"This... I don't remember..." Marie was almost crying with anxiety, thinking to herself why she hadn't paid more attention to the path, and instead had her gaze constantly drawn to Asta.
"It's okay, the Shadow Clone has already told me everything. Everyone, follow me. So far, only one white-haired boy has appeared as an enemy!" Asta said.
"This clone is just too useful!" Noelle said, clearly envious.
"What about Marie?" Vanessa asked thoughtfully.
"We can't take the child inside; if there are unknown dangers, it would be disastrous. But leaving her outside in this freezing weather means she will inevitably get hurt or face unknown dangers. Therefore, we need to leave someone behind to look after the child."
After saying this, Theresa looked at Noelle. She had heard of Noelle's reputation; although she possessed magic power rivaling any Magic Knight Squad captain, it was a pity that her magic control was too poor to unleash her full potential. Otherwise, she would surely shine just as brightly as her mother!
"You don't mean to leave me behind, do you?" Noelle said in a panic. She had been working hard to improve and didn't want to be left outside as the weakest one.
"It's fine, just let my Shadow Clone guard Marie!" Asta said, immediately creating a Shadow Clone that was yawning.
"Geez, looking after kids isn't my thing at all!" the Shadow Clone said with a yawn.
"Marie, we're going to go save the other children. You'll be okay on your own, right?" Asta asked, looking at Marie.
"Yeah!" Marie nodded heavily, though she couldn't help but shiver from the cold.
"Thread Creation Magic: Winter Velvet Outfit!" Vanessa immediately cast her Thread Magic to weave an extremely warm coat for Marie.
"Thank you, Big Sister, it's much warmer now!" Marie immediately felt warmer.
"You're welcome, you brave child!" After saying this, Vanessa flew into the cavern with Asta. It is worth mentioning that when Asta jumped down to comfort Marie and came back up, he had naturally sat between the two women.
"Idiot Asta, thank you for protecting my pride again..." Noelle looked at Asta with mixed emotions. If it weren't for Asta, she definitely would have been the one left behind.
"Uh..." Asta's body stiffened slightly because he felt Noelle leaning softly against his back.
"Don't move, just let me lean on you for a while, just for a little while!" Noelle said, almost pleading. Fortunately, it was dark enough in the cavern that no one could see her vulnerable moment.
"If it's you, Noelle, you can lean on me for as long as you want. I will always be your strong support; this promise is permanently valid." Asta said with some pity, presumably because Noelle was thinking of her past grievances again.
"Hey little brother, when you're flirting, shouldn't you mention where we're going next?" Vanessa protested.
"Haha, head towards the third passage on the left!" Asta smiled apologetically, then lost his balance and pressed against Vanessa's back.
Asta could feel Vanessa's body stiffen for a moment, but she quickly returned to normal.
"These kids, do they really think I'm blind?" Theresa looked ahead helplessly. Although she wasn't a sensory mage, she had already sensed the white-haired boy's magic power.
"This child from the Black Bulls is quite amazing..." Theresa looked at Asta in surprise. She hadn't expected the Black Bulls to recruit such an outstanding youth.
"Idiot! Idiot! Hurry up and deal with him, we still have important things to do!" the plump young man commanded imperiously. At the same time, his small eyes hidden behind his glasses darted around, thinking that a Magic Knight member had escaped earlier. If they reported this, the place would soon become unsafe!
Therefore, they needed to kill the Shadow Clone quickly, then grab a few children with powerful magic to absorb their power, and then run away!
"Almost there, almost there, Brother, I can feel his speed slowing down!" the white-haired boy said anxiously.
"Hmm, you finish him off first, I need to notify the employer!" For safety's sake, the plump young man had already started contacting the person who hired them.
"Have I reached the limit? But I expect the original should be coming soon!" With this thought, the Shadow Clone fled outward. He wasn't actually fleeing, but creating suspense before his body self-destructed, making the white-haired brothers think he had hidden again!
"Poof!" The Shadow Clone disappeared just after hiding.
"Don't let him get away!" the plump young man said viciously. He had never personally killed a member of the Magic Knights before!
"Brother, his speed is too fast, the snowmen can't find him!" The white-haired boy sat in the arm of a snowman and came to the place where the Shadow Clone last disappeared to check, but naturally, he saw nothing.
"Then don't waste time, hurry up and find all the children with strong magic, extract a large batch of magic power, and make a fortune!" The plump young man's face showed a covetous expression as he said this.
"Got it, Brother..." The white-haired boy's mood wasn't very high, but he still followed the plump young man's instructions and began to act.
"Hehehe! We're rich, we're rich! These children's magic power is quite good. Let's start with this one!" the plump young man said, pointing to a Little Girl.
"Got it, Brother!" The white-haired boy immediately had the snowman restrain the Little Girl and walk towards the machine for extracting magic.
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