Inside the cave where Adam had once fought the Eye of the Midnight Sun…
"Okay, that's enough!"
Yami Sukehiro and Jack the Ripper had started fighting again.
Just when someone was about to use Dimension Slash with zero regard for decency, the Wizard King suddenly appeared, using Time Magic to freeze the two of them in place instantly.
Not everyone can go beyond their limits in the toilet.
Yami really wanted to chop Jack in half.
Finral quickly brought everyone back to the capital. These two rowdy captains were treated purely as tools.
"Wizard King, someone from the Bamiluton family has been murdered!"
Just as Julius was preparing for the commendation ceremony, Marx contacted him through magic, sending over Barton's miserable condition.
On the glowing white magic screen, Barton was swollen like a pig's liver. His once-purple skin had turned pitch black.
"Is it poisoning?"
"The initial diagnosis is poisoning, but…"
"But what?"
"I've never seen this kind of poison before."
Marx's face was pale. Today was the commendation ceremony—an important event of the year. If someone with ulterior motives exploited this situation, panic would spread like wildfire.
If that happened, the Wizard King's reputation would take a heavy blow. And as Julius's personal guard, Marx couldn't allow that.
"Strange poison?" Julius muttered. The Eye of the Midnight Sun would never use such a crude method—they always acted with dramatic flair.
A personal vendetta, then?
"The people from the Bamiluton family are outside. They're crying and making a huge fuss, demanding justice," Marx said bitterly.
These nobles really knew how to pick their moments. Something like this had just happened—no one could find the culprit that quickly, not even the Wizard King.
"The ceremony's about to begin, and I can't make it back now," Julius said, his expression serious. "Calm the Bamiluton family down for me first. Investigate the matter quietly. Don't let word of this spread."
"Yes, sir." Marx sighed, already dreading dealing with nobles.
"Get Golden Dawn to cooperate with you. We can't have a second incident," Julius added firmly.
"Yes!"
…
Julius's worries were justified—because a second incident nearly happened.
The noble Balmain actually had the nerve to flirt with Charlotte Roselei, captain of the Blue Rose Knights—a royal noblewoman. She floored him with one punch.
Green Solns erupted around him, wrapping Balmain so tightly that he nearly suffocated. Asta, the short and loud Bulls member, stepped forward to plead for mercy.
"Stop, if you continue like this—"
"I kick!"
Adam, back in his normal form, had been planning to look for the Black Bulls but stumbled upon this scene instead.
Bang!
Asta tumbled across the floor, dazed. Adam dusted off his pants with a scowl.
"Asta, sometimes your so-called kindness leads to bigger sins."
"I don't get it!" Asta shot back, climbing to his feet—only to freeze at Adam's furious expression.
An angry Adam was ten times scarier than Captain Yami.
No… a hundred times.
"Pity."
Charlotte's Briar Magic released Balmain, and his guards rushed in to drag him away.
"You're the devil from the war medal ceremony!" Sol shouted in surprise.
His magic power was terrifying—stronger than that of most royals.
He'd fought the Eye of the Midnight Sun on his own. Every squad except the Black Bulls had already warned their members not to mess with Adam.
Anyone who ignored that warning would regret it.
"That guy's a lunatic. If you slip up around him, you might die," one Golden Dawn member muttered nervously. When they went crying to Captain William, even he gave a stern warning.
"How dare he?" someone asked.
"You'll find out if you try."
The news spread through all nine Magic Knight squads. The Black Bulls, however, didn't care—they knew Adam's chaotic personality too well.
Charmy and Vanessa were the first to suffer from it.
"Is it possible that an angel like me was made into a devil?" Adam said shamelessly.
Even Charlotte, usually ice-cold, twitched her lips slightly at his ridiculousness.
Adam's sharp gaze shifted to Sol, the wheat-skinned beauty with a tall figure and white clothes that highlighted her curves.
"Beauty, my name's Adam. And I'm not a devil," he said, taking her hand and giving a mock-gentlemanly kiss.
"B-beauty!"
Sol's body trembled. With her rough-and-tumble life, no one had ever called her that before.
"Adam, don't push it," Charlotte warned coldly.
Adam looked at her with a mock-hurt expression. "Sister Charlotte, I'm not some jackal, tiger, or leopard. You don't have to be so guarded around me."
"Really? Then let go of her hand," she snapped.
"…Fine."
Reluctantly, Adam released Sol's hand. Sol was still standing there, dazed from the unexpected compliment.
"Sol!"
"S-sister!"
Charlotte's voice snapped her out of it. Sol pointed at Adam and yelled, "You scoundrel! Stay away from me and my sister!"
The air was tense when Yami appeared after finishing his work.
"Whoa! Why's it so lively over here?" he asked casually.
"Yami!"
Charlotte immediately straightened up, trying to compose herself.
Sol pointed at him accusingly. "Aren't you the number one sleazy pervert in the kingdom?! Captain of the Black Bulls!"
"Ice Queen," Yami smirked, "is this how you train your members?"
"Stay away from me and my sister!" Sol shouted again.
"Captain, you're here," Vanessa chimed in, joining the chaos.
Adam glanced around. Asta, Finral, Yami… all the troublemakers were gathering in one place.
That was a bad sign.
"Let's settle this with a competition!"
Before Charlotte could refuse, Sol puffed her chest out. "My sister won't lose!"
"A showdown then, sis!"
A dress-up battle between the forest witch and the ice queen.
Finral, the playboy, wasn't exactly popular with women, but he knew how to put on a show.
With magic voting, Charlotte appeared in a witch outfit and Vanessa as a nun. The result was an over-the-top, jaw-dropping spectacle.
"It's better to keep it private," Adam muttered, unimpressed despite the visual treat.
From costume changes to drinking… if nothing went wrong, something was definitely going to go wrong.
"The Knights' Merits Announcement has begun!"
"The Crimson Lion Kings and the new leader of the Purple Orca are here too!"
"All the squad captains are coming. This is huge!"
Adam looked at the swelling crowd, then at Charlotte, drunk on the table, and Yami, just here for the chaos.
"With a lineup like this, a little drama's nothing."
As long as the king doesn't get invaded again…
The drunk Charlotte and Yami—who'd been enjoying the show—ended up missing the commendation ceremony entirely.