【When is this guy going to wake up?】
【If we’d known that beforehand, we wouldn’t have crawled into this bastard’s mouth.】
Blink—
Aion opened his eyes.
He stared blankly at the ceiling. Was this the aftermath of a concussion? He gave a hollow laugh and muttered,“...Did some evil spirits take up residence in my head?”
【Oh, he’s awake? But does this idiot not understand the situation? He just called us evil spirits.】
【Evil spirits? Hee hee! Do I look like an evil spirit? A demon, maybe! Fuhehehehe!】
Voices boomed through his head.
Aion pressed hard against his throbbing temple. The sensations were so vivid that they only made everything feel less real.
“So I’ve gone insane. Or else I’m dead?”
【Do not misunderstand. This is Axion’s infirmary, and fortunately, you are alive.】
【More precisely, you escaped serious injury by a miracle and should be able to leave soon.】
【Well, I understand why you find our voices strange... but this is reality, brat.】
Reality? These voices?
Aion tried to force himself upright, only to cry out and collapse back onto the bed.
“Urgh...!”
Agonizing pain shot along his spine.
Right. This was not a dream. It hurt far too damn much to be one.
【Avoid moving your body if possible. At least for today.】
“...I have no intention of listening to evil spirits.”
【What evil spirits? We’re you from fifty years in the future. Beings who reached the pinnacle as mages, at that.】
They’re shameless beyond belief.
Aion thought for a moment.
Himself, fifty years from now? Multiple great mages, no less?
It was a possibility he had never once imagined in his life.
Yet something felt off. There was too much he could not simply dismiss.
“If I’m not insane...”
Aion let out a deep breath and shook his head.
“Explain everything about yourselves.”
As though they had been waiting for those words, a deep voice answered.
【At last, you’re willing to have a conversation. It’s simple. We are all Aion Iskar—beings like you, but from different futures.】
“Other versions of me from the future... This is madness. I have to believe this...?”
It was hard to believe, but the conversation felt too real.
At the very least, he was certain these beings existed inside his head.
“...Why did you come to my world? No—why did you come to me?”
【To stop the apocalypse.】
“...The apocalypse?”
【That is correct. Our worlds faced disasters in the future, and each apocalypse took a different form.】
【Yeah! In my world, a giant sun rose in the sky!】
【A terrible disease brought the world to ruin.】
【Hee hee hee hee! A madman tore the world apart!】
The voices began talking over one another.
Information about the disasters each of them had faced poured into him, but none of it truly registered with Aion.
“...What!?”
【Enough. Do you think Aion as he is now can understand anything if you all talk at once? I will speak for us.】
Fortunately, one voice brought the others under control amid the confusion.
【In any case, we made a decision. To prevent the disasters that struck our worlds, we would return to a much earlier point in the past.】
“...And that point is here?”
【Correct. The problem is...】
The calm voice paused, as though it found what came next difficult to say.
【From eight different worlds, every one of us performed time reversal at the exact same moment—without even the slightest discrepancy.】
“...What?”
【Everything became tangled. Our souls intertwined, and we returned to the past simultaneously. Before you swallowed us, we could not free ourselves from that state.】
Eight different futures that had reversed time.
Aion endured the throbbing pain in his back and considered those words.
“...Why did you enter my body?”
【More accurately, we were swallowed. To put it simply, your soul is not all that different from ours. But yours was empty, so perhaps it wished to fill itself with something.】
“...You mean my soul devoured you?”
【Yes. Though half of us wanted it too.】
“...I do not need you. Is there no way for you to return?”
It might have been a rude question, but the voice answered evenly.
【It is possible. However, time reversal consumes an enormous amount of mana. We all wagered the fate of our worlds to return to the past. Going back without accomplishing anything would be the same as abandoning our worlds.】
The lengthy explanation ended.
Aion stared blankly at the ceiling.
So, his future selves had returned to the past to save their respective worlds, encountered a problem, and were swallowed by him.
No one would find that easy to believe.
Then Aion remembered something.
“But this time reversal... It is not something that can be used so freely, is it?”
【...】
Even Aion, who had not yet become a proper mage, knew that much.
Time magic was forbidden.
“Time magic is prohibited and managed by the Clock Tower. More than that, only a handful of mages in the world can even use it...”
【We were among those handful of mages.】
“...That cannot be.”
Aion could not believe them.
If they truly were his many futures, as they claimed, then surely they knew about his present as well.
“If you are my future, then you know what talent I possess.”
【Hee hee hee! I know! It’s garbage!】
“...”
