"Impossible," said Zagred, whose body was now breaking apart. "This can't be. Inconceivable. It can't be; I won't have it."
He then heard a laugh, and suddenly, in his mind, a devil appeared, whom he instantly knew resided within the five-leaf grimoire.
"You got a problem there, comrade," he said with a small chuckle.
"Don't give me that," Zagred snarled. "Who are you? Tell me!"
"You don't need to know that. It doesn't matter how powerful you are. You've lost this fight, and you're about to disappear for good. Farewell, you disgrace."
Zagred's body then began to disintegrate until nothing was left. Everyone just looked up and science.
"We've won," said Lumiere, finally breaking the silence.
To everyone who had been victims of the devil's machinations 300 years ago, it was like a giant weight had been lifted off their shoulders.
"I'm grateful," said Secre with tears in her eyes.
Leyla quickly grabbed Dak, who lost just hold of his Dark Form.
"That terrible magic," said Astra as she and Hiccup just stood there, "it vanished. Did they stop him?"
Hiccup nearly toppled over as he was completely drained; that last attack had taken everything out of him.
"Looks like someone beat me to the punch, but I'm glad the job got done," he said.
Astra then helped to support him. "You did well, human."
"My name is Hiccup Haddock," said Hiccup with a small smile.
"I knew a human with that name once, and he was an honourable warrior himself," said Astra.
Sadly, their celebrations were short-lived. The purple goo was still flowing around the Shadow Palace, and now it had become erratic.
"Oh no," said Patry. "His Magic is not completely gone. It's consuming everything. This place is about to crumble."
He was right; the purple goo was starting to eat away in the passageways in the Shadow Palace.
'We have to get out now, but what about everyone else?' said Leyla.
Lumiere then noticed that his body was beginning to crack. "I think my body is reaching its limit. There's not much time."
The rest of the Magic Knights were doing their best to get to the top floor, but the light surrounding them was beginning to fail, which meant so was their protection.
"The light is starting to grow dimmer," Thuggory noted.
Charmy was hopping off chunks of rubble while carrying Lira, but her strength was fading.
"What gives?" she said as she reverted back to normal. "I feel all creepy crawly."
Snotlout was flying everyone else back towards the top floor with Fana, the only elf in any fit state to guide them.
"My connection to Licht tells me the only way out is on the top floor!" she yelled. "Let's go!"
Hiccup and Astra had a much harder problem as they were stuck on just a small piece of rubble.
"We can't get up there," Hiccup grimaced. 'If we don't figure this out quick we're done for.'
He then suddenly sensed something below them.
'That aura,' he said.
Lumiere was doing his best to maintain the spell, but his body was starting to deteriorate, and one of his eyes had already fallen out.
"Lumiere?" Licht asked concerned.
The light around them faded, meaning that the spell had ceased.
'The light… it's fading,' said Licht.
With the light now gone, everyone was now being consumed by the purple goo.
"This is bad," said Leyla.
"You guys!" Dak cried.
Then, suddenly appearing above them was a dark spatial portal, and everyone in the lower levels fell out of it, and they fell right on top of them. Adelaide and ended up crashing into Dak.
"Hey, it's you!" she gasped.
"You're all okay," Dak beamed. "And man, talk about good timing."
"Stop clinging to me like that, you idiot!" Adelaide snapped, pushing him off of her. "Back off!"
"Sorry," said Dak.
Snotlout then quickly created mercury platforms for everyone to stand on.
A second dark spatial portal then appeared, and exiting it was Valtos and Rades.
"It would seem as if the person I put my faith in was nothing but a pitiful sinner, just as I am," said Valtos. "Now I must make amends for the wrong that I've done if such a thing is even possible."
"You two again?" Dak stared.
"Well, this guy doesn't speak for me," Rades grumbled. "I have never been wrong once in my life."
"If you wait here, you could have at least helped us out!" Dak snapped.
"Don't you judge me! I'll do whatever I want when I want!" Rades snapped back.
