In this situation, with someone infiltrating the Magic Knight headquarters, the captains naturally had to maintain the highest level of vigilance.
If they hadn't sensed no malice from the intruder, they would have acted directly. But even so, if the person in the shadows didn't reveal their identity soon, they wouldn't hold back anymore.
Of course, that person was also aware of this, so they straightforwardly revealed their true appearance.
It was a young man who looked quite handsome, with black hair tied in a neat high ponytail and bangs hanging over his eyes.
Although his face was quite proper, his narrowed eyes and obviously fake smile were like a mask blocking all outward emotions.
He wore a long robe, and what everyone could see was the Black Bulls marking on the waist pouch containing his grimoire.
"All the captains seem to lack motivation, but that's not surprising, since you don't even know what kind of existence your opponent is!"
Fuegoleon frowned and asked, "Who exactly are you?"
The young man spoke indifferently, "My name is Nacht. I'm also the vice-captain of the Black Bulls, though that's something that guy Yami forced on me."
Everyone looked toward Charles, the only Black Bulls member present. Charles spread his hands, "Captain Yami did mention the existence of a vice-captain, but this is also my first time meeting this person."
Charles wasn't telling the truth. Not counting seeing him in the original work in his previous life, Charles had actually sensed this person's magic power long ago.
How long ago? As early as when Charles had just joined the Black Bulls.
When Charles first stepped into the Black Bulls base, he had sensed an abnormal magic power fluctuation in the shadows.
That magic power was very weak and almost completely merged with the shadows. Charles had only discovered it by chance.
But seeing that even Yami, who possessed dark magic, had no reaction to it, Charles guessed it was this vice-captain's magic.
So although they had never met face to face, this vice-captain should have always been paying attention to the Black Bulls squad.
Jack looked at Nacht thoughtfully, "I remember this face. You're the one who followed beside Yami, but your magic should be...!"
Nacht interrupted, "That person no longer exists!"
At this moment, Nacht's face finally showed a trace of "real" emotion for the first time, becoming gloomy.
Jack's mouth twitched. He wasn't someone with strong curiosity to begin with, so naturally wouldn't continue this topic.
As for the other captains, compared to understanding others' pasts, they hoped to know other things.
Although Jack's words couldn't prove anything, they somewhat reduced Nacht's suspicion as an enemy.
Fuegoleon said, "Since you're the Black Bulls' vice-captain, why have we never seen you before?"
Nacht's face returned to calm as he answered, "Because I've been infiltrating the Spade Kingdom to gather intelligence!"
Nacht's family background was very special. Although they appeared like ordinary nobles on the surface, they only passed down a secret among the true heirs.
This clan had been performing devil advent rituals, contracting with devils, and researching devil power for generations.
It could be said that in terms of understanding devils, Nacht, who had inherited all of his family's knowledge and forbidden techniques, was among the best in this world.
So, perhaps to escape that painful past, Nacht had voluntarily gone to the Spade Kingdom, which also had traces of devils, to collect intelligence.
Nozel said, "So Vangeance and Yami are now in the Spade Kingdom?"
Nacht didn't dislike Nozel's style of getting straight to the point, "That's right. Both of them have now been offered as sacrifices for the Tree of Qliphoth's advent and are currently in the Spade Kingdom."
Charlotte suppressed her worry for Yami and asked, "Tree of Qliphoth? What is that?"
Nacht explained to everyone, "The Tree of Qliphoth is a forbidden ritual used to open the gates of the underworld and connect the underworld with the present world.
Yami and Vangeance are being offered as sacrifices as the core of the Tree of Qliphoth's advent ritual and are now in the Spade Kingdom's royal castle.
Starting from there, within seven days as the Tree of Qliphoth spreads, the gates of the underworld's seven levels will open one by one. Those seven levels contain ten devils that match the Tree of Qliphoth.
The devils on upper levels have the same strength as the Dark Triad, while devils on lower levels are progressively stronger. After Lucifero finally appears, this world will end!
And as catalysts for the advent, Yami and Vangeance will die. In other words, these two people are still alive before the ritual is completed... if it's under normal circumstances!"
The captains were also slightly shocked by Nacht's detailed intelligence, then began thinking about their next actions.
Not to mention stopping the world's destruction caused by devil advent, Yami and Vangeance had to be rescued.
But before that, everyone still noticed the abnormality in Nacht's intelligence.
Fuegoleon looked at Nacht, "What do you mean by normal circumstances?"
Nacht said, "The intelligence I gathered about the Tree of Qliphoth was based on it being activated with the Dark Triad as the core. As long as we defeat them, we can stop the Tree of Qliphoth."
Rill said unconsciously, "Then there's no problem. The Dark Triad have all been eliminated, haven't they?"
Rill was still young after all, and his thoughts hadn't kept up. But this question touched on what the captains had been avoiding discussing.
Marx's voice trembled as he asked, "What you said before, about the Magic Emperor being the mastermind... is that true?"
Everyone fell silent. In the end, this question couldn't be avoided and had to be faced.
Nacht pondered for several seconds before speaking, "That's right. The one manipulating all this is indeed Magic Emperor Julius Novachrono, or more accurately, Lucius Zogratis.
Thanks to the Dark Triad being defeated, I was able to find the Spade Kingdom's most classified documents and discovered a mysterious existence in the records about the Zogratis clan.
This ultimately proved our Magic Emperor's identity - the eldest son of the Zogratis family, a time devil-possessed individual... he really hid it well!"
Nozel said coldly, "So this is why you think accidents might occur?"
Nacht nodded without denial, "That's right. There are very few records about this person Lucius. Besides time magic, what other abilities he has are still unclear.
But I've seen him work with the Dark Triad to resurrect the dead. And the resurrection was quite a troublesome task. I can't rule out that he might be able to resurrect the Dark Triad as well.
And the Tree of Qliphoth's advent ritual might also produce accidents we don't know about because of this.
In the best case, we'll have more ample time, but if it's bad, we might need to prepare for battle with devils. But no matter what, we at least have seven days to prepare."
Marx said, "Then we'll act immediately and gather all our forces to break into the Spade Kingdom!"
"No!"
Nacht immediately refused, looking at everyone, "The opponents we'll face in this operation aren't just the possibly resurrected Dark Triad, but also the more terrifying Lucius and devils that may have already appeared.
Although you previously defeated the Dark Triad, that doesn't mean you can win this time. You must know that after the gates of the underworld open, they can already unleash one hundred percent of their devil power.
So before striking out, we must conduct further strengthening training for our current forces. Especially..."
Charles immediately continued, "It's Asta, right! His anti-magic will definitely play a decisive role in this battle.
And in terms of effects on devil power, no one is more suitable to guide him than you, Vice-Captain!"
Nacht smiled, two black horns drilling out from his forehead - devil's markings representing his identity as a devil contractor.
Four black shadows emerged from the shadow behind him. They were four black creatures wearing animal masks, and the magic power they emitted told everyone exactly what kind of existences they were.
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