"Let's have a real fight!"
Ryoma tilted his head, dodging the finger that was almost poking his face.
He calmly put away the frozen grimoire, the confidential documents, and the exquisite crystal magic tool, one by one, ensuring they were secure. Throughout the entire process, he completely ignored the astonishing fighting spirit erupting from Luck.
"Mission first." He calmly uttered.
"If you have too much energy, you can go help Magna tie those people tighter."
"Or, go outside and smash some rocks to let off steam."
"Huh?!"
The smile on Luck's face froze.
Boring! So boring!
He then saw Magna, who had finished dealing with all the captives, curiously approaching.
"Hey, how did you even do that, you bastard?" Magna pointed at the enemies on the ground, then at himself and Luck.
This question finally drew a sliver of attention from Luck as well. He was also curious why his magic perception had been deceived so thoroughly.
Ryoma glanced at them, mainly addressing Magna, who was still capable of normal communication.
"That barrier is called the 'Sensory Labyrinth'." His voice was calm, as if stating a trivial matter.
"It can distort and amplify the five senses of those within it, creating illusions. The enemies you saw, the sounds you heard, and even the flow of magic were all fake."
"Huh? All fake?" Magna looked shocked.
"More or less." Ryoma nodded.
"However, any magic barrier has its veins and nodes. I simply used my ice crystal to attach to every node of the barrier."
He paused, explaining in the simplest terms, "You can think of it as me seizing partial control of the barrier."
"Then, I projected incorrect images to each of you separately."
"And I planned a 'shortest route' for you, making you think you were chasing fleeing enemies, but in reality, you were charging straight into their stronghold."
"The barrier itself, under my deception, cleared a path for you."
"..."
"..."
Magna and Luck fell silent. Their brains were working hard to process this information.
Simply put... they had been completely manipulated from beginning to end. Every action, every attack, was within Ryoma's calculations.
They were like two sharp swords, held by Ryoma, accurately piercing the enemy's heart.
"Damn it! I feel even more annoyed!" Magna yelled, clutching his head.
Luck's eyes, on the other hand, gleamed, and the lightning around him once again uncontrollably overflowed.
"Quick! The mission's done now! Fight me!"
Ryoma sighed, too lazy to bother with the battle maniac any longer.
He picked up the spy leader, frozen into an ice sculpture, as if carrying a piece of cargo.
"Let's go, turn in the mission."
...
Magic Knight Squad, Mission Debriefing Area.
When Ryoma, Magna, and Luck appeared there, escorting a long line of captives and carrying the intact confidential documents and evidence, the entire hall fell into a deathly silence.
The staff member in charge of debriefing rubbed his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating.
"Black... Black Bulls people?"
"Mission accomplished!"
Magna slammed the mission form onto the table, his face smug, chin held high.
"All the captives are here, not a single one died. This is the leader, he's frozen, please handle him carefully."
"These are the stolen confidential documents, perfectly intact."
Ryoma placed the items one by one on the counter.
"Oh, and this, it should be the magic tool used to set up the barrier, submit it as well."
The staff member's mouth was wide enough to fit an egg.
He looked at the string of captives tightly bound with flame ropes, then at the sparkling, transparent humanoid ice sculpture, and finally his gaze fell blankly on the perfectly intact documents.
This... this was really a mission completed by the Black Bulls?
Shouldn't they have blown up the entire mine and then dug out some remnants from the rubble to turn in?
There were survivors?
And the documents were perfectly intact?!
"Un... unbelievable..."
Other staff members around gathered, pointing and gesturing at the pile of "trophies," their faces filled with shock.
"I'm not seeing things, am I? The Black Bulls actually captured people alive?"
"What's with that ice sculpture? Such powerful freezing magic."
"The documents aren't even damaged. This isn't their style."
Magna listened to the discussions around him, his vanity immensely satisfied.
He put his hands on his hips and burst into laughter. "Of course. What did you expect from us?"
"We are the Black Bulls. A mere group of spies, we dealt with them in minutes. Hahahahaha!"
He boasted endlessly, as if it were all his own credit.
Luck, meanwhile, impatiently tapped his foot on the ground, muttering, "So slow... When can we go back and fight..."
Ryoma silently completed all the procedures.
After confirming all the items and tallying the merits, the staff member looked at them with an expression as if they were monsters.
"The merits have been recorded and reported. Additionally, the extra bonus for this mission will be issued to your squad after review."
"Oh! A bonus!" Magna's eyes lit up.
He was already calculating how to use the money to get some new parts for his "Red Zero Catastrophe Dispeller."
"Let's go! Let's go!"
Luck grabbed Ryoma's arm, wanting to drag him out.
"Hurry back! Let's fight!"
Ryoma stumbled as he was pulled, following helplessly.
Caught between Magna's boasting and Luck's urging, they left the hall.
On the way back, Luck still clung to Ryoma like a sticky candy.
"The mission's over! Now we can fight!"
"Let's fight! Just one fight!"
"Let me see your true strength!"
Magna followed alongside, happily calculating the bonus.
"We got merits this time, captain will definitely be happy. I wonder how much of the bonus I'll get... Hmm, at least I need to get a brand new set of flame accelerators for my 'Little Red'."
Ryoma walked in the middle, oblivious to the noise from both sides, his expression calm. Occasionally, he would let out an "Mm" or "Oh" from his nose to humor them.
Just as the three of them stepped into the Black Bulls' base, Ryoma's footsteps suddenly stopped.
Hmm?
He frowned slightly, then sharply raised his head, looking towards the forest on the other side of the base.
An extremely vast, yet chaotic, magical power erupted from that direction. That magical power was wild, surging, and carried a hint of being out of control. Its intensity even far surpassed any squad member he had seen before.
At the same time, Luck and Magna also felt that wild magic.
"Hey..."
The smile on Magna's face instantly vanished, replaced by a look of astonishment.
"This magic... it's so massive!"
Luck temporarily dropped the idea of pestering Ryoma for a fight, looking towards the depths of the forest in surprise.
"Wow... it seems something has gone out of control."
Ryoma stood still, his gaze deep.
This magic... a silver-haired girl's figure instantly appeared in his mind.
Noelle Silva.
This made him pause in surprise.
Even without Magna leading Asta around the base, did Asta still accidentally stumble upon Noelle's secret?
This scene of Noelle's magic going berserk still happened.
And... what a coincidence!
It just so happened to occur precisely when he had just returned from a mission.