Few Minutes Earlier
Sweet.
El laughed inwardly as he looked at the bright golden cards that had recently surfaced.
⚔️ [Mission Interface]
Mission: Newbie Hunting
Rank: B
Time Limit: 30 Minutes
Objective: Defeat all the willing participants standing in the arena without letting them touch you, The more the participants higher the
Reward: ??
Failure: Seal on Instant Transmission ability for a week.
[Accept / Reject]
⚔️ [Mission Interface]
Mission: Captain Hunting (0/8)
Rank: A
Time Limit: NA
NAObjective: Defeat all Captains in individual combat.
Reward: A Rank Ability Card or Treasure & 1,000 Xeni Coins
Failure: NA
[Accept / Reject]
Of course, El accepted both missions—but what happened next made his head spin.
[You has been found to be overqualified to accept Mission: Newbie Hunting due to Skill gap, Ability Card above Rank B are sealed]
Missions issued by the grimoire were rarities, like finding water in a desert, and El had no intention of wasting such an opportunity, even if he failed.
He disappeared from the platform where the captains stood and reappeared high in the sky floating in the air with the assistance of his rune inscribed robes, far higher to look down upon the entire city.
But first, let's dwindle their numbers a little.
He muttered as two red cards materialized before him.
[Green (Rank C) → Red (Rank B) → White (Rank A) → Black (Unique Rank S)]
The first card revealed itself.
[Card Rank: B]
Ability Holder: Mega Darkrai
Effect: Summon Darkrai for 5 minutes who unleashes a shadowy vortex, pulling all nearby enemies into a deep slumber for 15 Minutes. While asleep, affected targets experience vivid nightmares, causing mental strain and gradual mana drain.
Weakness: Ineffective against enemies with high mental resilience, Dark element Ability.
Condition to make this ability permanent: Capture Darkrai and seal it in the grimoire.
'Where can I find this creature in this world?' El thought as he stared at the image of the ghostly demon on the card.
'It pains me to part with this card, but it's been lying unused in the grimoire for four years. I wasn't planning on making this ability permanent anyway—and first impressions matter.'
He crushed the card in his hand, and his mind was instantly flooded with unfamiliar information.
El began descending slowly. The moment he came into view, every eye in the arena locked onto him—or more precisely, onto the presence looming behind him.
A towering, hundred-foot visage of Darkrai took form. Its body was wreathed in an endless swirl of shadows, its pitch-black figure almost intangible, shifting like living smoke.
A ghostly white mane obscured most of its face, from which a single piercing blue eye gleamed. Crimson wisps coiled around its neck, exuding a silent, suffocating menace that sent shivers down the spines of all who gazed upon it.
"So cool…"
The words escaped from Leo and Asta standing in the arena and El couldn't agree more.
Soon, the visage behind El brought its massive hands together, forming a huge black, Purplish shadowy orb between them. The act alone drained nearly twenty-five percent of El's mana, instantly putting everyone below on edge.
"Oy, oy, oy, what are you planning?" Yami shouted, drawing his sword as he sensed El's qi and realized he fully intended to unleash the attack.
"Don't worry, Yami. He won't harm anyone." the Wizard King said calmly, at his words, Yami reluctantly sheathed his blade.
Intimidated by the presence of the mighty Darkrai, twelve Magic Knights fled the arena outright, while the rest hurriedly formed defensive and counter-magic spells.
They expected a massive beam of black energy to erupt from the orb, just like before. Instead, the enormous sphere shattered into hundreds of smaller black orbs that rained down toward the remaining candidates.
Some of the initial volley collided with incoming spells and were destroyed, but most slipped through, engulfing participants who lacked the mobility to evade due to the dense crowd around them.
Each black orb was an intermediate-level spell. The relentless barrage quickly became overwhelming for the newly promoted junior Magic Knights.
The number of participants dwindled like falling dominoes. Most collapsed unconscious, while others chose to flee, reducing the count to roughly thirty-six within a minute.
Chaos consumed the arena as weaker knights clung to stronger ones, only to be overwhelmed together.
Still, a few individuals stood out.
One of them was the Anti-Magic Brat.
Any black sphere that touched his massive sword disintegrated instantly. Not only did he defend himself, but he also shielded others nearby, earning their approval.
Not far from him, Yuno fought with flawless precision. He attacked and defended effortlessly, without a hint of sweat or concern. He was even free enough to launch attacks toward El in the sky.
El countered by constantly shifting his position using Instant Transmission, while Darkrai remained fixated on its place but yuno's attacks passed harmlessly through Darkrai's visage, failing to inflict any damage.
