Morris wasn't a qualified warrior - Charles had been very clear about this when he first eliminated him.
Charles never underestimated scientists' strength, but being able to produce countermeasures, tools, or abilities for various situations was their most powerful aspect.
Their strongest asset was always their wisdom and knowledge, not relying on power obtained from others like Morris did.
From this perspective, Morris couldn't be considered a qualified scholar.
If Morris could fully unleash his own power, Charles might take him seriously, but unfortunately he couldn't even do that.
The modification magic he originally possessed was the most suitable magic for utilizing his knowledge, but it displayed no威力 whatsoever in combat.
After being possessed by Lucifero, he could even manipulate concepts, but even with such powerful magic, he was decisively defeated by Asta.
It was the same now. The abilities Morris displayed, besides those tentacles that could decompose all magic power and matter, included considerable self-repair capability.
Many troublesome opponents Charles had encountered before didn't have such comprehensive abilities, yet Morris completely failed to give Charles the same sense of pressure as those people.
"Zetten!"
Asta finally used the ability he had been training.
Normal magic users relied on instinct to drive magic power and release magic, so ten parts of magic power in the body could only release five parts at once.
Zetten was the ability to actively mobilize ki to make ten parts of magic power explode at once - one could imagine the magic's power would definitely more than double.
But each person's habits and abilities differed, so the Zetten they used also varied.
The Zetten Asta had trained based on anti-magic's characteristics was "absolute counterattack"!
Anti-magic itself was an超规格 power that erased magic power, so Asta could slay any opponent as long as he struck the moment they used magic.
Black slashes spread from the Demon-Slasher Blade's edge, severing all tentacles amid Morris's bewildered expression and leaving a wound on his chest that nearly split him in two.
If Asta had learned Zetten earlier, Charles probably wouldn't have needed to act when slaying the Five-Headed Dragon.
Charles had originally planned to deliver a finishing blow, but it seemed unnecessary now.
The Holy Knight characteristics on Morris began to fade. Asta's Zetten strike had not only severed his life but also cut away the power Lucius had bestowed.
Charles gave Asta a thumbs up, then continued toward Lucius's location.
During their advance, Asta gripped the Demon-Slasher Blade's hilt several times, appearing quite unsettled.
Charles said, "You kid, we're about to go to war - don't tell me you're scared!"
Asta immediately shouted, "I'm not scared! It's just... Charles, is this the final battle?"
Charles smiled, finally understanding what Asta was nervous about. "Ah, this is the final battle! After this, Asta, you'll be one step closer to your dream!"
Charles wasn't just humoring Asta - Asta was indeed now the person closest to becoming Magic Emperor.
Before Lucius revealed his true face, discussions about the next Magic Emperor had already begun due to Julius's current condition.
After Lucius's betrayal, the Clover Kingdom had formally begun considering electing the next Magic Emperor.
Those with the strength and reputation to run were the royalty-born Nozel, Fuegoleon, and Mereoleona.
Vangeance was in quite an awkward position after the elf incident, losing others' trust.
Yami was similarly distrusted - rather, everyone trusted his rough style too much.
But in the battle against Lucifero, Nozel and Fuegoleon felt their strength was insufficient and declined nomination.
As for Mereoleona, she found it completely troublesome and directly had her brother express her withdrawal.
So naturally everyone turned their attention to outstanding figures of the new generation.
Then everyone discovered the most excellent of the new generation were all from Hage Village.
That's right, Charles actually had the qualifications to become Magic Emperor, with a good chance of success. After all, everyone had seen Charles's strength in previous battles.
But Charles couldn't stay in this world forever, so he had long expressed his unwillingness to participate.
So naturally what remained were Asta and Yuno.
Actually, Yuno's chances were somewhat better. Asta was after all a devil contractor with unresolved judgment.
Yuno was different - a genius chosen by the four-leaf clover like the first Magic Emperor, handsome in appearance and powerful in strength.
He had been very active previously, becoming Golden Dawn's vice-captain through achievements. He even had his own fan club among citizens, repeatedly becoming TOP1 in "Magic Knight Most Wanted to Date."
But the problem was Yuno had another identity as prince of the Spade Kingdom, the king's sole heir.
If it were Charles, purely from rational consideration he would definitely let Yuno become Magic Emperor. Not to mention Yuno's own qualifications - this would absolutely allow the two kingdoms to achieve further cooperation.
