Season 2, Chapter 13, part 2.
Below The Surface
They travel far, fast, and as quickly as they possibly can.
Haze sees Asta and Millie going at full speed ahead, and he can tell that they are increasing the distance as they go faster than Haze can fly on his broom.
Meanwhile, Sky and Mimosa run inside the house to find their friends lying on the floor. ''What, are they all asleep?'' Sky says as Mimosa walks up to Lydia lying on the floor. ''I have no idea,'' Mimosa says, crouching down, feeling Lydia's pulse and sensing her mana. ''But whatever is going on, it is not good,'' Mimosa says, shaking Lydia gently. And she looks over to Sky, who does the same to Tory.
''They aren't waking up,'' Sky says, concerned, and turns her face and meets Mimosa's gaze. ''Yes, none of them are,'' Mimosa says and goes to her satchel and brings out a circular device and opens it. ''We will need to contact the headquarters about this,'' Mimosa says and clears her throat and speaks. ''Hello Headquarters, this is Mimosa Vermillion. We have a situation here,'' she utters calmly, clearly trying to hide the fear in her voice, but all the device is giving her back is a small glow before it goes dark.
'Why is it not working?' Sky asks. ''Not sure,'' Mimosa says, looking around. ''It is faint, but I sense some kind of magic floating around. It must be interfering with the device,'' Mimosa mentions.
''Would it help to go outside, then?'' Sky asks. ''Hmm, maybe,'' Mimosa says and looks at her friends sleeping on the floor. (''They don't seem to be in too much danger,'' Mimosa thinks to herself after checking up on them).
''We can go to the hill with the well, as it seems to be outside whatever is affecting the town,'' she utters calmly. ''Right,'' Sky replies, and the girls go out of the old man's house and head for the hill.
They run as quickly as their feet will carry, and a few minutes later, they arrive at the hill, and Sky looks at Mimosa as she brings out the communication device, and she looks to the horizon in the distance, and Mimosa opens the circular lid.
''Mimosa, look,'' Sky says, and Mimosa looks to Sky and to the horizon. ''Oh, who is that?'' Mimosa asks curiously.
''Millie! Down here!'' Sky yells, and waves to get Millie's attention. And Mimosa sees the next character that comes into view, and she lights up. ''Asta, Hi!'' Mimosa yells excitedly and relieved, waving him in as well.
And Millie flies down and lands right in front of Sky, who eagerly jumps at Millie and hugs her, and Millie awkwardly blushes as her arms are pushed into her sides. ''Sky, are you all right?'' Millie asks calmly with concern in her voice as Sky lets go, and their eyes meet. ''Yeah, now that you are here, something is happening to the town,'' Sky explains.
''Hi! You guys!'' Asta yells, and everyone turns to him, and they duck as he swooshes over them and crash lands in the grass. And everyone turns to see him slowly getting up, rubbing his neck. ''Man, we went way faster than expected,'' he says, getting up, and Mimosa runs up to him and hugs him.
''Asta, Hey, I am so relieved that you are here,'' she gently tells him. ''Of course I am, if there is trouble,'' he says, and Mimosa's eyes widen for a second. ''Wait, how did you guys know to come here? I mean, I haven't gotten to contact the headquarters yet,'' Mimosa asks. ''Well, Millie said that she sensed that something was up, so we went from the capital and all the way out here,'' Asta explains, and Mimosa and he turn towards Millie. ''How can you sense it this far out?'' Mimosa asks.
''I marked this place this morning, with my magic, Miss,'' Millie softly replies, looking at the village with concern in her eyes. ''Marked it, what does that mean?'' Mimosa asks, and Millie looks to Mimosa, meeting her eyes. ''To put it simply, I mark every resident of a village with my magic so if anything on a bigger scale were to happen, then I would be able to sense it if there is ever any trouble,'' Millie explains softly, and Mimosa thinks it over for a moment, putting her hand to her chin.
''I think I get it, but why this place?'' Mimosa asks. ''I have done it to 94% of the villagers of the Clover Kingdom,'' Millie explains. ''94%? Why are you marking all over the place?''' Mimosa asks in surprise. And Millie looks to Mimosa and Asta. ''If results are what is needed to help Master Asta become the Wizard King, then marking areas and bringing him there when he is needed is a sure way to do just that.''
''Wait, you are doing it for me?'' Asta asks in soft surprise as he points a finger to his face. ''I gave you my word, sir. If I got to fight Devea on my own, then I would do what I can to help you reach your goal, Master,'' Millie clarifies softly.
