The Heart of Ambition surged within her, it’s heat filling her chest as she shrugged off the [Dragon Fear]. A part of her wanted to strike at Leirot, kill him before he had the time to do anything. But her better sense prevailed.

The world was already moving. Wichita could feel it through the controller. The friction rang through her head, her Heart thumping with excitement. Ignoring it, she used the controller to stick the space of this world to hers. A rudimentary, amateurish casting, channeled only by her innate understanding of magic.

But she only knew enough to tell how bad it was, not how to improve it. Wichita might have read every book in the library, but none of that prepared her for this level of casting. The spacial boundary of a world was naturally resistant to magic to the point even Tier 8 magic had difficulty affecting it.

If that wasn’t so, whatever was going on outside would have probably killed her already. But it did mean she could do little to help. The world shuddered, its spacial stability reducing sharply as her sticking spell took form. The cracks multiplied, dozens oc curing throughout its length.

The movement reduced…but did not stop. Wichita’s face paled as she saw Leirot push the squire into the void faster than she could react, causing a new crack to form to boot. Oh, fuck. How did he manage to do it without her sensing it? Oh fuck, this was bad. The Heart burnt within her chest, but even then she had difficulty remaining calm.

But of course, Leirot wasn’t the only problem she had. The world was still drifting. A temporal drift. Like a child going down a slide, it was sliding through time... probably until it destroyed itself. Wichita only knew how to anchor the world to a point in space. Not in a point in time. Even though they wouldn’t be sailing into the void anymore, it was unlikely they would be able to return to their time.

The Wall of Arcana endures

The System declared the result of the battle as the world began to speed through time. The cracks widened as the simple sticking enchantment tried to combat the world’s natural tendency to drift into the void.

The Crown of Arcana acknowledges you.

Class granted: [Princess of Arcana]

Title gained: [Uncrowned Queen]

Quest gained: [Challenge the throne]: The throne of Arcana awaits you, your majesty.

And she was apparently Queen. The Heart rejoiced within her as her mind was filled with dread. Then she did not have time to think about this anymore.

A dagger flew through the air at Leirot as fire headed towards her. What was it with her and fire today? Did she accidentally wear a flame attraction charm?

Wichita called on the controller, enhancing space in the fire’s path and leading it astray. The spell did not have a native space field. So either Leirot forgot how to use skills in the last twenty-four hours, or the System wasn’t working properly.

Of course. The System could extend itself to other worlds, but its capabilities were limited. Wichita doubted she could use her skill at all. The heat within her chest burnt stronger, allowing her to remain calm.

Wichita found her reflexes grow, her mana sense suddenly stronger as the Heart came to life. That hadn’t helped her much before, but perhaps it would this time. The playing field was remarkably more even.

Now to the next question. Why was someone with Rot Mana using a Purifying Flame? Wichita could feel the concept through the controller, struggling against her. Rot mana was a rare form of mana, but the Purifying Flame was in a level of its own.

The bloody thing could actually fight against the controller’s influence. To the point that she felt it trying to purify the enchantment from the world’s mana, refusing to give up. How did Leirot have access to something of this level? This was stuff most Arcana didn’t have till they were in their late twenties.

There was something fishy about the situation. A new type of mana that countered the controller nearly perfectly. The anchor disappearing, causing her to waste seventy percent of the mana she had just to stick the world. A very convenient situation. Like it was set up.

But why bother? Wichita wondered if there was more going on. Why was someone going through so much effort just to set this up? What was the benefit? Was there someone on her side that had set up the controller? If so, they had been countered pretty well.

“I am sorry.” Leirot said, out of the blue. Wichita didn’t believe him. A needle slipped into space at her command, hiding between spacial folds she produced with the help of her controller. This was good. Yes, it was. The needle was enchanted to disperse his mana. That would do quite a bit of damage.

“I have to do this.” Fire flickered in Leirot’s hands as she felt Rot mana hover around him. The two mana clashed, as two opposing mana types were bound to. Then he let them lose. The Rot Mana headed towards Veruna, while the flame headed towards her.

Wichita lamented that her anti-rot defensive enchantments had just become useless. How did the bastard have two affinities? Just what had happened that had changed him so?

