Goooooo……
The sky heaves, and the earth turns over. The axis of the world bends, and crimson mana stains the atmosphere.
Whiiiiii—
Her robe trembles. As if fluttering in the wind.
But Epherene knows. In this space where time has stagnated, wind cannot exist.
Therefore, this is the work of pure magic.
It is Adrienne’s mana, distorting the scenery.
“……”
Epherene silently looked up at Adrienne.
Facing her from among the clouds, Adrienne’s expression is bright. A pure, radiant smile stretches all the way to her ears.
Epherene said to her,
“Chairwoman.”
“Yes?!”
“……What do I have to do to become an Archmage?”
At that question, Adrienne’s eyes go wide.
Archmage.
That great and glorious position—Epherene has never once desired it, nor even thought of it.
Because what brought her this far was not such a vague and grandiose goal.
“Huh? An Archmage?”
“Yes.”
Looking back, it had been days of impulse.
Hating Deculein according to her father’s wish, loathing him, becoming a mage while burning with those emotions, despising him for so long at Deculein’s side, then realizing a truth too painful to bear, trying to run from it all only to fall, and fall, and fall again……
Until, in the end, Deculein made her stand.
Until, thanks to Deculein, she came to believe in the pure ‘me.’
“I’m going to become an Archmage.”
“Mm! Why?!”
“I’m going to tear the Floating Island apart and rebuild it.”
The Floating Island is not a society of mages.
It is nothing more than a group that has grown infinitely cold and cruel under the beautiful name of ‘Absolute Reason.’
“And then, I’m going to distribute the Professor’s theories across the continent.”
Deculein’s theories.
The difficult parts made easy, from the fundamentals to the advanced.
She would organize it all—together with him, if possible—and without asking for anything in return.
So that anyone on the continent, regardless of status, could become a mage through his theories, so long as they possessed outstanding talent.
“To do that, I’ll have to win, won’t I?”
Epherene answered her own question.
She had to win.
Against the Adrienne before her now, against Quay, and against the destruction of this continent she had witnessed.
“Yes! First, you’ll have to beat me!”
Adrienne said.
At the same time, magic manifested.
Kuuuuung———!
The sky shattered. The earth collapsed.
Tzzzzzzzzzt———!
With no distinction between above and below, the world breaks apart like fragments.
It scatters sharply, like a window shattering.
Chaaaaaang——!
The resonance of convection being crushed.
Epherene let out a hollow laugh.
It was indeed a shocking sight, and its power was astonishing.
“You’re amazing.”
If one had to describe this magic in prose, it would be ‘the purest destruction.’
Magic solely for the purpose of destruction was going beyond merely ‘interfering’ with the world.
It was destroying the world itself.
“What are you doing right now?!”
Causing an incomprehensible collapse, exuding the transcendent dignity of a rank called ‘Eternal,’ Adrienne shouted.
“Are you just going to stand there and watch?!”
The shattered sky slowly crumples into a single point, and more than half the ground beneath her feet has already vanished.
“……Chairwoman.”
“What?!”
“For some reason, I don’t think I’m going to lose.”
“What?!”
Amid that annihilation, Epherene manifested her magic. She infused temporal energy into the fragments of the world Adrienne had broken.
Then, the world returned to its original state.
To the state before Adrienne had destroyed it—to an intact sky and earth.
In an instant.
“……Hah!”
Adrienne grinned. Though her magic had been broken, she seemed rather delighted.
Epherene said to her,
“Shall we go with an ordinary magic battle? In any case, large-scale magic with a wide scope won’t work on me.”
Large-scale magic has many openings.
To be precise, because it is too enormous, if she seizes only one specific part of it with ‘time,’ she can rewind it very easily.
“Haha! Fine! I like your confidence!”
Then Adrienne, as if what had just happened had been nothing more than a test, immediately prepared countless spells.
The moment she prepared them, she fired them.
They were chantless, instantaneous spells.
Kugugugugu————!
「Meteor Descent」, 「Hellfire Sphere」, 「Earth Disintegration」, 「Gale Blade」, 「Moonlight Shard」…… Tremendous destructive spells were woven in an instant and immediately surged toward Epherene.
However.
Snap—!
The moment Epherene flicked her finger, they vanished.
