Asta devoured Charmy's cooking; the restorative food only replenished his stamina, not magic power. The previous battles had depleted his stamina; if the other Black Bulls hadn't arrived, he wouldn't have lasted.
Most Black Bulls members were with Gauche during the reincarnation magic activation. Gauche had unexpectedly attacked them, but Rhya contacted him, halting the fight.
The Black Bulls wouldn't abandon a comrade; they went to find Gauche, with Vanessa, Gordon, Grey, Magna, and Charmy pursuing him to the capital.
It turned out that Valtos, Rades, and Sally (from the Eye of the Midnight Sun) had been sacrificed by Patri, but Rades had mastered new magic, reviving them. They joined the group to atone and seek revenge on Patri.
Asta and the others defeated several elves in the capital, but they were exhausted and resting when a fiery light landed before them. Seeing no reincarnation glow, they relaxed.
Asta exclaimed, "Drake! You're alright! Everyone turned into elves, and…"
Asta took the sword Drake had given him. "This sword is amazing! It returned everyone to normal!"
Drake said, "We'll talk later; the elves aren't the real enemy. We'll fight the mastermind."
Asta said, without doubt, "Luck-senpai said it was a sad, painful magic; they were manipulated!"
Drake grabbed Asta. "Your anti-magic is key. You need to advance your black state and master more anti-magic. The battle starts now; you must push your limits!"
"What?!"
Ignoring Asta's screams, Drake lifted him.
"Yuno, you understand! Come on!"
A figure appeared behind Drake, flying towards the Shadow Palace entrance.
Yuno asked, "Defeating the mastermind will return everyone to normal?"
Drake nodded. "Yes, but don't underestimate the enemy."
Yuno, regardless of the enemy, wouldn't retreat.
The Shadow Palace entrance shrunk; the Captains entered.
Through a long tunnel, they reached the Shadow Palace, which resembled ancient ruins structured like the Kabbalah Tree of Life. Each circle was a room; the altar to open the Netherworld's gate was at the bottom.
The Apostles of Sephirah were fighting the Captains; Drake and the others reached the bottom, where only Rhya and Patri were talking.
Patri was urgent. "What? That kid's consciousness isn't fully awakened! The magic stones are on him; what do we do?"
Rhya was unconcerned. "Relax! Someone will bring the stones… and they've arrived!"
They burst from the tunnel. Yuno suspected Drake had betrayed the Magic Knights but trusted him.
Rhya smiled. "The magic stones arrived!"
An elf in white appeared behind Yuno, one of the Apostles of Sephirah, attacking Yuno. He grabbed Yuno's necklace. Yuno reacted quickly.
"Mana Zone: Spirit Storm!"
Yuno, having grown stronger, mastered human-elf hybrid and Mana Zone. After the reincarnation magic, he gained elf magic power.
A massive energy beam was launched but missed. The elf vanished, reappearing beside Patri and Rhya.
"Mr. Ronie, you're here!" Patri greeted him excitedly.
The elf nodded.
Patri said, "Mr. Ronne, help us retrieve the magic stones and complete the reincarnation magic!"
Rhya shook his head, teleporting before Ronne, his dark magic katana falling. He didn't strike Ronne but a stone.
"Mr. Rhya, what are you doing?" Patri asked.
Rhya's tone was serious. "You should've noticed! That wasn't Ronne!"
The vanished Ronne appeared before Yuno. Yuno's Magic Territory revealed it was a stone that had fallen from the tunnel. The enemy could swap positions with objects; Rhya's actions had caused a momentary distraction.
Ronne took Yuno's necklace, teleporting away, appearing on the altar.
"I don't know what went wrong, but my efforts have paid off."
Ronne smiled chillingly; his mouth was dark, as if a dark entity resided within him.
Ronne said, using Patri and Rhya's voice, "Clover's fifth leaf houses a demon. It reminds me of… using the bond between four-leaf clover mages to create a grimoire of despair. What I sought then, I have now. Only in the Shadow Palace, where two worlds meet, can I summon it… the magic stones' magic!"
He embedded the stones in the altar; black matter emerged, forming a cocoon.
"Welcome back!" a distorted voice said.
"I'm back!" Ronne said, black matter merging with the cocoon.
"That's the mastermind, right?" Yuno said, alert.
The chilling, dark magic was undeniably hostile. Asta, who couldn't sense magic, felt the malice through ki.
Drake said, "Finally, the word-spirit demon from the Netherworld, Zagred!"
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