"What was that?! Sekke?! What did you do? Huh? Sekke? Sekke! Don't die! You already died once today! Don't die again!!" yelled Asta as he saw Sekke's body fall.
"You don't have permission to die! As royalty I order you to come back to life," said Noelle in panic as she, just like Asta, panicked once Sekke fell.
The magic knights around him immediately headed toward Sekke and Asta started shaking Sekke's body in panic but was pushed away by Mimosa who started checking up his body for injuries.
"*Sigh*He is just asleep. He exhausted mana in his last spell. I will heal him though, just in case."
Hearing Mimosa's words, all the black bulls sighed in relief.
Feeling that the mana was getting insufficient, the magic device drone stopped functioning and flew back to Sekke.
Seeing the drone land on Sekke, Asta looked up at the magic display and saw that it was disappearing.
[Plant Healing Magic: Princess-Healing Flower Robe]
Mimosa sat on her knees beside Sekke and started using her magic to heal him, seeing that the others got back to recovering their mana by eating Charmy's food, leaving Sekke, Mimosa, Secre, and Rouge.
Secre was looking at her partner with a worried gaze. She was not sure whether to be amazed at him for not getting seriously injured after performing all the crazy things he did today, or just straight up smack him for nearly dying multiple times on the same day.
'*Sigh*You really know how to make me worried. Just rest up now, though I don't think you have much time to rest up. I need to go and awaken the prince, soon.' thought Secre as she was about to fly away and look for Finral.
But just as she was about to do that her gaze fell on Mimosa who was looking around suspiciously.
'...No one is watching me right...Alright!' thought Minosa as her cheeks started to blush a little.
She looked at Sekke intently before she used her plant magic to lift his head from the ground and rested him on her thighs.
'Uwaa!! So close...Mimosa calm yourself down. You need to heal Sekke-san.....But his face is so close. If I just bent down then....no, don't take advantage of him while he is unconscious. Become dirty thoughts!' thought Mimosa as she panicked.
'....This damn horny royal! Taking advantage when he is unconscious. Don't you dare cross any line!' thought Secre as she flew and landed on Mimosa's shoulder before she smacked her head to make her snap out of her thoughts.
"Ouch! Wa! Who did that? I wasn't thinking of doing anything indecent!.... Sekke-san's birdy?"
The royal panicked after getting smacked out of nowhere and started looking around only to spot Secre sitting on her shoulder.
'Yeah, you sound very convincing.' thought Secre as she glared at Mimosa.
Mimosa didn't know why but a chill went through her body as she felt Secre's gaze.
"Haha...I must be imagining things. Little birdy, you must be worried about Sekke-san as well, right? Don't worry I will try my best to treat him..... He is important to me as well, you know."
Mimosa looked at Sekke with a kind gaze which made Secre want to smack the royal once again.
But once she saw the look on Mimosa's face, she stopped. She knew that look very well. It was the same expression that another royal she knew 500 years ago who looked awfully similar to Mimosa had.
Secre lowered her wing and looked at Sekke.
'Wake up soon. I want you to be the first person to hear me...' thought Secre as she hopped down Mimosa's shoulder and landed on Sekke's chest.
She then stretched her wing and caressed Sekke's cheek.
While this was happening around the unconscious Sekke, Luck who was enjoying with the other black bulls felt a large amount of mana heading in their direction.
"Someone's coming." warned Luck as he stood up.
The others got prepared as well and soon they noticed two bright glows coming towards them.
"Wait? I know that mana..." muttered Noelle as she too felt the mana of the incoming mages as they got closer.
"This ki...Sisgoleon!!" exclaimed Asta.
"Who the heck are you calling Sisgoleon!!" said Mereoleona as a fireball engulfed Asta.
"Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot!" said Asta repeatedly as flames surrounded his body.
"Bakasta!"
Pointing her wand at Asta, Noelle poured water over him making the flames disappear.
"About time you woke up, you fool!" said Mereoleona with a smirk as she saw Fuegoleon riding on top of Salamander.
"I apologize for the trouble I've caused you, my sister," replied Fuegoleon as he hopped off the Salamander.
"You should be, because you got knocked down by a bastard, I had to come back and take care of the shit that you left behind.... Although, because of that I came to know that quite a few strong people have appeared in the kingdom. Speaking of which...where the hell is that bastard that made me think that he died after saying that I was not in a condition to fight." said Mereoleona with a glare as she started looking around.
"You couldn't even take a single step before fainting. Losing you back there would have been a bad thing for the kingdom," said Nozel who landed his mercury eagle near them.
"Nozel, Long time no see. You look quite strong," said Fuegoleon.
"Hmph, someone had to take care of the kingdom while you were sleeping peacefully, although it seems you returned with quite a power-up" replied Nozel as he stared at the flame spirit.
The two glared at each other as the others came close to them.
"Captain Fuegoleon! I'm so relieved that you're awake! Wait, and you've got Salamander, too?!"
"Ah, Asta. It appears you've gotten stronger during my slumber."
"Heck yeah! I'm totally ripped!" replied Asta as he flexed his muscles.
"Sisgoleon-sama! I heard you were supposed to be resting for at least one more day!"
"Who cares? I'm fine. Where the heck is that bastard that used the huge mana zone?" asked Mereoleona as her gaze finally landed on Mimosa.
"That bastard....sleeping after doing such a thing..." said Mereoleona as a vein popped up on her forehead.
"What exactly did that commoner do? He used the announcement system and told the citizens to close their eyes before using a spell. What happened?" asked Nozel.
