Grimoire of Evangelion

by Traitor of All Traitors

Five years before the rise of the first Wizard King, there existed a royal family of the most unlikely sort. A family of nobles that believed all were capable of greatness, no matter who they were. They were hunted down and driven away from the kingdom, forced to await the day when they could return. That day...is now. The noble House of Ikari...rises once more.

37. Bitter Work, Better Results

Creation began on 09-06-21

Creation ended on 09-23-21

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Grimoire of Evangelion: Bitter Work, Better Results

Nozel excused himself from the Wizard King's presence as Rika Ikari revived the dead members of the Third Eye in their own bodies created to mirror their previous bodies lost to the massacre of their tribe, returning the bodies of the three people their souls were reawakened in to their previous state. The woman's ability to generate new bodies for these fallen elves had no doubt curried favor with the Wizard King, who was immensely impressed with her magic. This alone made his contempt towards House Ikari more pent-up that he really wanted them to suffer.

"Oh," went the guy that was once possessed by Vetto's soul as the reincarnated elf sat against the wall on the opposite side of the cell. "What's going on here? Why am I in a cell? Did I hurt someone? What time is it?"

He was like the guy that had been possessed by Rhya; they had been asleep for a long time since their souls were relieved of their control over their bodies by the elves and had lost their awareness of the world around them. The girl, Fana, was the only one that didn't suffer this state of confusion due to having the least degree of spiritual possession since her elf counterpart had been around the least.

"How do you feel now, Vetto?" Rika asked the restored elf as he looked at her.

"Like…like myself again," he answered, feeling like a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "Thank you."

"Please," went the human Fana, worried about something else than what was going on. "Don't send me back to the Diamond Kingdom. Please."

Rika could understand her fear of going back there; she had researched the current predicament with the authority there, and it was degraded to the point where they used children as guinea pigs for their experiments to create stronger soldiers for their military. She had even seen her grimoire, which was disturbingly a clear sign that some people, not all, had some measure of obsession with the Ikari family's Infinity Affinity that granted its members the power to use all forms of magic that exist in the world. It wasn't something anyone else could imitate, no matter what they tried and how much time and resources they invested in their attempts, but she had to give props to whoever attempted to combine different attributes together. Fire was Fana's original attribute, with the Crystal Magic attribute being her artificial attribute due to it belonging to someone else.

"Nobody's sending anyone back there right now, Ms. Fana," she told the girl; the investigation into who was responsible for the decimation of the Spade Kingdom hindered the intermediate situation with the Diamond Kingdom. "We have several problems with everything else that require our immediate attention before we can resolve other problems."

"I think I can understand why someone like you is the matriarch of your family, Lady Rika," went the elf Fana, sounding just as relieved as her fellow elves when restored of their bodies. "You have better clarity and control over your emotions. You don't feel a drive for more power or control."

Rika bowed her head to the revived elf.

"What happens now?" Rhya asked them.

-x-

"…Why do you need to go to a Grand Magic Zone?" Yui asked Tenshi as he got set to leave the Golden Dawn HQ.

"One of my spells required more mana than I could spare at the time during a test of my Spatial Magic's advanced stage," he explained to her, keeping it simple and with limited details; he wasn't sure, but whatever her former mentor had said to him, it seemed serious. "A Grand Magic Zone is like an oasis of mana. If I draw enough mana from such a zone, I should be able to open ten portals simultaneously to wherever I want to go."

"Is it that important for you to go to such a zone?"

"Yes, it is. One day, this squad's going to be called in to protect a village on the outskirts of the kingdom with our Diamond Kingdom neighbors over a turf war, and I'll be there to protect the people from those that seek to cause mayhem. What will you be doing?"

"I'll be…refining my spells."

Tenshi then sighed and expressed, "No offense, Yui, but you don't sound like you're the least bit worried about any possibility of conflict with someone from a neighboring country."

"It's hard to think about that when you have other things to concern yourself with."

"Such as?"

"The odd looks that I get from others once in a while."

"Well, that's only because you don't exactly broadcast your interests to others in a friendly manner, which makes it hard for others to get near you."

"I can be friendly."

"Name one friend you've made since joining the squad."

Yui looked at him with minor contempt; he had just pointed out one of her drawbacks that was the lack of relationships since they both joined the best squad in the kingdom. It wasn't really her fault if she had no friends in the Golden Dawn. She was keeping herself busy.

"Not funny," she told him.

"It wasn't meant to be funny," he countered. "I was merely stating an obvious truth. While few of the things people want from a Magic Knight are their selfless conviction to protect the country and the ability to face an adversary of unknown power and skill, none of that matters if the knights in question lack one such aspect that connects them to the people they were tasked with protecting. And that's their ability to connect with others. Those that can't connect won't have an impact on the people they're meant to inspire."

And again, it always felt like Yui was being looked down upon by Tenshi because, unlike her, he was able to make friends without much difficulty, even with those not affiliated with the squads. Was it really her fault if she couldn't find interest in others that didn't stimulate her? She needed to be as she always was before anything else for anyone else. There was no time for these…unnecessary tribulations.

"Not everything comes easy for me, Tenshi," she stated.

"Find one friend," he told her. "That's your trial right now. Find one friend, something you have in common, no matter how common or insignificant it is. You can even have an interest in gardening if that's something one likes. Just find one."

Tenshi opened his grimoire and activated a spell that produced metallic wings on his back (A/N: Think of the wings Angel had in X-Men: Apocalypse), lifting him off the ground and into the air.

Yui didn't like this idea at all. She had other priorities to deal with, and she had yet to be questioned about what happened in Spade. There was no time to find common ground with someone that was probably not out there.

Relationships come and go, she thought.

"He's right, you know," she heard someone say behind her, and she turned to see Mimosa Vermillion. "It's not hard to find one friend."

"And what interests do you have in common with my brother?" She asked her.

"We admire the conviction of people that come from small beginnings and are often overlooked by those in positions of authority. We don't pride ourselves in the belief that we're powerful or will be feared by those that fear us. And I must admit, when I saw your brother face Nebra Silva of the Silver Eagles, I was impressed that he was as skilled without magic as he is with it. For someone over fifteen-hundred years old here, he's not a bad person."

Yet Yui was…miffed that people only had these things to talk about regarding her relatives that were akin to a fringe benefit, something that wouldn't last forever. Why did they have to praise them over something so ancient and not see things the way she did? It was so…annoying that she wanted them to get with the present-day program.

"I don't think I'll find one friend around here," she told the girl.

"Why do you believe that?" Mimosa asked her.

"Everyone here is just…aggravating to me."

Yui walked away, leaving Mimosa to ponder what the woman meant by that. She never heard anyone consider others to be aggravating, whatever that word meant.

She is such a strange person, she thought. It's like she doesn't want to be here…but isn't speaking her mind like others do. What is wrong with her?

-x-

Clash! Asta's Demon-Slayer Sword blocked Shinji's naginata, both demonstrating powerful defensive qualities.

But what made this practice battle between the two difficult was that they were fighting atop the water of the nearby lake. Or rather, Shinji was fighting atop the surface of the lake while Asta, still tapping into his greater measure of Anti Magic, was just barely able to walk on the water, sinking just a few inches that his shoes got wet.

Guardian was watching over by the edge of the lake, acting as the referee, alongside the other members of the Black Bulls, whom, despite his earlier belief that they were not as committed as others were, Nacht found the members to be much stronger than they were previously before Shinji joined up with them with his aunt.

"So, what is your story, Guardian of the Void?" He asked the ancient creature.

"Long, hard and complicated," he responded, "with periods of peace and quiet in between. Yours, Mr. Faust?"

"The same."

"Forgive my response, but I find the similarities to be potentially different due to these two factors: Your absence and lack of socialization with the squad. Even I don't talk much with them, but their presence is something I find comforting, day after day."

