"Excuse me! Could you not step on my foot?!" A voice came from the darkness.
"I can't help it. It's pitch black. Don't be so cranky." Another voice replied.
"It's dark because you dropped the light!"
"I dropped it because you stumbled and fell into me!"
"So what!? I'm a royal!"
"Where'd that come from?!"
"Hey. Is this it?" A third voice said.
The person who just spoke pressed a piece of the wall.
Ka Clonck!
RUMMMMBBBLLEEEEE!
With a loud rumble and a lot of shaking, the wall in front of them parted to reveal an incredibly massive chamber.
The chamber was a massive, open stone ruin, almost like an underground city carved into a single gigantic hall. Enormous stone pillars rose toward the ceiling, thick enough to look as though they were holding up the entire dungeon. The architecture was ancient and crumbling, with towering walls made of uneven stone blocks, many of them cracked or chipped from age.
The entire structure felt like a labyrinth stacked vertically—multiple floors, balconies, and window-like openings were scattered irregularly across the towering walls. Some openings hung precariously above broken ledges, while others sat deep in shadowed recesses. Many were simple rectangular gaps, dark and hollow like abandoned rooms long swallowed by time.
Bridges and pathways had once connected these areas, but most had collapsed into heaps of rubble. A few cracked archways still stood, forming fragile loops of stone. The floor below was scattered with debris—broken tiles, fallen blocks, overgrown vines, and crumbled steps that led nowhere.
Plants had already begun reclaiming the structure. Thick leaves, vines, and jungle-like foliage framed the edges of the chamber, showing that nature had pushed its way inside. Their shadows contrasted with the bright white stone, giving the area a half-wild, half-forgotten atmosphere.
The chamber was so tall that the upper levels faded into darkness. Light filtered down in thin shafts, illuminating floating dust and giving the entire room an eerie, abandoned feel. The space was overwhelmingly vertical—cavernous, echoing, and dizzying in scale.
At the bottom, the small figures of Asta, Noelle, and Luck were dwarfed by the immensity of the ruins. Stairs were broken, paths uneven, and the entire area felt like a once-grand structure now reduced to a silent, ancient maze.
"Whhhooooaaaaaa!!!! What's up with this place?!" Asta exclaimed, with stars in his eyes.
"Looks like the space got warped by magic." Luck stated, looking around.
"The mana floating around in here is way stronger than what's outside."
"I've never seen a place so full of mana before!" Noelle muttered in a daze.
"Really?" Asta asked with a confused look on his face.
"Wait, you're telling me you can't feel all this mana around you?!"
"Not at all."
"Don't tell me you don't know what mana is..."
"JEEZ! I know what mana is!" Asta exclaimed. "It's what royals like you have by truckloads and what I don't have at all. It's the source of magic!" Asta yelled, smashing his fist on the ground, crying with stars in his eyes {A/N: How does he do that brooo 😭🤩😭}.
Nero, who had been sitting on his head since earlier, suddenly flew up and perched on a ruined building at a safe distance. Just as she did this, Asta accidentally triggered a circular rune that bloomed to life around his fist.
"Whaa...?"
WHOOSH!
RUMBLE...!
SLASH!
"A trap spell!?" Asta muttered as he quickly summoned his sword and slashed through the emerging stone magic.
"Th-that was dangerous..." Noelle sighed in relief.
"Hm? Oh! Here it is, Asta. Check it out." Luck said, pointing to an almost faint circle on the ground.
Curious, Asta walked over.
"What is it? Where is it?" he asked, searching for the circle. He couldn't see it because he had no mana.
"Let me help. Hup!"
Whump.
"AH!" Asta yelled as Luck pushed him onto the circle.
BRZZZTTT!!!
BOOM!
SLASH!
"WAAARGHH!!!" Asta yelled as he slashed through the trap. "What're you doing?!!"
"Whoa! Amazing! Again! Again!"
"Just wait a minute, you—"
"Whoa! There's another!"
"DON'T!!!"
BOOM!
EEEEEEEKKKK!!!!