They answered without hesitation.
【Your talent is meager, and you have no teacher to guide you. How could we not know? We may differ in nature, but we must all have lived through similar experiences.】
“Then why do you claim you were able to use time reversal?”
Could someone as inadequate as him use forbidden magic that even great mages could not casually attempt?
And could every future version of him who had come here have done so?
【Because we reached it regardless.】
Someone spoke with solemn conviction.
【The end of reason.】
“...What does that mean?”
He could not easily understand those words.
“The end of reason...”
Aion tilted his head, then changed the subject.
“I do not understand what you are talking about. More importantly, if you change my present, will your futures change as well?”
【To be precise, we do not know.】
“Then why did you return to the past?”
The voice fell silent for a moment before answering.
【...Because if even the faintest possibility existed, we had to wager everything on it.】
“...”
Aion frowned deeply for a long time before reaching a conclusion.
“No matter how I think about it, I do not see why I should cooperate with you.”
Several voices immediately burst out.
【...Oh, dear.】
【See? He didn’t understand any of it!】
【Who was the one speaking just now? You only made the boy more defiant!】
***
For quite a while afterward, the voices showed no sign of stopping their pestering.
“Everything else aside, could you be a little quieter?”
Aion groaned.
【We will keep talking until you accept our purpose!】
His body was already in terrible shape, and now unwanted voices filled his mind. The stress was enough to make his head split.
Then—
Knock, knock.
A cautious knock broke the silence.
The many buzzing voices stopped all at once.
“Haah...”
Aion took a breath and looked toward the door.
Creak—
The person who entered wore the uniform of an Axion admissions mage.
Her nameplate read: Rodel Franco.
She was a beautiful woman wearing glasses that seemed small for her large eyes.
“Student Aion, how are you feeling?”
“I am fine. ...What brings you here?”
After briefly examining his condition, she spoke coldly.
“I have something to inform you of.”
She looked at Aion with a thoroughly businesslike expression.
“It weighs heavily on me to bring you bad news when you are already in this condition.”
“...What do you mean?”
Click—
Rodel adjusted her glasses, then took a sheet of parchment from within her robe and quietly placed it on the bedside table.
The largest words written on it were:
『Admission Reconsideration and Recommendation for Withdrawal』
What...!?
Aion’s heart sank.
“This incident has drawn far more attention than necessary. From the students, of course, and from the professors as well.”
“...Is that so?”
Was saving someone a problem?
That question filled his mind when—
“Rumors are circulating among them that Student Aion’s mana attunement and mana capacity fall far short of Axion’s standards.”
“...!”
Aion realized that Rodel had not come because of the bicorn rampage.
She was here because of what had happened during his identity registration.
Swish—
This time, she took out a crystal orb.
“Place your hand on this orb.”
Her tone remained cold from beginning to end.
Aion slowly placed his hand on the crystal orb Rodel had taken out.
“...”
No response.
Nothing changed.
Click—
Rodel adjusted her glasses once more.
“This may sound cold, but your current mana sensitivity is at the level of an ordinary person—not even a mage.”
It was absurd.
He had already been accepted into Axion, yet now his qualifications were being questioned.
“...Then what exactly are you trying to say?”
“The courage you showed in trying to save someone is admirable. But Axion is a place that speaks through results. If you cannot pass even such a basic procedure, becoming a mage will be an unimaginably difficult path.”
Rodel looked away, appearing troubled.
“On top of that, unfavorable rumors are now spreading.”
“...Unfavorable rumors?”
A great deal must have happened while Aion was unconscious.
“There is a rumor that the Iskar Family made a large donation and forced its unqualified second son into Axion.”
“...That is ridiculous!”
“I know. But what matters is that people believe it.”
After briefly meeting Aion’s gaze, Rodel continued.
“This depends on you, Student Aion. If you cannot prove yourself, you will not be able to dispel their suspicions. As you know, more than half of Axion’s students are children of narrow-minded noble families.”
“You are asking me to reconsider my admission?”
“We can process your acceptance as an administrative error. At the very least, that would preserve the Iskar Family’s honor. This is the last consideration we can offer you.”
Consideration.
That word tore at Aion’s heart.
He could not even become angry. The other party was entirely rational, polite, and was even worried for him.
That only made him feel more pathetic.
Is it because I am lacking...?
Tremble...
He gripped the bedsheet with a shaking hand.
If he said yes and ran away now, it would be over.
“...A chance.”
Aion forced the words out.
“I want another chance to prove myself.”