“I fear that you must die, your grace. Arcana’s future depends on it. The Crown Prince’s life depends on it.” Leirot continued. So he’d lost his mind. Or knew something that she didn’t.

That wasn’t exactly surprising given the — fuck this fire. A growl of frustration slipped from her as she tried to draw the fire away. Leirot had let out not one, but dozens of fireballs, and they were starting to become too much to handle.

The controller was already overdrawing on the world’s mana, but even it could only strengthen space so much. The Purifying Flame was fighting her every step of the way, stopping her from using the mana it had already occupied. Wichita decided to dodge the next set of fireballs, using the spacial folds to step out of the way.

A crack tore through space as she did so, the spacial folding collapsing behind her. The clearing abruptly vanished, replaced by only dark purple space. Wichita wondered if there was any air here anymore. A human probably couldn’t survive in such a place.

The world was officially too far gone. And it was still drifting through time. Wichita had been ignoring the notifications so far, but they were accumulating in the corner of her vision. This was going to be difficult. Even after they dealt with Leirot, they would have to escape the world somehow.

Leirot simply looked at her. “I have seen the future. I have lived it. The Crown Prince showed it to me. That plan of yours will destroy the Arcana, it will lay our city to ruins. The Iridor must not be allowed to return.”

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Oh, no. That bastard. Was he that threatened by Veruna’s plan that he had to kill her? That was the only thing she could think of that could have prompted this response. Or was there something else she did not know? Why was it that she was being targeted for a Skill she didn’t have yet.

Heck, how did that fool Leirot not realize that Time magic did not exist! The Laws of Magic prevented it. The only way she could think of to actually travel through time was through a temporal drift like they were in right now. The kind of thing you couldn’t control.

No, even Leirot knew better than to believe someone could see the future…unless he was compelled to. The Bond of Arcana could do that. Compel one to believe things that they knew to be untrue, things that they hadn’t done.

Wichita’s heart stopped as she dodged another flurry of fireballs. Veruna had disappeared somewhere along with the Rot mana. A flash of worry emerged in her mind at her disappearance, but she did not have time to worry if she had fallen into the many cracks in this world. The Purifying Flame was doing a number on the crumbling world, especially when combined with her controller.

That was what he was after wasn’t he? The boy had no future anymore, the Crown Prince must have had the Bond give him a false life. Wichita knew about the experiment, a way to give advanced affinities early. The Bond of Arcana could simply transfer the necessary knowledge, make the person believe that they had gained it.

The System had shut it down, taking away the person’s right to a class. The experiment had ended there…officially. The Crown Prince had apparently restarted it, and used it on him. Wichita felt her panic rising as she felt the Purifying Flame eat at the world. Targeting her was just an excuse, Leirot was simply destroying the world, with her in it. As the Crown Prince had probably commanded him to.

No, she had to do something. Not dodging wasn’t an option, even if it destroyed the world faster. The Purifying Flame would destroy her far faster than it would destroy the world. Wichita gave it a dozen more jumps before the world was destroyed. No, she had time, time to break his compulsion. The Heart of Ambition beat in her chest, calming her mind as she focused on the situation.

“The Iridor.” she said, teleporting away, and then teleporting again as Leirot shot another wave of fireballs. Did he only know one spell? Well, not like he needed more. A wave and she had only ten jumps left.

“What about them?”

“Why would it be bad if they returned?” she asked, carefully dodging a wave. There wasn’t much to dodge. Leirot’s aim had gone off center. Like he was having difficulty controlling his own mana.

A slight hope appeared in her mind. The Bond’s hold was shaky. Perhaps the spacial boundary was interfering with it, perhaps something had happened to it in the time they had drifted through. That wasn’t the matter now. The matter was stopping this boy.

Wichita teleported again, thinking of what she should say. There were only eight jumps left, she had to hurry.

“The Iridor made us.” she continued. “The Arcana have been waiting for their return, it is in our charter.”

“So it is.” Leirot’s eyes furrowed in confusion. Not the reaction she was hoping for, but she would take it.

“Have you considered that the Crown Prince is simply greedy? That he simply wishes to crush a contender for the throne?”

