Warning! Spoilers ahead for Black Clover Chapter 326!
The memories that Asta's devil companion Liebe has of Asta's mother Lucita just entered the young, magicless mage's mind at a critical moment in Black Clover. For the past few chapters, Lucifero has effortlessly thrown Asta into a comatose state and, upon the young mage's awakening, been tearing through his friends and comrades as they try to sacrifice themselves to protect the boy against Lucifero further. Liebe's memories, however, seem to have given Asta new strength to actually stand up against Lucifero.
But there's, of course, a twist. Asta isn't aware that the woman Lucita from Liebe's memories is his own actual mother. Asta is under the false impression that Lucita adopted Liebe and that the two formed a strong relationship like a mother and son. He knows for a fact, however, that Lucifero killed Lucita. And as Lucifero is delivering the final blow that's expected to kill both Asta and Liebe, Asta's bond is so strong with his devil companion that the anger and sorrow Liebe feels for failing to avenge Lucita's death are so deep that they empower Asta to summon enough strength to block Lucifero's incoming blow in chapter 326.
Readers have been aware of Liebe's past and his connection to Asta's mom Lucita for quite some time. But for reasons unknown, the devil has been keeping Lucita's identity and his connection with her a secret from Asta, which has only been prolonging reader anticipation for when that day finally arrives for the young, energetic mage. From the opening chapter when Asta and Yuno were introduced as orphans of unknown parents, mangaka Yūki Tabata made it abundantly clear that the mystery behind Asta and Yuno's history would be a major theme throughout the manga. So, when readers eventually learned about Lucita, it was a massive moment. But unlike how it was for Yuno who recently discovered his royal heritage, Asta has been left in the dark as Tabata slowly unveils the truth from Asta's past. Chapter 326 is the latest of these teasers. It is the first time that Asta has seen his mother, let alone learned anything about her. The irony is that this moment—one of the most pivotal moments of his life—just passed him by without him even realizing it.
However, there's an ingenious underpinning to the entire situation that mangaka Yūki Tabata's masterful storytelling subtly implies. Asta's misunderstanding of who Lucita truly is gives him the capacity to undergo a second "awakening." At the end of chapter 326, it's heavily suggested that Asta wants so desperately to help his friend Liebe seek vengeance on Lucifero for killing Liebe's supposed adopted mother that he is able to block Lucifero's blow that he had been too weak to survive against just moments earlier. When this power inevitably fades as is expected, Asta can still summon more strength if he learns the real identity of Lucita during this pivotal battle. If this actually transpires, Asta won't just be filled with the desire to avenge the death of his friend's mother. He will be consumed with unadulterated rage knowing that Lucifero killed his own mother. It's one thing when a friend's mom passes away. It's something else entirely when this happens to one's own mother.
Regardless of what happens next, mangaka Yūki Tabata's strategy of only revealing the truth about Asta's mother to readers and not Asta himself is allowing fans to undergo a unique experience. Without Liebe's knowledge, these memories flooding Asta's mind would just feel random and unimportant. But, instead, they carry quite a bit of weight that encourage speculation among fans like with the aforementioned theory. It's also refreshing that a manga like Black Clover has chosen to divert from the norm of hiding everything from readers and saving these untold mysteries for that big surprise later on like what happens so often in One Piece even after more than 1,000 chapters. Now, fans are just waiting for Asta to catch up with them and learn the truth. And this anticipation is just as riveting, if not more so—than not knowing.