Fuegoleon looked at the unconscious Sekke and smiled, "So he is the one who created my arm, Sekke was it? I saw the announcement as well, and once he was done using his spell I checked the nearby towns and used my communication device to calmly squad members from different parts of the kingdom...all the elves in those regions are now turned into bronze statues and have stopped wreaking havoc on the citizens.....He is a terrifying magic knight for someone so young...no I don't think anyone can use mana zone on such a large scale."
The black bulls, Mimosa, Secre, Kirsch, and Nozel widened their eyes in shock. They were in the capital and didn't have contact with anyone from other parts of the kingdom for a while, so the news that all the elf attacks from all over the kingdom were stopped was shocking news for them.
They looked at Sekke with their eyes and mouth wide open. It was really hard for them to imagine the mana and technique required to use such a grand spell.
'...A kingdom-wide spell with such precision...' thought Nozel.
"Woah! Sekke did something amazing!" exclaimed Asta.
"He is more terrifying than royals," commented Zora.
'This idiot did such a thing?' thought Secre as she looked at her partner's face who was sleeping peacefully on Mimosa's thigh.
"Not wanting to dampen the mood but.....That hope is getting smaller?!" said Magna as he pointed at the entrance of the Shadow Palace.
This made all of them snap out of their thoughts and focus on the situation at hand.
"This is bad, we need to hurry! If the elves place the final magic stone on its pedestal inside the palace, the elves' incarnation will be complete and our friends won't be able to get their bodies back. One of the elves told us that." informed Mimosa.
"We don't have much time. Nozel, Fuegoleon get ready. Anti-magic shit, Mimosa we will need you two as well. Anti Magic and Recovery magic will be useful. The rest of you rescue the citizens and help them get to a safe place. The elves are calm for now, but the situation might change at any time." ordered Mereoleona.
"...Mereoleona-sama let me come as well. I want to fight for the kingdom as well. I promise I won't hold you or the others back." said Noelle with a determined look on her face.
"Hm...okay," replied Mereoleoma as she stared at Noelle's face.
"W-wait a minute, I can't leave Sekke-san like this. He is unconscious right now and might need some healing once he wakes up."
"Don't worry we ca-"
"Don't worry, he is coming as well. Heal him on the way," said Mereoleona.
Mimosa, the one who raised the question, and Vanessa, the one who was about to say that the black bulls will look after him stared at the lioness with a questioning gaze.
"Umm...Mereoleona-sama, Sekke-san is unconscious."
"Yeah?"
"How will he fight then?"
"That's his problem," said Mereoleona.
A flame paw extended out of her body and grabbed Sekke's head.
"It would be foolish to not make use of one of the strongest ones present here," said Mereoleona.
"But he can die if he doesn't wake up and the situation becomes worse. Not to mention, he is out of mana!" protested Vanessa. She was totally against the idea of sending an unconscious Sekke to a dangerous place.
"He will manage. After all...he is the dark lord that single-handedly kept 12 reincarnated elves at bay while letting others leave securely. He also single-handedly stopped the attacks from the elves from all over the kingdom. I don't think he would like to leave things unfinished after he accomplished this much." said Mereoleona as she placed Sekke over her shoulder.
"She is right Vanessa nee-san! Sekke will surely get mad if things got screwed up after he has done this much. We will make sure to stop all this.....but on the off chance that we might not make it, having someone strong and reliable like him in the back will sur- Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Secre! Why?!" said Asta.
'If you want to die then die alone. Don't drag my Sekke, along with you! Hasn't he done enough for today? He saved you all and the kingdom while being near death twice! Don't just take him to die!!' thought Secre as she pecked Asta.
She then flew over to Mereoleona and pecked her hand wanting her to let go of Sekke.
"Huh? What's this? Want me to roast you alive you stupid bird?" said Mereoleona in a cold tone as flaming paw heard towards Secre.
But before the flaming paw could touch Secre a kick landed on Mereoleona's face and pushed her away.
"Who the hell is messing with Secre...want to die?" muttered Sekke in a weakened tone as his body fell on the ground.
"...My body hurts like hell...Secre, peck me twice if you are okay," muttered Sekke with his face planted in the ground.
"....SEKKE'S ALIVE!!!" cheered Asta in excitement.
The others snapped out of their thoughts from seeing Mereoleona being kicked away and stared at Sekke's body which was twitching in pain.
Secre landed on Sekke's head before she pecked twice.
"Glad you are okay....now can someone bring me some of Charmy's food. Need some fuel before we head to the fight."
"La? Roger! Wait a bit!" replied Charmy as her sheep started to work rapidly.
"See, he is ready to fight," said Mereoleona as she wiped the dust off her face while looking at Vanessa.
"Sigh, what to do with the weirdos of my squad?" muttered Vanessa.
While this was going on Secre silently hopped closer to Sekke's ear and whispered.
"Don't make me worry like this, you idiot."
"Hm? Who said that?"
"Me"
"Me, who?"
"Your partner."
"Your partner who?"
"...Guess it."
"....Is that you Vritra?"
"Who the hell is Vritra?... Is it a girl?" asked Secre.
"No, not me, my other half," replied Vritra.
"We don't have much time. We are going," said Mereoleoma as she grabbed Sekke and Mimosa before hopping on top of Salamander.
"La?! Take this with you!" yelled Charmy as she threw multiple food items covered in her cotton and wrapped with Vaness's thread at Sekke.
Sekke who was already weakened and was not able to move much was hit on the head by the fluffy cotton packages.
"...Mimosa, would you be a dear and put these in my pockets." requested Sekke already forgetting about the mysterious partner.
"S-S-Sure, Sekke-san!....Hehehe....dear...." replied Mimosa as a healthy blush appeared on her cheeks.
'....Need to get that prince unsealed soon. Can't leave him with the horny royal.' thought Secre as she immediately took off to find Finral.