The Wizard`s name was Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg.
An eccentric madman with many names. The Wizard Marshall. The Great Father. Old Man of the Jewels. Kaleidoscope.
All these titles with his appearance of a raggedy sage obscured the secret he was a time-traveler of this infinite magical multiverse.
It had been time memorial since he first began his long journey as a young human magus who mastered the Second True Magic, the 'Operation of Parallel Worlds', endowing him with the supernatural ability to travel all of space-time throughout every parallel universe. After a certain devastating battle against his arch-enemy, the vampiric Type-Ultimate One known as the Crimson Moon Brunestud, he was regretfully weakened to an elderly vampire himself.
Only this did not stop the ancient Wizard from continuing his journey of becoming an slightly obnoxious yet wise protector of all of creation. At this moment, Zelretch was standing alone on a desolate field of ice on a frozen planet at the edge of the multiverse. "My...what a place this is, eh?" he smirked calmly.
He really should be retired from those forgone days of traveling, only a strange abnormality was happening throughout the multiverse. A mysterious, dark corruption enshrouding all of space-time, slowly degrading Magic itself. An unknown force originating from outside the multiverse. Should this continue, it would be a matter of time before all that is Magic became extinct. Therefore, the Wizard Marshall began investigating this corruption, nicknamed by himself as the 'Mysterious Crisis'.
After quite a long time, he finally tracked down the Mysterious Crisis`s corruption to this icy planet yet nothing was found except for dead winter. What a disappointment... A noise sounded, interrupting Zelretch`s memories. "Who is it?" he called.
No one answered.
"You shouldn`t make an old chap like me look for you, eh?" The Wizard Marshall unsheathed his elegant signature blade: The Jeweled Sword. A ritual-dagger forged from the arcane knowledge of the far future. Only this Mystic Code was special for its capability of the Multi-Dimensional Refraction Phenomenon, where the wielder could draw in a potentially limitless supply of energy from parallel timelines. After all, Zelretch was legendary for his title of being the single greatest Magician in the entire multiverse...
A silence passed.
"Ah...I see you finally have me." a voice whispered calmly. A shadowy being appeared before Zelretch, who blinked despite himself.
The...'thing' was humanoid, appearing to be a tall unidentifiable man covered by a cloud of darkness obscuring everything around himself. A living silhouette.
"Who...are you?" Zelretch glared, abandoning his calm persona.
The being hesitated. "Who am I? Oh...I do not know myself what I should be called. Ah...would the Shadow of Eternity be okay? A good-sounding name for a person like me - "
Zelretch moved spectacularly fast despite his elderly age, aiming a lethal Magecraft spell. The enemy quickly ducked, the spell flashed to create a mushroom-cloud explosion far away. "Oopsies...I missed. My mistake." the Wizard smirked sarcastically. This Shadow had a presence that screamed of malice, like an abnormality that should have never existed in the first place...it would be wise to defeat it without any hesitation. For once, time to be serious.
The Shadow of Eternity sighed before quickly disappearing into thin air. An unexpected kick at lightning-velocity to the back of Zelretch`s head sent him flying. The enemy had appeared to teleport behind for a surprise attack. "I`m afraid you are a little too old for this, Wizard!"
"Dear me...you know my identity?" Zelretch staggered up from the frozen debris, frowning mentally. He did not detect any teleportation magic the Shadow could have used against him...
"I know everyone`s identity in this multiverse." the enemy 'teleported' once more, yet the Wizard countered with a quick stab of the Jeweled Sword. "On your guard, Wizard!"
What happened afterwards was a short majestic battle. Zelretch valiantly launched himself at the Shadow at sound-shattering speeds. Magical blasts rained down from the air as the elderly Wizard assaulted the enemy with all the arcane knowledge he had. The Shadow evaded the attacks gracefully, occasionally teleporting to a safe distance for Zelretch to follow. The landscape of the frozen field they stood on became altered by the sheer shock-waves of the attacks, the combatants only sighted as streaks of light clashing with the other.
Zelretch was at his limit. The Shadow was far more formidable than anticipated, he had not faced an enemy this powerful since defeating the Crimson Moon Brunestud itself an eternity ago... There was only one strategy that remained. With a quick movement, the Wizard back-flipped away to draw a Magic Circle in mid-air before charging up the Jeweled Sword`s limitless energy supply.
"What are you...?" the Shadow halted in bewilderment.
"This is the end for you!" Zelretch growled, unleashing all the magic of Jeweled Sword`s stored energy through the Magic Circle at once. "Ether Cannon!"
