Aside from the three captains who were out on missions, the remaining six Magic Knight captains had all shown up—they were unquestionably the strongest reinforcements.
But that still wasn't enough to make Conrad abandon his plan.
He had only four people on his side, but each one had been the strongest Magic Knight of their era.
On top of that, the Imperial Sword was continuously feeding them mana. Even against six captains, they could suppress the field with composure.
The problem was Charles and Stella joining the fray. Conrad had to admit that although the two were young, they already possessed power equal to—or surpassing—his own.
It was like placing two massive weights on one side of the scale—the battle's momentum had irreversibly tilted against him.
The silver-haired man swept his arm; crystalline barrier-constructs reshaped into all kinds of weapons and shot out, forcing several captains back.
Retreating to Conrad's side, the silver-haired man said, "Conrad, this isn't looking good! If we keep this up, we're going to get the worst of it. We should pull back!"
The old man blocked a joint strike from Fuegoleon and Nozel with an ice shield and said, "This operation failed, but we still have our chance!"
Conrad clenched his teeth, cast one last look at Charles, and said, "You're right. We still have our chance!
"As long as we can keep fighting, this won't be over. Not giving up is my magic!"
Charles's gaze flickered—why did that line sound so familiar! But as he watched Conrad rise into the air, he made no move to pursue.
To be honest, Charles had stepped in purely because Conrad's group had dragged too many innocent spectators into this.
He still knew nothing about what was really going on.
He could feel that Conrad's resolve—the same words Asta would say—was perhaps no weaker than Asta's.
And Charles wasn't about to go all-out against someone with that kind of conviction while he was in the dark.
Dragging along the unwilling uniformed woman, the four used Spatial Magic to leave the arena.
The barrier covering the arena and the mana-draining array were dispelled at the same time, and sunlight once again fell on the half-ruined stadium.
"Charles, you finally came back!"
Asta and Yuno came over to greet him enthusiastically, and the rest of the Black Bulls gathered around as well.
Charles introduced Stella to everyone. Since she'd just helped in the fight, she'd won their goodwill right away, and they got along easily.
At that moment, Yami walked over with a cigarette in his mouth and slapped Charles on the shoulder. "We owe you for this one. Knew you were a guy I could bet on."
He glanced at Stella and said, "Good taste, too! But bringing your girl back and running into crap like this right away—that's some rotten luck!
We've got a strategy meeting next. You're coming."
Charles nodded and followed Yami to headquarters.
Conrad's reappearance had clearly triggered the highest alert within the Magic Knights. Charles could feel even the air at HQ had grown heavy.
In the conference room, Julius naturally sat at the head, with the captains below him.
Three captains were absent due to duty; only the Golden Dawn was represented, by its vice-captain, Yuno.
And then there was Charles, following behind Yami.
As the one who'd distinguished himself in the sudden crisis and proven he could stand toe-to-toe with Conrad, no one could object to him attending.
Julius folded his hands and said gravely, "Everyone, the Clover Kingdom is facing a crisis of collapse. What happened today was just the prologue. The enemy will not stop. We must act immediately."
Yuno suddenly raised his hand. "Wizard King, who exactly were the attackers?"
It wasn't just Yuno—youngsters like Rill had the same question. The older captains wore sober, conflicted expressions.
After all, ten years ago it had been they who joined forces to seal Conrad, and that wasn't something to speak of lightly.
Julius, however, spoke frankly. "Right—those of you who are younger wouldn't know him.
"His name is Conrad Leto, my predecessor—the 27th Wizard King of the Clover Kingdom."
Rill blurted out, "A former Wizard King? Didn't he, ten years ago…?"
Julius sighed. "Yes. Officially, Conrad passed away from illness ten years ago, but in truth I sealed him with my own hands… because he attempted to destroy the entire kingdom."
Charles could understand. A Wizard King—supposedly the nation's guardian, revered and trusted by all—intending to annihilate the kingdom… news like that would cause upheaval, even ruin.
Julius continued, "And the three working with Conrad were themselves former Wizard Kings. Like Conrad, they'd been stripped of their titles.
"Conrad used the mana those Wizard Kings had stored in the Imperial Sword, together with his own magic, to resurrect them. Now they are enemies we must defeat."
Unlike Yuno, who revered the Wizard King, Charles asked the more critical question.
"So how does a former Wizard King intend to destroy the kingdom?"
Julius said, "By using the Imperial Sword in his hand. The sword stores the mana and magic of successive Wizard Kings. Combined with all the magics Conrad has collected, it is an unimaginably powerful force.
"Conrad has even burned his lifespan, fusing various magics within the Imperial Sword to create an unprecedented spell.
"If he plunges the sword into a mana nexus where leylines intersect, it will trigger a continent-wide mana chain explosion. Everything will be destroyed.
