"Ohohohohoho!"
A sharp laugh came from the owner of that tongue. It was a chubby man with slightly curly hair, and like Halbet, he had two blackish-red lava-like horns on his head.
His narrow, slit-like eyes squinted, accompanied by a loathsome smile that perfectly embodied ugliness and lewdness. He spoke to the three inside, "I, Robero, can feel it—girls with thick mana!"
"Just let me..."
Before Robero could finish his sentence, a fierce blast of mana struck him instantly, sending him flying out of the palace.
Facing the suddenly appearing Dark Disciples, Mimosa did not hesitate for a moment. She released the Plant Creation Magic: Magic Cannon Flower with a backhand strike. Enhanced by the mana of the Heart Queen Lolopechka, the magic's power was astonishing, and the blazing beam of light knocked the flying Robero unconscious.
But the battle was far from over.
Amidst the smoke and embers, a black figure slowly walked in, accompanied by the sound of crisp footsteps.
The "tap, tap, tap" sound wasn't unpleasant, yet it made Lolopechka and Noelle's expressions turn exceptionally grim, their bodies tensing as if facing a mortal enemy.
Mimosa stared intently at the newcomer. With her outstanding mana perception, she deeply felt the visitor's power. For a moment, she seemed to see a giant black shadow roaring at her!
Her face turned pale, and she couldn't help but take a step back.
"Yahoo~~~" The newcomer stepped over the pile of rubble and into the palace, casually greeting Lolopechka and the others. "Little Lolopechka, long time no see!"
"Before, I was running an errand for Megicula, so I just placed the curse and went back..."
"I have plenty of time today, so let's have some fun!"
Facing Vanica's playful greeting, Lolopechka, the Queen of the Heart Kingdom, mustered her courage to take a step forward and spoke coldly, "Since your target is me... why did you have your subordinates attack the Heart Kingdom?"
"Especially focusing the attacks on populated areas?!"
Lolopechka's questioning didn't make Vanica fall silent; instead, it made her laugh out loud. "Doing that... wouldn't it make you take things a bit more seriously?"
"Hahaha!"
"You bastard..." Noelle shouted through gritted teeth, "Your subordinates have all been taken down! You're the only one left! You'd better prepare yourself to end up just like those guys!"
"Is that so?"
Vanica spoke lightly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Noelle with great interest. The silver hair seemed strangely familiar. After a short pause, she said unhurriedly, "You haven't finished them off, have you?"
"What nonsense are you talking?!"
Just as the cry of doubt left her lips, Robero, who had been knocked down by Mimosa's Magic Cannon Flower, suddenly stood up. His thick tongue lolled and whipped around crazily, and the mana on his body hadn't weakened at all.
"How is that possible? He shouldn't be able to fight anymore!"
"Ahhh~~ it feels so good~~ Thank you, Lady Vanica. Thanks to you, I can stand up comfortably no matter how many times I'm hit." Robero's smile never faded.
Vanica raised a finger, intending to explain, but in the next moment, she seemed to sense something. She turned her head toward the palace exterior, her playful smile vanishing without a trace, replaced by a dark expression.
"You're quite good, little Lolopechka."
The cryptic words left Noelle and Mimosa confused. "What is this woman talking about? Why did her expression change so suddenly?"
Lolopechka observed the water screen. The scene shown in the screen also struck her as odd because... outside the palace, the Dark Disciples defeated by the Clover Kingdom Magic Knights did not stand up again.
Gacha and the other Spirit Guardians, along with the reinforcing Magic Knights, were rushing toward the Royal Capital with all their might.
"Is Vanica lying?"
"No, it doesn't seem like it... Could it be that Gacha and the others have mastered a way to deal with the Dark Disciples?"
"Or perhaps..."
For some reason, Lolopechka thought of the Masked Man who had appeared before the Clover Kingdom Magic Knights arrived. Could it be him?
Without any hesitation, she gathered her courage and dignity as a Queen to declare war on the intruder. "Vanica, the Dark Disciples you sent to attack the key towns of the Heart Kingdom have been defeated. Now, we will definitely defeat you!"
"That's right!"
"We will absolutely defeat you!"
Beside her, Noelle and Mimosa had already entered their combat stances. The former wore armor condensed from water magic, while countless plant vines grew behind the latter.
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Roar!"
Noelle was the first to strike. The spear formed from compressed water magic in her hand thrust forward, white waves surged, and a roaring sea dragon composed of blue currents charged out.
The sea dragon lunged, opening its massive maw to bite down as it reached Vanica.
"Roar~"
"Oh?" Vanica gave a cold snort and spread her hands slightly. Bright red blood appeared densely in the air. As the grimoire with the spade pattern opened, blood-scaled red threads spread from Vanica's left face down to her neck.
Blood intertwined in the air like a net, and a hideous, blood-red monster emerged!
"Blood Magic: Red Beast!"
In just a moment, that blood-red beast, which was far larger than the sea dragon, tore Noelle's sea dragon into pieces.
"So weak."
"It's just like a little snake!"
While Vanica and Noelle clashed, Robero and Mimosa began their own fight. Both had the same goal: to keep the main battlefield undisturbed!
"Undine!"
With a call, the Water Spirit manifested behind Lolopechka. Possessing the accumulated mana of generations of queens, Lolopechka had the largest amount of mana among the owners of the Four Great Spirits, which meant the Water Spirit was the most well-developed among them!
The tall Water Spirit Undine spread her hands. As mana surged, water gathered into rivers flowing through the air.
The vast kingdom was filled with flowing water, effectively becoming a water domain.
"Aha!" Vanica, standing atop the giant red beast, was exceptionally excited. "As expected of little Lolopechka~~ Dante and Zenon must be enjoying their battles right now too, right? But my side is the best! After all, my opponent is little Lolopechka—it's okay even if I kill her!"
"Although World Tree Magic and Dark Magic also seem very interesting, they have to be brought back alive. How troublesome..."
Noelle, holding her water spear, followed the river searching for an opening to attack. When she heard "Dark Magic," she froze, then asked Vanica angrily, "What do you mean by that? What are the other members of the Dark Triad doing?"
"Huh? Why would I tell someone like you?"
————
In the sky some distance from the palace.
A group of people was rapidly flying toward this location...
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