Amidst the overgrown ruins, "Licht" embedded the magic stone he had just acquired into a peculiar stone monument. The monument was covered in intricate, crisscrossing patterns, punctuated by rare magic symbols. From a slight distance, the intertwined patterns vaguely resembled a tree.
"Just embed the last magic stone..."
"And the Life Tree monument will awaken its true power, becoming our guide!"
"You all have done truly well so far... You've worked hard... Your existence fills me with pride. The moment to fulfill our long-held wish is finally at hand! Let us create a nation for ourselves, reborn in our true forms!"
"Licht" turned, holding the last magic stone, and spoke with utmost gentleness to Valtos, Sally, and Rades before him.
The trio naturally responded with fervor.
"Yes, this moment has finally arrived, Lord Licht!"
"Hehehe... This way, we, the chosen ones, will awaken powerful magic, won't we? Those bastards from the Magic Knights, this time I'll show you my power."
"After completing the mission, can we go catch Asta?"
"Alright, alright." Licht's smile began to fade. "Those words just now were spoken by Licht, the Leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun. Remember them... Now, let me speak my true feelings!"
"You all... are greedy and selfish!"
"You hurt them as if it's nothing, yet you are more sensitive to your own pain than anything else! As humans, you discriminate, envy, and resent for trivial reasons."
"Everything... is solely for your despicable selves!"
Licht embedded the last magic stone in his hand into the Life Tree monument. The gentleness on his face had long vanished, replaced by a ruthless and sinister expression, and his voice was utterly chilling: "Indeed, you humans are all selfish, irredeemable, foolish, and ugly beings!"
"You shall become the cornerstones of our revival!"
"Eh? Lord Licht?!" Valtos, who deeply admired Licht, looked at the person before him in disbelief. As he spoke, asking if these were jokes, the Life Tree monument, with the last magic stone embedded, erupted in light.
Scorching light enveloped everything.
Valtos, who had intended to teleport himself away with spatial magic, had his skin carbonized by the heat that erupted in that instant, causing him to completely lose consciousness from the pain.
Besides the few of them... the hidden Eye of the Midnight Sun members were indiscriminately carbonized, burned, and contributed all their magic!
At the same time, golden light emanated from many humans in the Clover Kingdom. Their ears became elongated, and their faces bore strange crimson patterns. As the golden light intensified, their speech and actions underwent a drastic change.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The central rock of the Gelpete Rock Belt.
Bai En gazed at the three figures before him. Surging magic transformed into golden light. They looked at their own hands with slight surprise, then immediately launched an attack at Bai En.
"Painting Magic, Four-Headed Scaled Serpent!"
Captain Rill brandished ink, and colors of black and gray coalesced into a giant serpent with four heads, its body covered in scales. The giant serpent opened its gaping maw and lunged to bite Bai En.
Strangely.
The sharp teeth hovered a foot in front of Bai En.
The remaining serpent heads of the giant serpent struck continuously, but... they all abruptly stopped without question.
Bai En's black eyes faded, glowing blue. He slightly raised his head, and suddenly, he flashed to the side of Captain Rill, placing his hand on his shoulder. They looked quite intimate.
"Oh, oh~ Nice to meet you for the first time!"
"Eh?"
Rill glanced at Bai En, who had his hand on his shoulder, a look of disgust and anger on his face: "Human, don't touch me!"
As he spoke, the four-headed scaled serpent attacked from all directions, opening its mouth to bite Bai En.
"Limitless" magic activated.
Four blue spheres appeared in the giant serpent's downward biting trajectory. With a "boom," "Cang" rotated, causing a tearing force that shattered the heads of the four-headed scaled serpent!
Blood and flesh rained down.
Bai En grabbed Captain Rill by the neck and lifted him. Amidst the fireworks of blood and flesh, he appeared somewhat violent.
"Let him go!"
Fragil and Puli, also reincarnated as elves, commanded Bai En.
A flurry of white wind feathers and ice and snow suddenly attacked.
Bai En extended the Rill in his hand, and the wind feathers and ice and snow hovered in mid-air.
"Everyone, I have no intention of harming you for now, so please use these bodies you've acquired to fight to your heart's content. Oh, by the way, don't get hurt. These guys are my teammates, and if they get hurt, I'll be upset~"
After the elf possession ended, the original host would instinctively remember the feeling of the elf using their magic. In addition to a boost in magic, new magic would also awaken.
Logically speaking, losing consciousness for a period to gain new magic and increased magical power was a good opportunity.
However... Bai En looked at Captain Rill, whose neck he was gripping. 'Why does Captain Rill feel so much weaker? Aren't elves supposed to be very strong in this state?'
'Strange...'
'Never mind, now isn't the time to dwell on this.'
Looking at Fragil and Puli, who were hovering in the air, wary of him, Bai En flashed, instantly disappearing from his spot and heading towards the place with the strongest magic in the entire central rock.
And that was undoubtedly—the place where the true Licht slept.
Rill, who landed on the scaled insect, gasped for air, recalling the scene just now with some lingering fear. He had expected to easily deal with that guy, but he was subdued in one move.
"It's all because I moved too fast just now; I haven't even adapted to this body yet."
Fragil and Puli descended from the air, floating beside Rill: "How are you, Rila? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine. That human didn't strike hard, probably because it was his companion's body. Sorry~ I caused you trouble."
"I didn't expect that after all this time, some talented individuals would actually be born among humans."
Rila, the elf possessing Rill's body, said defiantly: "It was only because I hadn't mastered this body yet that it turned out this way. If I meet him again... I'll definitely... Heh heh."
Suddenly.
The three resting in the clearing felt familiar magic overflowing from not far away. They exchanged glances and rushed towards it.
"Senior Klaus! Senior Hamon!"
Mimosa called out loudly, trying to awaken the two who were enveloped in golden light and attacking her.
'What's going on? Why did Senior's body suddenly emanate terrifying magic and attack me? Also, why is Yuno standing still, motionless? Golden light is also emanating from him...'
...