A blinding beam of light emerged from blade to cover the remaining landscape, thunder howling skywards as an indescribable explosion materialized from what was basically a Magic-powered super-laser. This was the Ether Cannon, the ultimate Magic attack ever to be created by a living mortal. It was a strike of such devastation, the brilliant shock-wave spread outwards at velocities enough to cover the entire planet.
From the aftermath, the scars of the Ether Cannon could be sighted from the void of outer space.
The battle was indeed over.
Zelretch staggered up.
"What an interesting thing that was ..." He had used the Second Magic to escape at the last moment into another far-away parallel universe. The Shadow of Eternity was certainly dead, a charcoal corpse on the planet`s shattered debris. No teleportation could have saved him the blast of the Ether Cannon.
The Wizard grimaced, almost collapsing onto the ground from exhaustion. He was indeed becoming too old for this...although at least victory was his. "Where am I this time...?" Zelretch scanned around the small forest. "Ah...the lovely village of Glastonbury in Britain! I haven`t been here since the birth of King Arthur herself! Lovely place for a little rest - "
He froze.
Over a distance away, the Shadow of Eternity was calmly watching him, not a single scratch on its dark self. "No...you`re alive!?"" For once in a long time, Zelretch felt fear in his ancient vampire heart. What was this being who could survive a point-blank attack that the Crimson Moon was unable to withstand?
"I would like to continue this, only the one who created me is calling for my return." the Shadow spoke quietly. "You are a splendid warrior, Wizard...only you are not the one I am after."
With this, the Shadow of Eternity disappeared once more.
"The one...who 'created' you...?" the Wizard called after him to no response. Who could have introduced such an abnormality into this magical multiverse? He suddenly remembered something. On the battlefield, he had observed the Shadow had a faint, almost undetectable magical energy radiating from itself. Prana. The type used to sustain -
"The Shadow of Eternity is a Heroic Spirit!" Zelretch finally recognize with dread.
Although he finally understood this strange enemy was the one behind the 'Mysterious Crisis', another question materialized. What Heroic Spirit was the Shadow? Zelretch was knowledgeable about the Throne of Heroes, only no being resembled anything like what he faced earlier. Therefore, he could only conclude the Shadow was an outsider with an alien presence to this multiverse -
"An outside alien presence..." Zelretch`s mind began moving into overdrive. There was only one extraterrestrial traveler he knew who originated from outside this infinite multiverse. A nameless, obnoxious lunatic with a box.
An eccentric madman who was the closest Zelretch had to a scientific counterpart, a rival basically.
"The Doctor..." Zelretch muttered.
At last, the Wizard was able to discern what happened. The Shadow of Eternity was an alien-being from the Doctor`s multiverse Summoned into this one as a Heroic Spirit.
"What an unexpected answer to this..." the Wizard began staggering through the forest. He needed to search for the Doctor, for only that madman could assist with this Mysterious Crisis.
Hopefully.
Gray sighed.
She had been visiting the grave of her distant ancestor alone in Glastonbury.
It was a little secret, to come to the place where King Arthur himself began his legend gave the young magus a little courage in her sentimental heart. One day in the future, death will claim her too only she should bravely move onward until that moment will come. Although...she lately continued to have strange dreams about this eccentric time-traveler called the 'Doctor'. Could it be she was really becoming a lunatic after all?
A noise sounded, making her look up. An elderly gentleman was staggering from the forest, covered in battle wounds. An elderly gentleman who was -
"Y-You...!" Gray stammered.
The man noticed her. "My dear Gray! I haven`t been in this particular universe for quite a time, it must be fate to see you once more! All grown up too! Adorable young lady, aren`t you?"
"Lord Zelretch!" Gray bowed. "I...what happened to you!?"
"Oh, please. Gray, there is no need to call me 'Lord'. I`m long past old titles like those." the Wizard inspected his wounds. "Ah...I will be fine. A little bit of thin wearing is all. I see you are on another visit at Arthur`s grave, should really try somewhere happier for once, eh? I`m about to head back to the Mage`s Association in London, would you like a - "
He stopped, staring at the cloaked girl. "My dear...is something the matter?"
Gray froze in her thoughts. "I...nothing. I was only...thinking about something."
Zelretch gave a gentle smile. Although others know him as the obnoxious Wizard, he never quite lost his inner kindness after all this time. "Your secrets are safe with me, Gray. No need to be afraid. Wizard`s promise!"
Gray was silent before admitting what was in her heart. "Lord...er...Zelretch. Would you think I am a lunatic?"
Zelretch blinked at this strange question. This was certainly unexpected from the normally shy young girl. "Oh, all the universe is an embodiment of lunacy from what I know. I do apologize, could I ask where this is coming from?"
Gray hesitated for another moment. "I...I have been dreaming of this strange man..."