Haven't thought about that. Probably just find a way for that as well

Burning down the devil in his flames, the dragon roared out loud in excitement sending shockwaves throughout the shadow palace.

Everyone who felt the mana from the shockwaves looked at the dragon in awe.

Many were confused by the sudden appearance of the giant beast, but some looked at the dragon with curiosity.

"This ki... OI! SEKKE!! IS THAT YOU?!?!" asked Asta as he felt a somewhat familiar ki from the dragon.

"Huh? That's Sekke?" asked Secre in shock.

"The human from earlier?" asked Lumiere.

"Hahaha!!! This feels awesome!!!" yelled the dragon.

Hearing his words the people started to ease up and soon Licht, Lumiere, and Secre realized that they could no longer feel the devil's mana.

"...Did we finally win?" asked Licht with a slightly surprised yet excited tone.

But all their excitement was short-lived since the shadow palace started trembling harder from the mana radiating out of Sekke.

"...The palace is going to collapse soon. The devil's magic is still going strong." Informed Lumiere.

'Crap, shouldn't have used that much force in the last attack.' thought Sekke knowing full well that it was he who fastened the palace's collapse.

"Well....it felt great, didn't it?" asked Vritra as he was partly to blame for the over-the-top display of power.

While Sekke and Vritra were talking to each other, a black portal appeared near them, and the people who were present in the shadow palace started to come out of them.

"Wah! The pasty bean pole space magic guy?!" exclaimed Asta as he saw Valtos come out of the portal that brought everyone along with it.

"Oi! Dumbass?!?! How dare you steal my kill at that last moment?!?! And what's up with this creepy giant snake form? You still sane?" asked Yami.

"Don't be a sore loser now, Yami-san. By the way, the 10000 yuls are mine now. Keep that in mind."

"Tch, yeah yeah."

Hearing their casual banter, many of them wondered whether the two of them cared about the fact that they were about to be buried alive.

"Stop wasting time, we need to get out of here," said Nozel.

All of them nodded and then looked up towards the exit.

The dragonifed Sekke stared at it for a while and then looked at the others.

"...How the hell am I supposed to fit through that?"

All of them looked at the giant dragon and then at the exit.

"...Turn back to human?" asked Noelle.

'...How do I do that Vritra?' asked Sekke.

"Don't know, every time this mode is used, my host either dies or goes insane." replied the dragon king.

'....'

"...."

'....We are in deep shit, aren't we?'

"....Probably."

Sekke sighed and then looked at Noelle.

"I don't know, how."

"Huh? Then what are we gonna do?"

"I can cut you in small pieces if that works," said Yami and insheathed his katana.

"I second that as well," said Jack while licking his lips.

"Can you two be serious for a second? Despicable humans" commented Charla with an annoyed look on her face.

"Asta, use that new sword of yours on me," said Sekke.

"Huh? Oh! That might work!" said Asta in a slightly excited tone.

Asta's grimoire started flipping and soon the handle of the sword came out of it.

Pointing the blade of the sword at Sekke, Asta channeled the anti-magic in the sword making a magic circle form in front of the the giant dragon.

Sekke looked at the small circle in front of the sword but still didn't feel any change.

'Is this working Vritra?' asked Sekke.

" It's slow but it is working. Though it might take around 30 minutes at this rate. My, other half..."

'...I know Vritra. Sorry.'

"No need to apologize my other half. I know that the big ol' dark lord is a huge softy. Haha"

"Asta, stop it. This is not working. You guys get out first. This place is collapsing."

Hearing the dragon's words Asta stopped but hearing the words that followed next his eyes widened in shock.

The same was the case with everyone since they understood what Sekke was implying.

"Oi, brat. Are you finally out of your mind?" asked Yami.

"Do you think we will leave you behind and just be on our way? How are you gonna come out?" asked Noelle.

"I will find a way," replied Sekke.

"What if you don't?" asked Secre in a serious tone.

"I will."

"I am asking what if you don't?"

"...Haven't thought about that. Probably just find a way for that as well," replied Sekke in a calm tone.

The others were about to voice their concerns but soon the ceiling above them started falling.

Seeing the falling rubble, Sekke blew them away with his breath. He then looked at his puny friends who were not showing any signs of moving at all.

Sighing in defeat, Sekke's gaze turned cold as he looked at the people around him.

Feeling his cold gaze all of them got stiff. Even the magic knight captains, Licht and Luniere were no exceptions.

All of them turned silent and stared at the huge dragon that was looking at them.

Seeing that he had their attention a smirk appeared on the dragon's face.

Soon the snake-like appendages from his body spread out and wrapped around the bodies of motionless people.

"Worry about the dark lord, when you don't get scared shitless from his gaze."

"Huh? What are you doing? SEKKE?!?!" yelled Asta.

"Grow strong Asta. In the time I am not there, you have to pull some of my weight in the squad as well."

"Let go of me!! I am ordering you to stop whatever you are doing!" ordered Noelle.

"Noelle, same for you. You have come a long way from where we started, but there is a long way ahead. I won't be able to help you train for a while though, so don't slack off."

"Huh? Me getting scared of you?! In your dreams. Let go of me!!!" screamed Mereoleona as she released her mana.

"Don't try your worthless struggle. <Delete Field>"

The moment Sekke uttered those words, the snake-like appendages glowed and all of them felt powerless.

"Sekke, stop! Please! I am begging you!" cried Secre as she noticed that Sekke was carrying all of them towards the exit.

"Secre, sorry for worrying you all the time. Take care of yourself. Also, once I get back let's go on a long bike ride just like old times. Also if possible, look after mom and dad."

"Oi, dumbass. You sure about this? You won't get your 10000 yuls if you are stuck here ya know." said Yami.

"We will settle that once I come back. Take care Yami-san. Look after the squad. Go see a doctor about your shitting problem as well."

"Oi! What was that last part!!!"

"Haha!! Everyone, take care. I will see you all as soon as I can."

Hearing the dragon laugh out loud, Secre, Asta, and Noelle continued to yell while crying.

Yami had a frown on his face as he stared at the dragon and then at the collapsing palace.

The black bulls as a whole were not willing to leave behind their comrade at a place like this, not to mention some of them had seen him sacrificing himself for them before as well.

Yuno and Mereoleona clenched their teeth feeling powerless once again.

The elves and Lumiere were silent since they were not close to Sekke, but they still had a feeling of respect for the man who stood strong till the very end.

All of them stared at the dragon for one last time before Sekke pushed them through the exit sending them out of the shadow palace.

All of them flew through the portal for a while and soon emerged back in the Clover kingdom.

Secre immediately tried to locate the shadow palace and use her magic to get back in.

Feeling the position of the place Secre immediately grabbed the spear that she was using for flying and rode on it, ready to go back in there.

However, out of nowhere the figure of Shadow Palace appeared in front of them making them stop what they were doing.

Some even thought that it was Sekke's doing and were about to say something, but soon those thoughts disappeared from their mind.

The glowing figure of the shadow palace started to crack up and soon the whole figure shattered and disappeared right in front of their eyes.

This made Licht's and Lumiere's eyes widen in shock.

"The shadow palace...."

"It's gone...."

Secre stared at the space with shocked eyes with not a single word escaping her mouth.

The others had a similar reaction as they just started at the destroyed shadow palace not knowing what to say.

Secre simply flew towards the location of the palace and used her magic, trying to unseal its entrance, but nothing happened.

She tried again and again, but no matter how hard she tried, nothing happened.

Finally accepting the fact after around a hundred tries, she started crying out loud making all the others who were waiting for a miracle to happen snap out of their thoughts.