Chapter 54: Disloyal Strength

"… But then again, do I really have the energy to fight you two? Can't you just let me go and I'll be on my way?" Rhya went back on his declaration to fight rather easily. He turned around and faced the exit.

Klaus and Letoile looked at each other, tilted their heads in confusion, and then responded with haste.

"Hey, you're the one that said everything about us being the weakest and whatnot! We need to prove ourselves to the likes of you!" Klaus shouted, his glasses slightly falling off as he was quite animated.

"Surely, praising your strength and discarding ours should be something that's proven, right? Or is it something you don't want to test since you can't back it up?" Letoile added. She wasn't as animated as Klaus and instead decided to look at things in a different way.

Rhya was almost about to take a step in the direction of the exit, but hearing what the Magic Knights were saying made him stop. He turned around and smirked.

"Look, lady. I'll speak to you since you seem like the level-headed one. I don't need to prove my strength to you two. In fact… I have an interesting idea!" He yawned as he spoke.

"An idea?" Letoile replied.

The Copy mage clapped his hands together and smiled. "Yeah, I did say I'd fight you earlier but, then again, that's more Fana and Vetto's forte. Why don't we change things up and you… join us?"

"Are you insane?!" Klaus replied back, not taking even a second to think about the proposition.

"Yep, I kinda expected that response from you, Glasses", Rhya shook his head.

Letoile stepped forwards and this gained a surprised look from the enemy.

"Don't think for a second that we would join you. The things you have done, and the things you will do if we don't stop you is too dangerous!" The Compass Magic user responded.

Rhya smiled again. "The things I've done? Oh, you must be on about what happened in Nean with the kids. Yeah, we took some mana from those snot-nosed brats but it was all lost when the machine got destroyed. Oh well, that was more Sally's idea. She is a crazy one, I can't lie".

The Magic Knight duo's eyes started to burn with colour as they got angry. Hearing what was said about those defenceless kids irked them in a bad way. Even though Klaus and Letoile weren't at Nean when it happened, hearing such an incident of that scale happened without them knowing was enough for them to be extremely angry at.

"You really don't care about them, hm?" Letoile added. "I guess we really are going to fight you… and win!" She tensed up and her grimoire started floating next to her.

"So much disrespect from you and for what? Because you have this grand dream of remaking the Kingdom? Give me a break", Klaus responded. He also got ready with his grimoire right beside him.

Rhya started stretching his arms and sighed as he did. "I guess that's a no. Oh well, I will fight you… but I'm struggling to see what you two can do to me?" He looked at Letoile first, shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "A noble that inadvertently killed her brother…", he spoke in a mocking tone. He then looked at Klaus and acted in the same way. "And a guy who no one respects at his own squad… just what can you two do?" He closed his eyes and chuckled.

Letoile started to clench her fists and grind her teeth together. She was angry that a stranger would say something like that to her. Without hesitation, she lunged at the Copy mage and tried to get the upper hand.

"Compass Magic: Needle Storm!" She shouted and an array of sharp compass needles formed around the spellcaster. They fired at the same time and it looked like they were going to hit the enemy.

As they were about to hit Rhya, Klaus came from the other side with his grimoire in tow. "Don't forget about me, Letoile! I have a bone to pick with this guy as well. You speak as if you know me well. Why don't we have a nice chat after you've been defeated!". He jumped so that the compass needles wouldn't hit him and, instead, he decided to attack from above.

"Steel Binding Magic: Steel-Chained Coffin!" Multiple chains of steel came out from the blue-haired mage's grimoire and were about to wrap around Rhya.

Both of the attacks were going to hit the enemy but he didn't seem troubled at all. Instead, with a little sigh and a shake of the head, he opened his eyes.

"I'll show you two… just how out-of-depth you really are". He said as his entire body disappeared in a bright flash of yellow light.

The enemy did not even leave any trace of his body where he had just stood, but was comfortably in a new position, standing on a ledge on the rocky wall just above them. Letoile's attack kept going and hit the opposite wall, disappearing as they didn't hit the target and Klaus's chains had nothing to latch onto and went back into his grimoire.

The two Magic Knights were perplexed as they were sure they had him. Klaus looked above his head and saw Rhya, leaning back against the wall.

"He moved at light-speed!" He said with a shout.

"We heard about it but… seeing it actually in action is something else", Letoile added.