Seeing as Asta was sent flying backwards onto the water's surface, Yami noticed how Shinji seemed to be getting better with that pole arm of his.

"Not bad for a shorter blade on a longer hilt," he expressed.

"You've never seen a naginata before?" Suki asked him.

"Never."

"They've been around just as long as swords have. In fact, they were developed not too long after swords were in use. There was even a story my brother read that was a recent one revolving around a girl that used one to defend her village that was being attacked by bandits (A/N: Those of you that know who Suki's talking about don't need to hear me say it) several hundred years ago, and she became an avenging ghost."

"I heard a story like that from my father," Yami expressed, "except he never said whether it was true or not."

"You disbelieve?" Guardian asked him.

"There are many facts that don't have clarity."

"You should hear from Tenshi, who would know more on the story he learned."

Blast! Asta was blown off his feet and sent flying backwards onto the water by Shinji.

"Whoa!" Shinji gasped, and then he ran over to Asta, seeing that he was still managing to stay above the water as best as he could. "Are you alright, Asta?"

"That…was insane," Asta responded, looking up at Shinji. "Where did you learn to do that?"

"I just…did it."

"Maybe you should train Spirito now."

"Um, yeah."

Asta returned his sword to his grimoire and walked back to the edge of the lake.

"You're up, Spirito," he informed Rades, who was sitting down on the ground.

"Okay," he replied, getting up. "Except I can't walk on water."

"I don't think that's going to be an issue," said Suki to him as she pointed to her nephew.

Shinji did something with his grimoire that affected the surface of the lake, making it look like a layer of ice or crystal was present.

Gordon stepped onto the lake's surface and tapped his right foot on it.

"It feels like glass," he told them.

Suki and Charmy stepped out onto the lake.

"This is impressive," Suki stated.

Nacht looked over at Shinji and wondered how powerful he had to be to use a spell like this.

-x-

Patolli was honor-bound to make sure that Rika had the three magic stones associated with his tribe to progress the revival of the elves. He had seen her power on its own able to bring back four elves, but the power of the tribe's magic stones would amplify her already-potent magic to a higher level, able to bring back more than four. Maybe eight at a time, or twelve, or even thirty, but how many there were to be brought back at once, she would require the stones to boost her abilities…and he would need him to guide her to those the elf souls lingered in. Because of the reincarnation spell used to suspend the souls, they slept inside the bodies of those that were as close to who they were in the past as possible, regardless of time or distance.

Unfortunately, Valtos, the only mage within the Eye of the Midnight Sun, felt betrayed by the revelation that he was not an elf reincarnated and, originally, going to be used as a sacrifice by Patolli once all the stones were collected, and refused to cooperate. This meant they needed an alternate way to go to the location where the other stones were to get them.

"Aaurgh!" Rika was heard hissing, holding onto her side.

"Are you alright?" Vetto asked her.

"Yeah, just a curse acting up again," she explained.

"Someone cursed you?" Fana questioned.

"Are any of you familiar with the Harbinger of Death and Destruction?"

The four elves were quiet after hearing that, which led Rika to deduce that they were familiar with the creature to a degree.

"I remember a dark fable about Harbinger," Rhya confessed. "He decimated an entire village, down to the last man, woman and child. But it was…long before any of us came around. He's ancient…and evil."

"His viciousness was second to none," added Fana. "Even my parents feared the possibility of him returning from where he was imprisoned."

"Wasn't he…originally brought into this world…because a family sought to get revenge on another family for something that made no sense?" Vetto wanted to know.

As Rika used a spell from her grimoire to alleviate her curse mark on her abdomen, she responded, "According to Guardian of the Void, who knows the past a little more than we currently do, yes, Harbinger was brought into this world by a family that was out to get revenge, but he didn't say who exactly. And we didn't ask him for the name of the family. Honestly, when Harbinger was imprisoned in the Void, the spell that put him into a pact with the family was undone, but we couldn't send Harbinger back to wherever he belonged…and whoever did summon him initially, they almost got more than what they bargained for with him."

"Do you believe it's possible that the information pertaining to the people behind Harbinger's release onto this world was among the relics you were unable to recover in the fifteen-hundred-year-long absence you had?" Patolli asked her.

"Oh, it's possible, but the question becomes who would take the information that could be critical in dealing with Harbinger…and why hide it from the world? Whatever secrets were hidden in the past cannot remain hidden. Sooner or later, they all become known."

With her periodic pain alleviated for the time being again, Rika sat on a broomstick and conjured another spell. On Patolli, Fana, Vetto and Rhya, threads of steel wrapped around their waists and legs, lifting them off the ground with Rika as she took flight.

-x-

The Ultime-Volcano Mountain Trail, a Grand Magic Zone that offered intense mana from its constantly-erupting volcanoes. As Tenshi arrived here, he could feel the dense mana all around himself as sweat began to form across his face. At a time like this, he could've used Mana Skin to protect himself from the heat, but he wouldn't cross that line unless he absolutely had to; the use of Reinforcement Magic to augment one's physical abilities would've made Tenshi too strong to contend with if facing an adversary that others couldn't deal with…and it'd be similar to taking the easy way out. He viewed this place as a challenge, a rite of passage that he had to overcome, and if he could do it without relying on Mana Skin…or any other form of Reinforcement Magic, he would become stronger than he was right now.

"A land of fire and heat," he expressed as he took a step closer into his destination. "A metaphorical version of Hell on Earth. Those that can survive in such a place…can master it to whichever degree they can take."

As hot as it was here for him, he refused to back down and use Mana Skin to alleviate his condition. He would overcome this rite of passage and become stronger than he was right now. But, unbeknownst to him, he was being watched by someone that had been here many times before over the years, and they were observing him, to see what he'd do. Whoever they were, they were in for quite a scene as the Ikari patriarch's body began to glow with his magic, small at first, but then growing larger, showing that he was already formidable.

Maybe he can give me a challenge, they thought.

-x-

Rades raised the white flag to Shinji after being brought to his knees for the seventh time on the lake. He had been exhausted and overpowered by the young Magic Knight. But it was more than that; he could see that Shinji was becoming stronger than he had anticipated with each training session, every encounter with someone out to face him. He could understand that with experience came greater power and understanding, but as one grew stronger, the world around them became more dangerous, requiring them to become stronger than the dangers around them.

Shinji, panting from the exertion he put into swinging his naginata, slowed his breathing as he recovered from the defense move he used against Rades. Again, he was holding back because he didn't want to risk harming anyone, but this time, in order to ensure Rades wasn't slacking off, he raised his intensity a little bit…but not too much. The stronger his squad mates were, the stronger the squad became as a whole.

"Yo, Shinji," went Guardian to him, "that's enough for today. Take a rest."

He nodded in compliance. Plus, his curse mark was starting to sting again.

"Is it just me," went Nacht, "or was he holding back against Rades Spirito on purpose?"

"Of course, Shinji was holding back," said Suki to him. "You go easy on someone you're helping get better to match their level enough that they do get better, but if you go too far on them, you risk harming them to the point of death. Why would anyone choose to do the latter when the former is more efficient?"

"Superiority?"

"That's not something we strive for. A superiority complex is the same as an inferiority complex; people that suffer from a sense of being better than others or lacking something only mask a degree of pain and suffering that they either choose to hide…or inflict upon others."

"A what complex?"

Suki looked at Nacht and was reminded of how, despite her restored youth, she was chronologically older than the disgraced nobleman of House Faust, as well as being versed in things that he most likely didn't know about. While Secré was older than her by more than a decade due to being a newborn at the time she, her mother and brother had to leave to avoid being killed, she was the intellectual one because of her advanced age and education during her banishment. Still, it was a subtle reminder of how she was the odd one out in this ragtag group of Magic Knights.

