So-called Magecraft, is the study of history itself.
At its core, it seeks to replicate the good and evil, the karma created by humankind, the endless, repeating cycle of the planet. No matter how far a magus pursues it, the ultimate limit that can be reached is merely the boundary of human wisdom. Everything is, ultimately, predetermined.
But Magic is different.
Magic lies beyond all of that, untouched, solitary, and alien to the world. It is the ability to achieve something that is completely impossible in the current era.
That is precisely why Magic is the enemy of both mankind and the planet. Any existence that gives birth to Magic will be rejected by the world itself.
And yet, at this very moment, Aoko no longer cared. With unwavering determination, she tore apart the veil of Magic.
A dramatic transformation occurred.
The lush green earth beneath the girl's feet vanished, the vibrant landscape was suddenly rewritten.
Crimson forests appeared, like the impossible arrival of late autumn. Snow fell thick and white, as if winter itself had descended out of season.
Everything around them, every scene, every image, was changing rapidly, again and again, as though the flow of time had fallen into utter disorder.
It was not a melting of scenery, but a brutal rewriting and overwriting.
As if condemning her defiance, every element in the world screamed and resisted her actions.
Bathed in that apocalyptic spectacle, Ryoji could only stand speechless, utterly overwhelmed.
"Ugh...!"
Aoko groaned, as if a catastrophic surge of energy ran through her body.
The world possesses its own order, and miracles exist to destroy that order. In order to defend itself, the world now sought to erase her existence.
The pain was so intense that her consciousness nearly dissolved...but not once did fear enter her heart.
At the farthest edge of self-forgetting, she reached toward the blinding, transcendent light.
"...In the name of one who reveals order, I hereby declare!"
A turquoise whirlwind roared to life.
In eyes freed from confusion and hesitation, the Magician's gaze burned with the determination to stand against the entire world.
"All things return to order!"
At that moment...Time flowed backward.
"Order shall collapse here...!"
The forest around them transformed completely. The ruined, scorched woods were rewritten in the blink of an eye, replaced by a pristine new world, as though everything had reverted to the very beginning of the battle.
Beneath the night sky, peace had returned to the land.
The vast forest was untouched. The repelling barrier covering the surroundings had also been perfectly restored.
"A… amazing..."
Ryoji was utterly stunned by this impossible sight, unable to hold back a sincere exclamation of awe.
"Is this… the Fifth Magic? The ability to manipulate the flow of time itself?"
"Eh? Wait, even I'm healed?"
Ryoji looked down in surprise, all his grievous wounds were gone, even his clothes were completely restored, no longer in tatters.
"Did time just rewind?"
"No. True time reversal is a fantasy, even in this world."
A familiar, yet intensely different, voice answered.
"Space-time has its own powerful restorative force. If I were to reverse the time of your body, the world would simply react by turning it back again. It would be meaningless, so instead, I threw away the time period when you were injured into the future."
Ryoji looked up..."Whoa!"
Before him stood a woman who looked strikingly similar to Aoko.
At first glance, anyone would be captivated by her long hair, red as fresh blood.
From her presence alone, there was no doubt she was Aoko, but immensely more powerful. Her outfit had changed into blue jeans and a white cropped tank top.
More importantly, her appearance had become far more mature, her legs longer, her chest fuller, her entire aura radiant with feminine allure. It was as if this was a luxury, fully-upgraded version of Aoko, a hundred times more womanly than her current self.
"You… called your future self here?"
"You could say that I borrowed ten years of time from both of your bodies."
The future Aoko shook her head gently.
She had cast away the time when they were fatally wounded into the future, then borrowed a total of ten years of potential time from their bodies, transforming herself into her future self, Aoko at age 27.
In other words, this was the Aoko of ten years later.
"What are you doing wearing a crop top ten years from now? Aren't you cold or something?"
Ryoji raised his hand, his face the picture of innocent, annoying curiosity.
Duang!
Aoko's fist slammed down right on Ryoji's forehead.
"Perfect! I've been dying to punch you at least once!"
Hands on her hips, Aoko burst into a hearty laugh, looking absolutely exhilarated.
"Ahaha! I was actually kind of nervous about this whole future-me thing, but hearing you run your mouth with the same old crap really puts me at ease!"
Ryoji just blinked.
The future is a tricky thing to define.
Aoko didn't have any clairvoyant ability to see her own future, she had no idea what she would become ten years later. Deep down, she was anxious. What if she turned into one of those emotionless, inhuman Magicians who had forsaken all sense of morality?
Thankfully, judging from her mood, she still retained the same youthful, explosive energy as ever. The fact that she'd wanted to punch Ryoji for ten years straight proved that some things never change.
And from that alone, it was clear, she probably hadn't actually gotten the chance to punch him once in those ten years.
What a wonderful realization.
Feeling the emotions of her future self, Aoko let go of her fear of what was to come. Her heart gradually grew calm and open once more.
Vmmmm...!
A massive magic circle unfolded in the sky.
It was as though all the power in the world had gathered into one point, the size of this circle was more than ten times that of the Witch's previous attempts.
"Oh, right… there's still this little problem."
Aoko's expression turned cold.
She turned around, fixing her gaze on the cloaked witch floating in the sky.
BOOM!
A gigantic magic cannon, as thick as a man's torso, roared forth from the circle.
"Aoko!"
"It's nothing!"
Aoko shouted back, cutting off Ryoji's warning.
Then she drew back her body, her long, graceful form bending like a bowstring, her perfect curves enough to make anyone's throat go dry, and with that, she punched straight toward the incoming blast!
"KRAAASH!!"
One punch.
A raging gale erupted skyward.
The violent swirl of magical energy turned into a storm, colliding head-on with the shining magic cannon, and shattered it piece by piece, blowing it apart like it was nothing!
Ryoji could only gape in utter disbelief.
Good grief, that magic cannon was something even he would've had to dodge, and Aoko just punched it into scrap?
What kind of human rocket launcher was this woman?!
"Now then, return the Aozaki family's magic power to me!"
Aoko extended her hand, connecting the seal marks on her arm to the core of the barrier.
With a sharp, commanding shout, the flow of magical energy within the leyline suddenly reversed, and most of it began surging straight toward Aoko.
The black-robed witch's aura wavered violently, and the mist of power swirling around her dissipated by half.
"Now's our chance!"
Ryoji's eyes sharpened.
"...!"
The witch opened her mouth and let out a silent scream of fury.
Moments later, a massive, unprecedented magic array formed before her, a complex construct of rotating geometric patterns, layered upon one another, each one linking to the next, radiating an overwhelming, suffocating pressure.
"Desperate struggle!"
Aoko barked coldly.
Vmmm! Vmmm! Vmmm! Vmmm!
She extended her hand.
One by one, four layers of magic circles appeared before her, aligning concentrically into a perfect straight line.
At the same time, the Magic Power of the leyline surged into her body with unstoppable force, pouring through her veins like a roaring current.
(End of Chapter)
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