Well, here it is, the last chapter. Discoveries are made, twists are plotted, actions is packed. I hope you all enjoy it as much as you have the rest of the story. Whether you did or didn't, feel free to let me know your thoughts. I'd love to know what you thought worked or didn't work, so I can do or not do similar things in future stories.

Chapter 7: Out Of The Shadows

Negi stood up, though he was badly beaten, to confront his old rival. Knowing that the fight was about to become substantially more violent than it already had been, he decided to make one last request and hope his old friend would hear him out.

"Kotaro, I don't know why you've suddenly become so vengeful towards me, but please, spare Nodoka. She hasn't done anything to you. Before we start again, before we finish this, let her go. No one else needs to get hurt."

The half-demon grinned without a hint of joy and glanced sideways at his partner.

"Legion, I do believe that he's asking us for some leniency on behalf of his family. What do y'all say to that, eh?"

For the first time since the battle had begun, Legion's insane smile disappeared, and his face was overcome with absolute fury. Shaking with emotion, he once again separated into a small army of shadow clones, crying out, "You killed my MOTHER, you son of a bitch!"

At the same time, Kotaro summoned his own pack of shadow wolves, and the dark figures stormed Negi with such ferocity he could barely defend himself, much less prepare for Kotaro's own assault. Using the shadow figures as cover, he sporadically ran by Negi to deliver a single vicious blow before running away back into the storm of claws and teeth and fists. As he charged around Negi, he mocked him after every hit.

"Man, I just realized, you still have no way of knowing who that boy is, do you? Kaede, Chisame, Satsuki, Anya, Takane, Mei…you killed so many young women on that one day alone, not to mention the men. But from how hard you're fighting, I can see you still think you're in the right. How on earth do you justify still calling yourself a good guy? How can you honestly believe that you don't deserve to be beaten into a pulp right here and now?"

After being simultaneously pummeled and taunted for some time, Negi felt a build up of dark energy behind him, and he turned just in time to see Kotaro's gun-arm pointed at his face.

"Bye."

Kotaro fired, and a massive explosion of dark energy slammed him and Legion into the walls of the room. Floor tiles flew up from the resulting crater, and debris rained down from the ceiling. In the wake of the blast, dust and residual energy flew everywhere. Legion turned on Kotaro with the look of an enraged beast of prey, though Kotaro was still grinning humorlessly.

"How could you! He was supposed to be mine! And you've blown him up! I'll kill you for that a hundred times over, you..."

"Relax, whacko," the wolf-demon responded, coughing blood into his hand, "I didn't make that explosion."

Legion whirled around, and saw Negi emerge from the rubble. His skin had turned completely black now, and he was surrounded by a dark aura so dense that his eyes and hair were his only recognizable features.

"You unbelievable idiots. You're abilities are infinitesimal compared to what I am capable of. Legion, you think just because you figured out some unique possibilities within the Magica Erebea you have what it takes to best me?"

He fired a blast of pure black magic directly at the teenager, sending him into the wall with such force it caused a shallow crater.

"Well, while you were toying around with the technique, you know what I was doing? I was getting better at what I already knew."

In the blink of an eye, Negi was standing over him even as he was struggling to stand, and the dark sorcerer kicked him with such force he was sent spinning across the floor.

"And you, old friend…"

He split himself into four body doubles and, by using their still incredible speed, created a small army of afterimages while running around the target, taking occasional potshots that sent Kotaro bouncing around from one attacker to the other.

"You could never hold a candle to me. I was always the strongest, and I always will be. Not because I have more drive, or more dedication, but just because I'm simply better than you in every possible way."

He returned to a single form, and sent Kotaro flying with a final elbow strike. As he walked over to him with the intent of finishing him for good, Negi laughed out loud.

"What on earth made you think either of you could possibly defeat me?"

Kotaro vomited, and then looked straight into Negi's eyes. He replied with a voice so weak it could've been a whisper.

"Not…us. Her."

Negi turned to look at Nodoka, who was looking back at him from behind a magic shield she'd managed to erect for herself sometime during the battle.

"Trying to read…Legion…was like…reading a hundred pages…at the same time. Couldn't handle…blew open her mind to all the thoughts in the room…So she's about to know…about you…and…Makie."

