126: One Minute!
Lupin's grudge had to be settled by him personally, while Kasenhis was stuck nursing a headache as he recalled the knowledge "Scholar Kasenhis" had shoved into his brain about the so-called Magic Seed.
Honestly, the theory itself wasn't all that hard—basically, it was just an enchanted book that modified the human data structure to include a [Magic] trait.
Simple enough. All Kasenhis had to do was follow the blueprint in his brain and copy it step by step.
The only real challenge was extracting the magic from the enchanted book and distributing it across the entire world.
Scholar Kasenhis had said that his version of this project was completed ten years in the future—so that meant the Magic Seed Kasenhis was making now had to be designed for the global population as it would be in ten years.
Which was… approximately 6.2 billion people.
"I seriously can't believe a lazy bum like me actually pulled this off in the future," Kasenhis muttered as he finished crafting the first version of the enchanted book.
This version of the book only added the [Magic] trait to humans—it was still totally unclear whether people would be able to use that magic.
It was kind of like simulating the birth of a wizard infant. The magic was definitely there, but whether or not the person would be able to wield it? Complete toss-up.
Just like how even in normal wizarding families, a Squib could still be born.
And that could very well be one of the triggers that led to the magical world war in the first place.
"Ugh—what the hell was future me thinking? No preparation, just went all-in like an idiot... Damn it!" Kasenhis grumbled as he painstakingly began stripping the raw magical energy from the book, all while cursing himself out.
Very quickly, a surge of magical energy was completely extracted by Kasenhis and sealed into a jar of elemental essence.
The next step required the power of the Arcane Era—to break this magic down into its most fundamental elemental symbols.
Think of it like this: if raw magic is the number 3, then the Arcane Era would let you split it into 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. From there, it was just a matter of automating the process and letting it churn out 6.2 billion units over time...
Six. Point. Two. Billion.
What a damn joke.
Kasenhis couldn't help but laugh, speechless at the absurdity of it all.
While the deconstruction process from the Arcane Era was running, he took out an Ender Pearl and dropped it into the Enchantment Infuser, charging it at max capacity.
This was a preventative measure in case General Kasenhis tried to teleport in out of nowhere.
Even though he had no clue what powers his ten-years-older self had managed to unlock, theoretically, only a command block or Ender teleportation could allow for long-distance travel like that. And since he'd never placed any markers inside Hogwarts, it was unlikely that even future him could bypass the spatial lock from the Ender Pearl.
Next, he drew his wand. Waves of protective magic poured from its tip, spreading out from the floor to the walls, gradually covering every corner of Hogwarts.
...
In his office, Dumbledore—mid-sip of his milkshake and halfway through the morning paper—also noticed the shift. Without a moment's hesitation, he pulled out the Elder Wand, and in a flood of raw magic, extended his own protection over all of Hogwarts.
As for whether he needed to head toward the source of that original protective surge… well, Dumbledore figured Kasenhis probably had a plan of his own.
There wasn't much point in barging in if it wasn't his scene anyway.
Though that was the professor he'd gone through hell and high water to recruit—there was no way Dumbledore was about to let him fall so easily.
Instinctively, he tried to Apparate out of his office.
But after several seconds, he was still standing there.
His phoenix wasn't faring much better—shuffling and shifting uncomfortably from the sudden suppression of the surrounding space.
"This time… the visitor comes with ill intent," Dumbledore muttered.
He reached under his desk for the broom he kept for emergencies, then lazily soared out the window, rising higher and higher into the sky.
...
Meanwhile, far away in a forgotten corner of the world, General Kasenhis—his timeline already shattered—had lost all sense of self, reduced to one final directive: kill Kasenhis.
At this point, he had truly become an anomaly of time, a puppet of its currents.
Just as he had once used the Timeturner Pocket Watch to twist time, he had escaped the constraints of the timeline… but had also lost its protection.
Now, with only that final, broken thought left in his mind, his eyes snapped open, glowing with a blinding silver light.
He stepped forward once—and in the next instant, he was floating above the Forbidden Forest.
He instinctively glanced up at Dumbledore, who was now soaring above on his broom—but made no move toward him. His target was clear. He flew in a straight line toward the Alchemy Office's glass window.
Dumbledore sighed, clearly not thrilled about what he was seeing. It was the kind of mess he really didn't want to deal with—but he still followed swiftly after, broom cutting through the air.
Ten seconds earlier, Kasenhis had just finished assembling a million-ops-per-second automatic elemental synthesis core using compact building blocks.
He turned toward the window and stared—completely done with life—as another version of himself suddenly appeared outside.
"Ugh… really?" he muttered, pulling out his wand with a resigned look.
Because honestly, current him going up against future him from nine years later?
Yeah… ummm…
There was absolutely no way he could win this fight.
But if he could just buy enough time—just one more minute—until the magic seed fully absorbed the sixty-two billion units of magical energy, then this so-called General Kasenhis would vanish.
The real problem was... how to survive that minute!
General Kasenhis, on the other hand, wasn't bogged down by this kind of inner monologue. He simply drew his wand, and glowing orange magic circles burst into existence both above and beneath him.
Dumbledore let out a long, weary sigh. With a sweep of the Elder Wand, he forcibly yanked every single person outside Hogwarts Castle back into the building using raw magic—and while he was at it, temporarily took away their ability to see light.
No distractions allowed.
Then, with another flick of the wand, two massive golden-red fire dragons erupted from his side, barreling straight toward General Kasenhis.
The searing flames licked over General Kasenhis's body—yet he didn't seem affected in the slightest.
He continued charging up his spell, preparing to unleash something serious.
It wasn't meant to be some grand annihilation. His target was specific: the Alchemy Office. The collateral damage shouldn't reach beyond that. Lives wouldn't be lost… probably.
Back in the Alchemy Office, Kasenhis stared up at the overwhelming, sky-darkening spell formation with a cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
His only prayer now?
That the General up there had drunk a fire resistance potion.
Because in the next instant, he flung a white "milk spell" straight up into the air—smack into General Kasenhis's body.
CRACK!
The moment it hit, Dumbledore's two fire dragons crashed into him, and this time... they landed hard.
The damage?
Massive.
BUT!
At this moment, General Kasenhis no longer possessed the fear that ordinary humans did. He ignored the destruction of his body caused by the flames.
In the next instant, the magic circle completed, and a black laser beam shot down from the sky—just one hit, and Hogwarts' defenses were shattered.
All that was left was one more strike to completely obliterate both the magic seed in the Alchemy Office and Kasenhis himself.
The orange magic circle formed again. With a loud hum, another black laser blasted out.
BOOM!
In an instant, the heavens shook and the earth quaked. Azure-blue flames engulfed the entire Hogwarts, completely blocking the terrifying laser.
Dumbledore stared in surprise at the thin figure now standing atop the Hogwarts castle—he had no idea when the person had even gotten there.
"...Why is he here?"
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P@treon: Dragonel