"Put quite simply, Nacht Faust," uttered Guardian to the nobleman, "those that feel better or worse than other people…will often demand their levels be matched to accommodate their chances of success. You pit a weakling against someone that refuses to go easy on them, you may as well send the weakling you want to get stronger to their grave. But if you pit them against someone that will go easy on them, has restraint and is willing to take as long as they can tolerate with the person, then they both get stronger as time passes."

"Well-spoken, Guardian," Suki praised him.

The Anti Magic creature bowed his head…and Nacht found these people to be further unlike what he had anticipated them to be. Instead of the Black Bulls being this group of problem people from different walks of life, they were becoming…better than what others saw of them. The problems were still there most of the time, but their skills, their magic…it was all getting more potent and nothing like what he had seen or heard of in the past beforehand. They may become strong enough to take on the creature that destroyed the Dark Triad and the devils within the fallen Spade Kingdom if they continued down this path.

Guardian looked at him…and saw another possibility. Within this possibility, there was Harbinger…and he was demonstrating a new power he didn't have before, the sky turning a shade of red under the sun's rays. Some sort of weather manipulation or an advanced degree of Fire Magic that was unlike what humans were capable of here. In addition, he could see the bodies of people scattered across the ground, in various stages of decrepitude, surrounding the Black Bull squad, each member with an expression of disgust, fright, sorrow and anger.

"Who would do this to help him?" Magna questioned.

"Someone just as guilty as he is," expressed Noelle.

The possibility ended there, and Guardian sighed at how the factors that led up to this possible future were still murky, another reminder to himself that he couldn't see the exact future, just different paths that could be taken in the here and now. Still, it was a horrid sight to behold if it did happen, or just some part of it, the sight of the dead around the squad, representing people that were tortured or stripped of their lives by whoever was in league with Harbinger.

"Guardian?" He heard Suki say to him.

"Yes?" He replied.

"You zoned out for a minute. Are you alright?"

"Yes. Just saw another possibility, that's all."

"Harbinger or devil-related?"

"Harbinger, but there's nothing to indicate that what I saw would occur just yet."

"Just tell me one thing: In the possible future you saw…did you see Harbinger kill anyone?"

"Answer: No…but there were dead bodies. A lot of dead bodies."

"That's awful."

Shinji and Rades got off the lake and dropped to the ground.

"You're a lot stronger than you seem, Shinji Ikari," Rades expressed.

"Only because I put in the effort to get stronger," he responded. "You're not doing bad yourself."

"Much appreciated."

"Thank you."

"Though, I really have to ask… What do you see in the Black Bull? Why this squad over all other squads?"

Shinji smiled and stated, "I'm not perfect. I will never be perfect. There's no such thing as perfect for anyone or anything. And the Black Bull… They're not perfect in any sense, whatsoever; they're flawed, they're unpredictable, they're messy sometimes, even crazy in their own individual ways…but I can live with that. I can live with their quirks, their habits and flaws…and that's what makes them the best squad to be in."

"You find them perfect…because they are not perfect?"

"Yes…yes, that's right."

Rades found Shinji to be among those that were probably the most realistic out of the entire Clover Kingdom military; he was so accepting of his chosen squad's imperfections and sought never to change them to suit his own interests. He never even saw the young man question why one of the women in the squad, this Vanessa Enoteca, pranced around in her underthings most of the time; there was even a time where he had to help him and his teen aunt do the weekly laundry…and when Suki dangled the older woman's underthings in front of him to get a reaction, all Shinji did was take them off her hands and proceed to wash them. If it had been himself, Rades would've likely gotten a nosebleed. He did claim that he was used to people like this before in the world his family was self-exiled to, but it was strange that he could deal with these quirks…and yet, there were other quirks that he had yet to deal with in order to know whether or not he could deal with them.

"If you keep this up, you'll be a powerful Magic Knight one day," he told Shinji.

"And one day, everyone in this squad will be at their strongest," Shinji sighed.

-x-

Gasp! Rika couldn't believe her eyes when Patolli showed her the Tree of Life monument that he and the Eye of the Midnight Sun possessed to complete with the lost stones of the Elf Tribe, having believed the monument had been lost to time.

So far, it had been completed with five of the eleven stones associated with the tribe, but she could only see ten slots for ten stones, meaning that only ten were actually required to complete the monument's ability to reincarnate all the suspended souls belonging to the tribe. It must've taken them a considerable amount of time and patience to gather these stones. If they had gotten all of the others, there was no telling how many people would've suffered because of the actions and manipulations of a devil that was out to cause suffering. But she had to remind herself that this was why she was here to change things for the tribe's fallen, to ensure that they were restored without the suffering and to defeat the devil responsible.

"I can't believe you were able to salvage this relic," she told Patolli, examining the monument. "How long has it been since you found it?"

"Just six years," he confessed to her.

Rika moved aside and allowed the Wizard King and the captains of the Golden Dawn and Crimson Lion squads to get a better look of the monument. Any one person wielding the stones within it would've had their magic amplified to levels just under those of a powerful being, but only the elves would have the power to overcome whoever abused the power of the stones. Only three were necessary for what they were here to do.

"Are you sure only three stones will suffice, Mrs. Ikari?" Fuegoleon asked her.

"Yes," she answered him. "Three stones is the minimum limit to perform greater feats of augmented magic safely at one's current level of mana. Four stones creates a strain comparable to fasting longer than necessary for the human body, and using five stones is simply going too far to do something faster."

Patolli removed three stones from the monument and presented them to Rika.

"Okay," she sighed, but then realized that there should be a minimum safe distance between herself and everyone else. "You should take a few steps back, please."

Patolli and the rest took four steps back, and Rika levitated the stones in front of her, letting her mana act up, the stones serving as a conduit for more mana to flow into her body.

"Ahh…" She went as she felt a surge of mana that wasn't her own surge through her muscles and veins. It's been too long since I've last felt power like this. It's like sitting down at a banquet…while relaxing in a hot spring. It's intoxicating…but the will to resist temptation is stronger than the desire for the unrealistic. Positive need, not negative want. The only thing to be gained out of doing this is to restore life to a lost people from long ago. It is not too unrealistic to want to return to life people that were taken before their time if they can be brought back without the suffering of others.

She was levitated off the ground and floated four feet above everyone.

"I…can see their souls lingering all over the kingdom," they heard her say, her voice echoing four times as it reverberated. "I…can hear their cries of longing…and feel their pain. They are in every town, every village, every squad, waiting for freedom, waiting for renewal."

"Every town?" Julius questioned. "Every squad?"

"There were many elves taken that day," William stated.

"There are thirty-seven close by," Rika revealed. "We must go to them."

-x-

"…It doesn't seem like her mother's possessed," Misato stated to Ritsuko, pointing to the picture of Rika floating with three stones around her in the album. "And what about this here? Shinji's mother is shutting herself off from everyone around her, including her family. It's like she can't stand to be around them, anymore."

In another picture was Yui in her hideaway, building something else that was obscured so that they couldn't see it, but they could see that she was wearing a white lab coat with her squad's signature robe laying on a table nearby.

"At least Shinji seems like he's having a break from the day," Kaji expressed as he pointed to the picture of where Shinji had collapsed onto his bed in his room in the Black Bull HQ. "He worked himself ragged with that naginata he got in his fight against that elf."

Fuyutsuki turned to the next page and saw an old picture of Tenshi exercising his upper body with a little Shinji waving a paper flag with his uncle's name on it in his room. Under the photo, he saw Tenshi in the volcanic environment he had ventured off to, just barely evading a punch by a…fiery woman with the same shade of red hair as the man that was seen with his mother.

"Did he pick a fight with someone there?" Asuka wondered.

