The hall was filled with anticipation; everyone was chattering among themselves.
Suddenly, grimoires started floating one by one—blue, green, red, pink. Grimoires of different colors filled the room. Then, all of a sudden, there was an exclamation, and everyone turned toward Yuno, who was overflowing with mana. The entire hall began radiating a light green glow.
It was a four-leaf clover grimoire—the legendary one.
Everyone was awestruck, as no one had ever seen one in person. Suddenly, a loud voice interrupted the moment.
"Umm… when will I get my grimoire?"
Everyone looked at Asta as if they had seen an animal, and then the entire hall was filled with snickers.
At that moment, Yuno firmly declared, "I am going to be the Wizard King."
Asta instinctively retorted, "NO, I WILL BE THE ONE."
That was all it took. The entire hall erupted with laughter and mockery—about how an idiot without mana or a grimoire could ever become the Wizard King.
While the story's main characters were immersed in their struggles, Theo was also facing an issue. You see, he had gotten a grimoire—just that it was far too normal, completely unremarkable. And it kept glowing like a torch.
[Theo's POV]
What the hell!?
Why is this grimoire so slim? And why does it keep glowing!?
I tried using my mana again to check what my magic was, but all I got was blank—nothing, nada, literally nothing at all. The grimoire just kept glowing, like an overpriced torch.
I went to ask the Grimoire Tower Master.
"Umm… sir, my grimoire is only glowing, and I cannot sense my magic type."
The Tower Master looked at me in puzzlement, then said, "Normally, it only takes two seconds for a grimoire to recognize its mana nature. What is your mana attribute?"
I froze.
"Sir… I don't know my magic nature."
The Tower Master looked at me like I was some other kind of animal—compared even to Asta—and said, "Then your grimoire is also unable to find your attribute. So maybe… your grimoire has only half chosen you. By this logic, I doubt you will be able to use spell magic from it."
There was silence.
Then the entire hall erupted into laughter and mockery.
"I saw those three—the four-leaf, the manaless one, and that half-assed grimoire holder—together. I can't believe it! How can these three kinds of people exist together? Hahaha!"
"I know, right? Blessed, cursed, and half-baked. Hahaha!"
You see, I was usually the voice of reason between Asta, Yuno, and myself. That was only because I always believed I was special in some way—that I would do something great simply because I was an orphan alongside the main characters. I always had misplaced confidence.
But one should never forget their past.
In my previous life, I was completely unmotivated. The reason I trained and pushed myself here was because I believed that if I stayed beside the main characters, I too would become special. This rivalry gave me false hope—that I could become someone great.
After all, I wasn't like Asta. He didn't know the future. I did. And because of that, I felt confident—though in truth, I wasn't inherently confident at all. In my past life, I was anxious and uncertain.
So when the entire hall laughed at me, I didn't react like Asta, who, though upset, still bounced back.
I fell into despair.
My eyes widened in disbelief. My voice became incoherent. I could feel everyone's gaze on me. I wanted to hide. I felt unbearably weak.
Drip… drip.
Before I knew it, I started crying. I began thinking that all of this was meaningless—that I should have stayed in my old world, that I was an idiot to die over a light novel. At least that world had a place for me. But here?
The Clover Kingdom would become extremely dangerous in the coming years: elf reincarnation, the Tree of Qliphoth, devil invasions, the Spade Kingdom war, resurrected demons, the gates of hell opening—and, above all, the true villain being the kingdom's Wizard King.
"Dammit… dammit… DAMMIT."
Why me? Why the hell me? How am I supposed to handle all of this!?
I was in full-blown panic mode—arms sweating, head throbbing, anxiety crushing me. I just wanted to run.
"What was I thinking!? That I'd be a main character!? Get girls!? God must be laughing at me."
I didn't realize it, but the atmosphere outside the Grimoire Tower was shifting drastically. The wind began to howl violently.
"Seriously, what would I even do with knowledge about the Tree of Qliphoth!? Go tell the Magic Knight Captains that their First Squad Captain is a terrorist?"
The atmosphere worsened. Thunder cracked. Animals panicked. Birds flew in all directions. Parents outside grew worried; they had never seen anything like this. Everyone felt that something terrible was about to happen.
Inside the tower, the Tower Master's expression turned to panic. The children began noticing the concentration of mana shifting, the colors growing brighter and more unnatural.
Everyone felt the change—except a manaless idiot looking around cluelessly and another rambling fool courting death by ranting about God inside the Grimoire Tower.
"I shouldn't have read that ridiculous light novel! I'd still be alive in my previous life! What kind of nonsense is this about twenty-two godhood pathways!? As if something like that even exists!"
At that moment, everyone felt as though an incomprehensible will had descended. No one could identify it, but everyone felt it—except for one death-seeking fool.
Even Asta felt that something was wrong.
Outside, people backed away from the tower as if it were no longer a building, but a beast—as if a dragon had awakened.
"Now how many pages does this trash grimoire even have!? Nine pages? Only nine pages!? Are you kidding me!? What am I supposed to do—make a deal with the Devil!?"
Then—
BOOM.
White.
Everything was white.
No color. No sound. No sensation.
In front of me sat a being, its back facing me.
I didn't know who—or what—it was. My instincts screamed at me to run, to retreat.
I took a step back.
Click.
The being slightly tilted its head, acknowledging the insolent fool who had made a sound in His divine kingdom.
The moment He looked at me, it felt as if the entire world collapsed.
BOOM.
I was back in my body.
Incoherent voices filled my ears. Incomprehensible symbols flooded my vision. My soul trembled, as though my very existence was about to shatter.
I screamed.
Everyone was startled. My eyes began bleeding. My body convulsed. Blood was everywhere. Yuno and Asta looked on in horror, yet something held everyone in place.
My grimoire trembled violently, crackling as if it were about to break apart.
As I faced this crisis, I felt it for the first time in this life—
I was going to die.
I couldn't help but remember my first death in my previous life, after reading about Amon nearly taking over Klein. I wondered—if only I had powers like Amon's, the Thief Pathway, capable of stealing fate itself—everything would be so much easier.
The moment that thought crossed my mind, my grimoire stopped cracking.
It began to glow.
For the first time, it started to change—becoming something else entirely.
I thought of everyone in this life, of those closest to me—Asta and Yuno, the dual protagonists.
I smiled bitterly and muttered through the pain,
"Sorry, guys… you'll have to walk the rest of the path alone. I'm going first. But you'll be fine. After all, you're the main characters. Without you, this world wouldn't survive."
The next moment, my grimoire opened for the first time—and flipped directly to the eighth page. I couldn't read the ancient script—but if I could have, I would have known the name that now bound me: Trojan Horse of Destiny.
Both Yuno and Asta felt as though something powerful had struck them.
Yuno's mana went into overdrive. His grimoire vibrated violently, and the four-leaf clover—symbolizing luck—glowed brilliantly… then dimmed. The fourth leaf became blurred, almost indistinguishable. Yuno felt as though a mountain had crashed into his head, and he collapsed unconscious.
Asta felt unbearable pain throughout his body. He growled as thick black-red lightning struck him from outside the tower. Wherever it passed, mana was erased—as if it had never existed.
Asta grew weak, drained of his usual energy, and collapsed unconscious as well.
As for me, I lay bleeding on the floor, a pool of blood spreading beneath me.
The last thing I heard was Asta's scream—
And then, darkness.