Does Black Clover Have a Time Skip? (& When Does It Happen?)

When Yūki Tabata’s Black Clover manga first came out on February 16, 2015, it quickly attracted a lot of attention and became one of the bigger names of the post-Big Three era. The story of Asta managed to build a large and devoted fandom, which helped Black Clover “survive” in a very competitive environment. The manga has been adapted into an anime series and we’re currently waiting for an anime movie based on the manga. While we wait, though, we are going to tell you whether Black Clover has a time skip or not.

Black Clover does, indeed, have a time skip, albeit a brief one. The time skip happens between Arcs 8 (Elf Reincarnation Arc) and 9 (Heart Kingdom Joint Struggle Arc), i.e., as the Black Bulls prepare to fight the Heart Kingdom in a six-month training session. So, the time skip in Black Clover is relatively short and lasts only six months.

The rest of this article is going to give you all the details on the time skip of Black Clover. The time skip, as we have said, lasted only six months and it actually encompassed a long training session that helped the Black Bulls prepare for a fight with the Heart Kingdom. We’re going to bring you all the related details in one place so you can check them out below.

Does Black Clover have a time skip?

Time skips aren’t really that strange in long-running manga and anime series and most of them had one or more time skips, some of them being shorter (like in Bleach, for example), with others being longer (like in One Piece, for example). Black Clover certainly is a long-running series and you’re rightfully wondering – does Black Clover have a time skip? It does.

The time skip is not as vital to the series as it was to some other series, but it is present and it was a neat way to move the plot forward, seeing how it enabled Tabata so skip a whole arc that would consist of nothing but a large and overly long training session. Aside from that, nothing of essential value actually happened during the time skip.

How long was the time skip in Black Clover?

Now, unlike some other major anime series, the time skip of Black Clover was relatively short and in terms of the plot going forward, pretty insignificant. The time skip actually lasted only six months and it actually filled the interlude that certainly would have been present as the Black Bulls prepared for their fight.

What happens during the time skip in Black Clover?

Now, since the time skip was never revisited in detail, we have decided to recount the next best thing to you – the immediate aftermath of the training. Namely, the first part of Arc 9, the first one after the time skip, deals with the consequences of the six-month training and we are going to give you all the details from that period.

In the Grand Magic Zone, a large structure is powered by the mana of the people to move across the belt. Inside the structure, a soldier comments that the structure is the moving fortress Candelo and that the people powering the fortress are running out of mana so fast. Another soldier says that only about half of the people need to survive to cross the belt, and that they need to use up all their mana.

Outside the Candelo, Undine sees the fortress and reports it to Lolopechka. Lolopechka reports that the Spade Kingdom has begun to move toward the Clover and Heart Kingdoms, as they have already taken most of the Diamond Kingdom. Lolopechka comments on how the Candelo works and that Asta would hurry if he knew about it.

Gadjah says that the mages of the Heart Kingdom are so strong and explains that Asta could only become strong by training with them. Lolopechka replies that Asta is an arcane level mage and explains what kind of person Asta is. In the mobile fortress of Candelo, soldiers are bringing people into a chamber to replenish their mana supplies when a woman begs the soldiers to spare a child.

A soldier tells the woman that they can use the humans as they wish, since they are all useless, but he tears the woman’s clothes off and says that he will do her the honor of serving him. Suddenly, the Demon Slayer Sword enters the fortress while Asta lands on the ground. Asta gets up and calls the sword back to her.

A soldier realizes that Asta is a mage from the Clover Kingdom and says that Asta is an idiot for coming here alone. The soldier says that he will finish Asta off in no time and attacks with a spell, but Asta defeats the soldier with a single blow. Asta then tells all the soldiers to pounce on him, as he will defeat them all in a flash.

In Hage, Lily Aquaria comes out of the church and comments on the weather when she notices someone lying on the ground muttering the name Yuno. Back in Candelo Fortress, Asta defeats all the soldiers in the room and tells the hostages that everything is okay now. A woman says that they are the power source of this fortress and have nowhere to run.

The woman also says that they never wanted to be part of this war, and Asta wonders who put those thoughts in their heads. The woman says that the captain of this fortress has some ominous magical power, to which Asta replies that he will just defeat all the soldiers and come back to them. The woman says that this is impossible because there are too many soldiers, but Asta tells her that it will be fine.

Suddenly, more soldiers rush into the room and attack Asta, but Asta easily defeats them all with his demon wielding sword. Asta then makes his way into the fortress and begins defeating every soldier he encounters as he makes his way through the fortress. After defeating most of the soldiers, Asta meets the captain, who notices that Asta has the power of a devil inside him.

Asta comments on how the mages of the Spade Kingdom are treating their citizens, to which the captain replies that the peasants of the Kingdom of Spades are nothing but scum and that they live to sacrifice themselves. Asta comments that the civilians of the Spade Kingdom are not scum, but notices that something is affecting his body.

The captain says that Asta is scum because he does not have an ounce of mana, and wonders how Asta will handle an attack he can not defend against while casting a spell on Asta. The captain comments that Asta is no match for his high-level poison magic. The captain says that this fortress is useless without food. Asta draws his Demon Destroyer Sword and reverses the effect of the Basilisk Breath.

When the captain wonders how Asta can dissolve his poison, Asta tells the captain that the captain looks like the real scum to him. Then Asta uses his Demon Slayer Sword: Black Divider to split the fortress in half, while saying that if the Spade Kingdom wants a fight, he will smash them all to pieces.

Outside the fortress, Noelle Silva has just arrived along with Mimosa Vermillion and Finral Roulacase. Inside the fortress, Asta returns to the hostages and tells them that he has just defeated most of the soldiers. Asta notices that Noelle, Mimosa and Finral have arrived and comments on how amazing Noelle is.

When the three arrive at the fortress, Noelle complains to Asta about how much trouble she has getting around the Grand Magic Zone. Finral notices a beautiful woman and gets excited, but realizes what he is doing and stops it. Mimosa then uses the Princess Healing Flower Paradise to heal all the civilians who have been drained of mana. After seeing all this, the civilians wonder where to go now. Noelle tells them that it will not be a problem, since they have sent two mages to the village.

In the city of the Spade Empire, Luck Voltia and Leopold Vermillion manage to defeat all the soldiers and liberate the village. The two contact Asta and tell him that they are finished on their side. Finral says that they will meet up with them later, as he has already marked that spot. A woman asks what they plan to do with their village, and Asta tells them that people can do whatever they want with it since it’s their village.

Asta also tells them that they will have to hold out for a while as Finral will take them to their village, and the villagers thank them. Asta then tells them that they are there to defeat the devil. A woman explains that the Spade Kingdom is currently ruled by a powerful group called the Dark Triad.

In the capital of the Spade Kingdom, the Dark Triad – Zenon Zogratis, Vanica Zogratis and Dante Zogratis – have a meeting. They talk about how they have become accustomed to the devil’s powers and that they will now attack, having prepared well.