Anyway, remember that genius prince who fired Alec? Yeah, this is him now—running for his life through a dungeon while two oversized caterpillars chase him like he owes them rent. The prince can’t believe what’s happening, since these monsters used to be easy for him. He yells at Leni to blast them with magic, but when she tries, nothing happens.
Naturally, the prince calls her useless (classic), then decides to handle it himself. He spins dramatically, slashes one… and his sword bounces off. The look on his face says it all—reality just crit-checked his ego. Leni and the knight panic, grab the prince by the arms, and start sprinting toward the exit as the poor man tries to figure out why his mighty swings suddenly feel like wet noodles.
Then it hits him: his decline started right around the time he kicked Alec out of the team. But instead of realizing that Alec was actually carrying him, he convinces himself that Alec must’ve cursed him out of revenge.
After escaping, the prince storms into the royal lab to see the magician Vogen Forners, demanding a curse check. Vogen runs a quick scan and calmly tells him there’s no curse. The prince refuses to accept that and insists there’s no way he’d ever struggle with clearing the 30th floor unless Alec hexed him.
Trying to stay professional, Vogen explains that the 30th floor has an anti-magic field, which disables support magic. So, his “weakened state” was probably just the result of losing his buffs. The prince immediately scoffs and declares that all support magic is “useless coward stuff” anyway. Vogen, visibly dying inside, decides not to argue—after all, there’s no spell to cure arrogant stupidity.
He does, however, find it odd that Alec didn’t warn the prince about the anti-magic field—after all, Alec was the legendary student who once reached the 68th floor. The prince laughs that off, saying there’s no way a “commoner idiot” like Alec could’ve done something so impressive. Vogen wisely keeps his mouth shut.
Just then, a guard rushes in to report that the king wants to see the prince about “the Alec situation.” The prince smirks, thinking Daddy’s going to back him up… but the moment he enters the room, the king starts telling him a story about Eldas—and it’s clear this won’t end in applause.
The king begins telling the prince a story about Eldas, a court magician he banished years ago — because apparently, being smart and outspoken was a crime back then. Eldas was a noble who dared to stand before the mighty king of Galdana and say, “Hey, maybe stop treating commoners and magicians like dirt or something bad might happen.” Naturally, that didn’t sit well with His Majesty, so out went Eldas, stripped of his noble title and all.
But instead of crying in a corner, Eldas enrolled in the Magic Academy, silenced his haters, and graduated as valedictorian (the man basically said, “Watch me thrive”). He could’ve lived the high life after that, but no—he returned to the castle to work again as a court magician. There, he kept nagging the king about equality until he mysteriously disappeared a year later.
The king admits he never really took Eldas’s words seriously—until now. Lately, he’s begun to wonder if the old guy was actually right, which is why he sent the prince to explore the dungeon. He wanted to test whether nobles were truly superior to commoners. Judging by how miserably that went, he’s starting to think… maybe not.
He declares it’s time to change the kingdom’s policy and start hiring based on talent, not birth. The prince is absolutely horrified, sputtering that letting commoners stand as equals would be a disgrace to their family name. The king calmly admits that, yes, he’s the one who raised his son to think like that—but times change.
The prince doubles down, saying hanging around people like Alec only brings misfortune, and he points to his current pathetic state as proof. But before he can continue whining, a guard enters and presents what’s left of the book Alec wrote—a detailed guide on clearing the dungeon’s 30th floor. The king sighs and explains that Alec made that book especially for Regulus, but thanks to Leni’s little tantrum, it got torn to shreds before anyone could use it.
Regulus can’t believe what he’s hearing, so he quickly fakes being sick and excuses himself before his ego completely implodes. After he leaves, the king turns to Vogen and says that while helping his son might be the hardest job in the kingdom, he’d appreciate it if he tried anyway. Vogen, being the loyal (and probably underpaid) royal magician, promises to do his best.
Meanwhile, Regulus is having a full-on meltdown. The poor guy can’t handle the idea that Alec might’ve been the talented one all along — because that would mean he’s been the problem this whole time. And that’s a reality he just refuses to live in.