''Oh, right, I forgot about that,'' Asta says awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. ''Your mind is probably not working as usual,'' Nero says from on top of his head. ''Hey!'' Asta retorts. And Millie turns her head, and Mimosa does the same, which Asta notices, and he looks up to see Haze come up.
''Finally caught up to you guys,'' he says and lands and dismounts his broom. ''Seriously, you brought this guy along?'' Sky says, pointing her finger at Haze. ''Great, tomato head is here,'' Haze lazily retorts.
''The name is Sky, and you know that, you jerk face,'' Sky pushes back and scoffs. ''We should probably go and check up on everyone,'' Mimosa says, wanting peace to return to the group. ''Good idea,'' Sky says and walks over to Millie and grabs her hand and drags her along, heading down the hill towards the town.
''What even is going on?'' Haze asks as the group moves. ''I am not sure. The village was drenched in this subtle trace of mana, and everyone seems to have fallen asleep for some reason,'' Mimosa explains.
''Why weren't you and Sky affected?'' Haze asks. ''Well, me and her were outside of town when it happened, so I suppose that we were out of range,'' Mimosa explains, and soon they are inside the old man's house, where Millie crouches down next to Lydia and checks her pulse and senses her mana.
Meanwhile, Haze's eyes slightly widen as he walks in, and he goes over to Tory and Alisa. ''These two were here too,'' he mutters.
''They seem to be under a spell that drains their mana,'' Millie says. ''What, so it isn't just putting them to sleep?'' Mimosa says, worried. ''Why would anyone do this?'' Sky wonders out loud.
''This spell is quite formidable. It won't be easy to dispel it,'' Millie softly mentions, and a moment later, she sees Asta's Destroyer Sword's edge being placed against Lydia's stomach, and Millie watches carefully as a blood-red circle with black outlines surrounds them as it drains Lydia of the influence of the magic, and the circle vanishes, and Millie sees Lydia slowly waking up. Millie looks up to Asta and Liebe. ''That is remarkable,'' she softly says, and Asta smiles as he takes the blade away from Lydia's person as she wakes up and gets up to sit.
''Take it easy, all right,'' Mimosa tells her. ''Ngh, what just happened?'' Lydia asks. ''You fell under the influence of a spell, but you should be good now. Asta helped get you out of it with his antimagic,'' Mimosa explains, and Lydia looks over to Asta as he has moved over to Fiola, who wakes up as well.
''If I was asleep then why do I feel so tired?'' Lydia asks in a tired mutter as Millie stands up and looks to the unconscious old man on the couch and Millie walk over to him and inspects his current state.
Lydia sees Asta undo the spell on Tory and Alisa before Millie speaks up ''this spell does more than putting people asleep'' she utter and Mimosa, Sky, Lydia and Asta with Nero on his head turns to her. ''what do you mean?'' Mimosa asks.
"It is very faint, miss Mimosa, however, I sense that the magic is being drained from this man's being," Millie explains.
"How can you be certain?" Mimosa asks.
"Yeah, isn't that a long stretch? I mean, who would even bother doing something like that way out here?" Haze agrees with Mimosa while seeing Asta take his blade against the old man and undo the spell, and the old man's body relaxes.
"I am uncertain, sir Haze. However, according to the state of this gentleman, this has happened before," Millie softly replies, and Mimosa thinks it over. "Well, that would explain the happenings regarding this village," Mimosa thinks out loud and turns her gaze to the teens as Tory and Alisa are getting up.
"My, what happened?" Alisa asks, rubbing her face. "You were under a spell, but you should be good now," Haze explains.
"Haze, what are you doing here?" Alisa asked.
"Well, there was trouble, so I followed along," Haze lazily explains, hiding that he was worried about them.
"Well, regardless, it is nice to see you again," Alisa says with a smile, and Haze looks away.
"We should check up on the rest of the village as well," Nero offers, and Asta looks up at Nero. "Right," Asta replies as the rest are getting to their feet. "Wait, this happened to the whole village?" Alisa asks.
"It certainly did," Mimosa replies, helping Fiola to her feet.
"Let us go out to check on everyone," Lydia suggests, and they all nod in agreement. "Mimosa might fill us in as we get to the rest of the villagers," Nero suggests as the group moves on outside. "Of course," Mimosa replies as they move outside.
