"Secre, can you come here for a moment?"
Hearing Ethan call her name, Secre froze for a second.
In her bird form, she had been staying close to Asta, quietly observing everything.
She had some understanding of everyone in the area...
Everyone except for Ethan—
a man wrapped in mystery.
He could speak of long-lost knowledge from a forgotten military era.
He seemed to know every step of the demon's secret plan.
And now, he even knew her original name—Secre.
But she wasn't some important noble, just a lowly royal maid.
How could he possibly know everything about her?
> Could he be like the elves—someone from hundreds of years ago, reborn through forbidden magic?
With curiosity and caution swirling in her heart, Secre landed beside Ethan.
"What is it?" she asked.
Ethan nodded, speaking with unusual seriousness.
> "Your magic is Sealing Magic, right? You can open and close things…"
"Yeah, that's right," Secre confirmed.
"It used to be considered a useless and minor magic attribute… but after meeting the prince, I—"
"Stop."
Ethan raised a hand, cutting her off immediately.
She looked like she was about to launch into a dramatic flashback,
and if they had time for that, they'd all have grass growing on their graves by the time she finished.
> "Can your magic seal the demon?"
Secre paused. She nodded at first…
but then slowly shook her head.
Yes, it was true that she had sealed this Word Magic Demon once before—
but that was with the amplified power of an elf magic stone.
And even then, the demon had not yet possessed a physical body.
It was more of a wandering spirit at the time.
Now?
Now the demon was complete, corporeal, and infinitely stronger.
Even if someone gave her another magic stone, she wouldn't be confident in the result.
And more importantly—Lumiere had been revived using the same elf magic stone.
Taking that from him would be tantamount to killing him.
> "I'm sorry. I can't do it. The demon now is far beyond what I can seal."
Ethan nodded—he understood.
He'd asked just in case, on the off chance there was hope.
But even if that path was blocked, he had one more idea.
> "Then... since your magic can open and close, and you could even free Licht's sealed soul from his elf reincarnation state…
could you possibly unlock the seals within my own body?"
"Your body?"
Secre furrowed her brows, examining Ethan closely.
He looked healthy. His soul was intact. No dissonance, no irregularities.
What kind of "seal" was he talking about?
> "It's hard to explain. Honestly, even I don't fully understand it.
But if you can pull it off—I'm sure we can defeat the demon."
Ethan's voice brimmed with confidence.
The demon may be powerful, but Ethan believed his own divine bloodline was even more so.
But with greater power came stronger chains, tighter restrictions.
Since awakening his divine bloodline, he had enjoyed many advantages:
his magic attributes adapted freely,
his body had become durable and powerful,
and he had even obtained the power of dragon rebirth.
But he also knew these were just a taste—
a single cup of water from a vast ocean.
There was more power within him. Much more.
But it was locked behind countless doors—layered seals he couldn't break alone.
To open them on his own might take years, maybe decades.
He had the strength—but not the key.
And Secre's Sealing Magic… might be that universal key.
---
"Alright. I'll give it a try," Secre nodded.
Though she didn't fully understand what Ethan meant, she got the gist of it.
There was some kind of latent power inside him—something he couldn't access through normal means.
But unlocking things?
That was her specialty.
> "Sealing Magic: Reverse Unlock!"
Both her hands extended forward, releasing her signature spell toward Ethan.
Most people knew how to use their magic,
but few ever understood the mechanics of it.
But after serving under Lumiere, Secre had come to deeply understand the inner workings of her Sealing Magic.
Opening and closing seemed simple enough—
but it was actually complex beyond belief.
It was like crafting a key—
if even one notch was too short or too long, the lock wouldn't open.
For most things, she could open them instantly.
Even awakening Licht hadn't taken her more than a few seconds.
But this—this made sweat bead on her forehead.
> "What... is this guy?!"
---
She had entered the Sealing World—a sort of alternate magical dimension
where the internal locking and unlocking took place.
And what lay before her left her stunned.
Nine enormous bronze gates.
Each one bigger than the last.
In her entire life, she had never seen anything like this.
A typical seal might be the size of a door. A large one? Maybe a wall.
But these gates?
The first was three stories tall.
The ninth—over 100 meters high!
They stood in a perfect line from smallest to largest,
each gate etched with distinct carvings and seals.
Each one radiated a different restriction—a different lock.
Secre, who had unlocked everything imaginable in her life,
felt—for the first time ever—uncertain whether she could succeed.
Gulp.
She swallowed hard, trying to calm her nerves.
The bigger the gate, the stronger the seal.
And the stronger the seal... the more terrifying the power hidden inside.
She was starting to believe what Ethan had claimed.
If she really could unlock these seals—
> "Then maybe... just maybe... the demon really won't stand a chance."
-------------------------
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