Ian walked into a large room packed with people.
There is a table in the center of the room, surrounded by ten Magic Knights leaders, as well as Acier, Mereoleona and Patry.
Surrounding the table are the elite members of each group and members of Elves who are "Sefirah Apostles".
When Ian walked into the room, the people sitting stood up one after another, and the people who were standing straightened their backs.
He smiled and looked at Richita, who was hugging Asta and Yuno at the moment.
Asta had a sincere smile on his face and was obviously very happy to be with his mother.
As for Yuno, although he still maintains his poker face, even with a hint of embarrassment, there is unconcealable happiness deep in his eyes.
Ian is very familiar with this kind of happiness: it is the warmth of family affection. He smiled and was not surprised that Richita had actually adopted Yuno.
These two children were already as close as brothers, but now they have just formalized this relationship.
"Take a break," Ian said and sat down, and everyone's eyes instantly focused on him.
Ian waved his hand to create two holographic light balls: one as black as ink, and the other radiant.
"In this world, there are two places that can be regarded as the most powerful or dangerous existence. The first is Underworld, which is the habitat and birthplace of all Demons."
He pointed at the black ball of light, and the words "Underworld" and "Demons" appeared inside.
"The second one is Elysium, which is where angels and even gods live."
Many people narrowed their eyes when they saw the words "Elysium" and the words "angel" and "god" appearing in the light ball.
Almost everyone present had heard of Underworld or Demons, but apart from storybooks and church legends, they had never heard of angels or gods.
Ian waved his hand and crushed the black ball of light.
"Don't worry Underworld, I will deal with them personally. However, I need your help to enter Elysium."
"You want us to invade Elysium? Why? They don't seem to be a threat to us?" Yami asked.
Many people have the same questions as him.
Ian looked around the crowd and said calmly, "I can make up a legitimate reason for you. For example, I have sufficient evidence that God is using our hands to deal with Underworld. Or I can use that rhetoric for the Clover Kingdom's future. But those are not true."
Ian paused for a moment, letting these words ferment in everyone's hearts.
"When a man reaches my position and power, few things still interest me: neither wealth, nor fame, nor glory, nor women, are of any value to me."
"What I want is knowledge, mysteries Kazuma. For example, where does Grimoire come from? Is it a natural product or a human Creation? Why can you create spells without learning the principles, just continuous practice? Is there a place that connects all Grimoire? Does that place record all the spells in history?"
Everyone looked at him in shock, not knowing how to respond.
"I believe you have never thought about these questions, or taken them for granted. But I have been thinking about these mysteries and looking for answers."
"And the last piece of the puzzle is at Elysium. Therefore, this invasion is entirely my personal selfishness. If you don't want to participate, you are free to leave. I promise in the name of the Magic Emperor that I will never blame you."
The magic knights looked at each other, some whispered in low voices. But in the end, no one left.
"I want to stress one point: This is a high-risk mission with an extremely high mortality rate. So, it's best to think twice before making a decision."
Despite what he said, a few minutes passed and still no one left.
"I have a question," Zora·Ideale said, "Since you can handle Underworld on your own, why not invade Elysium yourself?"
"I tried," Ian replied, "But someone or something banished me and prohibited me from entering again."
Those who had witnessed Ian easily killing the high-level Demons immediately became solemn; they knew very well how terrifying it must be to be able to banish the Magic Emperor.
"Okay, what's the plan?" Mereoleona asked, the fighting spirit burning in her eyes, as if she had found another prey worth hunting.
"There is only a basic plan at the moment, because I am still collecting intelligence about Elysium. You will be divided into different groups, one of which is responsible for protecting the elves."
"Why should we protect them?" asked Jack with fierce eyes.
"I can't enter Elysium through conventional means. So I need the elves to use magic stones to summon me in through 'Tree of Life Stele'."
"So, we must protect them from enemy attacks and prevent the ceremony from being interrupted," Charlotte added.
"Exactly," Ian replied.
"There is too little information," Fuegoleon said. "Those angels should be as powerful as Demons. Moreover, we will go deep into the enemy's cave and lose the home field advantage. There are too many things that can go wrong."
"I understand your concerns," Ian reassured, "The reason why I chose everyone here is because I know your potential better than you yourself."
"Before the invasion begins, I will make sure that all of you reach that potential and beyond."
He stood up from the chair, and a portal appeared next to him.
"Follow me."
Everyone followed him through the portal and found themselves in a basement with two doors in front of them.
Ian opened the first door and everyone filed in.
There are countless huge pipes filled with green liquid in the room.
"These machines have two purposes: The first is to strengthen your body, making you faster, stronger, and more durable. With a strong body, your combat effectiveness and survival rate will increase."
"It won't make me muscular, right?" Vanessa of Black Bulls asked.
"If you don't want it, it won't," Ian replied and continued, "The second purpose of the machine is to increase your magic power."
"How is this possible?"
"Five hundred years ago, the nobles Clover Kingdom and Imperial Family used magic props made by First Wizard King to steal the magic power of Elves and passed it on through their blood."
"I discovered that prop and modified it so that it can use the environmental magic power in nature. However, this machine also has limits. It will give you an additional pool of artificial magic power."
Many people feel embarrassed when they hear this history and don't know what to say.
This is exactly why Ian brought up this topic: to ease the tension between the two races after the previous chaos.
"What does that mean?" Mereoleona asked, trying to change the subject.
"A stone full of magical power will Fusion into your heart as a second magic power reserve or second magic power source."
Ian turned around and looked at the smiles and excitement on everyone's faces.
He showed a Demons-like smile and said, "Nothing in this world is free or easy to obtain. Whether it is Body Enhancement or magic augmentation surgery, the process will be extremely painful. Only people with extremely strong willpower can survive it."
"And the longer you endure the pain, the more benefits you gain."
"I, I, I, I have a problem," Asta shouted, raising his hands.
"What's the matter?"
"Does this mean I have magical powers?"
"No. With magic power, you can't use Anti-Magic."
With enough knowledge and training, this child can actually convert magic into Anti-Magic energy.
But this takes too much time, and Ian hopes that he will follow the pure Anti-Magic path in order to create his own Arcanist subspecies career in the future.
Although he was a little disappointed, Asta quickly cheered up because he knew how powerful his Anti-Magic was.
"To inspire you, let me tell you a little secret," Ian said.
"The relationship between magic power and Anti-Magic is like a meatball split in two. As long as you have enough knowledge and training, you can convert Anti-Magic into magic power. So work hard, boy."
After hearing this, Asta had stars in his eyes, and then looked at Yuno: "Did you hear that? Yuno, when I have magic power, I will become stronger, and then I will defeat you and become the Magic Emperor."
"Idiot."
"Why do you call me stupid?"
"What the Magic Emperor means is that magic power can also be converted into Anti-Magic."
Asta opened his mouth wide, realizing that his old enemy was already so powerful. If he could also use Anti-Magic, wouldn't he have no advantage?
"I will never lose to you," Asta fired up his fighting spirit; he decided to master this transformation technique before Yuno and defeat him.
Richita looked at the competition between his two sons and smiled.
"It's good to have motivation. Okay, let's go check out another room."