Chapter Ninety-One: Leaving the Rest Up to You
"Damn, that battle was actually kinda tough,"
Those were the words said by a younger Yami who stood in a forest, only the full moon providing light. Earlier in the day, he'd been wandering around the countryside, doing some fishing, and that's when a group of villagers approached him, wishing to do the same action. Upon confirming his status as a Magic Knight, the villagers were ecstatic, requesting his aid in taking down some bandits who'd been terrorizing them and stealing their crops. So now, here he was, hours later, having succeeded in the task, all of the bandits currently unconscious on the floor, but he didn't defeat them on his own.
Because he wasn't alone.
"I think the difficulty was more from their numbers than anything," the other person said with their back turned to him. It was a man, almost the same height, he wore the robe of the Gray Deer, signifying him as a squadmate, but from what Yami could see, nearly his entire head was concealed. But that wasn't it, there was a…feeling he got from him, a feeling from his Ki, a strange one he never felt before, it felt, for lack of a better term…off, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.
"You may have a point there, a real bummer their leader managed to get away,"
"It's of no great consequence, I saw his face, I can notify vice-captain Marx and he can scan my memories and put him on the wanted list," the man calmly replied.
"Not a bad plan. Say, the villagers are paying me for this with some grub, you were a pretty big help here, wanna split it?" the dark mage offered.
"You can have it, they didn't hire me, nor did you request my aid in battle, taking it wouldn't be right," he answered back.
"Woah, you're not just a strong guy, you're one of those 'honorable' types. I can respect that, where I come from, honor is kind of a big deal,"
"Honor is a great value, one of the many virtues we as Magic Knights strive to uphold," the man said as he turned around. "So let's do our-,"
He was suddenly cut off by the sound of Yami's poor attempt to restrain his laughter. "Is there…something funny?"
"That mask of yours looks ridiculous,"
A small smile graced his face. "I know it looks rather peculiar, but it's very special. Julius gave this to me when I was younger,"
"The captain gave it to you? What for?"
"Well, how would I put it? Let's just say I was always, ashamed, of my face, this mask helped me out a great deal,"
"Really? I'm guessing you're on the uglier side. Crap, now I kinda feel bad,"
He waved it off. "There's no need for that. If everything here is done, I must be on my way," he turned around, about to head off.
"Hold it!" Yami called out to him. "I didn't catch your name, I'm Yami Sukehiro,"
The man clad in gray turned around one last time. "Vangeance. William Vangeance,"
In a split second, the image of the younger William faded away, and Licht took his place, standing the exact same way, his eyes now locked on the Black Bull.
The dark mage stared back at him with intensity. "Even from way back then, I felt something off about him, but I didn't think it would be all of this,"
A smug grin graced the light mage's lips. "Yami Sukehiro, I'm afraid you're too late, granted, you called out William's name, so I'm guessing you figured out my little secret,"
"It seems like I did, you must be using some kind of transformation magic," he said back. "Though I'm still not sure how you managed the attribute change,"
Licht resisted the urge to laugh, merely chuckling. "Not quite, William and I are two different people, two souls housed in one body, a state of being we've been in for quite several years. It looks like your suspicion of us back at Kiten wasn't so far-fetched after all, you actually managed to surprise me back then with how fast you came to the conclusion,"
"I couldn't care less about that right now," Yami growled. "Vangeance! Can you hear me in there?! If you can, then what the hell are you doing?! How could you let this happen to Julius?! Wasn't he the one who let you hide that face you're so ashamed of?! You said that mask was special! Did it matter so little to you to just watch as this bastard killed him?!"
"Do not misunderstand, the only reason the Wizard King and I had our fight was because he couldn't bear to choose between us, so he had us settle it, and I came out on top," he retorted.
Yami gripped his katana tighter, entering a stance. "You won't be on top for much longer, I'll put you, both of you, six feet under. Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!"
"Light Creation Magic: Radiant Shield of Justice!" he blocked the attack, but immediately after, the shield fizzled out of existence. "Damn, even though I released the Trinity Seal, using Arrows of Divine Retribution burned an excessive amount of mana, staying here will only result in defeat from magic exhaustion, I must take what I came for and go,"
The light mage knelt down, quickly digging around the time mage's robe, pulling out three magic stones. "Now I must take my leave, farewell,"
Just as he said that, a familiar portal formed and a familiar head popped out. "Master Licht, over here!"
"Ah, what impeccable timing, Valtos," he flashed over to him.
"You aren't getting away! Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Dimension Slash!" he let loose the devastating slash, ready to cut the man in half just like his deceased beastly ally, but the two had already escaped through the black and purple egress.
"Ah!" he screamed, jumping to where they just were a second ago, striking the surface with his katana over and over again. "No! No! No! No! No!"
On his fifth strike, in an extremely rare occasion, the bladed weapon slipped out of his fingers, dropping inches beside him, but instead of picking it up, he resorted to his fists, incessantly punching the same spot now. Eventually, the pain he was feeling told him to stop, but that didn't quell his growing frustration, however, something soon managed to.
"Ya..mi," a voice weakly said, the dark mage recognized it immediately, turning to see the time mage, his eyes barely open.
"Julius! You're alive!" he picked up and sheathed his katana, running to the man, kneeling down, his expression a bit more relieved. "Ha, it looks like it'll take more than getting impaled to kill you,"
"I wouldn't be so…sure about that. How'd you know to come here?"
"Marx noticed you fighting and sent a transmission to every squad in case of a larger attack," he told him.
Julius let out a weak chuckle. "Classic Marx, always dependable. That fight got tough at the last part…if Licht can cast a spell of that size, I doubt he needs the Magic Stones for power alone, there must be another reason,"
Yami pulled out his communication device. "We can worry about that later, right now, you need medical attention ASAP," he said, opening it, a hologram of the memory mage appearing.
"Yami, what's the problem?" he inquired.
"I'm with Julius, the fight is over," was the response.
Marx breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great. What's the status of the situation? Has Licht been apprehended?"
The captain paused for a bit. "No. Licht got away with the Magic Stones, and Julius…has been fatally wounded,"
"What?!" the assistant exclaimed from his side as he broke into a mad dash. "I'm going to go get Owen!"
"M-Marx," Julius weakly said.
"You shouldn't be talking right now, conserve your strength,"
The time mage ignored him. "I heard you mobilized the knights…in my absence. I don't…deserve you,"
"I'm serious. Yami, get him on your broom as safely as you can then fly over to headquarters. I'm also going to assemble every recovery mage we have available,"
"On it," he kept the device active, placing it on the ground. "I think I got a spell that can carry you. You're going to be okay, I'll make sure of it, before the day ends, you'll be back in fighting shape,"
Julius grasped Yami's hand with his own. "Stop, please, it's…too late for me now, I…can't help anyone anymore," he croaked, smiling ever so slightly. "Ha, who'd have thought this was the way I'd say goodbye to this life,"
On his end, Marx was still running. "Enough pessimism, I'm almost at Owen's office, everything will be alright!"
"Marx!" although the voice was weak, it was stern, managing to halt the assistant. "Stop…right now, there are other, more important things to do,"
"No, I can't," Marx said back in a soft tone, a fist clenched, on the verge of tears as he sank to his knees. "I can't do that, I have to get you help…I have to. You still have so much more to do, so many more people to inspire, so many people who care about you, you have to live,"
"He's right," Yami added, his composure rapidly weakening.
"N-Not…quite. This generation has many who can..continue to inspire others in my place, and if there's work to do, I don't think there's anyone more qualified to hold down the fort…than you, Marx,"
"M-Me?"
"Of course. I can't…begin to tell you how happy I was when you…agreed to be my assistant. I never could've done it all without you. You have…both the patience and the discipline to do what needs to be done for the time being…after all, you dealt with me for all these years. I-I'm sorry for always…causing you trouble, running off around the kingdom…leaving you to do more than your share, fortunately, you were able…to keep me in check when it counted,"
At this point, Marx couldn't even respond, the tears he tried to hold in were now flowing down his face, and any attempt he made to open his mouth was stopped, utterly choked up.
