'I've seen this before,' said Dak, recognising the spell that Patry was casting. 'It's the spell that almost took out me and Captain Hiccup, but only this time, it's even stronger. Gaspard came in and saved us with his Mirror Magic back then, but…'

Rhya was still unable to move and dying. "Patry…"

'He's concentrating so much magic, how?' said Leyla.

"Hatred… Hatred…" said Patry. "Demon Light Magic: Ray of Divine Punishment!" He then fired a beam of dark light directly down at Dak. "Perish."

Dak did the only thing he could think of; he drew his Demon-Slayer Sword from his grimoire and then slammed the blade flat against the beam. Dak had grown in strength since the last time he had to face this spell, but even still, he was slowly getting overpowered.

'Still… Together…' said Dak. Leyla then flew beside him, placed her hand against his blade and helped him push back against the spell. '…we've got this.'

The two of them pushed back with all their strength and successfully deflected the beam away.

"Ha, we did it," Dak smiled, sounding utterly exhausted. "We managed to survive somehow."

Dak then suddenly reverted back to normal and began to fall.

"Dak!" Leyla yelled, quickly creating a platform of wind for him to stand on.

"Appreciate the save, sis," said Dak and then turned his eyes to Patry. "That was a close call."

"That spell was strong; casting it should have depleted his mana," said Leyla.

"Hate… hate…" said Patry and then began to cast the same spell again. "I hate you!"

'There's no way,' said Dak, horrified.

"How can this be?" Leyla stared. "That's sinister magic. It just keeps swelling up."

'Okay, even if I can't take on my Dark Form,' said Dak, gripping his swords. "There's too much at stake for me to lose."

"He's attacking! Be careful!" Maple warned.

"Now die," said Patry and fired his beam down at them.

Dak and Leyla watched as the beam headed straight towards him, but they had no idea how to stop it. Then suddenly, a large sheet of metal appeared right in front of them, acting like a mirror, and it deflected the spell.

"Your complexion has changed, but I'll never forget that face," said Snotlout as he appeared out of nowhere.

Dak and Leyla gasped, and even Patry looked surprised.

"Leave him to me," said Snotlout.

"Captain Snotlout!" Maple gasped.

"How did he do that?" Leyla stared.

"Fair warning, I'm nowhere near as kind as Thuggory and more skilled than Hiccup," Snotlout warned.

Patry didn't appear to be listening as he conjured up more dark, light swords. "Hatred… Hatred…"

"You have no chance of besting me alone," Snotlout warned.

Normally, a conflict between mages is determined by more than just more power. Some types of magic have an advantage over others, which is why Magic Knights worked in teams to cover for each other's weaknesses.

Snotlout, however, was an exception to this. His all-purpose magic makes a team all to himself. With his ever-changing mercury, he is able to adapt to any situation and compete with any foe.

"I hate you," said Patry.

He then began to rain down dark, light swords, but Snotlout was not deterred.

"Your Light Magic is formidable," Snotlout acknowledged, "but my mercury counters it perfectly."

He then produced a large amount of mercury and formed them into shapes of shields, but he had hard on them so much that they acted like mirrors. As a result, the swords merely bounced off the shields, not even getting a single scratch on them.

"That being said, I don't plan on losing to the man whose magic counters mine either," said Snotlout and then he hardened his mercury into blades. "In the meantime, I've been sharpening my skills, waiting for the chance to avenge him!"

He then extended the blades, which cut right through Patry's swords, and they kept going towards him. Left with no other choice, Patry was forced to flee and continue to fire his dark, light swords, but no matter what he did, it had no effect on Snotlout's mercury.

Snotlout thought after another spell to rain down mercury bullets from the ceiling, and Patry had a zigzag in order to dodge them.

Dak just stared in awe. "Captain Snotlout is winning. He might be an arrogant jerk, but he is Captain of the Silver Eagles for a reason. His technique is incredible. Still, though, something is up with that elf guy. How is he able to move that quickly after unleashing all that power?"

"You're certainly a slippery rat," said Snotlout grudgingly, "but my preparations are complete. This spell requires all the power and focus that I can muster. I can use it in the last battle because my magic was being disrupted."

Patry finally stopped moving around and saw that Snotlout was now extending his mercury, which was slowly taking the form of a cage, with him trapped inside.

"Mercury Creation Magic: Silver Star of Execution!" Snotlout roared.

"Hatred… Hatred…" Patry roared as he conjured up more dark, light swords.

"This spell will contain you and your Light Magic while letting me attack from any angle," said Snotlout as mercury blades began shootout from around the cage. "It's an inescapable prison."

"I hate you," said Patry. "Die!"

He then unleashed his dark, light swords, sending them flying straight at Snotlout, who also encased himself in the cage.

