If it were all fabricated, that would be one thing.
But if it were true…
Sally suddenly took a step back, tilting her head. Her pale red eyes flickered as she looked at Yuuki, who stood opposite her, still wearing that gentle, tranquil expression.
For the first time, she realized that the Yuuki who had always fascinated her now felt strangely unfamiliar—like she was only just truly meeting him.
She blurted out instinctively, "Just who… are you, really?"
"I'm a member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun, aren't I?" Yuuki said with a soft smile, cutting her off before she could finish.
"Heehee, I'll investigate it myself," Sally replied, instantly returning to her usual demeanor. Her hands hung loosely within her white robe as she giggled.
She found herself even more interested in Yuuki now.
"Since we're done talking about that, where are the people I asked for?" Yuuki asked.
"They're all in the cave up the mountain," Sally said, waving her sleeve, her tone helpless. "But if you're looking for two people, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed."
Yuuki frowned.
"Heehee—one of them wasn't very well-behaved, so I turned him into an experimental subject," Sally said, licking her lips. "There's only one left—the guy called Neige."
Yuuki's furrowed brow relaxed.
Of the brothers he was searching for, Neige was the only one he cared about anyway. As for Neige's older brother, Yuuki had never been interested in him to begin with.
Now that he knew where the person was, Yuuki turned and prepared to head toward the cave. This time, Sally didn't stop him. Her attention was entirely captured by the stories Yuuki had told.
In her mind surfaced fragments of the strange, seemingly nonsensical words Licht would occasionally utter. Her intuition told her that those stories might be connected to Licht somehow.
As a core member, she had long been shocked—and puzzled—by the overwhelming magic power possessed by Licht and the three leaders of the Third Eye.
When she thought again of the three cloned bodies in her laboratory, the feeling of brushing against a hidden truth only grew stronger.
Just then—
Rapid footsteps approached from the distance. It was the same Eye of the Midnight Sun member who had fled in panic earlier.
"Lady Sally! Lord Yuuki! A message has come from the base—both of you are to go there at once."
The moment he arrived, the man felt the icy gaze from Sally's crimson eyes and hurriedly delivered the message, terrified that even a second's delay would see him turned into an experiment.
"Oh?"
Sally looked surprised and instinctively glanced at Yuuki beside her.
"It seems this will have to wait," Yuuki said calmly, casting a glance toward the cave above.
"Relax, he's just locked in a cage. He won't die," Sally said carelessly.
Yuuki said nothing more. Activating his spatial magic, he took Sally with him and headed straight for the Eye of the Midnight Sun's base.
When the two arrived, Licht, Rades, and Valtos were already waiting.
"You're here," Licht said, as gentle as ever, his warm, comforting smile unchanged.
"Lord Licht."
"Lord Licht."
Yuuki and Sally greeted him immediately, Yuuki putting on an especially respectful front.
"How interesting," Rades said, arms crossed, his voice dripping with malice as he stared at the two of them. "You actually showed up together."
Sally ignored him outright, her gaze flickering as it settled on Licht.
"Mind your own business."
To maintain his persona, Yuuki shot back without hesitation.
Rades' expression darkened further. However, with Lord Licht present, he didn't dare make a move. Besides, the last two times he had tried, Yuuki had blocked him effortlessly, leaving Rades utterly humiliated.
In Rades' view, if he wanted to teach Yuuki a lesson, he'd have to strike fast—so fast Yuuki had no chance to react. After being bound twice in a row by the same Chain Magic, Rades had already thought up a counter.
He shot Yuuki a vicious glare, clearly signaling just you wait.
Yuuki turned his head away, completely unfazed. He hadn't cared to begin with.
Something's off.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yuuki glanced at Valtos standing to the side.
Under normal circumstances, the moment Rades started provoking someone, Valtos would have stepped in to stop him. Yet now, Valtos was uncharacteristically silent.
"Valtos, I'll leave it to you," Licht said with a smile.
"It's my duty, Lord Licht," Valtos replied respectfully, raising his hand as vast spatial magic poured out, enveloping everyone present.
In the next instant—
They vanished.
When they reappeared, they were inside a cavern.
Jagged rock walls stretched deep inward. The cave was enormous, yet it didn't feel dark at all.
That was because high above, to one side, a partially open skylight let sunlight stream in, forming a radiant pillar of light that illuminated what should have been a gloomy cavern.
Yuuki's gaze was immediately drawn to the center.
There stood a massive stone tablet, nearly two meters tall. Apart from the sunlight from outside, the tablet itself emitted a faint glow, giving it an indescribably mystical presence.
With a gentle smile, Licht stepped forward and placed a red magic stone into the center of a circular pattern carved into the tablet.
In that instant, the tablet's glow intensified.
"I know you all have questions about the invasion of the Royal Capital," Licht said, turning back toward Yuuki and the others. "This is the true purpose of the Eye of the Midnight Sun."
Yuuki deliberately showed a look of confusion, sweeping his gaze over the others from the corner of his eye. Clearly, aside from him, Sally and the other two already knew of the tablet's existence—and its purpose.
Rades, in particular, stared at it with burning obsession.
Yuuki, of course, knew of this stone tablet. What puzzled him was why Licht had brought him here. This tablet was the very foundation of Licht and the others—their greatest secret.
Did this mean Licht fully trusted him?
No—absolutely not.
Licht didn't truly trust any human, let alone him.
Yuuki recalled Valtos' earlier silence and quickly understood. Something had gone wrong during the attack on the Royal Capital. As the one most familiar with the plan, Valtos had inevitably drawn Licht's suspicion.
For someone like Licht, who already distrusted humans, suspicion alone was enough.
Bringing Yuuki here likely meant Licht was considering having him replace Valtos.
"These stones embedded in the tablet are called magic stones," Licht continued calmly. "Our attack on the Royal Capital was to obtain the magic stone carried by Fugeoleon."
"As long as we gather all the magic stones, we can activate the forbidden spell engraved on this tablet—allowing us to be reborn into our true forms, ones deeply bound to mana, and gain immense power!"
Licht's gentle voice echoed throughout the cavern.
Yuuki put on an appropriately shocked expression, his eyes fixed intently on the tablet.
Six magic stones were already embedded. Four remained.
One lay in the Seabed Temple.
One in the Witches' Forest.
One at the Black Bulls' base.
And the final one was the stone within Yuno's necklace.
Yuuki knew all of this already.
Yet his gaze wasn't on the magic stones themselves, but on the intricate, mysterious pattern carved into the tablet.
More precisely, that pattern was known as—
the Kabbalah Tree of Life.
(End of Chapter)
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