Boom—!!!
With a deafening roar, the Skywind Ark suddenly burst out of the Magic Palace's entrance!
Violent air currents swept out from behind them, mixed with countless shattered rocks and dust.
Everyone looked back at the ancient Magic Palace, which had now completely turned into a ruin, deeply sunken into the earth.
Everything was buried.
The flying boat landed steadily on the ground, the strong winds dissipated, and the relieved crowd disembarked.
"We...we're saved..."
Asta plopped down on the ground, gasping for breath.
Everyone else also looked terrified; they had almost been buried there forever.
Lorne didn't speak; he just quietly stared at the ruins, his brows tightly furrowed.
Something was wrong, everything was too coincidental!
Mars's disappearance, his grimoire was also gone.
And that loud sound of destruction, clearly from outside, was the fuse that caused the entire Magic Palace to collapse.
It was clearly man-made, and the most likely culprit was probably Rotas!
That guy who uses smoke weakening magic and possesses invisibility.
Lorne's mind raced, connecting all the clues.
First, Rotas was defeated by Asta in the previous battle, then he used smoke weakening magic to hide and escape, waiting for an opportunity.
Then, they defeated Mars.
Rotas took advantage of everyone entering the treasure vault to rescue the unconscious Mars, and also stole the grimoire that Klaus had taken.
Finally, and most crucially, he attacked the Magic Palace's already fragile structure from the outside with magic, triggering a complete collapse!
"That bastard..." Lorne's fists unconsciously clenched.
He understood that Rotas created the chaos to sneak into the treasure vault!
When everyone's attention was on escaping, what could an invisible person do in the treasure vault?
The answer was obvious; that guy must have taken the opportunity to loot extensively!
Lorne even had a strong premonition.
That guy probably used his invisibility to quietly follow behind them, using the path Yuno opened, and escaped unharmed!
They risked their lives to clear the way, only to do the enemy's bidding.
"Damn it!"
Lorne cursed under his breath.
"Lorne? What's wrong?"
Noelle heard his voice and asked curiously.
"Nothing."
Lorne shook his head, not revealing his suspicions.
There was no point in saying anything now; there was no evidence, and the person had long vanished.
He just deeply etched the name Rotas, and that despicable face, into his mind.
He would settle this score later.
After a brief rest, everyone set off on their journey home.
Yuno, Klaus, and Mimosa, belonging to the Golden Dawn, parted ways with the Black Bulls and returned to their respective Magic Knight Squad headquarters to report the situation.
When Lorne and the others returned to the Black Bulls' base, they were greeted by the usual clamor.
"Oh, oh, oh! You kids, you're back safely!"
Vanessa, tipsy, held up a wine bottle, a charming smile on her face.
"I was very worried too."
Gordon mumbled in his almost inaudible voice.
The next second, Magna and Finral also rushed out of the room.
"You guys! You're back too slow!"
Magna yelled loudly, but the concern in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
Charmy still held a plate of freshly roasted meat, offering it.
"Eat, eat quickly! Replenish your strength!"
The entire base instantly became even livelier than usual with the return of the four.
As night fell, a grand banquet was naturally held.
"Look! Look at this! This is what I found in the Magic Palace! A super—amazing sword!"
In the center of the banquet, Asta excitedly held up his giant demon-slayer sword, showing it off to everyone.
This time, he wasn't unconscious from severe injuries; he was full of energy.
"Oh? Looks pretty good, kid."
Captain Yami appeared in the crowd at some point, a cigarette in his mouth, examining the sword with interest.
"Hehehe!" Asta chuckled foolishly with pride.
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