Everyone in the Clover Kingdom witnessed it—a radiant, colossal magic palace soaring across the sky. Its destination: the capital of the Clover Kingdom.
Perhaps it was because Rhya was so desperate to end the tragic fate of his people that the floating palace advanced at an astonishing pace. Fueled by a tremendous amount of magic, it moved faster than most mages flying on their brooms.
Soon, the floating palace reached the outskirts of Clover Castle. From his vantage point, Rhya could already see the flames and smoke rising from the royal palaces where his comrades were causing chaos.
"It's finally starting."
Rhya muttered to himself before teleporting via spatial magic to the depths of the palace. There, rows upon rows of cultivation tanks stood tall—each housing a blank vessel prepared for the reincarnated elves.
To gather the necessary samples for these bodies, Rhya had worked tirelessly, collecting tissue from every reincarnated elf. The man who hated trouble most had ironically lived the busiest life.
At the very front, two cultivation tanks shattered. The fluid spilled across the floor, and from within stepped a boy and a girl, appearing to be around fifteen years old.
"Welcome back, Vetto, Fana. With this, the Apostles of Sephirah are complete," Rhya said with a smile.
In ancient times, the elves had entrusted a special space—a rift between the living world and the beyond—called the Shadow Palace, to humans for safekeeping.
To conceal the Shadow Palace, humans built a city directly above it. That city is what we now call Clover Castle.
Humans had the key to guard the door, but only ten elven sages chosen by divine revelation—the Apostles of Sephirah—could open it.
Humans guarded the lock; elves held the key. In theory, the forbidden space should've remained hidden forever. But fate took a different turn.
This was precisely why the Devil of Word Magic had to manipulate the elves. Having failed to possess Licht's body, the devil's only remaining path to reclaim its own body was to enter the world through the Shadow Palace—a gateway between this realm and the underworld.
Rhya, now sporting a fresh handprint on his cheek courtesy of Fana's slap (for daring to flirt with her), returned to the upper levels of the palace.
As each Apostle arrived, Rhya activated the transformation of the palace, revealing its true form.
Charles had already learned from Rhya that the floating palace had been thoroughly remodeled into an altar for opening the Shadow Palace.
The upper half of the once egg-shaped palace broke away, revealing a vast platform etched with an enormous magic array in the form of the Tree of Life.
Each Apostle stood on one of the ten circles—called "Sephirah" or emanations—corresponding to their positions. Together, they channeled magic into the Gerbitt rock beneath their feet. From the ruins of the royal capital, a towering shadow rose and slowly twisted into the shape of a castle.
From within the rubble, Yami, Jack, the newly awakened Fuegoleon, and Nozel—who had rushed back from the frontier—watched as the Shadow Palace took shape.
"Mimic Magic: Telepathy!"
Rhya didn't rush into the Shadow Palace like the other elves. Instead, he used magic to establish communication with Charles.
"The Shadow Palace is open!"
"Got it," Charles replied, rising from a meditative posture.
Nero perched on his shoulder, her eyes full of anticipation.
Charles walked to the statue of the First Magic Emperor and began embedding the magic stones one by one.
When he finally placed the last two round stones into the statue's eyes, a surge of powerful magic erupted from the stone figure.
"What a warm magic... Congratulations on awakening after 500 years, First Magic Emperor—Prince Lumiere."
As magic poured out, the statue came to life. Lumiere moved his body slightly and said, "Thank you for releasing my seal, modern Magic Knight. I can sense the Shadow Palace has opened. Has that thing's plan succeeded after all?"
"No, Your Highness," Charles replied. "This boy learned the truth of 500 years ago and joined forces with the awakened elves to prepare for the battle against the devil. He awakened you to borrow your power."
"Sekke? Is that you?" Lumiere looked at Nero, his voice full of guilt. He seemed to blame himself for her current condition—unable to return to human form—for failing to defeat the devil back then.
Nero (Sekke) spoke up, "Maybe it's because the devil's seal isn't completely undone yet. That's why I haven't regained my human form. But it's okay. As long as you've awakened, that's all that matters.
It was my own weakness that forced you to wake up in this pitiful state."
Lumiere smiled warmly. "Don't say that. I was able to wake and fulfill my duty because of you.
To think that a modern Magic Knight would be so outstanding... It's thanks to your efforts that the devil's threat can finally be ended in this era."
He turned and gave Charles a formal bow.
Charles replied, "This is to protect my friends. So please, lend us your strength.
Unlike your era, we now have the means to eliminate the devil once and for all. This time, we'll end the 500-year tragedy."
Nero added, "There's a boy with no magic power. He inherited Licht's grimoire and wields Anti-Magic—power that can completely negate the devil's spells!"
Lumiere's eyes sparkled. "Such a Magic Knight exists in this era? Magic truly is full of infinite possibilities."
Though he wanted to learn more, Lumiere knew the priority was to stop the devil.
Opening his grimoire, Lumiere summoned a massive trident of light shaped like a three-leaf clover.
Before Charles could react, Lumiere grabbed his shoulder. Enveloped in light, the two (and one bird) soared toward the capital.
Light Magic was much faster than anything Charles could muster. In what felt like the blink of an eye, they reached the Shadow Palace.
The two landed on the platform atop the floating palace. There, Rhya immediately spotted Lumiere.
"As expected… You've awakened, Prince Lumiere."
Lumiere smiled gently. "I remember you—Rhya, isn't it? It's been a long time."
Rhya scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh… anyway, sorry. I never explained the truth to everyone."
Lumiere replied, "It's alright. I understand."
Then he turned and looked toward Licht, still floating behind Rhya.
"We meet again, Licht."
"Lumi… ere…" Though still like a puppet, Licht unexpectedly recognized his dear friend and slowly spoke his name.
Rhya shook his head. "He reacted just from seeing you again? Man… I'm kind of jealous."
Charles interrupted, "Alright, enough of the small talk. So? Have you identified who the devil is hiding inside?"
"I think so," Rhya said, his expression growing serious. "This time, I'll finish that bastard for good."
Charles nodded, his eyes scanning the ruins below.
"There they are… The two most important people in this entire battle. You all go on ahead—I'll bring them in right away."
With that, Charles leapt from the platform. His blazing wings flared open as he dove toward the battlefield, flying toward the two people critical to what would come next.
_________________________________________
From May 26 to June 3, I'm offering a 33% discount on all Patreon tiers.
Just use this code when you sign up: 83AA7
If you'd like to support the project and get early access to chapters, now's the perfect time to join or upgrade.
This limited-time offer lasts only for these 9 days!
Thank you for your support ❤️
[w w w . p @ t r e o n . c o m / M u t t e r]