The celebratory feast was relatively enjoyable. During it, Lina shared everything that happened after Aoko was devoured by the darkness of the Giga Slave.
Essentially, after Aoko disappeared, Shabranigdo was also defeated, with its body turning to dust and vanishing. However, the sealing tower they were in was almost completely destroyed by the Giga Slave, forcing Lina and the others to use flight magic to quickly escape.
Because Lina and Gourry were worried about Aoko's condition, they insisted on staying near the ruins of the sealing tower for a while. Fortunately, Aoko indeed returned to the real world from the darkness and chaos.
"How long did you wait?" Aoko asked curiously.
"About half an hour," Zelgadiss replied after thinking for a moment. "Counting from the time you disappeared."
"To be honest, I lost all sense of time while I was in there," Aoko said. "It felt like an eternity, yet at the same time, just an instant."
"In there?" Lina asked curiously. "Do you mean the chaos? I read in a magical text that before the world was created, everything was in a sea of chaos…"
"Well, in my world, there's a concept," Aoko said after thinking for a moment. "All things have an initial prime mover. That place is called the Swirl of the Root."
Aoko then explained her understanding of the Root and the detailed theories from her world concerning it. As she spoke, Lina, Zelgadiss, and Zolf paid close attention, given their magical expertise, while Gourry unsurprisingly fell asleep.
"So, what did you gain from being in the Swirl of the Root this time?" Lina asked curiously. "In your world, you mentioned entering the Swirl of the Root to acquire a unique magic. What about this time?"
"Well, how should I put it," Aoko said after thinking for a moment. "I gained authority. That is, the authority to use my unique magic in your world, which I previously couldn't use because it's an alternate universe."
"Also, the Swirl of the Root here is different from the one I entered before," Aoko continued. "In this world's Swirl of the Root, I sensed a great will."
"Could it be the Lord of Nightmares?" Lina murmured. "Borrowed power could potentially lead people to chaos and into the Swirl of the Root. So their power is their will…"
She seemed to have entered a state of deep thought. The others didn't disturb her, as it looked like this genius sorceress might be on the verge of another breakthrough in her magical studies.
As the feast neared its end, Aoko shared her farewell.
"Although it's a bit unexpected," Lina said with a smile, "I had a feeling you'd say this when I saw you return."
"Meeting all of you has made me happy," Aoko said. "How do I explain this… It's a bit complicated, but the Lord of Nightmares seems to think that my magic might pose some danger in this world, so they've suggested that I leave for a while."
"Huh? Is that so?" Lina said absentmindedly. "Well, the Giga Slave is also pretty dangerous… I mean, if handled improperly, it could destroy the world."
"This isn't quite the same kind of danger," Aoko said after thinking for a moment. "No matter how powerful the Giga Slave is, it's still under the control of the Lord of Nightmares. But my magic might be a different issue."
"That kind of magic wasn't supposed to be usable here, but the Lord of Nightmares and I made a deal," Aoko explained. "They restored my magic's usability, allowing me to return to my world safely. In exchange, I need to leave this world and can only return when they permit it."
"I see," Lina said. "I don't fully understand, but does that mean you might come back someday?"
"Exactly," Aoko replied. "And for you, it might feel like I've returned tomorrow since interdimensional travel involves crossing time dimensions."
"That's something to look forward to," Lina said.
"Oh, by the way, Zelgadiss," Aoko said after a moment of thought, "my magic can restore you to your human form from before you became a chimera. You'd have to give up your current magical power, though. Would you like to return to being human?"
"What?!" Zelgadiss slapped the table with both hands and stood up abruptly. "Are you… serious?!"
"Of course," Aoko replied. "Before I leave, I can use that magic once to restore you to being human. It's a sort of allowance the Lord of Nightmares gave me, though the principle might not be what you imagine."
"What do you mean?" Zelgadiss asked suspiciously. "What… no, what would you want in return?"
"Knowledge of spirit magic," Aoko said. "I'm very interested in magic that relies on mental power, so just teach me the spirit magic you know."
"No problem!" Zelgadiss said. "I learned all those spells from Rezo's magical tomes. I can give those books to you."
"Sounds like a good deal," Aoko said with a bright smile. "I'll explain the principles of the magic to you carefully."
She then raised her finger and drew a line in the air, producing a glowing blue line of light.
"You can think of this as time," Aoko explained. "This side represents the past, and that side represents the future."
"My magic can take the moment you were transformed into a chimera by Rezo," Aoko continued, gesturing to the past and snipping off a tiny segment of the blue line, "and throw it into the infinitely distant future."
She flung the segment of the line representing Zelgadiss's transformation into the future, making it vanish into thin air.
"You can do something like this…" Not just Zelgadiss, but also Lina and Zolf were astonished. To them, this power was akin to divine authority.
"In my world, I'm one of only True Five magic users!" Aoko said confidently. "In terms of status, I'd be equivalent to the Five Great Sages of your world."
...
Two days later, under a star-filled sky in a remote wilderness, the five members of the party gathered again.
Zelgadiss handed over his magical tomes to Aoko, and Lina also gave her old magical notes, hoping they might still be usable in Aoko's world.
"Are you ready?" Aoko asked, looking at the somewhat tense Zelgadiss.
"Bring it on!" Zelgadiss said, clenching his fists and tensing his muscles. "I'm ready!"
Everyone, including Gourry, was a bit nervous. After all, they had been through so much together and understood the kind of person Zelgadiss was and the hardships he had endured.
Aoko closed her eyes. When she reopened them, a faint blue light shone within her pupils, and her crimson hair began to float, glowing brilliantly in the dark night.
"I declare: By the authority of Order (Blue), all shall return to their rightful state. Order (Fifth), collapse here—Timeless Words!"
A massive blue circular magic array rapidly expanded around Aoko, radiating immense pressure. It wasn't the despair they felt when facing Shabranigdo, but something entirely different.
At that moment, Aoko felt like a storm, a tsunami, or the infinite darkness of the cosmos. It was an overwhelming sense of insignificance in the presence of a natural disaster.
The majesty of the Fifth Magic from her world was unveiled for the first time outside her universe.
Lina and the others were shocked to see even the stars in the sky revolving around Aoko. At that moment, she seemed to become the center of the universe.
The scenery around them shifted rapidly—day and night alternated, the seasons changed, and plants grew, withered, and sprouted anew. To the onlookers, it felt like they had lived through countless years in mere moments.
When they regained their senses, the wilderness around them had blossomed into a sea of blue and white flowers, leaving everyone speechless.
"Master Zelgadiss! Your body…!" Zolf's voice trembled slightly as he noticed Zelgadiss's skin had become soft and human-like, and even his hair had lost its metallic sheen.
He had returned to being fully human.
Zelgadiss clenched his fists, trembling as he knelt down, burying his face in the flowers and weeping uncontrollably.
"Congratulations, Zelgadiss!" Gourry said, patting him on the back. "Now that you're human again, you'd better treat us to a meal to celebrate!"
Lina was also happy for him, but as a sorceress, she was deeply intrigued by Aoko's magic and wanted to learn more about it.
But when Lina turned to look where Aoko had been standing, she found that she was already gone.
The magician Aoko Aozaki had left this otherworld. Or rather, she had been forcibly ejected by the Lord of Nightmares as a result of using her Fifth Magic in this world.
Aoko had more or less anticipated this outcome. She thought this dramatic farewell suited her better than a long-drawn-out goodbye.
Though she had only stayed in this world for less than a month, Aoko felt she had gained a lot.
She had met friends she might never see again and learned magic she wasn't sure would work back on Typemoon-Earth. This brief but eventful time left her feeling deeply fulfilled.