Among the remaining candidates, few were particularly impressive. Even Leopold Vermillion was sweating profusely, forced into nonstop defense with no sign of reprieve.
His fire magic proved highly effective against the void orbs—more so than Yuno's wind magic, which mostly scattered them.
As for Noelle—
"Eh? Where did she go?" El muttered, scanning the battlefield as if expecting a surprise attack.
He soon spotted her unconscious near the center of the arena.
I think I overestimated her strength, El thought, shifting his focus elsewhere. Even unconscious candidates had their uses later.
The captains clicked their tongues in frustration as they watched the candidates they had scouted falter. Meanwhile, the Wizard King ignored the chaos entirely, his eyes shining as he observed El's magic with fascination.
He deliberately reached out and grasped the void orb, intent on experiencing its effects firsthand. In an instant, a black shadow swallowed him whole, dragging his consciousness away but the very next second, his eyes snapped open.
He was fully awake—only to find the other captains and Marx, his assistant, staring at him in awkward silence.
"Ah—my apologies," the Wizard King said lightly, utterly unashamed as he turned his gaze back toward the arena."I was merely testing the magic. It's quite intriguing."
A minute passed before El's attention snapped to Yuno and Asta, who appeared to be discussing something urgently and Leopold soon joined them.
El immediately understood their plan.
They should've tried this sooner, he thought, glancing at the twenty-six remaining candidates. It's about time I tested their strength.
Asta planted his feet and raised his greatsword skyward as Yuno engulfed him in a roaring tornado. Leopold reinforced it with fire, creating a combined Anti-Wind-Fire tornado spell.
Yuno's wind propelled Asta forward. Leopold's flames incinerated incoming void orbs, and Asta's Anti-Magic carved a path through the remnants.
They launched Asta like a cannon—straight toward El, or more precisely, toward Darkrai's looming visage.
They assumed Darkrai couldn't move, having remained stationary since the beginning but they were wrong.
Before Asta could strike, Darkrai moved for the first time.
Soon Asta lost momentum and began to fall—but before gravity claimed him, he hurled his massive sword with all his strength toward Darkrai's single eye.
The blade pierced straight through at lightning speed and this time the mist scattered violently. Darkrai's form unraveled, vanishing before the five-minute duration had elapsed.
Asta's sword clattered to the edge of the arena as his body fell down, only for Yuno to cushion his fall.
That's straight-up cheating, El thought irritably. A card that took me two days to earn by clearing a B-rank dungeon, undone in minutes.
The so-called Rain of Nightmares ceased, revealing a clear sky once more—aside from the lone eye-shore floating above the arena.
"That was fantastic," El said as he descended slowly toward the center.
Several spells immediately targeted him, but he vanished mid-air, reappearing at the edge of the arena beside Asta's fallen sword.
"Damn it," Leopold growled, exhausted. "That teleportation ability is such a pain. No wonder he was so confident—we'll never touch him if he keeps moving like that."
El pulled the massive sword from the ground and hurled it toward Asta with all the force he could muster. Asta, who had just been cushioned by Yuno's wind magic, caught the blade effortlessly.
After witnessing Darkrai's defeat and sensing the sword for those brief moments, El fully understood how potent Anti-Magic was—even in its sealed state.
With some refinement… it might even be able to lift my sister's curse, El thought, before refocusing on the battlefield.
Seeing El completely unbothered as he faced the remaining twenty opponents, everyone realized that he wouldn't go down unless they worked together. Without hesitation, they scattered into smaller groups, surrounding him from all sides.
"Please understand, there is no pride for us in ganging up on you," Leopold said grimly. "But for the kingdom's reputation, we won't back down."
"Then allow me to apologize as well," El replied calmly, "for using your comrades against you."
The second red card floating beside El dissolved into golden particles, and once again, knowledge flooded his mind.
[Card Rank: B]
Ability Holder: Ninja Sasori
Spell: Hundred Puppet Technique
Effect: Controls hundred targets at the same time like puppets including their unique ability.
Weakness: The target must remain unconscious, surrendering 100 percent of their will.
Condition to make this ability permanent: Turn your own body into a puppet.
'Like hell I'd permanently etch this ability,' El thought coldly.
For a moment, nothing happened—and confusion spread across the arena.
But soon around the remaining participants, unconscious Magic Knights began to rise. Their eyes were hollow, devoid of emotion, like lifeless puppets standing once more.
"Oh, by the way," El said casually, "this is my last trick. If you can survive this, I'll fight you seriously."
***
Author Note: The B-Rank cards are few, and they'll hardly appear later in the story, so I won't go into detail about how he obtained them. Just enjoy the fight—and let me know your thoughts.