Season 2, Chapter 10, Part 5.
The Frozen Forest, Cloack
They head down the stairs into the unknown below, and Magna keeps a fireball in his hand to light the way as they pass.
"This place is creepy," Noelle complains. "Well, that's true for every dungeon, isn't it?" Magna replies, his breath making small clouds as the sound of their shoes meeting the icy stone stairs rings through the staircase as they head into the unknown depths below.
After about 15 minutes of silent walking, Magna opens his mouth. "This staircase seems to go on forever," he says, keeping the flame in his hand lit so they can see where they are going. "You're right, they are. And let's not forget the footprints we saw earlier; someone else is definitely in here with us," Noelle reminds him as they walk.
"You're right. I hope we don't get to meet him—uh," Magna utters and stops. "What is it?" Noelle asks and stops too.
"I think I just heard a growl," Magna replies. "Growling? It isn't those spectral beasts again?" Noelle asks.
"Who knows, as long as it isn't another Wendigo, then I'm good," Magna tells her, and they both start to walk again. After another full turn of the staircase, they meet an open iron door covered in ice.
Noelle takes a hold of her coat and tugs it closer, hugging herself to get warm. "Did you feel that?" she asks. "Yeah, the mana in the air tensed up a little," Magna tells her, and they keep moving through the door. They meet a long stone hallway covered in ice that sparkles as Magna's flame flickers, casting light into the room as icy mist hangs over the ice-covered floor.
They look ahead and, far into the room, they see a few eyes glow in the icy mist. "Okay, that looks like trouble," Magna utters as he and Noelle bring out their grimoires and keep them at the ready as the spectral wolves walk towards them with careful steps.
Their mouths gape open as mana forms and glows between their spectral fangs, and icy blasts are fired at the teens who quickly counter with water and fire.
"What the?" Magna utters as way more eyes light up through the hallway, and way more ice blasts are fired.
"Water creation magic, Sea Dragon's Lair," Noelle utters, and a water barrier forms around them.
"Damn, there are a lot of them," Magna says.
"Yeah, but we should be able to take them," Noelle says, and Magna nods. "Of course," he utters as the water barrier becomes undone, and Noelle fires water balls, and Magna shoots fire at the wolves, countering the ice being fired at them, and they shoot down some of the wolves, but more come up to replace them.
"There is no end to these things!" Magna yells. "There has to be," Noelle says. "Magna, move back a little, will you?" she asks.
"Fine, if you have an idea," he says.
"I do, I will blast through all of these," she says, and her grimoire flicks to another page. "Water creation magic, Sea Dragon's Roar!" she yells, and the swirling water forms into a huge dragon that is shot right through the wolves, clearing the path ahead, and Magna keeps a flame lit for light.
"Heck yeah, that's what I'm talking about," Magna comments. And Noelle's hand moves to her hair. "As expected from a royal," she says and flicks her pigtail behind her shoulder. "Let's just move on," he says, un-amused, and walks ahead, and Noelle's cheeks turn a little red.
They move further in, where they meet more of the spectral wolves that they begin to shoot down. "Damn, there are so many of these things," Magna says, swinging his fiery bat at the fireballs that he creates, shooting them at the wolves.
"You're right, and I had hoped that we didn't have to see them again," Noelle utters, blasting a few more of them down with her water balls. After a bit, the wolves stop forming, and the room is empty. They look around before they walk for a while until they walk through a door and enter a huge room with big ice-covered pillars holding the ceiling up.
At the other end of the big room, they can see a crystal over a door with some sort of blue light emanating from it. In the middle of the room ahead of them stands a dark-cloaked individual with a couple of spectral wolves next to him. They turn their heads and look at the teens.
("What? Why are they friendly toward that person?") Noelle wonders, and the cloaked person slowly stands up and turns around. His face is covered with darkness from the cloak, where a gray beard is visible as the individual smirks and snaps his fingers.
Then the mana in the room gathers, and a huge, tall ice wolf forms, reaching the ceiling with glowing eyes and big teeth. All around the room, more spectral wolves form and growl at the teens. Noelle looks ahead at the cloaked individual and she blinks, and the individual disappears. "What the?"
"Woah, careful!" Magna yells and runs back a little as the ice wolf shoots ice at the teens. Noelle runs too. "Roar!" the ice wolf screams, and in front of it, light forms, and ice is shot at the teens, who run and dodge.
