—A While Ago Within Akasha—
"Sir… Hugo…?"
"Yes. It is I," the old man, Hugo replied with a calm voice to the distraught Emilia.
"H-How…? You're—"
"Your eyes do not deceive you," Hugo began, interrupting Emilia in her words. "It is I, Hugo Hendrickson, the late former dean of Therion Academy and Master Magus. But it is also a fact that I've also lost my life. What you see in front of you is merely a replica. A mere remnant of my original living self residing within Akasha."
"…" Emilia was left completely speechless.
"You must have quite a few questions for me. I will try to answer to the best of my abilities."
"Th-then…" Emilia hesitated before finally voicing the one thought that made her reconsider.
Silence reigned as Hugo waited patiently for Emilia's question, the girl's mind racing with the recent events.
"Then tell me. What is Ace trying to achieve right now? Where do I find Ace? And finally, how do I stop him?"
Emilia's expression had a determined, hardened quality to it.
"…" Hugo remained silent for a while before answering, taking Emilia's expression into his sight.
"…What young Ace is trying to accomplish is a plan I conceived while still alive. I suppose I should explain the circumstances much more clearly for you to understand the current events and circumstances."
And henceforth, Hugo started explaining his plan in detail from the very top to the deepest depth. From the information he possessed about Akasha's true nature, the red-eyed, Nameless enemy he was trying to deter, the incoming Cataclysm that could still be avoided, and his and Ace's role in the plan he had conjured after everything.
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"That is what I had planned. And no doubt that that young lad is pursuing the same," Hugo finally ended his explanation.
"All this time that was it? That was the truth?" Emilia asked in disbelief.
"Yes. I have verified it numerous times, and considering all Realizers existing within Elderngard, this ability to browse and obtain future information through Akasha, the Clairvoyance as I refer to it, is one only I possess," Hugo added.
"Though I cannot accurately determine the credibility of the information I acquire, I do manage to glimpse into fragments of it. You could call it a replay of different possible iterations that can occur depending on the butterfly effect of individual choices. My theory is that this ability can only be obtained by a Realizer with all magical attributes."
"How long have you known all this? And how…?" Emilia's words hung in the air.
"Through Akasha. What I bestowed on Young Ace is a spell that will temporarily allow him to manipulate Akasha to produce a desired outcome, such as rewriting or altering our current reality.
But for that his mind must possess enough Interference Power or Mana as most would call it to connect with the vast cluster that is Akasha at the risk of destroying his own self. That is what I simply wished to transmit this to you, young lady."
'So the enemy Ace is after…' realization hit Emilia more and more at the implications. 'That's why Ace said that he'd resolve my own revenge.'
Emilia immediately gritted her teeth in frustrated anger.
'I hate it! All of it! I hate all of it! The dean's plan! Ace's actions! And that monster!' her fist clenched hard against her sides as numerous thoughts flashed through her. 'If that's how it is, then…'
The horrors from her childhood, the sacrifices she made, the pain she had experienced till now, the feelings she had tried to manage, Emilia had finally had enough. There was no more holding back.
'…I'll also do as I want.'
"How do I go back to the outside?" Emilia asked, voice low with untold rage and calm as freezing blue aura of mana started emanating from her body.
"You simply have to will it," Hugo replied immediately.
"I see. Then I wish you a good eternal rest, sir."
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—Back at The Academy Ruins—
"Do you truly need great ambitions or inherent goals to act on one's desire?" Lilith asked, gaining the blank attention of Ace.
"Think about it, Ace? All my actions till this day, do you truly believe they were dictated by any sort of philosophical stance of mine? A particular sense of justice? An unmovable worldview perhaps?! NO! THEY WERE NOT!"
The manic grin on Lilith's face didn't dissipate, in fact it simply became more wicked and ecstatic.
"The experimental endeavor I contributed in several years ago, the same one dear Emilia was involved in, was not aimed at forcing early mana awakening as the scientist back then theorized. Oh no. My goal was to produce an elixir that would help a vessel of my own creation resist the breakdown process that comes with me possessing them," Lilith continued, adding more info to what Ace was unaware of.
"You see, these vessels I use, Philip Wellberg, Maria Williams, they are far too fragile. If I push their ability beyond a certain threshold their bodies and mind become crippled, hence I'm always careful of the Interference Power I exert. A mixture of powdered chemical agents and monster blood, that is what Ravensblood Elixir was. Have you never wondered why in average, Realizers only awaken at the age of 12 or higher? That is because below that, their mind would breakdown from the intake of information that flows into every Realizers from Akasha."
"A powerful resistant vessel was the most important ingredient for my desire to completely break the boundary separating Akasha and Reality. That is what I desire the most! Just imagine it, Ace! The Cataclysm fractured the reality that is Elderngard, and the resulting product was a world of supernatural people, man-threatening monsters, and irregularities such as you and I! What would happen if the fracture was completed?! What world would result from it?! That is my one and only desire! That is the only thing I want! And I'm willing to sacrifice whatever it takes to achieve and see it through!"
Ace hearing the delirious and excited frenzy of Lilith couldn't help but harbor a single thought. Something about Lilith seemed familiar to him. Something he could recognize in himself.
'She's… That thing… is just like me…'