Boom!!!
With a deafening roar, the Heavenly Wind Ark suddenly burst out of the dungeon's entrance.
Violent air currents swept out from behind them, mixed with countless shattered rocks and dust.
Everyone looked back at the ancient dungeon, which had now completely turned into a ruin, deeply sunken into the earth.
Everything was buried.
They landed steadily on the ground, the strong winds dissipated, and the relieved crowd disembarked.
"We...we're saved..."
Asta plopped down on the ground, gasping for breath.
Everyone else also looked terrified, they had almost been buried there forever.
Ryoma didn't speak, he just quietly stared at the ruins, his brows tightly furrowed.
Something was wrong, everything was too coincidental.
Mars' disappearance, his grimoire was also gone.
And that loud sound of destruction, clearly from outside, was the fuse that caused the entire dungeon to collapse.
It was clearly man-made, and the most likely culprit was probably Lotus. That guy who uses smoke magic and possesses invisibility.
Ryoma's mind raced, connecting all the clues.
First, Lotus was defeated by Asta in the previous battle, then he used smoke magic to hide and escape, waiting for an opportunity.
Then, they defeated Mars.
Lotus took advantage of everyone entering the treasure vault to rescue the unconscious Mars, and also stole the grimoire that Klaus had taken.
Finally, and most crucially, he attacked the dungeon's already fragile structure from the outside with magic, triggering a complete collapse.
"That bastard..." Ryoma's fists unconsciously clenched.
He understood that Lotus had created the chaos to sneak into the treasure vault.
When everyone's attention was on escaping, what could an invisible person do in the treasure vault?
The answer was obvious, that guy must have taken the opportunity to loot extensively.
Ryoma even had a strong premonition.
He probably used his invisibility to quietly follow behind them, using the path Yuno opened, and escaped unharmed.
They risked their lives to clear the way, only to do the enemy's bidding.
"Damn it!"
Ryoma cursed under his breath.
"Ryoma? What's wrong?" Noelle heard his voice and asked curiously.
"Nothing."
Ryoma shook his head, not revealing his suspicions.
There was no point in saying anything now. There was no evidence, and the person had long vanished.
He just deeply etched the name Lotus, and that despicable face, into his mind. He would settle this score later.
...
After a brief rest, everyone set off on their journey home.
Yuno, Klaus, and Mimosa, belonging to the Golden Dawn, parted ways with the Black Bulls and returned to their respective Magic Knight Squad headquarters to report the situation.
When Ryoma and the others returned to the Black Bulls' base, they were greeted by the usual clamor.
"Oh! You kids are back safely."
Vanessa, tipsy, held up a wine bottle, a charming smile on her face.
"I was very worried too." Gordon mumbled in his almost inaudible voice.
The next second, Magna and Finral rushed out of the room.
"You guys! You're too late!"
Magna yelled loudly, but the concern in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
Charmy still held a plate of freshly roasted meat, offering it. "Eat quickly. Replenish your strength."
The entire base instantly became even livelier than usual with the return of the four.
As night fell, a grand banquet was naturally held.
"Look at this! This is what I found in the dungeon! A super amazing sword!"
In the center of the banquet, Asta excitedly held up his new sword, showing it off to everyone.
This time, he wasn't unconscious from severe injuries, he was full of energy.
"Oh? Looks pretty good, kid."
Yami appeared in the crowd at some point, a cigarette in his mouth, examining the sword with interest.
"Hehehe!" Asta chuckled foolishly with pride.
Ryoma didn't join the commotion. He held a glass of juice, leaning against the sofa in the corner, watching his noisy companions, a faint smile unconsciously appearing on his lips.
—
The next morning, Ryoma woke from meditation, a night's rest leaving him refreshed.
He began to organize his gains from this trip to the dungeon.
First, there was what he had casually grabbed from the treasure vault at the end.
Clatter!
A small pile of sparkling gems and a few gold coins were poured onto the table.
The gems shimmered with dazzling brilliance in the sunlight, each one looking quite valuable.
"Although I don't know exactly how much they're worth, it should be enough for me to splurge for a while."
Ryoma nodded contentedly, collecting all these treasures into a bag.
Next, he took out the second item, and one of the things he cared about most: the special magic tool he obtained by passing through the Mirror Corridor before entering the treasure vault—the ice crystal.
When Ryoma immersed his spiritual power into it, he could feel a pure and vast ice-attribute magic power contained within the crystal.
As he perceived it more deeply, he discovered that this ice crystal could autonomously absorb the free natural magic power in the surrounding air.
The absorbed magic power, after some kind of transformation within the crystal, eventually turned into pure ice-attribute magic power, stored inside.
This...
Wasn't this a "mobile mana power bank" for him?
Ryoma's heart rate quickened, and he began to try to guide the magic power within the crystal.
With a thought, a cool magic power flowed along his arm, slowly entering his body, replenishing his own magic power source.
Although the conversion and flow speed weren't too fast, in the intervals of battle, this was definitely a treasure that could change the tide of war.
Moreover, its function wasn't limited to this.
Ryoma changed his thought, releasing his Ice Magic through this crystal.
Buzz!
He merely casually condensed a small ice cone at his fingertip, but the solidity of that ice cone and the chill it emitted were at least thirty percent stronger than usual.
Enhanced Magic!
Magic power replenishment!
"Good stuff..."
Ryoma took a deep breath, suppressing the ecstasy in his heart, and slowly injected a wisp of his magic power into the core of the ice crystal.
Buzz!
The crystal emitted a soft hum.
Ryoma could feel a tighter connection established between himself and this crystal.
Now, he only needed a thought to freely switch between the crystal's two functions. Whether to use it to enhance the next attack or to replenish consumed magic power, it was all within his control.
He kept the ice crystal close to him.
Finally, he took out his unique silver-white grimoire, holding it in his hands and opening the first page.
That page was no longer blank; mysterious silver characters were now inscribed on the page.
This was the magic recorded in that scroll, a magic written into his Space-Time Magic grimoire.
Ryoma tried to decipher the text but gained nothing.
He then tried to mobilize the Space-Time magic power within his body to activate the magic.
The magic power flowed through, but no reaction occurred.
"It seems that some specific conditions are needed, or my control over Space-Time Magic is still too weak to activate it."
Ryoma closed the grimoire, not feeling discouraged. His intuition told him that the value of this item was definitely far above that of the ice crystal.
With the inventory complete, Ryoma stretched contentedly, beginning to plan his upcoming training schedule.
With the ice crystal, he could undertake more intense Ice Magic training, basically without worrying about magic power issues.
The practice of Space-Time Magic still required more effort.
Just as he was immersed in his hopeful plans for the future—
Thump! Thump! Thump!
A rough knocking sound suddenly rang out, followed by Asta's characteristic loud voice.
"Ryoma! Are you in there?! Open the door quickly!"
Ryoma sighed helplessly, walked over, and opened the door.
Asta at the door looked at Ryoma and roared loudly, "Captain Yami said the Magic Knight headquarters seems to want a report on the incident! He wants us to go!"