On the other side of the story, Alec is chatting with Loki, asking why he’s forbidden from using magic against the dungeon boss. He knows the boss is immune to physical attacks, so swinging a sword seems kinda pointless. But Loki, ever the mastermind, explains that the goal isn’t to beat the boss with a sword — it’s to trick it into thinking Alec is just a regular melee fighter. Basically, he wants to play mind games with a monster.
Craja doesn’t really get why they need to go through all that drama, so Loki explains that this particular boss isn’t some brainless beast — it’s as smart as they are. Alec finds that hard to believe, but Loki insists and asks him to just go along with the act until he gives the signal. Reluctantly, Alec agrees.
Then Loki turns to Craja again, saying he needs her help with something a bit… dangerous. Since running to his friends would take too long, he plans to use teleportation magic. The team collectively panics — because teleportation is a nationally guarded secret, and just knowing about it could land them in jail (or worse). But with no better option, they all agree to help — and also unanimously decide that if anything goes wrong, they’re blaming Loki.
While Loki draws the teleportation circle and walks Craja through the process, Alec chats with Yorha to ask if Loki can really be trusted. Yorha admits she doesn’t like his smug personality, but when things get serious, he’s the best person to rely on. She even mentions how, two years ago, Loki planned a massive raid on a high-difficulty dungeon — and thanks to his genius strategy, not a single person died.
That’s all Alec needs to hear. He decides to put his full trust in Loki’s plan. When the teleportation circle finally lights up, everyone steps inside. Yorha is completely awestruck — it’s her first time seeing real teleportation magic. But Loki, ever casual, just tells her this is a “budget-friendly” version that’ll only take them to his chosen destination.
Loki warns everyone that he’ll be teleporting them right in front of the boss, so they’d better be ready to swing the moment they land. A flash of light later — boom! — the whole squad materializes smack in front of Loki’s other party members, who are barely hanging on against a towering Dark Knight. The two look like they’ve been through a blender, exhausted and out of mana.
Luckily, Ornest dives in to relieve them, clashing swords with the knight in a flurry of sparks. While the knight’s focused on him, Alec tries to pull a sneaky backstab, but the monster instantly leaps into the air — apparently, even headless undead knights have great reflexes. It charges both of them at once, giving no room to breathe.
Meanwhile, Loki and Craasia rush to pull Raywell and Marbell out of the danger zone. The knight’s armor is ridiculously tough — like someone forged it from pure plot armor — and there’s clearly no one inside. But Ornest couldn’t care less. He rushes in again, feints, and pins the creature’s cape to the ground. That gives Alec the perfect opening to slice its head clean off.
As the helmet clatters to the floor, Alec hopes that’s the end of it. Spoiler: it’s not. The “headless” knight suddenly starts moving again, sprouting creepy tendrils from its neck like a discount horror movie monster. Turns out, it’s actually a Dullahan, and the monster they killed earlier was probably its horse.
Alec gets distracted by this revelation (because who wouldn’t?), but when he looks up — surprise! — the Dullahan is already airborne, sword raised high. He barely manages to block, but the force nearly shatters his artifact blade. Clearly, the monster had been holding back earlier, because now it’s serious mode time.
Thankfully, Alec isn’t alone. Yorha is in the back, spamming buffs like her life depends on it, supercharging Ornest until he’s glowing brighter than a Christmas tree. With a mighty yell, Ornest slams the knight, knocking it back and giving Alec a moment to regroup.
Unfortunately, the Dullahan doesn’t stay down for long. It casually reattaches its head — because why not — and lets out an ear-splitting scream that scrambles everyone’s brains. Before Alec can recover, it dropkicks him across the room at Mach speed. Thankfully, Yorha manages to throw up a barrier just in time, turning what would’ve been a wall-crater into a soft landing.
Yorha rushes over to check if Alec is okay. He groans but gives her a thumbs-up — “Yeah, yeah, still alive… barely. Didn’t expect that tin can to be a martial arts expert.” He admits that if Yorha hadn’t saved him with that barrier, he’d probably be a pancake right now.