AHAHAHAHA!!!
SLASH!
RRAAAGGHHH!!!!
"Oh! One more!"
"Mister Luck, stop!!!"
FWOOOOM!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
SLASH!
RAAAAAAAGHHHH!!!!
"Ahahaha!!! This is great! So thrilling🎵!"
'If we stay with this guy... WE'LL DIE!!!' Asta and Noelle thought, their minds completely linked.
"Let's do more!" Luck said happily.
"NOOOOO!!!" Both Asta and Noelle rushed forward to stop him. But Luck froze anyway.
CRACKLE CRACKLE
A thin lightning aura suddenly emerged around him.
Then, Luck felt something in the distance.
'I knew it! There are others here! The strongest-looking one is...' Luck's grin materialized.
BZZT...
Lightning Creation Magic: Holy Lightning Boots!
BZZZTTTTTT!!!!!!
CRACKLE CRACKLE!
"Something important just came up, you guys go ahead and explore the dungeon🎵!"
"Wait a mi—" before Noelle could continue, Luck dashed toward the nearest wall, ricocheted off it, ricocheted some more, and then ricocheted off into one of the countless exits.{A/N: Overused ricochet too much Bruh...}
"He's so fast!" Asta said in wonder, stars in his eyes (again).
"Wh-where's he going?!" Noelle yelled aloud, as if doing that would make some 4th-dimensional entity answer her questions (Lol... Ahem. First try to crack a joke, guys. C'mon. Laugh... ... Never mind me. Keep on reading.).
"That was so cool!!!" Asta said, detached from the situation as always.
Nero, now that the situation had cooled down, perched back onto his head.
WHOOSH!
"Oh honestly—" Noelle sighed, but was cut off abruptly as one of the traps Luck triggered activated and wrapped its vines around her body, dragging her toward an opening that looked eerily like a mouth.
"Wha— A high-level plant creation magic!" Noelle exclaimed, unable to break free.
SLASHSLASHSLASHSLASH!
"Ruuunnnn!!!!" Asta yelled as he cut the vines holding Noelle, while poor Nero flew around avoiding the incoming vines.
Noelle dropped to the ground and turned to run when she saw Asta's sword arm get trapped by one of the vines.
"Asta!" Noelle yelled and tried to attack, but her magic fizzled out the moment she tried to eject it outward. The stupid no-mana-control problem of hers struck again!
"Uh-oh..." Asta muttered as he stared at the gaping maw of the plant, poison dripping from the edges and a foul stench being ejected from it.
Wind Creation Magic: Wind Blade Shower!
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!!!
Suddenly, multiple flying daggers made of wind descended on the plant, killing it instantly.
Asta fell like a sack of nomotatos.
'What was that accurate, powerful spell!?!? Who on earth...' Noelle thought, looking around for the source, worried that it might be an enemy.
"And with that..." A calm, collected voice came from one of the tunnels.
From the darkness came a black-haired, amber-eyed youth flanked by two people.
On his right was a tall young man with a slender build and slanted light-fuchsia eyes. He had a long, thin, pointed nose with a large chin. His light-blue-coloured hair was short and pushed to the sides and back, while also having an angular fringe to his left-hand side. Additionally, he wore a pair of gold hooped earrings and dark glasses with rectangular frames. Diamond-like shapes protruded from the bridge of these glasses.
On his left was a young woman with a voluptuous build. She had yellow eyes and long, wavy vermilion hair with bangs on her forehead. Additionally, she wore a pair of small, red, jewel-like earrings on her ears.
"...I've repaid the favour from the grimoire tower," Yuno said, as they stood fully in view of Asta and Noelle, their Golden Dawn robes fluttering in the residual magic winds caused by Yuno's attack.
"Asta!" Yuno finished.
"Yuno!"
They greeted each other.
The three jumped down and stood facing Asta and Noelle.
Yuno smiled lightly, while Asta was grinning like a maniac. Nero had retaken her perch on top of Asta's head.
