A streak of fire shot across the sky and slammed into the ground right in front of the Black Bull base. As the flames dissipated, a figure emerged from the blast.
Standing in front of the familiar crumbling castle, Charles let out a long breath. Time had lost all meaning in that place he had been, and he truly couldn't tell how long he'd been away. It might have only been a few days—or perhaps far longer. Either way, he found himself oddly nostalgic for this rundown old fortress.
Pushing open the door, Charles was met by the sight of Finral and Yami.
"Well, look who's back! Looks like you haven't been wasting your time—something about you feels completely different now!" Yami waved casually in greeting.
Charles thought to himself, As expected of Yami—sharp as ever. But there were more pressing matters to attend to.
"Captain Yami, Finral-senpai, are you two heading out? Did something happen?"
Finral quickly explained, "We just got word from Noelle via the Knight Headquarters. Apparently, Asta and Gauche ran into trouble during their vacation. Someone's been abducting children from the town, and since Black Bull's base is closest, the mission was passed to us."
Yami stepped aside, revealing the chaos in the common room behind him: Vanessa passed out on the couch, Magna slumped beside her after being forced to drink, and Charmy collapsed in a food coma. It was a mess.
"As you can see," Yami said, "none of these losers are in any shape to move. So it's up to me now!"
Charles froze for a second, then his expression turned dangerous.
"Well... how convenient."
That's right—too convenient. It was as if fate itself was helping him. To think, he'd return just in time for this particular incident.
This "child abduction" case was, in fact, orchestrated by the Eye of the Midnight Sun.
In order to activate the forbidden spell, not only did Patri need the magic stones—he also needed massive amounts of magic power. The mages working under the Eye had been abducting children specifically to extract their mana.
Unfortunately for them, one of those children happened to be Gauche's sister. And she had a magic mirror Gauche had made, which allowed him—and Asta, who happened to be vacationing in the town—to quickly locate the children.
Though they successfully defeated the two mages responsible for the kidnappings, things only escalated: the twisted scientist Sally soon appeared, followed by Patri himself.
All Charles could think was: Of course. What are the odds?
"Captain Yami, let me come with you!"
Yami didn't question it and laughed. "So eager to show off how strong you've gotten, huh? Then come along!"
Finral had already opened a spatial gate. His magic allowed him to jump to any place marked with someone's mana. Fortunately, Gauche was still there, and Finral locked onto his magic and opened the way.
——
Meanwhile, Asta had already encountered Patri—and he quickly realized how terrifyingly powerful the self-proclaimed leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun was.
Before Asta could even react, a light sword had pierced straight through his leg.
And it wasn't like Asta had let his guard down—on the contrary, he'd been completely focused from the start.
Physically, Asta's body had been honed to the utmost—so much so that even Charles, a Dragon Slayer Mage, couldn't match him without using magic. Especially in terms of nerve reflexes, Asta had the clear edge.
But Patri's light magic was simply too fast, leaving no room for defense or evasion.
Then Patri noticed the grimoire in Asta's hands. It once belonged to the person he respected most. There was no way he could just stand by and watch Asta wield it.
"Give that grimoire back!"
Patri lunged—but just as he reached Asta, a burst of fire came crashing down.
"Yo, we meet again!" Charles blocked Patri's advance and greeted him with a smirk.
"Charles? And Captain Yami—what are you two doing here?" Asta exclaimed in surprise.
"What are we doing here? We got lost, obviously. Mind pointing us in the right direction?" Yami replied casually, his sword already wrapped in dark magic.
"And Charles, you brat—did you seriously just steal my cool entrance?!"
Charles straightened up and said, "Sorry, Captain. But when it comes to this guy, I just can't stay calm."
"Oh?" Yami glanced at Patri and grinned. "So this is the guy who ambushed Mr. Hot-Blooded Fuegoleon? The leader of the Eye, huh?"
And with that, Yami disappeared from sight.
In an instant, he was in front of Patri, slicing through the bone-shaped light swords with his dark-magic-coated blade. The swing didn't slow and came down toward Patri.
Barely managing to evade in time, Patri backed off and touched the shallow cut on his face.
"I see... enhancing your body with magic and attacking with a blade. More importantly, your dark magic counters my light. You're definitely trouble, Yami Sukehiro."
Yami puffed out smoke. "Oh? You dodged that just fine. I thought you were just some sneaky punk, but you've got real skills."
Just as Yami was about to charge in again, Charles appeared in front of him.
"Oi, Charles, what do you think you're doing?" Yami asked.
Charles answered seriously, "Captain Yami, please—I want to be the one to take him down."
Yami stared at him through a cloud of smoke. After a moment, he said, "Don't push yourself, brat. If you lose, I won't hesitate to steal your 'defeat-the-boss' glory!"
It was Yami's way of showing care. He knew Charles had grown, but this opponent was clearly captain-level. Still, if Charles was serious, he wouldn't stop him.
"Yes, sir!" Charles replied with a grin, then turned to face Patri.
"Now then—time for us to settle things."
Suspended in the air, Patri looked down and scoffed. "Big talk from someone I alrea—what?!"
Before he could finish, Charles appeared right in front of him. A fist slammed into his abdomen, bending him over in shock.
Patri was sent flying, smashing into a cliffside and sending debris crashing down.
From the crater, he staggered up.
"Light Recovery Magic: Healing Particles!"
Tiny dots of light surrounded him, easing his pain.
Even though he had sensed Charles was different when he blocked for Yami earlier, he never imagined he'd grown this much in such a short time—and he paid for his misjudgment.
Yami clicked his tongue. "So he knows recovery magic too? Talk about versatile. But seriously—what the hell happened to Charles? He's gotten stupid strong."
Though he made it sound like a joke, he felt a twinge of urgency in his heart. If his own squad member surpassed him, what would that say about him as a captain?
Still, he resolved to work harder himself.
Meanwhile, Charles's aura began to shift again.
"Surprised? Just wait—it gets better."
Suddenly, steam burst from his body like he was a giant furnace. The air itself shimmered from the heat.
Scales appeared on his cheeks. He raised his head—slitted dragon eyes glowing.
For a moment, Patri swore he saw crimson dragon wings unfurl behind Charles. It was as if he were facing a dragon, not a human.
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