Breakfast was as noisy as ever, with voices overlapping, arguments breaking out over food, and Charmy already guarding her plate like it was a battlefield. Plates clattered, someone shouted from across the room, and the chaos carried on like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The noise barely settled as they moved toward the main hall.
The door opened from outside.
Yami Sukehiro walked in first, followed by Magna.
Both of them looked completely unfazed—
despite the fact that they were barely dressed, with only their Black Bulls robes thrown over their shoulders. Everything else had clearly been lost somewhere, most likely in another round of gambling.
Magna scratched the back of his head like nothing was wrong. "Yeah… we lost everything again."
Yami glanced at Asta and Noelle. "Head to the main hall. Wait there."
By the time Asta and Noelle were waiting, the noise in the hall had settled slightly.
The door opened from outside.
Yami stepped in, Magna right behind him—both of them dressed this time.
Magna straightened slightly, then looked toward Asta and Noelle with a grin.
"Alright, listen up. You got your first mission."
He pointed outward.
"We're heading out to hunt boars. Simple job, easy money."
Noelle's expression tightened immediately. "Boars? You expect me—a royal—to go chase animals like that?"
Magna rolled his eyes. "Oi, drop the royal act already. Out here, you do the job you're given."
Yami didn't move, his voice cutting in flatly.
"Go or die."
Noelle stopped.
That was the end of it.
Asta didn't say anything.
They stepped outside.
Magna stretched his shoulders once, then stepped out briefly before returning, dragging his ride along as flames flickered to life when he kicked it forward.
"This," he said with a grin, patting it proudly, "is my ride—Crazy Cyclone. Fastest thing you'll see out here."
Noelle looked at it, unimpressed. "You want me to ride that? It looks like it'll fall apart before we even get there."
Magna shot her a look, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. "If you could actually control your magic, you wouldn't need this. So quit complaining and get on."
She hesitated, clearly not happy, but stepped onto it anyway.
Magna glanced at Asta. "You got your own way, right? Don't slow us down."
Asta stepped onto his sword as it rose beside him, balancing easily.
Magna smirked. "Heh. Try to keep up."
Flames burst forward as he launched into the air, the Crazy Cyclone roaring ahead.
Asta followed.
Then moved past him.
The distance between them shifted quickly as Asta's speed picked up, the sword cutting cleanly through the air while Magna pushed harder behind him.
"Oi! Don't get ahead of yourself!" Magna shouted, leaning forward as flames flared stronger beneath him.
Asta glanced back slightly, a faint smile forming. "Then keep up."
Magna clicked his tongue and accelerated.
The landscape blurred beneath them as they moved, the distance closing steadily.
Asta kept his eyes forward.
They needed to reach the village fast.
As the terrain changed and the outline of the village came into view, Asta slowed.
The mist was already there.
Thick. Still. Covering everything below without shifting.
Asta hovered in place, looking down. "That's not normal."
Magna pulled up beside him, staring at the scene below. "Yeah… that's not right."
The casual tone was gone.
Both of them were already looking at the same thing.
This wasn't a hunting job anymore.
Magna exhaled once, gripping the handle tighter. "Forget the boars. We're going in."
Asta didn't argue.
They dropped straight toward the village.
Asta jumped from the sword, dropping straight toward the center of the village.
As he neared the mist, his arm moved. The blade cut through it, splitting the dense fog and clearing his path as he descended. The village came into view in pieces at first, then fully.
At the center, the village head stood in front of the others, injured but still holding his ground, maintaining the shields to protect people behind him.
Opposite him stood five figures.
The leader was in the middle, already preparing to strike.
He looked up.
His eyes caught the descending figure—the Black Bulls robe visible through the parted mist.
"Magic Knights…? How did they get here so fast…"
The thought didn't finish.
His attack shifted immediately, redirecting upward.
Asta didn't slow.
The incoming ice shot toward him, sharp and direct.
He swung once.
The attack split apart cleanly.
The ground rushed closer.
Asta use the sword to reduce his speed before landing smoothly between the villagers and the attackers.
Another attack came.
He cut it down without pause.
The village head was still standing, injured but alive—Asta let out a small breath. "Made it in time."
A burst of flame followed from above as Magna and Noelle dropped in behind him. He took one look at the scene—the injured village elder, the villagers, the attackers—and his expression hardened.
"What the hell are you doing attacking a village?"
The village elder, still barely standing, lifted his gaze. For a moment, his eyes caught the Black Bulls robe, relief settling in as the tension left his body.
Help had arrived.
His knees gave way, and he dropped to the ground, unable to hold himself up any longer.
The leader's gaze shifted toward Magna, his expression unchanged, as if nothing in front of him carried any weight.
"For our cause, this village is irrelevant. They're just commoners."
Magna's expression hardened instantly, anger rising without restraint as he stepped forward slightly.
"Just because they're commoners, you think you can do whatever you want?"
The leader didn't react to the tone. His eyes moved once across the village, then back toward them.
"That's right. Do you know what this place is called?"
He didn't wait for an answer.
"The Forsaken Realm. Forgotten. Abandoned. No one will care what happens here."
His hand lifted slightly.
"Deal with them."
The Subordinates moved at once.
