Just Die Once First

The root cause began eight years ago, after Sajyou Hiroki failed to reach the Root and passed away.

The Sajyou family was indeed a prominent Magus family, but it was small, with no branch families. After Hiroki's death, only Manaka and Ayaka remained at home. At the time, Manaka was just 14, and Ayaka was only 8.

The head of the family is the backbone of a Magus lineage. Once they fall, for other Magus eager to reduce competition, a family without its head is a rival to be eliminated swiftly, while also seizing their magical legacy.

This is commonplace among Magus.

In theory, after her father's death, as the eldest daughter, Manaka should have become the head of the family. However, she had long abandoned Magecraft years before, and being Omniscient and Omnipotent, she had no interest in anything in this world, so she had no intention of taking the role.

Thus, in reality, Ayaka would have been the one to take over.

But how could Ayaka, only 8 years old at the time, withstand the darkness of the mystic world? Once she became the head, she would surely be tainted by that world.

This was something Manaka didn't want to see.

Ayaka had said before that Manaka was gentle with her, more like a mother than a sister. Though Omniscient and Omnipotent, Manaka had lost interest in everything in the world, maintaining only a superficial zest for life. But for her only remaining sister, she cared deeply.

So, Manaka took her own life.

By sacrificing her body and fusing with Tokyo's entire leyline, she completely forbade anyone but Ayaka from using Magecraft. This way, Magus outside the Sajyou family could no longer function as Magus, forced to leave, and naturally couldn't threaten Ayaka.

Of course, Manaka could have wiped out all the Magus families—she was fully capable. But that would only be a temporary fix. After eliminating one group, others would come. The Mage's Association would send more people upon learning of it, and the Sajyou family would never find peace.

Moreover, she had long lost interest in living; perhaps dying would be more intriguing.

With these reasons piling up, Manaka chose suicide, fulfilling her own desires while removing anyone who might disrupt her sister's happiness. And the facts proved it—over the past eight years, no foreign Magus had come to Tokyo.

Until Naoki's arrival.

"As long as one is involved with Magecraft, like it or not, they'll eventually fall into tragedy. A Magus's end can never be happy." [Manaka] said. "Ayaka, I hope you can live happily forever, so I'll make the Magecraft you hate disappear, so you won't head toward ruin because of it."

Completely erasing Magecraft was impossible. Even with Omniscience and Omnipotence, executing it was nearly unfeasible. The planet had existed for far too long to be easily altered by one person.

If changing the whole was impossible, then change the present.

Create a domain identical to Tokyo, but where Magecraft is entirely forbidden, and keep expanding it until it spreads across the world, ultimately replacing the original.

That way, the future world would have no Magecraft.

"A kind of Reality Marble—something like that, right? Though it's still within the concept of Magecraft, its impact reaches the entire world… Do you always resort to such actions in every world, Manaka?"

"Perhaps. You seem very familiar with what my other self has done." [Manaka] said. "Then you should understand, what I'm doing won't affect you. I only want to make Magecraft disappear. No one will die because of it, and the world won't change because of it."

"The fact that Alaya and Gaia haven't sent Guardians so far shows they permit this action, doesn't it? Eight years have passed."

Indeed, this wasn't a crisis threatening human survival or planetary destruction. From now on, Magecraft would simply be unusable.

Even without Magecraft and the suicidal tendencies of Magus, Alaya and Gaia might rest easier.

"Sister, you… really want to do something like this?"

Ayaka couldn't put her shock into words. Her sister, whom she thought died eight years ago, was planning this, and it was for her sake…

A world completely without Magecraft?

"Sounds beautiful, doesn't it?" Naoki laughed. "Indeed, without Magecraft, many tragedies in the world would decrease, I won't deny that. I can't think of how to refute you either, but on one condition—you answer my next question."

"Go ahead."

"Why did you try to kill me? And what was the point of creating my other self?"

"It was just an experiment." [Manaka] replied. "A small-scale simulation experiment on an individual to ensure the altered world is identical to the original, without the slightest difference. I needed experimental results to validate the theory."

Theory?

What theory?

Naoki frowned, his gaze shifting to his other self, a strong sense of dissonance suddenly rising in his heart.

(Wait a second, didn't she say… 'replace' earlier?)

[You've realized it?]

Manaka's voice sounded.

[Not 'rewrite' as you thought, but 'replace.' Though in terms of outcome, she wasn't lying, she also didn't tell the whole truth.]

Right, she didn't tell everything.

According to [Manaka], she only wanted to change the 'present,' starting from this point in time, using the world she created to replace the original—she didn't say what would happen to the original world.

"Hahaha… So that's it… That's how it is. Indeed, this way, in terms of outcome, no one dies. After all, those people still exist, and though it's a weak justification, it can be said that way."

Naoki couldn't help but hold his face and laugh.

His sudden laughter confused Ayaka again: "Naoki, you… what did you figure out now? Is something wrong with what Sister said?"

"No, nothing's wrong, absolutely nothing. Your sister's words are entirely correct. In the end, it can achieve a world without Magecraft without sacrificing anything."

"—Except everyone in the entire world has to die once first."