Rhya stretched his legs this time. "So, wait. You're telling me you had the report about the Eye of the Midnight Sun, but didn't think too much into it? You really do love underestimating your opponent, don't you?

"Copy Magic. He can copy every single magical attribute there is and use it without any problem. This is something we can't take lightly!" Klaus thought. He was trying to analyse any way to beat him but knew it was going to be extremely tough.

"An attribute like that… what if he copies something like the Captain's World Tree Magic, or even something like Time Magic?! We have to win this!" Letoile corrected her glasses and was about to go again.

However, in the time that the two were getting to fight again, Rhya teleported to them as quickly as he had dodged their attacks prior. He looked at the two of them and waved.

"I did say I'll show you the difference between me and you two! Copy Beast Magic: Bear Claw!" Rhya lunged towards the two and his right arm turned a bright orange colour as the shape of a huge claw formed around it. He slashed at the two Golden Dawn knights and they face-planted the floor with a large thud.

"Gah!" They shouted as the Bear Claw rose up and left their bodies.

Klaus and Letoile let out a sharp scream as they hit the cold floor. The two were already injured from the fall before and this attack worsened their injuries as well as created new ones for them to deal with.

"What the… what kind of spell was that?" Letoile wondered as she tried to get up from the floor. Her arms were shaking as she did and she couldn't stand up properly due to the impact. Even so, she left where she landed and backed up slightly.

"That is… Beast Magic, huh? One of the other Third Eye's attributes?" Klaus thought to himself as he also tried to get up. Rhya had stepped back a bit which allowed the two to stand.

The Steel mage met with the Compass mage just behind where they face-planted and they saw the clear imprints of their bodies in the rocky floor.

"Letoile… w-we really need a plan to deal with this. It doesn't l-look good for us", Klaus muttered slowly. It looked like that one attack was almost too much for him and he looked out of it.

The Compass mage wasn't too different either. The right side of her glasses had cracked and the glass had dug into her the side of her head as she had met the floor. She couldn't even stand properly but knew a duty had to be done.

"I… We're going to have to go all in. If we beat him here… then the Magic Stone is safe, right?" She said rhetorically.

However, it wasn't a rhetorical question as Rhya was going to add his bit of information in anyway. "Aw, look at you guys. You think I'm alone here? What if I told you there are others around, not to mention… Licht himself?" He laughed slowly.

"Licht, huh? Just how ironic can this be?" Rhya thought to himself and started laughing louder.


The now-large group that consisted of Druids and Magic Knights were walking together, getting deeper into the depths of the temple. Cathbad and Valmoira were leading, whilst William was behind the two with the other members of the Golden Dawn behind him.

"How far down is this Magic Stone?" Hamon spoke quietly to the others around him.

"No idea. We have been walking for a while now", David replied.

Alecdora was near his captain and was wondering about a few things. "Hm, since we've gone deeper in, Master Vangeance has become quiet. I wonder what he's thinking?"

This feeling of impatience was shared with the Woodland Magic user in front. She turned to her Chief and was worried about what could happen. "Chief, we are here to look for the soldiers that were sent in before us and we have not seen any of them so far. This is very worrying".

Cathbad was silent. He also shared these concerns but right now his focus was on something he felt that was ahead. Suddenly, he extended his left arm out wide which stopped everyone else from moving further.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" Alecdora shouted. He was about to move forwards to speak to the large Druid but Captain Vangeance stopped him with his arm and a shake of the head.

His mask seemed to have darkened ever so slightly and the holes which showed his eyes were completely dark. Though, no one noticed this as they were all focusing on what the Chief's intentions were.

"Someone is here. Wait, no… there are two others!" He called out. He ushered the group backwards and had Valmoira stand next to him.

"An enemy, right? Or is it more of the Temple's obstacles?" Valmoira asked.

"I am not entirely sure… but we need to be careful", he said.

From the shadows in front, two dark silhouettes emerged into view. They both had white robes with the etchings of an eye all around. The two individuals were hooded and all you could see were their eerie smiles.

"That's…!" David was about to talk.

"The Eye of the Midnight Sun…?!" Alecdora finished.

Cathbad and Valmoira turned their heads back and looked confused.

"What does that mean?" The Disaster mage asked.