Alisa sees the magic knights trying to investigate and figure out the cause of the spell that put everyone to sleep. She stands there, looking about, noticing how eerily quiet the village is. "This is actually kind of freaky," Alisa says, hugging herself to keep warm, seeing Asta head inside a house, and Alisa turns her eyes to see Millie standing in the middle of the street, looking around.
"Uh, Millie was it? What are you looking for?" Alisa asks, walking up to Millie.
"I do not know yet, miss Alisa," Millie answers softly, and Sky walks up to her.
"Is there something the matter?" Sky asks, and Millie turns to Sky and Alisa.
"I will have a look around while you help out the villagers. Miss Sky?" Millie tells them, and Sky nods in agreement. "Right," she replies, and Millie turns her gaze back to the world before bringing out her wings and flies up a few feet. "Oh, and do not worry. I will give a signal when I find something," Millie explains.
"A signal? What kind of signal?" Sky asks. "You will know, miss," Millie replies and heads off.
Alisa looks to Sky, and they both have puzzled looks on their faces as they look to the magic knights checking up on the villagers as Asta undoes the spell. Tory and Haze walk up to the girls chatting with each other. "Maybe we are to return and let the knights handle the rest," Alisa says, and Tory looks to her. "Huh, sure it isn't much else for us to do here right now, I guess," Tory replies.
"Right, so Sky," Alisa utters and turns her head to look at Sky, who is lost in thought. "Sky?" Alisa asks.
"Huh?" Sky replies. "What is going on with you? You haven't been yourself these last few days. Is the change of scenery not helping after all?" Alisa asks, concerned.
"It really is. I just... I would like to stay behind if that is all right with you two?" Sky mentions and looks to them.
"Stay?" Alisa and Tory question in unison, looking perplexed at Sky.
"Well, yes. I would like to accompany the magic knights, or rather..." Sky utters as her voice falters at the end as she looks at Alisa and Tory.
"Sky, if a whole village is being put under a spell, then whoever is behind it must be quite powerful. It is too dangerous to go with the magic knights at the moment," Alisa explains.
"It will be alright-"
"You should listen to them, tomato-head. This is far beyond you," Haze tells her, which has Sky glow red.
"Listen here, you overly cocky and pompous ass. I will have you know that I could easily best you if I wanted to," Sky defends.
"How, by giving me a picture show? Please, I already know you only have illusion magic to go on," Haze retorts, seeming unbothered.
"Why, you little, I are to-" Sky says, about to tear Haze a new one.
"Hey, easy, you two. Let us not make a big fuss, alright?" Alisa tells them both.
"Alisa, with all due respect, this guy needs to hear it," Sky tells her.
"Sky, at the moment, there are other stakes to take into account, especially since we do not know who is behind whatever has gone down here or that they may be lurking about, so let us keep things cool for now," Alisa explains, and Sky crosses her arms and looks away. "Fine," she reluctantly replies.
"Great. Now, onto something a bit more pleasant. So, Haze, will you be celebrating in a few days or what?" Alisa asks.
"Huh?" Haze questions, and Sky lends an ear, kind of intrigued.
"You know that you are turning 20 years old in a few days, right?" Tory asks and his question has Haze grip the letter in his pocket that he got from his sister earlier in the day.
"Oh, right, that. Well, I haven't really thought about it," Haze says, looking away.
"Not thought about it? It is a round year you are to celebrate it properly," Alisa tells him.
"I don't know if making a big fuss over it is worth it," Haze tells them.
"Not worth it? Come on, Haze. Me and Tory have already made arrangements to have the day off so that we can come visit you and celebrate, although we sadly cannot make the entire day open, but most of it," Alisa explains.
"Yeah, and we figured that we could celebrate it at our favorite spot by the old cabin, you know where we used to play as kids," Tory adds.
"Not there," Haze interjects, and Alisa and Tory look to each other and back to Haze.
"Why not? We had so much fun there," Alisa says.
"Not there, okay? Just anywhere else," Haze says in a harsher and more annoyed and angry tone.
"Haze, this doesn't have something to do with Laura, does it?" Alisa asks.
"She is out there," Haze snaps back.
"Haze, you know," Tory says.
"Just leave it then, alright?" Haze pushes.
"Right," Alisa replies. "Maybe we can celebrate it where Dylan works. I mean, it has room upstairs, and the atmosphere is quite nice," Alisa offers, looking at Tory and back to Haze, who thinks it over.
"I guess it will be fine," Haze replies, and Sky looks to them all, understanding that there is a lot more to the story between the three in front of her as the tension is quite evident.