A phenomenon closer to ‘conjuring’ than magic.
Its strangeness would have been more than enough to astonish anyone, but Adrienne instead fired off magic as if she were having fun.
“As expected! I really do have an eye for people!”
Satisfied with an opponent named Epherene, she unleashed spell after spell without pause.
Kugugugugung———!
The kinds of magic poured out in a single instant numbered not merely in the dozens, but in the hundreds.
The most concentrated destruction mobilizing every element focused like artillery fire upon a single point called Epherene.
———!
Epherene thinks.
Adrienne, so scattered and yet so powerful, is indeed worthy of being called an Archmage.
In terms of destruction, surely no human on this continent could compare to her.
Snap—!
Yet Epherene, who annihilates the Archmage’s attacks with nothing more than a flick of her finger, now has certainty as well.
She has faith.
Kwaaaaaaaa————!
An exceedingly fierce magic battle.
Each exchange is explosive, flashing with all manner of mana, but in truth, the flow of battle remains unchanged from beginning to end.
Adrienne holds an overwhelming advantage throughout.
Crack—!
An intangible piercing spell Epherene failed to catch pierces through the shoulder of her mage armor.
Fragments of ember scorch Epherene’s knee.
“……”
Her joint has been pierced, and her skin has been burned.
Yet Epherene’s expression does not change in the slightest.
“It’s no use just enduring! But make this a little more entertaining for me!”
Adrienne cries out in a ringing voice. It has truly been a long time since she poured out her mana without restraint, and she feels immense satisfaction simply from the existence of an opponent who still does not die.
“If all you do is block, you’ll grow old and die!”
Fairies have no restriction on mana, so this magic battle will continue like this forever.
Adrienne will attack, Epherene will only defend, and in the end, Epherene, whose time runs out first, will be defeated.
“……Chairwoman. Do you know?”
Even so, Epherene twisted the corner of her mouth into a smirk.
As if certain of victory, as if plotting some scheme. Resembling Deculein of some time past, it is a needlessly ominous smile.
“What?! That expression is exactly like Deculein’s, and it’s really annoying!”
……They say master and disciple resemble each other.
“I’m not defending against your magic right now, Chairwoman. I’m simply adjusting the time of your magic and modifying its ‘Vector.’”
“Hahang! What is that supposed to…… Ah.”
Adrienne, who had been laughing because the strange nonsense amused her, because this magic battle was simply enjoyable, soon understands the meaning of Epherene’s words.
“……That’s right.”
As expected of an Archmage, she understands quickly.
Epherene nods as if mocking her, and Adrienne’s eyes fly open.
“I sent your magic into the near future.”
“……Oh my.”
An exclamation that could have been dismay, or admiration.
By the time she realized, it was already too late.
Snap——!
When Epherene flicks her finger, those countless spells appear in the air once more.
No, the spells of Adrienne that had been driven into the ‘future’ a moment later return in swarms.
Fixed in the time of the ‘present,’ they fill the sky with an incredible density.
——Gooooooo.
However, the vectors of that magic—the targets toward which the spells are rushing—are no longer Epherene.
The trajectories of the spells Epherene has modified are—
“All of them are yours, Chairwoman.”
Toward Adrienne alone.
“……”
Well over tens of thousands of destructive spells.
Surrounded by those outrageous projectiles and mana, Adrienne merely opens her mouth in a daze.
“Mm……”
She rubs her chin and thinks deeply.
Should she raise a barrier?
Or respond with an even greater destructive spell?
But these are not ordinary destructive spells.
They are spells composed and fired by none other than Adrienne herself.
In other words, perfect magic, without the slightest opening.
“……I let my guard down.”
In the end, Adrienne smiled.
“Yes. You did.”
Epherene lightly gestured.
Whiiiiiiiii———
The spells in the air vibrate, and the sound of wind spins hollowly.
Adrienne’s destructive magic, fired by Adrienne, returns to Adrienne.
Kwaaaaaaaaaa———!
It was a bombardment.
* * *
……Whiiiiiiing.
A mountainside where grass and trees sway in the wind.
Immediately after the barrier of time shattered.
—I admit it! No matter how much I let my guard down, I lost!
Epherene looks at Adrienne, who is flying through the sky and chattering away, with slightly blank eyes.
