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*****
"Let's take them back to the base first."
George opened a spatial portal leading directly to the Black Bull hideout.
"This matter has far-reaching implications. To resolve it perfectly, we'll need to coordinate with Captain Yami and the Wizard King."
Aside from the already reincarnated Patry, Vetto, Rhya, and Fana, all the remaining elven souls had been embedded into human bodies that bore a striking resemblance to their original forms. These possessed humans were completely unaware of the stowaways in their souls, and none of them were ordinary people. Many held high-ranking positions within the Clover Kingdom, and a significant number were elites within the various Magic Knight squads.
Even within the Black Bulls, several members carried elven souls within them—Luck and Gauche, for instance, as well as Gauche's younger sister.
Fortunately, neither the current Wizard King nor Yami had elven souls attached to them; otherwise, things would have been truly troublesome. Yami, in particular, was a concern; with his ability to transform into a Black Dragon and his Dark Magic that could devour other spells, he was arguably even more formidable than the current Lumiere.
It wasn't that George couldn't handle him, but he had no desire to see the powerhouse he had personally nurtured turn against him in the end.
It seems I'll need to find time to inspect everyone in the Black Bulls to prevent any "surprises," George decided privately.
Previously, he hadn't paid much attention to such things. He hadn't felt the need to scrutinize everyone from the inside out, from flesh to soul. To him, such an intrusion felt even more invasive than using X-ray vision to see someone naked—it was borderline unethical. Usually, he just gave people a quick mental sweep to gauge their mana levels and elemental affinities.
But seeing as elven souls could possess humans like this, he had to be vigilant. Even if he was certain only two Black Bulls were possessed by elves, there was no guarantee that others didn't have something else hitched to them—demons, ghosts, or other strange entities.
A thorough check-up was necessary. For someone of his caliber, it was merely a matter of letting his mental scan linger for an extra second or two.
"You're right. We do need to communicate thoroughly," Lumiere agreed after a moment of reflection. Using his light chains to drag the captives along, he followed George through the portal, arriving in front of the Black Bull castle.
"Captain Yami! Something huge has happened!"
Using an amplification spell, George boosted his voice a hundredfold, sending a shockwave that made the entire castle shudder.
Inside, the sleeping Yami and his squad members were instantly jolted out of their beds in a panic. They rushed to the windows, looking down at the crowd of cloaked figures bound by light chains and the grinning George waving up at them. Their faces were masks of pure confusion.
In the dead of night, why were George and Lumiere bringing a small army of captives to their doorstep instead of sleeping?
"George, what the hell are you guys doing?"
A few moments later, Yami emerged from the castle, trailed by his groggy, bleary-eyed squad members.
"Captain Yami, don't you think their clothes look a bit familiar?" George pointed toward the mages dressed in the distinct uniforms of the Eye of the Midnight Sun.
Noelle was the first to react. "Those clothes... they're the same as the ones worn by the people who attacked Saussy Village!"
"So, it's them." Yami's expression finally sharpened into something serious.
He had already handed over the four attackers from the village to the Wizard King, but as far as he knew, they hadn't cracked. They were incredibly stubborn, resisting all forms of interrogation. Even memory magic had failed, as their minds were protected by powerful seals. It was clear that the organization behind them was no simple group of bandits.
"Allow me to explain," Lumiere said, stepping forward. He deactivated his transformation magic, revealing his true appearance. "Captain Yami, I apologize for the deception. My true identity is the First Wizard King, Lumiere Silvamillion Clover."
"What? The First Wizard King?!"
The revelation acted like a bucket of cold water, instantly snapping everyone awake.
"He... he really does look exactly like the statues."
Initially, they might have thought he was joking, but seeing Lumiere in his true form—identical to the historical records—left little room for doubt.
"Wait, is this form the transformation, or was the other one?" someone whispered.
"Hmph. I always knew you weren't ordinary, but the First Wizard King? I have to admit, that actually startled me." Yami lit a cigarette, taking a long drag before exhaling a cloud of smoke. If the First Wizard King had returned, then this was indeed a monumental crisis.
As expected, Lumiere proceeded to recount the entire history: how he met the elves, the genocide of their race, the truth behind his battle with the Demon God, and the centuries-long plot of the Word Soul Devil.
The listeners went from one shock to the next, their mouths hanging open wider with every sentence.
"So you're saying... my adorable little sister has an elven soul inside her?"
In a flash, Gauche was standing in front of Vetto and the others, multiple mirrors aimed threateningly at the trio. "Undo your magic right now! if you dare harm my sister, I'll slaughter every last one of you!"
"Hmph. Pathetic human insects," Vetto sneered, utterly unafraid of death. "To offer your bodies to the elven race is an honor. Creatures like you, with sin flowing through your veins, deserve nothing but extinction!"
"Don't worry," George interjected, walking toward Fana. "Without the power of the Magic Stones, they can't fully seize control of the bodies. Once the truth is out, they will naturally depart."
George stepped up to Fana, who stood between the other two, and struck her lightly on the chest. "Besides, even if they refuse to leave, it doesn't matter. I happen to know a bit of magic for separating souls from physical bodies."
"What did you do to Fana?!" Vetto and Rhya's expressions changed instantly as they saw Fana's eyes roll back as she collapsed.
George pulled out a small glass vial. He reached out toward the top of Fana's head, his hand seemingly grasping something intangible, and stuffed it into the bottle.
"The original owners of your two bodies were already dead before the possession occurred," George explained. "But this girl, Fana, still had a flicker of life in her body before she was possessed. Her soul hadn't left; she was still technically alive. I simply evicted the elven soul and temporarily sealed it in this vial."
