In the Eye of the Midnight Suns hideout, Snotlout had just pushed several members into a large chamber.

"His power. It's so intense."

"Mercury Magic: Silver Bullets!" Snotlout yelled and began firing shards of mercury down upon them.

Four more members entered the fray and launched themselves at Snotlout, which was a big mistake.

"Silver Blade!"

He then created swords made of pure mercury and sent them flying towards them. One of them was able to reflect one of the blades while the others were sent flying into the wall.

"Have a taste of this," said one of them, creating a massive fist made of rock and centred straight at him.

"Silver Shining Regal Spear!"

Then, out of the palm of his hand, he unleashed a stream of mercury that sliced right through the stone fist. He then brought down the mercury, which cut through the stones and slammed right down on top of the Eye of the Midnight Sun.

The rest of his team had watched the entire battle amazed.

"He almost makes it look easy like he's up against a bunch of novices," said En.

"I've never seen Sir Snotlout looking this determined before," said Nils.

"He's amazing," said En.

'According to the information I gathered, their spatial mage has a habit of venturing out of the fortress at the same time every day. That time is now,' said Snotlout. 'We currently have our own spatial mage outside casting a spatial magic jamming spell. That should prevent any other mages from entering the base. Get ready, Licht, I'm coming after you, and I swear I won't leave until I've eliminated you for good.'

Carl and his group were also making their way down one of the corridors, engaging with the Eye of the Midnight Sun members. He was flying through the air with several clones floating beside him and a storm of cherry blossoms surrounding them.

"Cherry Blossom Magic: Raging Magic Cherry Blossom Storm of Petals plus My Beautiful Illusions!" he said.

"What the hell is this?"

"I was an arrogant man," said Carl as his teammates hitched a ride on his cherry blossoms. "But I cast all that aside, along with my luscious hair. This noble sacrifice allowed my already great magic to increase in potency, which means the rest of you have room to shine even more fully."

Adelaide narrowed her eyes. "You've got a twisted idea of what modesty is." She then drew her magic wand. "Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Water Balls!"

She then fired several water balls at the members in front of them.

Ben then created a mace made out of copper. "Copper Magic: Red Shining Mace!"

He then slammed into the ground, flattening one of the members.

Adelaide looked down at him. "Ben, was it? I meant to tell you congrats on making the Royal Knights. You should be proud, even though my teen crushed you to pieces."

"Real classy," he said. "Taking the time to brag in the middle of a fight like this. Besides, if I recall, it was Leyla who defeated us."

"Who cares about the details," said Adelaide, looking slightly embarrassed.

"I'm putting my all into this," said Ben as Carl lifted him up. "As a member of the Crimson Lion Kings, I know what happens to Magic Knights who disappoint Captain Victoria."

Luck then moved with blinding speed. "Lightning Magic: Thunder Fiend!"

He turned into a lightning bolt and slammed into the Eye the Midnight Sun members, taking them down with one hit each.

"Oh man," said Luck, looking disappointed. "This turned out to be a really fun place. Too bad Magnus isn't here. Well, whatever, I'll just have double the fun and brag later."

Carl watched as Luck moved at such speed that it was difficult to keep up with him. The sparks of lightning that he was leaving behind created a rather dazzling trail.

"Oh, isn't that beautiful," he said.

Adelaide looked as if she was about to be sick.

Leyla's team were making good progress and had already taken down their enemies.

"That was quick work," said Summer.

"We should keep moving," said Leyla.

"It's no use," said one of the members. "The outcome has been decided."

"What do you mean by that?" Summer asked.

"We'll be reborn soon, and then we will assume our true forms," he said joyously.

Maple frowned. "You are true forms? But I don't understand."

He slurred before he lost consciousness, and everyone looked at one another.

It was then that Maple noticed there was some writing on the wall. "Come to think of it, what are all these markings? There are more than the deeper we go. How strange?"

Leyla then looked down the corridor.

"Do you see something, Ley?" Summer asked.

"Listen," she said. Further down the corridor, she could hear what sounded like a heartbeat. "Am I the only one who hears that?"

Dak and Zora were now facing the enemies before them.

"You morons need to get some better traps, I can see right through them," said Zora.

"Whatever spell you throw at us, my Anti-Magic will slice it up!" Dak yelled.

They began to panic, but Victoria crashed right down on top of them, completely flattening them.

"Seriously? Why are we here?" Dak asked, though his voice sounded like two people speaking simultaneously. "We can fight too, you know. Don't you want to take a break soon?

Zora turned to face him and was surprised to see a second Dak standing next to the original. The two Daks looked at one another and were just as surprised.

