>BZZZZTTTTTTT<

I touched the darkness of the spatial expanse above me and felt an electric charge sizzle on my hand.

It did no damage, but I could feel the resonance and equal dissonance I had with the gateway.

‘Interesting…’ I smiled.

I had to admit, even though the Magic in this world wasn’t very advanced, the inventions often astounded me.

‘To think they built a device that could pierce through dimensions. How amazing.’

This portal led to another world—one that was rife with Miasma.

‘They actually crossed from.one.branch to another without an Arcana. That’s amazing. Just how many variables did they have to consider to get this sort of result? And the energy output too…’

Before the portal became self-sustaining, a substantial amount of energy had to be used to pry the doors open.

It was beyond fascinating.

However, there was one more factor that made it all the more spectacular.

It was the wavelength.

‘When I first arrived in this place, my energy wavelength differed. As a result, I wasn’t properly able to harness my Mana and Miasma.’

Other than trying to resort to Aether, I was stuck since my Mana would rapidly evaporate into the air as a result of its lack of sync with the frequency of this world.

‘It’s also why I thought Dark Energy was Nether. How else would they be able to harness an energy that didn’t belong in this world, to begin with?’

However, it turned out I was wrong on all ends.

The Miasma that proceeded out of this portal was in perfect sync with this world’s frequency. It was amazing, just looking at the thing.

Whoever invented this thing was a genius comparable to people like Ana and even me. And that was even more amazing when considering the kind of reality this was.

‘They managed to stabilize an unstable event-horizon without the use of an Arcana. They also tweaked the frequency of Miasma so it could freely operate in this reality. This device, while clunky and in need of a lot of upgrades, works too well.’

If I applied this to my world, wouldn’t it be possible for us to harness the energy of other realities? To create diversity and special effects?

Not everyone could use Aether, but wasn’t it possible that there existed other kinds of energy out there that would end up being just right for them?

Besides, the very fact that it would advance Magic made things very exciting for me.

‘They’re most likely going to ask how they can repay me for my kindness. I’ll ask for this device.

‘I want to study it more.’ A smiled formed on my face. ‘But just in case they don’t…’

I looked beneath me and saw all my fallen Golems and Automatons.

“You guys can stop acting now. I need you to do something for me, Gawain.”

The moment I said this, the multitude of constructs who were supposedly taken down by Merlin’s wave of Miasma, whirred back to life.

‘I made them pretend to make things go more smoothly…’

I could feel my Familiars complain within me, telling how they would have liked a piece of the action too, but what could I do?

‘Kahn was the only one I used in the final fight. Sucks for them…’ I nearly gave a wry smile.

After learning of the wavelength of this world, I applied it to Kahn as a test. It was also one of the reasons why I let him fight.

It turned out he was able to use Miasma without any real restriction, thus replicating the effect this device had on the otherworldly Miasma that currently poured into this world.

‘Alright, Jared. Enough talking. Let’s shut this thing down.’ I smiled, using my Original Magic to summon the right Arcana Spells for his.

“[The Tower]. [The Chariot].”

I used the former on the portal, while utilizing the latter on the device.

>WHUUUUUSSSSSHHHHHHH<

Bright bursts of energy erupted from me as I utilized my Aether to affect the swirling pool on the sky, shutting it down within moments.

As for the device, I was able to easily disassemble it with [The Chariot].

Thanks to that, I was able to get its fine blueprint, so I suppose everything worked out perfectly well.

In very little time at all, the plan that must have taken them so long to execute, was taken apart.

*

*

*

After I was done with the portal, I descended from my high estate and made my way to the crater where Jared and Jane helplessly lay.

Both of them seemed as lifeless and hopeless as one would expect after a loss.

They also looked broken.

‘Guess they suit each other more than I thought. Argh, what am I thinking!’

I approached Jared, my gaze as calm as it could possibly get.

“What are you going to do now?” He asked, barely even staring at me.

His eyes were on the bright and clear sky above him.

With the darkness evaporated, there were barely any more vestiges of Miasma around.

The only one left… was him.

“After ridding you of your Miasma, I’ll hand you over to Neron and the Outers. You’ll face justice and pay for your crimes.”

“Is that… so…?” His voice trailed.

It seemed he already knew what was coming to him. Still, he didn’t seem to care.

Was he that much broken?

‘It’s out of my hands now.’ I thought to myself.

“H-how…? How did you become so strong?” He suddenly asked me.

One could only imagine the kind of surprised expression I leaked out when I heard his question.

‘Oh?’

His face completely stoic, but his eyes… they still showed that yearning from earlier.

Even with no hope in sight, it seemed Magic was all he could think about.

“I had help. My friends, my family, my teacher… and even my enemies. Everyone made me this strong. The most recent is the Outgroup, and even you. You’ve all made me far stronger than I was before arriving here.”

Thanks to the nature of my Original Magic, I was pretty much always learning.

“I-I see…” Jared whispered. “Must be nice.”

I nodded, looking up at the sky too.

“You’re right. It is.”

*

*

*

[A/N]

How do you guys feel about how it ended? Did you want Evil Jared to suffer more or something?