Snotlout created more mercury shields, causing the swords to bounce off them. He then created more blades to ensnare Patry, who began to dart around the cage. He then began to move closer towards Snotlout, firing more dark-light swords.

"Just die human!" Patry roared.

"Let your unseen made be the end," said Snotlout.

He then created several mercury shields and began to bounce off the blades of one another and strike Patry.

"He deflected every last blade of light," said Leyla. "Such incredible precision."

"Whoa," said Dak openmouthed.

"Dak… Leyla… those are your names," said Snotlout as he turned his head to look at them. "The next Wizard King is going to be me."

"Cool, then I guess you're my rival too," said Dak.

"I'm still going to try and become the Wizard Queen," said Leyla.

"Not unless I become the Wizard King first."

"In your dreams."

"You'll see."

Rhya just lay on the ground, and he could barely hold on. His eyes turn to Patry, who apparently was unconscious and now bound in Snotlout's mercury.

"Patry," he said as he closed his eyes, "if I had just spoken up about everything, then maybe your fate would have been different. Hey, Patry, can you hear me? It's too late, I think I'm done for."

He then closed his eyes. "Goodbye, Patry… Licht."

However, he suddenly felt a warm glow and began to open his eyes again. "It's so warm."

He then turned his head, and to his surprise, he saw that Maple was kneeling next to him, hearing his wound.

"Why?" he asked.

"I don't need a reason to save somebody's life, even though you're my enemy," she said bluntly. "When it comes down to it, our differences don't matter."

Rhya was stunned when he looked at Maple; it was almost as if he was looking at Tetra.

"Damnit, after all this, I end up being saved by human royalty," he grumbled. 'That's why I didn't want to get involved with them. They've always been like this, and they always will be.'

Snotluot, meanwhile, was looking directly at Patry, and Dak couldn't help but think about what that devil had said to Patry before transforming him. Suppose it was true that the devil was responsible for the animosity between humans and elves. In that case, there may be a chance of understanding.

Dak then began to reach with his Demon-Destroyer Sword, hoping to cure Patry, but Snotlout had of ideas.

"Now then, it's time to die," said Snotlout as he created a mercury sword.

"Hold up!" Dak yelled. "I don't feel as if this is how things are supposed to play out. There's got to be another way."

"He's right," said Leyla.

Snotlout looked back at them. "And how do you suggest we settle the matter? That villain is the leader of the Eye the Midnight Sun; his actions have thrown the Clover Kingdom into chaos and confusion, resulting in many senseless casualties."

"Yeah, I know that, but…" said Dak.

"Please wait," said Leyla. "This might sound odd, but that isn't his own body. It is actually Vangeance's."

Everyone immediately turned towards her and stared.

"That can't be possible," said Snotlout. "His appearance and magic power are completely different."

"Vice-Captain Heather explained everything," said Leyla. "Apparently, both the leader of the Eye the Midnight Sun and Captain Vangeance's souls share the same body. Also, I can sense Captain Vangeance's presence inside of him, so here's my suggestion. Let Dak save the Captain's life."

"I can do it," Dak nodded, brandishing his Demon-Destroyer Sword.

Snotlout looked at them like they were crazy. "What?! That's ludicrous; he'll destroy you."

"Can't I at least try?" Dak asked.

"Be my guest," Snotlout huffed.

"Thank you," said Dak and approached Patry.

He then raised his Demon-Destroyer Sword, and then suddenly, darkness essence erupted out of the sword. Dak was no stranger to his Anti-Magic to manifest, but never at this quantity.

'Whoa, have never felt this much Anit-Magic in one place before,' Dak gasped.

As he was concerned by the Anti-Magic, you remembered the warning that the elf possessing Gaspard mentioned.

Leyla, too, was surprised by what had just happened. "Wait, this… Dak!"

Dak suddenly found himself falling into some sort of dark emptiness, and he could hear voices yelling so loud that it nearly deafened him.

"Where am I?" he cried out. He then suddenly experienced flash images. "I must be inside his memories or his soul or something like that. Maybe the everything of the sword had sucked out is flowing into me."

He could barely take the voices as they were so loud.

"So loud," he said as he covered his ears, but that had no effect. 'My head is killing me.'

Then, suddenly, he experienced flashes of memories of Julius, and it looked as if he was battling against Patry. His eyes then widened when he saw that Julius got stabbed by Patry right through the chest after trying to protect the Clover Kingdom.

"Wizard King?" Dak gasped. "Wizard King!"

It felt like all the voices were now trying to tear him apart, but he heard a child's voice amongst the noise. He then experienced a mad flash of Zagred. Dak immediately began to scream as he felt some sort of invisible force pressing against him.

Patry, meanwhile, was deep inside his unconscious; he was sitting on a wooden chair next to a tree with Vangeance sleeping within its trunk. He was extremely depressed after learning that he himself had been used and the truth was not what he suspected.