"What?! There's two of me!" they yelled in perfect unison. "Is Grey here?"

"How did you manage to pull up a trick like that?" Zora asked.

"I don't know, it's not like I have any magic," said the Daks.

"Did I say you can duplicate yourself?" Victoria scolded.

"Hey, it's not like I had much choice in this," said the Daks.

Victoria looked at Zora. "So how do we find which one is real? They've even copied the lack of magic. What about you? Can you tell them apart?"

Zora shook his head. "Nope, sure can't."

Victoria then grabbed his head with one of her flaming lion paws. "You're of no use to me."

"I'm the real Dak."

"No, I'm the real Dak."

The two Dak then looked at one another and glared.

"Whatever, you're obviously the fake one!"

"You're the fake one, and you know it!"

"Stop yelling!" Victoria snapped.

She then struck the two of them with a burst of flames, setting them ablaze.

'That's one solution,' said Zora.

The Daks screamed, but the Dak on the left drew out his Demon-Slayer sword and cut through the flames.

"What is wrong with you?!" he yelled, looking a little smoky. "You could have killed me!"

"So this is the real one," said Victoria, smiling. "You survive a trial by fire, and I would have brought anyone who couldn't."

"This lady is out of control," said Dak.

"You got that right," said a voice in the flames.

Everyone then immediately turned to the person who had been impersonating Dak. "She's a real spitfire, isn't she? Copy Magic: Aqua Curtain!" Water then suddenly shot out of the flames and covered them, putting them out instantly. "Copy Magic: Healing Light Particles!"

The water disappeared, and standing there was Rhya, healing himself with light.

"You, my dear, are downright scary," said Rhya, smiling at Victoria.

"Wait, I know you," said Dak, recognising him.

"That's right, call me Rhya," he said. He then looked directly at Victoria. "And the pretty lady can call me whatever she wants to."

"Don't get too hung up on her looks; she's strong, too," Zora warned.

"And who are you?" Victoria asked. "Seems like you would be amusing to fight."

"He's with the Third Eye, the Eye of the Midnight Sun's strongest fighters," said Dak.

"Oh," said Victoria, looking intrigued.

"Rhya the Disloyal," said Dak. "He can copy other people's magic abilities."

"Now that you mention it, I do know who years," Victoria smiled.

"You forgot him?" said Dak, dumbfounded.

'Hold on a sec, he's got a lot of power,' said Zora, sensing an incredible amount of magical power coming from him. 'We're going toe to toe with him?'

"It's too bad you're royalty. I was hoping we could go out for a drink sometime," said Rhya.

"I'll tell you what," said Victoria as she opened her grimoire and covered her hand in flames. "Why don't I send you to hell, and you can have a drink there?"

"Ooh, you really are scary," he said as he opened his grimoire. "No thanks, though. I've already tasted hell, and I didn't care for it." He then suddenly pulled another sort out his grimoire with darkness covering the blade. "Copy Magic: Dark Cloacked Black Blade!"

"Hey, that's Captain Hiccup's spell," said Dak. "You can't rip him off like that!"

"I hate to break it to you, but copying is kinda my thing," said Rhya.

Victoria smirked. "If he's that easy to mimic, Hiccup's got a long way to go."

"Shall we start? Just so you know, you won't be able to dodge this one as easily," Rhya warned as he took up Hiccup's fighting stance.

"Check out the stance," said Zora.

"That's the Captain's, too," Dak nodded.

"Copy Magic: Dark Cloacked Lightless Slash!" Rhya yelled, swinging the sword.

He then unleashed a dark slash, which hit straight towards them. Dak and Zora managed to jump out of the way, but Victoria just stood there like she was about to take the attack head-on. It turned out that was exactly her plan, as she swung her fist into the attack and burned it into flames, surprising everyone.

"She burned up the spell with a punch?" Dak gasped.

"He's in trouble," said Zora.

"Nice impression, Hiccup's had more power, work on it," said Victoria.

"Oh yeah then—"

Victoria moved with such blinding speed within seconds; she was right in front of him and punched him hard in the face.

"I'll show you what true destruction looks like!" she said. "Fire Magic: Calidus Brachium!"

Rhya then burst into flames and flew through the corridor before landing in a large chamber.

"I'll burn this place down in honour of my foolish brother," she said, smiling like a crazed beast.

Zora looked at her. 'She's moving so fast. Plus, those fiery fists are chock-full of condensed magic. It's a simple spell, but it is effective. She's a great warrior than any mage I've ever seen.'