"There's one more thing I need to do before this is over," said Patry, thinking about Vangeance.
"Wait, we can't go yet," said Heather, noticing never missing a few people. "Both Hiccup and Astrid aren't here yet."
They heard movement below them, and Hiccup and Astra were shooting out of the purple goo, but they weren't alone. Hiccup firmly grasped Johann and Revchi while cutting through the purple goo with his Dark Magic. They used Astra's Brian Magic and Revchi's Chain Magic as a springboard to get them into the air.
"It would seem as if old habits die hard," said Hiccup as he looked at Johann. "That spell of yours might make your body invisible to the naked eye, but I can sense your aura plain as day. We've got you now."
"It's Captain Hiccup!" Dak smiled, though he was rather surprised who he was with. "And the Blue Rose Knight Captain and the former captain of the Purple Orcas?"
"How dare you treat me like this after all the suffering I've had to endure!" Johann yelled at Hiccup.
"And that's the jerk who stole my grimoire!" Leyla yelled.
"The name is Revchi," said Revchi.
"What are you two clowns doing here?" Dak demanded.
"At least we have magic!" Revchi snarled.
Lumiere just looked at everyone in amazement. "How impressive. So many mages with so many different types of spells. I think the Clover Kingdom is in good hands."
"Enough chitchat, let's get going," said Dak as he turned to the exit.
No one argued as the exit of the Shadow Palace opened, and they quickly jumped through just before the entire place collapsed.
"Oh, Charmy, you've changed back to your normal self," Dak noted. "That was cool when you turned all tall and powerful before, and your powers were super awesome."
Charmy just gave him a blank look. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Wait, she didn't notice what happened?" Maple blinked.
"A better question is why Charmy is here at all?" said Adelaide.
"I just hitched a ride," she shrugged.
"Glad you made it out of there, sis, I was worried when we separated," said Dagur.
"It was a bit hairy in places," Heather admitted.
"I wish I could say it was over, but we still have one major hurdle in front of us," said Hiccup.
They finally made it outside the vortex, and once there, they saw that the battle was still raging on in the Royal Capital. Dak had completely forgotten that several elves were still consumed with rage and rampaging across the entire kingdom.
"I see what you mean," said Snotlout, looking at Hiccup. "We have to stop the elves and destroying the kingdom. They're still being driven by deep-seated hatred, completely detached from their real souls."
They were hovering over the kingdom using Snotlout's Mercury Magic as a platform.
"There's so many," said Adelaide. "How can we overpower them all?"
"I'll knock them out with one good punch," Victoria smiled viciously.
'Something tells me she actually could too,' said Hiccup.
"Oh man," said Dak as he looked down at his Demon-Destroyer Sword. 'I won't be able to get everybody with just one sword. Not to mention, my power is running low.'
"Licht is here now; there is a way," said Patry as if reading his mind. "William is still lying dormant within me. With his World Tree Magic, we can gather mana and life force from people all over. To make that happen, we're going to need his grimoire."
Valtos then suddenly appeared behind him and presented him with Vangeance's grimoire.
"Take it," he said.
Patry was a little surprised and took the grimoire anyway. "This is the one. Valtos, thank you."
"It doesn't matter who you are; you are still the person who found me that day and saved my life," said Valtos.
Dak stared at him. "Hang on, are you saying that…"
"Yes," Patry nodded. "Dak, use that weapon to destroy me for good."
"You sure that's what you want?" Dak asked as he raised his blade.
Patry grassed the blade and placed it against his chest. "I've already lived twice now. I have regrets but no fear. After all that I did, I'm not sure if this is enough to atone for it."
"Patry," said Rhya, who was still shaken despite being fully healed.
"I'll be the first one to leave then," Patry smiled. He then looked back at Licht. "Forgive me, Licht. Please finish this.
"I will," Licht vowed.
Patry looked at Dak and nodded, giving him his consent. Dak nodded back and concentrated, then began to undo the reincarnation spell that surrounded Patry.