"Yuno. Why did you save them?" The glasses guy spoke. "Our mission is to merely capture the dungeon. In other words, we must reach the treasure hall in the centre as quickly as possible. We don't have time to bother with them!""Hey, Yuno! What's with this rude four-eyed bastard!"
"Senior member," Yuno said sparsely.
"Four-eyes—? You're the rude one! I'm a noble! Klaus Lunettes! Don't speak as if we are equals!"
While the boys were bickering, the other woman approached Noelle.
"Good day to you. I haven't seen you since the royal family dinner party last year." She said.
"You know her?" Asta asked, popping up beside Noelle, bored of bickering with Klaus.
"Yes... sort of... She's my cousin. Mimosa." Noelle replied.
"I heard the Black Bulls are a barbaric group. Are you all right?" She asked with fake concern, mocking the Black Bulls.
"What about you, Mimosa? Can someone dim-witted as you survive as a part of the Golden Dawn?" Noelle asked, with equal poison hidden in her words.
"Yes. Everyone is kind. Thanks to them, I'm able to use my magic without worry. Oh right. You couldn't control your magic at all, Noelle. How's that going for you?" Mimosa asked, attacking right where it hurt.
Noelle didn't respond, so she continued.
"Oh right, the other day, on a mission, the three of us received a star from the Wizard King!" She boasted, stating it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Asta suddenly giggled under his breath and then burst into the conversation, physically and literally.
"Oh Yeah! We got a star a few days back too!" He said with unmatched vigour and an uncopyable star-eye face.
"Liar." The glasses guy, Klaus Lunettes, said.
Asta fell backwards dramatically at his instant denial.
"As if mere Black Bull newbies could get a star this easily. It's impudent of them to even give you this mission."
"The Wizard King asked for us directly!!"
"Another transparent lie."
"I'm not lying!!!"
"Come to think of it... I heard there were three of you here. Where's the other one?" Klaus asked. Asta and Noelle looked at each other. They had no answer. Luck had just left without saying anything.
"Don't tell me he left you and fled home. Or has he fallen prey to a trap like you just did?" He pressed.
Asta was about to say something when—
CHIIIIIRRRPPPP!!!!!!!
CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIRP!!!!
Nero chirped nonstop, taking off from Asta's head and flying around like crazy. Asta was confused, since Nero never made this much noise.
CHIRP! CHIRP! CHIIIRRRRPPP!!!!
She yelled, descending briefly to peck at Asta's empty skull, then flew back up, going from one tunnel to another frantically, searching for something.
"I think that bird has also lost its wits being near you lot." Klaus said coldly.
"Nah. She's looking for me." A voice came. It was calm, yet cold at the same time, carrying a hint of playful sharpness to it.
Ray emerged from one of the tunnels, staring down at the assembly with a small smirk.
Noelle, Asta, Yuno, and Nero froze.
Mimosa and Klaus just sized up the newcomer wordlessly.
Then, Nero burst into action first. She flew toward him at high speed and slammed into his chest, tumbling briefly before flying up and perching on his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek while occasionally pecking at it in anger.
Ray laughed—one that could be heard from every corner of the room.
"Yeah yeah. I missed you too, Nero. I missed you too."
Chirrrp!!!
She yelled at him, pecking at his head, as if trying to say, "DON'T EVER PULL SUCH A STUNT EVER AGAIN. WHERE WERE YOU!?!?! I'LL KILL YOU!!! ARE YOU HURT?!?! I MISSED YOU!!! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT LEAVING!!"
Ray smiled and took it all head-on while laughing. Frankly, he had missed her. Though he wouldn't admit it out loud.
Meanwhile, Asta, Yuno, and Noelle snapped out of their stupor.
"Ray!" Asta yelled excitedly, pumping his fists into the air.
"Ray! I heard from Asta. Where did you go?" Yuno asked, a full-blown smile on his face. Mimosa and Klaus were stunned.
The usually cold and detached Yuno had smiled twice today—once lightly for Asta and now a full-blown smile for this Ray guy. Just who are they!?!?