'Awesome,' said Dak, looking speechless. 'She's not fighting him from a distance; she's getting into his face. That gives me an idea; I bet I can learn a lot from how she handles herself in close combat.'

They then went to the chamber and saw Rhya had just used Light Magic to land on one of the floating rocks. He was covered in burns and looked as if he was about to topple over.

"Copy Magic: Healing Light Particles!" he said, using the healing spell from earlier to patch himself up.

"He healed up again," said Dak annoyed. He then stepped forward with a tight grip on his sword. "Fine, I'm joining the fight."

However, Victoria used her flaming lion paws to pull him back. "Unless you want to die, just stand back and watch."

"I see," said Rhya, looking directly at her as she jumped into the chamber. "So this time, you're the biggest thorn in my side. However, I wouldn't get too cocky since you stole that power from us Royal." He then opened his grimoire again. "Copy Magic: Light Swords of Conviction!"

Swords of lights began to appear directly behind him, and he sent them flying straight towards Victoria at blinding speed.

'She can't possibly keep up with this speed,' he smiled.

However, to his astonishment, Victoria's fists began to move at blinding speed as he dealt flaming punches at the swords, disintegrating them upon impact.

"What's next?" she smiled.

"That was amazing," said Dak.

'Her movements, they're practically superhuman,' said Rhya stunned.

Suddenly, she disappeared and reappeared directly behind him, but he quickly opened his grimoire.

"Copy Magic: Invisible Seeker!" he said and disappeared just seconds before her tackle landed.

"Geez, told about unoriginal," said Zora. "Who's spell did he just use?"

"I know that," said Dak, remembering Johann using the same spell. "I think it was the former captain of the Purple Orcas."

Rhya then reappeared directly behind her. "Copy Magic: Aqua Javelin!"

He created a javelin out of pure water, but she suddenly changed directions in midair before he could toss it. He tossed it, but the water evaporated when it made contact with her blazing fist.

'She can change direction in midair?' he said, stunned as he was blown away.

"Try again," she said with a hungry smile.

Rhya used Light Magic to land on one of the floating rocks. 'She moves almost as quickly as Vetto.'

He then fired a volley of water balls, but she merely dodged.

"You can't escape!" she yelled.

She then warns struct Ryha, sending him flying again, but he managed to land on one of the floating rocks again.

"Copy Magic: Tainted Culvert Worm!" he said, creating a servant out of pure water. "This is the most powerful Water Magic we have. How do you like it?"

He then sent the attack straight at her, but she created two lion paws that caught the attack before it even landed. She then swung her flaming fist at it, which evaporated seconds after impact.

Rhya then flew out of the steam with Salamander directly behind him. "Copy Magic: Salamander's Breath!"

The Salamander then fired a fireball, but she knocked it back with her flaming fist, sending it crashing into the ceiling.

"Your move," she said.

She then headed straight towards him, jumping through the air, and now Rhya was starting to realise just how much trouble he was in.

'Water is her weakness, and fire is her affinity, but she can burn through both of them?' he said as he tried to put as much distance between them as possible. "You're getting on my nerves!"

"Come on, is that all you've got?" she yelled, shooting up towards him.

Rhya fired off a lightning bolt, but Victoria merely burned away with her flames.

"Invisible—"

However, before he could complete the spell, Victoria appeared beside him and bombarded him with flaming fists. The attack was powerful enough to send him flying straight into the ground. He quickly recovered and blasted a powerful gust of wind, but Victoria ripped through it with flames.

"Next!" she yelled.

"Copy Magic: Sticky Salamander!" Rhya yelled, unleashing Sally's spell.

However, the Salamander was ripped apart by her fist.

"Next!"

Rhya then tried to attack from above. "Copy Magic: Jotunn's Floe!"

He created a massive chunk of ice and sent it flying straight down at her, which slammed into her and the ground. However, the ice began to melt from the inside as Victoria unleashed her magic.

"Calidus Brachium!" she yelled within the water and smashed right through the ice.

She then launched herself into the air, closing in on Rhya.

"Next!"

"She's relentless," said Zora as he and Dak watched the battle. 'Victoria Vermillion, she's as ferocious as the rumours say. I've done a little research on her. This beast of a woman spends 300 days a year living in the woods. It's because she says the capital is too stifling, and she prefers wild game. Because of all the time she spent basking in the mana in the natural world, the word has it. She has taken Mana Skin to the next level, and judging by those animalistic movements, I'd be inclined to believe it.'