"I'm not looking to become an icicle," Magna says as spectral wolves run for the teens. Magna runs and turns around and slowly breaks on the slippery ice and he makes a stand before sending fireballs at the spectral wolves.
He sees the big ice wolf looks at him, and Magna takes the cue to sprint away as ice shards are shot at him.
"Damn, this thing is seriously strong," Noelle says. "You can say that again; its mana is intense," Magna says and spins towards the ice wolf and shoots off more fire blasts at the creature, but is again forced to run around the room to dodge its ice shards.
"How are we supposed to win against something this huge anyway?!" Magna yells. "No idea, but I will try this," Noelle yells, running away from ice shards and stopping, pointing her wand at the creature. "Water creation magic, Sea-dragon's Roar!" she yells and shoots her water dragon at the creature, who steps aside, making Noelle miss. "Not yet!" she yells, and the dragon takes a round around the room and goes back towards the ice wolf that shoots ice for the dragon, forcing the water to freeze.
"Come on!" she yells, forcing more and more mana into the spell as it pushes towards the big ice wolf that shoots more and more ice.
Magna grits his teeth watching, and in his hands, he creates a big flame. "Flame magic, Gigantic Fire Scatter Shot!" he yells, keeping the fire close to Noelle's fire dragon, melting some of the ice. It is little, but it is enough to help the dragon through as it pushes forward, and the Ice Wolf grabs the water dragon in its fangs, pushing it back a little. But Noelle increases her mana output, and the dragon pushes through the ice wolf that slowly breaks and then shatters into a million pieces. The dragon forces its way ahead and digs through the icy roof and digs through the earth, heading outside, going for the sky.
"Heck yeah, that was sweet," Magna yells, and Noelle smiles proudly. "Of course it was; I am-" Roar! The teens look around to see plenty more of the spectral beasts.
"Great, we still have more of these guys," Magna utters. "It will be fine," Noelle says, readying her wand. "Yeah, I know; luckily, they are easy to take down, but there sure are a lot of them," Magna replies, keeping his grimoire at the ready as the spectral wolves snarl and growl at them before they sprint towards them, readying their icy spells. Clashing of spells ensues, filling the room as the teens counter with all they've got.
As the room fills with the snarls and growls of the spectral wolves, Magna and Noelle find themselves surrounded. They exchange a determined look, their grimoires at the ready. Noelle's eyes blaze with determination, and Magna's fiery bat crackles with anticipation. The first wave of spectral wolves lunges at them, jaws agape, ready to unleash icy blasts. Noelle reacts swiftly, conjuring a wall of water to shield them. The wolves' icy breath meets her watery barrier, creating a hissing cloud of steam. Magna counters by hurling fireballs, setting the icy mist ablaze, temporarily blinding some of the wolves. But the wolves are relentless. Noelle's water dragon balls and Magna's fire projectiles manage to take down a few, but more emerge to replace them. It feels like an unending tide of specters, and their strength is waning.
"There's no end to these things!" Magna yells, his voice tinged with frustration. Noelle grits her teeth and clenches her wand tightly. "There has to be a way! Let's keep fighting, Magna."
"Right, there has to be an end to these things eventually," Magna replies loudly, firing off another barrage of fireballs, breaking apart more wolves, but more come in to replace them. They press on. Noelle switches her grimoire to another page and calls upon her most potent spell, "Water creation magic, Sea Dragon's Roar!" A massive, swirling water dragon emerges, roaring with power as it surges forward, scattering the spectral wolves and clearing nearly all the wolves in the room. Magna's flame provides much-needed light. "Heck yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Magna shouts, his spirits lifted. Noelle, proud of her accomplishment, brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks slightly flushed. But there's no time to revel in their small victory. The room continues to fill with spectral beasts that now seem to come out of thin air.
"What in the? How are we supposed to win here?" Noelle asks. "Good question, we will just have to keep at it," Magna yells. "Right!" Noelle replies and fires off more water blasts alongside Magna's fireballs, shooting down the spectral beasts.
As the teens engage in a fierce battle against the relentless spectral wolves, Noelle and Magna exchange quick glances to coordinate their attacks. Noelle creates cascades of water, sending them crashing into the spectral wolves, while Magna continues to throw fireballs to incinerate the icy creatures. The room reverberates with the clashing of spells, and the wolves' growls mix with the crackling of fire and splashing of water.
