Chapter 248: [248] The Night of the Magus
Magecraft, in essence, is the study of history.
At its core, it deals with the good and evil, the karma created by humanity, and the cycles of the planets. Ultimately, it can only reach the limits of human wisdom; everything is predestined.
But Magic is different.
Magic is not covered by any of these, it belongs to the solitude outside of the heavens.
Therefore, Magic is the enemy of both humanity and the planets.
Any existence that gives birth to Magic will be resisted by the world.
But at this moment, Aoko has disregarded everything and, with a resolute will, has torn through the thin veil of Magic.
A dramatic change occurred.
The verdant ground beneath the girl's feet vanished, and the green earth was suddenly rewritten.
It was as if a red forest of deep autumn had appeared.
Like winter descending, the ground was blanketed in white snow.
The surrounding world's scenery quickly exchanged and changed over and over, as if time itself had become disordered here.
This was not the melting of the landscape but rather a rewriting and covering over.
As if the world was rebuking her actions, all the elements were resisting her behaviour.
Bathed in such a world-shattering anomaly, even Eiji was stunned into silence.
"Ugh!"
Aoko let out a muffled groan, as if electricity was rushing through her body.
The world has its natural order, but miracles were destroying that order. In self-preservation, the world was attempting to erase her existence.
Under the intense pain, her consciousness seemed to fade.
But there was no fear.
At the end of her selflessness, she touched the light.
"—I hereby declare in the name of the one who manifests order!"
A turquoise whirlwind erupted.
In her eyes, which had abandoned confusion and frustration, the magus firmly confronted the world.
"Everything returns to the righteous!"
At this moment.
Time reversed.
"Order collapses here—!"
The scene in the forest was instantly transformed, and the ruined red forest was quickly rewritten by a brand new world. Everything seemed to have returned to before the battle began.
Under the night sky, the world fell silent.
The vast forest remained intact, and the protective barrier surrounding the area was restored.
"So amazing..."
Eiji was completely awestruck by this beyond-common-sense scene and couldn't help but express his admiration.
Is this the Fifth Magic?
The ability to break the order of time?
"Eh, I've recovered too?"
Eiji looked down and suddenly noticed that all the injuries on his body had vanished, and even his clothes had returned to their original state.
"Did time reverse?"
"No, there is no true reversal of time in this world."
A very familiar but slightly strange voice came from behind.
"Time and space have their own healing powers. Once I reversed your time, the world would automatically reverse it back, which would be meaningless—so I threw the time where you were injured into the future."
Eiji looked up.
"Wow!"
It was a woman who looked very much like Aoko.
The first thing anyone would be drawn to was her long, blood-red hair.
From the aura, it was clear she was Aoko herself, but infinitely stronger. Her attire had also changed into turquoise jeans and a white crop top.
Most importantly, she looked far more mature, her legs longer, her chest fuller, and her entire figure exuded more sensuality—she was like a deluxe version of Aoko, a hundred times more feminine than the current Aoko.
"You called your future self here?"
"I should say I borrowed ten years of time from your bodies."
Aoko shook her head.
She threw away the time of their injuries and deaths into the future, then borrowed a total of ten years from their bodies, transforming herself into her future self.
In other words, this was Aoko at 27.
"I have to ask, why are you wearing a crop top ten years from now? Isn't that... inappropriate?"
Eiji raised his hand, looking at her curiously.
Duang!
Aoko punched Eiji on the forehead.
"So great, I've been wanting to hit you for a long time!"
Aoko put her hands on her hips and laughed excitedly.
"Ah, I was a bit scared of this state of mine, but hearing your usual nonsense, I'm immediately reassured!"
Eiji: The future is hard to define.
Aoko didn't have future vision, so she was unsure what she would look like in ten years, and thus she still felt some trepidation about this state, afraid she might become a cold-blooded magus who disregarded human principles.
Fortunately, from the way she felt, she still retained the vitality of her youth, and the thought of punching Eiji had been buried for ten years without changing.
But from this angle, she probably hadn't really punched Eiji in ten years.
What a wonderful feeling.
Experiencing the emotions of her future self, Aoko let go of her fear of the future, and her mindset gradually became more open.
Vroom—!
A huge magic array unfolded in the sky.
As if gathering all its strength, the scale of this magic array was ten times bigger than the previous one.
"Almost forgot, there's still this trouble."
Aoko's expression gradually turned cold.
She turned around and looked at the cloaked witch floating in the sky.
Boom!
A giant magic cannon, as thick as a person, shot out from the magic array.
"Aoko!"
"It's nothing!"
Aoko shouted back in response to Eiji's warning.
Then she spread her body, her long figure bending like a bowstring, her enchanting curve causing a dry mouth, and she punched the incoming magic cannon!
Boom!!
With one punch.
A violent wind surged.
The swirling magical vortex turned into a rampant storm, smashing the dazzling magic cannon into pieces and shattering it as if breaking bamboo!
Eiji watched in astonishment.
Holy cow, even he would have to dodge that kind of magic cannon, but Aoko actually shattered it with one punch?
What kind of human rocket launcher is this?
"Give me back the magic of the Aozaki family!"
Aoko extended her hand, connecting to the key point of the barrier through the crest on her right arm.
With a loud shout, the flow of magical energy from the spiritual land immediately changed direction, and most of the magic gathered toward Aoko.
The black-robed witch's momentum stalled instantly, and the magical mist surrounding her dispersed by half.
"Great opportunity!"
Eiji's gaze sharpened.
"—!"
The witch opened her mouth and let out a silent roar from her throat.
Immediately, an unprecedentedly large magic array formed in front of her, with countless geometric patterns spinning nonstop. One layer upon another, many magic arrays connected, releasing an oppressive force far beyond anything before.
"Desperate struggle!"
Aoko coldly shouted.
Vroom!
Vroom!
Vroom!
Vroom!
She extended her hand.
Layer after layer of magic arrays appeared in front of her, a total of four layers of magic arrays forming concentric circles that converged into a straight line.
At the same time, the magical energy from the leylines surged into her body.
***
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