“...”
“My condition is poor because of the accident. If you give me time to recover, I will prove myself somehow.”
He met Rodel’s eyes directly.
“I will prove that I am not a student unworthy of Axion.”
Rodel looked out the window for a moment.
“...Must you go this far?”
“I will prove it... no matter what.”
Seeing the determination in Aion’s expression, Rodel replied,“We will conduct a reassessment in three days. The details will be delivered separately.”
“...!!”
As she turned to leave the hospital room, she drove in one final, courteous nail.
“Student Aion, I will grant your request. But when the time comes, I hope you will still behave like an adult.”
Creak—
The door closed.
Only a heavy silence remained in the room.
Then the beings in his head, who had been holding their breath, began whispering among themselves.
【...This is completely ruined, isn’t it?】
【The atmosphere is suffocating....】
【Uh... Did anyone have a similar experience around this time?】
【...It seems no one did.】
【...Ha.】
A hollow laugh, as though they found it unbelievable.
Clench...
Aion bit his lip. The taste of blood spread across his tongue.
He was furious.
Yet he had sunk so deeply into the mire that he could not even struggle properly.
【This situation is interesting. Well, graduating from Axion is not the only way to become a mage.】
【But the process will become far more difficult.】
A voice that seemed to belong to the most calculating of them spoke.
【Aion. In the original history, you should have entered quietly and attended the entrance ceremony. But by saving someone and drawing too much attention, you changed the future.】
“Are you saying... that saving someone was wrong?”
Aion muttered in a hoarse voice.
【A good deed is right. But kindness without ability always carries danger.】
Those words pierced sharply into Aion’s heart.
Because he had once thought the same way.
That if one lacked ability, one had to be cautious even when doing good.
“...Damn it.”
Overwhelmed by frustration, Aion spilled the words out.
“A way to make that crystal orb shine within three days...”
There was none.
Magic was determined by innate talent.
In this world, some struggled simply to crawl, while others were born running.
No matter how desperately those without talent for mana struggled, their ability could not easily improve.
Then—
The voice that had spoken with him asked,【What if... that were possible?】
“...What?”
【The level of magical power needed to illuminate the crystal orb for identity verification is only the First Tier. It will not be easy, but it is not impossible.】
【Is that really true!?】
【Hee hee hee hee! Of course it is a lie!】
【Even if we teach him, changing his fundamental ability in three days is impossible.】
Someone rebuked the pessimistic voices.
【All of you, be quiet! Would he have brought it up if he had no plan? Am I right?】
The voice that had raised the matter continued.
【Of course. Unlike you, who returned to the past without any plan, I am fundamentally different. I have prepared for this day for a long time.】
【Y-You bastard!】
【That was really irritating, wasn’t it?】
The voice offered him a deal like a polite devil.
【Young Aion Iskar, I propose a contract.】
“...A proposal?”
【If you accept this contract, we will help you. Not only with this matter, but so that you can face every terrible thing that awaits you in the future.】
“...!”
It was an unbearably sweet offer.
But there had to be a price.
“...What do you want in return?”
【You must help us as well.】
Aion raised his head.
A fierce light filled his eyes as he stared into empty air.
The voice in his head felt like the sweet temptation of a devil.
“...Can someone as lacking as I am, as a mage, really help you?”
【You are insignificant now, but we believe in your potential.】
We believe in your potential.
Those words gave certainty to Aion’s decision.
“...I accept the contract.”
A moment of silence—
【...Excellent.】
Then, in an instant, excruciating pain assaulted him.
Crackle—!
“Ghk... What is this...!?”
Without warning, a terrible pain, as though his head were splitting apart, overwhelmed him.
It felt as if every fold of his brain were being forcibly unfolded, only for something new to be crammed into it.
“Gghhh...!”
Bzzzzt—!
Red sparks burst across Aion’s vision, and geometric patterns appeared in midair.
Beeeep—
“What is this...?”
【What now binds you and us is the final invention I created after reaching the end of magic.】
Beeep—
【Yggdrasil—the Ultimate Arcane Mechanism.】
Unbelievably, words continued to appear in midair.
『Ultimate Arcane Mechanism Yggdrasil activated.』
『Beginning synchronization with the user’s soul.』
『Progress: 10%... 50%...』
『Soul synchronization in progress....』
“Huff... Huff...”
Before Aion’s eyes, as he struggled to catch his breath, appeared a refined illusion unlike anything he had seen before.
【We will make you a mage.】
From this moment on, they would share the same fate.