The squad led by Mereoleona soon came in front of the entrance of the Shadow Palace.
Sekke, who could barely move because of the last stunt he pulled, tried to look forward and raise his head but soon gave up as his head rested on Mereoleona's shoulder.
"What happened?" asked Mereoleona.
"Too much pain to lift my body. Lend me your shoulder for a while."
"Get your shit together. We are about to enter enemy territory...Rest on my shoulder in the meantime." replied the lioness.
"Thank you."
"Sekke-kun was it? Leopold told me a lot about you. Thank you for treating my severed hand." said Fuegoleon who was slightly surprised seeing that his sister was not bothered by the boy's action. The same sister who slapped the baby Leopold for peeing on her.
"You are welcome," replied Sekke before he closed his eyes trying to rest as much as he could.
"Your body is in very bad condition, my other half. How are you planning to fight?" asked Vritra.
'I just need some mana to function my body properly. Once that's done, it will be a piece of cake.' thought Sekke.
"That might be a problem since you cannot use
'That's why I got Charmy's food.'
"You don't have any strength to eat."
'Yeah, that's why I am not eating and don't have any mana. It might take a while, but I am sure that it will be fine.' thought Sekke.
His group soon entered the portal which was getting smaller and smaller and immediately their surroundings changed.
Sekke who felt the ki of the place changed drastically opened one of his eyes to check the surroundings and soon spotted a black space around him along with large glowing things moving along with them.
"Woah?" muttered Sekke as Salamander vanished from below him and all of them started to float in the space.
"An obstacle to anyone who tries to infiltrate the place?" asked Fuegoleon.
"Seems like it," replied Nozel.
"Haha! We're surrounded by strange mana," said Mereoleona.
"I cannot control my magic," said Mimosa
"I cannot control my body," said Sekke.
"Shadow Palace...I hear it's the boundary between this world and the next," explained Nozel.
Sell just let his body fall through the space since he could tell that moving wasn't not being helpful.
Soon he felt gravity being in effect once again and sighed.
"Wait....gravity...Ack!!"
And soon enough Sekke's body fell flat on the ground which enhanced the pain he was already suffering from.
"Kyaa~"
Soon a noise was heard and Sekke looked up only to see a familiar royal tsundere coming toward him.
"No no no. Noelle do-Ah!"
Before Sekke could even finish his word the royal tsundere fell on top of him, further injuring the dark lord.
"Sekke! Are you alright?" asked Noelle in panic.
"....F*ck you...Noelle...." muttered Sekke with difficulty before he fainted.
"Sekke! Don't die! Wake up!" panicked Noelle as she saw something like a soul come out of Sekke's mouth.
She immediately took out her wand, pointed it at Sekke, and dropped a ball of water on his face.
"*Cough**Cough* Oi! You trying...to...*cough*kill me?" asked Sekke with difficulty seeing which Noelle sighed in relief.
She got off Sekke and used her magic for a water ball to appear below him since she knew that he was having difficulty moving.
Sekke who was now riding a water ball looked around his surroundings and tried to feel the ki.
"No one nearby. Now the question is, which way to go?" asked Sekke.
"Hm...the only entrance.... above us. Are you ready Sekke?" asked Noelle.
"Let's see, I don't have any mana and my body is in too much pain...yeah, I am totally fine."
"Who told you to come if you were having this much difficulty?!"
"Captain Mereoleona....speaking of which where are the rest of them?" asked Sekke as he started to look around.
Realizing this Noelle started looking around as well and soon realized that it was only her and Sekke who were in the room.
"I cannot feel their mana...they are not close by," said Noelle.
"...Seems like just the two of us...well let's show the world what this master-student duo is capable of," said Sekke.
"Who are you calling your student?!"
"Noelle Silva. The royal rookie of black bulls. A tsundere who used water magic, though she only mastered control over magic thanks to the support of her great teacher Sekke Bronzaza."
"Grr...You!"
Noelle growled in anger but wasn't able to retort since what Sekke said was true.
"Anyway, onto the serious matter. Please take out the food that Charmy made and put a bite-sized piece of it in my mouth," said Sekke as he gestured toward his pocket.
Noelle nodded and took out the food from Sekke's pocket before she shoved it in his mouth.
Sekke tried to chew on it but was having difficulty doing so. His body was out of energy to do even such a simple task.
'This makes me feel pathetic.'
"Noelle...I am ashamed to ask you this....but can you do me a favor?" asked Sekke.
"Hmph! What is it? The great Sekke Bronzaza needs a favor from me." replied Noelle.
"It's fine if you don't want to. When the elves come at you don't expect my help," said Sekke.
"Agh....what do you want?!?!"
"I can't chew. Make me swallow this with your water magic," said Sekke.