Ray smiled and then took a step forward, letting himself drop from a height. The place he had appeared from was near the ceiling, in other words, at quite an height.
"EEEEEEKKK!!!" Noelle screamed. "Ray! Watch out!"
Even Mimosa and Klaus looked a bit shaken.
'Is this guy suicidal!?!?' They thought, their minds in sync.
However, Asta and Yuno just watched him drop with smiles on their faces. Undoubtedly, they believed in him a lot.
As Ray descended, faint blue lines appeared on his skin, slowly spreading across his body.
BOOM!
Ray landed on the ground with a loud boom, creating a crater, but was unharmed thanks to Blut Vene.
"Hey, Asta. Yuno. Noelle." He said, raising his hand in a lazy greeting at each one of them. "It's been... what? Around three months?" He said, scratching his head.
Wrong move.
With another shrill chirp, Nero started pecking him again.
"OW OW OW! Nero! Wait!"
Asta laughed. "You deserve that, Ray! You said in your letter that you'd be back soon. Three months isn't soon!"
"Asta's right!" Noelle said. "Three months is nowhere related to soon! The entire Black Bulls were ready to hunt for you when you weren't back even after one and a half months! The only thing that kept them back was Asta's belief in you that you'd be okay. Captain Yami said that he'll smash your head in the moment he sees you!"
Ray grinned sheepishly. He really hadn't thought this one out. "Hehe... My bad, guys! I'll handle Captain Yami. Don't worry!"
Klaus interrupted the reunion.
"Hey, you. Are you the senior member who left these two newbies alone?" He asked Ray.
"???" - Ray.
"I see. So you're not. Either way, you Black Bulls are a filthy disgrace to the Magic Knights." He said, pushing his glasses up.
'Bro. Can you stop saying such lines while looking like an otaku? Seriously. You just need a pig-ass body, and you'll be perfect for it!!!' Ray thought.
"Bring it on, you jerk!" Asta exploded. "The Black Bulls are gonna capture this dungeon first! Just you wait! You Gol-darn... uh... Golden... no... wait... something else... uhm... you group with the weird masked boss!!!" He said, stammering.
"Weird mask...?" Klaus's face twitched. "You scum!! Are you mocking our sublime Captain Vangeance?!"
"In any case, YOUR captain is the weird one! Why all those muscles?! Why the tank top?!"
"What was that? He's macho and completely awesome!!!"
Collective Sigh...
'Talk about wasting time...' Yuno, Noelle, Mimosa, and Ray thought at the same time.
"Mimosa! Yuno! Let's show these scum the might of the Golden Dawn!" Klaus stated, pushing his glasses up with his index finger and tilting his entire head up, glaring at Asta from beneath.
"Ok, Klaus!" Mimosa piped up, as her grimoire fluttered to life beside her.
Plant Creation Magic: Magic Flower Guidepost!
Multiple vines gathered around the area in front of Mimosa and started to intertwine with each other. Flower petals sprouted from the tip of the intertwining vines. The flower petals were light-coloured with several dark-coloured spots covering the area.
Once the plant was fully formed, a holographic 3D structure of the dungeon appeared, floating atop the flower. Mimosa quickly studied it.
"Ummmm... mm-hm... mm-hm... All right! I know the rough layout of this dungeon." She said.
"Great! Then let's go, Yuno!" Klaus said, exuding an immense amount of authoritative pressure.
"'Kay." Yuno said simply, as he waved his hand and his grimoire fluttered to a new page.
Wind Creation Magic: Heavenly Wind Ark!
A huge gust of wind gathered around Yuno, slowly but efficiently shaping into a massive boat made of pure air. The Golden Dawn team got onto it.
"H-He's carrying three people easily!" Noelle exclaimed.
"Aye. He sure is. That's our Yuno for you." Ray said, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, threatening to spill.
'Impressive as always... Yuno!' Asta thought, as he gazed at the flying ark.
"Try as best as you can. Let's see which of us gets to the treasure hall first." Klaus said, pushing his glasses up again and staring down at them from underneath.