'In the end, I got to fight alongside Licht and all my friends,' he said. 'That is enough.'
Everyone watched as the red markings on Patry's face disappeared and his ears returned to normal. They watched as his long hair retracted back into his skull, and dark markings appeared across his face. Moments later, standing before them was William Vangeance.
Hiccup gave him a cold look, remembering how he had just stepped aside and allowed Patry to run wild across the kingdom, hurting several people as well as killing Julius.
"It's Captain Vangeance," said Leyla.
"Patry," said Vangeance softly as if saying goodbye to an old friend. 'The lonely soul who has been with me ever since I was a child. It would seem as if your rage and suffering have finally reached an end.'
Vangeance instantly knew what he had to do and opened his grimoire.
'But the story is not over yet,' he said as he conjured a single seed into his palm. 'Now it's my turn. This marked that card upon my face without reason, the curse that brought me so much mistreatment and hatred, and because of it, his warped feelings towards the kingdom and the suffering he went through were undoubtedly real to me. This battle happened because I was too weak to believe in Julius' strength or the future I was meant to protect; therefore, I should be the one that puts a stop to this violence.'
The single seed began to sprout, and roots began to fall down upon the capital. At the same time, Licht placed his hand on Vangeance's shoulder and then raised his Demon-Dweller Sword.
'I'll connect to their souls and tell them the truth,' said Licht.
A beam of light shot out from the sword and began extending all the kingdom's elves. The moment it touched them, they instantly stopped what they were doing.
'We're going to need to law the connected souls to the world tree and bind them together,' said Vangeance.
Then, suddenly sprouting and appearing above the capital was the biggest treat anyone had ever seen in their lives, and it glowed in the beautiful green light.
"Combo Spell: Demon-Dweller Sword Spirit Light Tree!" they said.
Everyone immediately gasped when they saw the tree.
"Now, Anti-Magic wielder," said Licht. "Use the Demon-Destroyer Sword."
Dak began to concentrate and plunged the sword into the tree, and it instantly turned as black as night for a brief moment. The Anti-Magic then touched every single elf, undoing the reincarnation spell.
'The power of that blade is reaching all of the elves,' Snotlout marvelled.
Sure enough, all the possessed humans returned back to normal, and the elven souls were free. They were no longer bound by hatred and anger, flying free into the sky like rose petals blown through the wind.
The eyes of all the people of the Clover Kingdom turned towards the massive tree in the centre of the capital.
"Look up there! That's the magic of the Golden Dawn's captain."
"Beautiful."
"Does this mean they've saved the kingdom?"
Rhya, Fana and Vetto seemed to be the only elves unaffected by the spell. Looked at one another and nodded sadly as they turned to Licht.
"I should have known," said Rhya. "Apparently, the three of us won't be going with you. You see, after we got reincarnated the second time, our souls became bound to these bodies. There is no way we can go back to our original forms."
"I see," said Licht, looking at them regretfully as the red markings on his face faded away. "That's a shame. After a journey filled with pain and hatred, it would be nice if we could talk, but nothing to be done now. Perhaps there is a reason our destinies played out this way. Live on in this world for all of our sakes."
"Goodbye," said Vetto.
"Take care," said Fana, who was covering her breasts with her arms.
"That figures," Rhya sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, "we missed each other again. But if that's what you want, then that's okay." He then looked up and smiled at Licht. "I guess I'll live this life to the fullest no matter how much pain it is."
Astra turned to Hiccup with a smile on her face. "I wish I had seen my younger brother again, but I enjoyed fighting with you, Hiccup Haddock."
Hiccup smiled back. "The honour was mine. But I get the feeling that a bit of my wife guide along the way."
Astra nodded as she began to leave Astrid's body. "I can see why your wife loves you so much. You better take good care of her."
Hiccup quickly caught Astrid, who instantly fell unconscious the moment Astra left her body.
Licht turned to Lumiere. "I suppose I better be going now. I won't want to leave my dear Tetia waiting any longer."
"Right," Lumiere nodded.
