บท 148: Diamond Kingdom invasion
The Black Bulls decided to rest for a few days before reporting to the Wizard king.
Captain Charlotte gave her report the day she came back and returned to her base.
After enjoying a long vacation with Yami and spending time in the Underwater city, she was completely energized so she got back to doing missions.
The news of the Black Bulls defeating one of the generals of Eye of the Midnight Sun, especially Julian's involvement spread all across the country increasing the reputation of Black Bulls again.
Yami's fight against Licht gave valuable intel about the powers of the potential leader of Eye of the Midnight Sun.
Although Julian had also given his part of the information when he fought Licht last time, Yami's information made it even more reliable.
The captured mages of Eye of the Midnight Sun were interrogated but it was found that the moment they were captured, a spell activated wiping out their memories of Eye of the Midnight Sun.
Still, they were previously convicted criminals who were running free.
From this, it was clear that there were still traitors amongst the magic knights who were releasing these criminals.
Secre after training with Atlante unlocked many new spells and opened her mind to new ideas so she decided to walk on the path of the first wizard king in creating magic items.
She applied for a position in the Magic research department and immediately got accepted after displaying her powers.
Since Kirin was getting bored, he went along with Secre.
With Julian's current powers, he could dive into partial spirit assimilation without Kirin being present with him so Kirin going with Secre didn't affect Julian.
During the battle with Vetto, Noelle, and Finral unlocked new spells while Asta grew stronger so Julian resumed their training.
The way Julian now carried himself made Noelle feel as if he was a noble but her worries went away after Julian turned into the demon of a teacher she always knew.
Present time :
Asta and Yami narrated the entire sequence of events that took place in the underwater city to the Wizard King while Julian only added a few things.
Finral just awkwardly smiled after recalling the bizarre set of events.
The events with Atlante Ragnvindr were kept a secret.
" Good job Yami...
You Black Bulls didn't lose a single member against an enemy of that caliber, that deserves praise.
Unfortunately, we lost some mages who were tasked with patrolling the shores"
Julius remembered all the criticism he received when he made Yami join the magic knights.
There were a lot of problems like Yami being a foreigner or having dark magic but with Yami's strength and battle records, all the voices were suppressed.
"You really have become a splendid captain Yami….. "
" I am already twenty-eight so stop slaying that. It's embarrassing " Yami said.
"Wait you're twenty-eight?! I thought you were in your forties!" Asta exclaimed earning him a smack in the head from Yami.
"As I said before, I just want to prove to everyone else that you were right ...…" Yami said.
He tapped Finral Asta and Julian's shoulder and continued "And that I didn't make a mistake either...
These guys here are proving my point "
The Wizard King smiled and said "Finral , your ability to support your allies in battle is noteworthy. I am sure you will achieve even more.
Asta and Julian look like you two added another record to your achievements. "
All of a sudden a beam of mana shot towards Julian from the back but faster than anything, the beam was vaporized.
For a moment the color of the room turned black and white as two mana pressures collided.
A time capsule formed around Julian but in a split second, he perfectly dodged Wizard King's spell which is usually a game-over spell.
Wizard King and Julian both disappeared from their places and appeared in each other's positions.
The Wizard King held Julian's robe while a cut on his face slowly started healing.
"Amazing Julian! Amazing!" Wizard King almost jumped with joy and gave back Julian his robe as Julian handed the Wizard King his badge and a few strands of his blond hair that he sliced apart.
Asta didn't realize what happened while it was too sudden for Yami and Finral to react but it was clear that Wizard King and Julian had a short confrontation.
"What is the meaning of this Wizard King ?" Julian asked calmly.
"Forgive me, Julian, curiosity got the best of me.
I just wished to assess your strength....and it surpassed all of my expectations.
As expected, your strength has surpassed that of captains so it's unfair that you are still a senior magic knight.
Do you wish to take on my previous proposal of making your own squad ?" The Wizard King asked.
"Sorry to say but I am still not interested in making my own squad.
I wish to stay as Julian of the Black Bulls." Julian replied.
"I don't mind it as long as you keep doing what you have been doing.
Julian....
As a person who acquired more than a hundred stars within a specified position of time, having ferocious strength and feats like defeating generals of the diamond kingdom like Alaina, Lotus, Mars, and Grand Marshal Meruem, saving the capital and finally eliminating a key figure of Eye of the Midnight Sun...
