Invasion

Nero glanced around at the nobles and knights, who still stood frozen under his presence, as if they'd been caught in some grand, unspoken reprimand. His gaze was cold, dismissive, with an edge that made even the proudest among them falter.

"Go on," he said, voice heavy with a hint of mockery. "Why don't you all find something else to occupy yourselves? Maybe grab a plate and eat, unless you plan to stand there gawking like children caught red-handed."

The room remained silent for a beat, as though everyone had forgotten how to respond, until they began to shuffle off, uncomfortable and chastened. It was almost amusing to Nero how quickly these so-called elites could be humbled.

With a final disinterested glance, Nero turned his attention back to Asta. He gestured subtly, nodding for him to follow, and without a word, Asta fell in step beside him.

Nero's gaze then shifted to Noelle, who had been lingering uncertainly nearby, and he motioned for her to come along as well.

They moved through the grand hall, the sound of their footsteps echoing until Nero led them into a secluded area, inthe hall.

---

Asta followed Nero without hesitation, his stride steady as if he were used to this kind of summons.

But beside him, Noelle trailed with a mix of confusion and awe, her mind racing. She'd always known Asta as the magicless "peasant" who'd barged his way into the Magic Knights through sheer willpower.

And yet, here he was, walking alongside Nero, who was feared even among the nobility.

That this man would call Asta "son"—it shook everything she'd assumed to be true.

Noelle looked at Asta, a thousand questions flashing through her mind.

She was suddenly aware of how little she knew about him beyond his loud declarations and iron determination.

If he truly was the son of Nero, a figure respected and feared in equal measure, what else had she misunderstood?

As they reached a quiet corner of the hall, Nero turned to Asta, his gaze softening slightly, a faint but unmistakable smile of pride on his face. "Well done on your first mission," he said, his tone carrying a warmth unfound usually.

Before Asta could reply, Nero's hand moved to ruffle his hair, a gesture that caught Asta completely off guard.

His eyes narrowed in annoyance, a flush of embarrassment spreading over his face. "Come on, cut it out," he mumbled, trying to dodge away, though he didn't completely resist.

That small show of fatherly pride, brief as it was, was enough to make him feel a surge of warmth—and, admittedly, a bit of irritation.

Then Nero turned to Noelle, whose eyes went wide at the sudden attention, a quiet "eep" escaping her. For a moment, he simply looked at her, his gaze sharp and assessing, as if he could see all her thoughts laid bare. The silence felt heavy, and she fought the urge to fidget under his gaze.

Finally, Nero turned back to Asta, an amused glint in his eyes. "Nice choice, kid," he remarked, his tone carrying a hint of teasing.

It was clear he was aware of the way Noelle looked at Asta—and it didn't take much to guess what that meant.

Asta's face reddened further, caught between protest and embarrassment, as Nero's smirk deepened.

Asta was aware of the crush as well.

Noelle's own cheeks turned crimson, and she looked away, flustered, wondering how much more awkward this could get.

---

A few minutes had passed Asta was now being confronted by an unhealthily surprised tsundere, and Nero now stood alone by a tall window, a glass of wine in his hand, watching over the kingdom below.

He spoke quietly with Nel, his eyes distant but attentive.

The tension in the hall had lessened slightly after Vergo, fed up with the lingering smell of blood, had grudgingly healed Solid's injuries using his stitch magic —but not without leaving scars as a reminder.

Suddenly, Nero's gaze sharpened, and the wine glass in his hand ignited in a fierce blue flame, evaporating in an instant.

He raised his hand, pointing toward the distant horizon, his eyes flashing dangerously. In a low tone, he uttered, "Sankt Bogen."

Before anyone could fully process his words, a brilliant bow of light materialized before him, arching across the window.

Thousands of glowing arrows appeared, poised on the bowstring. In a swift motion, the arrows released, streaming across the sky like a wave of starlight, piercing through the night and toward the unseen threat.

Nero turned to the gathered captains, his face cold and determined. "The kingdom is under attack," he said, his voice cutting through the air like steel. "Prepare yourselves."

As soon as Nero finished speaking, captains like Nozel and Fuegoleon sprang into action, their voices sharp and commanding as they directed their squad members to intercept the attackers.

Nero created a detailed light construct in the middle of the hall, showing a map of the kingdom with precise locations of the advancing enemies.

It glowed vividly, each movement of the invaders clear, allowing the captains to strategize in real time.

Nero turned to the Soul Knights gathered nearby, his gaze steady and unyielding. "Everyone except Nel and Vergo, you have permission to go wild. No restrictions. Tear through them. Vergo will handle any intel recovery—just make sure their brains stay intact enough for him to stitch them back together."

There was a brutal finality in his words, a command that left no room for hesitation.

The Soul Knights exchanged glances, eager and serious, ready to unleash their full strength against the intruders without the usual limitations holding them back.

"And before you go take these" said Nero handing each one a Clover Medallion different from one he gave to Nel.

Nozel, glanced toward Nero and asked, "What will you be doing?"

Nero's expression didn't change, though his tone grew , dismissive. "That's none of your concern, Nozel Silva. Just know this—under my watch, the capital will not fall. Not in any way possible."

---

With only the intelligence mages remaining in the hall to provide real-time updates, the rest of the Magic Knights departed swiftly to confront the attackers.

Nero wasted no time, floating up from the hall and out into the night air, followed closely by Nel and Vergo.

Ascending higher, he settled in a seated position atop Castle Clover, where he could survey the kingdom below with an unobstructed view.

Nel and Vergo took their positions nearby, both remaining vigilant but waiting for Nero's lead.

