In the study, Tales stared blankly at the Magic User.
"After the war."
The youth repeated it instinctively.
Ashida looked back at him with a half-smile, as if he had watched his prey fall into a trap.
After the war.
After the war?
Tales' eyes widened.
It was as if a string in his mind had suddenly been connected.
"Mr. Saken, when did the relationship between the Twin Empresses break down and turn hostile?"
The Magic User answered calmly, neither hurried nor slow:
"You already said it."
The next moment, the Blue Light in Ashida's eyes flared again:
"After the war."
"During an impossible-to-ignore knock at the door, they formally turned against each other in their True Natures and fought a great battle."
After the war.
Tales held his breath.
"Then, then that means..."
The youth slowly sorted out his thoughts, his expression growing increasingly shocked.
The two Magic Empresses had turned against each other and gone their separate ways after the war.
The reason they had hidden themselves from the world.
The reason they had suppressed magic.
The reason they had become enemies.
The reason they had acted with such tacit understanding.
Once he understood the crucial point, Tales' breathing quickened.
No, it wasn't the Netherworld Edge.
What the Air Elementalist had discovered wasn't the achievement of his grandfather, the "greatest king," nor was it some so-called perfect Legendary Anti-Magic Weaponry.
"Sauron and the One Ring." Tales muttered, drenched in cold sweat before he even realized it.
Ashida voiced his confusion:
"What?"
Tales came back to himself and shook his head.
"Nothing important. It's just some folk tale from the Northern Land."
But then his eyes widened:
"What matters is that if this deduction is correct, and these two points in time overlap, then that means the Legendary Anti-Magic