"Ah... where is this? Who are you people?" Fana opened her eyes again, looking around at the unfamiliar environment and faces with a confused expression. Her return to her original self confirmed George's words.
"Relax, I won't do anything to your comrade's soul," George said, tucking the vial into his pocket. "When this is all over, I'll give her back to you. In fact, I might even be able to help you all truly reincarnate and start new lives in this era."
The Eye of the Midnight Sun actually had a scientist mage who loved experiments. She had already used William Vangeance's cells to clone an identical body intended to host Licht's soul. Once the dust settled, George could easily have that scientist clone bodies for all the possessed humans. By placing the elven souls into these new bodies, the innocents who were killed centuries ago could truly live again.
In truth, George didn't even need the scientist; he could manifest suitable bodies himself. Creating intelligent life from nothing was a simple task for him. However, doing so would be far too shocking to the witnesses and would consume an unnecessary amount of mana.
"Thank you, George!" Lumiere bowed deeply, his voice thick with emotion. He had always felt a crushing weight of responsibility for the elves being manipulated by the devil. If George could truly bring the elven race back, Lumiere would owe him an immeasurable debt. Between being unsealed and being gifted the Dragon Force, he was already heavily indebted; this just added to the pile.
"It's no trouble at all," George said, patting Lumiere on the shoulder with a meaningful smile.
This was, after all, one of his future "top-tier laborers." With his immense strength and his status as the First Wizard King, Lumiere's influence in the human world was peerless. Having Lumiere handle future problems would save George a lot of headaches.
To George, whether it was breaking a seal, granting Dragon Force, or handling souls, it truly was "no trouble." Moreover, reviving the elves would give him a perfect opportunity to study their unique ancient magic.
"This is too big for us to handle alone. We need to discuss this with Boss Julius!" Yami spat out his cigarette butt and turned to Finral. "Driver, take me to the Royal Capital. At this hour, Julius is probably still buried in paperwork."
Finral immediately opened a portal to the capital, accompanying Yami to report the situation.
Roughly half an hour later, the current Wizard King, Julius Novachrono, appeared before the group in his ornate robes.
"I thought Yami was playing a prank on me, but it's all true!" Julius looked at the living First Wizard King and the bound members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun with a look of pure excitement.
Beyond his dream of equality, Julius's greatest passion was witnessing and researching unknown magic. He was fascinated by everything: George's Dragon Force, Lumiere's Light Magic, Secre's Sealing Magic, and the elves' Reincarnation Magic. Seeing so many legendary spells at once made it hard for him to contain his thrill.
"Am I really that unreliable?" Yami asked, stepping through the portal behind Julius.
In response, most of the Black Bulls instinctively nodded. After all, who else loses their underwear in a gambling bet and has to walk back to base naked?
"Let's focus on the business at hand," Julius said, reigning in his excitement. He began discussing the plan regarding the Eye of the Midnight Sun and the elves.
"Regarding the elves, humanity was indeed in the wrong first. Therefore, I agree with your plan. Besides, I'd very much like to see just what kind of power this Word Soul Devil possesses."
Julius was not a man who ran from trouble. If a high-ranking devil from the underworld could toy with both humans and elves like this, it proved they were every bit as terrifying as the legends suggested. While continuing to seal the devil might lower the immediate risk, it was only a temporary solution. There was no guarantee the seal would hold for another fifty, hundred, or two hundred years. As long as it existed, it could corrupt future mages and eventually find a way into the world.
Rather than being passive, it was better to proactively break the seal on their own terms, prepare, and then jump the devil all at once. This would remove the threat permanently and provide a chance to learn about the underworld and the strength of high-ranking devils.
According to his intelligence, there were already devils lurking and causing trouble in the neighboring Spade Kingdom. It was even possible their government had already been compromised. Acier Silva, Noelle's mother and once the strongest Valkyrie of the Clover Kingdom, had died from a Spade Kingdom devil's curse. Conflict with the Spade Kingdom was likely inevitable; this was a perfect chance to "rehearse."
As for the risk the Word Soul Devil posed? Julius had faith in his own Time Magic and the Magic Knight squads he had spent years building. Moreover, they now had the First Wizard King as an ally. And though he hadn't seen Yami's dragon form yet, the fact that Yami's Dark Magic could now devour even Time Magic was incredibly impressive.
"Then we must act quickly. Patry will soon realize that both the Magic Stones and his subordinates are missing," George suggested.
As he spoke, he casually used his mental energy to inspect Julius. If Julius was "clean," George didn't mind granting him the Dragon Force of a Time Dragon later. From everything he had gathered, Julius was a truly good man—dedicated to abolishing the class system, bold enough to appoint commoners and foreigners as captains, and genuinely kind.
Wait... George's eyebrows twitched, and he narrowed his eyes inwardly. Well, I suppose I really should check every mage I meet from now on.
He had found something in Julius—a problem, and a massive one at that.
Inside Julius's body, there was another soul hidden away, along with another powerful life form. It wasn't an elf. Based on his observations, the hidden entity was a devil—an exceptionally powerful one. Given that the devil possessed the same Time attribute as Julius and a mana pool far exceeding even the First Wizard King's, George could already guess its identity.
It was highly likely to be one of the three missing pillars of the underworld: the Time Devil, Astaroth.
As for the hidden soul, it appeared to be a case of two souls in one body—or, in more common terms, a secondary personality.
I wonder if Julius even knows. From the looks of it, he probably doesn't.
"Very well. I will summon William immediately under the guise of an emergency," Julius said, completely unaware of George's probe. He nodded in agreement.
The priority now was to secure William Vangeance—and by extension, the vengeful elf Patry, who was still blind to the true orchestrator of his tragedy.
(End of Chapter)