Adrienne is very strange right now.
First of all, her body is small.
—What are you staring at?! Am I that fascinating?!
“……Of course. Why did you get smaller?”
Right now, Adrienne’s entire body is only the size of a pigeon.
In other words, literally the size of a pigeon.
—Hm! I’m actually half fairy!
“……What?”
Epherene’s eyes widen.
Fairy?
Does she mean the fairy from legends?
—Yes! If I shrink my body like this! Not only can I avoid a direct hit! The density of my barrier naturally increases too, so I can preserve my body like this! The flaw is that once I enter this state, I have to stay like this for a week!
Adrienne grins.
—Anyway, fine!
Then, looking back and forth between Deculein and Epherene, she says,
—I lost, so I’ll withdraw without doing any harm to Professor Deculein!
“……”
Deculein.
Epherene, who had nodded blankly, lowers herself again and places a hand on Deculein’s forehead.
A high fever.
His whole body is burning so fiercely that her hand feels as if it might cook.
—But is he okay? Deculein looks like he’s about to die?!
“……Yes. He’s fine.”
However, she is not worried.
Being free from time has its advantages in moments like these.
“Later, when the timing is right, I just need to call one person. So……”
Epherene glares at Adrienne with narrowed eyes.
It means she should leave now. Let the two of them be alone.
—Hmph! Fine! I’ll be going now! But don’t think this is the end!
“You’ll come find me again?”
—Wherever you are! It was too much fun! Next time, I won’t fall for the same method!
Adrienne giggles.
Looking at her, Epherene also gives a faint smile.
“Yes. Come anytime.”
—Okay!
Pop—
With that reply, Adrienne disappears, and Epherene, left alone with Deculein, quietly kneels on both knees.
Sitting demurely, she looks at the unconscious Deculein.
“……”
Without a word, she stares blankly at that face.
She keeps staring.
She only stares.
Tick—!
Then, the sound of a second hand rings in her head.
It means her time is up, but Epherene shakes her head.
“Not yet.”
She holds onto that time.
Whether it will be three seconds, five seconds, or ten seconds, she does not know, but she grips it by force.
Tick—
Tick—
“……Professor.”
And so, remaining with Deculein a little longer.
“What should I do……?”
She slowly leans her body and rests her head against his chest.
Feeling his heartbeat, so faint, she murmurs softly within that sorrow.
“I think I’ve come to harbor a terribly insolent feeling.”
Tick—
Again, the sound of the second hand rings.
Every moment she holds onto time, her mana is consumed at a frightening rate, and soon she reaches the brink of exhaustion.
It feels as if she is drowning on dry land.
“You see, I……”
Her lips have turned purple, trembling faintly.
“Professor……”
From between them, a small voice flows out.
“I think I’m in love with you.”
Rustle—
At that moment, the sound of someone’s footsteps.
She does not yet know ‘who’ it is, but it must be the support she called.
“……”
Tick—
Epherene looks that way. Without realizing it, a smile forms on her face.
Her adventurer friend, who has grown quite a bit—the ‘Lia’ who has already become an adult.
She is coming this way through the grass.
As if she has not discovered Epherene yet, she simply follows the traces of mana, patter-patter-patter-patter, like a rabbit.
So the future me calls that friend.
“True. If it’s Lia.”
She is trustworthy.
Diligent, smart, cute, and with looks Deculein would like—no, openly does like.
It makes me a little jealous for no reason.
—Tick.
Suddenly, the sound of the second hand shakes her skull.
At that exact moment, every last bit of mana in her body is exhausted, and terrible fatigue and depletion consume her body.
“Ah……”
Her body sways from dizziness and slowly collapses.
She naturally falls into Deculein’s chest.
His embrace is so cozy, so quiet and warm, that she wants to stay a little longer.
Honestly, she wants to stay like this for the rest of her life.
……Tick.
The final one second has already arrived.
Now, it is time to part.
“Professor. I think I understand now.”
In that final instant.
Epherene, lying upon Deculein’s chest in his arms, or perhaps holding him tightly in hers.
“As time passes, as each day passes, I will more, and more, and more……
She returns once more to somewhere that is not the present.
“……come to love you, Professor.”
At the ear of her most precious professor, she leaves behind each tiny word, so very shyly.