Scenes from Lucius's life flashed before his eyes—the proverbial life's revolving lantern.
He was born into the Zogratis family of the Spade Kingdom, bearers of devil possession, and he possessed the family's strongest aptitude for such possession.
That wasn't all—he had the rare condition of two souls in one body and wielded magic that purified devil power.
He had even bound Astaroth, one of the strongest devils of the underworld—the devil of time—as his familiar. What could be more heaven-favored?
He didn't think of himself as arrogant, but he did look down on everything from on high. Able to foresee the future, he began to ponder the meaning of his existence.
Perhaps to stave off emptiness, he found purpose—one with a decidedly positive spin.
Peter Parker's lifelong creed was that with great power comes great responsibility; Lucius felt the same.
So he decided it was the duty of the one with the greatest power—himself—to make the world better.
Maybe the other soul in his body was influenced by that thought; Julius's personality turned out the way it did.
But though Lucius and Julius shared the same goal, they walked different paths. From the very start, they were headed in opposite directions.
During the planning phase, he turned the body over to Julius. He wasn't afraid of any mishaps; every future lay within his foresight.
Only when Asta and Charles appeared did the situation, previously within his grasp, descend into chaos.
At first he could still believe the future had only wavered and would return to an unchanging end—but the result is what it is now.
The haze before Lucius's eyes cleared, and he saw the people in front of him again.
Why had he suddenly remembered all that? He'd grown that weak.
From the moment the four magics he'd fused began to unravel, he could foresee his own end even without time magic.
Sure enough, Charles's final Dragonslayer ultimate art accelerated the collapse of his magic—and knocked his revolving lantern loose.
And Charles knew well the importance of the finishing blow; there was no chance he'd allow Lucius a last explosive surge on the brink of death, so he called Asta in immediately.
When Asta brought the Demon-Slasher Blade down, Lucius's consciousness sank completely into the abyss.
No regret, no resentment… To his surprise, Lucius felt calm. He turned and saw Julius, the spitting image of himself.
"It's you."
Lucius seemed to exhale in relief, and Julius stepped forward of his own accord.
"The excellence of those Magic Knights surprised even you, didn't it? I thought I'd have to help from this side—but they beat you on their own.
"That's why I've always said, let the new era be created by the young; it's enough for us to guide them!"
Lucius sneered. "You're preaching even now? You should know I never cared about any of that from the start."
Julius smiled. "That's true—but I just wanted to share how I feel.
Seeing Asta and the others, I knew I could leave with peace of mind."
Lucius said coolly, "I thought you'd ask me to return the body so you could go on as Magic Emperor."
Julius shook his head. "Someone who can serve as Magic Emperor has already appeared. There's no need for me to go back.
"Besides, we're one and the same. Let's leave together."
"I see. That doesn't sound so bad."
With Lucius's final sigh, the mental world began to collapse, and he and Julius dissolved together into motes of light.
In the real world, the clones fighting Yami's trio simultaneously halted and their bodies began to crumble.
Far off at the Land of the Sun encampment, the Paladins and those monsters did the same.
Because Lucius had been defeated, the twisted wills of those Paladins returned to normal. Noelle was finally able to properly say goodbye to her mother.
On the shattered airborne fortress, Charles and Asta stood together, looking at Lucius's closed eyes.
Asta asked, "Is it all over?"
Charles nodded. "Yeah. It's all over."
Asta's expression held a trace of sadness. He looked to Charles. "I thought if we beat Lucius, the Magic Emperor would come back."
Charles consoled him. "Everyone has their own mission. The Magic Emperor's mission is complete—let him rest.
"From here on, it's your era."
Hearing Charles's tone, Asta instinctively felt something was off. "Charles, are you leaving again?"
Charles smiled. "Of course. You have your road to walk, and I have to continue my journey.
"But there's nothing to be sad about. It's not like I'll never come back. Every parting is just for the next reunion.
"But when I return next time, I want to see you as the Magic Emperor."
Asta's gaze firmed. "It's a promise. I'll become the Magic Emperor for sure."
There were still many secrets in this world left unsolved: Who exactly was Asta's father? How did he and Asta's mother have Asta when she constantly absorbed mana and life force—and where did he go afterward?
Had the consciousness of the time devil Astaroth truly been erased by Lucius? If not, where did it go?
How did Lucius's two-in-one soul come to be? Where did the devil-purifying power originate?
Those mysteries might even lead to a new crisis.
But Charles believed that whatever the crisis, the Asta of today could handle it—after all, the greatest source of danger had already been dealt with.
Charles, too, decided to begin his next journey. But before that, he certainly wouldn't miss the victory banquet the Land of the Sun had arranged.
Yami and Ryudo Ryuya raised their cups together; the taste of his homeland's liquor made Yami especially nostalgic. Yami Ichika seemed to be making amends for the years of misunderstanding, standing by to keep Yami's cup full.
It was Asta's first time drinking; his face flushed scarlet, and he was already woozy.
As one of the heroes of this battle, Asta was surrounded by many pretty girls of the Land of the Sun—including the most lively, Komari Imari—so much so that Noelle bit her handkerchief in fury.
Stella sat right beside Charles, her presence alone scaring off the Sun Country girls eyeing him. The adorable sight made Charles drink all the more happily.
Funniest of all was Charmy—while her hands never stopped sending food into her mouth, she was producing a great number of dolls identical to herself.
The dolls were modeled after the Food God Ocha Memei, who, according to legend, saved the Land of the Sun from an ancient famine; they looked exactly like Charmy. Not just in appearance—probably in personality too.
Thus Charmy became the most popular Black Bull in the Land of the Sun, offered heaps of food.
The main course of the feast was five-headed dragon meat. Surprisingly, though that beast's mana had polluted the Land of the Sun's seas and skies, its flesh was a gourmet ingredient.
Not just the meat—its scales and bones were fine materials as well. Charles stuffed plenty into his ring.
The banquet continued in high spirits until, under the silent moonlight, everyone drank themselves under the table.
And quietly, Charles took Stella's hand and set off for a new world.