Second Gate of Healing, Open!

That commotion was even more terrifying than the earth-and-stone magic from before.

Sol Marron crashed straight into Carl's face, and the two massive thunderbolts produced an astonishing bounce, nearly sending Carl flying.

Fortunately, Carl had already awakened the power of the Eight Gates.

With a slight movement, he steadied himself.

Still, he was having a little trouble breathing right now.

Sol Marron froze for a moment before reacting. "Ah! Help! Sister, save me—!"

At that moment, Sol Marron seemed to be facing the greatest crisis of her life. Her entire body had gone rigid as stone, and her voice was full of pleading, praying only for Charlotte to save her.

However, Charlotte was helpless at the side.

What a joke. She was about to regain her strength and suppress the curse. At such a crucial moment, how could she possibly intervene?

Meanwhile, Carl grabbed Sol Marron and lifted her away, setting her aside.

"I told you I was saving your sister. Couldn't you see that? Charging in recklessly like that—what kind of behavior is that?"

Sol Marron trembled all over.

She was utterly conflicted.

Her pale blue knight's robe fluttered despite the absence of wind.

She pointed at Carl, then at Charlotte, then at herself. "You, you, you... Me, me, me..."

Yet she could not form a single complete sentence.

"Do you even know what just happened?"

"I'm unclean. I, I'm going to—"

She had wanted to say, "I'm going to kill you."

But when the moment came, she found herself somehow unable to say it.

When she looked at Carl again, her entire body stiffened before she slumped down dejectedly.

She raised her head and looked at Charlotte beside her.

After a while, when she caught sight of Carl's abs, Sol Marron's face unexpectedly turned red.

Then, for some reason, Sol Marron covered her face in disbelief. She looked at Charlotte. "S-Sister, let's go."

Charlotte felt the curse within her completely suppressed, and only then did she calm down.

She gave Carl a deep look, then prepared to leave while pulling Sol Marron along.

However, Sol Marron kept looking back every three steps, her expression somewhat grave.

Just as the two stepped outside, Sol Marron asked Charlotte:

"Sister, I have a strange feeling."

"I don't know how to describe it. I just don't know why, but whenever I see Carl now, my face gets hot and my heart starts racing..."

"Do I have some kind of illness?"

"If I'm sick, how will I serve you in the future? Sister, you have to save me!"

Charlotte instantly froze. Then, blushing furiously, she cast Carl an apologetic look before dragging Sol Marron away as if flying.

There was nothing wrong with this vice-captain of hers, except that she had been influenced by Charlotte into hating men too much.

She was the kind of person who wanted to slap any man she saw.

The only reason she had behaved herself while sitting down to drink earlier was because the other party had been Yami Sukehiro.

As the captain of the Black Bulls.

Even if Sol Marron had ten times the courage, she could not beat him, so she could only sit obediently.

Even so, there was no stopping the contempt in Sol's eyes whenever she looked at Yami.

Fortunately, Yami Sukehiro did not care.

But now, Charlotte suddenly realized that her little sister seemed to have undergone some inexplicable change because of what had just happened.

Calling it an illness? She had clearly fallen for him, hadn't she?

Looking at her dear friend Sol Marron, Charlotte's expression kept changing.

Carl was undoubtedly special to Charlotte.

Especially those two inexplicable encounters—they had made Charlotte feel that Carl was different from Yami. Even Yami's influence over her heart had diminished considerably.

Only now, after seeing Sol Marron develop unusual feelings toward Carl, did Charlotte finally realize it.

What a joke. Even Sol had become interested in Carl. This was completely over. What was she supposed to do?

She could barely bring herself to face her vice-captain, yet she still dragged Sol away at high speed.

It seemed she needed to make some kind of decision during tomorrow's Royal Knights selection.

If someone like Carl went elsewhere, it might become a lifelong regret for her—and for Sol Marron as well.

The more Charlotte thought about it, the more embarrassed she became, dragging Sol Marron along as they ran.

As they swept through the city, everyone in the royal capital hurriedly dodged aside at the sight of the two racing figures.

What a joke. The captain and vice-captain of Blue Rose were such proud and noble figures. If they were running this urgently, something major must have happened to the kingdom.

The people nearby immediately formed orderly lines and surged to both sides. Some even began maintaining order.

"Everyone, move aside! The Rose Knights have business! Make way already—don't delay the ladies from saving the kingdom!"

Charlotte's face turned even redder at those words.

Meanwhile, Sol Marron shouted wildly in the wind:

"Sister! Sister, can't you slow down? The tips of my shoes are about to get rubbed raw!"

Inside the tavern.

Yami and Asta were hugging each other, reluctant to part.

As for Yuno, he looked at the magical stone fragment that was nearly completely shattered, his heart aching so badly he could barely breathe.

Carl flashed a bright smile at Yuno. "Were you planning to set the magical stone into your necklace?"

After a moment of silence, Yuno nodded.

Carl smiled. He clenched his hand hard, and the already dull magical stone fragment in his palm instantly crumbled into dust.

Yet at its center remained a fragment the size of a grain of rice, still radiating dense magical light. The snowy pattern on it looked exceptionally dazzling.

Under Yuno's stunned gaze, Carl snatched the necklace from Yuno's hand and placed the tiny magical stone into its huge opening.

Yuno looked conflicted, but Carl ignored his restraint. He reached out and gave it a hard squeeze.

The opening that had once been large enough to hold an entire magical stone had now become a tiny diamond-shaped setting, perfectly embedding the magical stone fragment.

Carl even thoughtfully used his immense strength to keep pinching and shaping it.

After a while, a brand-new necklace appeared before Yuno. It looked quite exquisite. Around the gemstone fragment was the shape of a four-leaf clover.

Yuno hesitated for a while, but upon seeing the exquisitely crafted necklace, he accepted it and sincerely thanked Carl.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1 point of favorability."

Carl looked at his panel and discovered that aside from Charlotte giving him another twenty-odd points of favorability, Sol Marron had also given him twenty points of favorability in that brief collision.

It could only be called astonishing.

Adding the one pitiful point of favorability Yuno had contributed, Carl's expression became excited. He had finally reached his goal.

The second gate of the Eight Gates, open.

As Carl allocated his favorability points in his mind.

The second gate of the Eight Gates immediately opened.

The Gate of Healing—governing the adjustment of strength and stamina throughout the body, even the fluctuations of magic power.

Carl only felt his physical strength surge upward once more in a straight line.

As for exactly how strong he had become, Carl had no idea.

He only felt that if he fought his former self now, he could casually take on more than ten of them.

Feeling the surging magic power within him, Carl revealed a faint smile.

Yuno was still holding the necklace and had yet to recover when the aura erupting from Carl's body left him stunned.

"You, you—"

Yuno rarely stumbled over his words.

Even though he was usually extremely calm and elegant, watching Carl shatter his limits again and again still felt surreal and unbelievable to Yuno.

"How could your strength..."

Carl immediately grinned. "I gained some insight while drinking earlier, so it seems my strength improved a little."

Yuno went completely rigid.

Yami, who had been lying on the ground, suddenly sat up and stared intensely at Carl before him.