Two Seconds of Brilliance... Morning Peacock!

At this moment, Sol Marron was honestly completely dumbfounded.

No matter how much he thought about it, he never expected someone to disrupt the proceedings—and the one doing so was actually the captain of the Black Bulls, Yami Sukehiro.

She despised men intensely. Aside from a strange, special feeling she had toward Carl, nearly every other man in her eyes deserved to die.

But Yami Sukehiro stood on the same level as the captains present, and was even one of the strongest among them.

It could be said that Yami Sukehiro was someone who could truly "punch her to death with one fist."

So Sol Marron immediately stopped what she was doing.

Still, the expression she gave Yami Sukehiro was far from pleasant.

"Damn it... Why are you stopping me?"

"Captain Yami, I'm standing up for my sister!"

"Huh?"

Yami Sukehiro immediately waved a hand, and a dense black radiance welled up around him.

Dark Magic!

At that very moment, the eyes of nearly every Magic Knight captain lit up.

Yami Sukehiro might have been rough, slovenly, and even rather annoying, but his strength was undeniably first-rate.

Otherwise, with all the bad behavior in his past, how could he have remained so firmly seated in the position of Magic Knight captain?

Now that Yami Sukehiro had revealed a trace of his Dark Magic, everyone was instantly interested.

And Sol Marron was forced back again and again by the terrifying aura that erupted at that moment.

Charlotte stood atop the high wall and shouted in a sweet voice.

"That's enough! Sol, come back!"

Sol Marron hesitated for a moment before finally flipping back onto the city wall.

Meanwhile, a hint of curiosity appeared in Yami Sukehiro's eyes.

"We meet again."

"I told you yesterday that we would."

Carl nodded.

Yami Sukehiro spoke again.

"Even though I can't beat you at drinking, you probably still can't beat me in a fight."

Carl nodded again.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with that statement.

If he could already defeat Yami Sukehiro, he would have gone straight to challenge the Wizard King. Why would he still be here taking part in some selection exam?

So rather than feeling offended by Yami Sukehiro's words, Carl looked at him with a questioning gaze.

"Captain Yami."

"I did beat you at drinking. After all, there are no fathers and sons at the drinking table. You should understand that."

"Are you going to make a move against me now?"

Carl's words immediately drew astonished looks from everyone present.

Not only did the Magic Knight captains atop the wall stare down with appraising eyes, but even the selection participants who had been fighting had completely stopped, watching this absurdly fantastical scene unfold before them.

Yami Sukehiro took a drag from his cigarette, slowly exhaled the smoke, and looked at Carl.

"I want to test your strength. I always feel like you're still hiding something."

"You don't mind if I give you one slash, do you?"

"One slash."

"As long as you can take a slash containing twenty percent of my strength, I think plenty of people will be willing to take you in."

A trace of seriousness appeared on Carl's face.

Yami Sukehiro made it sound casual, even offhanded, but anyone could tell just how terrifying his strength was.

Carl nodded at that moment.

If he wanted to become the Wizard King, if he wanted fame, wealth, and glory, then naturally he needed the strength to match those ambitions.

It was perfect timing. He also wanted to see whether he could truly take this seemingly ordinary attack.

Yami Sukehiro flicked his blade one-handed. The sword hummed, and half an inch of its edge flashed into view.

Then the dark magic power around him began to coil and entwine without end.

As he prepared to draw his blade, Yami Sukehiro smiled faintly.

"Don't be nervous. It won't hurt!"

"Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Iai Slash."

He did not even fully draw his sword.

Yet at that instant, a chilling black aura suddenly burst from Yami Sukehiro.

Light flashed over the blade, and a terrifying slashing wave spread out in an instant, as if it could tear through everything.

The surrounding examinees were already frightened senseless.

Wait...

Was this really supposed to be a selection exam?

If that attack landed on them, they would have been split in two with a single slash. It was terrifying beyond measure!

As Yuno and Asta watched with worried expressions, and just as Charlotte's fingers nearly dug into her palm while she hesitated over whether to intervene—

Carl suddenly leaped backward.

At the same time, the Grimoire at his side finally flew out.

Four-leaf Clover!

It was actually a Four-leaf Grimoire!

Almost everyone immediately recognized the Four-leaf Clover pattern on its metal cover.

A Four-leaf Grimoire had never been anything ordinary.

After all, the first Wizard King had wielded a Four-leaf Grimoire.

It represented limitless possibilities. The power and potential recorded within were practically the standard equipment of supreme powerhouses.

Everyone present had already seen Yuno's four-leaf clover and Asta's bizarre five-leaf one.

Yet when a third Four-leaf Grimoire appeared, everyone's reactions were still spectacular.

Even Yami Sukehiro's expression revealed a rare trace of surprise.

"Another Four-leaf Clover?"

However, Carl had no time to explain the origins of his damaged Grimoire to Yami Sukehiro.

As he retreated, the Grimoire rapidly enlarged, hovering before him like a shield.

The Four-leaf Clover pattern on its cover and the magic circle both lit up, flashing with dazzling magical radiance.

Without the slightest hesitation, Carl unleashed every move he had.

"Dragon Fist!"

"Dragon Claw!"

"Divine Dragon Tail!"

As the three attacks blasted out at once, three types of magic with different attributes nearly intertwined, forming a cone-shaped, triangular torrent of magic power that shot straight toward the Dark Cloaked Iai Slash.

But Carl did not stop there.

Only as Yami Sukehiro's opponent could he truly understand the terror of that slash.

If he could not block it, he would undoubtedly die on the spot.

Carl did not dare relax in the slightest.

The next moment, dense white light suddenly surged from his body.

The white aura moved and churned around him like steam.

Carl's expression turned grave, and then he let out a thunderous roar.

"Morning Peacock—!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

A terrifying aura erupted in an instant.

Carl sprang into the air, and his metal Four-leaf Grimoire rose with him.

The instant he began throwing punches madly, the entire Grimoire seemed to be fully activated.

Fist-sized magical meteors fell one after another, pouring down like a torrential rain. They were like the dazzling yet deadly brilliance of a peacock spreading its tail, with even dark-attributed power concealed within them.

Magic power tore, crashed, and exploded for only two seconds.

The next moment, Carl dropped directly to one knee.

The tearing pain radiating from all over his body made him smile bitterly.

Forcing himself to use Morning Peacock, a move that required at least the Fourth Gate to perform steadily, while only opening the Second Gate, the Gate of Healing, was still too much.

Even though his physical body had already been transformed into something quite exceptional in this magical world, it was still difficult for him to bear it completely.

Fortunately:

That move had ultimately blocked it.

He had successfully stopped Yami Sukehiro's Dark Magic: Dark Cloaked Iai Slash.

Though it had only been the most ordinary slash, Carl had nearly used all his strength.

That was Carl's own understanding of it.

But in everyone else's eyes, the scene was something entirely different.

"Where the hell did this guy called Carl come from...?"

"A newcomer actually blocked one of Yami Sukehiro's slashes?"

"Isn't that completely ridiculous?!"

"Holy shit, that's insanely awesome!"

"Isn't he just a complete freak? Good thing I didn't make a move earlier, or he probably would've beaten the shit out of me."

Charlotte even felt her legs go weak at that moment.

The next second, she instinctively grabbed Sol Marron beside her.

Sol Marron immediately became nervous.

"Sister, what's wrong?"