One week later.
On the outskirts of Hage Village, deep within the forest—
Crash!
A tree nearly eight meters tall toppled with a thunderous roar, startling birds and insects into frantic flight.
Yuuki brushed the drifting dust aside with his palm and stepped toward the fallen trunk. Axe in hand, he began trimming away the branches with careful, methodical strokes.
Of course—
If he wished, he could reduce the entire tree to a smooth log in an instant.
But he didn't.
Instead, he worked patiently, shaving off each branch by hand—
Just like he used to.
Back before he ever received his grimoire.
Back when he, Asta, and Yuno chopped firewood together.
The difference was—
Back then, he had no choice.
Now, this was control.
Replacing Painting Magic with Beast Magic in the Ten Spheres had been an exceptionally wise decision.
His body now possessed physical strength nearly equivalent to when he fully enhanced himself with Beast Magic.
But that wasn't all.
Beast Magic wasn't limited to bodily reinforcement.
"Phew—phew."
Yuuki gave a light whistle.
The birds that had fled moments ago returned, one by one, landing on the branches he'd cut and carrying them off into the deeper forest.
Insects crawled out from beneath the soil, clearing splinters and scattered debris.
From a distance, the scene looked almost—
Harmonious.
Natural.
Once the trunk was stripped clean, even the ground beneath it was spotless.
Yuuki straightened up. A thin streak of golden light flashed at his fingertip—
The trunk split cleanly into sections, which floated neatly toward the stacked firewood nearby.
Then he turned toward another tree.
He had been back in Hage for two days now.
When he first appeared, Father Orsi and Sister Lily had been visibly startled.
But unexpectedly—
They hadn't asked anything.
And he hadn't offered explanations.
By day, he gathered firewood or hauled water.
By night, he told stories to the children at the church.
Life felt almost the same as before.
Mariella, Rebecca, Valtos, and the others had already relocated to the floating fortress, which would serve as the new base of the Eye of the Midnight Sun.
With Dominante's assistance and his own Permeation Magic, Yuuki had cloaked the fortress in a permeation-based concealment state. Even if someone searched for it, they wouldn't detect a trace.
The Imperial Sword was required to power the fortress—
But it had greater importance to him.
So, he removed it and replaced its function with magic stones as the power source.
So far—
It worked.
As for the royal capital—
Yuuki hadn't paid much attention this past week.
However, through the remnants of the Eye's old network, Valtos and Sally had gathered information.
Unlike the original course of events, Asta and Yuno had not been tried by the Magic Parliament.
After all—
Yuuki had taken on the role of "the most heinous criminal in the kingdom's history."
That title circulated quietly among the captains.
His crimes—and those of the Eye—had officially been pardoned by the king.
Publicly.
Privately, however—
The royal family, nobles, and captains had convened a meeting to discuss "subjugating Yuuki and the Eye of the Midnight Sun."
It had gone nowhere.
Not because they lacked the will—
But because Yuuki had defeated every single captain.
Power spoke louder than indignation.
Meanwhile, the declaration he'd made—allowing civilians to form their own Magic Knight squads—
Had begun to ripple across the kingdom.
To the nobles, it looked like chaos.
To Yuuki—
It looked like vitality.
Thud!
Another stack of chopped wood landed neatly.
Yuuki glanced up at the sun, now high overhead, and set the axe aside with a relaxed stretch.
"After a few days… I've fully adjusted to this body."
He flexed his fingers, summoning his silver grimoire into his hand.
"The ritual succeeded. But improving at the same speed as before… won't be possible."
His tone carried faint regret.
Now that he possessed the Divine State, strengthening further required increasing his mana.
But his mana had undergone qualitative evolution.
Replicating human grimoires would no longer grant the same explosive growth.
Human mana—
And his—
Were fundamentally different now.
Slow accumulation was one path.
Devil mana might be another.
But the gates of the underworld remained closed.
Only devil hosts existed for now.
Yuuki's gaze fell to his grimoire.
"Is there… a ceiling?"
Before, he could endlessly devour grimoires, growing without limit.
Now—
He sensed a threshold.
And the only way beyond it…
"Three-leaf evolving into four-leaf… luck?"
His eyes deepened.
He closed them.
Within his soul, the Kabbalah Tree diagram rotated steadily.
But his attention shifted beyond it.
Once, beyond his soul had been nothing but darkness.
Now—
Faint star-like lights flickered in the void.
His soul seemed suspended within a cosmos.
Most of the stars were dim.
A few shone more clearly.
Yuuki focused on those brighter points.
Moments later—
He opened his eyes.
A faint silver glint passed through them.
"Time for lunch."
He slung the axe over one shoulder and walked back toward the village.
The green ring at his left ankle flashed briefly—
A gust of wind lifted the enormous pile of firewood and carried it along behind him.
When villagers saw him from afar—
They scattered immediately.
Yuuki smiled wryly.
Soon, the dilapidated church came into view.
He still didn't understand why Father Orsi refused to rebuild it properly.
Between what he, Asta, and Yuno had sent home each month, they could've built something grand.
He set the wood outside—the yard had no more room.
Stepping inside, he prepared to greet Sister Lily—
But paused.
Helping her hang laundry—
Stood a blond-haired boy.
Yuuki's pupils contracted.
Then—
A faint smile curved his lips.
"So, you've come."
Wizard King Julius Novachrono.
(End of chapter)
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