"I'm happy that we got to see a glimpse of the ideal future that we always hoped for."
"Me too," Lumiere agreed.
"The elves that inside my body," said Leyla, looking at Licht as you return to normal, "is she your…"
Licht smiled at her. "With you here, it felt like I was fighting alongside my daughter. Thank you, wielder of the four-leaf grimoire. May good luck always follow you."
Dak then pulled out his grimoire and offered it to Licht. "This is yours, right? Take it."
"Actually, the five-leaf grimoire belongs to you now, Dak," Licht smiled as he began to leave his body. "Hold on tight to it; it will prove helpful on your journey."
Everyone watched as the elves' souls ascended into the sky, smiling down.
"Farewell, and thank you, mages of the Clover Kingdom," said Licht gratefully as they faded away.
Rades just stood there with his face scrolled in rage. 'Not so fast. Hold on a damn second. Wrath Magic: Soul Abductor!'
He opened his grimoire, and suddenly, a beam of purple light shot out of it.
'I can only use this spell on someone who's been a part of my life for a long time, and ironic as it is, you fall into that category.'
His spell wrapped around one of the souls, and Licht's body began to glow and suddenly moved.
'The body that held Licht's soul has magic in it again?' said Rhya, stunned. 'But wait that mana…'
"Patry?" Rhya gasped.
Sure enough, inside Licht's body was Patry, and they could tell because his left eye had turned black.
"Wait, am I reborn?" said Patry, looking surprised. "No reanimated."
"That body was only a duplicate that Sally created to look like your original one anyway," said Rades. "I'm sure you'll feel right at home in it."
"What the heck are you doing?" Dak asked.
"Shut up, would you?!" Rades snapped. "This is… I, uh… look, I don't understand it either, all right. Anyway, Licht or Patry or whoever, I'm not just going to let you disappear and live happily ever after! No way, I'll never forgive what you did. That's why I want you to spend the rest of eternity thinking about all the humans you've trampled on, including me!"
"You know that might come back to bite you later," Dak pointed out.
"Quiet!"
"Rades," said Patry. "I feel like I should thank you, since you've given me the chance to atone."
"Shut your mouth!" Rades snapped. He then turned towards Patry. "I'll have your head, which is the last thing I do, and until that day, I want you to spend your life in constant fear." He then looked at Valtos. "Let's go, Valtos."
Valtos looked at Patry and bowed before they sank into the dark spatial portal.
"Wow," said Rhya, looking at Patry. "So after all that, you can't go back to Licht like you wanted. Ain't that just the way. It's only fair though."
"Rhya," said Patry as he stepped forward but then stumbled.
Vangeance then caught him before he fell.
They looked at one another, and it dawned on Patry this was, in fact, the first time he met Vangeance face-to-face.
"It's you," said Vangeance. "I never expected we'd see each other face-to-face."
"Neither did I," said Patry honestly.
"My closest companion, who shares my sin. There was so much that I wanted to tell you, but first this… he may not listen, but I owe someone an apology."
Vangeance then turned towards Hiccup, who had just handed Astrid's unconscious body over to Heather.
"I know that this is a selfish thing to ask you, but Hiccup, please take me to see Julius at once," he said.
"Of course," said Hiccup, looking at him darkly.
Dak remembered Julius was dead, meaning the kingdom had lost a valiant lead.
"Wizard King…" he said slowly.
Once the fighting was over, the Magic Knights were quick to search for survivors within the rubble of the Royal capital, which had been hit pretty hard. The only ones remaining at the castle were Dak, Adelaide, Maple, Secre and Lumiere.
"The long battle was finally over," said Lumiere as he looked at the rising sun shimmying over the mountains.
Dak, fortunately, was now suffering the backlash from his Dark Form, which hit him like a ton of bricks. Maple was using her recovery magic to heal him, though it was going to be a lengthy process.
"Ow!" he whined. "I've been in this kind of pain the entire time. I'm going to die."
"Oh, poor thing, that sounds terrible," said Maple.
