Roars—harsh, guttural, almost bestial—echoed across the entire village.
As the mindless corpses charged in from every direction, Valtos's already-pale face darkened.
"Rades, what do you think you're doing!"
"This has nothing to do with you. I've been wanting to teach this brat a lesson for a long time!"
Rades flicked his arm. The single exposed eye beneath his hood gleamed with savage intent as he barked the words.
Valtos opened his mouth to speak again, but Yuuki stepped forward first, locking eyes with the man standing atop the rooftop.
"Looks like you didn't learn a damn thing last time, Rades."
His voice was cold—utterly unapologetic.
The air froze. Sparks practically crackled between the two.
Yuuki understood Rades had always disliked him, but he hadn't expected him to attack so abruptly. Then again… this suited Yuuki just fine.
A commoner, yet he happily slaughtered an entire village of commoners—just to prove his strength to the nobles who'd expelled him from the Magic Knights.
How was that any different from those nobles who treated commoners like insects?
Yuuki didn't consider himself a saint. But indiscriminate slaughter was something he refused to do.
Yes, Corpse Magic required bodies to manipulate. But unlike his previous world—where cremation was the norm—this world had cemeteries everywhere. Corpses were not in short supply.
And in the forests, the bodies of magical beasts were not only stronger than those of commoners—they were far more useful.
Which was why Yuuki's expression had grown so cold when he saw Rades turn an entire village into zombies. The man was killing for no reason other than the joy of killing.
There was no real need for conflict here.
But Yuuki disliked him—and Rades had handed him an excuse on a silver platter.
Magic Binding Iron Lock Formation!
With a thought, chains burst from the rooftop, whipping toward Rades with frightening speed.
Despite his bluster, the lone visible eye in Rades's hood flickered with caution.
He still remembered what it felt like to be sealed. He knew he couldn't allow those chains to touch him.
So when he saw the torrent of chains erupt upward, he flinched.
He'd assumed the spell had a limited range. But based on this… they weren't far enough apart to be outside its effective radius.
"I won't let the same spell hit me twice!"
Though startled, Rades barked out a laugh and leapt backward off the roof, using a zombie to shield himself.
"Let's see you deal with this, brat!"
He cackled mid-air, convinced that Yuuki—whose mana he believed to be low—was nothing without that one binding spell.
But Yuuki only smirked.
His mana today was worlds apart from what it had been. The bracelet only masked his mana signature—it didn't weaken his actual spells. If anything, his magic had grown stronger along with him.
A mage's strength comes from mana—and magic.
With a sharp whoosh, the chains twisted, bypassing the zombie completely. Then—
they doubled in speed.
The already fast chains blurred, black streaks cutting through the air before Rades even landed.
In an instant, he was wrapped head-to-toe in chains and suspended mid-air.
"H—how?!"
"Last time, it wasn't this fast…!"
Rades thrashed wildly, face contorting—but the bindings didn't budge.
He had been caught by the same magic twice.
And as his mana sealed, the entire horde of zombies lost their source of magic. The charging corpses froze—then collapsed in unison.
"I never said I used full power last time."
Yuuki's cold voice drifted over as he made a pulling gesture.
Rades's bound body was yanked toward him.
Corpse Magic relied entirely on the corpses it controlled. It did nothing to strengthen the caster himself.
If this were Valtos, the fight would've been far more troublesome.
"Damn you! I was careless, you—!"
Before he finished the sentence, Yuuki's fist filled his vision.
Bang!
A heavy punch smashed into his face, forcing blood from his mouth.
"Yuuki!!"
Rades snarled, turning his head back with difficulty.
"Good. So you do know my name. I thought maybe you'd forgotten."
Yuuki's voice was disturbingly casual as he raised his fist again.
Rades's eyelids twitched.
"Yuuki."
Valtos finally stepped forward, calling his name.
Yuuki paused mid-punch, turned his head, and shrugged.
"He's the one who made the first move."
Valtos nodded. And this time, he looked at Yuuki with real seriousness.
If the first time Rades got captured was "carelessness," then the second time could not be explained that way.
They had underestimated Yuuki.
"Rades," Valtos said sternly, "surely you haven't forgotten Lord Licht's words. We are comrades. We do not harm our own."
Standing to the side, Yuuki watched calmly, though a faint smile flickered in his eyes.
He held the title of one of the four core members of the Eye of the Midnight Sun—but in Valtos and the others' eyes, they hadn't viewed him as an equal.
He hadn't been informed about something as major as the invasion of the capital. That alone made it clear.
But now?
Even someone as arrogant as Rades had no choice but to acknowledge his strength.
Their choice of address had changed. Their attitude had changed.
And that spoke volumes.
Rades was one thing.
Valtos and Sally were true elites.
Hearing Valtos mention Licht, Rades opened his mouth, but ultimately shut it and turned away with a frustrated grunt.
"Yuuki, if you would… please release him."
Valtos finally turned back to him.
But Yuuki didn't move. Instead, he looked over the ruined village—what used to be a home for so many—before turning back to Valtos.
"Our goal in the Eye of the Midnight Sun is to correct this decaying kingdom… to build a new nation where everyone can find happiness, isn't it?"
Valtos blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question, but nodded.
"What are you trying to say?"
Rades snapped, twisting irritably in the chains.
Yuuki ignored him.
He raised a hand toward the countless fallen corpses—once innocent villagers—and met Valtos's gaze.
"A method like this… how is it any different from those nobles?"
The moment he said it—
Valtos froze.
Even Rades stopped squirming.
The three members of the Eye had very different motives.
Sally joined to freely pursue her experiments.
Rades wanted revenge on the nobles who mocked him.
The only one truly dedicated to Licht's dream of a new, ideal kingdom—
was Valtos.
And that was the stance Yuuki wanted to make clear.
A normally quiet man, Valtos fell even further into silence.
He believed wholeheartedly that Lord Licht would build a new world. He was willing to give his life for that dream.
Yet now…
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