195 Elsdocia

Watching the imperial sword fall apart and shattered in his hands, a feeling of comfort surged in Grim's heart. Despite not using the sword to increase his power, he was quite satisfied what it would look like to use his [Kitsune] spells without any restrictions.

"Heh, not bad." He chuckled looking down at what was left of the sword.

Unfortunately for the kingdom but much to the satisfaction of Grim, in order to use the [Soul Burning Slash], a side effect of using a [Foxfire] boosted by the power of [Rightful Ignition] on a weapon containing a various number of souls was that said souls was be evicerated. Unlike the soulless swords that he created to use his spells, the imperial sword was neither designed to store spells nor be wielded by someone as destructive as Grim.

In fact, it was rather impressive that it managed to hold on for as long as it did. Of course part of this was due to Grim's excellent control of mana. It was unlikely that there would be another artifact in the kingdom capable of lasting as long as the imperial sword did.

Slowly descending from the sky and deactivating [Breath of the Kitsune] on his way down, he threw what was left of the imperial sword to the side as his fox ears and tails disappeared into mana particles and he returned to his base form.

*Whew* He breathed out lightly landing on the ground.

'So that's what it feels like to take out a wizard king.'

Humming to himself and feeling unusually relaxed, he played the final moments of the battle in his head while walking towards an unconscious Asta.

"Yo Asta." He called out. "Its over, you can get up now."

"..."

Seeing that he wasn't getting a response. He did the Grim-like thing and kicked him.

"..."

*Kicks again*

"..."

*Kicks once more just to be sure*

"..."

"...Well fuck you then."

Seeing him remain unresponsive, Grim sighed and dropped down next to him.

Rolling his eyes he muttered-

"Lazy bastard. Didn't even do anything and now you're taking a nap? Future wizard king my ass."

'And what the hell is up with those muscles? Did he spend the last 6 months in a gym or something?'

Looking at Asta's ridiculously muscled out body, he couldn't help but wonder if this world had its own version of steriods.

But before he could delve into those thoughts any further, the light of the rising sun off in the distance caught his attention.

It was only now that it truly hit him that he had taken a huge step towards becoming the strongest. While he knew that the devils were likely stronger than Conrad and that there could possibly be people even stronger than them out there. To him this win signified just how far he had come. From starting out as a lone boy struggling to survive in a forrest filled with nothing but death and predators. He had risen to the heights of killing devils, slaying mad kings and uprooting a bygone race. If someone ever wrote a biography of his life... he was confident that it would be an entertaining read.

"Mmm..." Asta stirred.

"Grim..." He called out slowly opening his eyes.

"Yo." He smiled seeing his friend wake up.

"Did we win?"

Pausing for a second,

"Grim." A voice suddenly called out from the side.

Answering without turning his head, he said - "Julius."

Stepping out of spatial magic portal and bearing the appearance of his childhood self, the wizard king of the current era and the unique wielder of [Time Magic], Julius Novachrono greeted the saviour of the kingdom.

"You've grown." He smiled marvelling at the fact that he couldn't sense a hint of magic from Grim's body.

'To think he'd reach a point that even I'm finding it difficult to sense his mana.'

'Just what did he do during these past 6 months?'

He always knew that Grim was special. Out of the three magic knights of the younger generation that had caught his attention, it was only Grim that far exceeded his expectations.

From soloing entire magic knight squads to defeating devils and now killing a wizard king. The potential Grim showed was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was practically otherworldy.

If he ever managed to reach his full potential, he couldn't even begin to imagine what kind of monster he would become.

Smiling at that thought, he couldn't help but ask "What was it like fighting Conrad?"

"He was decent." Grim answered after a split second of consideration.

"Decent huh." Julius nodded before moving on.

"What about Elsdocia?"

"What?"

"The imperial sword."

"Oh... Somewhere over there." He pointed not remembering where exactly he threw it.

"But forget about that." He suddenly stood up and walked over to Julius until he was looking down on him.

"Compared to you at your peak. Who's stronger, you or Conrad?"

Seeing him tower above him, Julius couldn't help but chuckle and answer the question in a non-chalant manner.

"Me." He stated.

*Grins*

"Is that so."

Showing off a smile that revealed all of his teeth, a light flashed through Grim's eyes as he suddenly turned around and began to leave.

"Hey!" Julius called seeing him rise into the air.

"Where are you going?"

Turning his head to the side and flashing him another smile, Grim left him with a single sentence-

"To nunya."

---

-Undisclosed Location-

Walking through the capital during the dead of night. Several hooded figures knocked on the door of a closed pub.

Knocking on the door three times, then two times and then three times again. A rough sounding voice answered from the other side.

"He who stands above all."

"Shall stand above me." The leader of the hooded figures answered.

*Clack*

Unlocking the door and letting the people in. The man behind the door led them behind the counter.

Pulling up a rug off the ground floor to reveal a trap door. He guided them down to the basement where a cloaked man in a strange mask stood in front of spatial portal and greeted them.

Putting their hands in their cloaks, the hooded figures pulled out various types of masks and placed them onto their faces.

Walking through the portal and into a large cathedral-like hall, they were greeted to the sight of other mask wearing people all facing an altar with a sword stabbed into it.

"Is that-"

"Yeah." One of the masked figures nodded keeping their eyes solely on the sword before turning to his companion and smiling.

"Welcome to the Cult of Grim."