"I know I don't tell you this nearly as much as I should, but…thank you…thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, for being my assistant…for being my vice-captain…for being my friend,"
Julius now turned his attention to the mage present with him, trying his hardest to not slip to the other side, all the while, the black-clad captain was trying his hardest to be strong and hold back his tears. "Y-Yami," he slowly raised a hand up, resting it on the left side of his cheek.
Yami sniffled. "Y-Yeah?"
"Oh my…look at how much you've grown. Moments like these…are when I remember how you used to be when we first met, you were…shorter, on the scrawny side, you didn't even know the language," he said with another weak chuckle. "Now look at you…you're bigger, stronger, and leader of a squad,"
"I was only able to do so with…your help," he said back, beginning to choke up himself. "If you didn't see the worth in me that others couldn't, I don't know where I'd be now. You changed my life for the better,"
A small, yet warm smile touched the dying mage's face. "Yes, but…you did the same for me. I never…met that special woman to marry and start a family with, regardless, both you…and William, were like sons to me, and it was a bond I cherished. Although things with William have gotten…complicated, when it comes to you, Yami…I don't think it's possible for me to be more proud of you than I am now,"
"I…I…I don't know what to say,"
"That's alright, but I must ask you to find your words soon…because I want to bestow you and Marx with my final wish," he croaked. "Carry on my dream. There are those who can…change this kingdom for the better, but they're still young, please…watch over them and guide them so they can reach their fullest potential. Can you…do that for me?"
Yami couldn't hold his tears anymore, for the first time in a long time, the dark mage cried, but despite the watery flow that came down his and Marx's eyes, they managed to form a clover-salute, pushing against the choking sensation to say the same thing.
"It would be my honor,"
For the first time since that exchange began, tears streamed down Julius' face too. "Then I can leave with…one less regret," his hand dropped back to his side. "Goodbye you two, I'm so lucky to have gotten a chance to know you. And…"
The time mage's eyes were starting to shut, but he tried in a futile attempt to keep them open for a little while longer, he had one last thing to say.
"...I hope it works,"
With that, he breathed his last, his eyes closed shut as he lay lifeless in the pool of his own blood. Yami put a hand to his face, just trying to make the tears stop, but it was no use. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't it all have just been a bad dream?
"I'm so sorry, Julius, it's all my fault!" he heard Marx cry from the other side. "I-I was t-the first to notice the battle, I could've done something if I was stronger! Why wasn't I stronger?! I was a vice-captain for Pete's sake! I…I could've helped him fight Licht, and if I did, he'd…he'd still be here with us!"
"Marx!" Yami exclaimed, now finding the strength to wipe his tears away. "Julius was the Wizard King, none of us could fight at his level, we'd just slow him down. You…you did the best you could, you mobilized all the knights without hesitation, and the kingdom is safe from any other potential attack,"
The memory mage was heard sniffling, his crying slowly coming to a halt. "Yeah, I guess you're right. So…what do we do now?"
Taking deep breaths to calm himself to the best of his ability, Yami stood up. "Now? We do the best that we can," he answered, staring at the sky, witnessing it change. The day had been a long one, but at last, it came to an end.
Night had fallen.
"Zuka, behind you!"
Back at Gravitos Stones, the sparkle mage turned at the sound of a female's exclamation, seeing a pair of elemental projectiles coming her way.
"Thanks for the heads up, Alice! Sparkle Creation Magic: Glittering Lance!" she summoned her weapon and hit the spells head-on, sending them back to their origin.
"Ah!" the two enemy mages were sent flying by the redirected attack.
The older woman landed next to her teammate. "Nice move there, skillfully done," she praised, lightly punching her arm.
"Thanks, I was almost expecting you to insult me,"
Alice ruffled Zuka's hair. "That's not the case anymore. You've been fighting these clowns for a while now without letting up, I think it's safe to say you have my respect,"
"Aw, thanks a bunch, I appreciate-," the younger girl stopped in the middle of her statement, both of them detecting a presence behind them, turning to see one of their enemies in mid-air, reeling back a sword vertically.
The two Royal Knights were ready to send the mage packing, but someone else beat them to the punch. "Solar Creation Magic: Solar Construct - Gauntlet!" Kenos came in, punching them dead in the face before throwing another punch downwards.
As the Rossiu landed, he crossed his arms. "Hm, thought you were slick, aye?"
"Not that I don't appreciate the save, but I had that under control," Alice told him with an angry pout.
He commanded his gauntlet to disappear, grinning at her. "I know, but I still wanted to help,"
Zuka stretched. "Damn, how long have we been in here for?"
The wind mage couldn't resist the urge to stretch as well. "Way too long if you ask me," she replied. "Just how many people does the organization have to keep throwing at us?"
"I don't know, but all we can do is keep fighting, and hopefully, one of the other groups has had better luck in finding Licht or Rhya," Kenos assured them. "Now, let's keep-,"
For whatever reason, the solar mage stopped, turning in the direction that led to the area's entrance. Both Alice and Zuka raised a brow, confused by the action, there was no mage trying to get the jump on them, no sudden surge of strange mana, not even a sound that was out of the ordinary, nothing appeared to warrant his response.
But for Kenos, it was different, even though nothing seemed off, something felt off, a sensation he couldn't explain, a sensation that was making his heart race, making him clutch it tightly. Something had happened, he didn't know what, he didn't know where, he didn't know when, and he didn't know why, but he knew it was something, and that it happened to someone.
"Um, Kenos, are you alright? Is something the matter?" Zuka asked, placing a worried hand on his shoulder.
"Um, I…I don't know. Something just…feels wrong, like something bad happened back at the kingdom,"
"Have you ever felt this before? Maybe it's nothing?"
"It could be, but I'm just not sure," he finally turned to face her, smiling. "For now, let's get back to the mission. Thanks again, for always making sure I'm okay,"
The sparkle mage couldn't help but lightly blush at the remark, but she managed to smile back regardless. "Don't mention it,"
"What if…they're just like us?"
Mereoleona was silenced by the question Asta posed. The two just looked at each other with determined faces, but they weren't the only ones silent, both Rhya and Zora were too, albeit with expressions of surprise rather than determination regarding what the teen said, that silence reigned until the woman spoke up.
"Them? Like us? What do you mean?" she asked back with narrowed eyes as she let go of his head.
"I know why you're so bent on defeating them, they hurt Fuegoleon, and I can understand that anger, but…they've also lost what's important to them. I remember back during the fight with Vetto, he said he had dreams and people he cared about, and that humans took it from him,"
"So what?"
"Both sides are in pain, and it makes us want to hurt the other. Rhya, Vetto, Fana, even Licht, they were hurt by some group of humans, and that made them want to hurt us, and they did so through Fuegoleon, now we want to hurt them back, it's a cycle that might not end," he answered her, his tone resonated with both anger and sympathy.
"Asta's right," Zora interjected. "The cycle of hatred is a powerful thing, I myself have been caught in it," he felt the metal around his jaw. "Society drove people to take away an important person from me because of its hate, and I responded back with hate of my own, all the hate in my being. Even now, the hate isn't really gone, and there's no doubt in my mind the things I've done have fostered that same hate in others, it really won't end,"
"Perhaps, but there's a fact you're failing to see," the woman crossed her arms. "In this instance, for the cycle to go on, both sides must remain. If every single member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun is killed, the cycle will have no choice but to come to an end,"
"Maybe it will, or maybe it won't," Asta retorted. "It's possible that doing so could cause of chain of events that can give life to the cycle all over again in the future, and we shouldn't put that on another group of people,"
Mereoleona remained crossed-armed as she got closer to him, staring down at him with an intimidating gaze. "So what do you suggest we do, let them go free?" she asked in a scoffing manner.
