Dave's voice remained steady, every word landing like a ripple in still water.
"But that devil saw its opportunity," he continued. "It crept into the hearts of the nobles—whispering lies, feeding their fear and envy. It told them that the elves were plotting to overthrow the humans, that the marriage was a scheme to take control of the kingdom."
Yami's brow furrowed slightly, smoke curling from his cigarette. "Tch. Figures. People'll believe anything if you tell 'em it threatens their pride."
"But more than that, it gives them more greed, that there is an Device that they can use to take the Elves Mana for themselves" Dave said as others looked at him " And Nobles most likely took the offer"
Dave nodded slightly. "Exactly. The nobles were greedy, and they were afraid. They used the very device the Wizard King created for equality—but they twisted it. On the day of the wedding, when all the elves had gathered to celebrate peace, the nobles activated the device and drained every drop of mana from the elves. In one instant, nearly the entire elven race was wiped out."
Gasps filled the room—some sharp, others quiet and restrained. Even Nozel's usual composure cracked for a heartbeat.
Charlotte leaned forward, her voice tight. "That can't be… an entire race…?"
Dave met her gaze, calm but unflinching. "It's true. Only one survived—Licht. And the devil made sure he saw everything. His people's bodies, his friends, even his fiancée—the Wizard King's sister, who was pregnant with his child—dead before his eyes."
The room went silent again. Even the air seemed to grow heavier.
"He fell into despair so deep it shattered him," Dave continued quietly. "His four-leaf grimoire turned dark, and a fifth leaf appeared—the sign of the devil's touch. Licht's body was twisted, his soul corrupted. He became something else… something monstrous."
Nozel's voice broke the silence, low and measured. "So the devil used his grief to create the first five-leaf grimoire."
"Exactly," Dave said. "And once that happened, the devil gained a foothold in this world. The First Wizard King arrived too late. He had to fight his closest friend—someone he once called a brother—and end it himself. After the battle, the Wizard King's assistant used forbidden magic to seal the devil away. But she also sealed the Wizard King himself. He foresaw that one day, the devil would return—and when it did, someone would need his strength again."
Yami scratched the back of his head, expression unreadable. "So what you're sayin' is, this whole mess started with some devil playin' puppet master with human greed."
Dave nodded once. "Yes. And now, history might be repeating itself. The man we met—the one calling himself Licht—believes he's acting for justice. But he is unknowingly under the Devil's plot to return back into world."
Fuegoleon looked toward Julius. "Wizard King… if this is true, then the enemy isn't just another mage. It's a devil manipulating from the shadows."
Julius's expression was calm, but his eyes had sharpened to gold slits of focus. "A devil… and an ancient history buried by time."
He rose slowly, resting both hands on the table. "We'll need to confirm this truth—and find out who's trying to resurrect the past."
"Still," he continued, frowning slightly, "there's one thing I don't understand. Why didn't the First Wizard King kill the devil instead of sealing him?"
Dave leaned back and answered calmly, "It's simple—he couldn't. Or rather… no one can."
The captains exchanged confused glances.
"The devils are entirely made of mana," Dave explained, "and only a few types of power can truly destroy them. In this room, there are only three who possess that capability: the Wizard King himself—if he can revert their time and unmake them; Captain Yami, whose Dark Magic which have similar properties to Devils magic; and me, through my Void Magic, which can annihilate everything. And lastly, Asta—because of his devil."
Yami raised a brow. "Yeah, about that… Asta also has a devil, right? Shouldn't we worry about him too?"
Dave shook his head. "No, he's fine. The devil inside him is an Anti-Devil—one who devours magic instead of using it. That devil resides within Asta's five-leaf grimoire, which was originally Licht's four-leaf one before it turned black and gained the fifth leaf."
As he said that, William's face subtly stiffened, the tension in his shoulders betraying his reaction to the name Licht.
"So then," Julius asked curiously, "how did that devil end up in Asta's hands?"
Dave's expression softened. "It's connected to his mother. She had a strange physique that absorbed all mana around her—so much that no one could stay near her for long, and no child could survive in her womb, well Asta was an exception who survived even after having all his mana taken away. One day, she found a small devil boy who had been cast out from his realm. She took him in and raised him as her own son… and that devil came to love her deeply."
He paused for a moment, his tone lowering. "But when the Devil King appeared to reclaim that boy, Asta's mother sacrificed her life to protect him. That act filled him with hatred—not toward humans, but toward his own kind. The other devils despised him for his weakness and his feelings for a human."
Dave continued, his eyes narrowing slightly. "That devil kid understood the truth—that devils are made entirely of mana. So he sought a power that could destroy mana itself. After years of experimentation, he succeeded in creating it… but the power was too much for his body to contain. He realized he would need a host—someone with no mana at all, who wouldn't die from the backlash of Anti-Magic."
"That's why he chose Asta. Because Asta was born without mana, his body wouldn't reject or be consumed by Anti-Magic. Anyone else would have died instantly from the conflicting energies."
"The devil kid—Liebe—merged with Asta when he was young," Dave said softly. "He sealed himself within the five-leaf grimoire, waiting for the day Asta would be strong enough to wield him. For now, Asta can only use the Anti-Magic within the swords—he hasn't fully accessed the true Anti-Devil Magic itself. What he's swinging around are the fragments of that deeper power."
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