I promote you to the rank of a Grand Magic Knight…." Wizard King said as a badge appeared on Julian's chest.
At the same time this information was sent across every magic knight base.
Asta gasped with shock while Yami and Finral were not too surprised after what they saw now.
Even Julian was shocked that he was getting promoted so soon.
Julian was now at the same rank as Yami and other captains and the youngest grand magic knight at the age of sixteen.
Aside from the Black Bulls, the only squad to have more than one grand mage was the Crimson Lions.
"Please continue serving this kingdom," the Wizard king said with a smile.
"Yes sir !!!
The ceremony was cut short as Marx barged into the room with a sense of urgency.
" What happened Marx ? " Wizard king asked.
" THE TOWN OF KITEN IS BEING ATTACKED BY THE DIAMOND KINGDOM .
THE BARRIER MAGES CAN'T HOLD ON MUCH LONGER .
THE ENTIRE GUARD SQUAD IS WIPED OUT !!"
Using his Magic, Marx transmitted what was going on in front of everyone in the room.
There were three mages in the front while around a hundred mages were flying behind them .
Some mages had weird tower-like structures with them .
On the ground there were people with weapons and magic cannons ready to break the walls .
"Not the people of Diamond Kingdom again!!!" Finral face palmed.
" Those three in the front are from the eight old shining generals of the Diamond army .
Their strength is nearly equal to the magic knight's captain . " Yami said since Asta was not familiar with them.
" If I am correct those three are… .
Broccos with red ochre magic
Ragus with lightning magic
Yagos with mucus magic " Julian said since he studied about them when he sneaked into the Diamond Kingdom.
The town of Kiten is one of the towns on the border of the two kingdoms .
This town is attached with a large wall that surrounds the kingdom .
So this is a strategically important location .
Marx's communicator rang as he received new information.
"William Vengeance and ten members of the Golden Dawn have entered the scenes"
The scene changed to the Golden Dawn but the sound of an explosion ran out and the barrier broke apart.
Another explosion rang out and the walls were destroyed and mages in large numbers entered the town and started to shower spells.
" Should we give a hand?" Yami asked.
"I would appreciate it, Yami.
I can't leave my place as this may be a decoy .
Good luck and try not to kill the enemy mages"
********
" Aye Julian!, as a grand magic knight, I am assigning you your first mission.
Deal with the situation, I have something else to do,"Yami said before taking off in one direction.
Julian turned to Asta and Finral
"Alright, you two focus on making sure the civilians are safe. I will deal with the mages"
Julian stood on the roof of a building and spread his senses all over the city and observed that Yuno and two more people were confronting the lightning general Ragus while William Vengeance was taking the Red Ochre mage Broccos.
One of the Clover Kingdom mages saw Julian and immediately rushed towards him.
"Sir Julian! the situation is getting out of control, we would need your help"
"Don't worry, I got this
Let's see, one… two… . twenty mages" Julian muttered
Mana zone : Mana seal-Arrow of destiny]
Exactly twenty arrows made of purple flames formed around Julian taking aim at all the mages.
Instantly all arrows struck the mages across the town sealing their magic and paralyzing them.
Julian moved his fingers as all the mages he hit with his arrows flew and dropped near his legs.
"Here you go, the mages in the town are down"
The Clover mage has his mouth wide open after seeing Julian taking seconds to defeat all the Diamond mages.
He finally noticed the badge on Julian's chest solving some of the dilemma.
Only a grand magic knight can have this level of power.
"You go check the condition of the civilians.
Finral from my squad will be here soon for the prisoner"
" Yes sir ! "
Julian flash stepped toward the main Diamond army and stood on air assessing the situation.
On closure, the people on the ground are shaking with fear and can't even hold weapons properly .
"They are using common people for attacks… "
Julian released a bit of mana pressure on the foot soldiers but he felt like his mana pressure began to be absorbed by the tower the flying mages were carrying .
Multiple large spells were launched at Julian but an invisible shield formed in front of him blocking every single spell.
"Let's do something flashy"
[ Dark flame magic : Great fire annihilation ]
The mages of golden dawn had their mouths wide open seeing the sea of red flames covering the sky.
"Ar-re you se-eing that !! " somebody pointed towards the sky
" Looks like Julian is here " Letoile said smiling, who was among the Golden Dawn mages .
One by one every mage in the sky dropped to the ground screaming with their bodies burning .