The swordsman narrowed his eyes, unfazed by her tactic. "Never, that's not how I work, they'll atone in whatever way is fit for their wrongdoings in whatever way they can, until they see the errors in their viewpoints and make an effort to change,"
"And then what?"
"And then?" he repeated her question, stealing a quick glance in Rhya's direction. "Then we try to come to an understanding. I have a dream, a goal, to become the Wizard King, and holding the title of the Wizard King shouldn't just be about being strong and defending the kingdom, but also about trying to better the kingdom in different ways. If I ever come to achieve that dream, I want everyone to live in harmony regardless of our differences. Call it unrealistic if you want, but I believe it's possible that we can get along and coexist in peace,"
The copy mage's eyes widened once he heard the end of that sentence, it brought a memory to the forefront of his mind. In that memory, he could see himself standing with a group of people, many being the same ones he encountered in the dream he experienced earlier that day, but that wasn't what was important, instead, it was a man who stood independently before them, a familiar blonde man.
"It's amazing that we can all be friends," he recalled him saying. "Even though our people are different, I want us to live in harmony, others may call it unrealistic, but I believe it's possible if we try, we can coexist in peace,"
Rhya buried his face in one of his hands. "I can't believe it, someone like this is on the side of the enemy. However, I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish more people were like him, I suppose he's a little more worthy to wield the swords, just a little,"
The royal was also left speechless at his words, but she quickly found her voice. "Do you really think a kingdom like that is possible?" her voice a bit softer.
"I won't know unless I try," he replied unwaveringly.
"Hm," at last, she broke eye contact with him, closing her eyes and pointed her head slightly downwards, shaking it with a melancholic smile. "You really are a naive boy. Well, try if you want and see how far you get,"
However, with Rhya, despite what he had thought in his mind earlier regarding the magicless mage's short speech…he couldn't be convinced, not now. "Sorry there, kid, this crusade of ours has come too far, we can't stop now, we have to see it to the end,"
"How much longer is he going to be gone for?"
A few minutes earlier, within the mysterious unknown place, Rades yawned a bit after making the statement, leaning against a wall with arms crossed behind his head.
"Not sure," Sally answered absent-mindedly, in the action of cleaning her glasses.
"You've asked that five times already, give it a rest, he'll get here when he gets here," Annalise answered, her annoyed tone contrasting the gel mage's uncaring one. However, just like the other female, she took up an action to pass the time, said action being the mere flicking a small marble-shaped ball of magic up over and over again.
Who was the 'he' they were referring to? None other than Valtos. The spatial mage had departed from them a decent hour ago, explaining to the others that Licht had requested him to be nearby when he completed his task of retrieving the final trio of Magic Stones.
Rades let out a long-winded sigh. "Whatever. I don't know why we're just waiting here. I say we go to the kingdom and cause some mayhem till they get back,"
Annalise clutched the spark marble in her hand, extinguishing it. "Under normal circumstances, I would agree with that, but we just got back from fighting those Black Bulls, I'm running low on mana. Besides, why would you want to? Your Number Corpse Series is gone,"
"Yeah, but I still got a ton more normal zombies, but you raise a fair point, starting an attack while not being at your best is just asking to lose. Say, since you mention the series, wanna help me go corpse shopping?"
The spark mage shot her head in his direction with a face of disbelief, almost weirded out by his choice of words. "Corpse shopping?"
"Yup. I got this graveyard I visit for the lower numbers, right on the outskirts of the kingdom to the north," he replied. "I know I said I'd wait, but what the hell, might as well do it now because I am bored out of my damned mind,"
"Uh, if it's on the outskirts of the country to the north, then it's far away, and there is no way in hell I'm walking about a hundred fucking miles when Valtos can bring us there in an instant. We're going to wait,"
They wouldn't have to wait for long though, as the familiar purple spell came to life above them, and from it, Valtos and Licht descended, the latter letting out a sigh of repose. "Thank you once again,"
"You're most welcome, master,"
"Now that's what I call timing! You two are back!" Annalise happily greeted them, running to embrace the light mage, moving on to her mentor.
"Yes, we have returned. Tell me, how did your mission go?" Licht asked the group.
Sally put her glasses back on, shooting her hand up. "You'll be glad to know that the mission was a success!"
"Good work, I'm proud of you all,"
Valtos couldn't help but ask something. "Master, how did you know that the Magic Stone would be with the Black Bulls?"
"It's simple," he began to explain. "I had sent Heath to Saussy Village for the purpose of obtaining the stone there, but he never returned, but it was brought to my attention that the Black Bulls encountered his group, so it wasn't a stretch to assume it was with them,"
"Of course, that explains it," the spatial mage accepted the answer. "Although, I still don't know how you know where all the stones are initially to even send us to them in the first place,"
An almost out-of-character grin formed on Licht's face. "When it comes to that, let's just say…I know many things,"
Rades shrugged. "How you know doesn't really matter to me, but speaking of the stones, did you get the last ones?"
Licht revealed them in the palm of his hand. "Indeed I did, from the Wizard King himself,"
"What?!" the exclamation came from the wraith, spark, and gel mages.
"You actually fought the Wizard King?"
"Did you win?"
He nodded. "I did, and not just that, Julius Novachrono is no more, for I have slain him,"
Immediately as he said that, the three then broke into cheers. "Alright! That's our Licht!"
Annalise couldn't contain her excitement, punching the air. "Expanding our grip on the kingdom is going to be so much easier with him out of the way,"
"And it'll be even easier than that now that our objective has been reached," Licht added. "With these stones, we will achieve our true forms,"
Suddenly, amidst all the cheering and joy, a new sound was heard…the sound of crying. Only five people were present, so it wasn't hard to find where, or rather who it was originating from.
"Valtos, is everything okay?" his pupil asked him worryingly.
Her question went unanswered for a few seconds as the man found his words. "I'm fine, it's just that, today is such a great day. I remember long ago, I was just a homeless man people saw as a freak because I was born with an abnormal face, life was terrible. But then, when I felt like I couldn't stand to live any longer, Licht came to my rescue," he faced the leader. "You gave me hope in my darkest hour by giving me a place to belong, and I'll forever be grateful,"
"And because you were there for him, he was there for me, your kindness saved me too," Annalise added.
"Since we're just saying what we're grateful for, thanks a bunch for letting me be a part of all this," Rades spoke next. "It's good to be in an environment that doesn't look down on me for my magic like those loser knights did,"
Sally was last. "Same here. When I was starting out in the magic science field, you wouldn't believe how many people disapproved of my methods and research, stopping me from doing what I love, but here, you all actually think it's cool and useful, and that means a lot,"
Licht stood in silence upon hearing the quartet's positive words regarding him, but despite that, he said nothing as he walked over to the tablet, seeing the three vacant spaces that weren't going to be vacant for long. Taking his time, he placed the first one in, and then the second one, but not the third one, he held it tightly in his hand before turning around again to face his subordinates.
The wraith mage caught onto what was about to happen. "Ooh, a final speech. What a bummer, everyone else is at the other base, oh well. Carry on!"
The terrorist leader took a deep breath and went on. "In these few years, what began as a dream that lay in the depths of my heart became a reality, I was able to start taking my revenge on those I despised, those who were selfish, cruel, greedy, and prideful. And it was done through you, all of you, the Eye of the Midnight Sun, and I, Licht, acted as your leader, bringing you all together to aid me in this momentous endeavor. As such, I've spoken to you like Licht does, acted towards you like Licht does, and treated you like Licht does…"
.
.
.
.
.
"But no longer,"
The four were greatly confused by his sudden use of the third person and the even more sudden darkening of his mana and aura, matching the almost frightening look that was now on his face, only able to mutter one word. "Uh,"
"From now on, I'll speak how I would, act how I would, and my favorite, treat you how I would,"
"M-Master Licht, what are you talking about?" Valtos asked, almost afraid.