Rei looked and wondered who the woman attacking Shinji's uncle was. She appeared to have an attitude and desired to harm the patriarch.

On the other side of the page, Suki was looking up at the night sky, standing out in the wood outside the Black Bull hideout in another photo, and just above it was a photo of Rika and her two eldest children celebrating her only son's one-hundredth birthday.

"Hey, did it just get warmer in here?" Misato questioned.

-x-

Despite knowing what she did about House Ikari in the past, Mereoleona Vermillion stayed away from them just after their surviving members' return from exile. Even if there were two members left that were the strongest, she wouldn't face either until she had trained enough to ensure that she was a match for them. And yet, here on the Ultime-Volcano Mountain Trail, she had saw the current patriarch of the family, a man that was, in a similar sense, more warrior than mage, not unlike herself, and he was evading just about every move she made against him. It was exhilarating…and quite the unexpected challenge, just to try and hit him.

Tenshi recognized a member of the Vermillion family when he saw either the hair color or the drive to fight someone they find worthy of them. Just when he had thought he could come to this unsteady environment and draw energy from its mana supply to fuel his Spatial Magic practice, he finds himself, refraining from using any measure of Reinforcement Magic, trying to reach up a volcanic mountain, while at the same time…dodging the fiery fists of a member from one the royal families of the Clover Kingdom. It was completely unexpected…and now a rite of passage to reach the top of the volcano in one piece.

"You're holding back!" Mereoleona yelled at him as he pulled a weapon from his grimoire.

"More or less!" Tenshi replied, brandishing a bō staff with lightning bolt designs on its ends.

"Those that can't survive here can't hope to survive anywhere!"

"Wood Lightning Magic: Thunderbolt Bash!"

He swung his staff at Mereoleona and watched her get sent flying backwards…but only three feet, making him suspect that this woman was stronger than she seemed.

"That was quite impressive!" She told him. "Why not use Reinforcement Magic?!"

"Because it's a crutch that's only meant to be used when absolutely necessary! To use it when you have your true strength and speed, which you've honed over time, putting in the effort to improve, it disgraces you! When there's no actual threat on your life or the lives of other people, there's no reason to use such a form of magic!"

"And when you need to reach a place that is too difficult to get to without it?!"

"Those that can't prove to themselves that they can't reach it without some sort of crutch…have no right to try to reach that destination until they can or unless threatened by a dangerous person! Are you using Reinforcement Magic?! It would help to explain why I didn't affect you as much as I had expected from my spell!"

"Mana Skin is an effective way to get around here!"

"It's not the only way!"

The pages in Tenshi's grimoire flipped and he pulled another weapon from his chosen spell.

"What is that?!" Mereoleona demanded, never seeing a sword like that; not even Yami's sword looked like this one with a curved hook.

"Steel Lightning Magic: Discharge Hook Sword!" He yelled, swinging the sword to the ground and releasing a streak of electrical energy towards her.

Zap! She was sent a surging amount of electrical energy that made her feel like every inch of her body was set on fire from the inside out.

"Aaaaurgh!" She yelled, but not in pain.

No, it was excitement. This patriarch was much stronger than he seemed, and he wasn't using Reinforcement Magic in the slightest. But everyone had their limits. All she needed to do was push him to his. As the surge ceased, she looked like she had been affected by static electricity because several strands of her hair was standing on end.

"I'd ask what brings you here, but I'm guessing that it's because of the intense mana of this place," he told her, "the same as I."

"So, you're here because of the strong mana?"

"To master my Spatial Magic further, I must be able to manipulate greater amounts of mana like before. Therefore, the use of Mana Zone in conjunction with the Mana Method will increase the likelihood of mastery a hundredfold."

"Mana Method?"

"I take it you're familiar with the Heart Kingdom's form of magic, are you not?"

"I haven't been to the Heart Kingdom in over ten years."

"Mana Method enables a mage to utilize natural mana to create tangible forms of elements associated with nature, not just forms of pure mana. Let's say you defeat me, because you're clearly looking for a challenge, and I'll teach how to use the Mana Method, summon True Magic based on your attribute. True Fire Magic."

"If I defeat you? What say happens if you defeat me?"

"If you're still interested in learning the method, I will teach you."

"So, either way, there is something to be gained from this battle."

"Yes. Oh, where are my manners? It's nice to meet you on this inferno evening. I am Tenshi Ikari, current patriarch of the House of Ikari. And you are?"

"Mereoleona Vermillion of the House of Vermillion."

"I think tonight's going to be the definition of 'bitter work'."

Then, Mereoleona summoned one of her strongest spells against Tenshi.

"Mana Zone," she uttered, "Calidus Brchium Barrage!"

Tenshi's eyes widened at the thought of what was going to happen if he didn't move out of the way. Just from the way her spell sounded, he could expect a world of hurt that was more intense than what he felt before fifteen-hundred years ago. Then again, he had felt worse in his exile; he'd been punched, kicked, stabbed, shot, shoved, thrown, disrespected, humiliated, cast aside and adapted over the five-and-a-half decades he spent in Japan where he grew old and lost the use of his legs. He'd learned to turn pain into strength.

"Union Magic," he uttered, making staff and sword disappear in favor of a new spell, "Kinetic Lunar Orb!"

-x-

For some reason, Shinji found himself standing in Misato's apartment, seeing that it was empty and devoid of the familiar feeling he had whenever he was back in a place that was his place to escape.

"Hello?" He called out as he walked into the living room area. "Misato? Asuka?"

"Squawk," he heard Pen-Pen behind him.

"Pen-Pen?"

Turning around, Shinji desired to face the penguin, but soon wished he hadn't. In front of him wasn't the penguin, but the creature that shared a rivalry with Guardian: Harbinger. The creature that had destroyed the Spade Kingdom, standing in front of him with a stench of decay and blood, holding a dead body in his right arm on the floor.

"Shinji Ikari," he spoke, sounding almost similar to the way his father spoke, but with a measure of outright hatred directed towards him. "You smell just like him."

"Like who?"

"Him."

Shinji knew that he was referring to Guardian, but his presence in a dream was like something out of a nightmare. He wanted to run, but there was nowhere to run. This enemy's presence was frightening and enough to give him the creeps.

"You're afraid of me," Harbinger stated. "You should be."

"You killed an entire country, you and whoever let you out of the Void."

"And I should care because?"

"We'll stop you. The Magic Knights, Guardian of the Void… We'll find you and the one that released you from the Void…and you'll both face justice for your crimes."

"Justice…crimes…you humans are always making such a fuss over all of these irrelevant concerns that mean nothing to me. Even if you were to apprehend me, you couldn't condemn me. I am beyond any of you. Even the devils associated with those three Spade Kingdom end-seekers thought they had me pegged when their forces attempted to take me on. It was never even a challenge. Say…would you care to join my horde?"

Shinji got tense and backed away from Harbinger.

"Stop pretending like you're not even tempted," the creature spoke on. "You're a powerful individual already, but why deny yourself more than what you already have. Is the life of a Magic Knight all that you desire? Some desire more. What do you desire? Maybe you'd even get rid of that annoyingly-painful curse I had placed upon you if you joined me."

"Don't ever be swayed by his words," Shinji recalled Guardian's words to him and the others present that day they were being informed of his own experience in dealing with Harbinger. "He tries to get into the heads of anyone he speaks to, either on this plane or in the dream realm. He'll try to tempt you with the promise of something in return for joining him, but all his gifts come at a terrible price of further suffering. No matter what he offers, be it immortality, wealth or power, it is not worth the cost he'll try to make you pay. He targets people's negative qualities, their hidden or conflicted impulses, but stay true to yourselves. Sooner or later, he'll lose interest in trying to tempt you."

