"...So that's the true identity of QoA... I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see the change for myself..." Stan wipes the non-existing sweat on his forehead after hearing a short version of who the deadliest woman in the Magic World actually is from the son of Thousand Master. "...I'm glad that you are safe though, kiddo."
"Yes, mister Stan." Negi nods, glad that he's the same old man he remembers. He then changes the subject: "I would like to talk more to you, but right now it's nighttime. And my group is heading to the Magical World tomorrow."
"...Still insist on finding that fool, I see." The old mage sighs while shaking his head. "Do you have any ideas what troubles he has caused while he's still alive?"
"He's not dead, Stan." The Headmaster speaks up. "Queen of... Mister Kuro has confirmed it. However, we're not sure where he could be. Mister Kuro is also trying to find it out on his own ways."
Looking at Negi's determined face, the old mage can tell that he won't be able to convince him anymore. "...Do you know the dangers inside Magical World? Aside from one of the most wanted people there?"
"I'm aware." Negi nods. "I have also faced the demon who petrified you and managed to hold against him." That causes the purified mages to gasp in surprise. "While I do not know everything about the Magical World yet, I'm not going to let anything harm my students."
A small moment passes... Stan closes his eyes and lets out a chuckle. "No wonders you are his son." He opens his eyes and nods towards Negi. "If you are prepared, then I won't stop you. After all, you have grown up after that day."
Negi smiles and nods again. "Yes, mister Stan. I won't disappoint you."
"I guess it's not that bad, heh? I thought he's going to stop him with everything." Asuna whispers to Setsuna, who nods quickly.
"Grandfather's work seems to not have any after-effects." The two look down to see Yami observing the crowd before them. "However, just to be sure, they need to stay here for the night, and let me and T.O to do a last check on them."
"But, shouldn't we just let them return back to their family?" Konoka asks curiously. "They must be worried about the mages being petrified, right?"
"Unfortunately, Kuro's interferences might affect something." T.O suddenly appears behind her, causing the girl to turn her head in surprise. "Also, blood magic is something you should never take lightly of."
"So you are going to check them on directly?" Setsuna asks, a little confused that the person could just stay in his realm and do that.
"Yes." He then notices that the Old Headmaster and Nekane are staring at him. "Think of me as his parallel self."
"O...kay..." The two awkwardly reply.
"Also, be more careful, Negi. The girls are currently hiding between here and the guest houses. It would be troublesome if they find out what's going on here." T.O then warns about the unexpected guests.
"Ah... thanks for the warning, T.O." Negi nods thankfully. He then turns to Stan and says: "I guess it's time for me to say goodbye for now. We will return safely."
"Take care of yourself, kid." The old man chuckles and pats the boy's shoulder. "Bring back that idiot if you can."
"I will!"
Two hours ago, Magical World. Gladiator Colosseum
"The same as before, Angelica?"
"...How about you surprise me, Chief?"
"Now we're talking! One special drink coming up!"
The Colosseum, where people having interested in 'fighting-to-the-death' watch the fights between Prize fighters. In here, there is no limitations in what fighters could use in a fight, be it swords or guns or magic or even barehanded if they're confident enough. For that, every fight is unique to the others.
Of course, that doesn't mean some of the drunk men to try to find someone to flirt on. And they manage to find one: a woman, given by the voice she just spoke to the waitress, sitting by herself with a cloak covering her head and face. Her voice draws their attentions and they bring their cups up and approach her.
"Hey there pretty lady. Want to have some fun with us?" One of them already takes the direct speech and asks her out immediately.
He receives a small giggle from the woman as she replies: "You like to be on the offense, don't you? Unfortunately, I'm not in the mood of going out with anyone, so please kindly find some others to bother."
"Ah come on now, don't just sue us away like that." They start sitting around the table, as one of them slightly pushes himself towards her right side. "We can give you lots of fun."
"Maybe other days. I'm having some business soon, so I would like to be alone for now."