"Be quiet, you stupid, fucking human," his tone was soft, but such a fact didn't take away from the pure venom dripping from each word, amplified by the rare use of swearing. "Oh how I've dreamt of this day, the day I can finally tell you to your face what awful pieces of existence you all are. You are like those I despise, you're selfish, cruel, greedy, and prideful, you've hurt the innocent and carry their blood on your sinful hands!"
Rades, or anyone else for that matter, couldn't believe what was being heard. He then chuckled aloud, albeit very nervously. "C-C'mon Licht, stop joking around, w-we're all your friends. Right?"
Licht glared directly at him, hateful eyes piercing his very soul. "My…friends? Don't make me laugh. Why would I be friends with such parasites? Of the ones in the little group of ours, only the Third Eye are those I call friends, and once I'm finished, I'll be reunited with the rest of them, and I owe it all to you,"
"T-To us?"
"Of course, why else did you think I created the Eye of the Midnight Sun? The Magic Stones were in various places, not to mention I knew others would be after them sooner or later. You all were nothing but expendable manpower to increase our chances of success,"
"W-Wait, does that mean you were just using us!" the exclamation came from Annalise of all people, anger and frustration painting her face. "We never meant anything to you?! So Fana, Rhya, Vetto…none of you cared about us?! None of you cared about…me?! But…but the four of you were like family to me!"
His gaze shifted from Rades to her. "When it comes to those three, they have strong conviction, but nowhere near as strong as mine. I have no doubt in my mind they truly cared for you, like me, they were able to see through their hatred enough to sympathize with another who suffered like them. Me on the other hand, I despised you the moment I saw your wretched face,"
"Like him? What is he talking about?" the thought crossed her mind.
"I have said all I wanted to, it's time to bid you all goodbye," he said, his aura dying down ever so slightly as he gave them his back. "Once this final stone is placed, you will cease to exist, your horrible existence will end for the sake of a noble cause, surely a first for your race,"
"Hold on a damn minute!" Rades yelled. "You think you can do all of this to us, insult us, use us, and try to kill us without us fighting back?! I never took you for an idiot!"
"That's because I'm not an idiot. Light Binding Magic: Light Chains of Bondage," he simply replied, not even turning around, restraining their legs.
The wraith mage was persistent though. "This won't stop us! Valtos, make a portal under him! Send him anywhere far away!"
He was met with neither a verbal nor physical answer, prompting him to set his eyes on the spatial mage. He was frozen, he didn't say anything, he didn't do anything, all he could do was continue to gaze at Licht.
"Valtos, what are you doing?! Hurry up! Do something! Do something!" Rades was virtually pleading at this point, but nothing changed.
None of them could see the smug grin Licht made, delighted at the event that unfolded behind him, but he didn't let it stop him from placing the final stone in, spreading his arms as the tablet began glowing.
"Crap, it's too late! There's only one option left!" the light purple-haired man summoned his grimoire to him. "Wraith Magic: Soul-," he didn't get to finish as they suddenly started choking, unable to say a word. The quartet's bodies began degrading, their skin drying and cracking as multi-colored energy glowed brightly in their stomach region before exiting them through their mouths. One by one, they fell to the ground, each muttering their final words.
"No way," Sally.
"Master Licht," Valtos.
"You fucking, lying bastard," Annalise.
"I'll never forgive you," Rades.
With that, they dropped dead, having said their last. It was then and only then that Licht turned in their direction and started laughing. If anyone was still around to hear it, they could've sworn that the man had gone mad, focus came to one of his eyes that pulsed with sadistic glee.
"At long last!"
[Flashback]
Forsaken Realm. Centuries Ago.
It was a peaceful day near a meadow. The sun was shining brightly, birds were chirping, the various flowers released their wonderful aroma, and the grass moved around from the wind until they were gently flattened by a figure walking back, attention only being on their feet.
"He didn't fully say it, but I know it for sure. When Julius questioned my statement on humanity, he figured it out, he figured out that I wasn't human. He was right, I'm not a human…I am an elf. There's so much of myself I had to give up to achieve my goal, my mannerisms, my appearance, and even my name. My name? I'm fairly certain if not for the circumstances, I would've long forgotten it, my name is…,"
"Patri!" the name was called aloud, focus now coming to the entire body, revealing the ponytailed elf as he turned around, addressing the one who called him.
"Hey Rhya!" he called back as the older elf caught up with him.
He caught his breath before speaking again. "What are you doing all the way out here? You of all people should know what today is,"
"No duh, I'm out here getting a present for him," Patri revealed the assortment of flowers in his hand. "These are some of his favorites,"
"I'm sure he'll love them, let's go, it's best that we're not here for too long anyways, the human territory is closeby," he said as they both started running in the opposite direction.
"That's right, I was getting them…for him,"
The scene cut to the inside of a large tower sometime later, cheers could be heard from within. Inside were many elves, all focusing their attention on a young man who stood in the center, holding a glowing object.
"It's incredible, the son of the chief, Licht, has obtained a four-leaf clover grimoire!" one person announced.
"If only the chief was still with us to see this moment, he would've been so proud!" another one followed.
"And now the young Licht has his grimoire, by elven tradition, he will succeed his father and become the next chieftain!" a third one finished.
From afar, Patri stood with Rhya, Vetto, Fana, and some others, cheering as well, but none looked as happy as the young boy, his eyes practically sparkling with awe.
"There he was…the real Licht, the one I've looked up to for my whole life, a figure as strong as he was benevolent. I used to ask myself every day what deed did God and the Sacred Ones witness us do to deserve having Licht with us, but it didn't matter what is was, I was just happy it happened,"
The young Licht waved to everyone around him, but that came to an end as Patri dashed his way. "Congratulations!" he hugged him, only making it up to the older boy's waist.
"Aw, thanks a lot, Patri,"
The younger elf revealed what we had with him. "Here, I got you these,"
Licht looked pleasantly surprised. "My favorite flowers? Patri, you're the best," he kneeled down to hug him back, but once he broke the hug, he could notice him staring at his tome.
"Do you like it?" he asked, showing it off for him. "It's a four-leaf clover, told to bring good luck,"
"Woah, it's so cool!" Patri was again in awe. "Do you think I'll get one too when I'm old enough?"
He was met with a radiant smile. "I don't see why not,"
"Okay, break it up," Rhya said jokingly as he and the other two approached them. "Can't go hogging Licht all for yourself this time, junior,"
"Fine," Patri pouted, garnering laughs from the quartet which he joined in on soon after.
"Things were so great back then, I was happy, we were happy, but then…it all changed, on that fateful day,"
A good amount of years passed since then, the sun now shining on an older Patri as he lay down on a hill near the same meadow he had been to earlier in his youth, but he wasn't alone this time. He was in the center of a trio of people, with Rhya on his left, and Licht on his right.
Attention was brought to the copy mage as a whistle escaped his lips. "Man, yesterday was pretty hectic,"
Licht couldn't help but nod. "Tell me about it, I've never seen so many magical phenomena happen in the same place. Luckily, we managed to stop them while suffering no casualties,"
"No fair, I wish I could've gone with you to handle it," Patri said.
"No, no you don't," Rhya shook his head. "Those phenomena were crazy. There were magic storms, a herd or two of wild magic beasts, there was even some mass eruption at one spot. I never knew the human territory could be so rich in dangerous mana,"
"He's right, without a grimoire, it would be too dangerous for you," the young chief added.
Patri pouted as he stood up and pointed at them. "Well, I'm only 14! Next year, I'm going to get a grimoire, and it'll be really super cool, then I'll handle all of the problems alongside Licht!"
Rhya slung his arms behind his head, getting comfortable. "If you say so, junior, but until then, we'll handle it,"
Patri calmed down a bit as he sat on the grass, crisscrossing his legs. "Now that you mention humans, have you heard the rumor going around?"
