WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Black Clover Chapter 291, “A Duel With A Distant Inferior,” by Yuki Tabata, Taylor Engel and Annaliese "Ace" Christman, available now in English from Viz Media.
Chapter #291 “A Duel With A Distant Inferior”of Black Clover concludes the battle between Asta and Liebe and the hybrid devil, and returns to Jack's struggle against Dante. As Jack grows desperate, Magna and Zora appear to help, but the devil host is too much for either of them. Dante is so dismissive, in fact, he talks down to Magna and even shows him mercy -- he’d rather not waste his magic on killing him.
Magna is aware of their difference in power, but that does not stop him from surpassing his own limits: he unleashes his new spell, one which forces Dante to drop down to his level by splitting their overall magical power, binding them through a soul chain. Magna’s idea seems to be off to a great start, but does he have what it takes to defeat a member of the Dark Triad on his own?
Magna’s new spell, Secret Flame Magic: Soul Chain Death Match, is a risky move that foreshadows the death of whomever it binds. In the battle between Magna and Dante, it may seem like the Zogratis has the upper hand, but the spell combines the overall power of both mages and splits it evenly amongst them. It’s not clear whether the magic affinity could have an effect on the user, but Magna seems to be able to handle Dante’s magic without a problem so far.
Magna’s stubbornness will also be an underlying factor, forcing him to withstand any residual backlash from the spell, but as the situation stands, it’s going to be an all-out brawl between Dante and Magna.
Since Dante technically has two types of magic within him, gravity and devil, Magna’s spell probably only absorbed the gravity magic. In the past, devil hosts that utilized devil magic developed physical attributes that indicated the combination of devil and host. Since Magna is not a devil host, his body is most likely not capable of housing any devil magic absorbed through the spell, which could have a negative effect. If Magna did indeed absorb some devil magic, it could weigh him down, cause him to become mentally unstable, or even kill him.
Luckily for Magna, both Zora and Jack are still around to help him out, but the spell's name implies that only one person will escape with their life. The sharing of power could result in the victor absorbing the magic of the loser. Magna’s desperate move must have not been thought out thoroughly, but he’s not willing to lose either. Dante is powerful on his own without devil magic, but it will be interesting to see how Magna overcomes the leader of the Dark Triad.
In the grand scheme of things, one major detail that shouldn't be forgotten is that the gate to the demon world is still opening up. Lucifero has not fully manifested in the human world, meaning that he still has plenty of power in reserve. Dante has only been receiving a portion of Lucifero’s magic thus far, but if he was to receive an influx of devil magic the spell could be disrupted, or its capabilities could overflow. Magna’s spell may level the playing field, but when dealing with the devils, anything seems plausible.
Black Clover is setting the stage for another potential loss, but don’t count out the Black Bulls. Limits will definitely be pushed, but Magna has no intention of backing down. The battle between Magna and Dante could lead to a point at which the only way to save Magna will be breaking the chain spell with anti-magic. That seems like the most likely outcome to counteract the possible death toll from the spell.
All the pieces to stop the devil invasion are slowly coming together, but some characters are going to have to take matters into their own hands to make sure Nacht’s plan succeeds.
