Taking control of Atlantis had been effortless.
Taking control of the world…
Was not.
It wasn't resistance that made it difficult.
It was timing.
I stood alone within a quiet chamber of the palace, the vast ocean visible beyond the marble pillars. My reflection stared back at me through the glass—calm, composed, identical to Homura Akemi, yet far more dangerous than the girl whose face I wore.
My fingers brushed lightly against the air, and my Soul Gem flickered into existence—its soft violet glow steady, reassuring.
I didn't need to check it anymore.
I could feel it.
My true self.
Closing my eyes, I extended my perception.
The world unfolded instantly.
Through the Senrigan, distance became meaningless. Continents, oceans, civilizations—all of it laid bare before me, as if reality itself were nothing more than a fragile illusion I could peel apart at will.
Kingdoms rose and fell beneath my gaze. Primitive, by my standards. Fragmented. Weak.
And yet—
I frowned slightly.
There were… anomalies.
Patterns that didn't belong in a simple medieval world.
Magic systems too refined.
Entities too powerful.
And then I saw it.
Camelot.
At its peak.
A kingdom wrapped not just in legend, but in power—structured magic, ancient contracts, forces woven into its very foundation. And at its center…
Merlin.
The current Sorcerer Supreme.
I watched him for a long moment.
Even across impossible distance, even through layers of reality, I could feel it.
Power.
Not crude.
Not explosive.
Refined.
Controlled.
Ancient.
My lips curved slightly.
"…So that's how it is."
I leaned back, dismissing the vision for a moment as my mind began to move—calculating, simulating, adapting.
Eighty percent probability.
That was my estimate.
This world… was Marvel.
Not the modern era.
Not the age of heroes.
But far earlier.
Ancient.
Before the rise of figures like the Ancient One.
Before the structures I knew would eventually define the balance of power.
Which meant—
Time was on my side.
But not yet.
Not while he existed.
Merlin wasn't someone I could casually erase.
Not yet.
Even with everything I possessed—my time manipulation, my overwhelming magical reserves, my Eyes of Destruction—there was no guarantee of a clean victory.
And I didn't accept uncertainty.
So I made a decision.
I would wait.
Years.
Decades.
If necessary—
Centuries.
Because time meant nothing to me.
I didn't age.
I didn't weaken.
My body was nothing more than a vessel—replaceable, repairable.
My soul resided safely within my Soul Gem, untouchable unless someone could destroy it directly.
Functionally immortal.
And in that immortality…
I had the greatest advantage of all.
Patience.
A slow smile spread across my lips.
"Then I'll use this time properly."
If I couldn't conquer the world yet…
Then I would surpass it first.
I closed my eyes once more.
And reached outward.
The Senrigan activated again—far more precisely this time.
Not observing everything.
Selecting.
Targeting.
Sorcerers.
Mystics.
Hidden practitioners scattered across the world.
I watched them in silence.
Every spell.
Every ritual.
Every method of shaping energy.
Their secrets unfolded effortlessly before me.
Magic circles.
Incantations.
Energy flow.
Primitive.
But valuable.
Because this world's magic…
Was different.
And I would have it.
All of it.
I didn't need teachers.
I didn't need permission.
I simply learned.
My eidetic memory captured everything.
My mind processed it instantly.
My Six Eyes refined it.
And my soul—
Perfected it.
Within days, I understood centuries of accumulated knowledge.
Within weeks, I surpassed most of them.
Within months…
They had nothing left to teach me.
And still, I continued.
Because there was no such thing as enough.
Magic flowed through my Soul Gem endlessly, feeding every experiment, every refinement. My control sharpened. My efficiency improved. My understanding deepened beyond what this era could even comprehend.
I began to combine systems.
Atlantean magic.
Ancient human sorcery.
My own innate power.
Layering them.
Breaking them.
Rebuilding them.
Creating something new.
Something superior.
And all the while—
I watched.
I observed Merlin from afar, studying him just as I studied everything else.
Not confronting.
Not interfering.
Waiting.
Because one day…
He would die.
And when that happened—
There would be nothing left in this world that could stop me.
I opened my eyes slowly.
The ocean stretched endlessly before me, calm and vast.
Just like time.
Just like my ambition.
"Grow stronger," I murmured softly, almost amused.
"Reach your peak."
Because when the world finally believed itself safe—
When its greatest guardian was gone—
That was when I would move.
And when I did…
There would be no resistance.
Only inevitability.