"There's nothing you can offer me that I even want," Shinji told Harbinger, glaring at him. "You're an ancient and eternal rival to Guardian of the Void, which makes whoever you're bound to in your new pact an enemy to me. So, you give your new master this message: I'm coming for them…and they will face the retribution they deserve for the people they sent back to their makers way before their time."

Harbinger frowned and tilted his head to the left.

"I will enjoy making you both suffer in agony," he expressed to the boy, "and I will enjoy it further…when I see your eyes filled with inescapable despair."

Suddenly, Harbinger evaporated in dark smoke, leaving no trace of having ever been in the room. Not even the dead body he had was left behind.

Shinji exhaled a breath of relief as he collapsed onto his knees on the floor. Even if this was dream, Harbinger practically scared him just as much as the Angels had each time he went against them in the Eva, something he didn't want to experience ever again. And just being in his presence, he could feel that Harbinger was, beyond any doubt in his mind, in a class of power by himself; the aura of desire to harm him that he deliberately held back was as potent as what he initially felt when facing Rades before he joined the Black Bull. He was now panting and shuddering from the fear he was washed in.

Guardian was right about him, he thought, accepting the Anti Magic creature's opinion on his foe. Even if it was only for a moment, it's hard to keep from trembling in fear of Harbinger because his aura alone is enough to make you see that he'll kill you without thinking twice about it. Only a real maniac would enter into a pact with him.

-x-

It wasn't something the villagers had expected to see in the middle of the night, but a woman aglow in light, floating over them, accompanied by the Wizard King and two Magic Knight captains, it was as though they were bearing witness to a sign of the gods themselves.

Rika could see the spiritual auras of the elves that had been dwelling within the villagers that resembled who they were in the past to a degree and began recreating their bodies to house their souls in front of the people.

"What is she doing?" A male villager asks Fuegoleon,

"Lady Rika is helping us resolve an issue with the Eye of the Midnight Sun that may actually be the least violent solution," he explains to them.

Standing before them were twelve elf bodies, recreated in perfect detail, as though sculpted by master craftsmen, and the people Rika could see glowing with the elf spirits associated with recreated bodies having said spirits channeled into them to restore their lives.

"Ah," the revived elves reacted, feeling relieved of a past agony for the first time in a long time.

"How do you feel?" Rhya asked one of them.

"Alive," a female elf answered, "and hungry."

"Stiff," a male elf added, moving his arms around to remove the stiffness he felt.

Patolli couldn't believe that what he was seeing, but here they were, restored to life and as free from the darkness as he and the Third Eye were. As he looked at Rika, he saw that she was recreating other elf bodies for the remaining spirits dwelling within the random villagers. If this progressed as efficiently as possible in canon his night, it was possible that they could revive more than eighty elves before the sun came up; he was feeling hopeful after seeing how powerful the current matriarch of House Ikari was with three of the magic stones amplifying her already-heightened magical abilities.

And she's not being seduced by the lure of power, he thought as he could see the elf souls within the other villagers being drawn to their recreated bodies. Those of House Ikari, anyone with compassion and conviction to do right by others…is able to overcome adversity and cruelty in the world.

In Rika's mind, however, she was walking a razor-thin tightrope between benevolence and seduction, as it was taking everything she had to maintain her conviction to help the Elf Tribe return to life without the darkness behind their initial downfall. The power was great…but she knew the strength to do right with it was what made it greater…and the temptation it offered was what made it dangerous. This lure of darkness behind the drive reminded her of the American film Tenshi had shown her called The Covenant, drawing similarities between how people inherited power as a result of their heritage…and how the power, over time, made them slaves to a fate they could either fight back against or give into. And she was further reminded of how she was eventually drawn to a child cartoon alongside her grandson that draw knowledge from other parts of the maimed world about people gifted in the arts of elemental manipulation and how those with the power of fire were constantly reminded of how dangerous their element was when left unchecked.

If I gave in to the seduction of the power, I'd no longer recognize myself, she thought as she channeled the elf spirits into their new bodies. I'd probably not even recognize my own voice. I'd be a complete stranger to myself.

-x-

Aggravating was a word Yui didn't use unless she found a lack of commonality in her general environment and with other people that didn't stimulate her mind. And yet, she was aggravated by the one detail that was just an overstated truth, day after day: Everyone in the Clover Kingdom, Diamond Kingdom, Heart Kingdom and former Spade Kingdom was capable of magic, able to do great things once they have practiced and honed their skills. Sure, she had noticed that there was some technological aspects to the magic wielded by people, she couldn't forget that it was derived from magic to amplify magic…and therefore had nothing to do with what she was trying to do. Another thing that aggravated her as of late was the lack of missions the Magic Knights had; even if she had a small mission she could volunteer herself for, it would've sufficed for her to get away from the Golden Dawn and handle the situation her way instead of having to put up with the attitudes of these elitists and ill-gifted men and women.

"If I didn't know any better," she heard Harbinger say to her as he appeared behind her, "you're getting frustrated over something."

Looking away from her current drone being built, Yui looked at him and sighed, "I feel like I'm the only one here that has much to show the world, but nobody wants to listen and learn. They're so inflated with magic that they don't know what they're truly capable of once they realize that what they have will not last."

"Except nothing lasts forever…at least not physically."

"You seem to be in a mood."

"As you suggested, I did pay a visit to your son in the dream realm, trying to tempt him into joining our cause…but he resisted. He feared my presence and actually had the gall to tell me I would face justice for what happened in the Spade Kingdom. He has no idea of the fate that awaits everyone."

Yui sighed again as she got up from her chair and walked past Harbinger to where she left her grimoire on a nearby table where a new spell had finally generated based on a combination of Nail and Mercury Magic. The initial aim of having Harbinger go to Shinji in a dream was to sway him to her cause of enlightening the people and showing them a bright future, the same as her aim for him, but if Shinji refused to be swayed, it was a sign that he didn't believe in the future as much as she did…or he did believe in the future, but not to the same extent as she and Harbinger did. While Harbinger was merely purposed with the removal of all physical forms of existence, she was committed to saving the world by transitioning it into a metaphysical state of existence, which was a state removed from Harbinger's objective. Unfortunately, there were two important pieces to this goal that needed to be acquired before her goal could be implemented once Harbinger began his in force; no matter how much she wanted to implement her goal for the people of this world, she needed her son to work in tandem with herself…and he had something she needed him to unleash upon the world in order to lead the people into the future.

Harbinger then noticed that she had a stack of unopened letters from her mother, sister and son beside her grimoire.

"Do you focus on your half of the agenda to point where you exclude the crucial fact that you should be out there living among these people that still have so little time for the sake of keeping up appearances?" He asked her, pointing to the letters.

"What's the point of reading those when I have an inkling on what they say?" She replied. "Personally, I can't relate to my mother or siblings…and with Shinji, he's… It's like there's a wall or bridge between us that keeps us from connecting…and it just keeps expanding with everything that we don't say to each other."

Harbinger then picked up one of the letters from her son and ripped it open, surprising Yui with his own sense of curiosity and willingness to invade her privacy. He looked at the letter…and found it quite impressive…if not depressing. While it stated that Shinji was coping with the restriction of his limited traveling until the matter with the Eye of the Midnight was further investigated and the tension between the fact that its leader was also the captain and founder of the Golden Dawn squad, it also stated from her son that he really wanted to speak with her about how she was handling things and how the revelation of her squad leader being possessed by an elf spirit affected her, as he already heard from his uncle how the revelation affected him. In honesty, Harbinger found it displeasing that humans, no matter how primitive or advanced they were, would try to keep themselves attached to these emotions that served no other purpose than to limit their actions.

"Your son…wonders how you feel about your squad captain being an embodiment of an elf spirit," he told her, handing over the letter. "He already knows how his uncle feels."