"Maybe you remember the next time you're about to do something reckless and stupid," said Adelaide.
"From the bottom of my heart, I can't thank you all enough," said Lumiere. "The spell has been lifted, despite that Devil's best effort and with another devil's power no less."
'He broke the seal a while ago, and you just now starting to feel the pain?' said Secre, astonished. 'Quite impressive.'
"By the way, Dak, who are those two people?" Adelaide whispered, gesturing to Lumiere and Secre.
"Who is that man?" Maple asked, looking at Lumiere. "I know it sounds crazy, but he almost looks like the statue of the First Wizard King come to life or something."
"I think that's pretty much what happened, actually," said Dak.
"Really?" the two of them gasped, staring at Lumiere.
"And as for her," said Dak, looking at Secre, "that's Nero."
"The bird?" said Adelaide, looking at him ludicrously. "Whoa, Dak, you must hit your head pretty hard if you think that."
"It's true," said Secre.
"What?!" Adelaide and Maple gasped.
"So you've been a bird all this time, but why didn't you reveal your true self to us sooner?" Dak asked.
"Because I couldn't talk until after the Shadow Palace showed itself," she said matter-of-factly. She then grasped his cheek and pulled on it. "Now I have a question to ask you. What makes you think you could ever hold a candle to his Highness?"
"Can you please cut that out!" Dak begged.
Adelaide was still trying to process all this. 'So this funky adorable Nero is… well, funky and adorable?'
"Well, to me, Wizard King is nothing but a simple phrase," said Lumiere. "But thanks to you and your sister, it has become clear to me that our ideals live on with this generation as well. Now I wonder which one of you will take my place?"
"That would be me, sir," said Dak confidently.
"You're nothing compared to him, Dak," said Secre, rolling her eyes.
"A guy can dream, can't he?" said Dak.
Lumiere laughed, but then his body began to crumble even further, and Secre looked at him horrified.
"The time has come," he said with a small smile. "I do not have enough magic to hold this body together anymore."
Everyone just stared at him in horror.
'My Recovery Magic can't fix this,' said Maple helplessly.
"My Prince," said Secre.
"Secre, will you watch their futures play out? Watch them make the world better for my sake?" Lumiere asked.
"I've always been… well, I mean…" she said and certainly. "Anyway, let me go with you. Please, sir."
"I gave everything 300 years ago; I should have died that day," said Lumiere, looking happy about his impending death. "But then you helped me protect the future. Let me go. Like I said, I can't let you seal off your potential."
Secre looked heartbroken and didn't look as if she wanted to say goodbye.
"I think the path ahead is a bright one," he continued. "Both for the Magic Knights and the kingdom they will fight to defend. I even met my descendants and Hiccup's descendant. I'm happy."
Secre began to cry and immediately grasped his hand. "So am I. Really, serving for you for so long was an honour."
"I was honoured to have you," said Lumiere as more of his body crumbled. "Secre, thank you for everything. You did well. Goodbye."
His body broke into dust and was scattered into the wind. Secre reached out to her hand as if trying to capture the dust but just let it blow away. Dak then rose to his feet and saluted, and Adelaide and Maple followed his lead.
Hiccup had taken to the spot where Terra had informed him where she had buried Julius's body. However, when they arrived, they found the place had already been dug out, and there was no sign of his body.
"What the?!" Hiccup stared. "Julius' body is missing."
This made no sense to Hiccup as his Dark Cocoon was still in place, and no one had time to dig a random mound of earth.
'This doesn't add up,' he said.
He then sensed something behind something familiar and unmistakable, and Vengeance sensed the same thing. The two of them quickly spun around and saw a merging from the trees was a person.
"That magic," said Hiccup, recognising it.
Then, to their astonishment, stepping out of the trees was Julius, who looked completely unharmed. However, he now had the body of a 13-year-old, which meant that his robes were dragging across the ground.
"What?!" Hiccup gasped. "No way. Are you Julius?"
The boy merely smiled.