His eyes then turned to Rhya, who was struggling to keep at bay. 'This is the first time I've seen of this Rhya guy and his Copy Magic, but I've got a good idea of how it works. It allows him to mimic a spell from its attribute, meaning he has every attribute at his fingertips. This is only possible because of his astounding power; any spell copied from an average mage would be more potent than the original.

'But there's one thing he can't do, and that casts a second attack on a different attribute while he's already got one working. We saw that when he tried that before losing his transparency. Most mages wouldn't stand a chance against a cheating scumbag like him, but this is her.'

Dak just stared, speechless. 'Whoa, she keeps on getting cooler and cooler. Is there any technique I can steal from this fight and use later? Anything?'

Rhya was now looking incredibly annoyed. "You're such a pain. Let's see how you counter this!"

He opened his grimoire, and to everyone's shock, he pulled out Dak's Demon-Slayer sword.

"What?!" Dak gasped.

"No," said Dak.

"That's my sword!" said Dak.

'How did he do that?' Zora stared. 'I didn't know he could copy Anti-Magic too.'

'All I need to do to steal someone's magic is touch their grimoire,' said Rhya as he swung the sword down towards Victoria. 'When I was transformed, I managed to make contact with it. Not bad, hey, Licht.'

His memories then turned to another life; he sat beside a tree, looking at the grimoire he had just acquired.

"Copy Magic, huh, great?" he said. "Well, I suppose this is fitting for someone as empty as I am, right?"

"Actually, Rhya, you're the kindest person I know," said Licht, sitting beside him.

"Huh? What makes you say that?" Rhya asked.

Licht smiled. "You see people for who they are and can always find the good in them. I suppose that's why you have that magic."

"It's because I like people?" said Rhya, unconvinced.

"You can't use it without observing and understanding someone. It means your kind."

'You thought I was kind, but you were wrong. Not only am I disloyal, I'm a lazy, worthless liar, but Licht said so many wonderful things about me. He was truly the kind one, and when you people deceived him and killed him, then an unfathomable amount of anger and hate world up inside me. Your time has come, you foul humans! I'm going to slaughter every one of you!'

He swung his sword down upon Victoria, but she didn't look scared. Instead, she struck the sword with her flaming punch, and the sword shattered upon impact.

"So it was just for show," she said. "You can't copy Anti-Magic after all."

Rhya's eyes widened. 'She thought it might be real but still punched without hesitation. If I could use Anti-Magic, it would have destroyed that fist of hers. This woman is incredible. It's not just because she's a Royal; this is a human strength we've never known.'

"Are you done playing around?" Victoria asked.

Rhya then realised for the first time that her mana was everywhere. 'This goes beyond Mana Skin to control mana in the area.'

"It's time to end this," said Victoria as she ignited her fists in flames. "Mana Zone! Calidus Brachium Barrage!"

She then began swinging her fist at blinding speed, pummelling Rhya from all different directions without even slowing down.

"What's wrong, Mr Third Eye? Running out of spells?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah, he's finished," said Zora.

'No time to use fast movement or recovery magic,' said Rhya as he took the blows. 'What can I do now? I had no idea that she mastered a Mana Zone attack.'

The Mana Zone ability allows the user to manipulate the mana and the surrounding area to suit their needs. This meant mana-using techniques activated within that zone could be controlled as well. Additionally, it grants the user a massive boost to sensitivity and reaction speed, allowing them to borrow nearby mana to fly through the air.

"Try another attack! I dare you!" Victoria yelled.

'She's too good; it's getting ridiculous,' said Zora.

'We struggled so hard to beat the Third Eye, and now look,' said Dak. 'Captain Victoria, you're so strong.'

"If that's really your best, I'll punch you until your pile of ashes!" Victoria yelled ferociously. "Now burn!"

'Well, I guess that's it from me,' said Rhya as he began to burn.

Leyla and her group had encountered more enemies.

"Wind Magic: Tornado Fang! Times three!" Leyla yelled.

The three enemy mages turned around just in time to see themselves get hit by three massive tornadoes.

"Sorry, but you can't defeat me; you don't have what it takes," she said.

"Nicely done, Ley," said Summer.

'Her magic came from behind them; could that be the ability they call Mana Zone,' Maple gasped.

Leyla then used her magic to have them float, and they carried on down the corridor.

'Now that I think about it, he cast a spell inside another spell early, and Spirit Dive, he used Mana Zone to do it,' Maple gasped. 'Leyla really is an outstanding Magic Knight.'

As they proceeded deeper down the corridor, Leyla could hear the heartbeat beating much louder.

"Do you hear that?" she asked.

Maple nodded. "I heard it before, too."

"A heartbeat?"

"The mana here feels so familiar," said Summer.