"Forget that boyfriend of yours. We..." He can't finish whatever he's planning to say next, because he immediately feels multiple tips of blades touching his neck. He looks at his companions and sees that they're also in the same state.
"This is the last warning, boys. I don't like spilling your blood since you are not my targets, but don't give me one to do so." The woman whispers with the same calmness, but deep down that is a clear threat signal that the men immediately take note and leave without a second word.
"Hey now Angelica, don't chase off the customers like that." The waitress has returned with a drink in her hand. She then places it on the table and sits on the opposite side of the table, giving the woman personal space unlike the previous drunk men.
"Well, they brought it up by themselves. Picked the wrong target to mess with." The woman then takes a small sip from the drink. "Hm...that's heavy."
"Coming from you, that's rich!" The Chief laughs loudly. "Anyway, it's been a while after your last show up, publicly at least. What's the occasion?"
"...I need to ask a favor." Reaching under her cloak, the woman then pulls out three pictures of three girls and shows it to the Chief. "A few days from now on, these girls are going to be under your care. I won't ask you to be easy on them, however, I want you to ensure their safety."
"Hey, I'm not just straight-up babysitting girls!" The bear lady doesn't like what she's hearing.
"Like I said, just ensure these three's safety. Their friends will take care of the rest, so worry not." Angelica takes a few more sips before turning her head to the fighting below. "You are one of the few managed to form a friendship with me since that day. You know how I work."
"I do." Chief just lets out a sigh. "Doesn't excuse the number of times guards heading to my place to find you."
"My apology." The woman says her sorry, then bottoms up her drink and places a few gold coins on the table. "Thanks for the drink."
"At least you pay." The Chief chuckles, then watches the woman walking near the edge of the stadium and looking down the fight. "...Another one?"
"Yes."
The next day. Magical World. Gateport
'An attack from behind!' Negi screams in his mind as he swipes his wand backward while casting a Deflection spell, narrowingly pushing away a stone spear heading straight to him. The projectile lands roughly but harmlessly on the floor, and Negi catches a familiar feeling from it. '...That... Fate!'
"What was that?" Snapping out of her slightly stunned state, Setsuna also notices her teacher avoiding a fatal blow.
"Everyone! Fate is around here!" The young teacher warns out loud. "Be on guard!"
"Hm, impressive." The cold voice draws everyone's attention, and they see the attacker along with his companions. "Not only you managed to deflect the attack, you could even identify who did so."
"Fate..." Negi grunts in anger as he stands before his students with his wand ready. "Of all the times... have you been following us here?"
"Don't be absurd." Fate denies. "Our target has always been this Gateport in the first place. Meeting you here is just a mere coincidence."
"And attacking us is also coincidence?" Kaede asks back, though her voice clearly makes it become a sarcastic statement.
"That's intentional." Not detecting the joke, Fate replies without a care. "I didn't expect you to actually find me, so I had to make the first move, and yet... those people must have trained you well. But, let's see how well they have helped you."
Immediately after that, Fate's companions spring into actions as they start targeting Negi's group members. Even with Eva's training, the group is no matches to the opponents, as one by one is defeated badly. Even Negi has also tried to fight Fate, but the other one doesn't hold back like in Kyoto so the young teacher couldn't also land a clear hit, and instead he receives a punch to the stomach and is sent flying away.
"You are better, but not good enough to stop us." Fate comments as he does feel the force behind Negi's attacks. He then turns to the last member of his group and asks: "Is everything ready?"
"Almost...wait a second." The hooded person stops for a moment. "...It's already broken."
"What? Shouldn't that be our objective?" The one who defeated Kaede asks back.
"I mean, yes. However... That woman is here!" The person could only manage to warn before he's back-handed to the face and flung away into a portal which appears out of nowhere.
"Knowing how I work, you should expect me to be where you commit such acts." The attacker is standing right at where the person is flung away. Recognizing who the attacker is, Fate's comrades teleport around her and try to attack her, but a magic barrier blocks everything before bursting out and sending them towards another portals. Fate also throws stone pillars towards her, but they also break upon contact.