"He started this madness ten years ago, and we stopped him at the last moment with the help of many outstanding Magic Knights.
"This time, because I died once, the seal unraveled. We must stop him again, just like then!"
Everyone rose and placed their right hands over their hearts. "Yes!"
At that moment, Charles said, "Wizard King, I have a request. I'd like to see the records on those former Wizard Kings. I mean the real records—the ones that weren't doctored."
Marx, standing behind Julius, said coldly, "You're overstepping. That's not for you—"
Julius raised a hand to stop him and looked at Charles. "It's fine. I approve it. If you don't know the truth, you can't fight with all you have."
It had to be said—Julius, in Wizard King mode, had a truly convincing breadth of heart.
Charles stood and bowed, then followed a still-indignant Marx out.
Marx said nothing along the way, simply leading Charles to the archives.
They didn't stop inside; Marx activated a spell array to the side. The floor beneath their feet dropped away, and soon they entered another space.
It was clearly where the records that couldn't be made public were kept. By the dim lights, Charles could see shelves stacked with documents.
"As expected, the truth is hidden in the dark," Charles murmured.
Marx remained silent, selecting four files from a shelf and laying them on a table.
As Charles reached for them, Marx suddenly pressed his hand down on the stack and said coolly, "These are the records you asked for. I don't know why the Wizard King authorized access, but everything stays here. You don't take anything out."
"Relax. I know the rules," Charles said, waving a hand.
He slid one file out from under Marx's palm and began to read.
They weren't long, and he quickly finished the records on the four Wizard Kings.
Conrad, the 27th Wizard King, born a noble. By developing the potential of Key Magic, he won the trust of Magic Knights and the people, and ultimately became Wizard King.
But his conflicts with the royals and nobles only deepened. In the end, they set him up, and dozens of his subordinates—and his wife—were all killed.
Seen in that light, it wasn't surprising that Conrad would adopt such extreme ideas.
The other three had strikingly similar histories—hence their aid.
The uniformed woman was the 11th Wizard King, Princia. As the eldest daughter of a minor noble house, she joined the Magic Knights to protect her domain and people from predatory nobles.
After countless battles without a single defeat, she ascended to the throne of Wizard King.
Later, during the war with the Diamond Kingdom, her homeland was taken hostage. The royals hid this to keep Princia at the front. In the end, she lost all her family and subjects.
After the war, she clashed with the royals who had orchestrated it, had her mana sealed, and was exiled to a small village.
Ironically, a woman undefeated in life died fighting bandits invading that village—because her mana had been sealed.
The silver-haired youth was the 16th Wizard King, Jester. His era was also one of the fiercest wars between kingdoms.
Though a noble, Jester befriended commoners on the frontier and mages from enemy nations.
But his commoner friend perished in the war because the royal family refused to send aid, and his friend from the enemy side used the commoner's hometown as a trap to assassinate Jester.
Having personally killed his dearest friend, Jester vowed to prevent such tragedies ever again, and conceived a plan: conquer all four kingdoms.
For that, he was called the "Mad King." Even so, he won much support.
But not everyone can be a Qin Shi Huang—and Jester was a Wizard King, not the realm's "king."
Fearing his growing influence, the royals and nobles struck from behind—again—and Jester died in war.
The elderly gentleman was the 20th Wizard King, Edward. He had wanted to be a priest, but saw the church and the orphans he'd taken in consumed by war.
To prevent further tragedy, he joined the Magic Knights and rose, step by step, to Wizard King.
Once there, he worked to erase the barriers between the royal realm, the common realm, and the forsaken realm.
You can guess what happened. Displeased, the royals and nobles schemed against him and stripped him of his title.
Having seen their rot and decay firsthand, Edward raised a rebel army—and was ultimately suppressed and executed.
Charles set the file down and let out a sigh.
Most Wizard Kings were nobles by birth, but under a meritocratic system, those who reached that position had a scope and resolve very different from the royals and nobles.
That's why Wizard Kings and the nobility always existed in a state of cooperation and contention.
The four in Conrad's cohort were simply sacrifices of that struggle.
Don't be fooled by the Wizard King being the head of the nation's armed forces; since royals and nobles are born with far stronger mana than commoners, the power they command isn't necessarily inferior to the Magic Knights.
After all, a large portion of the Knights—even some captains—are themselves royals or nobles.
Even with Julius's immense popularity and a king who's… hard to put into words, Julius still can't remake the country as he wishes.
It's more accurate to say that the current state of affairs is already a testament to Julius's extraordinary ability.
Charles couldn't help feeling for Asta's future—he'd face the same predicament.
Knowing all this, he could finally understand why Conrad chose his path. But that didn't mean Charles approved.
Without a doubt, they had taken the wrong road. And if only to ensure their mistake didn't grow, Charles would fight them with everything he had.
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