Despite the overwhelming numbers of their foes, Noelle and Magna stand their ground, determined to protect each other and conquer this perilous challenge. Noelle's eyes shine with determination, and her magic flows stronger as she continues to hold her own. Magna's fiery bat crackles and sizzles, creating a protective barrier of flame around them.
But the spectral wolves are persistent, and their numbers don't seem to diminish. For every one they defeat, it feels like two more appear to take its place. Fatigue begins to set in as Noelle and Magna struggle to keep up the intense magical battle.
"There's got to be a way to end this!" Noelle yells above the chaos. Magna, his clothes singed and soot-covered, nods in agreement. "I've got an idea," he shouts back. "Let's combine our magic, Noelle!"
With a quick nod, the two of them concentrate their powers. Noelle's water magic intermingles with Magna's fiery spells, creating a mesmerizing dance of steam and flame that envelops the spectral wolves. The wolves howl in pain as their forms waver and weaken.
As the combined magic intensifies, the wolves begin to disperse like mist in the morning sun. Slowly, the room clears of the spectral creatures, and the battle comes to a triumphant end. The last of the wolves evaporate into nothingness.
Breathing heavily and still on edge, Noelle and Magna take a moment to catch their breaths and survey the now empty room. "That did the trick," Magna says, wiping sweat from his brow.
"Let's continue," Noelle says, putting her grimoire back into her satchel. "Right," Magna replies, and the teens walk through the room, which has fallen silent, and enter the room where they saw the cloaked individual earlier.
They look around, seeing the small room filled with a few artifacts and special magic items, alongside gold coins and such. "I don't see the key that we are supposed to find in here," Magna utters as the room is otherwise empty. "I don't see it either," Noelle adds, looking around.
"Call me crazy, but I believe whoever that cloaked person was earlier, I suspect he left with the key we needed," Magna mentions. "You are probably right, but only us and the Wizard King and Marx even knew about the expedition," Noelle thinks out loud.
"Well, not really," Magna adds. "Huh?" "Well, the pirates that Haze and Asta and the rest captured seemed hell-bent on getting their hands on that chest, so maybe some of their associates knew about the key too," Magna informs.
"You're probably right about that. Well, if we relay this information to the Wizard King, I am certain he will set an interrogation into action to tell us who that cloaked individual is," Noelle says.
"Well, we should find the others; maybe they had better luck," Magna tells her.
"I agree, and hopefully, someone found out where Asta went," Noelle utters, and they both nod in agreement before leaving the room behind in search of the rest of their teammates.
The journey through the dungeon continues, with Noelle and Magna determined to reunite with their fellow Magic Knights and unravel the mystery surrounding the key and the enigmatic cloaked figure.
Meanwhile:
With Sebastian and Finral, they walk the halls, with Sebastian emitting light from his ember magic that flickers in the icy halls as they pass. They arrive at a big, heavy wooden door that Sebastian opens, and he peers into the room before walking in.
The room looks like a fancy living room with a fireplace and a pair of chairs in front of it. There are a couple of bookcases and a couple of tables with pots meant for holding flowers, but the only thing left is frozen dirt.
"This room looks so normal almost; it is hard to believe that this would be in a dungeon," Sebastian utters.
"You are right, but the never-ending corridors and traps seem to say otherwise," Finral adds.
"Maybe they were warped due to a spell?" Sebastian asks.
"Maybe, but I do not see the reason for it, though," Finral says.
"Who knows... We could look around to see if we find the key in here, though, before we continue," Sebastian utters.
"Good idea," Finral says, and the teens do just that, digging through the shelves and cabinets.
Meanwhile:
As Haze and Lydia stand in the room at the top of the mysterious dungeon, they observe their surroundings, which seem more like an abandoned castle than a typical dungeon. Tables and chairs are scattered about, and an old, non-functioning fountain stands in the center of the room, encased in ice.
Lydia walks over to a door on the other side of the room, her curiosity piqued. She opens the door, and a blast of freezing wind rushes in from the balcony outside. Haze follows her, shivering in the cold.
"It's freezing," Haze complains. "I know," Lydia replies, peering outside from the balcony, where they can see the distant village nestled among the pine trees.
"Come to think of it, this place looks more like some old castle than a dungeon," Lydia comments. "Yeah, with booby traps and weird bug creatures," Haze remarks.
