"HOW COULD YOU...

" Ation shouted as he jumped out of his seat, slamming his hands on the table.

'If this continues, this poor table will turn into scrap wood,' Layn thought, realizing just how much beating this simple piece of furniture went through.

"I have some clues,

" Layn picked up where he left, sending Ation a deadly cold stare.

"But I will need to research them further to figure out the truth,

" Layn said before standing up as well.

"But there is one thing I need to say right now,

" the archmage announced, before suddenly bending in half, with his lowered head directed at where Al and Ation sat.

"For the trouble, I caused you by misusing my power and knowledge, I deeply apologize,

" he said, not hesitating or stumbling even for a second.

'Give credit where the credit is due,' Layn thought, wishing to abide by this rule both when he could get praised but also when he had to be punished.

"That's...

" Ation spoke up, only to turn silent. To his side, Al pulled on his tunic.

"We accept the apology,

" Al replied, nodding his head to Layn.

"Progress inevitably invites danger. And I doubt that you did us like that intentionally,

" he added, probing Layn to raise his head.

"You said that you have no idea, but you have a clue as to what happened,

" Al said, staring at the archmage's face.

"Can you explain it in a way that an idiot like me will understand?

" he requested with a small smile.

'That was way easier than I expected,' Tom thought, raising his head with surprise written all over his head.

"What, did you expect me to challenge you to a duel or something?

" Al asked with a small sneer.

"It's not like I could win it anyway, so what would be the point of that?

" he asked, disarming everyone in the room with his honesty.

"Well, that's certainly is true,

" Layn replied, turning his head away as a small blush appeared on his cheeks. For all the power he had, he was more about actually using it for something rather than squeezing praises just for the sake of hearing them.

"Ah, I mean no disrespect with that,

" Layn suddenly shouted, waving his hands around as if to ward off any potential insult to Al's face.

"It's just that you are not good much against me. Out of everyone, I think only Yelna could truly beat me,

" Layn revealed without any hesitation. Yet, as he brought Markus' wife up, his lips involuntarily formed a pained grin.

"Yeah, she could really beat me up,

" Layn repeated, lowering his head as the memory of one of his greatest defeats ever replayed all back in his memories.

"She would be surprised to hear that,

" Markus said with a small chuckle, hiding his face behind his hand.

"Before we learned that there was no malicious intent in your actions, she was dead-set of giving her own life just to save this world from you.

" Markus continued to stealthily laugh, despite everyone being easily able to see him do so.

"Well, I bet that fight was just another spar for her,

" Layn blushed again. While he didn't value his pride as high as some others, it was still hard for him to keep swallowing it in the face of his former defeat.

"Either way, what about the explanation?

" Markus asked before moving his eyes at their ancestors.

"I believe you own it to them,

" he added, looking directly at Ation.

Al appeared to be perfectly calm as if this topic didn't include him. Out of the two of them, it was Ation that was actually pushing for this topic.

"Well, let's forget about all the reasons and focus on the process itself,

" Layn said. He didn't even need to think whether to explain it or not. 'If even Markus says so, then there is no need to think about it too much,' Layn thought, discarding all the possibilities of his old friend betraying him.

The two of them fought together just a moment earlier. 'If the two of them were really after my skin, I would never leave the battlefield alive back then,' Layn thought, reassuring himself in the decision he made.

"Omitting the details once again, the spell I invoked required an insane amount of energy for me to pull it off. That's why I used every artifact, every technique, every theory that I could get my hands on,

" Layn continued his explanations. But as he spoke, he could see small changes appearing on Markus' face.

"Just one question,

" the former saint asked, even going as far as to raise his hand.

"Did those theories you used involved...

"

"Nuclear magic?

" Layn guessed.

"How did you know?

" Markus asked, his face painted in surprise.

"Because that's the only thing I can't be sure how it worked,

" Layn replied without even a moment of doubt.

"While there were some artifacts that I didn't dare to pry too deep into on my own, I thoroughly tested them,

" Layn sighed, lowering his head.

"The only thing that I took for face value was the recent writings about nuclear magic. If I recall it, didn't they come from your place?

" Layn suddenly recalled a small detail.

'If that's true, then there is a chance he knows a little about the topic,' Layn thought, perfectly aware of Markus' thirst knowledge, a thirst that could only be challenged by his own.

"I only have one question,

" Markus said, lowering his head as if he already knew the answer.

"Was the treaty you used called, on magic nuclear and its practical applicancies?

" Markus asked, strangely still in his seat.

"Yeah,

" Layn nodded his head.

"How did you know?

" he asked instead.

'What does the treaty I used have anything to do with the topic?' Layn asked himself, running through every possible option that came to his mind. 'Could it be... that the treaty was wrong?' he suddenly arrived at the most likely conclusion. In an instant, Layn's eyes moved on to Markus' lowered face.

"That treaty was an intelligence tactic to hide the real nature of that power,

" Markus suddenly announced with a grim voice.

"This magical theory originally comes from something strictly physical, something that my friends in the government were testing out. But guess what,

" Markus raised his face, revealing a complex expression on it.

It looked like a mix of desperation, helplessness, and regret.

"Back when they were still testing it, the brass got scared of the results. They were too disastrous to be effectively used,

" Markus claimed, yet Layn could see that the real bomb had yet to appear in the room.

"And that was all for purely physical kind of nuclear theory. The magical one was suggested to work as well, but in order to stop the world from autodestructing in some random war, we downplayed the might of the nuclear theory...

" Markus suddenly stopped his explanation. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva before turning his head to the side.

"We downplayed its might by a lot,

" he said, starting to shake slightly.

"By an awful lot,

" he added after a second, lowering his face in shame.

"So that's the case,

" Layn said, rubbing his chin again. With this new information, everything was slowly starting to make sense.

Originally, the world he expected to return should be roughly a few years prior to the moment of casting the gran arcana. But that was all with the assumption that Layn's calculations were all correct.

'I spent years perfecting them,' Layn thought, gritting his teeth. 'To think that they were wrong because of a damned variable,' he accidentally bit on his finger as he thought.

"How much?

" Layn asked, raising his eyes at his friend's face.

"How much did you downplay it?

" he asked again, taking his turn to slam his hands against the table.

Maybe it was already damaged from the former abuse, or maybe Layn simply failed to control his emotions. But this time, the simple table couldn't handle the attack, breaking in half as soon as Layn slammed his hands on it.

"Well, let's me show it,

" Markus muttered silently, extending his hand towards the archmage.

"Right, here you go.

" Layn understood his friend's intention on the go, passing one of the mana-sucking artifacts to him.

Not moving his hand an inch, Markus closed his eyes. And then, a light appeared all over his palm, only to raise roughly to the level of everyone's eyes.

"All set?

" A voice came from the ball as a strange mist lifted, revealing a magical recording of some kind of event.

"Isn't that Manterau?

" Layn asked, recognizing the outline of the town. While he has never visited it, it was known well enough for the two disasters that first chased away all its population and then swallowed the city whole for Layn to recognize it.

"Yeah,

" Markus nodded his head..

"And now, you are going to see the true form of the second disaster.

"