When Charles returned to the conference room, the strategy meeting had already ended. He also learned the concrete plan from Yuno.
The reason Conrad launched his attack during the Decisive Battle was that ten years ago, he had converted the arena sitting atop a mana singularity into the flying fortress "Decisive."
With the Imperial Sword in hand, Conrad could treat every Magic Knight in the festival arena as a mana source to complete the fusion spell inside the Imperial Sword.
Unfortunately for him, thanks to Charles and Stella's interference, his plan was stillborn.
What Julius worried about, however, was that Conrad might complete the fusion by burning his own lifespan and leveraging other means.
And given how deep Conrad's obsession ran, it was certain he would choose to do so.
The trouble was, they had no way to locate Conrad now, and thus no way to stop him.
What was certain was that Conrad's final objective was to plunge the Imperial Sword—after fusing all magics—into a mana singularity where leylines intersected.
So the Wizard King could only both dispatch Magic Knights to hunt down the four former Wizard Kings and monitor all singularities. The moment Conrad appeared, they would take him down at once.
That approach would undoubtedly put the Magic Knights on the passive, disadvantageous side, but there was no better option now.
Charles also had nothing he could help with at the moment, so he and Stella continued their vacation.
Given what had happened, though, Stella's mood was clearly a bit down. Charles didn't arrange any more dates—he just took her gliding in the sky on Chongming.
Looking down over Clover Castle, Stella said, "Charles, were the things Conrad said true?"
Charles could certainly guess that Stella still cared about what Conrad had said regarding the country's darkness. After a moment's thought, he said, "Yes. The country's darkness bears the vast majority of the blame for Conrad ending up where he is.
"But where doesn't darkness exist? Even in Butei Academy there were cases of people like Kurogane being persecuted. The familias in Orario are constantly scheming against each other."
Stella fell silent. Having seen it first-hand, how could she not know Charles was right?
At Butei Academy, Kurogane Ikki had run into no end of hardship because his magic was weak. The title "Failed Knight" never carried any good meaning.
Framed, set up, even drugged—too many dark things had happened to him.
And it wasn't just Ikki himself; even at the national level it was the same. Tsukikage Bakuya collaborated with terrorists for his political aims, and the Bald Eagle started wars with abandon for hegemony.
In Orario, Stella had also witnessed the Ikaros Familia persecuting Xenos.
And a world like Seven Deadly Sins goes without saying—prejudice and war between races were everywhere.
When you think about it, unfairness and irrationality can't be avoided in any world.
Charles gently wrapped his arms around Stella and said, "But opposite that, every world has people who pursue the light. Precisely because such people exist, even with darkness, hope isn't lost.
"And those who chase the light will tear open the night and usher in the dawn with their own hands. Even if they themselves can't, those who inherit their will in the future eventually will."
Stella nodded. "I understand. So what Conrad intends will indeed destroy this country's darkness, but it will also destroy the hope of the light."
Charles interlaced his fingers with hers. "That's why we'll stop him."
Then he smiled. "Though my reason for fighting isn't that lofty! The guy's trying to destroy the whole kingdom and endanger my friends and family, so I'm going to knock him flying!"
Stella smiled—the candor of her boyfriend was sometimes quite endearing. Fighting for friends and family was, after all, part of why she'd fallen for Charles.
Just then, contact came through from Marx.
"Conrad's position has been confirmed. All Magic Knights on standby, assemble immediately!"
Charles sighed and patted Chongming, signaling him to head back.
When he and Stella returned, they ran right into Yami leading the Black Bulls out.
After meeting up with the others, they headed to Knights HQ together, where the elite of all nine Magic Knight squads had already assembled.
The Magic Knights are, after all, a military organization; they formed up swiftly.
Time was tight. Julius appeared before everyone and skipped the fluff.
"Everyone, Conrad has begun to move, and the place he has appeared is…!"
As he spoke, Julius glanced in the Black Bulls' direction, then at the Golden Dawn.
"It's the border village of Hage, which is also one of the singularities!"
Asta couldn't sit still the moment he heard it. He instinctively started to speak, but Charles stopped him.
"Asta, calm down! We'll stop him!"
Though Charles sounded calm, he couldn't help sighing for hapless Hage.
If you had to name the most frequently ravaged place in this world, the Clover royal capital would surely rank first.
The main players are active there, and key items are stored there. Whether it's villains showing off or stealing what they need, hitting the capital is inevitable.
So what did Hage Village do to deserve this? Several villains had caused trouble there.
Who knew whether it was because the first Wizard King had vanquished a demon there, making it a legendary spot and leaving behind the demon skull, or because two protagonists—Asta and Yuno—had come from there.
Either way, the feng shui of Hage Village was bad—it had caught the villains' eye!
While Charles's thoughts were running wild, Marx opened a magic screen in midair.
On it was a massive blue-violet barrier inverted over the ground, sealing a huge area with the demon skull at the center.
The image panned around the barrier, showing the surrounding scene.
Hage Village was within the barrier; it didn't seem damaged yet, which let Charles, Asta, and Yuno breathe a little easier for the moment.
Then Charles noticed more details. The three other Wizard Kings stood guard at three directions outside the barrier, forming a second line of defense beyond it.
It was easy to imagine that this line might be even harder to break than the barrier itself.
The image completed a circle and focused inward, and since the barrier was transparent, everyone could see Conrad standing atop the demon skull.
Only now, unlike a few days ago, his head of black short hair had turned completely white—though his expression hadn't changed in the slightest.
Just as Julius anticipated, Conrad had used his own lifespan to force the magic fusion along.
Julius said, "According to the intel we have, Conrad hasn't completed the fusion. He still needs the power of the leylines to succeed, so we still have time.
"But the time we have isn't much—at most until dusk."
Charles did the math. From now until dusk, there were at most four hours left. The countdown had begun.
Julius continued, "Our opponent is a Wizard King, so this will be a hard fight.
"But we are Magic Knights; protecting the people is our duty. Whether this country has a future depends on this battle.
"Now I issue the Wizard King's order: all Magic Knight squads move out for Hage Village. Each squad will fulfill its objectives under its captain's command.
"Asta, your Anti-Magic is our hope. The Black Bulls will cover you with everything they've got—breaking the barrier is up to you!
"Unfortunately, Conrad struck the No. 0 Magic Research Institute before us and destroyed the magic tools we had prepared.
"For now, we can only hope your Anti-Magic will halt the sword's fusion spell. If there's no other choice, I authorize you to destroy the Imperial Sword.
"Compared to the lives of our people, a so-called national treasure is not worth caring about!"
"Sir!"
The plan was simple. Everyone saluted at once and began to move according to orders.
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