Black Clover.

Summary
Jack uses his Lunatic Slash to cut Dante's body multiple times, but Dante's wounds are healed right after the wounds are made. Dante explains how Moris Libardirt's sorcery science has improved his body's regenerative abilities even further, and that the only thing that has a chance to harm him is Anti Magic. Nacht thinks about how he had figured as much and that they will have to gamble with Jack's magic, which is able to cut things that cannot be cut, in order to win this fight. Jack says that they are just getting started, but Dante replies that he has no use for them and activates his Presence of the Demon King spell.

Nacht wonders if Jack will be able to attack from inside of the gravity spell. Nacht then has Slotos enter his shadow and activates his Unite Mode: Equus, which gives him the characteristic of toughness. Dante sees this and comments about how there's another devil host besides Asta. Nacht asks Jack what happened since he was showing so much spirit, and if his height and attitude is all that's big about him. Nacht says that talk is cheap and tells Jack to let his skills do the talking instead, which makes Jack become frustrated with Nacht.

Suddenly Dante appears behind Nacht and tells him to not ignore him, while throwing a punch. Nacht says that he is talking to captain Jack and kicks Dante. Dante gets excited and tells Nacht to show him more of his malice, and to keep him entertained until the gate is opened. Nacht thinks about how he can trade blows with Dante but cannot land a critical hit, and that is the reason why he cannot kill Dante. Nacht figures that he has to get Jack to attack somehow, or else they are finished. Dante turns his attention to Jack and comments about how he heard that Jack is a captain but Jack is boring, and tells him to get lost.

Jack thinks about how his dad was a hunter, who made his living by hunting birds and small game. Jack's dad has told him to not mess with anything that looks stronger that him, which Jack thinks about how his dad was a solid and conventional guy. When Jack's dad learned that Jack's magic formed blades, he was happy and comments about how it was fitting magic for a hunter. Jack thinks about how he hunted creatures that were weaker than him and slashed them up, and wondered if he always live this way. When Jack was 13, Jack's dad was killed which he thought about how he saw that coming. Jack thinks about how his dad probably ran into the lord of the mountain while he was hunting, since they were huge claw marks on his back. Later Jack confronted the lord of the mountain and thinks about how this is fine since he can slash through that. After Jack manages to defeat the lord, he figures that he will join the Magic Knights.

Nacht manages to block Dante's punch, but notices that Jack is manipulating blades on the surface of his body to sharpen them. Dante comments about how Jack is pathetic and says that Yami was a captain too, but Yami was able to keep him entertained. Jack thinks about how he wants to take the ones who are considered strong and slash them to ribbons, and gets up while having multiple blades from multiple parts of his body. Nacht thinks about how Jack was able to slash through the gravity. Jack says that he will test this on Dante's body and slashes him. Dante regenerates and says that it does not matter how much Jack attacks, which he, a mere insect could not kill him. As Dante prepares his Gravity Singularity spell, but Jack tells Dante to not mess with insects. Jack thinks about how the tough guys are not the ones with the best reputations, but they are the ones who kill everything that stands in front of them. Jack manages to slash through Dante's body magic, enough to hurt him which makes him bleed. As Dante is shocked with what just happened, Nacht comments how it appears that he underestimated Jack.

Fights

 * Jack the Ripper and Nacht Faust vs. Dante Zogratis

Trivia

 * The chapter was originally titled Undying Bodies (死なない体) but was amended in the volume release.