But those royal and noble lords didn't think so. Entrusting their kingdom's military organization to another nation's prince would keep them awake at night.
So the resistance to Yuno becoming Magic Emperor might be much greater than Asta's. But all this was secondary.
As Julius had said, becoming Magic Emperor depended on achievements.
After this battle, Asta would become the hero who saved the world, with virtually no obstacles on his path to becoming Magic Emperor.
This was what Asta was nervous about. Compared to the battle he was about to face, whether he could realize his dream was what worried him more.
"I will definitely become the Magic Emperor!" As if encouraging himself, Asta said this.
But just then, a familiar voice rang out between the two.
"How unfortunate - your end is here."
Charles and Asta instantly separated, simultaneously turning toward the person in the middle.
Lucius wore a smile as he looked at them both. "I am the final Magic Emperor. What comes next is my era of ruling this world as Magic Grand Emperor!"
Saying this, Lucius began transforming. Compared to his time in the Spade Kingdom, having gained stronger power, he had become more magnificent.
Those elk-like great horns were brilliantly radiant, the halo in the middle had gained an additional layer, and behind the outer ring of halos, three pairs of wings had spread.
Charles flexed his hands and feet, charging directly forward.
"Save the pipe dreams for when you're sleeping. The coming era has no need for you!"
Facing Charles's straight punch, Lucius similarly threw a punch.
The two fists collided head-on. Though neither used magic power, the impact created by pure physical strength raised suffocating winds.
Charles's slightly bent arm extended, directly sending Lucius flying.
Despite gaining the upper hand, Charles wasn't pleased but frowned instead. The power Lucius displayed clearly didn't match that strong magic power aura.
Asta didn't sense Charles's doubts. Brandishing his sword, he directly attacked.
Lucius understood Asta well enough not to use magic against him. Using time magic to accelerate himself, Lucius dodged several consecutive slashes from Asta, then punched him flying.
Charles caught the flying Asta. "Don't be careless. This guy should have gone to the underworld to absorb Lucifero's remaining power. Now he can match Grand Magic Knights with physical strength alone."
Asta said, "Sorry, I'll be more careful!"
Charles released Asta and warned again, "Something's off about this guy. You can't relax until the very end!"
Asta nodded and charged forward alongside Charles.
Flames began burning as Charles skillfully activated Dragon Flame Battle Garb and Dragon King Martial Body. Against Lucius, there was no need for probing.
Lucius also showed a serious expression. Although Charles hadn't used that dragon-man ability from the fight with Lucifero, he was already bursting with power that threatened him.
"Flame God Dragon's Crushing Fist!"
Charles's jaw gripped deep red flames of destruction. The highly concentrated flames were like covering Dragon Slayer in a layer of dark red crystal.
This punch would break even the time magic Lucius had deployed. How could Lucius dare take it with his body?
Forget that having only gained one-third of Lucifero's power, he didn't have Lucifero's powerful body - even Lucifero himself might not have the courage to face this punch without defense.
But Asta had already closely followed up, gripping his sword with both hands to deliver a Zetten strike at Lucius.
As Charles had said, even seeing this slash solidly hit Lucius's chest, Asta didn't relax in the slightest.
But to his surprise, the struck Lucius simply collapsed, his aura slowly dissipating - clearly phenomena of approaching death.
Not just Charles - even Asta didn't believe this big boss Lucius could be defeated so easily.
Charles's figure flashed as he blocked behind Asta, reaching out to grab the hand stabbing toward Asta's back.
Asta jumped in fright. "What's happening? There are actually two Luciuses?"
That's right - the one who had teleported behind Asta to launch the attack was indeed another Lucius.
But this actually resolved Charles's confusion. No wonder the earlier Lucius's displayed power severely mismatched the sensed magic power - it wasn't the main body but a clone.
Several air-cutting sounds rang out as over ten identical Luciuses surrounded the two.
Then all Luciuses spoke together: "My current magic is soul, muscle, blood, and bone, so creating clones of myself like this is also possible.
See? Even though you've made this world exceed my foresight, nothing can be changed!"
But Charles laughed. "A bunch of fakes thinking they can solve us - aren't you thinking too much?
Also, let me tell you a principle: no matter how amazing something is, once mass-produced, its class drops!"
While speaking, Charles rapidly approached one Lucius and kicked him flying.