The moment grows silent, as it becomes really tense for another long-lasting moment, and Sky clears her throat to say something. "Well, since you never asked how we are doing, we are actually getting really close to purchasing the land that we have talked about for a good while now," Alisa says, which has Haze raise an eyebrow. "Wait, seriously?" Haze asks, surprised.
"Yes, seriously. I mean, I started working when I was twelve, and after Tory started to help out and we picked up so many different jobs, then it went really fast to save up money the last 8 years. I mean, after turning 20 in a few months, we can purchase it," Alisa says excitedly.
"My, you two really have pushed through, huh?" Haze responds, taking it all in. "But to buy the land and to put a house on it and everything," Haze says, amazed.
"Well, the money to purchase the materials and purchase helping hands to build it is still quite a bit down the road still. But purchasing the land that the house will stand on is clearly step one before all that," Alisa explains eagerly.
"I see... I mean, I know you have talked about it forever so hearing that you actually are about to do it sounds almost unreal," Haze says, moving the hand out of his pocket, scratching the back of his neck. "I know it feels almost unreal," Alisa tells him, with her voice growing giddy. "Well, once we got the land we-" Tory begins. "Right, we will focus on getting you the land for the mill," Alisa finishes Tory's sentence.
"Wait, Tory dreams of owning a mill?" Sky asks. "Well, yes, sort of. Well, lumber is always in demand in some way, so it is a good business to get into as it is stable, and it beats farm work in my opinion," Tory explains.
"So, Tory is helping Alisa get her dream and Alisa is helping Tory get his?" Sky asks. "Yes, it is a promise we made when we were around 11, and helping each other out is the fastest way to get there," Alisa explains happily. "That must be nice, to have a goal like that," Sky replies, and the teens keep chatting for a bit. Meanwhile, Millie circles the village until she notices the swamp nearby that she is getting a gut feeling about, and so she descends to the swamp and takes in her wings and walks around in her cat form, sniffing about and looking around.
("This is strange, a spell which is powerful enough to put a whole village asleep should leave behind some kind of trace, and yet all I sense is natural mana with a tiny bitter sense to it, and I cannot tell if it is due to someone tampering with it or if there is something else entirely going on... was the spell made by some kind of magic item perhaps?") Millie wonders to herself as she looks up to a tree with big curly branches, with most of them not hanging far above the ground. "These trees? They prosper by absorbing natural mana from the air to aid their roots to grow healthily and vastly," she makes note to herself, looking around, seeing the trees with their big roots curl into the ground and pop up of the ground and curls back into the ground again. The roots and trees are covered in moss. ("This moss growing on these trees is usually really rich and good for alchemy use but they seem to be struggling," she mentions, concerned.) As she keeps investigating. ("I cannot believe I did not notice that something was amiss this morning when I marked the village. If anything happens, it is on me,") she thinks to herself and keeps looking around.
Blup! She hears and looks into the swamp, sensing for anything, and on the other end of the swamp's water pit, she sees the grass move, and the wind blows through the swamp, and her nose starts to go, and with no sound, she takes to her wings and she flies over to where the noise came from.
She hears the sound of branches twist and curl, and she sees some of the big roots move, and her eyes go along the tree's roots until her eyes land on a short shadowy figure.
She brings out her wings and flies towards the figure, and as she comes close, the shadow turns and seems to spot her before jumping into the tall grass and runs. Millie changes direction to follow it, seeing where it goes by the movement in the grass, but the wind blows by, making all of the grass move, and so she has to rely on her Ki.
"Wait," she says as she keeps going after it. But the creature clearly knows the swamp well and makes swift evading maneuvers around the tree roots and stones. She jumps to catch the creature only to meet a stone which she nearly crashes into but is able to gather herself in time to land on it instead.
"Where did you go?" she asks softly, looking around herself for answers.
"Millie!" she hears Asta yell, and she looks up towards where she can sense his soul. ("What, they are done helping out the villagers already?") she wonders and looks down at the rock on which she is sitting, and she notices marks in the dirt like the stone has been slid over the soil a few times. And so she gets off the stone and, using her mana, she lifts the big rock up and moves it aside. And she sees a big hole in the ground with.
"Millie!" she hears Asta yell once more, and she senses for him. ("Good, they are in range,") she thinks to herself and closes her eyes and focuses, and she forms a shielded orb next to her and another behind that one and after that another and so on, and the orbs keep forming and leads out of the swamp and through the woods and straight for the village.
