The rainbow light lit up the dark, gold-tinged waterway.

Of course, it also laid bare the Magic Eye’s fear.

Only a few days ago, when it possessed Poseidon, that silver-haired Dragon Queen had nearly scorched its soul to ashes with this very technique—and the shadow of that memory was still fresh.

Blood vessels spread across the Magic Eye’s sclera. The whole eyeball trembled.

“I thought a move this insanely specialized would only be known by one or two people in this world,” it rasped. “So why does it feel like everyone and their mother can use it…?”

“Primal magic really isn’t something many people can use,” Noa said through clenitted teeth.

The Magic Eye nearly broke down. “You lunatic! And you call that ‘lucky’?!”

Noa shrugged.

“Of course it’s lucky. Not only did you keep running into people who can use primal magic,” she said, “this time you ran into me.”

The Magic Eye’s tendrils wriggled, hesitant. “You…?”

Noa clearly had no interest in wasting more words. She raised the seven-colored glow in her hand and spoke slowly.

“I am the origin of primal magic—the apex that surpasses miracle-level authority. Now I’m giving you two choices.
First: get out.
Second: I beat you half to death, then you get out.”

The Magic Eye sank lower, voice cold.

“In this time-arena duel, I can exert more power than I can outside. Don’t think you can scare me off with a few lines. This body is mine.”

It sprang in place.

The tendrils beneath the eyeball instantly extended and thickened into heavy whips.

Seeing that it not only refused to behave, but was actually trying to counterattack, Noa let out a short, contemptuous snort.

“Then I’ve got no choice. And honestly, your resistance is exactly what I wanted—my joints have been stiff for a long time.”

The moment the words fell, Noa snapped her wrist and hurled the Soul Judgment.

At the same time, the hundred seven-colored orbs behind her all shot forward.

Primal Magic · Soul Judgment · Hundredfold Chain

The rainbow fell like a downpour around the Magic Eye and its tendrils.

Anywhere the seven-colored flames latched on flared with scorching heat—followed by pain like the soul itself was being burned alive.

The blood vessels in the Magic Eye’s sclera swelled and spread even further from the agony, turning it hideously feral.

Gritting through the pain, it swung its tendrils—forcing its way through the relentless wash of Soul Judgment—and lashed at Noa.

But Noa didn’t dodge.

She simply folded her arms and watched it come.

“Hm. Interesting. Just like you said—inside the consciousness space, your strength is boosted. But…”

Noa lifted one hand lightly.

“It doesn’t matter.”

A pale-gold protective barrier bloomed around her in an instant, sealing her entire body inside it.

The Magic Eye’s tendrils followed immediately—only to be met, the moment they touched the golden barrier, by a piercing burn that tore through every nerve it had.

And when it tried to yank back and retreat, it realized its tendrils had been pinned tight against the barrier as if nailed there.

“Damn it… what kind of disgusting move is this?! If that’s how it is...”

The Magic Eye condensed energy inside its eyeball.

In the next breath, several beams of eerie green light blasted out at near point-blank range and slammed into Noa’s golden barrier.

Void Annihilation Evil Light!

Back when Athos invaded, he had used this single move to wipe out nearly half the Silver Dragon soldiers on a battlefield in an instant.

Even Leon and Kaizer, back then, wouldn’t have dared take it to the face at zero distance.

Yet the Magic Eye’s first sustained barrage lasted more than ten seconds…

…and still, not even the faintest crack appeared on the golden barrier.

“…Pathetic,” Noa said, her voice flat.

She flicked her wrist.

The golden barrier began unfolding in reverse—rolling outward, then flipping over until it wrapped the Magic Eye inside.

“T-This… what is this?! Let me out!”

It struggled violently, but its tendrils were still pinned to the inner wall, and it couldn’t move at all.

Primal Magic · Gilded Holy Shield!

“That last one seemed to be your favorite trick,” Noa said softly. “So let’s make you taste it yourself.”

“W-What…?”

In the next instant, countless dark-purple beams erupted along the inside of the shield.

They ricocheted again and again within the confined space.

No matter how frantically the Magic Eye tried to dodge, there was nowhere to go in a space this tight—not against a barrage this dense.

Primal Magic · Prism Echo!

Any attack could be temporarily recorded in a prism medium formed by primal magic, then returned at equal level.

“Gah—! You damned woman!!! I’m going to kill you!!!”

The Magic Eye screamed, trying to shatter the shield by force.

Noa didn’t look surprised.

She only took a small step back.

After ripping itself free of the shield, the Magic Eye whipped every tendril it had around Noa, binding her from head to toe, then tightened and at the same time fired an even larger, even more terrifying volley of annihilation light from its eye.

