Yuuki looked at the pattern carved into the stone monument, his eyes narrowing ever so slightly.
The image of the Kabbalah Tree of Life had appeared in this world more times than one might expect. Among them, the most meaningful was the stone tablet before him—an altar capable of activating the Reincarnation Ritual.
The other notable appearance of this symbol represented the ten highest-ranking devils of the Underworld.
In short, this pattern was, one way or another, always connected to devils.
Yuuki had already known all of this, so he felt no particular surprise. However, seeing the pattern carved so clearly into the stone tablet before him now, his thoughts inexplicably drifted to the many magic power cores within his own body.
Almost at the same moment that thought surfaced, the grimoire hanging at his waist gave a faint tremor.
Huh?
Yuuki's expression did not change. He lowered his hand and rested it on the grimoire, only to find that it had already stopped vibrating. A trace of doubt flickered through his mind.
"This way, we chosen ones will awaken immense magic power,"
Rades said excitedly, his voice brimming with fanaticism.
"The Magic Knight Squads… sooner or later, I'll make those bastards witness my greatness!"
Licht smiled and nodded, then turned his gaze toward Yuuki and spoke gently,
"Do you understand now, Yuuki?"
"Yes, Lord Licht!"
"To establish a brand-new nation and change everything… the Eye of the Midnight Sun needs this power."
Yuuki spoke righteously and loudly, his tone firm and resolute.
The smile on Licht's face deepened. He was clearly very satisfied with Yuuki's answer.
"Valtos."
"Yes, Lord Licht!"
"Hand over your duties in the royal capital to Yuuki."
Valtos's body trembled. The expression on his face dimmed noticeably, yet he still answered respectfully,
"Yes… Lord Licht."
Sally and Rades both showed expressions of surprise. They exchanged glances with one another.
No wonder Valtos had seemed off earlier. With just a few simple words, Lord Licht had clearly stripped him of a significant portion of his authority.
Is it because of the royal capital infiltration?
Although Sally and Rades both had their quirks, neither of them was foolish. They immediately grasped the core of the issue.
A faint glow rose from Licht's body, and he vanished from sight.
Yuuki stared in the direction Licht had disappeared, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes.
Finally, … I caught it.
Light Magic was extraordinarily fast. In the past, Yuuki had been completely unable to perceive how Licht vanished. But now, he could clearly see the trajectory of Licht transforming into a streak of white light and leaving.
That meant that with his current strength, Yuuki already possessed the qualifications to fight Licht head-on.
Coming back to his senses, Yuuki looked at Valtos, whose mood had sunk to rock bottom.
Looks like my plan worked.
Licht had indeed begun to suspect Valtos—so much so that part of his authority had been taken away. From here on, drawing Valtos over would be far easier.
"The handover doesn't need to be rushed,"
Yuuki stepped forward and spoke softly to Valtos, saying no more than that.
At present, although Licht no longer fully trusted Valtos, Valtos himself remained fiercely loyal. It wasn't the right time to pull him in yet.
Only when Valtos truly realized that Licht did not care about him at all—that would be the moment to act.
Yuuki had no intention of rebuilding an organization from scratch. The Eye of the Midnight Sun was already a highly refined structure. Beyond its reputation and intrinsic value, it also possessed countless intangible assets and peripheral members.
Not all of those people had been branded with the Three-Eyed Reincarnation Sacrificial Forbidden Spell.
To be honest, even if someone willingly offered up their soul, they might not qualify for a forbidden spell of that level.
Simply put—
With the elves' pride, ordinary nobodies were not worthy of becoming sacrifices.
With such a complete organization already in place, there was no need for Yuuki to create a new one.
As for the leader, Licht?
From the very beginning, Yuuki had believed that the Eye of the Midnight Sun belonged to everyone—not to a single individual.
That's right.
It was Licht who betrayed the Eye of the Midnight Sun.
"The handover won't take long,"
Valtos lifted his head and forced a stiff smile.
In Yuuki's eyes, he didn't need to smile at all.
"No rush. When you have time, we can grab a drink at a tavern,"
Yuuki said with a smile.
"Alright."
Valtos froze briefly, then nodded numbly.
He would likely have quite a bit of free time ahead of him.
Yuuki waved his hand and opened a spatial portal, disappearing from the cavern without sparing Sally or Rades even a glance.
"That damned brat!"
Rades gritted his teeth in anger at being completely ignored.
Sally pushed up her glasses, giggled, and turned to walk out of the cave.
She hadn't forgotten those two stories. They definitely needed investigating. It seemed she'd have to enlist a few nobles to dig up records from five hundred years ago.
As she thought of that, a bloodthirsty glint flashed through her crimson eyes.
Yuuki used Spatial Magic to return to the place where he had first met Sally. After confirming the cave's location, he strode straight inside.
Deep within the cave—
Inside an iron cage embedded in the rock wall sat a silver-haired boy. He looked thin, weak, and timid, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees as he curled into the corner.
"It's all my fault…"
"It's all my fault… If it weren't for me, maybe my brother wouldn't have died…"
Neige buried his face into his knees, sobbing quietly.
In the dark, damp cave, Neige suddenly felt cold.
That shouldn't have been possible. He wielded Snow Magic—he shouldn't feel cold at all.
But… his brother was dead. In this world, he was all alone.
Whoosh—!
Flames lit up the darkness, and at the same time, steady footsteps and a calm voice echoed through the silent cave.
"Fire Recovery Magic — Phoenix Feather Robe."
Neige suddenly felt warmth spread through his entire body, as if he had been bathed in sunlight. The chill vanished instantly.