"...Kuro?" Negi says underneath his ragged breath. Only one person he knows could do such a thing...
"The Queen of Annihilation." Not hearing that between the sounds of attacks, Fate's focus is on one of his most dangerous enemies. "After these years and now you show up before us. Ala Rubra has been disbanded for a long time..."
"Don't be mistaken." The woman pulls down the cloak, revealing her face to everyone else. "I was never part of the group. We only have the same objective: Defeating you to protect this world."
"You know what this world is, and you know the state of this world being in. Why bother caring about the people here?"
"Simple: you ignored their freedom of choosing how they live with the current world, and how they interact with each other."
"Negi!" The young teacher turns back and sees that Asuna has broken the seal of the box that contains the weapon, which releases them out for the others to use. Konoka then grabs her Pactio Card and activates it so she could heal everyone. Asuna grabs her sword and runs to his side and says: "We better leave now! Makie and the others are still here!"
"! RIGHT!" He nearly forgot that the non-magical students are still here...
"My apology, young travelers." To everyone's surprise and horror, thousand blade-type weapons hover above their heads with the tips pointing straight down. "Your journey starts from here, and you won't be able to go back before you find out what is happening to this world."
"NO!" Screaming at the top of his lung, Negi wakes up with a massive headache. He then grabs his head in pain as he remembers the last moment in the Gateport. "...Kuro-sensei, why..." He can't believe that the man... woman could do such things to their own students, having magic or not. However... given her position, Negi understands that Kuro couldn't just straight-up help them out of the situation without exposing herself. Doesn't mean that she couldn't just have been gentler with her work.
Pushing the thoughts aside, he now notices that he's in a jungle of sort. He stands up and starts taking a stroll around to find anything that could help him identify where he is...
And he finds a naked Chachamaru cleaning herself in a river.
"C...CHACHAMARU!?" Negi shouts up in surprise as his face turns red.
The robot girl then notices the teacher having woken up, so she rushes to him while asking: "Are you okay, Negi-sensei? You should take some rests first..."
"PLEASE DRESS UP FIRST BEFORE TALKING ANYTHING FURTHER!"
...
"...Everyone has been scattered..." Looking at the Pactio Cards floating before him, Negi tries to call anyone but fails.
"The range of Pactio telepathy and teleportation is only around 5 to 10 kilometers." Dressed up, Chachamaru voices out the reason of the failure. "Also, we're currently between magic-jamming rocks, so it's harder to call your partners."
"...Did Kuro plan this?" The young teacher asks. "To push us this far away from each other..."
"...I cannot tell you that." Having heard the 'future' from her master, Chachamaru is forced to not reveal anything until Kuro says otherwise. "However, we can be sure that Kuro-sensei won't do anything that harms us... badly."
"I know. I just... can't believe it." Negi sighs. He then looks up to the crag next to them and says: "Let's head over this crag. We might be able to stand above the trees."
The robot girl agrees and follows the teacher's suggestion. Within seconds, they manage to get a clear view of the world around them... and that makes them feel uneasy, because the world seems to be MUCH larger than they thought it should be.
"Only jungles in our view..." Negi says in depression. "Chachamaru... how far were we sent? How far are we to each other?"
"Calculating the real world's data... it would be a thousand kilometers to Megalomesembria."
"That far?"
"Yes. To the others... the nearest one is 50 to 70 kilometers to us. Some others, but not all, are around a few hundred. The rest... is out of ten thousand kilometer detection."
"...Then the main city can be even more than a thousand kilometers away from us." Negi deduces.
"And that's just the start of the problem, Negi." Turning right, both of them are surprised to see Kuro, or Queen of Annihilation, standing on an invisible platform while looking at them. She then bows her head down apologetically. "I'm sorry for what happened in the Gateport. However, it's something that must be done, otherwise we can't save this world AND your father. I hope you could understand my actions."