Catching his breath, Alec calls out to Loki, “How much longer do I have to keep sword-dancing with this thing?”
Loki, still scribbling magical runes like a madman, yells back, “Just five more minutes!”
Easy for him to say. Alec nearly got turned into monster pâté, and he’s down to his last three potions. Ornest, who’s also struggling, shouts, “Quit whining and get back in there!” The two dive back into the chaos, doing their best to keep the Dark Knight busy while Loki finishes whatever 4D chess plan he’s working on.
Finally, after what feels like forever, Loki declares, “Preparation complete!” and activates a giant glowing magic circle. He starts laughing like a Saturday morning cartoon villain — which, naturally, makes the Dark Knight panic and charge straight at him. It slashes Loki across the chest… only for everyone to realize — it’s an illusion!
The massive magic circle was a decoy meant to lure the knight into a trap. Ice suddenly spreads beneath its feet as the real Loki, standing smugly atop a nearby tower, watches everything unfold.
Meanwhile, Ornest steps on a teleportation rune that Loki and Craasia had set earlier and instantly appears behind the knight, smashing it forward. Marbell drops from above with an overhead strike, but the knight narrowly dodges — just as planned. Another ice trap triggers, freezing its legs and slowing it down.
Realizing who’s behind all the tricks, the furious knight scales the tower to take Loki out personally. Loki unsheathes a glowing blade — clearly more for style points than survival — while Raywell screams from below, “He’s not strong enough for that fight!”
But Loki isn’t completely suicidal. He had Yorha cast a sevenfold strength enhancement on him beforehand. The problem? His body is definitely not built for this kind of power-up. Every swing looks like it’s breaking his own bones.
While Loki barely holds his ground, Yorha casts a binding spell, trapping the knight — but not before it manages to land one solid hit, sending Loki plummeting off the tower.
As he falls, Loki just grins (because of course he does) and yells, “Everything’s going according to plan! Alec, finish the job!”
Taking the cue, Alec raises his hands and summons a dazzling web of magic circles that fill the battlefield. Even Loki, battered on the ground, whistles in awe. “This guy’s casting more circles than he did last time…”
But Alec’s body is at its limit. Sweat pours down his face as the strain of maintaining the massive spell array begins to tear at his stamina.
Despite being exhausted, Alec forces himself back on his feet to unleash Thunderbolt Acceleration. The spell hits hard — sparks fly everywhere — but the armored knight refuses to go down and is even breaking free from Yorha’s binding magic. She’s desperately trying to hold it back, shouting at Alec to finish the job already. Easy for her to say — his body is about to shut down like a phone at 1% battery.
It’s the second time today he’s had to use such a massive spell, and his mana’s running on fumes. But Alec isn’t about to quit now. Gritting his teeth, he powers through and completes one of his ultimate spells — a massive lightning dragon roars into existence and zaps the knight into vapor. The battle’s over, but so is Alec’s stamina — he collapses, muttering something about how having reliable teammates really makes a difference.
Yorha walks over, smiling, and says it’s actually them who rely on him — they couldn’t have handled that monster without him. Ornest laughs and reminds Alec about their little bet before the fight — whoever passes out first has to do a dare. Since Alec technically fainted, he’s the loser. But since it happened after the battle, Ornest decides to go easy and gives him a wholesome dare: stop bottling things up and talk to Ornest, Yorha, or Annerose whenever something’s bothering him.
Then Riol shows up to thank the group, while Marbell goes for a more… physical show of gratitude — planting a kiss on Alec’s cheek, much to Yorha’s absolute horror. When Marbell flirts and asks Alec to go dungeon raiding with her, Yorha immediately shuts it down, declaring he’s their magician. Finally, the Recloma party’s leader, Ru, thanks Alec for saving them and offers to write a recommendation letter — probably the least dramatic thing that’s happened all day.
Alec looks a bit lost when he hears the word “recommendation.” So everyone explains that to be promoted to S-Rank, you need two things: a recommendation from an S-Rank party and the Guild Master’s approval. The second part shouldn’t be a problem, so Ru confidently tells him to leave that to him.
