Over in the demon world, after his genius plan to conquer a single town flopped harder than a broken magic wand, the Demon General was forced to report his failure to the Demon Lord. The lord was, unsurprisingly, not thrilled. That army of monsters was supposed to be the cornerstone of their human-world invasion, and now it’s basically monster soup. He regrets trusting the general, but since it’s too late for plan B, he orders him to track down Clare and restart the invasion—or get stripped of his rank. Not much of a choice there.
The General is panicking because he has no idea where Clare even is. Just then, the Count shows up like nothing happened. The general is ready to strangle him for ditching him mid-disaster, but the count quickly blurts out that he has useful intel. Turns out, Clare is on her way to the royal capital, escorted by none other than an S-Rank party. He even offers to help capture her, probably because he feels guilty—or maybe just desperate to stay alive. Either way, the general has no options, so he accepts.
Meanwhile, back on the road, Lloyd and the gang are a little too tense. Case in point: they all go full berserker mode when a harmless bunny hops out of the bushes. Lloyd quickly scans the area and assures them there are no demons around. They’re relieved, but also a little embarrassed, so they take a break to calm down.
While sitting under the trees, Yui notices Lloyd smiling like a proud dad at a school play, so she asks what’s up. He admits it makes him happy to see everyone improving so much. Yui immediately senses where this is going and asks about his own progress. And yep—predictably, Lloyd says he’s been working hard, but he needs to push even harder so he doesn’t drag the team down. At this point, it’s the seventh “Lloyd, stop calling yourself useless” intervention, but the guy still doesn’t get it.
So Yui reminds him of the celebration they had in his honor back in town. Lloyd says, sure, he knows he’s not totally incompetent, but insists he still needs to do better. The others finally cut in and tell him straight: the only reason they’ve been training so much is because they’re trying to keep up with him.
Lloyd protests that compared to his master, he’s nothing special. The others may not know who his master is, but Clare makes it clear: from what she’s seen, Lloyd is hands down the strongest person on their team. Yui drives it home—if he keeps underestimating himself, he’ll never be able to use his full potential in battle.
Lloyd only half-follows the pep talk, but he gets the gist. So, he promises to try being more confident from now on. Whether he actually sticks to it… well, that’s another story.
Meanwhile, the one who gave Lloyd all his confidence issues is currently wandering the royal capital in search of an old friend. Her search takes her straight to the royal castle. She tries to stroll in like she owns the place, but the guards stop her at the gate—apparently, “random powerful magician” isn’t on the authorized guest list.
Now, Merlin could’ve just gone invisible, flown over the walls, or pulled one of her ten-thousand magical shortcuts, but no. Instead, she decides to show off by putting the guards under a genjutsu-style spell. (You know, classy illegal entry 101.) Once inside, she makes her way through the halls and eventually arrives at a library that looks suspiciously ordinary. But Merlin isn’t fooled—this is clearly a fake. With a casual wave of her finger, she dispels the illusion, revealing a hidden door.
She’s about to knock when the door swings open, and out steps Rina (yep, the noble’s daughter). She immediately recognizes Merlin by her unique mana scent—apparently, Merlin smells nice? Awkward reunion topic, but hey, they’re happy to see each other. They sit down for tea like two old friends who both happen to dabble in world-shaking magic.
First things first: Rina updates Merlin that the former demon lord’s son is now running the Demonocracy. But since the demons have been quiet lately, things on the human side have been relatively peaceful. Merlin, however, is skeptical. She points out that the emperor must really like Rina if he’s letting her turn the royal library into her personal research lab. Rina admits it wasn’t intentional—she just mimicked some of Merlin’s magic, and somehow this arrangement stuck.
Merlin waves off the compliment, saying her magic isn’t worth copying, but Rina calls total BS. After all, Merlin’s the one who pioneered storage magic and figured out how to cast countless spells without chanting. (Basically, she’s the magical equivalent of inventing Google and then saying, “Eh, it’s nothing.”) Merlin explains that she only made those innovations because they were necessary to defeat the demon lord back then. Speaking of which, she whips out a book. It’s only half of the original Grimoire, but she wants Rina to check if it still has the power to seal the demon lord.
Rina asks if Merlin thinks the demon lord is gearing up for another invasion. Merlin shrugs—it’s not certain, but she’d rather be prepared than end up regretting it later.
Meanwhile, Lloyd and the crew are making great time. At this pace, they’ll reach the town of Shores in a few hours, and from there it’s just a day’s trip to the capital. But Claire is feeling uneasy—night is falling, and if they’re still in the forest, monsters could attack.
Cross reassures her, pointing out that Claire can control monsters. But Claire reminds him that her spell takes time to cast—if they’re ambushed, she won’t have enough time to activate it. To be safe, Lloyd decides to scan the area. Unfortunately, something interferes with his spell. Moments later, a thick fog rolls in, and everyone immediately knows this is bad news.
Silica tries to disperse the fog with her wind magic, but when she reaches for her staff in storage, she realizes the fog is blocking her access. Yep—definitely demons. The party quickly concludes that fighting in these conditions would be a suicide mission. Their only option? Sprint for Shores and hope they can reach shelter before things get really ugly.
Meanwhile, in the royal capital, Rina has just finished analyzing the Grimoire, and she informs Merlin that while there’s still mana left in it, it’s only the remnants of Civil’s magic. Merlin is relieved—leftover magic is better than no magic, and to her, that’s still a win.
