Earth's Greatest Magus

Chapter 2685: Echo of Tomorrow

"It’s over."

The words struck the battlefield like a decree, and in that instant, all chaos froze.

Emery’s body, moments ago wreathed in surging power, slowly shrank back into his human form. His chest heaved as light and darkness peeled away from him, coalescing into the twin shadows of his soul. For a heartbeat the world seemed unreal, suspended between collapse and eternity.

The air before him rippled. From within the blinding light, a figure stepped forth. At first, only a silhouette against the brilliance—then gradually, a man took shape.

Robes of muted grey trailed in the air like mist. His beard was short and white, his hair silvered like ash, though his face remained strangely obscured, veiled as if reality itself resisted revealing him.

And yet... there became something familiar. Not in appearance alone, but in the resonance of his aura. Majestic. Supreme.

The figure opened his mouth, and at first, the sound became unbearable—a piercing ring, like shards of glass scraping against Emery’s skull. Then, as though layers of distortion peeled away, the words became clear.

"You did it..." The voice carried warmth, tinged with pride.

Emery’s heart pounded.

"Senior... who are you? Why are you helping me?

The figure answered with a heavy sigh.

"Ironic... To hold dominion over time and space... yet to have so little time to stand here." His gaze shifted upward, toward horizons, and then his tone sharpened. "It has begun."

A horn-like wail erupted, reverberating through the fractured realm. The sound was ancient, primeval, shaking the very marrow of the world. Cracks spiderwebbed across the temporal bubble surrounding them, glass-like shards splintering from the edges of frozen reality.

Emery staggered. "What is going on?"

The man’s voice remained steady, though the weight in it was undeniable. "It took immense energy to create this moment, and now it is simply running out... The World Beast awakens—and it is not pleased."

Emery’s surroundings began to unravel. The still world, once frozen, lurched back into motion like a grinding machine restarting. The suspended explosions of cosmic energy began to move again, albeit slowly. Fire swelled and spread. Blades of light tore through the air.

Outside the bubble, Emery’s eyes caught Soltz flying with the wounded Supreme draped across his arms. Kaelyn and Faenor hurling spells against a swarm of serpentine beasts. ṙâℕȰВĚś

But the figure in grey robes seemed untouched. With a calm sweep of his hand, he plucked the loose blasts from the air—vast explosions of elemental fury—and gathered them as though they were no heavier than ripened fruit. Each orb of destruction shrank, pulled together until they formed a single sphere of raging power in his palm. With his other hand, he reached out toward the place where Talaro had fallen.

His fingers curled, twisted—and from the void, a wisp of darkness tore free, writhing like smoke with its own malice.

Emery’s heart clenched. He recognized it instantly.

Khaos’s Death Gate.

The figure’s voice echoed with finality. "This is yours now."

The dark wisp drifted forward, inevitable as fate. It slipped into Emery’s chest, sinking past flesh, past bone, into the very core of his being. A shockwave rippled through him as the energy embedded itself deep within his domain.

Yet his gaze never left the man. His voice cracked with desperation.

"Senior... please explain!"

Even as the words left him, the temporal bubble splintered further. Time accelerated toward collapse. Emery’s allies outside were no longer slow-motion fragments but real, frantic figures, their expressions twisted in confusion as serpents closed in around them.

However, Emery’s divine sense picks up an even more immediate danger. From the depths below, something vast stirred, an overwhelming presence stirring beneath the world; something was about to explode.

The mysterious figure’s voice dropped to a whisper. "...This realm is breaking apart."

He swiftly lifted his hand, and intricate runes blazed into existence, weaving themselves into a circle of glowing complexity. Emery’s breath caught as space itself screamed, then tore apart. A rift opened, spilling light and shadows into the collapsing realm. With nothing more than a flick of the man’s finger, the four figures outside—Soltz carrying the wounded Supreme, Kaelyn, and Faenor—were swept up and hurled into the rift as though plucked by an invisible current.

Emery’s eyes widened. "What did you do?!"

The man’s voice was calm, unshaken. "I sent them outside. They are safe."

The reassurance only deepened Emery’s frustration. If this being possessed such power, why had he let things unravel so far? Why summon Morgana and Kronos here? Why let so much destruction unfold if safety had always been an option?

"What do you want? Who are you really?!"

There was a second of silence before the figure drifted closer.

The light shifted, revealing at last his features. Emery froze.

Beyond the wrinkles of age, beyond the short beard and weary brow, the brown irises. Recognition struck him like lightning.

The bond was undeniable.

His throat tightened. "You... you are me."

The man gave a slow nod.

"Yes. I am you.. From a distant future—more than two millennia ahead."

The words hit harder than any blow. A temporal leap spanning thousands of years—there was nothing in the Magus Alliance’s deepest records, no legend, no theory, that spoke of such a feat. It should have been impossible.

His mind reeled. "...How? How is that even possible?"

The elder version of himself shook his head. "That question would take longer to answer than the time we have."

He reached into his sleeve, and a jade medal floated free. It hovered before Emery, its surface carved with runes.

"I came to change the past," he said, his voice heavy. "What you need to know... is written here."

Emery grasped it; disbelief warred with dread inside him.

The elder’s gaze softened. His eyes gave way to something else—grief, weariness, despair. "It’s a lot to process... But the things that happened... the choices I made... I did all I could."

That was when Emery noticed the truth. The man’s supreme aura was flickering. His once-limitless energy sputtered like a candle in a storm. His skin withered, his figure bending under the weight of age in mere moments. Even the air around him seemed to dim.

"...It is your turn now. Your turn to change the future."

Before Emery could speak, the elder raised his hand again. A burst of power flared, and from Emery’s own chest, four figures spilled forth—Morgana, Shinta, and the two boys, Haron and Kingrig. Their eyes were wide, their expressions bewildered.

A faint smile tugged at the old man’s lips. "It has been such a long time..."

His gaze rested on Morgana. For a fleeting second, his eyes softened with something unspoken, some memory too heavy to name.

He spoke to her.

"I can return you through the same temporal tunnel that carried you here. But I know your answer already... you’d rather stay. So I will use the path for these three instead."

He did not wait for her reply. Floating closer to Shinta, he extended one finger and pressed it gently to her forehead. A glow burst forth, encircling her and the two boys. A rift opened, pulling them away. Shinta’s cry reached Emery as the void closed: "Father!"

His hand reached forward, but it was too late. They were gone.

Emery couldn’t do anything to stop it, but deep down he knew the man was doing what was best.

He turned to Emery and Morgana, his voice steady despite the chaos.

"The two of you cannot leave just yet. There is fortune to be gained here... It would be such a waste to miss this chance..."

But before Emery could ask, another piercing wail cut through the realm. The land shook violently, and the fragile temporal bubbles finally shattered completely. Booming echoes roared, shrieking creatures wailed, and the crushing weight of the collapsing realm pressed down on them.

The elder’s hands swept through the air, threads of power binding Emery’s twin souls and Morgana’s essence, pulling them into Emery’s inner domain for protection. Emery’s body convulsed as he snapped back into flesh, lungs searing with breath.

As Emery’s consciousness sank back into his own body, the elder’s figure had already begun to fade, stepping backward into the yawning rift of light. His outline blurred, dissolving. He looked back one final time.

"Where I failed... you will not..."

And with that, he was gone.

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