The other two were intrigued by this, sitting up. "What rumor?"
"People have been saying that the humans might come to attack us here," he told them. "I mean, when you give it some thought, it's not out of the realm of possibility, we're so much stronger than them, after all, we're loved by mana itself," he shifted attention to Licht. "As the chief, should we take these seriously and set up precautions?"
Rhya chuckled as he dropped back down onto the grass. "That rumor couldn't be any more wrong, the humans don't even know where we reside, we make sure of that when we enter and exit their territory. If they wanted to attack, they wouldn't even know where to start looking for us,"
Upon hearing the rumor, Licht however, had a different opinion. "It is possible that the rumor could be true, but that's just because the humans don't know much about us, we come in, solve some of their problems, and then leave, it's reasonable to develop a fear of people like us under those circumstances. But at the same time, we don't know much about them, we've never made an effort to really interact with them, I bet if we try to come to an understanding with one another, we can become great friends. We live in the same world after all, humans and elves should be able to coexist,"
"Hm, that's a rather, interesting take on the situation," Patri held his chin. "Maybe we can-,"
He was cut off by a sudden loud sound, a windy sound. Looking over to the west of them, the trio's eyes widened at the sight of a well-sized tornado, bringing them all to their feet.
"Crap, a magic twister! I thought we took care of all the phenomena yesterday!" Rhya exclaimed in confusion.
"It looks like you missed one then," the youngest elf commented.
Licht's demeanor contrasted the copy mage's, being calm. "Let's not worry, this one as powerful as the other ones, we'll handle it quickly before it reaches the village. Rhya, you hit it on the left, and I'll hit it on the-,"
"AHH!" a secondary sound rang in his ears, confusing him for a second, but as he looked closer at the twister, he saw where it was coming from: a woman who was trying to escape it.
Not saying another word, he charged straight at it, the other two right behind him. "Licht, what about the plan?!"
"There's someone close to it, we need to be careful," he replied, taking out his grimoire. "I'll handle it myself,"
They were only ten yards from the twister when he leaped into the air as Patri and Rhya halted. Why had they come to a stop? They saw something the chief had failed to on the other side of the spiraling tower of wind.
Or rather, someone.
"It's a human!" they both thought, seeing a blond man take out a grimoire of his own, casting a spell at the same time Licht did.
"Light Magic: Lamp of Avior!"
"Sword Magic: Origin Flash!"
The two spells hit the twister simultaneously, dissipating it with no challenge. Licht moved in quickly, using his available arm to catch the woman before locking his kind, soft eyes, with hers.
"Are you okay?" he asked her, his voice tender.
The woman couldn't help but blush at the handsome face that had come to her rescue. She smiled back, albeit very shly. "Y-Yes. Thank you for saving me,"
Her demeanor managed to do something as the sword mage found himself blushing too as he touched the ground, neither person could keep their eyes off the other.
"Licht!" Patri called as he and Rhya closed in. "You did it!"
Strangely though, he wasn't met with an answer, Licht and the woman continued to stare at each other, as if in a trance. Patri raised a brow at the weird occurrence, instead of persisting, he focused on the other person across from them.
"That human, I could feel it, his magic power was on par with Licht's. I didn't know such a thing was possible. Just who is he?" he said in his mind.
On the other hand, the blond man spoke quite loudly. "Tetia!" he exclaimed with worry, rushing to the woman, also noticing what was going on. "Um, Tetia!"
This managed to do the trick, the two finally registering the fact that others were staring at them, leading to Licht putting her down. "So…your name is Tetia? It's a very beautiful name,"
Neither Patri nor Rhya could believe what they were hearing, resisting the sudden, yet strangely powerful urge to let their jaws drop. The words their chief said may have been normal, but the tone was alien to them. "Is Licht…nervous?!" their minds screamed in unison.
Tetia fidgeted with her hands, now almost unable to make eye contact. "And yours is Licht, that's a really nice name too,"
"Oh, um, thank you,"
"Uh, o..k," the blond man was still bewildered by what he was witnessing, but it subsided enough for him to register a fact of his own. "Hold on, you're elves. I didn't know my sister and I stumbled into your territory, I apologize,"
"It's quite alright, it appears to have been an accident," he waved it off, side-eyeing Tetia as he too felt self-conscious looking at her. "So, how exactly did you get into that situation?"
The man crossed his arms, looking at her suspiciously. "Yes Tetia, how did you get into this?"
"Oh, about that," she fidgeted with her hands again, her eyes darting in many directions, sweat forming on her face. "Well, since I have Wind Magic, I thought a magic twister would be great for training, I guess it wasn't such a good idea,"
"You guess?! You had me worried sick! What if you seriously hurt herself?!"
Tetia put her head down. "I'm sorry,"
The man put an end to his scolding at the sight of her remorseful expression, sighing. "Fine, I forgive you, I can't stay too mad at my baby sister,"
Licht decided it was best to reenter to conversation. "You have Wind Magic? How neat, I have Sword Magic,"
"Sword Magic?!" the man instantly shifted his attention from his sister to the elf, starry-eyed as he closed in on him. "Now that's an attribute you don't see every day!" his gaze fell on the weapon in his grasp. "Did you craft that with your magic?"
Licht raised it up to eye level. "This? Oh no, this is called the Demon Dweller Sword, it was passed down to me by my ancestors. It was used in a great war a very long time ago,"
"Demon Dweller? Peculiar name, anyway, if you were wondering what my attribute is, I use Light Magic,"
This earned a chuckle from the sword mage. "What's so funny?"
"Forgive me, I just find it very coincidental, you see, my name, Licht, actually means light,"
"Really? That's amazing, it's like we were destined to meet,"
"Um, Licht," Patri interjected. "I don't mean to be rude, but shouldn't we be heading back now? Lunchtime is approaching,"
"You're right, we should be off," he responded, but not before facing the wind mage, a light blush present. "You're welcome to join us…if you want,"
"I don't think you should be doing that," the youngest elf disagreed.
Rhya nodded. "I'm with junior on this one, no human has ever stepped foot in the village,"
Licht turned to them. "Perhaps, but I can see they mean no harm, and you must be able to as well. Besides, just earlier I was talking about how humans and elves can be friends, our friend here did say it's like we were destined to meet. God must've let this happen so we could be the first to establish a positive coexistence between our kind,"
Rhya gave it some thought. "I mean, that always could be a possibility. Ugh, fine, they can come, they check out anyways,"
The chief smiled at him, now looking at the other elf. "And are you okay with this?"
Patri crossed his arms. "If you're really okay it, then I guess I can allow it,"
"Thank you very much, we'd love to join you, wouldn't we?" Tetia asked her brother who smiled in response.
"Well, we were invited, it wouldn't be polite to say no,"
"I'm glad to hear that," Licht placed the Dweller back in his grimoire, closing it. "Say, I never caught your name,"
"Oh, how rude of me, I'm Lumiere Silvamillion Clover, prince of the Clover Kingdom,"
"Yes, they were royalty, both the prince and princess respectively. It was strange at first to welcome them into our community, but the others were more open to it than I was expecting. They played with our children, and made small talk with the adults, it's like they were at home,"
Multiple instances between them flashed as time passed by, from Lumiere sharing friendly spars with Rhya and Vetto, to Tetia and Fana having girl time, to Licht and Tetia sneaking off to be alone, unaware the others knew all about it.
"When it came to the princess, she was nice enough, albeit a bit on the reckless side, but her brother…he was different,"
Lumiere was currently standing near a field, a group of elves having come to listen to what he was saying. "Licht and I have the same desire: to foster friendship between our races. You all have been nothing but kind to us, so I have full faith in that desire coming true to its full potential, where we no longer have to establish separate territories and instead become one,"
"Eventually, he brought in more humans,"
"Everyone, I'd like you to meet my friends!" he exclaimed, bringing attention to three people whose faces were obscured by the sunlight.
