The black devil

Zick followed behind the knight, he could see some people freezing looking at him, they had varying expressions, some had stoic faces, some had fear and some had uncomfortable faces.

Zick had been trying to suppress the mana coming out of his body for a while but it yielded no result. 

Giving characteristic to a mana is only possible when a person becomes a peak rank knight but Zick had done it while being a high rank knight. So suppressing his mana had almost become impossible for now.

His black mana had evolved so fast that his body wasn't ready to accept it yet. Only by becoming a peak rank knight can he suppress the mana coming out of his body.

'.....luckily there is no other side effect from this'

Even Zick didn't know the reason as to why his mana gained characteristic so soon. He didn't think of it much as it increased his strength to another level.

Zick felt refreshed now that he had stopped smiling all the time. 

The weather was still the same as ever, the sky was filled with black clouds, there was a pungent stench of war in the air.

Zick could see a fortress in the distance, it was made as a boundary to fight the enemy from the second continent. After the war had finished everyone had retreated to their base near the fortress.

The fort name is Sethre fortress.

It was enhanced with myriads of defencive spells which Zick could feel even from a distance. He could see knights sitting on the benches in groups and eating their food. 

"How many days has it been since the battle?"

Zick asked the knight leading the way with the same deadpan look.

"...one and a half day"

The knight frowned while responding to him, he found Zick's voice offensive as it almost felt like he was being ordered.

After hearing the knight answer, Zick ignored him. His house was located near the battlefield as it would make it easy to respond to enemy's attack.

Walking for a few minutes, Zick reached in front of a white tent with the Mhydrasvil empire's crest etched on it.

The knight leading Zick stood beside the entrance of the tent like a guard, Flapping open the tent entrance Zick entered.

Ghreese sat on a luxurious chair as he looked at Zick with a serious face.

"So you came"

"...."

Zick didn't say anything and waited for Ghreese to continue speaking.

".....You killed 12 people of our army, what do you have to say for this?"

"Nothing"

Zick answered without hesitation.

A perplexed expression appeared on Ghreese's face. He had called Zick to reprimand him about the casualties just for the sake of it. He actually didn't care about any of the knights who were not from the Mhydrasvil empire.

And the 12 knights killed by Zick were not associated with them at all.

'He has changed....'

Ghreese was able to notice Zick's changes, the first time he met him it was like meeting a normal kid but right now he looked like a person who has experienced a lot of things in his life.

'He seems a lot more mature now....'

Throwing this thought out of his head, Ghreese started speaking to Zick.

"You have been pardoned for this once as you have done a worthy deed for it, but remember there won't be another chance like this. you can go now"

Ghreese waved his hand signalling Zick to leave. 

Going out of the tent, Zick looked towards the open tent where a normal person was distributing food to the knights. Walking near it, he also picked up a bowl and took porridge.

It was a murky porridge, as if it had been washed out from a rag.

"...."

It looked as if it was made to kill a person's taste buds out of spite. Naturally, it should be rich in nutrients since it was food made to be eaten by the knights.

Walking to one of the benches in the end, Zick sat down and started eating the porridge.

It tasted better than the felix root at least. Yeah, better than Felix root.... 

While eating the porridge with a wooden spoon Zick thought of what he should do in the future.

It was inevitable that he would have to stay in the battlefield for two years. But he didn't want to waste his time at all.

'Let's gather as much experience as I can while fighting in this war.....'

***********

Two years later.

In these two years, Zick had never neglected training both in his mana and to gather experience in the battlefield.

With the black mana's support he had passed the halfway mark of the high rank knight and he had also gained a title for the deeds he did in the battlefield.

The black devil.

He didn't go out of control like the first time and fought with a clear mind as he had long accepted his broken personality. Both his broken and rational personality had assimilated which led to the current him.

Fighting in the battlefield has given him a lot of experience to fight against knights and mages.

The battles were different from the first battle in which he had participated and had lost control. The battle would go on for a day or two all the time if nothing exceptional happens.

The second continent army had learnt a lesson from the battle against Zick and always kept an eye on him which led to him only being able to kill a few knights in every battle.

But Zick was already satisfied from this, he got to know his limit properly. His strength had reached quasi-peak rank knight.

The second continent excelled in alchemy more than magic so there were a lot of situations in which Zick had been put in a difficult position. 

Luckily the first and second continent had come to a treaty of not using mana bomb in the battlefield or the second continent army would have held a superior position in this war. 

All the wounds that Zick suffered was easily healed by the priest from the sun god temples.

The second army equipment was more advanced than the first continent army which already gave them an advantage in this battle. 

Staying in the battlefield for so long he was able to tell the rank of the mages just by glancing at them once.

It was different from the knights, a knight's rank is identified by the mana they give out, but mages are different.

Their rank can be identified seeing their harmonisation with their surrounding mana. With his current enhanced sense he was able to identify every last mage's rank in the battlefield.

There were only 3 peak rank mages in the whole first continent army and With 18 high rank mages. The other mages in lower ranks were ignored by Zick.

Right at the moment, Zick just got the message that his mission had been completed. He was walking towards a tent where a mage was sending mana into a white orb on the table.

Zick knew about the device.

'It's a magic communicator'