One year ago, on a sweltering night during the Great Purge, a campaign jointly launched by factions across the world.
LCO was a notorious criminal organization, a terrorist group formed by high-ranking Witches who roamed the globe. Because they relentlessly pursued knowledge, collected Grimoires from around the world, cataloged them, sealed them away, and possessed a vast number of high-level Grimoires, the organization came to be known as the "Library."
They did not act to advance magic, nor to protect the peace of the world. They acted solely to satisfy their own desires, so it was only natural that the Library ended up on the purge list of World No. 2 (Strike the Blood).
At first, the Library's high-ranking Witches did not take it seriously. After all, operations like this happened several times every year, and not one had ever succeeded. That was, until the upper ranks of the Library realized that this time, the other side seemed to be serious...
"Let's hear it, everyone. How do you plan to deal with that bunch of irritating trash? It looks like they're serious this time..."
The meeting hall and archive was spacious and tidy, yet carried an indescribably gloomy air at first glance. In short, it was exactly the kind of place that suited beings like Witches. Normally, their meetings could not fill even a third of the seats, but now the hall was nearly packed, and anxiety showed on the faces of most of the Witches present.
It was a rare sight. For a large criminal organization that operated more like a loose association, there was no way everyone would gather like this unless their survival was at stake.
Unfortunately, aside from the small number of Witches who stood near the top, most of those present were the kind of Witches marked for the Great Purge.
Under everyone's gaze, a crystal ball on the conference table slowly rose into the air, and a voice tinged with mockery drifted out from within.
In theory, with nearly every Witch of the Library gathered here, it felt rather disrespectful for the host to address them only through a crystal ball. However, everyone knew that Aya Tokoyogi, the Grand Librarian of the Library herself, was currently serving a prison sentence, so no one cared too much. Given her situation, it was understandable.
"I don't know what we should do. All I know is that the clients who usually place orders with me have all been scared off. My cash flow is broken, and thanks to them, I can't even continue my experiments."
Seated at the front, a Witch internationally listed as a "Class-A Criminal Mage" spoke with a grim expression. Her irritable tone made it clear just how foul her mood was.
That was only natural. For fugitives like them, one of their few sources of income came from orders placed by high-ranking officials and the wealthy.
It would have been one thing if they were terrorists who committed crimes for pleasure and luxury, but unfortunately, they were not. They were researchers.
Witches possessed an extraordinary thirst for worldly knowledge. Otherwise, they would never have joined the Library, a terrorist organization famous across the world for its pursuit of knowledge.
Was it a shared trait among Witches? They had signed contracts with Devils, but those contracts had not reached the level of Natsuki Minamiya's, where her true body slept as the price. As a result, they still possessed a fairly high degree of freedom. And no matter what reason had led them to crime, most Witches eventually ended up joining the Library. Perhaps the pursuit of knowledge was simply a Witch's instinct.
No matter the world, research was an industry that burned through money. That was especially true for Witches who had no major power backing them and no reliable way to earn money themselves. They were not so poor that they could not afford food, but conducting magical experiments without restraint was impossible.
They were wanted across the entire world, with every normal avenue of income cut off. Robbery was inefficient, humiliating, and far too likely to expose them, so they could not use it to make money. In the end, being hired by high-ranking officials and wealthy patrons was basically their only source of income.
Now, because of the Great Purge, more than ninety-nine percent of the Witches had lost their income. They were wanted, hunted, and forced to gather together for once to discuss countermeasures.
"Let's attack them directly and strike back. We usually help them make money, and now they really think we're their subordinates? If they want to turn on us, then they can't blame us for striking first."
"They're probably only acting tough right now. Let's keep quiet and hide for a while, then decide what to do after we see how things develop."
"Don't be so impatient. Plenty of the higher-ups among the people hunting us have done business with us before. We can threaten them with that."
"You're still clinging to luck at a time like this? You should know they want to get rid of unstable elements like us. They're trying to get through the adjustment period of the World Battlefield. With all the factions of the three worlds acting together, there's no way they'll spare us just because some higher-ups are involved."