Patri raised a brow at the sight of the new trio, not at what they looked like, well, not counting the one in the strange blue attire, but instead the feeling their mana gave off. One of them felt entirely normal, but the other two had a strange sensation about them that he couldn't put his finger on.
"From there, things began to change in a more drastic way. Licht and Tetia were with child, and soon, they announced their engagement. In less than a year, everything became so different, Licht was so much happier, and admittedly, I was as well…"
The day that had come was a happy one, cheers and music were heard at the center of the village, it was a wedding after all. The blushing couple had just sealed their matrimony with a kiss and were now waving to the crowd.
"Congratulations! Tetia, you look so pretty in that dress!" Fana gushed.
"Thanks," she accepted the compliment, turning to an elf who was close by. "Yoveen, you've outdone yourself, this is beautiful,"
The girl couldn't help but blush from joyful embarrassment. "Aw, it was nothing," she waved it off before Yurim wrapped her arms around her.
"I'm just so happy to have a talented little sister. Promise me you'll make me a dress when I get married,"
"Ah, getting married," Fana held her cheeks and blissfully shook her head. "I can't wait until I'm a blushing bride,"
Tetia gave her an encouraging smile. "I know you'll find that special person. Do you have your eye on anyone yet?"
She halted her prior action to think about it. "Hm, no, or at least, I don't think I do,"
"Did you hear that, Rhya? There's hope for you," Licht joked.
"Woah, why the hell did you mention me?! I think I'd rather jump off a cliff than marry Fana,"
"What did you say?!" she yelled, attempting to attack him.
Luckily, Vetto got in the way. "Calm down, I'm positive he didn't mean to insult you. I'm certain what he meant was that you've been friends for so long, viewing you in a romantic light would be strange,"
"Yes, that is totally what I meant," the copy mage just decided to go with it.
Fana crossed her arms, content with the answer. "I suppose that makes sense,"
Rhya gave Licht a look. "Hey, Mr. Groom, you're lucky it's your wedding day, or else I would've kicked your ass,"
"C'mon, don't give him a hard time," Tetia giggled.
"Well, he better not cheat on you then, or I'll kick his ass for sure,"
"Cheat?" Licht repeated the word as he held his wife's hands, looking deep into her eyes. "Why would I be unfaithful to the most beautiful woman in the world?"
"Licht," she blushed.
"Checks out," Rhya laughed, giving a thumbs-up. "He's telling the truth,"
"That's our elven lie detector for ya," Yoveen praised.
Not too far away, Patri watched as his friends engaged in the various conversations, it had caused him to notice that neither Lumiere nor his friends were present which was odd, it wasn't like the light mage to miss his own sister's wedding, there was also the fact that one of his friends was supposed to be the Maid of Honor. But he was able to look past that and focus on Licht's happy face. He couldn't help but notice how much more the chief smiled these days, and Tetia was responsible for that. It made him happy to know that the man he looked up to for all his life had someone who made him happy, and for it to be a human no less. The train of thought made him recall the rumor he heard months ago, however, everything he witnessed convinced him that the rumors were just that, rumors.
But…
"...I almost feel ashamed of myself for being so foolish,"
…Then it happened.
"What in the world?" was the thought that went through everyone's head as the sky went from blue to red.
Tetia was the first to say anything. "Is this part of some elven tradition?"
"No, I'm just as lost as you are," her husband replied.
The change of color wasn't the only strange thing to happen as a huge yellow circle materialized above them, not doing anything for the time being.
Fana looked at it curiously. "It seems to be a spell of some sort. I wonder what it-," everyone's eyes widened as something cut her off. What was that something?
It was a magic sword that pierced through her torso.
"AH!" she wailed in pain as she fell to the ground.
Vetto was quick to put two and two together. "We're under attack!" he called, screams erupting from every direction as more swords fell.
"Don't worry everyone, I'll protect us!" Rhya took out his grimoire as fast as he could. "Copy Stone Creation Magic: Rocksteady Shelter!"
To his complete shock, nothing happened. "What? My magic isn't working,"
"Plan B! Everyone retreat to your homes! Quickly!" Vetto then exclaimed, scooping the injured woman into his arms. "You're going to be okay, that wound isn't fatal,"
Many didn't waste time making a break for it, unfortunately, they ran into a horrifying problem upon reaching a certain distance. "Something's blocking us in, we can't get out! We're stuck here!" an elf exclaimed before three swords went through him and he dropped dead.
"Daddy!" a little girl cried as she ran to him, alas, she shared his fate as a sword penetrated her ribs, piercing her lungs.
"We're…stuck here?" Vetto repeated what he heard, his voice devoid of hope.
But things got even more hopeless. "AH!" the beast mage called out in pain as a sword went right through his leg, forcing him to drop Fana as he too dropped to the ground.
"I don't get it, why is this happening? Why today?" he mumbled, more swords stabbing his body, he could feel himself fading away, so he did his best to turn his head to left where the flame mage still was, unable to see her face. "Fana, you need to hide somewhere, hurry,"
There was no answer. "Fana?" he looked at her face, stunned speechless by the additional swords in her body, her eyes lifeless.
"...No," he muttered his last word before succumbing to his injuries.
"I have…to do something," Rhya said, ignoring the sword that had lodged itself into his shoulder. Doing the best he could, he pulled it out, the blood staining his white clothes. "I have…to find Licht and Tetia. It's their wedding day, it was supposed to be perfect,
He slowly trudged on, unable to find where the couple had run off to, what he was able to find, however, were the five newly formed holes in his body, his body hitting the ground with a thud. "Damn…it,"
Yoveen could hardly move a muscle as she witnessed what went on around her, screams of terror and fresh dead bodies dropping by the second. She was terrified. "Please, just let this be a bad dream. I…I don't want to die,"
Her plea was pointless as a sword was heading her way, and all she could do was close her eyes and wait for it all to be over.
But that didn't happen. Opening her eyes, she saw someone else take the hit for her. "Yurim!" she screamed as the older girl quickly pushed her down and rested on top of her.
"What are you doing?!" it came from the younger girl.
"Stay under me, Yoveen, you'll be safe," she said back, holding in the urge to scream as swords impaled her further.
"No, you'll die,"
Yurim gave the best smile she could. "I'm okay with that as long as you'll be okay. That's what a big sister does,"
"I won't accept it!" Yoveen broke free and stood up.
"What are you doing?!" Yurim now asked.
"Making sure you live too," her sister replied, pulling her arms. "We can hide under other dead bodies. It's sad, but we have no-,"
Those were the last things she ever said as a sword pierced her straight through her neck, blood leaking like crazy as she dropped back down, violently gasping for air, the need entirely overshadowing the immense pain she was in.
"NO!" Yurim screamed, tears welling in her eyes.
"Girls! Girls, I'm on my way!" the older sister could see Romit running to them, but he never made it, he was bombarded by a flurry of swords, his body becoming riddled with twenty holes, making him unable to stand. "Argh, it…it burns, everything burns,"
"R-Romit," Yurim muttered as all three of them died at the same time.
And then…there was Patri. By some miracle, no sword had managed to hit him, but that didn't matter. Slowly moving his head in every direction, he saw the fresh corpses of those he loved, all of his friends, his despair-filled vision then transitioned to the spell above that was responsible for the massive bloodshed. However, his luck ran out as four swords went through him, piercing non-lethal areas, causing the air to rush out of his lungs from the sudden sharp pain. Now with his face on the ground, his sight wouldn't do him much good, so his ears took on the task of absorbing everything going on around him, and through it, he could hear the chaos and the cacophony of fearful cries.
"Sena! Open your eyes, please!"
"Mama, my arms, they hurt so bad!"
"Cousin Den!"
"Why is this happening?"
"We need to get to safety!"
"Sacred Ones, please protect us!"
