"Don't disturb the patient—he's extremely weak." the nearby healer reprimanded them.
"Why would the captain beat Mr. Magna this badly? Captain Yami is terrifying…" Noelle muttered, her imagination running wild.
"El! You're here!" After arriving from underworld El had contacted mimosa to meet him at medical facility but didn't expect her to arrive so fast.
A sweet, relieved voice echoed through the room. Everyone turned to see a orange-haired girl, her face lighting up as if she'd just reunited with someone precious.
"Hey, Mimosa," El said, lifting a hand in greeting.
Ignoring everyone else as though they didn't exist, Mimosa hurried over and gently took El's hand in both of hers, her eyes scanning him anxiously.
His right arm was badly burned—charred from prolonged use of Sun Breathing and by Namaah—and bruises covered his body.
"That's awful…" she whispered.
A soft green glow bloomed from her palms, and El's injuries began healing at a visible rate.
"Wow… she's amazing," Asta said, eyes sparkling, She smiled faintly, still focused on El.
"Hi, cousin. I didn't know you knew El," Noelle said from the side, an unreadable glint in her eyes.
"Oh—Noelle! You're here too," Mimosa replied distractedly, glancing over briefly before turning back to El.
"Are you injured as well? I can heal you after—"
"I'm fine," Noelle said. "El already healed me after the fight." Mimosa froze.
"…He did what?" Her eyes widened slightly, as if her healer position had just been threatened.
"It's not permanent," El explained calmly. "I used a rare healing bean—it can cure serious wounds, but I've exhausted my supply. I'll need to wait until the Dryad has grown more of them."
"Oh… I see," Mimosa murmured, clearly relieved.
She then turned toward Asta, who was standing awkwardly nearby.
"You're hurt too. Please hold still," she said gently.
"Eh? Oh—yeah! Sorry!" Asta laughed nervously as Mimosa healed him, noticeably keeping her distance from his wounds, unlike how she'd treated El.
"Thank you, Mimosa!" El said looking at her.
She smiled warmly this time. "I'm just glad you're all safe."
Within moments, everyone in the room had recovered. Mimosa then moved on to Nacht, his open chest injuries healing in minutes.
"Your healing abilities are exceptional for someone your age, Lady Mimosa," Owen, the head healer, said as he arrived.
"If you weren't a member of the Golden Dawn, I would've recruited you immediately."
"You flatter me, Mr. Owen," she replied modestly.
"You're the finest healer in the Clover Kingdom. I'm still just a rookie."
"Hey, rookies!" Captain Yami's voice rang out from the balcony, cigarette in hand.
"Where the hell have you been all morning—and what happened to you, Nacht?"
"…It's a long story," Nacht said calmly. "I'll report everything by morning."
"What happened to Mr. Magna, Captain? He said you beat him up," Asta asked.
Yami snorted, clearly offended. "Oi, what nonsense is that punk spouting?"
"I just pushed him to fight some enemy mages and surpass his limits. Who knew those extremists would turn out to be that strong?"
Seeing their confused expressions, Yami continued.
Apparently, Magna and Captain Yami had lost a lot of money—clothes included—while gambling, so they were forced to take up a hunting job for free to make up for it.
When they went to the hideout, all three newbies were missing.
Yami couldn't convince anyone else in the Black Bulls to help, so he and Magna went back to hunt the wild boars themselves.
That's when they noticed the entire town was shrouded in a dense fog—obviously suspicious. They broke through it by brute force and found the villagers trapped inside.
Yami glanced toward Magna's bed. The village chief lay unconscious beside him, while Magna was still recovering.
"The attackers called themselves the Eye of the Midnight Sun," Yami went on. "Once they realized they couldn't win, they burned themselves alive. Whatever they were trying to do… they took the secret with them."
"…Could they have been trying to summon a demon?" Noelle asked quietly.
Yami scratched his head.
"Well, there's more. As we were leaving town, a strange bird appeared. It dropped this gem stone on Magna and then flew off."
He tossed a palm-sized pink gem toward Nacht. Strange moon- and star-shaped runes were engraved across its surface.
"Don't know if that's what those extremists were after, or if the bird was just paying its respects to Magna. Either way—look. It's still following him."
"A Secré Swallowtail," El said. The bird was common in both the Clover and Heart Kingdoms… but its behavior was anything but normal.
Yami raised an eyebrow. "So? Any clue what this thing is?"
Nacht examined the gem carefully, then shook his head and passed it to El.
El activated his scouter to analyze it.
Scan Result: ???
Before he could react, something unexpected happened.
⚔️ [Mission Interface]
Mission: Lost Legacy of the Elf Tribe
Rank: A
Time Limit: 6 Months
Objectives:
• Collect the Legacy of the Elves (01/11)
• Gain the Acknowledgement of the Eye of the Midnight Sun
Failure Condition:
• Become the Eternal Enemy of the Elf Tribe
Rewards:
• A-Rank Ability Card or Treasure
• Xeni Coins: ???
"What the actual…?" El thought as he stared at the mission details.
"I've never seen anything like this," he said, turning the gem over. "But one thing's clear—it belongs to the elf tribe."
"Elves? That extinct race?" Yami raised an eyebrow. "And you figured that out how?"
'Because I grew up with those racist pieces of... never mind. Humans messed this up first,' El sighed internally.
"Sorry, Captain. I can't really explain that," El said, knowing Yami would smell a lie instantly.