"It's the terrorist group that has been causing trouble in the Clover Kingdom! Their goal is to remake or destroy the kingdom. There isn't much difference in that since both of those scenarios will cause problems for everyone", Hamon explained.

"So, we kill them". Cathbad ordered and raised his fists in the air. His black grimoire started vibrating violently and the pages turned to the one he needed.

"Agreed". Valmoira also brought her brown grimoire to the forefront and the pages in her spellbook turned quickly.

"H-hang on, k-kill?!" David tried to stop them but the Druids in front weren't going to listen.

However, as they were about to unleash their magic, the two enemies didn't bring out their grimoires to counter. Instead, they brought out two vials from the inside of their robes.

The vials had a bubbling, pink liquid inside. The Eye of the Midnight Sun quickly opened them and threw the contents of what they had towards Cathbad and Valmoira. They coupled this with one of their magical attributes which was Mist Magic.

"Mist Magic: Cloud of Unease", one of them said. Then they shouted: "Dark Magic Item: Special Properties + Gamma!"

This disrupted the Druids and they stopped the process of chanting their magical spells and were focusing on what happened in front of them.

As the liquid was thrown out, it turned into a pink cloud of smoke as it met Mist Magic in the air. The gas was then inhaled by Cathbad and Valmoira and it looked like they were going to be defeated.

However, nothing happened. It looked like their plan failed as the two Druids were indifferent to the enemies' attacks. They breathed in the cloud of smoke but they felt no different.

"Was that a dud?" David questioned.

Though nothing happened and the attack seemed to have failed, the enemies took a step backwards and shouted: "For the Master!"

They saluted in the air and the other enemy brought their grimoire out.

"Flame Magic: Magma Rest".

They encased themselves in a column of magma and within a few seconds, there was a burning sound of it meeting their flesh. The column dropped down and all that was left was black ash on the floor.

"No way… D-did they really…?" Alecdora scratched his head.

"Y-yeah, they did…", Hamon said with shock.

Cathbad walked forwards and knelt down to meet the black ash. He didn't touch it but simply examined it.

"Did they do that because their attack failed?" He said to himself. The Chief then stood up and spoke to Valmoira. "Is everything fine with you?"

The soldier looked up and down her body and nodded her head. "Yes, I think I'm fine. I do not feel as if anything happened", she replied.

Cathbad sighed. He then walked to where Vangeance was and asked him a question. "You are a captain of the Magic Knights. Do you have any information about what this meant?"

William slowly raised his head. This time, his purple eyes were in full view and he answered. "Unfortunately, I do not know. My guessing is that they expected that to hurt you two but once they failed, they didn't want to be captured".

"So, nothing of use then", Cathbad nodded and turned around. He continued walking forwards and ordered everyone else to follow.

No one really spoke of what happened since there wasn't really much to say. What they saw happen was the extent of it. However, a few of them were thinking about it and what could be ahead.

"The Eye of the Midnight Sun… here? Does this mean Lucas and the others met some on their end, too?" David wondered.

"This whole situation has turned extremely dangerous. It wasn't simple before but now – if there are more of these enemies – we have to be on our guards!" Hamon thought to himself.

The Druids in front spoke to each other.

"Valmoira, something wrong is happening here and we have to be careful. If it comes to it, we will leave the humans here and retreat. They cannot be trusted", he said in a quiet tone to make sure no one else could hear.

Valmoira was questioning this order though. "Chief. I have said the humans cannot be trusted in the past, but the fact is that without them, I would probably have done something I would regret. I am not saying for you to trust them, but to trust me", she whispered back.

"We were to save our comrades and now we are fighting against human terrorists… This is not right. However, you have not been wrong before so I am inclined to trust you. I hope you understand the gravity of this situation", Cathbad responded.

Valmoira nodded and they continued. "Our upbringings factor into our trust for the humans. It will take something enormous for him to change his opinion. I wonder if Dike has changed his thinking?"


Rhya was busy mocking both Klaus and Letoile. As he was, the two were thinking about the situation and trying to analyse everything.

"He… he knew about my brother, Lewis. But that should be impossible! Only the Golden Dawn know about what happened and I trust every single one of them…", Letoile scratched her head.

"He said that I'm not respected by the Golden Dawn. Maybe in the past that was the case, but I've worked really hard to make a name for myself in the squad! What is this guy's plan?" Klaus wondered.