"You can't chew....well you do look quite lifeless. Even hearing and understanding your voice is difficult since you cannot speak properly. Alright, leave it to me." said Noelle as she crumbled some food in her palm and coated it in a water ball before launching it inside Sekke's throat.
*Cough* *Cough* *Cough*
"Oi! Easy there...I am injured."
"Open your mouth great Sekke Bronzaza-sama. We need to get your magic back," said Noelle with a grin on her face.
"....You will regret it, you royal tsundere. I will have my revenge," replied Sekke.
"Heh."
The next water food ball was launched into Sekke's mouth which almost choked Sekke to death.
This continued for a while until Sekke got some usable amount of mana back.
"Alright. Stop Noelle."
"Eh? This was getting fun," whined Nielle.
"Anyway...."
[Bronze Creation Magic: Safe of Eternity]
A transparent display appeared over Sekke's arm and soon a glass bottle filled with red liquid came out of the storage.
"Oh? Which Queen's heal spell bottle?"
"Yup. The best thing that came out of which bitch....well after Vanessa-san. She tops this healing spell. Now open it."
Noelle did as Sekke told and just as the lid opened a red blood cocoon formed around Sekke.
The cocoon did some work for a while and soon started crumbling.
"The Dark Lord is back in action!" exclaimed Sekke with his body completely healed and full of energy.
"Alright, let's get going then!" said Noelle as a water bubble formed below them and the two of them started flying up.
Sekke looked up as he started munching on the sandwich that Charmy packed for him.
"So, who do you think we will meet first? Enemies or our friends?" asked Noelle.
"Enemies."
"Oh? You sound pretty confident."
"No, idiot! ENEMIES!" yelled Sekke as he grabbed Noelle and jumped off the bubble.
A moment later a huge column of intense flames attacked the bubble destroying it in an instant.
Landing on the ground Sekke and Noelle looked up to know the identity of their attackers.
"Ara Ara, a royal right off the bat...seems like we are lucky...wait that man is here as well.....Shit." said elf Anna as she smiled seeing Noelle, but soon the smile vanished once her gaze landed on Sekke.
"Fana? Long time no see Fana-chan!" called Sekke as he waved at the pink-haired elf that came along with elf Anna.
"Sekke Bronzaza. Long time no see. You look fine." replied Fana with a smile on her face.
"So do you....you look different from last time though?"
"Ah, this is my new body. This time my mind is clearer than before."
"Hm? I see. You look more cheerful now. You smile now too. Last time you kept saying "I hate you" over and over again."
"Haha, I remember that."
The human and the elf converted happily with each other.
Meanwhile, the other elf and the royal looked at their respective partners with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.
"Oi! Idiot! What are you doing talking calmly with our enemy!" said Noelle
"Fana! How can you act chummy with a human," said Anna.
"Eh? It's fine, right? Me and Fana bonded during our last fight. I am just asking how is she." replied Sekke with a questioning look on his face.
"It's fine onee-chan. Sekke Bronzaza is a nice human," replied Fana.
"Hm? Onee-chan?" asked Sekke as he looked at the two elves.
"Doesn't matter! We need to stop the elves from performing the ritual remember? Hurry up." said Noelle.
"You are right. Oi Fana!"
"Hm? What is it?"
"Would you and your sister mind letting us pass through to the central chamber? We are in a hurry."
"Eh? Sorry. But we cannot. Why don't you two just stay here calmly and we won't do anything to you? I don't want to hurt you Sekke." said Fana.
"First of all, hurting me...kind of a stretch. Secondly, sorry but we need to pass through," replied Sekke.
The two then stopped talking as they stared at each other.
The situation got tense and Anna and Noelle got ready to fight. They were waiting for their partner's actions and started preparing their spells.
"Seems like we have come to a disagreement," said Fana as mana flared around her.
"Seems like it," replied Sekke as he sighed. He was stalling time by talking with her to absorb mana using his sacred gear, but it seemed like he could not stall any further.
"Let's play for a while," said Fana with a smile as flames gathered around her.
This gave Anna the signal as flames gathered above her.
[Flame Summoning Magic: Mystic Firebird]
Ignis materialized above Anna and geared at Sekke and Noelle
"Sure, but it might get over pretty soon," replied Sekke as his grimoire started flipping.
Noelle took it as her signal and unleashed the spell that she was preparing.
[Water Creation Magic: Valkyrie Dress]
A water armor and lance appeared around Noelle's body as she got ready to battle.
[Bronze Magic: Bronze Body-Logia]
A metallic shine appeared over Sekke's body and soon disappeared.
"Let's get started then my body needs a bit warm up anyway. Haha, get it, warm up, 'cause they are using fire magic."
At that, the three women around him looked at him with scowl on their faces. Heck, Sekke could feel even Ignis scowling at him.
"...You all don't need to be so mean."
"That was a bad one, my other half," said Vritra
'Shut it.' thought Sekke as he ignored their gazes and got ready to battle.