Like a quarrel in a marketplace, the Witches, none of whom accepted anyone else's authority, had barely exchanged a few words before they started arguing.
That was the problem with an organization like this, one that had banded together through violence and mutual benefit, split authority among its members, and lacked a true leader. The moment something major happened, arguments broke out easily, because none of them submitted to the others.
"Lovely ladies, you all seem rather troubled. In that case... how about I offer you a suitable suggestion?"
The voices of the Witches in the hall abruptly stopped. It was not because they respected their colleagues and politely fell silent to let someone finish speaking. It was because the voice was male. Yes, a gentle and refined male voice. Damn it, a man's voice had suddenly appeared in the middle of a crowd of women.
Which of the women present did not have years of experience fleeing from pursuers? Even inside their own organization's headquarters, their vigilance was at its peak. They immediately sensed something wrong and looked toward the source of the voice.
Appearing before the many Witches was an elegant man leaning against a bookshelf. He held a Grimoire he had taken from the shelf and wore a spotless white suit reminiscent of a magician. His features seemed carefully carved, and he was reading the Grimoire in his hands with great interest.
"What's wrong, my lovely ladies?"
As if noticing their gazes, Cid paused, turned toward them with a bright smile, and stopped what he was doing.
"Put the Grimoire in your hand back..."
The Witch who seemed to be the leader spoke in a cold, low voice to the man before her, who was flipping through a Grimoire that normally required enormous cost and extremely high contributions for anyone in the Library to even qualify to read.
This was the meeting room of the Library's headquarters. It was also the "Core Library," revered by the Library as sacred ground, where every Grimoire collected since the Library's founding was stored. Every Grimoire on these shelves was a highest-grade alchemical creation with extraordinary abilities.
Each Grimoire had been formed by a magician inscribing the knowledge of their entire life into it. They were the true crystallization of those magicians' painstaking efforts.
And how many Grimoires of that caliber were in this archive? The answer was tens of thousands.
This was the Library's sacred ground, as well as its most heavily defended location. If all of these Grimoires were activated here at once, they could easily defeat several SS-rated powerhouses fighting together.
"This one?"
Cid closed the Grimoire in his hand, lifted it, gave it a small shake, and smiled gently.
"It's quite interesting. A little dull, but it does suit my style. Actually, I also have a Library filled with knowledge. Would you be interested in an exchange?"
"What kind of Library? And how would we exchange?"
The Witch who seemed to be the leader frowned. Hearing that he also possessed a Library filled with knowledge, she did not attack right away. Instead, she looked at the young man before her and asked in a gentle tone.
"I admire you. Your desires are exactly what I like to see. So, in exchange for the spirit that pursues truth, give me your lives."
With the gentlest tone, Cid spoke words that were cruel and cold. He kept that sunny smile on his face as he watched the expressions of the women before him go blank, then turn icy in an instant.
As he looked at the many Witches before him, a red Magical Power needle appeared and shot toward him. Cid merely raised a finger with a smile. White waves rippled violently through the void, blocking the sudden attack.
He lifted his head and looked around. Magic Circles began to emerge around the Witches before him, and a massive amount of high-quality Magical Power battered the surrounding walls. Grimoires drifted up from the shelves, and all kinds of Magical Power surfaced over their covers. It was the sign of activation, and Magical Power great enough to destroy a nation in an instant surged through the room.
"If you could give us a reasonable explanation, we might still be able to cooperate. But you want to absorb us? You really dare to dream. Have you even checked whether you have the strength for it?"
After activating every Grimoire in the room in one breath, the Witch at the head revealed a look of disdain. She paid no attention to the man's still-smiling face as motes of blue light slowly bloomed in the void.
The leader had made her move. Even though the Witches behind her felt victory was already certain, they still had to make a show of joining in.
One extremely complex Magic Circle after another appeared before them. Beneath the dazzling light, dense Magical Power, strengthened by the Grimoires and the advantage of fighting on their own ground, flowed and slowly distorted their vision.