"He knows elves stuff," Nacht cut in. "You can trust him." After all, Nacht knew about El's connection to Elysia and the elves.
"You two are way too suspicious," Yami muttered. "Whatever."
"Can I keep it for now?" El asked. "My sister might know something about it."
"Tch. Fine," Yami said. "But you're handing it to Julius later."
'I wouldn't risk Clover Kingdom relations for an A-rank reward,' El thought.
…But my curiosity about elves and the Eye of the Midnight Sun is another matter.
"Hey, Mimosa… how come you're wearing the same ring El is wearing?"
Noelle's voice cut in suddenly, her eyes narrowing as she finally noticed it.
Mimosa blinked, then smiled brightly.
"Oh, this artifact? El gave it to me when I visited the Heart Kingdom during the inter-kingdom exchange program."
She sounded… proud. Very proud.
"See?" Mimosa raised her hand. "It's an enchanted ring El made himself. Depending on the enchantment, it can store all kinds of things."
She twisted the ring slightly.
With a soft flash of mana, a three-and-a-half-foot-long magic staff materialized in her hand. Its surface was lined with multiple glowing gems, overflowing with dense mana—a treasure she had received from the Dryad's vault after forming a contract with her.
"It can even function as a long-distance communication device," Mimosa added, tapping the red gem embedded at the center of the ring.
"What communication device…?" Noelle asked slowly.
"…Does that mean you two talk?"
"Of course," Mimosa replied without hesitation. "El was the one who invited me here, actually."
"W-Wait—what?" Noelle sputtered. "What exactly is your relationship w—"
"Okay, okay, it's really not a big deal," El cut in quickly.
"I want one too," Noelle said immediately, cutting him off.
"Miss Noelle—" Mimosa spoke confused...
"El, make one for me as well!" Asta jumped in.
El sighed. "Asta, you don't have mana. You wouldn't be able to use it anyway. As for the rest of you… I'll make..."
"Oi, kid," Yami said lazily, tilting his head. "Make one for me too. Black gem in the center. That's an order."
El looked away. '…Why does everyone treat me like a craftsman?'
Meanwhile, an invisible crack of lightning seemed to spark between Noelle and Mimosa's gazes, silently declaring a rivalry neither of them voiced—and no one else noticed.
Not long after, Mimosa took her leave and soon after that, Nacht departed on yet another mission—this time to track down Morris, Decan's brother.
After today, the brother's danger level had clearly jumped. If not for El, Asta and Noelle, he would've been dead for sure.
The group returned to the hideout around noon.
Five minutes later, chaos struck.
"FIGHT ME—"
Luck ambushed Magna out of nowhere, ripping open his freshly healed wounds.
Magna survived only because Gordon, the creepy cursed-magic user, stepped in with minor healing spells—which somehow hurt more than the injuries themselves.
El pinched the bridge of his nose.
At this rate, they'll kill him before he recovers.
He pulled out some mana-rich fruits from the Heart Kingdom, known for their healing effects, and handed one to Magna.
Magna held the fruit but a small beast darted in from the corner and snatched the fruit, devouring it immediately.
The creature didn't even glance at Magna, who was still weakly stretching his hand from the sofa.
"…I hate this squad," Magna croaked.
Vanessa was passed out on the couch.
Noelle, Asta, and Magna went off to rest.
Gauche stared lovingly at his sister's photo.
Grey melted into the corner of the hall.
Luck reappeared beside El, eyes shining.
"Hey, wanna spar?"
That was it.
El had reached his limit for the day.
Without a word, he disappeared—off to find peace far, far away from the Black Bulls to fulfil his promise.
***
"Your brother is dead, Morris," Dante said, his voice echoing through the magic crystal.
"Oh?" Morris replied calmly. "What a pity. How did he die?" There wasn't a trace of grief, just mild curiosity.
"He offered his soul to complete the Magic Circle. It wouldn't have worked otherwise."
"Good," Morris said flatly. "At least his death got rid of the heart kingdom nuisance. Do you still have his body? I might be able to salvage something useful."
"No," Dante replied. "The entire site has been destroyed—submerged inside the volcano."
He paused, then added, almost gleefully, "And the nuisance is still alive."
"…You don't mean—" Morris stopped mid-sentence.
Dante's grin widened.
"Lucifero told me himself. Otherwise, I wouldn't have believed it either. Those two didn't just escape the Underworld… They killed Lilith and Namaah."
Silence followed.
"…The highest-ranking devils?" Morris whispered.
"It doesn't matter how," Dante said. "What matters is—you are to halt all your experiments and come to the Spade Kingdom immediately."
"That wasn't our agreement," Morris snapped.
"It's not a request."
A colder voice cut in.
"Even at 60% devil power, we can erase your kingdom and every one of your laboratories."
Zenon.
Morris fell silent.
Then a sweet, almost playful voice echoed through the crystal.
"Honestly… are you stupid?" Vanica chimed in. "With your brother dead, who do you think their next target will be?" You are more safe here with us.
Zenon spoke again, calm and absolute.
"We will provide everything you need—money, humans, devils. Our only objective is to reach 80% union. Once we do…."
The crystal went dark.
"Good riddance," Morris muttered.
A spatial portal opened behind him.
Without informing anyone, abandoning everything in his lab, Morris stepped through—his eyes burning not with grief… but ambition.
***
Author Note: I was little tired from work today so i wrote it in hurry hope you like the aftermath and please leave me a review and power stone to motivate me and support the story by sharing it...