After hearing the Witch Queen's explanation, clarity dawned in Yuuki's eyes.
So that was it.
No wonder he had never been able to develop a Mana Zone.
His earlier speculation about the Mana Zone hadn't been wrong—it closely matched what the Witch Queen had just explained. The only reason he had doubted himself was because, no matter how hard he tried, he could never actually awaken it. In the end, he had assumed the flaw lay in his understanding and had instead focused all his efforts on refining Mana Skin.
Now he finally understood.
The problem was never his theory.
It was Replication Magic itself.
Yuuki possessed more than seventy completely independent mana cores within his body. Each core represented a distinct magic attribute. Under such circumstances, developing a Mana Zone was nothing short of absurd.
No wonder even his ki had become chaotic—the root of the problem was right here.
When he had first begun fully replicating magic, Yuuki had vaguely sensed that accumulating too many mana sources might cause issues later on.
However—
Each replication not only granted him a new attribute, but also massively increased his total mana pool.
Even with that faint sense of caution, he had still unconsciously amassed more than seventy mana cores.
Thinking about it now, Yuuki felt a headache coming on—but no regret.
After all, without doing so, there was no way he could have attained such overwhelming strength in such a short time.
As for developing a Mana Zone—
Unless he pushed every single mana core to its absolute limit and used them all to pry open the natural mana of each attribute…
He might, in theory, create a Mana Zone more terrifying than anyone else's.
The moment that thought surfaced, Yuuki discarded it.
Setting aside the sheer time and effort required, the very existence of a multi-attribute Mana Zone was questionable to begin with.
Even Yuno, who wielded both Wind Magic and Star Magic, only ever manifested a Wind-attribute Mana Zone.
As for forcibly removing mana cores from his body—
Yuuki didn't even consider it.
He wasn't stupid enough to cripple himself in the name of some abstract "purity."
He quickly realized he had nearly trapped himself in a dead end.
The Mana Zone was merely one powerful path—not the only one.
More importantly, the reason he had come here in the first place was to find a way to unify and command all his mana cores, not abandon them.
Yuuki lifted his head and looked back at the Witch Queen, his expression calm once more.
She noticed the change immediately and was faintly surprised.
From the very beginning, she could tell Yuuki was someone who pursued power. She hadn't expected him to stabilize his emotions so quickly.
"Does the Witch Queen know," Yuuki asked softly,
"how a three-leaf clover grimoire might evolve into a four-leaf clover grimoire?"
The Witch Queen froze—then burst into laughter.
"Don't be ridiculous," she said, clearly amused. "Such a thing is impossible."
So that was what this brat was after.
Pure fantasy.
Yuuki didn't react. He simply watched her calmly as her laughter echoed through the vast hall.
After a while, seeing that his expression hadn't changed in the slightest, the Witch Queen found it dull and gradually stopped laughing.
"I thought someone who has lived as long as the Witch Queen would know more," Yuuki said evenly.
"Seems I overestimated you."
The Witch Queen looked at him with faint disdain—such a crude provocation wouldn't work on her.
But in the very next instant, Yuuki spoke again, and her expression changed completely.
"A four-leaf clover grimoire, when its wielder falls into profound despair, evolves into a five-leaf clover. That evolution is also one of the necessary conditions for devils of the underworld to manifest."
Yuuki leaned back against the vine-woven chair and spoke casually.
Bang!
The Witch Queen abruptly stood up from her crimson seat, shock written plainly across her face.
Those two short sentences revealed secrets of the highest order—secrets within secrets. How could this human possibly know them?
Even she herself did not fully understand the exact conditions required for devils of the underworld to descend.
And yet—he did.
After a brief moment of shock, the Witch Queen regained her composure and sat back down, her expression once more calm and unreadable.
But the way she looked at Yuuki had changed.
"How do you know this?" she asked, her voice carrying an unfamiliar weight.
"Oh? You didn't even suspect me," Yuuki replied with a raised brow and a faint smile—though inwardly, his heart jolted.
That reaction alone meant she did know the condition for evolving a three-leaf clover grimoire into a four-leaf.
"I can sense your heartbeat," the Witch Queen said flatly. "You weren't lying."
Yuuki paused, then muttered with a wry expression,
"What an irritating ability."
It reminded him of a certain member of the Third Eye.
"I've mastered many kinds of magic," Yuuki added casually, deliberately keeping his explanation vague. "Some of them are… unusual."
The Witch Queen accepted that explanation without suspicion.
"In the entire history of the Clover Kingdom," she said,
"there has never been a case of a mage evolving a three-leaf clover grimoire into a four-leaf."
She glanced at Yuuki before continuing calmly.
"However, since a four-leaf can evolve into a five-leaf, it follows that evolution itself is possible."
"Four hundred years ago, I conducted experiments for this very reason."
Yuuki's spirit lifted instantly. He leaned forward, listening intently.
"The conclusion was simple," the Witch Queen said.
"Impossible."
As if anticipating disbelief, she continued.
"You are well aware of what each leaf represents in a Clover grimoire."
"Faith. Hope. Love."
"And the fourth leaf—Luck."
"A four-leaf clover grimoire signifies not only extraordinary talent, but fortune itself."
"To evolve into a five-leaf requires despair."
"But to evolve into a four-leaf, the key is luck."
"Compared to despair, luck is far more abstract."
"If you were truly fortunate enough, you would have received a four-leaf grimoire from the very beginning—not a three-leaf."
"Unless you possessed magic tied to luck itself."
"But if such magic existed, its wielder would already be destined for a four-leaf grimoire."
"Therefore, logically speaking, a three-leaf clover grimoire has no possibility of evolving into a four-leaf."
Her calm voice echoed through the hall.
Yuuki remained silent, his expression unchanged—though his thoughts had grown far heavier.
(End of Chapter)
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