With the rest, the group stands together looking around, and Asta looks into the distance. "That is weird, she usually comes right away when I yell," Asta mentions. "Well, she said she would give a signal when she finds something, so maybe she hasn't found anything yet," Alisa tells him. "Maybe, but," Asta thinks out loud, looking to the group, and Mimosa turns her head, "Uh, look, what is that?" she asks, and the group sees white-tinted, glowing, transparent orbs forming in a straight line towards the group. "Those orbs belong to Millie," Sky utters with an uplifting smile, and the last orb is made right in front of Asta's chest.
"I guess she must have found something then," Fiola mentions. "It would seem that way," Lydia replies. "Right then, all we have to do is follow it," Asta says with a smile. "Yeah, easy," Fiola says relieved that they not have to start looking around again.
And Sky looks at the magic knights getting ready to head out, and she gets a bit nervous that they will leave her behind. "I am coming with you guys," Sky tells them, and everyone turns to her.
"Sky, I am not sure that is a good idea, as this will most likely prove dangerous," Mimosa explains softly. "Yeah, we have been over this, just stay behind," Haze tells her, and Sky frowns. "They are right, Sky, besides, we better be heading back now," Alisa tells her.
"I am going with them and that is that," Sky says determined. "Sky, we are telling you this for your safety," Alisa pushes again. "It will be fine, and thank you, Alisa, but I just have to go. I just need to," Sky tells her.
"Sky-" Alisa says. "I have made up my mind," Sky replies before Alisa can say anything else.
"All right then, since you are so sure, me and Tory will stay behind in the village in case anything were to happen, as we promised Mother Theresa that we would return with you," Alisa tells her.
"Thank you guys, but you really don't need to do that," Sky tells Alisa. "We are staying, if you will be stubborn then so can we," Alisa pushes. "Thank you," Sky says simply.
"Well, we are off then," Asta says, bringing out his demon slayer sword and jumping on top of it. "Are you locked on, Liebe?" he asks. "Yeah," Liebe replies, and Asta heads on his way, and the rest follows on their brooms.
Asta has locked on the trail of magic and is going straight, and his eyes widen as they close in on the forest as he realizes that the magic goes between the thick layer of branches and twigs.
"Woah!" he yells as he is already going too fast to do anything about it. Nero Flies off his head and high up above the forest.
The rest of the teens flying on their broom ascend higher up and fly above and over the forest, hearing Asta yell while the sound of several branches breaking goes through the forest. Soon, he gets to the swamp, and his eyes widen as he collides with moss and several low-hanging branches. "Woah, woooah!" he yells, and his eyes widen as he ducks past a branch and sees Millie sitting in the grass straight ahead.
"Woah, out of the way!" he yells, and Millie gets to her feet and jumps to the side as the tip of Asta's sword touches the ground, and he is flung forward and into the hole in the ground. And the rest looks ahead at him, shaking their heads.
"Is he always like this?" Fiola asks. "Sadly, yes," Haze replies as the group lands, and Millie looks down the hole.
"Master Asta, are you all right, sir?" she softly asks. "Yeah, I am good," she hears him say. "Master, I was gonna report that I found a hole leading to a cave in the ground," Millie softly tells him. "Oh, I think I found it," they hear him yell in a silly voice as he gets up from the ground and stands up straight, and he bumps his head on the ceiling. ''Owch, this cave is not tall at all,'' Asta utters, rubbing his head as he stands slightly hunched over.
''Where does this lead?'' Fiola asks curiously as she is getting a bit hesitant. ''Well, let us find out, shall we?'' Lydia says and climbs down into the hole as Nero flies down and lands on Asta's head again. ''You never change, do you?'' she asks as she pulls her wings to her sides. ''Huh, what do you mean by that?'' Asta asks as he looks to the others climbing in with them. ''Just that you keep doing things without thinking. You could easily have flown above the forest and followed the route, instead of barreling into every branch that you could find,'' Nero explains to him ''Ga! I suppose so,'' Asta tells her as Liebe's face turn onto comedic indifference (''he will never learn'') Liebe thinks to him self mean while Millie jumps down in her cat form and walks about in the dirt-filled room, and they all look towards a dark tunnel in front of them.
''It is way too dark in here,'' Sky mutters, and Millie brings a white flame that she hovers inches above her head, and she jumps up to Asta's shoulder, and the group begins to walk through the dark cave tunnel. ''Down into the dark cave we go,'' Haze mentions a little displeased by the situation. ''You aren't scared, are you?'' Sky teases. ''Of course not,'' Haze defends. ''I think that he is,'' Lydia teases, and Haze's eyes dart between both girls as they giggle a bit. ''You know having both of you around at the same time is such a drag.''
