The castle had stopped feeling like a prison.
Now… it felt like a laboratory where time itself obeyed me.
The pages of Julius Novachrono's Coverless Grimoire circled faster than ever, a halo of living spells responding to every shift in my thoughts. I didn't need to read them anymore. I understood them.
Black Clover's magic system—mana flow, structure, control—I had mastered it. Completely.
"Mana Skin."
A thin, invisible layer wrapped around my body.
Not just defense—perfect defense. Pressure, heat, force, magic… all softened, redirected, nullified. It wasn't brute durability. It was elegance.
"Mana Zone."
The air around me changed.
It wasn't just my magic anymore.
It was everything's.
The entire castle responded. Mana flowed through walls, floors, air, shadows—every particle bending to my will. I wasn't casting spells anymore.
I was commanding the environment.
I lifted a hand.
Dozens of golden spheres formed instantly.
"Chrono Stasis: Grigora."
They hovered for a moment—then detonated outward.
Each orb froze a different section of space. Not just stopping movement—locking time itself into a single fraction of a second.
Explosions, motion, energy—everything caught mid-action.
Perfect control.
Omnidirectional.
Unavoidable.
"…Now that's power," I said quietly.
I dismissed the spell and walked forward, the Mana Zone still active, feeding me information constantly. Every fluctuation, every pulse of energy, every weakness… visible.
Then came the more dangerous techniques.
"Time Acceleration."
I pointed at a section of stone wall.
It aged instantly.
Cracks spread. Dust fell. The structure weakened, decayed, collapsed into nothing more than brittle fragments.
"Effective," I muttered.
But that wasn't the limit.
I turned my attention inward.
A small cut appeared on my hand—self-inflicted, controlled.
"Chrono Anastasis."
The wound vanished.
Reversed.
Undone.
Not healing.
Rewriting.
I flexed my fingers, watching the flawless skin.
"…So death itself is negotiable."
I leaned back slightly, letting the Mana Zone fade.
I had mastered it.
All of it.
Time restraint.
Acceleration.
Reversal.
Restoration.
Transformation.
And yet…
I frowned slightly.
"…Redundant."
My thoughts drifted to Homura Akemi.
Her power had once been invaluable. Rewind. Loop. Reset.
Now?
Outclassed.
This grimoire didn't just manipulate time—it dominated it. With precision, scale, and flexibility far beyond simple looping mechanics.
"…The Soul Gem is still useful," I admitted. "But the rest…"
Obsolete.
I sighed lightly.
"…Maybe next century."
Amelia could fix that. Another spin. Another gift. Something new. Something that complemented this instead of overlapping it.
But that was later.
Now…
There was something far more important.
I turned slowly toward the castle walls again.
The seal.
Golden threads shimmered faintly beneath reality, still perfect, still intact…
But no longer untouchable.
I raised my hand.
Mana Zone activated again—larger this time.
Wider.
Deeper.
I could feel it now.
The structure of the spell.
Its flow.
Its anchors.
Its timing.
"…You exist in time," I whispered.
That was your flaw.
I created a small sphere of compressed time energy. Not an attack—
A tool.
Then I pressed it gently against the barrier.
Nothing happened at first.
Then—
A flicker.
So small it would've been invisible to anyone else.
But I saw it.
"…There you are."
A smile slowly spread across my face.
I didn't break it.
Not yet.
Instead, I pulled back.
Observing.
Analyzing.
Learning.
Because rushing had cost me once already.
This time?
I would dismantle it piece by piece.
Second by second.
Layer by layer.
Until the day came…
When it shattered.
And when it did—
Merlin wouldn't be facing the same apprentice he sealed away.
He'd be facing something far worse.
Something that had mastered not just shadow…
Not just death…
But time itself.