Afterward, Alec collects the knight’s magic stone, officially marking the Recloma rescue mission as a flawless success. When they return to the guild, the receptionist congratulates him and mentions that he’s become quite the talk of the guild lately — apparently, saving people with giant lightning dragons tends to make headlines. She asks if he’s managed to rest after the big battle, but Alec, ever the tough guy, insists he’s in perfect shape.
Just as he’s about to head out, Leviel stops him and says he has a visitor from the Kingdom of Galdana. That immediately catches Alec’s attention since he thought he’d cut all ties with the kingdom. Still, curiosity wins, and he agrees to meet the visitor — only to find Vogan waiting for him. Out of everyone he used to deal with at the castle, Vogan was one of the few decent people, so Alec greets him politely.
But before he can even say “long time no see,” Vogan jumps straight to the point — asking if Alec was trying to get Prince Regulus killed by not warning him he wasn’t ready for dungeon diving. Alec stays calm and simply asks whether Vogan really thinks Regulus would’ve listened even if he had warned him. Vogan can’t argue with that logic but grumbles that he got stuck with a miserable assignment after Alec was fired — one he calls a total waste of his time.
When Alec asks if that means Vogan is now Regulus’s party magician, Vogan snorts and says, “Magician? Please. I’m basically a royal babysitter at this point.” Apparently, after Alec left, Regulus decided to challenge the 30th floor of the dungeon solo — and got wrecked for it. Vogan had hoped to teach him a valuable lesson, but instead, the prince threw a tantrum and demanded that Vogan escort him here so he could confront Alec in person.
When Alec realizes this means Regulus is already in the city — specifically, down in the underground training arena — he sighs. Of all the people to run into today, this was not on his bingo card. Still, he figures it’s the perfect chance to finally settle things once and for all.
Even though Alec could just pretend Regulus doesn’t exist and go about his day, he decides to head down to the arena and face him in person — partly out of principle, partly out of curiosity, and maybe just a tiny bit of boredom.
As Alec and Vogan make their way down the stairs, Vogan sighs and says the only thing the prince has going for him is his unshakable pride. He then adds that he’s never really understood why nobles insist on proving they’re superior to commoners — “seems like a full-time job with zero pay,” he jokes. Alec reminds him that he’s technically a noble too, but unlike most, he’s never cared about titles. All he’s ever wanted is the freedom to live his life his own way.
When they arrive at the arena, Regulus is already waiting, standing dramatically in the center like he’s posing for a painting. To Alec’s surprise, the first thing the prince says is that the king plans to reform the way the kingdom is run. Regulus admits he doesn’t agree with it but will go along out of respect for his father. For a moment, Alec actually thinks maybe the kid has grown up a little.
That hope dies five seconds later when Regulus declares that he still can’t stand listening to “nonsense” from commoners like Alec. With a sigh, Alec tells him that if he had just listened to advice earlier, he wouldn’t be in such a pathetic situation now. But it’s clear Regulus isn’t hearing any of it, so Alec decides not to waste another breath.
After all, the prince has spent his entire fifteen years being told he’s better than everyone else. The idea that he might be the problem just doesn’t compute. In a desperate attempt to prove he’s not a royal disappointment, Regulus draws his weapons and challenges Alec to a duel, demanding Vogan to serve as the witness.
Regulus charges in recklessly, forcing Alec to block with his wand. To his surprise, the prince is using daggers this time instead of his usual longsword. Years ago, Alec had actually advised him to start with daggers, since his small frame couldn’t handle a longsword properly — advice Regulus immediately ignored back then. Now, it seems he’s finally taken it… just several humiliations too late.
Unfortunately, swapping weapons doesn’t automatically grant skill. Alec sidesteps one of his clumsy attacks, sending Regulus face-first into the dirt. It’s so pitiful it’s almost impressive. Realizing Vogan might’ve orchestrated this encounter, Alec asks what he told the prince. Vogan smirks and admits all he said was, “If you want to prove Alec isn’t stronger than you, then do it with your own hands.”
Guess Regulus took that literally.