Even if she couldn't have seen his thoughts laid out before her, the shudder that ran through him would've told her that what she'd seen Kotaro think was true. Negi had been cheating on her with Makie since the very day of their wedding. The only reason that he'd married her was because he needed to make sure she never used her artifact against him. And the best way he knew to do that without killing her was to marry her, binding her with a trust he knew she'd never betray. Unless, as Kotaro had apparently figured out, she couldn't help it. But even with this sleight, Nodoka might not have had the will necessary to challenge her unfaithful husband, except that when she looked at his face and his mind she didn't see guilt or shame or even desire for forgiveness. She saw only fear. And that turned every bit of passion she'd had for him into hatred so strong she had to unleash it on him or she felt she'd explode out of raw fury and anguish.

"Sagitta Magica! Consecutive bursts, One-Hundred and Fifty-One Arrows of Light!"

"Sagitta Magica! Consecutive bursts, Two-Hundred and Seventy-Seven Arrows of Darkness!"

The magical blasts collided with each other, and Negi's extra shots burst on Nodoka's shield, proving to be just enough to destroy it. With it gone, Negi rushed at her, hoping to knock her unconscious before their battle got out of hand. Although, his thoughts were still being broadcast before her eyes, it still took a huge effort for her to avoid his supremely agile strikes. Still, she was able to concentrate and use the telepathy that was granted them due to being advanced pactio partners to ask him the last thing she needed to know.

"Did you ever really love me?"

Negi responded, his thoughts tainted with a cold darkness.

"The only girl I ever loved was killed years ago."

Inwardly, Nodoka screamed in frustration and despair. But she knew she had to use her physical strength to take more important action. While dodging, she panted out another spell, using the last of her stamina.

"Unus Fulgor Concidens Noctem, In Mea Manu Ens Inimicum Edat! Fulguratio Albicans!"

Even with his enhanced powers, the force of the lightening bolt conjured from the spell was too much for Negi to withstand, and the jolt sent him reeling backwards. Knowing this would be her only chance to ensure his defeat, she summoned as many magic arrows as she could before passing out. They struck him before he fell, juggling him in mid-air, and even as he hit the ground dark arrows rained down on him, signaling Legion's final efforts before collapsing as well. However, even after the barrage, Negi was not finished. Rising slowly and weakly, but rising nonetheless, he drew himself up to his full height and faced Kotaro, the only one of his opponents still standing.

"What was it all for, Kotaro? What brought you to hate me as much as the others?"

Kotaro trudged forward, gathering dark energy in place of his missing arm for a final attack.

"It's not because you enslaved the world. It's not because of the people you killed, or the lies you told, or the hearts you broke. It's not because you were always better than me, in one sense or another. It's not because I think what you did was truly so evil. It's not even because you exiled me for ten rotten years. So you tell me, what's it all for?"

Realization dawned on Negi, and the absurdity of it made him want to break down and cry. It was that second's distraction that allowed Kotaro to get close enough to fire a fatal shot, though he lacked the energy to fully form his weapon and ended up partially blowing himself up to execute his last attack. As Negi fell, a gaping wound leaking blood from his chest, he whispered, "All that, because of a single arm?!"

"It was my arm, you bastard!"

Negi chuckled. Somehow, the insanity didn't seem as sorrowful now that it didn't matter so much.

"Tell me, then, just how did you do it? You couldn't have planned the whole thing yourself. And no one could've known the things you knew…"

"Oh, I wouldn't say no one. Think about it: who better to know you and you minion's every move than someone who'd seen them all made? Chao wasn't the only bitch from the future with a time machine, you know."

Negi's eyes widened. He hadn't been expecting that.

"All along, there was one person working under you who had never agreed with your brave new world. But unlike the rest of us idiots, who had decided to openly defy you, she decided to fake a smile and put up with you until she got a clear shot to take you down. And, years later, Kazumi did."

"Impossible. If she had actually gained access to time travel, why not just jump back and stop me at the very beginning, instead of sending you?"

"Because, much as some might hate to admit it, you did make the world a better place. And you know she'd always wanted magic to be introduced to the normal world. But she knew that the whole world couldn't answer to just one man forever. With you out of the way, the first steps toward a true, cooperative utopia will begin."

"But…that means…"

And, fueled by one last burst of rage, Negi rose to his feet, radiating waves of dark energy in a dying scream.

"SHE LET ASUNA DIE!"

His yell, empowered by dark magic, was the last straw for the throne room. It began to crumble around the beaten fighters, and Kotaro knew that he could only carry one other person and still make it out alive. He also knew there was no question about who to choose. Picking up Nodoka and placing her on his shoulders, he gritted his teeth and charged out of the collapsing throne room. As he ran, he paused only briefly to offer a silent apology to Chisame on behalf of her son. Then, with all the speed he could manage, he left the disintegrating world of darkness behind and sped towards a brighter new one.