149 Under the Mask

Could you take that mask off William ?

If you are wondering if I would laugh at you being ugly under the mask , I promise I won't do that, " Yami said.

William looked to be in deep thought for a second and answered.

"You are thinking that I am the leader of the terrorist organization , aren't you ? "

"To be blunt, Yes "

Although light magic and world tree magic are totally different, their tone of voice , their body type and most importantly their KI is exactly the same.

"It's only been around 10 years since I met you , right ?

It was during the battlefield and there were many more battles we fought together…

We became captains at the same time and Novel's braid was really out of control hearing that.

We aren't really friends but we have known each other for quite a while now.

So I am asking as a comrade , can you show me what's under the mask ? "

Hearing this William looked towards Yami for a few seconds and slowly removed his mask.

Forget about being Licht under the mask was something Yami didn't really expect.

Beneath his mask lay a large scar that stretched from his nose upwards and covered the entire upper half of his face

Yami had never seen such a scar before.

"That's one scary scar . Did you get that in the battle ? " Yami asked.

Willaim still had the smile he usually had on his face and said " No , I was born like this…..

I believe I was cursed even before being born.

Not even healing magic can heal this scar.

This mask is to prevent people from making nasty faces at me .

I was a bastard child of a certain nobleman...

Until eight I lived outside castle town but one day their kid died and I was taken as a nobility thanks to my magic potential and mana.

But due to my scar, my step mother despised me.

She always went out of her way to make things difficult for me.

I lived in hell...

But during that hellish time I met sir Julius who didn't care about my face , my life or anything trivial but only my magic . He offered me this mask and invited me to join the magic knights under his wing.

You know about the rest . "

'I can almost swear I had heard this story before

The shape of his face exactly looks like Licht.

But I don't sense any mana from that scar so it was not an illusion spell.

And worst of all , his KI is telling the truth…..' Yami thought.

"Thank you for listening to me Yami...

After telling and showing you the truth I feel a lot better . " William said with a bigger smile than before.

"Don't worry about it "

Vengeance looked towards the captured diamond mages and said ." Looks like your squad member Julian has done something amazing again . " His communication device rang and the overall damage and casualty was reported to him .

Yami stared at William as he slowly left the scene.

Still, Yami didn't stop suspecting William.

Yami has met people who could manipulate more than one type of magic, so there is a possibility that a person's appearance changed based on the magic they used.

**************

Eye of the Midnight Sun base:

Rhya stood in front of the stone tablet as energy from it flowed into his body slowly healing his arm that was destroyed by Julian.

Unlike normal injuries,for some reason it felt as if his destroyed arm never existed to begin with so normal healing magic didn't have any effect.

Since the magic stones contained stored powers of the elves, it helped Rhya recreate a new arm.

"One Magic stone is with the Wizard King and the other with the Black Bulls....

There are only two more magic stones left to collect.

Yuno's stone can be collected anytime but the problem is the Witch Queen…." Rhya turned towards Fana.

"Fana, please go get the Magic Stone from the Witch Forest…..

Out of us, you were the only one who was close with Marco and that Ragnvindr woman.

Promise the Witch Queen a deal in exchange for the Magic stone, I don't think violence is the right approach with her. "

"Shall I go today ? "

"No, wait for a few days and let the situation calm down a bit "

************

Black Bulls base:

A few days had passed since Julian solved the issue with the Diamond Kingdom.

[Water Creation Magic : Sea Dragon's roar ]

Noelle fired her new spell and got thrown back due to the recoil of the spell.

Asta's palms turned black as he slashed Noelle's spell with the Demon Slayer sword but he got pushed back too due to the sheer power behind the spell.

"Again !

Noelle! Use reinforcement magic on your legs and hands to lower the recoil.

Asta ! Swing faster and increase the Anti Magic flow even more" Julian shouted from the roof.

From the other side of the base a lot of explosions can be heard as Kirin was fighting against Luck, Magna and Gauche.

Yami, Finral, Charmy, Gordon and Grey were gone for missions so only Vanessa was in the base.

Secre was sleeping beside Julian as she was tired from all the work in the Magic Research department.

She picked up a lot of projects that Lumiere left incomplete and seemed to enjoy her new work very much.

A lot of people contacted Julian after receiving the news of his promotion like Captain Fuegoleon,Captain Charlotte,Captain Rill, Leopold, Prince Lucis, Olivia,Fanzel and many more people that he made connections with during his time in the Magic Knights.

Julian's communication rang up as a report from the recent Diamond invasion was sent to him by Marx.

As Wizard King predicted, the attack on Kiten was a way for Diamond Mages to enter Clover Kingdom with unknown intentions.

One of the mages to enter the kingdom was a new shining General.

Aside from this, next information was received that sending the three old generals to Clover Kingdom was a way to get rid of them.

Three of them were against the new rules and army standards so they were not needed anymore.

'It's weird that they didn't get rid of the mages in Diamond Kingdom itself but rather send them to Clover Kingdom since our Kingdom doesn't outright Kill enemy mages.

Seems like someone pulled the strings to get them out of the kingdom….I wonder who it is'

While Julian was reading the rest of the report, Vanessa climbed on the rooftop to sit beside Julian.

"I think it's time I give my mother a visit…." Vanessa said.

"I thought it would take you some more time, did something happen Vanessa?" Julian asked.

"I have been having weird dreams lately...

In almost all of the dreams, I see a red cat trapped in a cage trying to reach me but I can't open the cage.

It's the same cage that my mother had me live in…..so I think I need to confront my mother" Vanessa said.

"If you think you are ready, then let's go.

Pack your things" Julian said standing up.

He sent a mental message to Kirin and sleeping Secre to get ready too.

Julian asked Asta and Noelle to come with them, which they agreed at once.

"Dominante wanted to introduce Fanzel to the Witch Queen so let's ask them too" Vanessa suggested.

"That wouldn't be a problem.

I will ask them to meet us on the way" Julian replied.

Since they would be going to the Witch Forest, Julian sent a message to Yami informing everything.

Julian had some objectives to fulfill during this trip.

Make Vanessa learn fate manipulation some way or the other

Make Asta tap into his half demon form.

Obtain the Magic stone.

Finally, Eliminate Fana if she comes to the witch forest and absorbs Salamander's power.

Since Kirin becomes stronger after absorbing powers of different spirits, Atlante said that Kirin could become a greater spirit after absorbing the powers of more spirits.

Kirin had already absorbed the corpse of the greater plant spirit from Alric's dungeon and Leviathan's power from the Underwater city.

Moreover training with Atlante made his existence even more stronger.

So Julain was going after Salamander which was with Fana.