It was said that they were born with powerful magic, lived on the border of the Forsaken Realm, and once had a period of close interaction with humans.
But... a terrifying natural disaster destroyed the entire Elf Tribe overnight.
And it was after that night that humans, who were originally relatively weak in magic, gradually saw many powerful Mages emerge among them.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
"That is the 'Gueldre Rock Belt'! The main base of the Eye of the Midnight Sun!"
The Magic Knights scouting the Eye of the Midnight Sun in the Gueldre Rock Belt organized the information from their recent observations and reported it to the Royal Knights Squad that had already arrived.
Bai En looked up, and brown rocks, due to a magic effect, floated in the air, forming a rock belt.
Among countless smallbroken stones, the enormous, oblate spheroid in the middle was particularly eye-catching.
"Hmph hmph..." Mereoleona crossed her arms and snorted twice, then observed her surroundings: "So they were hiding here? This is a high-magic area where hardly anyone would set foot anyway."
"Plus, they used magic to create mist for concealment, no wonder it wasn't so simple to find them."
She raised an eyebrow and looked at Nozel, the Captain of the Silver Eagles, beside her, praising him: "Did you only search here after thinking of this place, Nozel? You've become more capable after some time."
"No," Nozel's small braid with silver ornaments on his forehead was still neatly combed.
He looked forward and said, "I was just searching for the Dungeon here at the time and determined this was their main base."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"...Let's end the small talk here; it's time to act." Nozel ended the conversation coldly and spoke to Shirah Tim, the reconnaissance Mage beside him: "At this distance, you should be able to use that magic to detect, right?"
"Yes, sir!"
Shirah opened his grimoire, "Rock Creation Magic, chant the model rock of the world!"
Yellow light materialized in the air, and a massive, transparent rock model appeared, perfectly replicating the hollow architectural structure of the Gueldre Rock Belt.
Mereoleona frowned slightly at the rock model: "I see, it's like an ant's nest that can be entered from anywhere.
This won't be easy to invade! And... according to this rock model, there are powerful Mages comparable to high-ranking Magic Knights everywhere inside."
"Tsk... there's a high-magic individual in the wide open space in the middle; it seems he's the leader here."
After a brief moment of thought.
She, as the Captain of the Royal Knights Squad, assigned tasks: "We'll split into five groups and break in.
The Space Mage will stay here on standby! As for the battle plan... there's no need for one for you all!"
"You just need to indiscriminately defeat them while advancing towards the central area.
Everyone act in your preferred way! As long as you don't lose, do whatever you want!"
As Mereoleona finished her last sentence, Bai En followed the main force into the Gueldre Rock Belt, glancing at his teammates beside him.
They were all familiar faces... Captain Rill, Fragil, and Puri Angel, who used wing magic.
Ah ah ah~ If I remember correctly, these individuals are all about to undergo Elf reincarnation, aren't they?
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
In the hollowed-out area at the center of the Gueldre Rock, a man was lying on the ground, sleeping.
Faint snores could be heard, indicating deep sleep, but from his grim expression and tightly furrowed brows, it was clear he was having a nightmare.
"Hoo ah~ Sorry everyone, it seems I'm too late."
"You still look like an idiot."
"Don't say that, let's have a drink next time, little lady."
"Laiya~ you're so slow, what, even getting up feels like too much trouble?"
"So annoying~ Ah, how is it, Mr. Licht, the feeling of becoming a father in a few months?"
"I feel the magic blessing us too.
I'm so happy our child will be born with everyone's anticipation.
This child is our future, and he will become a bridge between humans and the Elf Tribe."
The dazzling sunlight shone on the man's eyes, waking him.
The man suddenly sat up from the ground, wiping away the tears from his right eye, and sighed softly, "What a hazy dream."
The man stood up and stretched, perhaps not having slept well, or maybe it was his natural dead-fish eyes, but he looked lazy and unkempt.
He stood in place, pondering for a moment, then yawned lazily again.
"Little brother Licht and Valtos should have started moving by now, right?"
"Counting the time, those guys from the Royal Knights Squad should have arrived too, so..."
A grimoire emitting blue light flew out from his waist, hovering beside the man.
If Bai En or Asta were here, they would immediately recognize him as the only one of the Three Eyes not yet defeated — Laiya.
He leaped off the platform where he was sleeping, a hint of sharpness in his dead-fish eyes: "I'll just play with you all for a bit."
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
Magic Knights, Golden Dawn Headquarters.
In the spacious room at the top of the tall building, the distant forests and mountains could be seen through the glass windows, and black sparrows dotted the azure sky like specks.
But at this moment, no one had the leisure to look at the scenery outside the window.
The two groups of people in the room were in a standoff.
"Hey—isn't that Yami Sukehiro, the Captain of the Black Bulls? Why is he here?" Golden Dawn members who were unaware of the situation whispered to each other from afar.
Yami, sitting in a chair, had his brows furrowed into a dark line, and white smoke wafted in the air; this was already his fifth cigarette.
Finally, Yami couldn't help but thump the table with his fist, asking the two who were hosting him, "Hey, you bastards, you said you wanted to apologize, but how long are you going to make me wait?!"
"Where's that flashy, weird masked Captain?"
Facing Yami's question, the Golden Dawn members hosting him did not panic, still using the same rhetoric as before: "We... we are extremely sorry!"
"Even if it's an apology, you can't make me wait forever, can you? Our driver isn't here right now, and it's not easy for me to come all the way here~"
"Also~ even if it's an apology, shouldn't your Vice Captain come to apologize in person? During the assessment, that guy seriously injured our squad member, causing him to fall unconscious, didn't he?"
Dark magic emanated from Yami, "Are you looking down on us? Golden Dawn..."
"So... so sorry..." Feeling the heavy pressure, the Golden Dawn members hosting him explained, "Regarding the Vice Captain's misconduct, we are truly very sorry... but I hope you can trust Captain Vangeance!"
"That esteemed person is a truly remarkable individual; he would absolutely not be so rude to you without considering the consequences!"