Boooom!!!
A massive explosive force, capable of leveling mountains by its sound alone.
Swoosh..!
From the explosion, a figure blurred out, rasping breath echoing from a heavily injured body still poised to fight. It was a girl with bright whitish-pink hair scattered loosely around her head and deep blue eyes that held nothing but an unreadable rage.
Then, mere seconds later, four other figures blurred out of the explosion, their faces impossible to see, swallowed by a darkness that clung to their forms like living shadows.
"Valtoria," one of the figures spoke in a deep male voice. "To think you still have this kind of firepower." He continued, "No wonder you were able to destroy your tower completely again." He paused for a moment, a faint chuckle escaping his unseen lips. "But did you really think we are after your projects?"
The young girl, still catching her breath, couldn't help but smile calmly. Slowly, her smile widened as she spoke.
"Bastard… You still call me by my father's name till the end, huh?"
She gave them an amused look—right before her legs trembled and she bent forward, vomiting blood.
Seeing her refusal to collapse despite her injuries, the man spoke again. He slowly stretched his right hand forward, as if offering her mercy from a distance.
"Give up, Valtoria," he said. "Let's not cause more damage. If you follow us peacefully, I can assure you there will be no more losses… as long as we get what we need from you."
It was the tone of someone offering a choice between life and death while pretending to be kind.
Jen responded with a small scoff of disdain.
"Giving up wasn't on my table the last time I checked."
Another of the figures growled, a furious female voice this time.
"Who do you think you are, acting all high and mighty in that state? Can't you see we're taking pity on you, dimwit?"
Silence followed.
Jen did not answer.
She remained bent, head lowered, hair cascading over her face.
But the earth beneath them began to vibrate.
A faint tremor at first…
Then stronger.
Pebbles and debris began hovering off the ground, slowly rising into the air as if paying respect to a sacred being.
"Pity?" Jen whispered.
The tremors grew violent.
"Pity…?" she muttered again.
Her head lifted slightly.
"Meee?!!!"
DUUUUUM!!
A suffocating bloodlust emanated throughout the area, like a tide given form, it was so thick the very landscape began to deform.
A maniacal laughter erupted from the young girl's throat, a laugh that made the four figures stiffen slightly before regaining their stance for yet another battle.
But something happened that made their unseen eyes widen. Faint light began to pulse on Jen's chest. Lines of mana lit up under her skin like ancient runes awakening.
"Valtoria," the male voice whispered, disbelief leaking through his calm tone.
"Don't tell me… you intend to self-destruct?"
The vibrations intensified until the air itself warped.
Jen threw her head back and laughed harder.
"So what if I do? You dare try to treat me like a tool?!"
"But if you self-destruct," the man argued, "this whole place, maybe even the country will end up in ruins as well."
"And what's the big deal…?" Jen replied coldly. "Oh, I see. Trying to act like an angel now, are you?"
He had no answer.
He could only stare at her because he already knew.
It was already too late.
This entire place was going down with her.
"Brace yourselves," the figure with the male voice spoke calmly to the other three figures beside him.
And before he could say anything else, he heard the young girl speak. "All of you…" She raised both hands outward, her grin stretching wider. "Embed this in the deepest part of your hearts."
Her voice, though weak, carried the force of a goddess.
"My name is Jen Valtoria"
A blinding white light swallowed the world.
"And I am the Greatest God-Tier Mage humanity can ever conceive!"
Then..
everything exploded.
A blast so massive it rendered even sound speechless.
The God-Tier Mage,
Jen Valtoria,
Disappeared In Light.
******
The world was silent. Too silent. Only the pure emptiness of one's soul floating through the void like an afterthought.
Just then, Jen Valtoria blinked awake, her mind foggy, her body strangely… light.
Did it work? she thought inwardly. The last thing she remembered was her grand escape by faking her death with a magic spell she created in the moment, during her battle with the enemies who came to ambush her after her failed experiment, an experiment involving a legendary theory that connected The Cosmos, transcended mana, and possibly the stolen tooth of an offended demigod.
If it was successful, she would have fully ascend to The Cosmos, but in the end, everything after that was an explosion of colors, screaming magic, and the faint smell of roasted chicken.
Those bastards really almost got me this time, She groaned.
At least she thought she groaned.
What actually came out was...
"…yip."
Jen froze.
That was not her voice. That was not any mage's voice. That was the sound of something small. Something pitiful. Something mortal men tossed scraps to on the street.
She tried again.
"YIP...!"
No. No no no no.
Her greatest fear was losing her sanity. Her second greatest fear was being ugly.
Her third?
…Transportation magic going horribly wrong.
She looked down. Her limbs were short. Furry. A tiny tail wagged without her permission.
Her brain screeched.
I AM A DOG?!
A nearby passerby gasped at the adorable squeak she made.
Jen collapsed onto the street she knew nothing about, paws shaking in disbelief. She tried to summon transcended mana, normal mana... nothing. She tried to stand dramatically, fell on her face. She tried to curse the heavens.
"Arf!"
The heavens were not intimidated.
While she reeled in existential horror, a shadow fell over her.
"Whoa! A wild puppy!"
No.
Nononono.
She looked up and saw a young man with bright green eyes, a chipped wooden staff, and the kind of smile found only in people who thought wild beasts were "cute."
He picked her up.
PICKED. HER. UP.
"As of today," he declared proudly, "I, Yuno, a Low-Tier Beast Tamer! And you, little pup, are my very first partner!"
Jen's soul left her body.
She, the God-Tier Archmage Valtoria, feared by gods and nations, was now being cradled like a stuffed toy by a young man who probably couldn't even tame a chicken.
She attempted to protest.
"Yip!"
He hugged her tighter. "You're so tiny! I'll call you… Puff-Puff!"
Jen screamed internally for a full minute.
Somewhere, in the great cosmic void, the gods wheezed in laughter.
And that was how the most feared mage in the world found herself wrapped in a blanket, carried home by an overexcited beginner tamer…
while her enemies regretted the loss of a valuable asset.
If only they knew the truth.
The Archmage wasn't dead.
She was just… fluffy.