Bai En, who entered the darkness, felt the strange magic in the air. Following the magic forward, the surroundings began to change. The zero-gravity flight space regained gravity, and Bai En landed on the ground.
Looking up at the sky, a suspended staircase spiraled upwards, seemingly connecting to the dome, and the walls around were made of countless stones.
Although he didn't have exploration magic like Mimosa and Nancy, his path forward was actually quite simple: straight up to the top space with a door.
Constantly exchanging coordinates, Bai En's figure flickered, moving upwards at an extremely fast pace.
He had never been to the Shadow Palace, so he could only achieve position exchange and alteration through the coordinates visible within his line of sight.
Before long, Bai En followed the passage to the very top of the Shadow Palace. What appeared before his eyes and attracted his gaze was a stone door on the wall.
The white stone door showed no discernible material. It was tightly shut, as if preventing things from entering from outside, or perhaps prohibiting things from leaving from inside.
Bai En moved closer, admiring the golden patterns on the stone door. Circles of spiral-shaped special characters were something he had never seen before; perhaps they were ancient magical script.
The stone door, deeply embedded in the wall, made Bai En ponder some unknown matters—answers that even he, as a transmigrator, had not obtained.
For example: Who left this door?
Are there really "gods" in this world?
Where are they? And what do they look like? Bai En had heard several things about the gods of this world: the grimoire tower and grimoire were products left by the God of Wisdom... the dwarves and dryads received divine oracles... and the clown who claimed to have glimpsed a god in the Dungeon... He had not yet received any information about these.
Just as Bai En was about to discard these currently unanswerable questions and focus on preparing for the upcoming battle against the devil, a sharp white slash suddenly flew from behind him.
"Don't... open... that door, stay... stay far... away from it..."
Speaking in a stammering manner, the newcomer was undoubtedly Licht, who had not fully recovered his memories and was acting on instinct. He was holding the demon-dweller sword and facing Bai En.
Bai En raised his hand, indicating that he did not wish to continue fighting him.
"There's no reason for us to keep fighting. I know why you're here."
"The devil will come here, right?"
Hearing Bai En mention the devil, Licht, holding the demon-dweller sword, swayed slightly. After a minute of silence, he stammered, "Who... are... you?"
"What... do... you... want... to... do?"
"Me? Bai En Laikester, a Magic Knight of the Clover Kingdom. As for why I'm here? Isn't it obvious? Of course, it's to deal with the devil."
"Why... do... you... know... these... things?"
The stammering way of speaking made one a bit uncomfortable.
Bai En patiently replied, "I've read more books, so I know more secret things. For example: five hundred years ago, besides the First Magic Emperor Lumiere defeating the Demon God, another major event occurred: the entire Elf Tribe was annihilated overnight..."
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Upon receiving news that the Royal Capital was in turmoil, Asta and his group quickly returned from the Forsaken Realm to the Royal Capital. To speed up their support and save more people, the group dispersed when passing Hage Village, using demon-slayer sword along the way to dispel the "resurrection" magic that possessed the elves.
Thus, they finally entered the Shadow Palace shortly after its entrance appeared.
At this moment, Yuno, who had entered the Shadow Kingdom, faced Laiya, Bartoli, and the reincarnated Ronnie.
Looking at the person who arrived below, and the conspicuous magic stone on his neck, Bartoli and the other two couldn't help but say, "I didn't expect you to ambush Ade and his group who went to meet you, and come here yourself..."
"But it's great that you made it here safely on your own."
"Now, hand over that magic stone to me."
Yuno merged with the wind spirit, entering a Spirit Assimilation state.
The few of them engaged in battle. Imitation Magic and Light Magic simultaneously released Swords of Judgment. Countless sharp swords rained down like raindrops, but Yuno used Mana Zone to perform the "Spirit's Silent Dance," dodging the dense and swift light swords.
His formidable talent, coupled with his unparalleled control over Mana Zone, made him appear at ease and exceptionally relaxed.
Under the barrage of light swords, Ronnie, another member of the Elf trio, suddenly appeared behind Yuno. Yuno turned to dodge, but his position abruptly changed. Ronnie seized the gap and snatched the blue magic stone with a white cross from Yuno's neck.
'I... was moved. Can this guy forcibly swap the positions of objects he has touched?'
Looking at the necklace snatched by the elf, Yuno said coldly, "I don't know what a magic stone is, but that's mine... Give it back!"
Ronnie ignored Yuno, merely quietly examining the blue magic stone in his hand.
"Well done, Ronnie." Laiya smiled as he jumped down the steps, praising, "You've always won at hide-and-seek since way back when."
Ronnie picked up the magic stone and whispered, "With this, everything I've done before will finally pay off!"
The smile on Laiya's face abruptly froze. His floating grimoire silently flipped open. He quickly drew his sword and slashed, his target surprisingly being Ronnie.
"Imitation Magic, Dark Entanglement: Nameless Slash!"
A black flying slash raged in the air.
No one expected Laiya's sudden move.
Ronnie flickered and appeared at the base of the steps, a small stone quietly falling to the ground.
"Mr. Laiya, what are you doing? Why are you attacking your own people!" Bartoli questioned.
Yuno also looked bewildered at this scene. 'Are they having an internal conflict?'
"You lied just now, Ronnie!" Laiya looked coldly at the man holding the magic stone and standing on the base. "Indeed, you're not Ronnie, are you?"
"You're that guy!"
"That guy? Mr. Laiya, what are you talking about?" Bartoli's face was full of confusion.
As an elf, Laiya had always possessed the ability to see through lies, which also allowed him to discern clues on the night the Elf Tribe was massacred five hundred years ago.
For example: Because of Lumiere's betrayal, we elves were annihilated by humans—this statement was a lie fabricated by someone before their death!
If that statement was a lie, then the truth was that Lumiere had not betrayed them.
The only reason he hadn't told the other elves about this was his own selfishness. The reality that the human royal family destroyed the elves was beyond question. He didn't want to use Lumiere's matter to diminish the elves' desire for revenge against humans, and he also wanted to see Licht one more time to understand the truth of the matter.
So... who fabricated that lie on that night?
Laiya only began to re-examine the entire matter when Bai En specifically asked him if he knew what the five-leaf grimoire represented, until... when flying to the Royal Capital, he finally understood.
What was stored in the five-leaf grimoire... was a devil!
...