A hero from the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh's one and only true friend from ancient times, the true identity of Enkidu, the wedge connecting humanity and the gods, a divine weapon created by the ancient gods to rectify the tyrant Gilgamesh, who failed to fulfill divine commands.
Its name is "Enkidu." Its essence is a nail of light that fastens the link between gods and humans. After releasing its incantation, it injects the "Counter Force" known as alaya or gaia, transforming a vast amount of energy into a form the world can recognize, delivering a strike that pierces the opponent. Its power dramatically increases in proportion to the destructive actions against the planet or humanity.
The one and only "Anti-Purge noble phantasm" in the Nasuverse! Its true meaning is "to rectify all distortions and impurities." For a distorted existence that twisted the world and the timeline... At some unknown moment, the Nail of Light in Rin's hand was already impaled directly in the chest of the Predecessor Magus. At this moment, the Predecessor Magus discovered, to his horror, that he couldn't move! Not just his body, but even his magic, his sorcery, and his true magic—all were unmobilizable! Even his thoughts were stuck in a state of terror, unable to think.
Then, the ground beneath the Predecessor Magus's feet transformed into a hundred-meter-diameter hourglass... Boom!!!
One light pillar after another erupted... The earth trembled madly! As if in anger, as if in fear... And amidst the vibrations, more and more light pillars, growing thicker and thicker, erupted from the ground, like intertwining luminous vines shooting skyward, carrying the Predecessor Magus towards the sky, piercing through the clouds, and soaring towards the infinitely distant cosmos...
Countless light tendrils intertwined, eventually forming a divine tree of light with a diameter measured in kilometers! The top of the boundless divine tree had already pierced through the atmosphere, reaching into the infinite cosmos! It carried away what was deemed distorted from the Earth's bounds.
Boom!!!
The vacuum of space could not transmit the roar of the explosion, yet it resounded in Aoko's spiritual depths, shaking her soul. The light from the explosion illuminated the entire sky in an instant! The night sky transformed into a dazzling curtain of light! The subsequent expanding ring of light, if not for being on the inner side of the world, would have lit up half the planet, turning the entire world into day!
As for the Predecessor Magus, was there still a need to search for him? From ancient times to the present, any record, even those on the Akasha Column linked to the Root, could not find his existence.
The dark purple world receded, and Aoko and the others returned to the outer side of the world. This place had been ravaged by the Predecessor Magus's Grand Curse, transformed into a desolate wasteland of giant craters. Forests and mudslides had been swept into the sky and then sent to an unknown dimension through the spatial rift opened by Tohsaka Rin.
It's like it was hit by a meteorite. How are we going to cover this up?!
Aoko immediately felt a splitting headache again. Rin from Twenty Years Later, after scanning the surroundings, once again drew her Jeweled Sword and slashed through the air!
The plane of the world's space instantly shattered, then crumbled into nothingness. Forests, snow, and even the nearby church, all returned to their original state, just as they were when Aoko first arrived here alone.
Aoko looked at the majestic future Rin with trepidation. Even if she were truly foolish, she would know that she had summoned a powerful deity! The methods she displayed definitely surpassed the known scope of a Magus; it was no exaggeration to say this was the realm of a god!
Rin from Twenty Years Later, must she have become a god?
Aoko's mind struggled to process this. Meanwhile, the future Rin leisurely pulled out a cigarette case from an inside pocket of her trench coat, tapped it, and took out a cigarette. She lit it, put it in her mouth, then turned to Aoko and said, "Aoko, do you want one? These are magical cigarettes your sister developed with Alchemy in the future."
"No, no, no, no need!" Aoko waved her hands repeatedly. Aoko's gaze towards Tohsaka Rin was now filled with awe. After all, the difference in power was too vast; even the most sincere feelings would be distanced by an invisible hierarchy.
The future Rin naturally noticed this. She took a puff of the cigarette, then held it between her fingers, sighing out a wisp of pure white smoke with a melancholic expression. She said sadly, "Aoko, you don't actually need to be like this. Before long, I will return to my own time node. No, or rather, I don't exist at all. I am merely the form created by 'myself' by experiencing everything that is destined to happen in the future, taking that as a base point, extending twenty years into the future, and then flowing back here. The Tohsaka Rin from Twenty Years Later you see before you only exists for these few minutes you summoned me."