"How I feel about the captain playing along with an elf spirit doesn't matter," she tells him.

"Except that it does to him. I'm only going to tell you this once, and you should heed this advice from a creature that follows you because we have similar goals. Go out there…and live for a time. We are still a ways to go before we both can have what we desire, and there are at least two other obstacles in the way before we can advance. There is still a devil that these mortals must do away with…and once that has been achieved, all that remains…will be Guardian of the Void, who, despite his current state, is more powerful than he appears right now if your son has gotten stronger over the time they've been together."

"Just how old is Guardian?"

"To be blunt, he's older than most beings since the primordial days, including humans. We have been around since time immemorial, before the very concept of time became a construct of sentient minds."

Yui took this to mean that, while Harbinger and Guardian were really, really old, neither one could or would elaborate on exactly how old they were, and may have even been sensitive about their age to some degree.

"This devil that is responsible for the massacre of this Elf Tribe," she changed the subject to a different matter that didn't really concern them, "do you know the name and rank of this creature that has everyone uneasy?"

"It's unlikely an ancient member of the species if it's only associated with the Elf Tribe. More than likely, the devil is a high-ranked member. I don't know their name unless I faced them like I did while we were in Spade. The Curse-Warding Magic-using Megicula, the Spatial Magic-wielding Beelzebub and the Gravity Magic sin-soaked Lucifero, the devils affiliated with the Dark Triad…and despicable in their foolish attempt to kill me. I could've done away with them with a mere gesture…but they're more valuable to me as slaves than as carcasses…until I no longer need them, that is."

"How much longer until they no longer need to be harvested?"

"Five more days. I've been imprisoned within the Void for a long time and my razing the Spade Kingdom only gave me a workout. These three devils will give me a banquet of new strength like how their three hosts fed me with nutrients."

The way he spoke of these six individuals implied to Yui that he was feeding off the devils…and that he fed off their human hosts, which made Harbinger a man-eater and not just a carnivorous creature of the unknown.

"And anyway, I can't exactly live out there with those people," she expressed to Harbinger. "I have nothing in common with any of them. It's hard enough for me just to face the members of the Golden Dawn. If any of them were more like myself, we'd at least have something in common in a scientific sense. Sometimes, I swear, they're more like…my mother and siblings; they're not so steeped in their old ways, but they're so…traditional."

"I don't understand what you mean by that," he responded; he wasn't so impressed with the historical details of human beings, as they were like any other race of intelligent creatures that had reached the end of their necessity to the natural order of existence: Irrelevant.

"Basically, they keep one eye and leg in the past and the other eye and leg in the future. To understand the future and where they're going, they need to stay rooted in the past and understand where they've already been. But sometimes, I think they have both feet rooted firmly in the past and can't embrace the future. If we can't see the future, how can we move on? If we're not able to evolve and transcend our physical limitations, how can we survive as a species or be remembered?"

Harbinger looked away from Yui as he disregarded her beliefs a little. No matter how much insight anyone possessed, everything and everyone, human, elf, dwarf, devil or some other form of existence…had a finite existence when it came to physicality. And when it came to leaving behind information, it was an unspoken fact of the universe that nobody truly cared about what lived once before others elsewhere did, regardless of how much information was left behind to be understood. Everyone, the divine, the damned, the wealthy, the poor, the elite and the common…were just momentary sparks of light or fire in an indifferent and uncaring universe. Sure, his new partner in his mission to cleanse this world was smarter than the previous one that initially summoned him, but even if she spouted everything she knew about her species, she, too, was not exempt from the undeniable truth that came with this concept of evolutionary processes…and that was how evolution, from a simple organism to an advanced one…always had dead-ends.

"Go out there and be among the people," he told her again, enforcing his advice on her lack of a social life. "Don't hide yourself from the world. You don't even have to talk with anyone out there, but you can't stay hidden in here. Bask in the sunlight, collect worms to cut up, fly up in the air, hunt and kill a wolf, buy a fancy dress, whatever you feel you must do to enjoy your free time. In the end, you'll be glad that you did."

-x-

It was a new spell that formed in his grimoire, but it was his seventeenth Compound Magic spell. And more, it enabled him to utilize the mana of his immediate surroundings.

"Mana Zone," Tenshi shouted. "Compound Magic: Legendary Might of Kusanagi!"

Mereoleona watched as a new sword formed in Tenshi's arms, much larger than the three previous swords he attempted to use against her flames, and then her eyes widened as he suddenly split into seven duplicates, moving across the scorching grounds, surrounding her. He was then covered from the waist going up to his neck in glowing armor.

"Seven paths to the heavens!" The seven duplicates uttered to her. "Seven paths to the underworld! Seven breaths to take! And seven strikes to end!"

And then, before she could make her next move to summon fire, they disappeared.

"Where'd you go?!" She demanded, and then one of them appeared right in front of her. "Oh!"

"This is one!" He yelled, and swung his blade at her, leaving a slash of light on her chest!

"Two!" Another duplicate appeared behind her, swinging his sword at her back, leaving another slash of light!

"Aaah!" She gasped, feeling like something had actually left a mark on her body.

Slash! Another duplicate appeared and slashed at her waist.

"Three!" He yelled.

Slash! Two more duplicates appeared on her left and right side, swung, and left stinging light slashes on her shoulders.

"Four!"

"Five!"

With each sword strike, Mereoleona felt weaker. It was this Ikari was on some other level than any other mage she had faced before, never relenting in his moves, always knowing when and where to strike. He was like a ghost, only more alive.

Slash! A sixth strike was landed on her legs, bringing her down to her knees in front of another duplicate holding his sword down.

"Six," he stated calmly.

Pierce! A sword thrust into her back and out her front…made by the seventh and final duplicate.

"Seven," he uttered, pulling the sword out of her. "You have fallen."

Mereoleona fell to the ground and coughed. Never before had she ever been handed such a brutalizing defeat like this. No, that wasn't true; she had known defeat like this before, but it was a lifetime ago…and by a rival that had been believed to stand no chance against her. But Tenshi Ikari…was truly in a class of power by himself, unrivaled by whoever tried to outmatch him in either raw power or skill.

The seven duplicates merged back into one Tenshi and he lowered to offer her his right hand.

"I really must thank you, Ms. Vermillion," he told her as she accepted his hand. "This match was truly bitter work…but the results were worth it."

She checked herself, but Mereoleona couldn't find the slashes or marks from any of the swords that were used to harm her; it was as though she had been harmed by an illusion, only it was all too real to be an illusion.

"I…I felt the swords," she expressed, "but the injuries are gone."

"Sword Magic, Spatial Magic, Poison Magic, Mirror Magic, Light Magic and Healing Magic. Combined to form a powerful and effective form of facing an adversary to leave them feeling the sting of defeat…without the after effects of being harmed…like death. Mana Zone is very impressive. However, for some reason, the majority of my sword strikes were more powerful than intended, but they never affected you more than what was necessary to defeat you. I'm wondering where that extra energy went."

"You're far more powerful than I had expected you to be."

Tenshi then noticed something new around them. The volcanoes had ceased erupting around them…and the air was not as hot and difficult to breathe, anymore. He looked up to the primary volcano up ahead…and felt a strong measure of mana emanating from its peak where the lava had been spouting.

"Tell me something," he needed to know, "is it true that there's a spring at the top of that volcano that appears at night once the volcanoes calm?"

"There is," she confirmed.

"That's good. If you're going to learn the Mana Method from me, it's easier to start with mana that is calm instead of erratic. Shall we?"

Even though she had lost to him, he was still willing to teach her what he knew about the Mana Method. Such a skill would improve her Fire Magic.

"Tell me something now," she had to ask, "have you ever heard of Acier Silva?"