And so, dozens of beams of light several meters thick pierced through space and arrived before Cid.
Cid only smiled.
...
"Gwah!"
As the final Witch was knocked to the ground by absolute power, she rolled several times, landed facing the ceiling, and let out repeated cries of pain. Around her lay many other Witches in the same state, collapsed on the floor, moaning weakly and looking utterly battered. And so, this earth-shattering battle that had lasted an entire minute came to an end. The result was that Cid had narrowly prevailed over the Witches.
"How is this possible..."
Kako Magatoki, who had been the first to attack, was also lying on the ground. She struggled to raise her head and looked at the man before her, eyes wide as she muttered in disbelief.
From beginning to end, he had not moved at all. He had stood in place and taken the attacks of a group of Witches who were internationally recognized as Class-A Criminal Mages. The surrounding environment did not even look as if it had just endured a nation-destroying battle. Even the notebook on the table showed no sign of having been stirred by the wind.
But what Kako Magatoki truly could not accept was how the battle had unfolded.
Absolute domination over the laws, ultimate control over Magical Power, and the ability to nullify Magic Formulas. Any one of those abilities could shatter a mage's convictions on the spot, yet all of them had appeared in the man before her.
Ah... that might be a little hard to understand. To put it more simply, the gap between them and this man was as ridiculous as a group of modern people charging at a nuclear bomb while holding hunting rifles like fire pokers. What made it even more absurd was that this was not a joke. It was reality.
The essence of the world's profound truths radiated from the flow of Magical Power in his raised hand. This man before them was the World itself simply by standing there.
"I gave you one minute to think. How have you considered my suggestion?"
Cid spoke with a bright smile, as though he had not just wiped them all out. He merely extended his hand to them respectfully.
"If we become your Peerage Members, what must we give, and what can we gain?"
Pulled to her feet in a daze, Kako Magatoki raised her head and asked as if she had accepted her fate.
"Give? Heh, there's no need..."
Cid gave a soft scoff. His smile gradually disappeared as he raised his hand toward the Witches lying on the ground and slowly clenched it. His voice became low and solemn.
"I will give you everything you desire..."
"...Why?"
"?"
"Why choose us? You have far better options, don't you?"
They were only a group of Witches, a group of criminals with countless misdeeds who had signed contracts with Devils and were rejected by the world. With the man before them, his scholarship, knowledge, strength, and presence, surely he had better choices.
"Proud souls who pursue knowledge should not fall from the sky into the mire. The prejudice that brands you as unacceptable to the world is nothing but the arrogance of the ignorant. I admire your desires, so I am willing to give you a chance. That is all."
His words sounded almost like a chant, yet everyone immediately understood what Cid meant. And precisely because they understood, they found it impossible to believe.
"But we're only a group of Witches called unforgivable criminals by others, a group of offenders..."
"So what? I saw you, and you suit my tastes. That is why I want you. That's all there is to it. Is there a problem?"
As he looked at the shock and confusion in everyone's eyes, Cid simply gathered faint strands of blue Magical Power in his palm.
"Choose. Gather under my command and become my companions, so that from now on you may stand tall, hold your heads high, and proudly speak your names, or keep sinking like this and spend the rest of your lives as criminals hiding in the dark, truly becoming Witches who will never see the light of day, just as the world says."
Silence followed. It seemed to last only a few seconds, yet also felt like more than ten minutes. The Witch of the Notaria, who had been lying before Cid, was the first to stand. She accepted that Magical Power and drew it into her body.
Seeing this, Cid smiled in satisfaction.
"I will lead you toward the future."
...
"My name is Aya Tokoyogi. My Lord, may I ask your name?"
"Aya Tokoyogi. A fine name. I'll remember it. Roland Augustus."
Looking at the crystal ball in the air, Cid casually gave his name.
...
Looking at the woman before him, who had immediately knelt after he blocked her attack, Cid tilted his head in confusion.
Lady, who are you?
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