Black Clover: Why is Nozel’s Mercury Magic Slowly Killing Him?

In the latest chapter, we see Nozel Silva gain his own unique mode but it covers him in mercury. Is he smart for doing this or has Nozel set himself to die soon?

Black Clover author Yuki Tabata sneaked in two new chapters detailing the fight against the Silva matriarch, Acier Silva.

Although the highlight of these chapters is the eventual apology from Nebra and Solid for bullying their sister Noelle, there is a potential plotline that shows how dangerous some forms of magic can be to their user, no matter how powerful they become.

What is Mercury Magic?

The signature magic ability of Silver Eagles Captain Nozel Silva, Mercury Magic derives from his mother’s Steel Magic and the family’s signature Water Magic. This magic allows the user to produce and control mercury, which happens to be a liquid metal.

On the one hand, Nozel has the offensive power of metal, but with its flexibility, Nozel can shape the liquid metal into any form, from swords and projectiles to life-sized cages. Hardening the mercury allows Nozel to create reflective surfaces for Light Magic to pass through. 

Because mercury is toxic, Nozel can poison his opponents by planting it on open wounds to block blood flow. This is how Nozel countered Megicula’s Blood Magic in Chapter 303, which is fitting considering the highest-ranked demon’s role in the tragic loss of Acier Silva and therefore the reason for his siblings’ tragedy.

Why is Nozel dying?

Throughout the series, Nozel has been seen using his Silver Magic without any direct harm to his body, often as long ranged attacks. However, Chapter 372 introduces us to Mercury Guardian, an armor made of mercury. 

This form gives Nozel an impeccable defense, as the metal is strong enough to block repeated strikes but also soft and light enough to make the user move freely as they always do without it. 

However, this spell coats Nozel’s whole body in mercury, which means that Nozel is suffering from the poisonous effects of his own magic now that it has made direct contact with his body.

In real life, mercury is a naturally-occurring element found in the air, water, and soil.  Historically, mercury was believed to grant someone immortality, except that the actual effect is the complete opposite. 

The first Chinese emperor, Shi Huang-di, was infamous for ingested mercury after recommendations from some alchemists to gain immortality and died from the poisoning.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), elemental and methylmercury damages the nervous, digestive, and immune systems, lungs, and kidneys. Mercury can also cause behavioral disorders and symptoms such as insomnia, memory loss, headaches, and cognitive and motor dysfunction.

Now fighting against his own resurrected mother will not be the last time Nozel gets to use this magic. Even as his beloved sister Noelle has grown on her own, there will still be a few more battles to come that will push Nozel to the limits in order to protect his family.

Nozel might even perform a sacrifice to protect Noelle when she and the other Magic Knights confront Lucius Zogratis as soon as all his Paladins have been defeated.

Not to mention the possibility of Mercury Magic maybe being able to damage Lucius, who has the combined powers of his own Soul Magic alongside the magic of his siblings: Body, Blood, and Bone.

Black Clover is a manga series written and illustrated by Yūki Tabata and is serialized in Shueisha’s shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump in February 2015. The series ran in the magazine until August 2023, and moved to Jump Giga in December of the same year, following Yuki Tabata’s health condition, resulting in irregular releases depending on the author’s discretion. Chapters 371 and 372 were released together on August 8, 2024.