'I allowed myself to be deceived for Licht's sake,' he said. 'It was a mistake to resurrect the elves. So many sacrifices that he didn't even want. I made a mistake. I was never chosen in the first place. Humans are evil, or is that just what I wanted to believe. If it's true, then that means… no, William and I understood each other.'

He just sat there as his despair slowly started to consume him, trying to justify everything he did. I say that humans were monsters.

"That's right, everything is their fault," he said.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps and was surprised to see Dak emerging from the darkness.

"I knew I would find you eventually," said Dak, a furious look on his face. "You and I need to talk, okay, pal. The name is Dak, and I'm surprised. On the inside, you're just a kid about my age; I never would have guessed it."

"Stay back, you human!" Patry snarled. "What do you want?"

"I get it!" Dak yelled at the top of his voice. "You were tricked; you couldn't protect the ones you love, and everything you once believed in is lost. You're dealing with so many crazy feelings you can't stand it anymore, but that's why I have to tell you this. Don't you dare give up again!"

Patry looked at him, shocked, and started to look terrified.

"All you've ever done is give up instead of facing your problems," said Dak. "You locked yourself away and hid in the darkness because you thought it was the easiest thing to do."

"No, stop! Don't talk to me!" Patry pleaded. "Shut up!"

He then began to manifest the same malicious magic that the real body had used earlier.

"I don't have to listen to a thing you say!" he yelled. "You can never understand stupid human!"

However, Dak was not going to stand for this and kept advancing towards him.

"Enough of this human crap!" he yelled as he reached out to grab his shirt. "I told you my name is Dak!"

The moment he grabbed his shirt, the magic surrounding Patry vanished.

"Now answer me! How dare you kill the Wizard King!" Dak yelled. "He was a great man, and everybody respected him. I wanted to be like him one day; we all did."

He then pinned Patry to the floor, who was now scared out of his wits. "And you took control over all those Magic Knights. When you brought back the elves, you hurt tons of innocent people. You say you can't forgive humans, while I can never forgive you!"

"But that's why… we…" said Patry.

"And now, after all you did, you're acting like this!" Dak roared on. "Just because you made a mistake that you can't fix. That doesn't mean you're allowed to run away and cry. Think about it, should you try to defeat that creepy devil guy, too?

"You have the guts to make everything else happen, right? You did that! Maybe you were chosen, maybe no one wanted you, and maybe you can't be forgiven, but you still have to stand your ground without making excuses for yourself."

"What? I don't understand you at all," said Patry, confused. "Why are you trying so hard to change my mind? I know you're wrong! Leave me alone!"

He swung his fist at Dak, which landed squarely on his face, but Dak wasn't fazed.

"I wasn't chosen; no one wanted me," Dak pointed out. "I screwed up, but I've already made up my mind. I am going to be the Wizard King, that's why…" He then grabbed Patry's arm. "… as long as you're alive, I won't give up on you."

Patry just stared at him. "You sound like him."

Patry's mind turned to the First Wizard, who wanted nothing more close to the bonds between human and elf. For so long he for that, he was responsible for the massacre, but while humans were responsible, it was a devil pulling the strings. Everything he thought humans much turned on its head, and he started this crusade against them.

True, they were tricked by the devil, but considering that the elves had also been manipulated, there wasn't room to comment on that.

Patry burst into tears, and the light began to shine directly over them.

Back in the real world, the Anti-Magic began to dissipate, and Dak didn't work to worse for wear. Additionally, Patry had turned back to normal, although his right eye was still dark.

"Dak!" Leyla gasped.

"You're okay!" Maple gasped.

"Rarely," Dak groaned. "That was too close."

'I don't believe it,' said Rhya, looking at Patry. 'That kid brought Patry back.'

"Honestly, you must be the most foolish human I've met," said Patry.

"That's a nice way to find someone," Dak huffed.

'Okay, looks like we'll have to wait to bring Captain Vangeance back,' said Leyla.

'Right now, there's one thing I can do,' he said and looked at the others. "If you help me, we can end this once and for all."

"I'm in," said Dak. "No way am I letting that evil lunatic get what he wants."

The said evil lunatic had just entered the chamber, which contained a large door.

"I guess this is it," Zagred smiled. "The door to the outside. Now then…"

He then noticed that Licht was blocking his path to the door.

"Not yet," said Licht emotionlessly. "Face me, demon."

"Look at you," said Zagred, looking generally impressed, "lobbying threats at me when you are not fully awakened. It would seem as if someone is holding a grudge. I can't blame you; we have quite the tumultuous history, and now I have taken the grimoire of someone very dear to you, and I did my own."

Licht held the Demon-Dweller Sword firmly in his hand and glared at him.