The Copy mage saw the two mages in thought and shouted at them, breaking their trains of thinking.

"Look, if you have questions, then beat me. If you can't beat me, then you won't get them, understand?" Rhya chuckled. His yawning seemed to have stopped as he was getting interested in this battle that was brewing.

Klaus turned to Letoile and asked about a plan of action.

"We can't beat him with strength alone, so should we try something different?" The Steel mage said.

"The element of surprise, I guess? We need to keep on attacking and find an opening we can exploit. When he's preoccupied with one movement, we hit him where his defence is down", she explained.

Klaus nodded in understanding and they turned to face the enemy.

"Looks like they can entertain me for a bit", Rhya smiled.

"Compass Magic: Polar Onslaught!" Letoile summoned two towers and they generated a magnetic field in between them. The top tower has the letter 'N' for 'North' and the bottom tower had the letter 'S' for 'South'.

Rhya was sucked into the middle of the magnetic field and looked above and below. "Hm, so this is Compass Magic?"

It was now Klaus's turn and his grimoire started to flicker through. "Steel Creation Magic: Twin Drill Lances!" The blue-haired mage created rotating lances that were spinning violently. He shot them out and they were closing in on Rhya from the East and West directions.

Letoile's spell fired compass needles from both ends at Rhya as Klaus's spell also shot at him.

"Copy Kinetic Magic: Energy Reversal!" Rhya curled up in a ball and then quickly expended his energy all around. The kinetic energy that exploded outwards severed the two towers in pieces and destroyed the drills that Klaus had fired.

He landed down onto the floor and yawned. "So, that was all you could show me? A bit pathetic if I'm honest but if it was one our lackeys then you would have won… probably", he said in a sarcastic tone.

Although he was expecting a bit of rest, Klaus had already charged forwards and used his magic quickly.

"Steel Creation Magic: Steel Castle's Armoured Wall!" Klaus summoned a hard wall in front of him and quickly made three more to trap Rhya within.

"Aw, look at you trying to make a difference… oh well. Copy Mist Magic: Clone Traversal". A cloud of grey mist appeared in the middle of the four walls that Klaus had created and, when it subsided, there were two Rhyas. One in the confines of the Steel Magic, and one on the outside.

The Steel Magic quickly compressed and the first Rhya disappeared into thin air. Rhya had created a clone of himself and the one that was trapped turned out to be the fake. The Steel Magic then disappeared but left some of the dregs of mana.

"I'm not letting up! I can't waste time in being surprised about your magic!" Klaus moved to the right to face Rhya and unleashed a barrage of attacks.

Rhya shook his head and sighed once more. It seemed like he was always sighing but that was because none of this interested him. In fact, it made him want to sleep but since he couldn't, he was getting a bit annoyed.

"Come on, now. This is getting tedious", Rhya said in a monotone voice. He dodged each of Klaus's swipes with Light Magic teleportation.

"Copy Spatial Magic: Myriad Black!" A black portal formed underneath the Copy mage and he stepped through it and appeared right behind Klaus as another black portal opened itself. The Spatial Magic then closed up.

This time, instead of Klaus reacting, Rhya went on the front foot. He used Water Magic and surrounded Klaus in a ball of water. After that, he was going to use Lightning Magic to charge the water and electrocute Klaus.

"I guess this it…", Rhya said as his arm started giving off yellow sparks. As he was about to touch the water, something entered his mind. "Wait, no. I can't actually kill these guys, can I? If I do then he would not be happy at all. Plus, we need them for what is to come later on..".

Rhya hesitated and his arm stopped glowing. This moment was enough for Klaus to pierce the water with his steel and he exploded out from the bubble. He quickly charged again and swiped once more.

"This… is getting tiring!" Klaus thought. He made another step but he couldn't hold himself up and fell to the floor. The limp he had on his left leg was made worse through all of this combat, and through the injuries he sustained when Rhya used Bear Claw, the mage couldn't take much more of the pain.

He held his leg as he fell to the floor and saw that it was very bruised. As he was defenceless, Rhya walked up to him and looked unimpressed.

"Really, Glasses? No wonder no one respects you. A little injury like that and you falter", he shook his head in disapproval. He then paused and looked around. "Hang on, where is that young lady?"

Letoile was nowhere to be seen. There was plenty of dust everywhere through Klaus's and Rhya's movements but he should still be able to track her mana.

