"Hahaha, as your senpai, I'll look after you guys." Magna waved his hand, full of vigor.
He walked into the courtyard and confidently told everyone, "Sosshi is a bit far. To save time, I'll have Finral teleport us there."
However, no sooner had he finished speaking than Yami, who was behind him, spoke lazily, "Finral ran off to a mixer early this morning."
"..."
Magna's movements froze, and the atmosphere instantly became a bit awkward.
"Ahem!"
Magna cleared his throat, forcefully trying to avoid embarrassment. "It's fine. Sosshi isn't that far, we can just ride our brooms. A real man enjoys the feeling of flying at top speed."
Asta raised his hand, looking bewildered. "Um... Magna-senpai, I don't have mana, so I can't fly."
"..."
Magna's movements froze again.
He turned to look at Noelle.
Noelle felt his gaze, snorted proudly, and took out her own broom. She tried to jump on it, but the broom acted like a wild bull, carrying her around in a chaotic frenzy, finally crashing into the bushes outside with a "bang."
"I... I'm just not in good form today." Noelle climbed out, covered in dirt, stubbornly defending herself.
A vein popped out on Magna's forehead. "You two aren't serious, are you?! Why can't you manage something so simple?! You damn idiots!"
His last hope fell on Ryoma.
Ryoma spread his hands, his expression innocent. "I don't have my own broom yet."
"..."
Magna was completely silent.
He felt his blood pressure had already reached its peak before his mana even began to deplete.
"Damn it!"
Magna let out an unwilling roar, finally having to accept reality.
"No choice then, I'll take you all with my favorite broom."
Magna led the three of them outside and presented an extremely exaggerated contraption.
It was clearly a magically modified broom. The front was made of some beast's skull, with a red area in the middle, exuding a strong non-mainstream vibe.
"Listen up! This is my beloved ride, Crazy Cyclone."
Magna patted the body proudly, "Today, I'll make an exception and let you ride it once."
Asta's eyes instantly turned into stars. "Wow! So cool!"
Noelle, however, took half a step back with a look of disgust. "So tacky..."
Ryoma's lips twitched again.
Here it comes.
One of the Black Bulls' specialties, the delinquent senior's modified broom.
"Less talking! Get on!" Magna urged impatiently, climbing on first.
Asta excitedly followed suit.
Ryoma and Noelle exchanged glances, both seeing helplessness in the other's eyes, and finally reluctantly squeezed on.
"Hold on tight! We're taking off, you bastards!"
Boom!
With a huge roar, Crazy Cyclone spewed long flames from its tail, soaring into the sky in a wild manner.
"Ahhhhh—!"
"Can you fly a bit more steadily?!"
Asta's strange shouts and Noelle's screams mixed together, echoing through the sky.
Ryoma sat at the very back, silently condensing a thin layer of ice in front of him.
He looked at Magna's pompadour, wildly flapping in the wind, feeling nothing inside, and even a little like laughing.
This wasn't going on a mission. This was clearly a biker gang cruising the streets late at night.
—
After a long and bumpy flight, Crazy Cyclone finally swayed and landed at the edge of a forest.
"Hoo... Haa..."
Magna tumbled off the broom, completely limp. He leaned against a tree, gasping for air, his face pale.
Flying a long distance with three people was too much of a drain on his mana.
"We... we finally made it..."
In contrast, the other three, apart from Noelle's slightly messy hair, Asta and Ryoma were almost unharmed.
"Is this the forest outside Sosshi?"
Asta was unbelievably energetic. He jumped off the broom, stretched his limbs, and shouted with high spirits, "Alright! I'm going to knock all the boars here flying!"
With that, he was about to rush into the forest alone.
"Wait a minute, idiot Asta!" Magna weakly called out to him.
Noelle tidied her twin pigtails and obediently stood by Magna, not running off.
Ryoma looked at this scene, knowing his chance had come.
He cleared his throat, stepped forward, and spoke in a very reliable tone, "Magna-senpai, you should recover your mana here first. Asta and I will split up to find the boars. That way, it'll be more efficient."
"Oh? Good idea." Asta immediately agreed.
Magna was too tired to even speak, merely waving his hand weakly in agreement.
Ryoma then pointed in two directions in the forest.
"Asta, you go that way. The woods there look denser, boars might like to stay in such places."
He paused, then pointed to another path that seemed closer to the village and more open. "I'll go this way and check if there's any activity near the village."
This allocation sounded reasonable and impeccable.
"Alright! Leave it to me, Ryoma."
Asta patted his chest, promising, "I'll definitely find the boars before you."
With that, he pulled out his demon-slayer sword and charged in the direction Ryoma had pointed.
Soon, only Magna, who was recovering his magic, and Noelle, who stood still, remained.
Ryoma turned and walked unhurriedly down the path he had chosen. He maintained a normal pace, walking for about a few hundred meters.
When he confirmed that his figure was completely obscured by the dense trees and could no longer be seen by Magna outside the forest—
The next second.
Ryoma's eyes instantly changed, the leisure and nonchalance vanished without a trace.
"Hunting boars?" He scoffed.
Who had time for that.
His goal had been clear from the start.
The Eye of the Midnight Sun, and the magic stone they were after.
Ryoma gathered mana at his feet.
Path of Frozen Dust!
Click! Click! Click!
With a series of subtle freezing sounds, the ground beneath his feet, whether dirt or fallen leaves, was instantly covered by a thin layer of solid ice.
This ice surface rapidly spread forward, paving a smooth ice track through the rugged forest.
Swish!
Ryoma's figure suddenly slid forward, moving several times faster than running.
He used the trees and terrain undulations to skillfully change direction, traversing the forest at an astonishing speed.
His thoughts raced.
According to the original plot, Asta and the others would only discover that the village had been taken over by the Eye of the Midnight Sun when they returned after dealing with the boars.
And the village chief, Seihi, who was both a mentor and friend to Magna, would sacrifice himself in that battle to protect the villagers.
"He's a good old man."
Moreover, he was someone Magna cared about.
Since he knew the plot beforehand, it would naturally be best if he could save him.
Arriving early might change something. More importantly, he had to confirm the location of the magic stone before everyone else. The power contained within that item held good research value for him.
The ice path continuously extended beneath his feet, and Ryoma's speed grew faster and faster. He almost transformed into a white phantom, flashing through the forest.
Just a few minutes later.
The trees ahead began to thin, and the outline of the village could vaguely be seen.
Ryoma slowed down, stopping steadily, and the ice path beneath him melted away, leaving no trace.
He pushed aside the last clump of bushes and looked towards Sosshi.
However, the sight before him made his pupils contract slightly.
At this moment, Sosshi was enveloped in a thick, unyielding, eerie mist. The mist was an ominous greyish-white, lifeless, isolating all sounds and light, making the entire village appear hazy.
Ryoma stood outside the village, even able to feel the powerful magic fluctuations emanating from that mist.
From the looks of it, the Eye of the Midnight Sun had already begun their move.