"...Why?" Negi starts in a low tone. "I know that Ala Alba's members will face dangers, and we have prepared for it thanks to your and Master's help. But, why Makie, Ako and the others?"
"...There are... hilarious, and not so, reasons for it." QoA replies. "However, rest assured that they won't be harmed. I have made some... preparations for that."
"...About Fate and his companions... how long have you fought against each other?"
"You would have to ask other members of Ala Rubra for that... if you can find them."
"...When can you be on our side again?"
"Only when it is possible." QoA then concludes. "That's all I can tell you. Be prepared for what's coming next... and please be careful."
"...We will. Goodbye Kuro-sensei." Negi nods, followed by Chachamaru.
"...Bless you all." With that, the woman disappears, leaving the two behind.
"...Chachamaru. Please find the two nearest to us. Then we will find the others."
"I have already marked them. We will move when you are ready."
"...I am ready."
...
A few days later. Noon
"Well, that's a good sign." Chisame says in relief as the group stops right in front of a cliff, where they could see a town not far away from them.
After a day of rushing through the jungle, Negi and Chachamaru managed to find Chisame, who was unfortunately getting 'eaten' by a pervert kraken. Luckily it wouldn't kill the megane even if the duo didn't find her, but it surely gave her a good nightmare from then on.
Then, they also found Kotarou as well, though the boy clearly handled himself very well despite getting wrecked by Fate's comrades. They then continue their journey until they found a town midway.
"Hey, you said that one of the signals is in there, right?"
"Checking... confirmed. There is one there. However, the signal has stopped moving for an hour."
"Maybe the person was just resting. It's midday after all." Pulling his hoodie up, Kotarou replies. "Let's go there and have a good meal and a bed! It's been a while we have that kind of luxury!"
"..." Negi says nothing as he looks at the town in concern.
"Is something the matter, Negi-sensei?"
"...It's nothing, Chachamaru." Shaking his head, he wears the smile on his face to hide his true feeling. "Kotarou is right. We need to rest first while finding the others."
...
"..." Negi looks up at the floating TV in the street, as it's publishing news from the previous days, one of which is about the problem in the Gateport they have fought against Fate. However, it also confirms his fear as it shows that HE was the one breaking the place, NOT the others. The Ala Alba's members are also getting wanted along with him.
"That's... bad." Kotarou grunts quietly. "A forgery. That Fate guy must have done this to get us out of their plans." He then pulls his hood down a little further and pulls Negi away from the chattering crowd. "We need to hide, or worse, leave this town."
"Only after we find everyone in this town." Negi argues, though he does follow the others to a dark alley. He then peaks out to see if anyone is following them...
"However..." The news continues. "We have also confirmed the appearance of the Queen of Annihilation in the incident, and the damage was dealt mostly by her. And she has also successfully eliminated another criminal in the Gladiator Colosseum few days ago. Those two events have raised up questions: Why did she destroy the Gateport? Did something happen in Old World? Why did she return after years of not showing up at all? Is our world still facing some unknown dangers? We will bring more updates in the future."
"I found the signal." Chachamaru announces, causing the young teacher to turn to her. "It's about 50 meters away. In the other alley. But the signal is not moving."
"...It couldn't be..." Seeing where the robot girl is pointing at, Negi rushes towards the location... to find no one but the badge of the Ala Alba on the floor. Desperation fills his mind, as he kneels down and shakily picks up the badge, then he sees a letter 'K' below the badge. "...Thank God this is just Kuro's." Sighing in relief, he stands up and turns back to see everyone has caught up with him. "This is Kuro's badge. He must have left here on purpose so we could head into this town."
"...Given how he works, we might have to do something in this town." Chisame deduces, then remembers about the ones not in Ala Alba. "...Do you think that... the ones not in our group... are in here? That's why Kuro-sensei has to place this here so we could find them first?"
"...Then we need to hurry. The others can take care of themselves even if they encounter monsters." Negi concludes. He then peaks out of the alley...