Silence... Aoko stared blankly at the future Rin, who had just wielded power like a god, turning clouds into rain with a flick of her hand, unsure what to say.
Aoko, who wielded the Fifth Magic, could naturally understand the meaning of the future Rin's words. Realizing her lapse, she stepped forward and embraced the future Rin's tall, proud body, trembling slightly as she buried her face in the future Rin's embrace.
"I'm sorry..."
The future Rin hugged Aoko back, smiling, "It's alright."
Yes, to be born only to perish after use, an existence like a consumable—how could it not bring sadness? This Rin from Twenty Years Later in the future was merely a product of the Fifth Magic, a culmination of everything Tohsaka Rin was destined to experience in the next twenty years, merged with the current Tohsaka Rin. When Aoko's Fifth Magic faded, under the correction of the counter force, she would completely cease to exist. Neither in the past nor the future would this "Tohsaka Rin" who came back from Twenty Years Later exist.
"After I fade, the records in this world line will also be corrected. Your memory will only retain the impression that 'you used the Fifth Magic to summon the future 'me' and resolved the crisis,' so there's no need to be sad."
Unfortunately, Tohsaka Rin's comfort not only failed to calm Aoko's emotions but made her tremble even more violently. Aoko let go of Tohsaka Rin, looking at her close friend, who had only a few minutes left, with sorrow, "Can't I even remember you?"
In response, the future Rin could only helplessly put the cigarette back in her mouth, took another puff, and then sighed, "Yes, you can't, because I don't exist in the first place."
However, after a moment of silence, the future Rin, having finished her cigarette, spoke again, "But since I've been here, I must leave something behind. If I merely solved the problem and then vanished, that would be too boring. Even if I only existed for a few minutes, I am still Tohsaka Rin!"
As her words fell, the future Rin pulled up the sleeve of her left arm, her gaze instantly sharpened! In that instant, it was as if the entire world trembled! An invisible, immense power surged in an unseen realm! Aoko, who wielded the Fifth Magic and was connected to the truth of the world, seemed to hear the world's cries of pain. Some existence that did not originally belong to this world line was breaking free from the shackles of its original timeline, being forcibly integrated into this world!
A point of light gradually shone on Tohsaka Rin's smooth left forearm, like a laser tattoo, etching itself onto her forearm. Soon after, three magic crests were inscribed onto Tohsaka Rin's left forearm. Then, Tohsaka Rin removed the glove from her right hand and branded an inscription, very similar to a command spells but appearing as a single, complete entity, onto the back of her right hand.
After completing all of this, the future Rin collapsed to the ground as if exhausted. Aoko tried to help her up, but the future Rin stopped her. Dreamlike, unreal golden dust began to drift from the future Rin's body, disappearing into the void.
The magic was exhausted, and the world's correction was coming... "Tohsaka Rin..." Aoko watched her impending disappearance, a lump in her throat, unable to speak.
"Aoko, as a product of necessity, assembled from the future and summoned by you using the Fifth Magic, I cannot tell you any future scenes. Even if I did, you would forget. But what I can tell you is that in the next twenty years, we will always be close friends, intimate friends. And I also believe that our feelings for each other will definitely not be limited to just twenty years..."
The counter force of the world ruthlessly carried out its duty. The future Rin instantly disintegrated into a sky full of dreamlike golden dust, scattering into the horizon. In her place lay the current, petite Tohsaka Rin, her wounds healed, unconscious. And on her arm and the back of her hand, the marks carved by the future Rin remained.
The dramatic ups and downs of this single night were simply too much for a young girl like Aoko, who had just entered adulthood, to bear.
"Zzz, zzzzz..." The world scene in Aoko's eyes began to twist, shake, and turn white, like a television with signal interference. A strong sense of dizziness struck deep into her soul. Aoko knew that the world had begun to correct the memories of those who had witnessed all of this.
I don't want to forget her... Aoko, kneeling in the snow, writhed and rolled in agony amidst the white snow. Despite her strong unwillingness, she still lost consciousness under the world's interference.
In the silent, deserted forest, in front of the quiet and solemn church, four young women of the magical path, who had met as if guided by fate, slept peacefully in the pristine white snow. Everything had settled. Regardless of the outcome, being able to lie here safely, all well and unharmed, meant that all the sacrifices and hardships had been worthwhile.
This should be the most perfect Mahoutsukai no Yoru...
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