Scarlet flames enveloped his body. Despite being surrounded by fire, Neige felt no pain at all—instead, the injuries on his body rapidly healed.
Only then did the dazed Neige clearly see a figure standing outside the cage.
The person looked quite young. Beside him floated a fireball, illuminating the surroundings brightly.
He's the one healing me…
Thinking that, Neige instinctively shrank back, fear written all over his face.
Yuuki looked at the boy cowering in the corner and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head.
No one would have imagined that someone who appeared this timid possessed magic power on par with a Magic Knight.
Yuuki raised his hand toward the cage.
Seeing this, Neige shrank further back into the corner—
but in the next instant, his movement froze. His eyes widened as he stared at Yuuki's palm.
In Yuuki's hand was a small clay doll.
This was one of the many elemental magic types Yuuki had acquired from the assassination unit—
a derivative elemental magic. By now, he had essentially collected them all.
Seeing the clay doll, Neige slowly lowered his hands from his knees and leaned forward.
A childhood memory surfaced unbidden in his mind.
"How long are you going to cry, Neige? Here—this is for you."
"Wah! Thank you, Brother Baro!"
Staring at the clay doll in Yuuki's hand—almost identical to the one from his memories—Neige unconsciously whispered,
"Brother Baro…"
"I'm not your Brother Baro,"
Yuuki said softly.
Neige snapped back to reality, retreating again with fear in his eyes.
"W-Who are you?"
"My name is Yuuki. Become my companion, Neige."
The clay doll dispersed. Yuuki turned his palm and extended his hand in a gesture of invitation.
"Companion…? Like… a friend?"
Neige's eyes suddenly lit up.
"That's right. Though it might be dangerous,"
Yuuki replied calmly, nodding.
Bang!
Neige sprang to his feet, joy flooding his face. He rushed to the cage and tightly grabbed Yuuki's hand with both of his own.
Yuuki smiled faintly. In his other hand, the Demon-Dweller Sword appeared. He swung it down at the cage.
Crack—crack!
The sealing magic shattered, and the cage collapsed into pieces.
"Let's go,"
Yuuki said with a smile.
Sometime after they had left, Sally reappeared in the cave. Looking at the shattered remains of the cage, she burst into laughter.
"You really were hiding your strength, Yuuki,"
she said cheerfully as she hopped out of the cave.
Elsewhere—
Yuuki brought Neige to the castle where Dominante resided and introduced him to Dominante and Mariella.
Neither of them showed much interest in the new member.
Only Neige was beaming with happiness.
For someone who had grown up alone without friends, meeting so many companions in such a short time naturally filled him with joy.
On the lawn outside the castle—
Neige sat at the edge, smiling brightly as he watched Yuuki and Mariella.
"Lord Yuuki, I'm coming!"
Mariella said solemnly, her expression cautious and serious.
Yuuki smiled calmly and nodded casually.
The moment he did, Mariella was enveloped in spatial magic and vanished—
In the blink of an eye, she appeared behind Yuuki!
An ice blade shot out, stabbing toward his heart.
Yuuki didn't even turn around.
He simply crouched down, effortlessly dodging the strike. His arm then swept backward, releasing spatial magic.
Two different spatial magics collided, producing an invisible repulsive force that forcibly expelled Mariella from her teleportation.
Her expression changed as she rapidly retreated to create distance.
"Ice Magic — Ice Blade Thrust!"
As she retreated, she stabbed forward.
The originally short ice dagger suddenly extended, shooting toward Yuuki at incredible speed!
Yuuki looked amused—it reminded him of a certain Shinigami's technique.
Slash!
The ice blade was fast. Yuuki was faster.
With a sidestep, he dodged easily. Silver magic power instantly coated his body.
Mana Skin!
Yuuki grabbed the extended ice blade with his bare hand. With a twist of his wrist—
Crack!
The blade snapped in half.
"How is that possible?!"
Mariella's pupils shrank.
Yuuki casually tossed the broken ice blade back at her. The air exploded with a sharp whistling sound from the force.
"Spatial Magic!"
Mariella shouted as she vanished again.
At the same time, Yuuki also moved—charging left and throwing a punch into empty air.
In that very instant—
Mariella reappeared and was sent flying by Yuuki's fist before she could even react.
Even though Yuuki had held back, a punch enhanced by Mana Skin was still terrifying.
Bang! Bang!
Mariella tumbled several times before forcing herself to a stop, kneeling on the ground and carving a trail into the grass.
"Cough—!"
She spat out a mouthful of blood, staring at Yuuki with a grave expression.
So strong…
Without using any spells, Lord Yuuki had already injured her with ease.
"Spatial Magic is powerful, but your development of it is still too limited,"
Yuuki said calmly as Mariella stood back up.
"Especially during teleportation—the magic traces are far too obvious. It's easy for others to exploit."
He continued,
"And the coordination between your Ice Magic and Spatial Magic is lacking. You need more training."
Mariella nodded seriously.
"Yes, sir."
She then looked at Yuuki again.
"Still want to fight? Very well."
Yuuki smiled, raising his hand and grasping the air.
"Mineral Magic — Sword of Victory!"
BOOM!
The air trembled. A massive shadow fell over Mariella as a gigantic mineral greatsword appeared, gleaming coldly under the sunlight.
Every hair on Mariella's body stood on end.
Moments later—
The battle ended.
Mariella lay sprawled on the ground, utterly exhausted, gasping for breath.
"Honestly… you two trashed the lawn this badly. Repairs cost money, you know,"
Domina complained as he stepped out of the castle.
(End of Chapter)
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