n

n

n

"Teacher, why won't you step in?!

" Tytus asked, noticing how a massive amount of energy suddenly appeared right where one of his friends stood.

n

"Intervene or not to intervene,

" Bart smiled.

"That's a deep question,

" he added, rubbing his chin.

n

"Isn't this man a potential wrench to the plan of this world?!

" Tytus protested.

"If he unleashes this magic, everything that was supposed to happen in this world...

"

n

"Son, there is nothing like a one, correct path for the world to take,

" Bart shook Mukken's head.

"We watched over countless worlds following the plan, we watched over countless worlds developing as they wanted without any intervention... But the result was all the same,

" Bart said, turning his head towards his student.

nFor the first time in their long relationship, Tytus saw a sad expression on his master's face.

n

"And if it's all in naught, what difference does it make if the world follows its predestined path?

" Bart asked, a small spark of interest suddenly appearing in his eyes.

"Actually, I'm more interested in how things will go if we let this guy run free. Maybe that's exactly what we were looking all those millennials for?

" Bart shook his shoulders before looking back towards the battle.

nBut this time, his calm demeanor didn't last for long.

n

"Is that fission...

" he muttered, straining his eyes as he looked towards the battle.

"Change of plans,

" he announced out of nowhere, his entire body tensing up.

"If he unleashes this magic in here, it won't be interesting at all!

"

n***

nLayn was both humble and aware. He knew that he was one of the strongest, if not THE strongest mage in modern civilization. His power steemed both from natural talent, years' worth of effort, and his overwhelming knowledge.

nHe was humble because he never believed that his power made him a better person than others.

n'If wielding the biggest sword doesn't make you the greatest man, why would this kind of logic apply to wielding the greatest magic?' he liked to ask himself to keep his ego in check.

nYet, it came without a doubt that he belonged to the absolute top tier of mages in the entire history of the world he was born with. Discounting for those whose tales were lost by history, there was hardly anyone who could even dare to compare to Layn.

nBut now, Layn realized that even someone as powerful as him was mere dust in the face of an absolute.

nThe flames of his firelances fueled the first step in the magical fission reaction. And as soon as it fired up, the dominos started to fall at a rate that even Layn couldn't control.

nBut to be fair, he had no interest in controlling it either.

nWatching how some lowlife dared to penetrate his woman with a sword, Layn lost all his attachment to morals, rationality, and reason.

n'I WILL BURN YOU ALL!' he screamed out in his soul, allowing the nuclear magic to grow at the expanse of his magic flesh. The rate at which the power in his body increased made one thing obvious.

nHe could no longer control it.

n'I guess that's really the reason why my time-jump failed,' Layn thought, his mind surprisingly clear. His eyes moved towards the man that gave him so much trouble.

n'If not for him, I could stop any harm from coming Irea's way!' Layn realized his brain was only able to make the simplest connections.

n

"BURN!

" Layn brought his hands forward in an attempt to unleash all the nuclear power stored in his flesh right in the face of that old bastard.

n

"Stop.

"

nA simple, silent word somehow made its way to everyone's ear. But as if it wasn't enough, the entire reality appeared to grind to a halt in respect to the authority behind that word.

nBart appeared above the battlefield without any fireworks. There was no flash, no explosion, no puff of smoke. He wasn't there... and then he was as if someone stripped him out of an invisible barrier.

n'What?' Layn thought. This was all he could do. Not only was the movement of his body restrained by this single word, but so was the flow of his magic.

n'The ** is going on?' he thought, instantly using all his willpower to try to break free from the restraints.

n'Whoever can just stop the time like that is a threat only I can dare to handle,' he thought, forcing the nuclear mana through his body.

nHe cared not for the trauma it was leaving behind. He cared not for the fact that in order to do so, he basically had to revert his magical flesh back into its natural form just to give the nuclear magic enough mana to feed on to keep it going.

nDespite the overwhelming authority of that single word, Layn managed to do the impossible.

nAt the cost that would drive others insane from its pain factor alone, Layn managed to shake off the shackles that held him.

n'Cease.' The second word came from the mouth of the man that appeared above everyone's head.

nLayn struck a wall. If the previous word was like steel shackles that held every atom of his body in place, then the second word was simply absolute.

n

"We won't get anywhere if I keep holding you like that,

" the man in the sky muttered before waving his hand.

nAs if it was just an illusion, the absolute restraint disappeared. Once again, Layn was only shackled by the first word. It was a formidable barrier, but he had already learned that he could break free from it.

n

"The fact that you can break free from the stop word already proves that you are the winner of this battle,

" the strange man in the skies announced with a gentle smile.

n'Wait, what the **?' Layn's mind scrambled to make sense out of this ridiculous situation.

nFor some reason, there was a man in the skies. That man easily held everyone in place, proving just how insanely powerful he was. And now he got to decide who won and who lost the battle?

nOutside of being humbled by the appearance of a being that Layn could never even begin to compare to, he was served a massive portion of confusion directly into his system.

n

"YOU FUCKER!

" Someone screamed out, proving that Layn wasn't the only one who managed to break free from the barrier. Yet, judging from the voice and how much it was filled with hate, it wasn't someone who could be reasoned with.

n'The mana in it...' Layn thought as he furrowed his brows. It was only a voice, but he could feel just how excited the mana in it was.

nJust like when...

nJust like when one of his friends back at the academy went berserk.

n

"DIE!

" the voice appeared once again, this time accompanied by a relatively young man rushing towards Layn.

n'He is the one who Markus and Yelna...' the archmage managed to realize before his instincts forced him into action.

nPaying no mind to the price that he had to pay again, he forced the shackles of the word out of himself, unleashing the mana to face a threat.

nAnd then, the tolerance to the mana of his body reached his limits.

nUnable to control his own power anymore, Layn's nuclear mana burst out. In an instant, the space itself around him was scorched.

nBut then, the reaction seemingly stopped. All the mana in the world was now stopped, heeding the order of the old man in the sky.

nAll the mana in the world... outside of the force of the young man who broke free from the restraint of the world.

nWith no other outlet for its might, Layn's nuclear mana took the one and only path towards stability.

nBefore Layn or even the man in the skies could react, the star emperor simply vanished from exitance, erased by the raging current of nuclear mana.

n

"CEASE!

" The man in the skies intervened once again. Faced with the absolute authority of the word, even the potency of the nuclear mana proved to be completely futile.

n

"Everyone, before you go back to killing each other, how about you listen to me for a moment?

" the man in the skies proposed, only to release a chuckle a second later.

"Well, it's not like any of you have any choice anyway,

" he added a moment later as his body descended down to the ground.

nThe old man walked towards Layn's powerless body.

n

"You were the only one who managed to break free from the primary restrains. While you couldn't really control that power, you still did it,

" the man praised the archmage.

n

"To all those in the vincity, if I didn't stop the force this man unleashed, every last one of you would turn into a fleeting memory,

" Bart announced, a small smirk growing upon his lips.

"There wouldn't even be any ash or dust left from you,

" he added, painting a pretty vivid picture.

n

"I stopped this man's attack... But I'm not a partial judge. Now that he proved to be capable of killing you all, I will make sure no one will oppose his judgment,

" Bart smiled when his smile suddenly mellowed into a kind one.

n

"But to be honest, instead of killing each other, there is another way to solve your situation. Especially with how the main forces that drove this conflict are now gone,

" the old man suggested, his smile turning into a wide grin.

nBart waved his hands, releasing the power of the stronger restraint, leaving everyone under just the 'stop' word's authority.

n

"What would you say if I....

"

n