At the end of the day, it was Regulus’s choice to march in here and challenge Alec — no tricks, no cheap shots, just a good old-fashioned one-on-one duel. Gotta give the guy at least some credit for that.
His daggers, being artifacts, pack a decent punch. When Regulus clashes with Alec head-on, he actually manages to shatter his magic shield — which, to be fair, is impressive considering most people can’t even scratch it. Unfortunately, that’s about the peak of his success.
Turns out, Regulus had been training nonstop with those daggers ever since Alec got fired. The sessions taught him a harsh truth — that Alec’s support magic was the real reason their party had made it so far in the dungeon. After losing him, Regulus tried tackling the 30th floor over and over again but kept crawling back half-dead each time. Eventually, he stumbled upon some recovered pages from Alec’s report — and reading them made his blood boil. Not because they were wrong, but because they were all right. Everything Alec warned him about had come true.
That realization hit hard. Regulus finally understood how skilled Alec really was — and how horribly he’d treated him in the past.
So, determined to prove himself, Regulus tells Alec to activate his artifact and fight seriously. Alec raises an eyebrow and asks if he’s sure about that — after all, they both know who’s winning this fight. But Regulus, prideful as ever, refuses to back down.
Before their weapons collide, Alec pauses and asks one last question — whether it’s true that the king plans to reform the royal court. Regulus confirms it, explaining that his father had been “testing the strength of the commoners” all along, which is why he sent both of them into the dungeon.
If that’s the case, it means the king never actually looked down on Alec — those four painful years in the palace weren’t for nothing. For once, Alec feels genuinely relieved.
Then he looks back at Regulus and says with a grin, “Alright, then. Brace yourself — I won’t be holding back.”
He charges forward, power crackling through his artifact. Regulus tries his best to stand tall, though his trembling knees give him away. It’s clear he knows he’s about to get flattened. But at the last second, Alec changes direction and slams his weapon into the ground beside him instead.
The shockwave sends dust flying everywhere, leaving Regulus coughing and confused. He demands to know why Alec spared him after everything — the insults, the arrogance, the years of mockery.
Alec just smiles. “Because beating you senseless won’t fix the past,” he says. “But maybe this will make you start thinking for yourself.”
Regulus had built his entire identity around the belief that he was superior simply because he was a noble. But now, with that illusion shattered, he’s left wondering — if I’m not better than everyone else, then who even am I?
He originally came here thinking that dying by Alec’s hand would at least let him keep some shred of honor. But instead of hatred or vengeance, all he sees in Alec’s eyes is… pity. And somehow, that hurts even more.
Normally, Alec isn’t the type to laugh at someone else’s misery, but this whole situation is just too absurd. He came here expecting a dramatic fight to the death, and somehow it’s turned into a self-help session. The sheer irony of it all makes him chuckle, and before he knows it, the anger he felt earlier just… fades away.
Seeing that Alec isn’t mad anymore, Regulus bows his head and apologizes for how he treated him. Alec is honestly shocked — he didn’t think the proud prince was capable of humility. Still, he gets it. Regulus only acted the way he did because of his upbringing. It doesn’t excuse his behavior, but since the kid’s finally trying to change, Alec decides to let bygones be bygones and offers his hand.
Regulus hesitates — halfway reaching for the handshake before pulling back, probably to protect whatever’s left of his noble pride. Then, to everyone’s surprise, he takes out the Court Magician’s Cloak that once belonged to Alec and apologizes for taking it that day. He even gives him a letter from the king, stating that there’s a seat open for him at the royal court if he ever wants to return.
Alec raises a brow and asks, “So… is this an order or a request?”
Vogan clarifies that it’s strictly a request — Alec can refuse if he wants.
And he does. “Thanks, but no thanks,” Alec replies. “I’ve already got the best party I could ask for — I’m not leaving them again.”
Regulus nods, respecting his choice, but insists that Alec keep the cloak since it rightfully belongs to him. With that, he turns to Vogan and says it’s time to go. As the two walk away, Regulus can’t help but smile faintly — a sign that both men have finally found a bit of peace and closure.
