The moment the seven Old Magus appeared, the entire battlefield seemed to freeze.
Even within the chaotic domain of Moon Oil, where fairy tale monsters roared and the wind howled through shattered trees, a suffocating pressure descended upon everyone present.
Seven identical figures.
Seven Fifth Magi.
Seven incarnations of the same terrifying will.
Touko's pupils shrank.
"Summoning past selves… he's really gone insane."
Even she had not expected the old man to gamble so recklessly. The Fifth Magic governed time itself, but forcibly dragging multiple versions of oneself from the past into the present was a technique bordering on self-destruction.
Each summoned self strained the timeline.
Each second they existed accelerated the collapse of his current body.
The Old Magus laughed hoarsely.
"You children… you think you understand Magic?"
His voice overlapped between the seven bodies like echoes from different eras.
"This Old Magus has pursued the Root for over a century! Do you think I would lose to a group of fledgling magi?!"
The four Magi in the distance raised their hands simultaneously.
Instantly, the sky darkened.
Wind.
Pure, overwhelming wind.
Not ordinary wind magic, but storms condensed into blades of annihilation. Thousands of invisible edges tore through the air like a domain of death.
CRASH!!!
Entire sections of the fairy tale army were shredded apart.
Dragons were cut into fragments.
Orcs were dismembered before they could even roar.
Even the gigantic Bridge Giant staggered backward as its stone limbs were carved apart.
Within seconds, Alice's entire frontline collapsed.
Yet something strange happened.
The shattered bodies dissolved into white mist.
Then—reformed.
Moon Oil's authority activated.
From broken fragments, the fairy tale creatures reassembled and surged forward again.
Alice watched calmly, her expression unchanged.
"The old generation really is troublesome."
Behind her, the glass cat Night Banquet rang softly.
Ding—
Darkness thickened across the battlefield.
The Rose Hound lunged forward again, its fanged maw snapping toward one of the Magi.
But the Old Magus only sneered.
"Meaningless tricks."
A single flick of his finger—
WHOOSH!!
The Rose Hound was blown apart by a hurricane blade.
Yet before the fragments even hit the ground, the creature reformed and charged again.
The old man's expression darkened slightly.
"…So the fairy tale world truly denies death."
Meanwhile—
Behind the monster army.
Rin stood with the Nameless Bow in hand, golden magical circuits burning across her body.
Her eyes rapidly analyzed the battlefield.
Seven enemies.
Four suppressing the battlefield.
Three moving to strike the real targets.
She clicked her tongue.
"Damn old fox… he's not even trying to fight us."
Sure enough—
The three remaining Magi vanished.
Touko's eyes widened.
"Aoko!"
The three Old Magi had already appeared behind them.
Alice reacted instantly.
"Night Banquet!"
The bell rang again.
Darkness erupted outward like a curtain, attempting to swallow the three figures.
But the Old Magi were faster.
Two of them raised their hands.
Wind blades slashed out.
Not lethal attacks—
But precise restraints.
Touko and Alice were forced to step back to block the attacks.
In that single moment—
The final Old Magus stepped forward.
His real body.
A giant, translucent axis of time appeared behind him, like a spear piercing through the world itself.
That was the timeline.
The last connection between him and the Fifth Magic.
His eyes burned with desperate madness.
"This Old Magus has waited too long…"
He reached out toward Aoko.
At this moment, Aoko stood motionless, eyes closed, her Magic Crest glowing faintly.
Her hair was slowly turning red.
The Old Magus trembled with excitement.
"Return it…!"
Time accelerated around his hand.
The distance between them shrank unnaturally fast.
Just a little closer—
The Fifth Magic's imprint would return to him.
Just a little more—
Everything would belong to him again.
Behind the battlefield—
Rin saw it.
Her pupils shrank.
"No—!"
But the hurricane blades surrounding her prevented any movement.
Even Beowulf could only snarl helplessly under the pressure of the storm.
The Old Magus laughed in triumph.
"I win!"
His fingers were less than an inch from Aoko's arm.
Then—
A flash of fire cut through the night.
BOOM.
A blazing rune flame struck his arm.
For a moment—
Everything went silent.
The Old Magus stared blankly as his hand… vanished.
His arm had been completely incinerated.
Slowly.
Stiffly.
Like a rusted puppet, he turned his head.
Behind him stood Touko.
Her right hand was still raised.
Smoke curled from her fingertip.
Her expression was cold.
Colder than winter.
"Touko…"
The old man whispered hoarsely.
And for the first time since the battle began—
Fear appeared in his eyes.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.