Patri tried to cover his ears, but it was no use, the surrounding noise was just too loud. "How did this happen? Who could've done this? And why? Just why?" he asked himself, and among the noise, he heard a possible answer.
"That human is responsible for this! He must be, he and his friends were the only ones who knew about us!"
Hearing that made the elf's eyes widen. Could it really be? Would he really do this to them? But that's when he looked back up to the spell…it was light magic, and his group were the only ones who knew the location of their territory, there was no other plausible culprit.
Coming to this realization, he clenched his fists, engulfed by rage as he forced himself to stand, his eyes pulsating with blinding fury. "How could you? HOW COULD YOU?! We trusted you! Licht trusted you! I trusted you! You said you wanted our kind to be friends, was that all a lie?!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. "I will never forgive you, you hear me?! I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU HUMANS! Even if I die here, my hate will live on! And that hate will someday come back to haunt you, mark my words…Lumiere!"
However, his anger-filled rant came to an end as a light sword lodged itself in his heart, sending him back down on the bloody grass, his life fading, his mind beginning to dissociate with everything, minutes felt like seconds, but before he fully crossed onto the other side, he saw something, something that shocked him almost as much as discovering what he did.
It was Licht, he was holding onto a dead body…Tetia's dead body, her once snow-white wedding dress soaked in crimson, but what captured his attention was what the sword mage was doing. Patri noticed him mouthing some words before three dark red circles formed above him, increasing in size in order of ascension, the future light mage recognized what those circles meant, but then, his eyes finally shut.
.
.
.
And then they opened back up. Patri was taken by total surprise, his sight no longer beholding the bloody massacre but instead a peaceful blue sky, at first, he merely assumed that this was the afterlife, but that couldn't be it, at least, he wasn't expecting it to look much like the regular world.
"In our final moments, I saw it, Licht cast a forbidden spell, and that spell sent me and me alone forward 500 years into the future. He entrusted this mission to me, a mission to eradicate the humans somehow, however, someone made things…complicated,"
Trying to figure out what was going on, Patri tried to stand, but his body didn't respond, he tried to open his mouth, but that didn't respond either, it was like he couldn't control his own body.
"What's going on?!" he consciously exclaimed in his mind.
"Huh? What the?" the voice of a little boy suddenly said, Patri's vision undergoing a shift, now seeing the surrounding trees.
"I moved," the elf now thought.
"W-Who's there?" the voice asked, somewhat scared. "S-Show yourself,"
"This is weird. Um, hello?"
"W-Where are you?"
"I'm not too sure, but I think I'm in…your head,"
"In my head?!" the boy sank to his knees. "Oh no, am I going insane?"
"I'm not really sure," Patri answered confusedly. "I remember being somewhere else, then I died, and now I'm here,"
"That is weird. Could it be from some kind of spell?"
"Now that you mention it, that's actually a pretty possible scenario,"
"Well, as long we know I'm not crazy, it works for me," the boy said, his tone happier. "So, do you have a name,"
"Patri,"
"Patri what?"
"What do you mean?"
"You don't have a last name?"
"No. What's your name?"
"I am William Vangeance, pleased to meet you," the future world tree mage introduced himself as his stomach started to rumble. "Man, I'm hungry,"
"Hm, as am I,"
With that, William started running in a direction, the Yggdrow estate appearing in the distance.
"Wow, you have a very nice home," the elf complimented.
"Yeah, I guess," the boy said back, Patri picking up on the drop in his countenance, but decided to ignore it for now.
Once inside, William stopped running, in fact, his current form of moving contrasted his earlier one, now being a mix of quick and stealthy strides combined with frequently hiding behind walls to inspect if the hall was empty.
Patri was more or less confused by the action. "Why are you sneaking around?"
"To make sure they don't see me?"
"Who's 'they'?"
"I'll explain later," he replied quietly, making his way into the deserted kitchen, quickly assembling bread, beef, mustard, and an assortment of vegetables, cutting them and bringing them together into a sandwich. "Alright, now we can get out of-,"
"What are you doing here?!" he jumped, startled by the call that was addressed to him. Both William and Patri were face to face with an adult woman wearing a fancy dress. "Didn't you hear me, I asked you a question!"
"M-Mother, I just came here to g-get some food-," he was cut off a second time as the woman came up and slapped him across the face, the elf feeling it as well.
"Don't call me that! I am not your mother. Do you think I'd ever give birth to someone as ugly as you? Take your food and get out of my sight!"
"Y-Yes ma'am," William shriveled up as he grabbed his plate and hurried to his room. Once there, he set the plate down and took a single bite to the sandwich, and after he swallowed, he burst into tears, sinking down at the foot of his bed, hugging his legs.
"Hey, are you okay?" Patri asked, almost surprised at how compassionate he sounded.
William wiped some tears away. "No, I don't really like it here,"
"I can see why. Say, that woman from before, was she a human?"
"Of course, why wouldn't she be? She's a human, I'm a human, and you're a human. Right?"
Patri felt an immense anger rise up, threatening to come out, but he held it back. "No, I'm not human, I'm an elf,"
"An elf? You mean like from some of the storybooks I read?"
"That depends, how do the stories describe us?"
"Well, the one I've read is the most recent version, it says you were a strong race that lived 500 years ago, you had lots of mana and lived in a secluded place, but then you suddenly just vanished in some kind of accident,"
"Hm, that weirdly sums up my people in a pretty accurate depiction. But has it really been 500 years? It felt like a few minutes ago for me,"
"I wish I could've lived back then with you, it would've been better than being in this place. Every day, my stepmother says bad things about me, my father says bad things about me, their servants do, and then there's their son,"
"They have a son?"
"Yeah, just one, his name's Magnus. He doesn't do anything bad to me, but he doesn't do anything good either, the most he ever does is just say hello,"
"I see. Your stepmother said you were ugly. Is there something wrong with your face?"
"Oh, can you not see it?" William stood up and walked to a mirror, showing the reflection that revealed his peculiar appearance. "I was like this since birth, my mother was cursed, putting this affliction on me, and it's only made my life a nightmare. Everyone looks at me differently, and in a bad way, they think I'm some freak, and no one wants to be around a freak, so you can imagine I don't have any friends either,"
"Hey, I don't think you're a freak. In the few minutes we've known each other, you seem like a well-rounded individual, and if you want…I'll be your friend,"
"Y-You will?" he suddenly inquired, his voice brimming with excitement.
"Um, sure, why not? I'm in your head, after all, might as well,"
"Thank you thank you thank you," he squealed, running over to his sandwich, cheerfully biting into it.
"Somehow, someway, this boy managed to make my hatred subside ever so slightly. As time passed, I came to see what he had to endure day in and day out, I saw the cruelty humans had for one another. We elves suffered horrible fates, but I think I'd take it over years of torment and abuse. William wasn't the enemy, he was my friend, I'd always be there for him, and he'd always be there for me. I eventually confided in him about my past life and what happened to us, and he understood, it only makes sense that he would, he knew my pain, and I knew his. Years passed and when William turned 15, he had finally got his grimoire, of course, his so-called 'family' wasn't there to support him, but that was fine as long as I was around,"
Night fell over the Yggdrow estate as William lay on his bed, inspecting his tome. "I finally have it, my grimoire,"
"Congratulations again, you're going to become an amazing mage," Patri told him.
"Thanks. So, do you think I should try to take the Magic Knights Entrance Exam?"
"I wouldn't advise it," the elf replied. "I've heard they can be quite the pompous type,"
"They can't all be like that," William plainly retorted, letting out a yawn. "We can discuss the rest in the morning. Goodnight,"
"Goodnight," he said back as the eyes closed and both drifted off to sleep.
.
.
.
Then, like deja vu, his eyes suddenly opened, surprising Patri for a second time. "William, is something the matter?" he asked, but was given no response. Then, for some reason, he was abruptly hit by a pounding sensation in his head.
