Over two months had passed since the attack on the royal capital.
And it had been more than a month since the great battle.
As if realizing they had gone too far with the "airplane incident," Patolli and his group—the Eye of the Midnight Sun—had seemingly vanished without a trace. The entire organization fell into complete silence, trying to reduce their presence in the public eye.
"Hel, has anything happened in the squad recently?"
Opening the door and stretching under the gentle sunlight, Ethan Hayes yawned.
To be honest, he wasn't the most responsible captain—it was fair to say he was more of a hands-off leader. All the squad's daily affairs, big or small, were handled solely by Hel, who silently bore the burden for him.
"Nothing much. The squad's the same as usual. Everyone's been working hard to improve themselves and taking on missions with everything they've got!"
"That's good."
Ethan nodded at her words. Compared to the other squads, the Tenth was still far too weak. In his estimation, it would take another three to five years before they could truly evolve into a real Magic Knight squad. Right now, they were little more than armed civilians—a militia at best. And rushing the process wouldn't help.
"Keep it up. I'm heading to the capital."
He rotated his neck slightly, thinking about how he was going to spar with the Wizard King.
That's right—his reason for going to the capital this time wasn't to report anything. He was going to fight.
After over a month of internal refinement, he'd learned to freely convert that chaotic, undefined energy within him into any elemental magic. Except one—Time.
That was because no one in the squad, nor anyone around him, possessed time magic. Without a firsthand experience or feeling for the attribute, he couldn't figure out how to make the conversion work.
So this "fight" was also a form of learning through battle.
Zzz~~
With one hand extended, a spatial gate appeared before Ethan.
He stepped forward and disappeared in an instant.
Hel, watching this, couldn't help but feel a pang of envy.
Their captain was already impressive. But since returning a while ago—not only had he changed his appearance, his strength had grown by leaps and bounds. Now he wielded various elemental magics with ease.
Could it be that a makeover actually made someone stronger?
Then... was going bald the wrong evolutionary path for him?
No, this won't do. He had to contact the Heavenly Princess Clinic in the capital...
---
Clover Kingdom – Royal Capital
At that moment, the Wizard King was inside his office, reviewing documents when he suddenly felt a magical fluctuation. His brows furrowed at first—but upon seeing the visitor, he smiled and relaxed.
"Honestly, I'm quite jealous of you," he said. "Being able to use so many different kinds of magic..."
The Wizard King had already learned all about Ethan's situation.
Perhaps it was true what they said: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Patolli had failed to kill him—and in doing so, had instead helped him.
"So, what brings you here? I haven't seen you in over a month."
"Ah, I came to ask you a favor—can we have a fight?"
Surprised, the Wizard King didn't react much, but Marx, standing nearby with his mushroom haircut, was stunned.
A fight? With the Wizard King?
Still smiling, the Wizard King replied calmly, "Mind telling me why? I usually don't enjoy fighting without good reason."
"It's simple," Ethan said. "I can already convert my energy into every other magic attribute—except time. I haven't studied it, and I don't understand it, which means I can't convert into it either. Also... I want to see how far I still have to go to catch up to you."
His eyes burned with battle intent.
The Wizard King's strength had always been a mystery.
Though in the original story, Patolli "killed" him, that was actually a willing sacrifice.
And when they fought, he held back due to being in Vangeance's body, never using his full power. He'd poured a whole Atlantic Ocean's worth of restraint into that fight.
Though he eventually revived, his strength was greatly diminished, and he even reverted to the body of a thirteen-year-old boy.
"You're certainly direct," the Wizard King chuckled. "Alright, but let's take this outside the city. The training grounds here are too small."
He too wanted to see how strong this young man had become.
"I've already picked a location," Ethan grinned. "Just needed your approval."
He opened another spatial gate.
At their level, the destructive power of a fight could be terrifying.
A real fight inside the city might leave the whole capital in ruins.
"Wait for me!"
Seeing both of them step through the portal, Marx quickly followed, afraid of being left behind.
But the moment he stepped out, his jaw dropped.
If he wasn't mistaken... wasn't this the border of the Clover Kingdom?
Ethan had actually built a spatial gate that reached this far?
Even full-fledged spatial mages couldn't manage that!
---
"Heh, interesting spot you picked," the Wizard King remarked.
Ethan gave a knowing smirk.
He had carefully chosen this battleground—it was right near the Diamond Kingdom's border.
This location not only fulfilled his needs, but also served as a deterrent to the enemy.
It was like saying: There are two monsters here. You might want to think twice before crossing over.
"So, shall we begin?"
"Let's."
Whoosh!
At the moment the Wizard King gave his answer, Ethan vanished.
Seeing that, Marx hurriedly ran for cover, terrified of getting caught in the blast.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion echoed as birds scattered and the ground shook.
Ethan's punch slammed into the earth, leaving a massive crater once the smoke cleared.
Marx stared, dumbfounded.
Just now... he hadn't even seen Ethan cast a spell.
Did he punch that crater into existence... with just his body?
"Looks like your transformation wasn't just magical," the Wizard King said with amazement. "Even your body has evolved."
Ethan's fists were harder than stone. A true monster.
Floating mid-air, the Wizard King watched as Ethan summoned a four-leaf clover wind sigil, entering full spirit assimilation mode.
Whoosh!
He moved at blistering speeds, like the very spirit of the wind.
Even Marx, watching from the sidelines, couldn't keep up.
In an instant, Ethan appeared behind the Wizard King, hurling a Rasengan-like orb without hesitation.
"Missed again. He's too fast!"
As before, he hit nothing but air.
The Wizard King calmly reappeared elsewhere—untouched.
"So this is Time Magic?" Ethan thought, eyes narrowing.
Unlike Wind or Light, the Wizard King wasn't just speeding himself up—
He was predicting Ethan's attacks before they even happened.
Like foresight.
Before Ethan even moved, the Wizard King already knew what he'd do next.
Time magic...
Truly terrifying.
-------------------------
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