''You weren't joking about the cave ceiling being short; it is not tall at all.'' Lydia mentions as they all continue.
''Walking hunched over like this is kind of bothersome. I hope that we get to where this leads soon,'' Lydia mentions, moving along. ''Don't you agree, Mimosa?'' Lydia asks and turns her face to the Vermillion, who is snapped out of thought. ''Huh, sure, we will be out before we know it,'' Mimosa says with a brave smile.
''Are you all right, Mimosa?'' Lydia asks. ''I am good, thank you,'' Mimosa replies as they look ahead to see that the rest have stopped.
''Why are we stopping?'' Mimosa asks. ''Well, the cave just sort of stops,'' Asta says, and Millie jumps down from his shoulder to the floor and transforms into her human form.
''How can it just stop? This place must lead somewhere,'' Fiola mentions as Millie touches the wall where she finds a crack going straight down on the stone wall in front of them. ''It looks to be a door, but I believe that it is locked,'' Millie softly mentions, and so Nero flies off Asta's shoulder and transforms into her human form and stands next to Millie. ''All right, I guess it means it is my turn then,'' Nero softly mentions, putting both hands on the wall in front of her.
''Sealing magic eternal prison,'' she utters, and the wall door glows before it opens up, revealing more of the cave with small trails of tiny glowing flowers running along the walls leading further into the cave.
''If this is here, it must mean that someone made it, which means that someone have lived, or lives here,'' Fiola mentions. ''Either way, it will be fine,'' Asta says in carefree and uplifting tone as he walks, and the rest follow suit.
As they walk, Millie looks to the flowers on the wall. ''These flowers,'' Millie softly mutters. ''Yes?'' Sky asks for Millie to tell her more clearly what she is saying. But Millie remains quiet for a good moment. ''It is nothing, miss,'' Millie finally replies as she proceeds to ignore the flowers.
The group follows the path, which eventually begins to curl downwards in a big spiral heading down and down. And Lydia keeps an eye on Mimosa as they walk through the caves. ''Mimosa,'' she finally says. ''Huh?'' Mimosa replies and looks to her. ''You have been out of it ever since that lady in town was rude to you. Are you certain that you are all right after that?'' Lydia asks.
''Well, I... the Golden Dawn, where the squad where most of us were possessed and later during the devil attack, we dwindled in number significantly. And despite us fighting at the front lines, it is not enough to convince everyone of our innocence sadly,'' Mimosa says with a heavy tone of sadness hinted in her voice.
''Well, a lot of nobility were the ones possessed, so I guess being mostly nobles in your squad it is natural that you know,'' Fiola says trying to cheer Mimosa up but is failing. ''Why did almost only nobility get taken anyway?'' Sky asks curiously. ''I mean wouldn't it be easier to take over the ones with less magic as they will put up less of a fight?'' Sky asks them.
''It has a higher chance of failing as the ones with less mana have a higher chance of prematurely dying before they can be of use, the base of mana that their bodies are used to will not be able to handle the sudden increase in magic. You will have to have enough magic to be a magic knight at minimum, Miss,'' Millie softly explains.
''If that is true then why did none of the royals get taken?'' Haze asks. ''I have read over the story, and from what I gather is that the elves bore a grudge against the royal houses, and that emotion of hatred will help the spell caster's cause significantly as it will feed off the emotion of hatred, sir,'' Millie explains.
''If I didn't know better, it almost sounds like you have quite a bit of information on this matter,'' Haze mentions. ''I must agree with Haze, what makes you so certain of how it works?'' Lydia asks.
''Because I have studied up on forbidden magic quite a bit, Miss,'' Millie softly replies as she keeps moving on. ''Why would you study a subject like that?'' Sky asks. ''That is a long story, miss,'' Millie softly replies. ''That answer is not very satisfactory,'' Fiola utters. Meanwhile, on Asta's shoulder, Liebe looks over to Millie for a moment with an expression of suspicion. ("I agree why would she be looking deep into forbidden magic?'') Liebe thinks to himself before looking ahead as the path comes to a stop.
Nero walks over to the wall and touches along it until she gets a sense of it. ''Sealing magic eternal prison,'' she says and the hidden door opens she takes a step back, and they all look on in surprise as the group is met with spears.