"I'm sorry, but no, I have never heard of her. I've heard of the Silva siblings, one of whom my nephew has helped to become stronger than she was before they met, but I've never had the distinct privilege of hearing about their mother. Did you know her?"

"She trained me years ago. She was a powerful mage in her own right. You two might've become good friends."

Walking up the volcano and reaching the glowing spring, Tenshi smiled and exhaled a breath of gratitude as he spread his arms out to feel the mana flow into him.

"I think we would've been friends had we met," he agreed with her. "Are you ready?"

She looked at him and chuckled; it wasn't even a minute after they had reached the top, and now they were getting into the first lesson.

"Bring it," she told her.

-x-

"…Is it over?" Kaji asked as everyone was on the floor in Gendo's office, away from the table where the album lay.

Asuka got up and carefully approached the desk and looked down at the album, seeing the pages still smoking from what had happened just mere moments ago. When they observed the picture of Tenshi facing that fire lady, seven slashes of light shot out of the album and bounced around the room, forcing everyone present to hit the floor just to avoid getting hit. All around the office, large slashes had ruined the diagrams and Sephirot markings that decorated the reflective floor and ceiling.

"I can't believe what just happened," said Fuyutsuki as he got up.

"That wasn't possible," Ritsuko stated, wanting to disbelieve what had occurred in the room in front of them. "It defies all sense of rationale."

"Yeah, tell that to the people we're watching through a series of pictures," Misato responded. "They practically do everything that defies every sense you can think of."

Asuka turned the page and saw a photo of Shinji with Gauche, Luck, Suki and Guardian, visiting the former Magic Knight's family home and little sister. Under them was a picture of an older Rika, Tenshi and Suki with a younger version of Yui, dressed in black, standing before a gravesite on a depressing day.

"That must've been the day after Yui's father was killed," went Fuyutsuki.

"It doesn't seem like Rika is all that saddened by her husband's death," Gendo stated, noticing that, unlike what appeared to be a positive relationship between Rika and her first husband, there seemed to be almost nothing between her and her second husband after he was discovered to have been cheating on her with at least two other women.

"From what Yui told me, her parents had a complicated relationship that didn't get any better after he cheated on her. Some words were said that put a strain on their already-strained marriage…and her mother was about to throw him out when his second mistress came and killed him for not telling her that he was married."

"Sounds like her first husband was a saint compared to her second husband," went Asuka.

Nobody could really say for sure if such a belief was true, but just by judging from the picture of the three eldest members of the Ikari family on this depressing day, whatever affection that they had for the dead man had been eroded by his own selfish actions and deception towards the current matriarch. Looking at the other side of the pages, they saw a picture of Rika floating above several people like some sort of deity…and Tenshi in another picture with the fire lady, engaged in another battle…accompanied by a man dressed in black straps or bindings with sharp teeth and red hair.

"What's going on in these?" Misato questioned.

-x-

It was an odd order from Yami, but at least it got Shinji away from Henry's house. He was getting the strangest sense of déjà vu with this scenario; he was to go with Gauche to Nean and discovered that he and his sister's parents had been murdered by other members of the nobility in order to steal their wealth, and now he was told to go with Gauche again to get his sister and head to the capital with him and Luck where his grandmother would meet them.

"Why would your grandmother want to see my sister and I again?" Gauche asked Suki and he as they were heading to the capital again where they were to meet with Rika. "I already see her half the time I'm summoned to give my vote in the Magic Parliament."

"I don't know, but if there's a reason for it, she's bound to explain about it when we meet her," she replied behind Shinji. "My mother's not the type to keep us in the dark about anything."

"Was there anything you two could agree on whenever you were at the Magic Parliament?" Shinji asked him.

"Only that there were bad people out in the Clover Kingdom and that they should do the time for their own misdeeds. Most of the Parliamentarians wanted to see an execution of certain individuals, but your grandmother, probably the only one I've ever met to have an opinion different from the majority of the nobility, chose prison time as a fate instead of an execution, which puts the final verdict in a state of imbalance because all members have to be agreed on one fate over all else."

"If all members of the Parliament can't agree on a fate, it keeps those capable of carrying out a different sentence from doing so," Suki stated. "My mother's not a biased person or one to give in to peer pressure by other members of the nobility; she speaks her mind and refuses to see other people's way of dealing with a matter as the only way, staying open to the possibilities of selecting a different fate for someone."

"I must say…that Rika Ikari is…the most uncommonly moral of witches I've ever met. She chooses life over death, benevolent solutions over malevolent consequences. She even stated to me once when I asked her about her opinion about her relationship with other members of the nobility…that she only had a stable relationship with a handful of them…and was willing to have the majority of them despise her for her opinions and unwillingness to submit to their unbiased willingness to condemn others for whatever choices they made in the past. I don't see her as someone with an agenda or motive to destroy the system that exists…but change it to be different from what it is."

"What can we say?" Shinji spoke. "She's very… If she can see a different solution to a problem that exists being possible, she will try to see it be heard by others."

"The heart is the most mysterious and most powerful of creatures that embrace the ability to make moral choices, regardless of whatever opposition they face from those that don't see eye-to-eye with them," said Guardian as they neared their destination. "So long as you can stay true to yourself, you can see possibilities that others may not see."

"Is there anything you can see about why we're heading to the capital, Guardian?" Shinji asked.

"Only that there is a benevolence to it."

-x-

"…You received a request to come here, as well?" Charlotte asked a man from the Crimson Lion squad, Randall Luftair, as they were walking towards the Clover Castle.

"Yes," he answered her. "Do you know why?"

"No."

"You two, as well?" They looked up ahead and saw a member of the Silver Eagle squad walking up the steps to the palace. "Several Magic Knights from the other squads were told to come here, but none of us have the slightest clue to why, though."

"I think it has something to do with the Golden Dawn," Randall expressed his opinion. "It is reflecting bad on all of us that their captain was possessed by an elf spirit out to get us."

"Except that was because of a devil manipulating events in the past, making it look like the nobility had a hand in their downfall," Charlotte stated. "The memories of the Third Eye confirmed that their attack was because of a devil."

"But now we're being summoned to the capital for reasons unknown," the Silver Eagle Magic Knight reiterated. "I pray that it's not because of something we failed to do."

"Or because we did do something that we weren't supposed to," Randall added.

Entering the palace, the three noticed how there were other Magic Knights from other squads (with the Green Mantis appearing to be the sole exception, as they couldn't see a single squad member with a robe associated with that group). There were even several people that didn't seem associated with the Magic Knights at all, like the Wizard King's personal healer.

"Do you know why we're here?" Charlotte asked the healer.

"Only that it relates in some way to the Elf Tribe," Owen revealed to her. "You're not the only captain that was summoned today. The leader of the Aqua Deer is also here."

"How many of us are here?"

"More than fifty-eight. Two members from the Black Bull have yet to arrive, as well."

As she looked around, Charlotte noticed that most of the Magic Knights present were all members of the Golden Dawn, something she found unusual. If this matter was related to the Elf Tribe, and they were all here because of the elves, why did the Golden Dawn have to be here? Was it because their captain was compromised? Or was it because of something else?

-x-

Tenshi had to give the man he met earlier credit for bringing him down to one knee…but that wasn't the credit he was owed for. No, the credit was for doing the one thing that most mages weren't able to do against Tenshi, which was damaging one of his swords; his katana had been nicked up and down the blade, something the patriarch found infuriating. Not only was he willingly facing two mages to test all three of their strengths, but he was limiting himself to just magic attributes to defend and counterattack.

"Really?" The man asked him, noticing his damaged sword. "Seven of my strongest traps so far, and I damage your sword?"

"I gotta hand it to you, not many people can damage my swords," Tenshi replied, holding his katana up as he rose back to his feet. "But there's something about Sword Magic that has evolved over the years, and it's never limit yourself to just one sword. It's a painful skill to master, but it helps to be ambidextrous."