Ice magic surged from multiple directions, sharp lances forming and firing in coordinated waves while streams of water curved between them, filling every gap and reinforcing the pressure toward the center.
Magna reacted immediately, flames bursting from his hands as he hurled fireballs forward, intercepting the incoming attacks before they could reach the villagers. The collisions echoed through the air, steam rising where fire met ice.
Asta moved alongside him, his blade cutting through the remaining attacks with precise motion, breaking them apart before they could land. He didn't step forward yet, holding his position as the pressure built.
The leader watched closely.
His eyes narrowed slightly as another attack was cut cleanly in half.
"…He can cut magic."
There was no surprise in his voice, only calculation.
"Spread out. Attack from all directions."
The Subordinates shifted instantly.
The ice mages repositioned, widening their angles while the water mage adjusted the flow, creating overlapping attacks that converged from every side. The pressure intensified, faster and harder to intercept.
Asta's grip tightened around his sword.
Asta's grip tightened around his sword as anti-magic surged from the sword, hardening the blade. He planted his footing and spun, rotating his body in a full circle as the sword followed through, creating a controlled, circular flow around him.
The incoming attacks bent.
Ice lances curved off their original paths, drawn inward as if pulled by an unseen force. Water streams twisted with them, their structure breaking apart as they entered the rotating field.
The motion stabilized.
A circular vortex formed around Asta, not large, but dense and controlled, pulling in every attack that entered its range and redirecting the attacks.
The villagers behind him froze, watching as the attacks that should have struck them vanished before contact.
The leader raised his hand.
An ice wall formed in front of him as redirected shards came back toward their origin, striking the barrier and shattering on impact.
"Don't stop," he said calmly. "Keep attacking."
His gaze shifted again, assessing.
Only three opponents.
One unable to control her magic properly.
Two holding the line.
He watched, waiting.
Noelle stepped forward slightly, her hands tightening as magic gathered around her.
She tried to shape it, but the flow shook, slipping out of control before stabilizing just enough to hold for a moment.
"…Am I going to be useless again…?"
The words barely left her.
Behind her, the villagers remained huddled together,there was no one else left—only them to protect the village.
Her expression tightened.
"No… I have to do something."
Then Her grimoire reacted.
Pages flipped rapidly, stopping as a new spell formed.
Magic surged outward.
Water expanded and curved, forming a rotating dome around the group, enclosing the villagers within a protective barrier that stabilized as it settled.
The next wave of attacks struck it.
They dissolved on contact.
Asta felt the change immediately.
The pressure behind him eased.
That was enough.
"Magna, hold them."
Magna grinned, flames rising again as he stepped forward.
"Got it!"
Asta moved forward, cutting through the incoming attacks as antimagic surged through his sword, then pushed off and closed the distance in a single burst.
The leader reacted instantly, layers of ice forming in front of him, stacking one over another to block the approach.
Asta didn't slow.
The blade struck.
The first layer shattered.
Then the next.
And the next.
Each one collapsed the moment contact was made, the antimagic breaking through without resistance as he pushed forward.
The ground shifted.
Ice spread across the surface beneath him, freezing the terrain in an attempt to stop his movement.
Asta stepped forward.
The ice cracked under his foot.
He stepped again.
The ground broke apart with each step, the frozen surface unable to hold under the force as he continued forward without losing balance.
The distance closed.
One clean motion.
The blade cut across the leader's side, drawing blood as the strike landed.
Before he could recover, Asta drove forward and kicked him hard, the impact sending him backward and slamming him into the ground.
The leader didn't rise.
The Subordinates broke.
Magna pushed forward immediately, fire exploding outward as he overwhelmed the remaining attackers, forcing them back and cutting down their resistance.
Asta turned, stepping in where needed, finishing the last of them with precise strikes.
One of them tried to escape.
His body shifted, turning into water as he attempted to slip away.
Asta reacted instantly.
He threw his sword.
The blade cut through the transformed Subordinate , disrupting the magic and forcing the body back into form.
Magna moved in immediately, flames wrapping around the target as he restrained him, locking him in place.
The fight ended.
Silence settled over the village as the last of the magic faded.
Asta's gaze shifted to the fallen leader. He remembered what happened ,they would try to kill themselves rather than be captured.
He knelt down and quickly searched the leader's body, pulling out a small hidden item before it could be used.
He tossed it aside.
Behind him, the villagers had already begun to move, relief spreading as the danger passed. Those capable of healing stepped forward, gathering around the injured village elder.
Magna didn't wait.
He moved straight to the elder's side, crouching down to check his condition.
"…He's not dying. Just exhausted," he muttered, letting out a breath. "You scared us for nothing, old man."
The elder didn't respond, barely conscious as the villagers supported him, healing magic slowly stabilizing his condition.
Asta stood and turned back toward the remaining enemies. A few of them were still conscious, struggling to move.
He didn't give them the chance.
Stepping forward, he struck each one cleanly, knocking them out before they could attempt anything further.
Magna glanced over, then nodded.
"Good. No chances."
He straightened, looking around once more at the village, confirming there was no remaining threat.
"Alright, that's enough. We're taking them back."
The villagers continued tending to their wounded, the tension finally easing as the reality of survival settled in.
With everything under control—
they prepared to return.