"So that was it."
"With the resolve to burn her bridges, she turned her body into nourishment for her soul's ascent to Grand Wizard... No wonder such a brilliant flower could bloom in this withered world."
"The most baffling—and most difficult—part of the whole process was how she turned her body into nourishment for evolution. That isn't knowledge an Ordinary Wizard could access. As far as I know, everything related to it is forbidden by The Alliance..."
"It didn't necessarily come from forbidden knowledge... Perhaps it was just talent, or some secret art she worked out herself."
"What a shame. If she were outside, that secret art and this entirely new path of advancement would more than earn Fukatsu Ryoko the title of 'master'... She'd certainly deserve it more than that 'Great Sage' in the North District."
"Heh. What does a title matter? Grand Wizards aren't Grand Wizards because everyone agrees they are. They're Grand Wizards because they have the stature and power of one."
"The problem is, she no longer considers herself a wizard."
"Whether she chooses to become a Grand Wizard or a Great Demon is her own affair. We shouldn't dismiss a new path just because of which side she's on... Even if it's only a narrow trail that's just been cut."
"Enough, enough. Let's not debate this. Secret arts, talent, outside help—like Dean Strange said, those are all lesser paths in the end... Holding fast to a wizard's convictions and possessing the resolve to fight fate is the only true way to break through one's limits. Every being who has reached the rank of Grand Wizard has done so without exception."
Above the battlefield before the Inner Fort.
Until Black Goat's duel ended, a fragile peace and balance held between the Grand Wizards and the Great