His grimoire flipped through pages and he cast aside his damaged katana…and brandished two Dao swords that were similar in color to his katana.

"Sword Magic: Dao Duality!"

Mereoleona, now using the rudimentary level of the Mana Method, widened her eyes at how this man who looked like he had been ready to submit to the two, only to rise back up and show that he was far from beaten if he could continue. This guy had more spunk than her brothers did in their childhood, even other members of the nobility that thought they were untouchable simply because of their magic. He might've been a noble from over a millennia ago, but he respected people that respected others, regardless of who they were. This was a guy that could've become the Wizard King if he wanted to, even the captain of his own squad if he chose.

"You really think some new swords will help you stop us?" She asked him.

"Eh-heh! They're only new to you two."

The Ash Magic mage realized something from the way this Magic Knight said what he said about his swords. This was the first time they were seeing these swords, implying that Tenshi had these swords from before he was sent into exile…or he had obtained them sometime after he returned with his family…and learned how to use them to his advantage. That would've been a smart move; if he could use them to channel other spells, he would've been more unpredictable.

"How can we use more magic attributes like you do?" He asked Tenshi, curious.

"If I knew how, I'd share it with those who are trustworthy. All I know is that my family has this power as a natural part of their lives. Those that marry into the family receive the power to a degree, but even close friends could receive the power if they were trusted. But it was a lifetime ago. If I had known how to share the power, I would've shared it with my friends in the past."

He accepted this truth and conjured another ash spell.

Mereoleona used her basic rune array and summoned real flames to attack the patriarch. With only Sword, Thread, Earth and Lightning Magic at his disposal, she believed that defeating Tenshi would be easier this time…if he didn't put in the effort to fight back.

Inhaling a new breath, Tenshi sighed and leapt into the air, just narrowly dodging the real flames.

"Boo-yah!" He shouted, hurling his swords at the two, still connected to his wrists by threads. "Sword Thread Magic: Recall the Scorpion Dao!"

The blades missed the two opponents by mere inches, hitting either the ground or a rock, but were pulled back by the threads connected to the hilts, flying like daggers hurled in reverse, back into Tenshi's hands. And then, he threw them again. The way he did seemed to echo the way a scorpion would strike; the stinger on the tail would be launched forward at prey and then be pulled back in order to strike again. Once he had the swords back in his hands, he would catch his breath and throw them at his opponents again, just like how a scorpion would sting.

The mage in black erected large array of Trap Magic energy that was meant to reflect the patriarch's blade. When the blade struct the array, it didn't reflect! It fought back against the trap like a wave of water trying to break through a dam. The mage was stunned by how strong the spell was, and he had just learned how to produce spells faster than he normally did before he met the patriarch of House Ikari.

"I don't think anyone's a match for you right now, Ikari!" He told Tenshi.

"Don't overestimate my abilities!" Tenshi replied. "When you underestimate your adversary, you have no idea how dangerous any situation could turn!"

The other Dao had missed Mereoleona a second time, hitting only volcanic rock, and the woman reached out to grab the hilt of the weapon.

"I'll pull you down into an inferno!" She told him.

Suddenly, the Thread Magic spirit, Arachne, appeared in front of her.

"Not if you're tied down first, ma'am," she told Mereoleona, and released several threads from her hands, wrapping them around the fiery mage. "Even if Tenshi doesn't draw upon my power to help him win a match, even in practice, I'm still around to protect him."

It was her first time meeting a magic spirit that was of this variety; she was aware of there being elemental magic spirits, but not sprits of other forms of magic. But this was due to a member of House Ikari, and they often had access to various allies in the form of magic spirits the world has barely any knowledge of.

"Who are you?" She asked, curious about her.

"I am Arachne, the Spirit of Thread," Arachne introduced herself, picking up the fallen Dao. "I can see that you just started learning how to use the Mana Method to True Fire Magic. A little, unsolicited advice from an ancient spirit… Stay true to yourself in your objective. To master the Mana Method, you must be in control of your actions."

Then, she disappeared as the Dao returned to Tenshi's left hand.

"Impressive," Mereoleona expressed.

-x-

"…So many Magic Knights," said Marie as she and her brother stood against a wall, away from the large gathering of people inside the palace.

"There must be close to a hundred people in here," went Suki as she stood with the Adlai siblings and her nephew and Guardian against the wall, looking at the Magic Knights that were present. "It looks like most are from the Golden Dawn."

"Do you think Tenshi and my mother are here?" Shinji asked her.

"I don't think so; they stand out like a wolf among Hokkaido and Akita. If they were here, we would've seen them by now."

Shinji then sensed the presence of a mage that was strong among the ones present, but he couldn't tell where they were just yet. It was as though the person was like the wind; they were everywhere within the place.

"A Wind Magic mage," said Guardian to them.

"Asta said that Yuno uses Wind Magic," Shinji realized. "How many Wind Magic users are here in the palace?"

"Not many, and none of the same caliber as this Yuno. Asta stated that he was a…special prodigy of sorts, that his Wind Magic was potent before he even received his grimoire."

"And from what we know before we joined the Magic Knights, he was the only one with a four-leaf clover grimoire."

"And Asta is the only one with Black Clover grimoires," Suki added in.

"Four and five-leaf clover grimoires are the rare exceptions."

Suddenly, they felt the presence of strong magic above them and looked up at the grand staircase in front of the large chamber. They saw the Wizard King…and Rika Ikari, who was aglow in ethereal light with her hair looking like it was affected by static electricity.

"My mom?" Suki questioned. "She looks like she dabbled in some sort of magic that made her unfathomably stronger."

Guardian looked at Rika intensely…and could understand that this unusual increase in power was only temporary due to the use of magic items; once she was done using them, her power would return to its previous level. But the reason for this temporary rise in power had a purpose. A benevolent purpose.

All these various Magic Knights, several civilians, Lady Ikari oversaturated with magic, he thought. As always, the impossibilities are unpredictable to foretell.

"Welcome, all," said the Wizard King to them. "We are glad you could make it here on such short notice."

"Why were we summoned?" One of the Magic Knights from the Purple Orcas demanded.

"Has the person behind the Spade Kingdom attack been identified?" A member of the Coral Peacocks questioned.

"That has yet to be addressed and confirmed," said Fuegoleon as he arrived with William and Patolli. "This immediate issue is related to the Eye of the Midnight Sun."

Looking at the revived elf had several of the mages concerned. What was it about this group of rogue mages that had threatened the Clover Kingdom a year ago that involved them?

"But I thought the Black Bulls dealt with that group awhile back!" Someone from the Aqua Deer expressed to them.

"That is true, the Black Bull did deal with the Eye of the Midnight Sun," Julius responded, "however, there is a secondary matter involving them that involves each of you indirectly."

"Indirectly?" Marie spoke, confused. "What does that mean, indirectly?"

"One way of explaining it is," went Shinji, trying to be specific for the little girl, "some of you are caught up in something…but not by choice, like…playing a game someone else wants to play…but not being aware of all the rules."

"Oh."

"But how are we indirectly involved in something that relates to them?" Gauche questioned.

Seeing Patolli raise his right arm up to speak, Shinji wondered what the elf had to say to them.

To be continued…

A/N: Not where I originally wanted to stop off at, but it's getting longer than I would like this chapter to be. I hope this increases your interest in the story until the next chapter. How did you like the scene where one of Tenshi's spells transcended the realm of the Clover Kingdom and into Gendo's office, forcing everyone watching through the photo album to take cover? And as for Rika using the stones to amplify her power to revive the slain elves, this will aid in helping the Clover Kingdom deal with the devil responsible in due time, and who out there expect to see a surprise appearance soon after? Read and review, and stay healthy out there!