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"Haru-kun..." Seeing the figure approaching from a distance, Alice secretly let out a sigh of relief.
Aoko's attack on the old True Magic User had terrified her. Aoko, as the heir to the Aozaki family, wouldn't lose her life for such a reckless act, at the very least.
But Alice was a different story. The old True Magic User had previously expressed his displeasure with her failure to educate Aoko properly.
As a magus, Alice was all too familiar with the mentality of such people. Even if he had some sort of relationship with the great witch, the old True Magic User had definitely, in a fleeting thought, considered sending her to the experimental table.
A rare fairy tale witch, to a magus, was experimental material second only to a Phantasmal Species.
If Haru hadn't arrived, she would probably have had to take a trip into formaldehyde.
Thinking of this, Alice glared at Aoko. 'You almost got me killed.'
Aoko keenly caught Alice's meaningful look, her face filled with deep apology and embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," Aoko said, honestly lowering her head and admitting her mistake. After all, her earlier, inexplicable impulse had almost gotten Alice killed. If that had happened, she would probably have felt guilty for the rest of her life.
The crunching of snow, which had been echoing in the surroundings, gradually grew louder.
The old True Magic User raised an eyebrow, not at all surprised. He turned and, with a calm expression, looked at Haru, who was slowly walking out of the forest behind him.
"You've arrived, unknown colleague. A little faster than I expected."
Haru stepped through a puddle of melted snow and onto the snowy ground, stopping just thirty meters from the old True Magic User.
The moment he stopped, his gaze immediately focused on Aoko and Alice. Seeing that the two young women's clothes were only stained with some snow, and that their appearance was a little disheveled, but that they were not seriously injured, he let out a sigh of relief.
While tracking the old True Magic User earlier, Haru had been misled for a long time by the old bastard's superb concealment techniques. By the time he had discovered that the other party's destination was the old school building, it was already too late.
Haru glanced at Touko's 'corpse' on the ground. Though he knew that with his support, she had nearly a hundred spare puppet bodies, seeing her 'killed' still made him inexplicably annoyed.
Haru turned his head, his gaze focused on the old True Magic User. Looking at the ordinary-looking young man's face, his brow immediately furrowed.
A dark vortex enveloped his deep gray pupils. The effect of the Third Magic, Heaven's Feel, allowed him to see through the skin to the aged soul within.
After a long moment of investigation, Haru said with pointed meaning,
"You've really chosen a nice body for yourself, haven't you?"
A magus's so-called possession was just using their own powerful soul to suppress the original owner's soul.
Otherwise, Ciel, who had been possessed by Roa in the original timeline, wouldn't have been continuously resurrected by the world's contradictions after Roa's death.
And Soujuurou Shizuki, who was suspected of having been a killer's tool, had a very weak sense of self. To the old True Magic User, in the entire Misaki City, there was no more suitable vessel for him than Soujuurou Shizuki.
"It took me a long time to pick out this body," the old True Magic User said with a faint smile, his happy expression like that of a lucky person who had accidentally picked up a diamond from a trash heap.
And in fact, it was true. In the timeline, he had continuously searched the people of Misaki City, and had finally, among the tens of thousands of humans, found Soujuurou Shizuki, a 'special person' who could allow him to exert his full power.
This was naturally a matter of great joy for the old True Magic User.
If Haru knew this, he would probably have sighed with great emotion. As expected of a 'protagonist,' a typical example of 'trouble finding you even when you're minding your own business.'
If not for the fact that the old True Magic User was a standard, inhuman magus, perhaps Soujuurou Shizuki could have joined hands with him and staged a 'Moon-version of a wise mentor.'
Hearing the old True Magic User's words, Haru slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes had completely changed.
His original deep gray pupils had long since disappeared. His left eye had turned into a deep, dark black hole, while his right eye was a pure white, as if containing all the colors.
It was a manifestation of the rules of matter and energy in his body. Facing the old True Magic User, he didn't dare to be careless. He immediately went all out, activating his own rules.
An invisible passage was opened in the atmosphere, and the aura of the all-encompassing Root filled the snowy ground.
Looking at the figure who was brazenly wielding the rules, the old True Magic User's face became exceptionally grave. He pondered for a few seconds, then said to Haru, "Then, is there no room for negotiation?"
If he could help it, he didn't want to fight Haru. No magus wanted to face a True Magic User in a head-on battle, even if the old True Magic User himself had reached the Root and created magic.
A pointless slaughter did not conform to the magus's principle of self-interest above all.
"So you're saying you're willing to give me the passage to the Root?" Hearing this, Haru's lips curved into a mocking smile. "Are you willing to give me that one and only chance?"
Life is not allowed to reach the Root. It was an ironclad rule issued by Gaia and Alaya to protect the planet and humanity.
And the passage to the Root was naturally a thorn in the side of the two Counter Forces. Since they had discovered that the old True Magic User had reached the Root through the Twisted Ley Line, how could they not take precautions?
If not for the old True Magic User's split-second decision to seal the passage in a corner of time and to lay down numerous barriers, the passage would have long since been erased by the Counter Forces.
But even so, the passage could only be used once more, and with the obstruction of the Counter Forces, the success rate was less than thirty percent.
The reason the Aozaki family had been given the order not to peek at the passage to the Root was because of this. With only one chance, how could the old True Magic User not hold it tightly in his grasp?
"You even know this?" The old True Magic User's face was exceptionally grim, and a very oppressive aura emanated from his body. Even the sky was affected by his mood, becoming overcast.
"Damn it!!!" Aoko stared, dumbfounded, at the overcast sky. To be able to affect the atmosphere with just his leaked aura... she had just been angry at this kind of monster?
Alice, beside her, her face, which had been somewhat pale from the cold, was now even paler. In a world with Counter Forces, to be able to do this with one's own leaked power... the power of a True Magic User was far beyond her imagination.
For some reason, the two began to worry about Haru. Though he was also a True Magic User, compared to Haru, who had rarely made a move, the old True Magic User's power to change the sky with a single thought seemed even more terrifying.
"Last chance, young colleague..." the old True Magic User said, his voice as cold as ice.
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