"Ooh, I didn't expect you to have so much by collecting you since your soul is still unstable after sparring with that demon," said Zagred condescendingly. "I'm impressed. As a reward for your hard work, I'm going to give you a proper death. Lightning Lance!"

Suddenly, a lightning bolt shot straight towards Licht, but he blocked it with his sword and deflected it.

"Earth Shield!" said Zagred.

Suddenly erupting from the ground was a shield made of earth, which blocked the deflected attack, but it still had enough force to demolish it.

"Tempest of Blades!"

Zagred then began to rain down a hail of blades, and Licht began swinging his sword so much it was a blur as he deflected each one of the attacks.

"Split Open!"

The ground beneath Licht split apart, and he nearly lost his footing. He began jumping around the demolished floor pieces by deflecting the incoming swords.

"Bind!"

Then suddenly, dark threads appeared out of nowhere, wrapping themselves around Licht and trapping him in place.

"That sword can absorb magic, but sadly, I imagine it can't offer much protection against more concrete attacks," Zagred smirked. "Iron Lance!"

He then conjured up an iron lance out of nowhere.

"With the use of Word Soul Magic, I can make anything happen by speaking it into existence, and I can also summon physical matter," Zagred explained. "Look at you and your little sword. You're no threat to me at all. Goodbye, leader of the elves!"

He then sent his bland flying straight towards Licht, who was unable to move. However, out of nowhere, briars wrapped themselves around the lance and pulled it off course.

"Oh my," said Zagred as his eyes turned toward Astrid, who had just entered the chamber. "It seems as if we have an elf who was an Apostle of Sephira."

'I noticed Bable heading into the Shadow Palace, so I decided to follow him,' said Astrid. 'When I got inside and found him unconscious, I knew that something must've gone wrong.'

She then narrowed her eyes at Zagred. "Devil, I'll stop you!"

"Not alone, you won't," said a voice. Everyone turned and saw Hiccup had arrived. "Call it a hunch, but I don't think you can handle this guy on your own."

Zagred just grinned menacingly.

'It looks like Snotlout went over to that other strong magic I sensed, so I'm glad I came this way,' Hiccup grimaced. 'Something is crazy about this guy's aura.'

Zagred snickered. "So many of you. We've got ourselves a party."

"This guy completely reeks of malice," said Hiccup.

"Human," said Astrid, narrowing her eyes at him. "You came this far just to get in my way?"

"Believe it or not, I'm here to help, and it's clear that this guy is dangerous," said Hiccup as he slashed through Licht's restraints.

Heather then suddenly shot off the portal, and you apparently were surprised to see both Hiccup and Astrid.

"Hiccup! Astrid! I'm glad you're here!" she yelled as she flew over to them. "This devil is behind everything! He's the one who did the Reincarnation Magic!"

"He is?" Astrid stared.

"That explains the malice I've been sensing off the elves," said Hiccup.

They then immediately began to charge at Zagred.

"If you can't keep up with me, I'm letting you die," Astrid warned.

"Now you're starting to sound like my wife," Hiccup smiled. "I would appreciate it if you keep her body safe until she gets back."

"Wave of Flames!" Zagred cried.

Then suddenly, a burst of flames erupted in front of them, but Astrid quickly created a barrier with her briars.

'Dark Magic: Black Hole!' said Hiccup, conjuring his defensive spell. His defensive spell then began to absorb the flames into its vortex. 'Dark Cloaked Lightless Slash!'

Hiccup swung his sword and reached his slashing attack, and the devil quickly flew into the air to avoid it.

"Weapon Creation Magic: Heavens' Bow!" Heather yelled, creating a bow out of light and firing light arrows at him.

"Tempest of Blades!" Zagred.

Blaise then began to rain down, and they clashed with Heather's arrows. They continued to make their way down towards them. However, Astrid quickly extended her briars, creating a shield around them.

"Wither Vines!" Zagred commanded.

Astrid's vines then began to wilt and decay.

Hiccup then emerged from the vines, swinging his sword. 'Dark Cloaked Dimensions Slash!'

He swung his sword, unleashing his dimensions slash, which cut right through Zagred's right arm and wing.

"My what master teamwork," said Zagred, looking pleasantly surprised. "And here I thought you wouldn't be on the best of terms right now."

"I'm as shocked as you are," said Hiccup.

Meanwhile, outside, Finral was muscle in his sleep while mages healed his injuries.

"Here we go over there," he said dreamily. "No, I told you ladies we're supposed to do an in unison."

"Yeah, I think he's fine."

"He is our saviour; we need to be careful with him."

Nero then suddenly flew up towards Finral.

"What's with that bird?"

Nero then began to peck Finral's forehead, which woke him up

"Okay, okay, we can take a quick break!" he said as he sat up. It then took a few moments to realise he had been dreaming and looked down at Nero. "Nero?"

"The older demon bones, take me there," said Nero.