“Die! Die!! DIE!!!”

This time there was no Gilded Holy Shield protecting her.

Several beams of annihilation light struck Noa at extremely close range, dead on.

The Magic Eye was absolutely certain this was enough to kill that lunatic.

But when the beams ended, Noa’s figure was gone from within its tendrils.

“Heh… heh… HAHAHAHAHA!”

Its crazed, rasping laughter echoed through the waterway.

“So much for the ‘apex beyond miracle authority’—you’re nothing but ash blown apart by me!”

But as the echo faded, a measured clapping sounded from not far away.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

“Wow,” a calm voice drawled. “That was amazing. Want me to praise you?”

The Magic Eye froze and snapped its gaze toward the sound.

What it saw was something it had never witnessed before—so shocking it couldn’t even react.

“How… how is this possible…? You should be dead! How are you still alive?!”

Noa stood there with one arm folded, her head tilted slightly to the side, hair falling in a soft curtain along her shoulder.

At the center of her chest, a cluster of white flame danced and pulsed.

Primal Magic · Heartflame · Eternal Soul

Heartflame could keep the caster from dying as long as they still held the will to fight and the will to live.

Kaizer had once used this to survive an attack from Shadow Palace with his life intact.

And the advanced form *Eternal Soul*

allowed the caster’s soul to endure even after a devastating strike, even if the body was destroyed.

Conveniently, Noa was currently in a state with no body at all—only soul.

When she sealed her soul into the statue within the far-northern ruins, the method she used had been this very technique: Eternal Soul.

Inside the cage, Noa stayed silent, watching the “auntie” shine with light.

The primal magic came out one after another—flashy, absurd, like it cost her nothing at all.

To be fair, the old auntie really hadn’t had a chance to stretch her legs in a long time.

Now that she’d finally found a fairly “accurate” little runt to bully, enjoying herself a bit was only natural.

This clearly wasn’t Noa’s consciousness doing the talking—Noa didn’t have time to let the auntie mess around.

So Noa cast a quick urging spell and snapped:

“Hey! You don’t want me ending up a vegetable, do you? Hurry up and drive that dead eyeball out of my head!”

Noa shrugged.

“Fine.”

Then she turned her gaze to the Magic Eye, which was now completely stunned.

“Game time’s over. If you don’t get out right now, I’m going to initiate Judgment.”

So that meant a hundredfold chain of Soul Judgment, a shield with control and burn, a perfect counter that reflects any attack, and a soul-level, busted, immortal passive—was still not her being serious?

The Magic Eye was genuinely terrified this time.

It was certain that if it stayed here, the woman in front of it had a thousand ways to torture it.

“Y-You just wait!”

With that, the Magic Eye’s consciousness vanished from Noa’s sight.

The layer of “signatures” trapping the workaholic’s mind released at the same moment.

That icy, numb sensation ebbed away.

The seven-colored glow faded from the auntie’s hands.

She stepped up to Noa, crouched, and asked in a low voice:

“How do you feel? You okay?”

Noa shook her head. “I’m fine. I need to go protect Helena and the others.”

“Good. Be careful.”

“Yeah.”

Noa answered and immediately withdrew from the consciousness space.

Back in the real world, she heard Helena and Yuna calling her name.

Noa jolted upright in Helena’s arms.

“N-Noa?! You’re awake? Are you okay?” Helena asked in a panic.

“I’m fine,” Noa said. “Where’s the Magic Eye?”

Helena shook her head.

“I only know it crawled out of your sleeve and, in the blink of an eye, ran into that grass. I didn’t dare chase it—I was afraid it would latch onto me too. I’m sorry, Noa…”

Noa finally relaxed. She smiled faintly.

“What are you apologizing for? As long as you’re safe, that’s all that matters.”

Helena helped Noa up.

Together with Yuna and Vivian, they walked toward the injured students in the clearing not far away.

“You were incredible, Noa...”

“Well done, {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} kid. You saved everyone.”

“Thank you, Noa. Seriously.”

…

They supported each other, arms hooked and shoulders pressed together.

No one held back their gratitude and praise.

Except for one person.

Far behind the crowd, he stared through the gaps at the girl everyone admired.

Jealousy and bitterness roasted his heart like fire.

Tucker clenched his fist so hard his teeth clicked.

…

In the grass farther off, the Magic Eye watched everything in secret.

“I smell something strong… that’s...”

Its gaze finally settled on Tucker, standing away from the group.

“Jealousy,” it chuckled. “Looks like this one could be a backup option later. But for now… I need to find the body that fits me best.”

It slipped back into the grass and vanished without a trace.