As he enhanced his vision with a glow of blue energy, shimmering veins spread across his eyes, allowing him to sense threats far beyond the capital.

His expression hardened when he detected something unusual—the zombie attacks weren't isolated to just one location.

Instead, the dead were scattered across the kingdom, forming a far-reaching net of chaos.

Nero's frown deepened. This diverged sharply from what he knew of the timeline.

In the original scenario, the Eye of the Midnight Sun targeted Fuegoleon solely for the magic stone.

But his presence had forced them to adjust their plans—now, they were aiming to kill two birds with one stone.

They intended to wear him down, drawing upon him being the only person other than julius with nationwide spell capabilities and empathetic nature, and potentially kill him in the process if they succeeded.

The realization stirred an amused yet disdainful glint in his eyes.

They truly believed they could exhaust him into submission.

A low chuckle built within him, rising to an audible, sardonic laugh. " Hahaha How amusing," he muttered to himself, his tone dripping with scorn.

"They think they can push me to my limits? They clearly have no idea what they're up against."

As Nero finished speaking, he released his mana in a way he hadn't done ever since his birth —no restraint, no confinement.

The sheer force of it was overwhelming, and in an instant, the air around him thickened, almost solidifying with the oppressive energy radiating outward.

[Refrence]

The mana he had held back for so long now poured forth with crushing intensity.

A visible wave of aura blasted out from where he stood, and as it traveled, it burned through everything in its path.

The rooftop around him disintegrated instantly, the stones reduced to vapor as if they'd been struck by lightning.

The wave shot skyward, breaking through the atmosphere with a deafening bang, parting the clouds as it surged ever higher.

A piercing beam of pure mana tore through the heavens, leaving the sky itself divided by the force of his unleashed power.

---

On the battlefield, Asta was a blur of red, a streak flashing between twisted undead forms as he tore through the horde.

His dual swords moved like extensions of his own body, cleaving through the zombies with relentless precision.

Each strike was laced with a fiery red aura, an extension of his own raw destructive energy that crackled with intensity, obliterating any zombie unlucky enough to cross his path.

The destruction aura he wielded flared with each swing, an intimidating force all its own, without any need for Liebe's anti-magic.

The zombies crumbled to dust as he moved, unable to withstand the dual force of his swords and the relentless destructive energy that radiated from him like a storm.

He moved faster than the eye could follow, weaving through his enemies with a brutal efficiency that left only fragments of the undead in his wake.

But then, from afar, he felt it ,despite having no means to do so, —a wave of mana so dense and overwhelming that it seemed to weigh down the entire world.

Nero's released power surged through the air, suffocating, and almost liquid.

Asta's heart skipped a beat as he felt it hit him, like the sky itself was crashing down.

Just then, Liebe's voice echoed urgently in his mind, sharp and instinctive:

"This is not completely mana ...? "

Without a second thought, anti-magic flooded over him in response, enveloping him in an instinctual shield against Nero's power.

The black anti-magic crackled and wrapped around him protectively, as if Liebe's very essence was defending him from Nero's oppressive aura.

---

Nero spread his hand forward, letting a stream of liquid light pour from his fingers and sink into the earth below.

The substance shimmered with an ethereal glow, spreading rapidly as veins of bright blue magic raced across the kingdom, fueled by the sheer density of his mana.

His grimoire flipped open of its own accord, responding to the monumental force he was summoning.

With each turning page, words began inscribed themselves within it , woven from complex enchantments like purification, identification that demanded absolute mastery to control.

This was no ordinary "spell" that nero used before.

Initially Nero had devised a plan to flood the kingdom with his "Blut," an aura infused with his mana, that would serve as both shield and sword, compressing his power to crush enemies while leaving his allies unharmed.

But as he let his mana expand outward, he felt something shift, an unexpected evolution in the magic's complexity.

A true spell was forming, something he hadn't yet cast.

A series of runes glowed to life around him, forming a ring of sacred symbols.

Eleven immense pillars of light, each inscribed with Roman numerals, descended from above, sinking deep into the ground and creating a colossal magic circle that enveloped the entire kingdom.

Nero stood at the center, his eyes shining with raw power as he began to speak, invoking the authority of divine judgment.

"In the name of sanctity itself, let the unworthy tremble and the dark be purged."

"By the wrath of divine order, let all impurity be smitten. For none shall escape judgment beneath the watchful eye of heaven. Kirchenlied: Sankt Zwinger."

As the last word left his lips, massive columns marked with a five-pointed star erupted at the kingdom's borders, each glowing with an almost blinding radiance.

In a heartbeat, the pillars connected, releasing a flood of coutless brilliant light arrows that surged through the land.

A holy tribulation swept across the Clover Kingdom, a storm of purifying energy that extinguished the undead in an instant, their corrupted forms evaporating into dust.

Any member of the Eye of the Midnight Sun within the kingdom's boundaries met the same fate, reduced to nothing under the spell's unyielding light.

Only the most important of the group escaped, their headquarters torn from its location and hurled just beyond the borders by an emergency burst of space magic.

Nero could sense the headquarters crash down on the horizon, just outside the kingdom's reach, a almost failed retreat from his reach.

Lowering his hand, he felt a faint hum of satisfaction at the spell's completion.

His eyes flicked over to the distant remnants of the Eye's refuge.

All visible to his enhanced eyes

They had planned to not only claim the magic stone but to weaken him in the process, hoping that he would exhaust himself as he protected the kingdom.

But he had turned their scheme against them, leaving only ashes in the wake.

Nero smirked, a chill gleaming in his gaze.

"Fools," he muttered.

"I'm not so easily beaten."

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