"Hmm, maybe something happened to make them turn it into a dungeon," Lydia speculates.
"That sounds like a stretch, doesn't it?" Haze questions. "Maybe not. Remember, this place looks deserted somehow," Lydia points out. She returns inside and gazes at the chandelier hanging from the crystal ceiling. The chandelier is crafted from purple crystals that stretch out and spring.
Lydia narrows her eyes, creating a pink vine out of her hand that flows to the floor. She steps on it and lets the vine carry her up to the chandelier, taking a crystal from it and looking up at the sky through it.
"What the?" she utters.
"What is it?" Haze asks, curious. Lydia takes another crystal and descends to Haze's side.
"Put this in front of your eye and look straight up," she instructs, handing him the crystal. Haze does as told.
"What the heck is that?" he exclaims as he sees a vast space suspended over the forest within a huge orb.
Haze alternates his gaze between the crystal and the sky. "It's like something is there, but at the same time, not."
"I agree," Lydia confirms, and they hear a loud roar from outside, turning their attention to Noelle's water dragon soaring into the sky.
"That must be them. I suppose we should head to them since we found nothing on our end," Lydia suggests. "Sure," Haze says lazily. "Maybe they will have an idea about the space above the forest," he muses.
"Who knows," Lydia says, and they prepare to leave the room. However, as they do, Haze suddenly stops and looks up at the sky, witnessing a startling event.
"Okay, that is not normal," he mutters. Lydia follows his gaze and observes the sky cracking, a sight that defies all expectations.
Earlier:
In the midst of the fierce battle against the tar-like beings, Asta watches Millie with admiration as she wields her katana, enveloped in white flames, and effortlessly takes down multiple targets. Her white flames dance with the energy of her sword, leaving trails of red and orange sparks amidst the blaze.
"Look at her; she's just moving through them," Asta says in slight awe as he ascends towards the ceiling behind her. When a few of the creatures get too close, he readies his Dweller Sword to strike, but before he can make contact, the creatures are incinerated from above by Millie's white flames.
"Aww, no way," Asta complains, looking up at Millie, who's engaged in combat against hordes of the black creatures.
"She sure is taking the lead," he mutters, and Liebe looks at Asta and then up at Millie, his thoughts unknown to Asta but full of a mix of curiosity and uncertainty.
("She sure is someone to bet on, and I can tell I can count on her, but she seems to be taking on more than necessary again. She isn't exactly verbal about what is going through her mind, so knowing why she goes off on her own like this is a mystery," Asta thinks to himself, his concern evident as he watches Millie fight.
("And then there's the part of Liebe still not really trusting her," he ponders as he continues to observe the battle.
But Asta quickly shifts his focus to the immediate challenge, realizing there's no point in worrying about these thoughts now. They need to find a way out of their current predicament.
"Okay, let's try to get through," Asta says, swinging his Dweller Sword into the black and purple hole in the massive ceiling. Soon, they push through and goes through a black space before they are thrown out on the next level. They find themselves in a vast, open space with the tar-like substance covering the entire surface, resembling a black, semi-liquid lake.
"Huh, it sure is silent up here. Did we go the right way?" Asta wonders out loud.
"We should be according to this," Millie replies, holding a journal she found in the longhouse they had visited earlier.
"Whoa, where did you get that?" Asta asks, floating closer to her on his Slayer Sword.
"In the longhouse that we were in earlier, sir. It briefly mentioned a reaper and that he and a few others managed to contain it, but its mana is still leaking through, affecting the forest and village somehow," she explains, showing him the journal's pages.
But their moment of discussion is interrupted by a distant roar. They look in that direction and see a massive amount of tar rising upward and surrounding something dark purple. The tar forms a huge floating skull with dark purple glowing eyes and teeth.
Millie feels the life force being drained from her and realizes the extent of the threat. She glances at Asta, who appears unharmed.
(Now I get what they meant by this thing being an affront to anything living. It's draining my life force), she thinks to herself, puzzled by why Asta isn't affected.
As the battle intensifies, hundreds of clods float up, forming into large creatures with wings, ready to engage them in combat.
"My, looks like it's ready for a boss battle. Well, bring it on, skull-face, 'cause I'm gonna slice you up," Asta declares proudly with determination. Millie, Liebe, and Asta prepare for the impending battle against this formidable foe, ready to take on the sea of adversaries ahead.