An Unreliable Yami...

After the red threads wrapped twice around her wrist, they vanished completely beneath her skin.

However, a little red cat pattern appeared on the back of Vanessa's hand. The sight of it sobered her up by half.

She groggily forced herself upright, feeling the magical fluctuations emanating from it as disbelief flickered in her eyes.

Wait...

She had been baffled when half her cloak had vanished for no reason, but she had not actually been afraid.

Who else besides Captain Yami could pull off something that ridiculous?

At least she had not been exposed.

Otherwise, when Captain Yami came back, she would definitely scratch his hair into a bird's nest.

Yet what Witch Vanessa cared about most at that moment was the little red cat on the back of her hand.

She had always used Thread Magic.

But she knew very well that the Thread Magic she had mastered was only its lowest form.

True high-level Thread Magic possessed the power to control fate.

In other words, it could alter certain predetermined outcomes in advance or avoid some fatal injuries, at the cost of one's own magic power and life force.

Naturally, such a cost was enormous.

And the reason she had fled the Witch Forest and joined the Black Bulls was precisely because she could no longer endure the intimidation of that Witch Queen.

Vanessa had long been living in a muddled state.

She stayed drunk all day, acting like a female alcoholic to escape the fact that she had run away from the Witch Forest.

To her, it was a betrayal.

After all, the Witch Queen had raised her.

No matter how awful that woman was, Vanessa had still regarded her as a mother. But her betrayal meant severing all ties with the Witch Forest forever.

If the other side discovered her, she could even be hunted down.

That was an outcome she simply could not bear.

Hiding within the Black Bulls, Vanessa usually had no desire to train at all.

As a witch, her reserves of magic power were already immense.

What she truly needed was to keep transforming and evolving her Thread Magic.

Yet all these years, she had never had any drive.

But today, at the instant that cloak had been torn apart, Vanessa had unusually felt that her magic seemed to have undergone some indescribable transformation.

And the little red cat on the back of her hand was the most direct proof.

The faint fluctuations radiating from it made Vanessa utterly certain that it was the power of fate.

It could not be understood, seen, or touched, and was as elusive as mist.

But now, it had truly appeared before her eyes.

A bewildered Vanessa felt that everything was far too surreal.

Could it be...

Could drinking turn someone into a powerhouse?

Still unconvinced, she took several more huge gulps of wine.

Yet all they brought was an even more overwhelming drunken haze and waves of headache.

Vanessa was a little dazed.

Then, the little red cat on the back of her hand seemed to jump.

The face of an unfamiliar man seemed to appear in her mind. Vanessa's eyes widened as she instinctively hugged herself tightly.

Her cheeks flushed slightly, the blush spreading all the way to her ears.

"No way..."

"I even dreamed about a handsome guy?"

"This drink was worth it."

But—

Who exactly was that man?

Atop the high wall.

William Vangeance, wearing a mask patterned in gold, swept his gaze over Yami Sukehiro and Charlotte Roselei, his brow furrowing slightly.

Though the situation before him had far exceeded his expectations.

Fortunately, the matter had ultimately come to a satisfactory end.

One person joining two Magic Knight squads at once had no precedent, but it was not something unacceptable.

Thus, William Vangeance was the first to turn and leave.

He returned to Carl's side.

Asta was still reluctantly waving farewell to Yuno.

But their eyes were practically spitting fire as they faced each other head-on. It was their promise—to compete over who would become the future Wizard King.

Yet Carl only had to stand there.

And the two of them suddenly found themselves unable to say much.

Honestly, Asta and Yuno were both somewhat despairing at that moment.

After all, their greatest enemy in becoming the Wizard King might very well be Carl.

Seeing Yami Sukehiro's actions, Charlotte could not help snorting coldly.

Sol Marron, standing beside her, looked at her sister and could not help asking:

"Sis, are you upset about Captain Yami's actions?"

"If you want, I can team up with you and beat him up?"

Hearing Sol's words, Charlotte instantly felt a headache coming on.

This subordinate and close friend of hers was good at everything except that she was far too one-track-minded.

What did she mean by "beat him up"?

And besides, was Yami the reason Charlotte had a headache?

The one giving her a headache was clearly Carl.

But Yami had already left with Carl, so naturally she could not make it too obvious. She could only stand atop the city wall and say to Carl in an exceptionally cool tone:

"You will go to the Black Bulls first."

"When you have time, come to the Blue Rose Knights as well. You need to get familiar with the members and take on missions."

Hearing the obvious emphasis in Charlotte's tone, Carl naturally understood what she meant and immediately nodded.

Yami Sukehiro, however, looked completely unconcerned as he said directly:

"Finral, come out."

As soon as he spoke.

A spatial gate immediately opened beside Yami.

Spatial Magic.

Asta stood nearby, his eyes shining brightly.

Having no magic power himself, he was simply too envious of these strange abilities.

Opening a gate whenever they wanted and teleporting instantly.

That was way too convenient!

Asta stared intensely at Finral. Yami pursed his lips and said to Asta and Carl:

"Send me and those two back together."

Finral had originally been smiling.

But upon hearing Yami's words, he instantly froze.

The next moment, his face fell as he said:

"Captain, it's not like you don't know."

"I can only send one person at a time."

"If I could send more, wouldn't I have brought everyone over already?"

Yami Sukehiro scratched his messy short hair, looking utterly disappointed.

"I'm telling you, Finral, after all this time, how come you haven't improved at all?"

"Then go ahead and send us."

Finral forced a smile at Carl the next moment.

Carl silently stepped into the portal.

Finral flickered, intending to leave, but Yami actually tried to grab Asta and force his way in.

Finral:

"N-no, what?"

"I'm not ready yet! I haven't even said start!"

"Help!"

He slammed the gate shut at lightning speed.

When he appeared again, his tongue was nearly hanging out as he panted heavily, looking utterly exhausted.

Yami Sukehiro immediately looked at him with disgust.

"Finral, three seconds?"

"Did you last that long?"

"It was just one teleportation."

"A real man should have endurance. You're really pathetic."

Asta nodded seriously beside him.

"Exactly, exactly! Captain, look at my muscles!"

"I'm a man with incredible endurance who can keep going for a very long time!"

Yami Sukehiro tilted his head and looked at Asta, his eyes full of disdain.

"Brat, I praised you twice and now you think you can fly?"

Before Finral could react.

Yami Sukehiro kicked Asta straight into the portal.

Then he himself turned into a cloud of black mist and forcibly squeezed into the teleportation space.

Finral, who was already exhausted like a dog, instantly went rigid.

"C-Captain—!"

"You're trying to kill me!!"

Finral was about to explode.

Teleporting two people consumed magic power at an exponentially greater rate.

If his magic power ran out, the Spatial Magic would collapse. If he exiled his captain into some unknown dimensional space, he would truly be dead.

At that moment, Finral could only feel the magic power inside him draining away wildly.

The teleportation space was also on the verge of collapsing.

Finally—

"Pfft!"

Finral suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, then went limp and vanished into the Black Bulls' base.

His eyes were filled with utter despair.

"Captain..."

"If you do this again, I won't teleport you even if I die."

Inside the Black Bulls' fortress.

On the floor of the hall.

Finral lay sprawled like a dead dog, badly injured.