Rune Arrays?
The moment those two words reached his ears, a sharp glint flashed through Yuuki's eyes.
In the entire Black Clover series, "Rune Arrays" didn't appear very often. The most notable example was the Heart Kingdom's special incantation techniques—runes that borrowed the power of natural mana to dramatically boost the potency of magic.
Aside from that was the phenomenon where, whenever a mage mastered a brand-new spell, mysterious characters would appear on the pages of their grimoire.
Yuuki had been interested in Rune Array's since long ago. Especially the Heart Kingdom's system. But forget that level—he couldn't even get his hands on the most basic forms.
This wasn't something just anyone could study. Even if Yuuki wanted to learn, someone had to teach him, and the only people who truly controlled Rune Array were nobles and royals.
Self-study?
Don't joke. It wasn't even a matter of "knowing" the characters—he didn't even know what each rune meant. There was no way to learn on his own.
"A large-scale spatial teleportation array, huh? No wonder…"
Yuuki muttered inwardly.
In the anime, the Eye of the Midnight Sun had used a massive teleportation array to forcibly relocate the other squad captains and the magic knights in the capital. That was what allowed Licht to seize the chance to defeat Fuegoleon.
Yuuki had always wondered—how could Valtos, with his limited mana reserves, activate several large-area spatial transfers in one go?
Now he understood. He had relied on the array. Everything made sense.
As Valtos spoke, he led Yuuki toward the central point of the entire area, explaining the invasion plan along the way.
Everything matched what Yuuki already knew. The only thing Valtos didn't mention was that their target this time was Fuegoleon, Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings.
Yuuki didn't mind. He didn't even bother asking.
Knowing less was better.
If Fuegoleon's fate followed the anime, then the prophecy Yuuki had secretly leaked to Yami would come true. Once that happened, Yami would undoubtedly report it.
At the moment, no one had discovered that Licht and Golden Dawn's Captain William were the same person. If Yami notified the other captains, the message would inevitably reach Licht as well.
This would create a mutual misunderstanding.
The nine Magic Knight Squads would believe someone within the Eye of the Midnight Sun was deliberately leaking intel to help them.
And Licht would believe… there was a traitor among his ranks.
Because no matter how nice Licht sounded on the outside, in his heart he still viewed humans as an untrustworthy race. Naturally, he would assume a traitor had emerged.
And Yuuki—who had only just learned of the capital invasion and knew nothing of its details—clearly wouldn't be within Licht's scope of suspicion.
This was exactly what Yuuki wanted: an open scheme, diverting both sides' attention and giving him room to maneuver.
"Since the plan's been moved forward, we need to speed up the carving of the Rune Array. What comes next is the same work I'm doing. Here—this is for you."
Valtos spoke while handing Yuuki a scroll and a magic tool shaped like the brush used by other members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun.
"The scroll contains the runes you need to carve using spatial mana.
"As for this magic tool, it'll help you convert your mana more effectively into Rune Array."
Yuuki unrolled the scroll. Strange symbols filled the page—some resembled actual letters, others looked like random scribbles, and some were nothing more than wavy lines.
Counting them carefully, there were exactly twenty-six.
"To carve these runes with mana… do you have to use a magic tool like this?"
Yuuki turned the brush-shaped device over in his hands, then looked up at Valtos curiously.
"My research on Rune Arrays is limited," Valtos admitted, "but I do know that some mages can carve runes out of thin air."
He sighed softly.
"But achieving that is extremely difficult. You need immense mana reserves, a deep understanding of Rune Arrays, and extremely refined control over your mana."
Seeing the interest on Yuuki's face, Valtos hurried to continue before Yuuki could ask anything else:
"Carving the runes is what matters now. If you're really interested, you can ask Sally later. The magic tool you're holding was made by him."
Sally, huh?
Yuuki nodded with sudden realization. He'd almost forgotten—besides his obsession with research, Sally was also skilled at crafting magic tools.
That reminded Yuuki of someone else—Dominae.
Perhaps the creation of magic tools was itself a form of applying Rune Array.
Valtos began carving runes in the center of the area, letting Yuuki watch first.
Yuuki quickly noticed that although Valtos was carving the runes shown on the scroll, the sequence changed slightly at certain intervals.
Thankfully, the variations were simple. After watching a few demonstrations, Yuuki had memorized everything.
Then he joined in. His main role was to infuse spatial mana into certain designated runes to speed up the process.
It was… admittedly boring.
But Yuuki was genuinely interested in Rune Arrays, so he soon began helping Valtos carve as well.
It sounded complicated, but in practice it was simple—copying symbols exactly as shown on the scroll, using mana to trace each one. With the magic tool assisting, the whole process became even easier.
There was only one thing to be careful about:
You couldn't make mistakes.
Every rune emitted a faint magical pulse. If he drew one incorrectly, it would become nothing more than a normal mark—easy to spot.
The work continued nonstop until the eastern sky began to brighten.
Only then did they finish. All the runes carved throughout the area vanished completely, as if nothing had ever happened.
"You've done well, Yuuki. With your help, the progress was nearly twice as fast. We'll have to keep at it for the next few days."
Valtos's pale, stiff face softened into a faint smile.
The heart of the teleportation array was spatial mana. In comparison, Yuuki helping carve the runes was—at least in Valtos's eyes—just a minor task.
"All of this is for Lord Licht," Yuuki declared solemnly, forcing himself to look drained, as if he'd consumed too much mana.
(End of Chapter)
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