Slowly the fire turned into paralyzing and mana sealing seals making them unable to do anything anymore.
Julian landed on the ground and released his mana pressure without holding back .
A red aura traveled the entire battlefield like a pulse and everyone under the effect had their eyes rolled up as they fell one by one .
Julian kicked the ground as hundreds of black vines emerged from the ground wrapping the mages and applying seals on their bodies.
Small platforms of light formed under the captured people and started moving towards the place where Julian placed the other mages.
"As for the Generals… Julian glanced towards William who appeared to be doing pretty well. Langris had already dealt with the mucus but Yuno and the others were struggling.
Multiple light swords struck Ragus immediately making him lose combat capacity.
The same thing happened as the other mages as he too was dragged towards the other defeated mages.
The two mages of Golden Dawn were thankful but Yuno seemed angry that Julian finished his battle.
Even though Golden Dawn came to aid , there were only ten members.
They thought that the battle would be prolonged and would cause more casualties.
Seeing that It only took a few seconds for Julian to destroy an entire army hurt the pride of some of them, created fear in some and respect in some.
'Damn he didn't hold back at all' Yami thought seeing Julian in action.
In the original story,Lotus was here too but it seems he wasn't here this time.
On the other side the battles were coming to an end too .
William threw a seed to the ground that grew to a giant tree trapping every enemy mage near him along with the defeated general .
With this the short clash ended in absolute demolition of Diamond kingdom mages .
Yami looked towards William and went towards him to do what he mainly came for.
Langris, who was walking by,stopped in front of Finral.
" What on earth is the shame of our family doing here ? can you even fight Finral "
Hearing his brother's words no words came out of Finral's mouth .
" When did the black bulls become an orphanage? Isn't it difficult looking after kids, " Langris said looking towards Asta.
" I will take any insult about me but don't say anything about my squad " said Finral
"What are you going to do about it ?! You can't even touch me, " Langris said, smirking.
Asta didn't say anything but prepared his sword to attack anytime but he didn't have to do anything as Langris fell on his knees clutching his head.
Julian slowly walked in and stood before Langris.
"Didn't I give the people of Golden Dawn a warning not to mess with my squad?!
Be it the captain or the vice captain,it applies to the entire squad. .
Which part of the warning is not clear to you?" Julian increased the pressure as Langris fell to the ground.
" Julian that's enough…you don't have to get involved with this matter, I can handle it" Finral requested
" Fine, do whatever you want" Julian took back his mana pressure letting Langris breathe.
Members of Golden Dawn rushed towards the scene to stop the situation from escalating.
Even Mimosa and Klaus requested Julian to let the matter go.
Their experience of Julian's outburst during the award ceremony was still fresh in their minds.
With William being busy, there was no one to stop Julian if things escalated.
"I have told this before and I am telling this….
The moment you join the magic knights, your first and foremost priority should be serving the people of Clover Kingdom.
If you wish to solve family or personal disputes, do it off duty."
Julian said, looking at Langris being held by his squad members to stand up.
"Thank you for your help Julian…and congratulations on being promoted to the rank of grand magic knight" Letoile spoke up seeing Julian's badge.
Yuno shortly landed near Julian and spoke up
"I understand if Vice captain Langris offended you, but he is still my squad member.
Next time ....I will be forced to defend my squad even if it means seriously attacking you"
Yuno's eyes felt different, even Asta could say that.
Julian smiled hearing Yuno's response.
'The prideful wind spirit has affected Yuno… 'Julian thought.
"I will keep that in mind ,intermediate magic knight Yuno" Julian nodded and glanced at Mimosa
" Your captain is busy right now so I will be in charge now due to my rank as a grand mage as well.
Klaus, give me the damage report
Mimosa, tell me the condition of the civilians
Yuno, you fought one of the generals so start noting down everything you observed about him.
Letoile, go with Asta and collect the broken gadgets and weapons that the Diamond Kingdom brought with them.
Langris, you will be coming with me and Finral to the prison to transfer the captured mages…"
********
Meanwhile Yami jumped on the opposite branch William Vengeance was standing .
" Your magic is impressive as ever " said Yami
" Stop it . I merely borrowed mana from the enemy mages to do it " William said
" That's right …. Your magic is world tree magic right ? "
" What do you mean by that Yami ? " William asked
" You see I am the type of gut that trusts my guts over everything …Vengeance ..Do you mind taking that mask off for me . "
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
-- การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
-- หินพลัง