"PSH! Hey." The group turns to the further side of the alley, and sees someone waving their hand to them while gesturing them to head to them. "Yeah, you guys. Come here." The person, which is a girl, whispers with enough volume for the group to hear.
Reluctantly they walk to her, and then another girl emerges from the shadow of the alley, causing the group to guard up immediately.
"Don't worry Negi. T.O sent us here to help you." The girls raise their empty hands up in the air as the latter one explains. "He said that you would need some helps."
"Who are you?" Kotarou asks immediately. "Show me something that proves that you're with him."
Would this be sufficient?
The group is a little startled at the sudden voice (again), but when they know which voice belongs, they relax up. Though Chachamaru repeats the question: "Can I get the name of you two?"
"Call me Marvy. And this girl..."
"I'm Tekken. Nice to meet you all."
Chisame is relieved that they don't have to fight. Then she notices the girls' outfits are a bit... too revealing. Especially the Marvy girl. "Well, nice to meet you girls. But... what's with that outfit?"
"Oh? Fan-service." Marvy laughs at the other group's deadpan expression. Though, she turns serious on the next words: "You must have guessed about the non-magic girls being in this place. But we have bad news: The girls are being held as slaves for the moment. We need to..."
"WHAT!?" The group (except the robot girl) screams in surprise, as Kotarou asks: "How did that happen? And why didn't you stop it?"
"We're sorry." Tekken apologizes. "When we arrived here and made our contacts with your paparazzi, it already happened. One rash move and they will be in mortal danger."
"...By paparazzi, you mean Asakura, right?" That earns Negi a nod. "...Do you know who the girls are?"
"I suggest meeting with Asakura first." Chachamaru offers. "Considering who she is, she might have crucial information that can't be shared around easily."
"I was planning to tell you that too." Marvy says, then gestures the group to follow. "Let's go."
"Wait a second." Chisame stops her. "We're currently wanted here. A robe isn't going to help us hiding our faces that much."
...
"I completely forgot about that medicine." Chisame, or Chiu in her chibi form, face-plants to the table in front of her.
"You can't still get over it Chiu-tan?" The paparazzi giggles, along with the small ghost-doll on her shoulder. "You already saw Kuro-sensei changing gender times over times, right?"
"It's weird when it applies on me."
After meeting up with Asakura, the group gathers around a table in a bar and discusses about the information they have. Except the paparazzi, the wanted people have either de-aged or increased their ages up.
"Anyway, from what I have found..." The reporter then directs the conversation back to the right course. "The ones getting captured are Ako, Natsumi and Akira."
That makes Kotarou rile up and want to shout, but he holds himself back.
"However, it seems that it's actually a legit 'business'. Ako has caught a terrible disease and couldn't stay conscious for a long time. The group then met their 'current master' that offered a help by giving them a potion worth of a million Drachma. Thankfully it really worked, but now they're working as slaves to pay the money. There's also a contract to confirm it."
"What's stopping us from sneaking them out?" The wolf-boy asks impatiently.
"Slave collars that explode upon forceful removal, high government, and literally anyone who wants our heads." Asakura summaries the dangers they could possibly be in.
"The only way we can save them is to somewhat earn ourselves that amount of money." Marvy speaks out the solution.
"How can we do that? Unless you're suggesting us to rob somewhere..."
"We are already marked as criminals already despite not doing anything. Doing that would just seal our fate." Chachamaru denies Kotarou's offer.
"...Do you know where they are?" Negi asks next.
"Well... they're working in the Gladiator Colosseum." Tekken replies. "We haven't gone there though, since we can't do anything there."
"Then we should meet them now. The sooner they know that we're going to save them, the better they would feel. And if we can meet their 'master', then we can try to negotiate with him." Negi suggests, which earns everyone's approval. "Let's go then."
"The time has come. Are you ready?"
"..."
"...Afraid of facing him in your current state?"
"...Yes."
"Don't be. Now..."