Bai En moved swiftly using "Limitless Magic," his magic sensing discerning the surrounding mana. From the chaotic, overflowing flow of mana, he could clearly perceive that an intense battle was raging outside the passage.
His target was not there, but rather the center of the Gelbit Colossus—the place with the highest amount of mana.
His azure eyes glowed in the dark passage, then instantly dimmed as a golden light surged from outside the passage.
Bai En leaped down from the passage.
As dust stirred beneath his feet, he looked around. Most of the people in the field had golden mana, like a haori, surging outwards from their bodies. With slender ears and red markings on their faces, it was clear they were possessed by elves 'resurrected' through the Life Stele and Magic Stones.
The most striking figure was undoubtedly the one in the air.
The overflowing golden mana was almost several times that of the others, and the density of the compressed mana was also much higher. If the mana of the elf-possessed individuals was a river, then this guy was a great river whose density was almost solidified.
"Mr. Bai En?!"
A surprised cry caught Bai En's attention. He looked back and saw Mimosa of the Golden Dawn, who was currently bound to a metal cross, her hands and feet tightly locked by iron shackles.
Her Royal Knights Squad uniform was torn, revealing a glimpse of her fair, tender skin, and her chestnut hair was somewhat disheveled, making her look pitiful yet also a little embarrassing.
Helplessly bound to a cross... a princess... always made one's imagination run wild.
"Mr. Bai En!"
Mimosa called out again. Compared to her first cry, her voice was much louder, as if she had grasped a rope that could pull her ashore.
"Mr. Klaus and Mr. Harmon... they... both their mana and personalities seem to have changed completely. This isn't how they usually are."
Listening to Mimosa, Bai En nodded, his voice calm: "Alright, I know."
"I didn't expect help to arrive," said Klaus, who was possessed by an elf, adjusting his glasses coldly. "We will absolutely not allow you to save the descendant of that sinner."
As soon as he finished speaking, Klaus's line of sight became empty, as if no one had ever been there.
'Where is he?'
As he pondered, the clear sound of steel breaking reached his ears.
He turned his head, only to find that the man who had been on the other side just a moment ago had appeared beside the princess at some unknown point and had cut through the iron shackles with a long sword.
"This..."
"Sorry, I don't have time to chat with you," Bai En blinked, pointing with the long sword in his hand at the figure in the light cluster in the air. "Do you have any way to make that person wake up faster?"
"What do you want to do?"
The two elf-possessed individuals had cold expressions.
"What do I want to do? Naturally, to have a fight, and then get to the main business... By the way, do you have any ideas? If not..."
As they conversed, a black shadow suddenly appeared in the air—it was spatial magic. A restless voice rang out: "Pwah ah ah ah ah! I'm going to fall to my death!"
"I told you not to struggle, it's such a hassle!"
"Is that... Mr. Asta?" Mimosa murmured softly.
Bai En's words, which he was about to speak, abruptly stopped. He looked up at the falling Asta... and Laiya, one of the Third Eye, behind him.
Asta, who was falling headfirst, suddenly twisted his body in the air and finally landed steadily.
"Eh? Bai En?"
"Mimosa?"
Asta scratched his head and greeted the two people in front of him: "What a coincidence, why are you here?"
"Shouldn't I be asking you that, Asta?" Bai En teased the disheveled guy in front of him. "Were you captured alive by the enemy?"
"Although what you said is very annoying, well, how should I put it, I was indeed brought here by that guy from the Third Eye."
"Oh, right~" Asta's expression became exaggerated. "Bai En, have you noticed that the people from our Magic Knights suddenly glowed golden and became stronger, as if they were completely different people? It's really strange."
"Are you talking about those two guys behind you?"
"Behind?"
Listening to Bai En, Asta turned to look back, his expression stunned: "Klaus... and the chubby guy from the Golden Dawn, no way, even you guys?!"
"Wait, that's... Yuno!"
Behind the two, Yuno stood there blankly, glowing golden all over, with red markings on his face, motionless like a log.
"Bai En, what exactly is going on? Why have they become like this!"
"Hey, Yuno, wake up!"
Klaus and Harmon, resurrected by elves, launched an attack as Asta shouted. A huge spinning steel drill and sharp glass shards violently struck him: "None of us here know you!"
Asta drew his Demon-Slayer Sword and cut through the spinning steel drill, while Bai En swung a slash to clear away the prismatic glass shards.
"Stop it! You guys..."
"Asta!"
Asta raised his sword, about to ask again, but Bai En suddenly interrupted him, "It's no use saying anything to them now; they've been possessed by elves."
"Elves? Possessed?"
"What is that?"
Two big question marks seemed to appear above Asta's head.
Instead of spending half a day explaining what elves or possession meant to a muscle-headed idiot, it was better to give him a direct solution.
Bai En pointed his finger below the floating figure in the air, "Hey, Asta, do you see that sword stuck there?"
"Sword?"
Asta looked in the direction Bai En pointed. A black sword with a three-leaf clover pattern on its blade stood silently there.
"That sword is called the Demon-Slaying Sword. Like the Demon-Slayer Sword, you can use it. With it and your Anti-Magic, you can restore them to normal."
"Really?" Asta's spirits lifted, his black eyes fixed on the sword. "Great, I'll go grab it, and then all these golden-glowing guys will be restored."
"Just wait, Klaus... Yuno, Bai En and I will definitely turn you back to normal!"
"Hey, hey, hey, little brother from the Aqua Deer Squad, long time no see. It seems you successfully sealed the devil and returned safely from underground," Laiya, who had been watching the show, suddenly interjected, twisting his neck.
"Of course... I'm not here to reminisce with you, and I also want to ask why you know so much."
"But since you know we are elves, and you know the Host-Demon, Demon-Slayer, and Demon-Slaying swords, then you should know what we've returned for, and you should also know who the owner of these three swords and that grimoire is. Isn't it time to return things to their rightful owners now?"
...