This was working. Wichita teleported again for the third time this minute, bringing her remaining count to five. Leirot wasn’t even trying to push her into a trap. Just throwing around fireballs cause he had them to spare.

Not deterred by the lack of response, she continued onward. “Perhaps he does not wish the Iridor to return so he can continue ruling us. Limiting us. Not letting us reach the heights of power that we were born to.”

The Purifying Flames stilled, a number of them straight up getting extinguished. Wichita rejoiced as the controller regained a portion of mana. The Heart within her had resonated with her words, and she knew that Leirot’s would to. This was why she read books. A single line in the middle of the paragraph of a very old textbook had told her this could work.

The Heart of Ambition was the greatest challenge the inventors of the Bond faced. Even today, it remains one of the few reliable ways to fight against it.

Of course, something that pushed one to reach the heights of power would fight against something that controlled their actions. Wichita smiled as she said her next words, ready to win the -

“I have seen it.” Leirot said, his body beginning to burn. The smile slipped off Wichita's face. “I have seen what you cause. I shall stop you. And then I shall rise. I shall be a Legend, and you cannot stop me.”

A large fireball, at least ten times bigger than its predecessors appeared in front of Leirot as he put his mana to work. Wichita’s Heart stilled. A bigger fireball shouldn’t make much of a difference, but there was something strange about this one. Even her Heart shrank from it.

Thankfully, she didn’t get to see what it would do. The fire abruptly disappeared as the hazy silhouette of her friend appeared behind Leirot. There were no words exchanged between them, but their Hearts communicated to each other. Wichita folded space around Veruna with abandon, causing great damage to the world as she made her near invulnerable to Leirot’s magic.

And Veruna killed him. An enchanted dagger slipped into his skull, draining his mana as Wichita sent her needles into his body. Leirot died before he could even react properly, his magic failing to protect him.

Wichita opened her mouth to offer congratulations, but Veruna beat her to it.

“This world is collapsing.” Veruna said, looking around as her eyes flashed blue. Wichita nodded along, unable and unwilling to hide the relief filling her mind. “Yes, we must make our escape-”

“There is no time, your majesty.” Veruna said, and then bowed.

Wichita frowned. “What are you-”

“I give to you my power. I give to you the mana of my Heart. To you, I give my life, to save, to lead, to grow. I know you can do it. Rise sister, rise and make them show what an Arcana can do when they turn good. Show them the true legacy of our people.” Veruna’s entire body glowed as Wichita’s eyes widened. Fae magic. The kind of unreliable thing that they were told not to do.

“There is less than thirty percent chance that this will-” her words had no effect. Veruna went through with the sacrifice before she could even finish her sentence magic sparking around her. The magic consumed her body, converting the only friend she had made in her life into pure mana.

Then it flooded into her body.

The world collapsed. The fragile thing could not bear the flare from such a sacrifice. There was a lot of power in a retainer’s sacrifice. But she could not find it within herself to care. Wichita found herself powerless, carried into a crack by the power of the magic.

The mana carried her out of the crumbling world, slipping through the cracks. A dozen of them. Like a mouse going through a maze, the sacrifice’s power altered the odds, letting her go through just the right combination of spatial cracks into somewhere safe.

As the Heart burnt in her chest, Wichita switched on the notifications, eager for a distraction. A thing that made her not think about what had just happened.

Arcana has fallen. The Second Age begins.

The Age of Sands and Stars has ended.

The Three Nations Alliance has formed. The Third Age begins.

The Age of Rebellion has ended.

The Three Nations Alliance survives, though wounded. The Fourth Age begins.

The Age of Humanity has ended.

The Eight Empires have formed. The Three Nations Alliance survives, though fractured. The Fifth Age begins.

Title gained: [In your name, I give!]

Title gained: [Of another time]

Title gained: [Forgotten]

Class transmutation earned: [Forgotten Queen]

Level up! Forgotten Queen has reached level 1.

Class initializing…

Title [Royal Arcana] activated.

Class [Forgotten Queen] cannot be raised.

Royal Skill granted: [Magic of Worlds]

Title [Royal Arcana] transmuted to Bloodline: Royal Arcana (Tier 9)

Welcome to the Age of Empires, Forgotten Queen Wichita.