She then tells Rina about Lloyd and how he might have the potential to become a chosen one, just like she and Civil once were. Merlin’s certainty comes from an incident when Lloyd was younger. One day, the boy accidentally picked up the Grimoire, and the second he touched it, it reacted—meaning he was compatible with its magic.
Realizing Lloyd was a chosen one, Merlin decided to raise him to be stronger than both her and Civil had ever been. Her teaching method? Giving him impossible tasks, nonstop training, and the occasional “you’re still not good enough” pep talk. (Not exactly Parenting 101.) Sure, it was effective for growth… but not so much for emotional stability. Eventually, Lloyd couldn’t take it anymore and ran away—only to later end up in an S-Rank party escorting the beast princess to the capital. Merlin admits she misses him terribly, which is part of why she came to the capital in the first place: to finally see him again.
Meanwhile, on Lloyd’s end, he and the gang finally arrive in Shores. But something feels off—the streets are eerily empty. The fog here is thinner, though, which allows Lloyd to boost Silica’s mana just enough for her to summon her staff. With her trusty staff back in hand, Silica whips up a powerful gust to clear away the fog.
As the mist vanishes, the group gets an unpleasant surprise: a horde of demons standing smack in the middle of town. Even worse, Claire immediately recognizes Gri—the one who kidnapped her before. And judging by his smug demon face, he’s here for a round two.
Lloyd instantly shifts into commander mode. He puts Daggas in charge of protecting Claire, assigns Cross to snipe from the tower, and tells everyone else to hold off Gri’s troops. Yui charges in first with a devastating mana slash, slicing through a cluster of demons like she’s chopping firewood. Silica, meanwhile, would love to solve this mess with a giant flame burst, but considering friendly fire isn’t on today’s menu, she settles for unleashing a barrage of smaller fire blasts instead.
Fortunately, Cross is there to make up for the missing firepower, sniping a few demons with well-placed arrows. But when he aims at Gri, the shots bounce right off like they hit a brick wall. Yui rushes in with her mana slash, but Gri shrugs it off and charges straight for Claire. Luckily, Daggas intercepts, blocking the strike. Yui seizes the moment to sneak behind him and swing down her blade… only for it to pass right through, making zero contact.
That’s when Lloyd figures it out—Gri is using mana as armor, deflecting their attacks. Gri is impressed at Lloyd’s quick deduction and immediately assumes Lloyd must have been the one who interfered with the attack on Ishar. He leaps into the sky to strike at him. But hey, distance has its perks—it gives Silica the perfect opening to fire off a massive flame burst. Sadly, even her strongest spell barely scratches Gri’s mana armor. The guy’s still in one piece, and the team is rapidly running out of options.
The situation gets worse as more demons surround them… until a sudden surge of ice erupts from the ground, freezing every demon in place. The one responsible? None other than the ice hero himself—Theion—who coolly declares that he’s here to protect Claire.
Meanwhile, up on a nearby cliff, the Count grows nervous that his plan might flop again. He starts preparing another batch of magic-dampening mist, but before he can finish, Will shows up. The Count is shocked someone tracked him down here. When he demands to know why, Will casually replies that the mist is “annoying,” so he came to cut it off at the source. (Simple problems, simple solutions.)
Back in the city, Theion descends to meet the others. Without hesitation, he mocks them for being ridiculously weak “for S-Rank adventurers” but at least gives them some credit for keeping Claire safe this long. Claire rushes to him excitedly, and when Lloyd asks who this guy is, she explains that Theion is her childhood friend—and yes, the Ice Hero. The others are stunned, and Lloyd even wonders if that means he’s the emissary sent to collect Claire. But nope, not at all. Theion admits he’s not supposed to be here, but he couldn’t possibly leave Claire’s safety in the hands of “a bunch of lousy adventurers.”
Claire scolds Theion, telling him that it’s not nice to insult the very people who just saved her life. And since Theion clearly has a soft spot for her, he actually calms down… for now.
But just then, Gri manages to break free from Theion’s ice. Theion immediately tells everyone to stand back—he’s going to handle this solo. He hurls another ice attack at Gri, but it barely leaves a scratch. Looks like Theion’s going to have to get serious if he wants to win.
Gri is impressed by Theion’s technique—he’s not only casting without chants, but also using his body as the catalyst for ice magic without freezing himself solid. Theion smugly explains that his body has a natural affinity for all ice magic, ever since the day he was born. But then he shrugs, because there’s no point in explaining details to someone who’s about to be dead.
With that, he drops a massive cluster of ice from above. This actually freaks Gri out enough to make him dodge—proof that the guy can take damage. Theion then unleashes a relentless barrage of ice, forcing Gri to run around like he’s in a deadly game of dodgeball.
However, Lloyd notices something odd—Gri’s fist is glowing with condensed mana. He realizes what’s coming: a concentrated mana punch, the kind of move that can level a mountain. Lloyd yells for everyone to take cover, but it’s already too late. Gri closes in on Theion, who has no choice but to counter with an ice-infused punch.
The resulting blast is so powerful that even Will, up on the cliff, feels the shockwave. He’s stunned—he never expected Gri to have a trump card like that. Unfortunately, his moment of surprise allows the Count to slip away unnoticed.
Back in town, Lloyd rushes to check on his companions. He can still sense the consciousness of his party members, but there’s no sign of Claire or Theion. Panic sets in—until he spots the nightmare scenario: Gri escaping on an airship with Claire in his arms.