"Ah!" he groaned, instinctually bringing his hand to his forehead, shocking him. "I…I have control of the hand?"
William's voice now ringed in the future light mage's head. "Patri, something's wrong, I can't move my body,"
"Well, that's because I seem to be moving it," Patri got out of bed, walking to the mirror, his eyes widening. "That's strange, this isn't my face, I look like Licht,"
"Licht? The man you looked up to?"
"The very same, this is quite a strange predicament," he said before something got his attention.
"What is it?" the world tree mage asked.
"I'm feeling a familiar power, yet at the same time, it's unfamiliar, and for some strange reason, I feel…drawn to it," he responded as he opened the room door and ventured outside, eventually leaving the estate, roaming the empty streets until he reached the place the sensation was coming from.
"The grimoire tower?" William recalled them being at the place earlier that day for his grimoire ceremony. "That makes no sense. You didn't feel this last time,"
"True, I guess we'll just have to see," he said back, entering the building, staring up and around at the empty shelves, although, it wasn't exactly empty.
As if on cue, a bright yellow light shined above him from the shelf, the light descending to him, revealing a grimoire, a four-leaf clover grimoire. "This is it, this is where it's coming from,"
"But what does it mean?"
"I'm not sure," Patri took hold of the tome, causing it to open and flip through pages, it kept going until it reached the last one, a dark red lightning accompanying it, some of that lightning shot right into his eye, showing him various different visions of various different events. "AH!"
"Patri, are you alright?!"
The now-deemed light mage reeled back, holding his face, but as he removed his hand, an almost twisted expression was now present. "I'm fine. Say, remember when I told you it wouldn't be a good idea to join the Magic Knights?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"In a split second, I saw it, I saw everything, the way to carry out Licht's mission. I saw who I needed to find among the crowd of the dead to bring to my side, the tools that would make the dream a reality, the plan to bring them all together. However, to begin it, one thing had to be done first,"
"I changed my mind,"
[End Flashback]
As the light mage finished going down memory lane, his crazed laughing also came to an end with a satisfied sigh. "And now it begins,"
As he said this, a strong yellow aura enveloped him. "The others will be awakening soon. I can't wait to see my old friends again,"
"Hey, Henry, what the hell are you doing up there?!"
Back at Black Bulls HQ, Gauche was currently screaming at the recombination mage who was sitting on the base's roof.
"Whhhaaattt'sss uuupppp?!" he called back.
"What the hell's going inside the hideout?! Tons of the rooms are in shambles. Shouldn't they be repaired by now?!"
"Nooooo caaaannnn dooooo! Thhheeerrree'ss noootttt eennouugghh maannnaaa fooorrrr itttt!"
"Son of a bitch," the mirror cursed under his breath.
"Gauche, any luck?" Gordon asked as he and Grey stepped out of the building.
"No. It appears that there's not enough mana for Henry to absorb to fix up the place," he informed them. "Man, I wish some of the others would get back already, they've been gone all day, aside from the Royal Knights mission, nothing that exciting should be going on,"
"We should be patient, for the time being, after all, we're not in any immediate danger, and most of the base is still standing," Grey tried to convince him.
And for the most part, it worked. "You got a point," then, as to almost give a middle finger to the transformation mage's statement, Gauche became enveloped in the same yellow aura.
"What happening?"
"Picture Magic: Twin Storms of Wind and Glass!"
Going back about two minutes, Team 4 was plowing through your average group of nameless hooded mages, with the Aqua Deer captain using the prior spell to take a pair of named foes, two pine tree-haired twins named Mason and Mabel, having defeated another named enemy earlier, a man by the name of Stan.
"That's another horde to bite the dust," he, stretching his arms.
Fragil approached him. "Captain, don't you find it tiring that they don't stop coming?"
"Nonsense, more people to fight means there are more chances to create my masterpiece,"
Puli nodded. "I agree, more people to take down is absolutely fabulous and makes for great practice. Don't you think so, Ruben?"
The sandstone mage shrugged. "I don't really care about prolonged fights, the sooner we finish this, the better, and we shouldn't be getting complacent, the last thing I need is Captain Mereoleona finding out we-," he didn't get another word in as the yellow aura enveloped not just him, but each of the four knights. They were so bewildered by it that they failed to notice the defeated mages beginning to degrade and die.
Focusing on Team 2, only half of that number shared the strange fate as Nils and Shiren were the only ones to gain the aura.
Nozel was pretty shocked to say the least. "Nils, explain yourself, what are you doing?"
"I'm not doing anything, captain,"
With Team 1…
"Luck, are you casting some kind of a spell?" Noelle asked him, confused by the aura around him.
"If it is a spell, I didn't cast it," he said back.
Kirsch then noticed something. "And it looks like he's not the only one," he pointed to Rama, the same thing happening to him.
"This is…weird," the white tiger raised a brow.
With Team 3…
Mimosa began backing up at the sight of her three teammates, all enveloped by the mysterious aura. "Um, guys, do one of you care to explain?"
"I'm not sure what's going on, but I don't feel different," Klaus stated plainly.
"Uh, people, that dude's glowing too!" Bell pointed at the floating man, but he was different, his aura was way stronger.
Yuno stared at his hands. "What could this all mean?"
With Team 5…
Like the other teams, they were not spared from having members succumb to the strange phenomenon, but so far, they were the team with the least to do so as it only happened to one of them.
"What. The. Fuck," Alice tilted her head as she looked at the person who had the aura. "So is this just something you do that you never told me, or..?"
"I don't know," they answered, revealing the victim to be Zuka. "I'm just as confused as you,"
And finally, with Team 6…
While none of their members were affected, that didn't mean they didn't get to witness the aura as it enveloped Rhya, who merely chuckled as he got to his feet, his third eye fading into nothingness.
"Hm, so you finally did it, aye? Good work," he muttered to himself, pointing at the swordsman who stood in shock. "Hey, it's Asta, right? I want to let you know something about myself,"
"A-And what's that?"
"I don't really know how I got it, but for as long as I can remember, I could always tell when a person was lying. Regular people who judge it through things like speech pattern and body language among others, but me, I could just feel it,"
Asta clenched his fist. "So?"
"So? When you gave your little speech about wanting to create a better world where we could live in harmony through understanding one another, I could tell if it was a load of bullshit or not, and you, Mr. Swords Thief meant every word you said. But here's the thing, I also knew a guy who said those same words and meant them too, and let's just say, things didn't turn out so well. You may be telling the truth now, but what's stopping you from changing your mind later? Unlike last time with that last guy, I don't intend on giving you the chance to do so,"
Asta was stunned by his revelation, but he got over it fast as the disloyal one was preparing an attack.
"This time, we'll come out on top! Copy Magic: Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash + Light Swords of Conviction!"
The trio dodged the two spells launched at once. "I thought you couldn't cast two spells at once?" Mereoleona playfully questioned him.
"Well, as you can see...," Rhya began, pointing to his hair as it switched, going from mainly black with white streaks to mainly white with black streaks. "..I've changed,"
Back with Patri, he had fully calmed down, he had done what he had wanted to for so long.
But now was not a time for madness, but instead, a time for reverence, as with success, came a cost he knew he'd have to pay. "My second reincarnation is complete, alas, it has made me the permanent owner of this body, no more alternating, and no more shall you speak in my mind, William,"
He reached into his satchel, pulling out the world tree mage's grimoire before taking a knee in respect. "You knew of this fate, you knew that you'd essentially have to vanish so that I may live on with those I care for, but you agreed to it anyways, you are a true friend,"
He then rose up and placed the satchel against the base of the tablet. "When elves come to rule, and humans are no more, I will tell them all of you, of your kindness, of your sacrifice. You will be forever remembered as the greatest human to ever walk the Earth,"
Saying what he wanted to, he flew out of the area and into the air, staring down at what acted as his second hideaway: the demon skull of Hage.
"Farewell, William Vangeance," was the last he said before flying off.