The instant that Rhya was distracted, Klaus moved forward with the last bits of his energy. He lunged at Rhya with his spell. "Steel Creation Magic: Violent Rotating Lance!" Klaus was kneeling down since the energy in his legs had gone, but it was enough to launch a surprise attack. The lance shot at Rhya and it was on course for a sure-hit.

"Nice try, but…", Rhya spoke up. He faced Klaus once more and he didn't even turn around. He used his Light Magic to teleport and switch where he was facing. "You almost caught me off guard, but I'm just better than you".

The enemy was about to hit Klaus again with his magic but that was when Letoile finally appeared. She ran forwards and Rhya couldn't respond quick enough. "Compass Magic: Useless North!" She shouted and a large compass needle, wrapped in an aura of mana, shot out and was going to hit Rhya in the head.

"Shit…! Where the hell was she hiding?" Rhya looked around and saw dust as well as the tiny dregs of mana in the air. "Did she mask her mana within the particles of mana in the air? That was why I couldn't sense her! Her mana seemed to be the same as everything that had been casted!" Rhya tensed up and moved his head away at the last moment. However, he couldn't fully dodge the attack and Letoile's spell drew blood from the Copy mage's cheek.

"I hit! It wasn't enough, but… we can hurt him!" Letoile thought. She was about to move again but Rhya had other plans.

"Yeah, okay. That's enough now". Rhya spoke in a serious tone for the first time since they met. He teleported in and out and was behind the Compass mage. "Copy Water Creation Magic: Aqua Spear!"

A stream of water solidified in his right hand and turned into a spear with a large triangular point on the top. Instead of stabbing Letoile with it, he flipped it upside down and slammed the bottom part of the weapon down hard on Letoile's back. She fell to the floor head-first and was rendered unconscious.

"Oh no, you don't! Letoile left this opening for me and I will use it!" Klaus shouted internally. "Steel Magic: Blazing Spiral Lance!" This was Klaus's last chance to do something and he firmly believed he could. Letoile's moment in attack left an area that Klaus could exploit.

The mage fired the Blazing Spiral Lance and it was going to hit Rhya in the stomach.

Klaus fell to the floor and from his eyes he could see his spell about to hit Rhya. However, he looked above and saw Rhya shaking his head ever so slightly.

"I guess this is where we part ways, Glasses". The black and white-haired enemy didn't even turn around or use his Light Magic to face Klaus. He didn't even need to look at him for the spell he was about to cast. "At least there was some entertainment, and for that… I'll do this".

"Copy Compass Magic: Willful Compass". Rhya had copied Letoile's magic and used her spell to counter Klaus's. A large compass formed at Rhya's back and the compass needle faced to the east, deflecting the incoming spell easily.

"N-no way…", Klaus fell to the floor again but this time he had absolutely no energy to carry on. "All that work, for something like this to happen?!"

Rhya started walking away but not before leaving a few choice words for the mage. "Unfortunately, the lady has passed out so only you'll be able to hear this. You two are weak. Considerably weak. Don't put yourselves in situations when you know there is an overwhelming power against you. I will be leaving now".

Klaus heard those words and they were going to be the last since he had also passed out just after that.

Rhya stretched his arms and legs and yawned once more. "Now that's over with, I can get started with what I came here for". He was about to move but felt some of the blood from the wound in his cheek move. "Oops, completely forgot about that little scratch".

He touched his right cheek. "Light Recovery Magic: Healing Light Particles". The spell enveloped the wound in a small, yellow light and he was fully healed. He then looked at the unconscious Letoile and thought for a second.

"Hm, I have an idea…"¸ he chuckled. Rhya knelt down and touched the back of Letoile.

A bright light consumed the entirety of Rhya and his appearance and voice had fully changed. The tall man with black and white hair, as well as long robes had disappeared. Instead, there was a smaller girl compared to him. She had long, light-green hair and glasses and wore the Golden Dawn uniform.

Another Letoile stood right where the fainted Letoile lay.

"This could work. Let me test this out and I can refrain from fighting, altogether", he smiled.

As he said this, he left the room and headed deeper into the Temple of Valchronos.


NOTES:

The introduction of Rhya has been made! What did you guys think? Of course, during the canon we have Vetto and the Black Bulls, but I wanted Rhya to be the Golden Dawn's opponent.