"So... I got dragged onto a pirate ship, huh?"
Aboard the flying magic craft, Ethan rubbed his hair with a sigh, a helpless expression on his face.
But even if the others hadn't said anything, he wouldn't have stood by and done nothing.
Vanessa might be a member of the Black Bulls, but she and Ethan shared a fair amount of... personal history.
Not to mention Noelle, whose complicated connection with him was something neither of them could fully explain.
Even putting all that aside, they were on the same side. He wouldn't just watch from the sidelines.
"There's a legend that the Witch's Forest is ruled by the Witch Queen," Noelle explained. "She's said to be the mother of all witches and has the ability to foresee the future..."
"That sounds crazy powerful," Asta blinked.
Then he grinned. "But hey, we've already beaten a devil. What's a queen?"
A knuckle to the head—not from Noelle, but from Captain Yami.
"Confidence's fine. Arrogance'll get you killed."
They had indeed taken down a devil... but that had come with a lot of luck: Licht awakening, the First Wizard King's return, and Ethan's own power awakening in the nick of time.
Without all that? They'd be six feet under by now.
"Don't underestimate them," Yami said with a serious look. "You all might not know much, but the kingdom has had military skirmishes with the Witch's Forest before. They're strong. So strong, even the Diamond Kingdom doesn't dare mess with them lightly."
"The Diamond Kingdom?" Asta raised his brows. "Even that warmongering bunch leaves them alone?"
"Come on, it's just a forest. How strong could it be compared to a whole country?"
Yami snorted. "Not stronger. But think of it like a rose with thorns—you try to pluck it, and your hands get shredded before you get a whiff of the petals."
By now, their flying magic craft had arrived over the destination.
Below them stretched a vast, dense forest.
But this one was different—an eerie white mist blanketed the entire area, making it impossible to see what lay beneath.
"It's not just trees down there," Yami muttered. "It's full of witches. If we rush in headfirst, we'll alert the whole nest. I recommend infiltration."
A rescue mission should avoid bloodshed if possible.
"Nice idea," Ethan said, "but I don't think it's gonna work. Look at this mist."
The fog was thick—visibility near zero. Navigating it would be impossible, let alone finding someone inside.
More importantly, this mist wasn't natural.
"I'm sensing magic," Ethan continued. "If I had to guess, this is some kind of barrier. The moment anything from outside enters, they'll know."
Everyone nodded grimly. So much for stealth.
"Alright then, change of plan," Yami said. "If we can't sneak in, we storm the gates. We split into teams of two and search separately. Gauche, Luck—you're together. Charmy, Rill—you two."
They were there to find Vanessa, not to start a war. Spreading out meant more ground covered and faster mobility.
"Ethan, you'll pair wi—"
Yami trailed off as he turned and saw something that made him inhale sharply.
"What the hell are you doing...?" he muttered.
Everyone turned and stared.
Ethan had already summoned his four-leaf grimoire, floating beside him. His internal power began to shift—morphing into wind magic.
Green light coated his body, flickering with a mystical energy, somewhere between divine and demonic.
Wind gathered, the atmosphere itself starting to churn.
Up above, the once-clear skies darkened rapidly.
The pressure mounted. Magic gathered, compressed, peaked.
Seven colossal tornadoes erupted from the heavens and slammed straight into the Witch's Forest below.
[Ultimate Creation Wind Magic: Boreas, Northern God's Tempest!]
The land shook. The sky howled. Each tornado had a diameter of more than a hundred meters, tearing through trees and terrain like celestial meat grinders.
Witches caught off guard were flung helplessly into the air.
The forest wailed. The earth groaned.
Those inside had no chance to prepare, let alone resist.
Deep in the forest, even the slumbering corpses buried a hundred meters underground felt the tremor.
High on a palace balcony, the Witch Queen stared toward the chaos in fury.
From above, Ethan's voice echoed through the clouds like divine judgment.
"Witch Queen... You've taken someone you shouldn't have."
"You have ten seconds to return Vanessa... or today, the Witch's Forest will vanish from the face of this world."
The words weren't loud. But they carried.
From the skies to the underworld, his voice rang through every inch of the forest.
Ethan counted calmly, each syllable heavy as iron.
Surviving witches finally understood—this wasn't some natural disaster. This was a man-made cataclysm.
"Is he human...?" one of them whispered in terror. "No way a person could have power like that..."
"He's looking for someone... Vanessa? Didn't she escape the forest long ago?"
"Where's the Queen?! She has to do something!"
Up in the air, Ethan's presence radiated overwhelming force. He seemed less like a man and more like a force of nature.
Power ... could only be stopped by their Queen.
But the countdown didn't pause.
The Witch Queen hadn't responded.
Ethan's eyes narrowed.
"Guess you thought I was bluffing."
He raised a hand—and his wind magic vanished.
A new grimoire appeared beside him—this one blank, coverless, humming with an ominous energy.
He had switched elements.
Among all the magic types he possessed, some were incredibly destructive—but few could rival this one in sheer presence.
Magic flared. Ethan raised a hand to the sky.
The clouds parted—and a crimson glow blanketed the heavens.
A titanic burning star emerged beyond the veil, casting a blood-red light across the land.
[Celestial Magic: Heaven-Piercing Starquake!]"
The star began to descend.
The heavens trembled.
And the entire Witch's Forest stood at the brink of annihilation.
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