[Chapter Size: 2300 Words.]
Third Person POV
Skellige.
...
...
"You seem nervous."
That single sentence was enough to make Vilgefortz's mind stop pacing back and forth in reverse and become alert in the next instant.
He didn't even dare breathe, while all his instincts screamed inside him. It was obvious what that meant, as his mind quickly began to work on the situation.
'He's here!'
'How did he find me?'
'How did he get in here without triggering my traps and barriers?'
"You're here..." was all he managed to say, returning to a calmer and more dignified posture, as if he had never been frightened a moment before.
"Yeah, I'm here. And you look very well." Madara mocked.
The man took a few seconds to respond. "I owe it all to you..." Madara knew he was already immediately trying to find a way to escape that situation.
"You've been a bit of an inconvenient problem to deal with. But now we're here. You've plotted several schemes against me and against those I know. I must admit you're quite persistent... even when it comes to dying. But don't worry, you're going to die soon. I just want you to know that." Madara spoke calmly.
His will to talk with that mage was stronger than simply killing him. Which would be far too easy.
The man lifted his head, still with his back to Madara, and with a laugh filled the place with a carefree tone. Madara raised an eyebrow.
"Well... you're a bastard... I can't even say what you are. Tell me, what really are you? You've always intrigued me since you appeared in Cintra more than twelve years ago." Said Vilgefortz, finally turning to Madara. His face, deformed by burns and missing one eye, glared at him full of hatred with the only eye that remained.
After all, the cause of all his deformity was standing right before the mage: the one who had wounded him so many years ago.
"You still haven't figured out what I am, have you? I saw the minds of your closest allies before coming here, I saw your research about me. Your description of all the events in which I appeared publicly, or those where you managed to gather some information when I acted in the shadows against some. You've been studying me. It's a bit surprising, coming from a man who spent his time researching the placenta of girls, torturing and killing them." Madara narrowed his eyes.
Vilgefortz smiled. "I know you know what my goals are. It's no surprise to you that I sought the power of the Elder Blood in that girl of yours. What I didn't count on was your strength... a strength incomparable, with powers that shouldn't exist in this world." The mage's voice was full of rancor.
"So I came to the conclusion that your powers truly are not from this world. Your abilities, your strength... you don't use Chaos as a channel for your feats. Your strange magic, with hand gestures... My suspicion is that your power does not come from this world, just like those strangers who appeared in the war, more powerful than any other mage on the continent, and you completely defeated them and destroyed an entire army... I realized your power was underestimated all along when I heard about your deeds in the war, your blood... your eyes, your powers... They are even more powerful and valuable than Elder Blood!" He began to laugh in hatred like a madman.
"There was something even more precious than Elder Blood right in front of me the whole time... What is the power of traveling the world compared to the raw power, the power to shape the world as you wish?! And for that, I researched the ancient Uchiha clan: where they came from and how they disappeared almost without any record."
Madara narrowed his eyes at hearing this.
"None of them should have survived. Did you know that? Your parents appeared out of nowhere six years after you showed up in Cintra... There is no indication that your bloodline should have remained alive. But I discovered something interesting. I managed to collect a drop of your blood and you are pure. Your blood comes from the marriage of two distant cousins, which means your lineage is even stranger and more illogical given that you exist like this hundreds of years after the fall of the clan. If any of them had survived that night, the blood would probably have dissolved over time. Or, even if some families had resisted, it would have caused deformities. Marriages between very close relatives, like brothers and sisters, close cousins, would bring serious genetic problems to the children." He still laughed bitterly, fixing his eyes on Madara.
"However, here you are, against all odds. A pureblood... a true Uchiha." Madara couldn't help but be a little surprised by what he heard.
What Vilgefortz said seemed to make sense, after all, deep down he knew he was a pure Uchiha.
There were so many things he couldn't explain... especially when those shinobi from the other continent had said they were surprised to see a living Uchiha after all this time. But there was the possibility that maybe he wasn't pure, in the end.
Maybe the system had molded his powers, throwing him here as Madara from the world of Naruto. But at the same time, he felt his blood was pure, he was sure of it.
There were many unanswered questions. What could he say in the face of that?
There were also those words from Ciri, throwing prophecies at everyone, about choosing between saving her home or a love; about saving a woman and a man with red eyes from the past. Would Ciri be the one to make that choice in the future? Would his life depend on the decision of his future wife, like her bringing his parents from the past? There was so much Madara couldn't understand — and there was no one he could turn to for answers.
He reflected on all of this while Vilgefortz began moving around the laboratory, stepping back as he watched Madara ponder his words.
The sorcerer approached a red stone on the table with an elven symbol. He was about to touch it. Madara, still deep in thought, realized how good that man was at distracting enemies with his words. He was capable of deceiving even rivals and enemies, making them believe they stood before an ally for a few moments.
He would never succeed in turning Madara into an ally, but for a moment, he managed to distract him. Or so he believed.
Suddenly, Vilgefortz dashed, running toward the stone as if it were his only chance to escape. However, the instant his hand touched it, a flash appeared beside him. Immediately afterward, he felt his hand being severed from his body. A blade had cut him with precision as it moved like lightning from bottom to top.
"AHHH!" The scream of pain echoed through the laboratory. Vilgefortz fell to the floor, blood gushing from his mutilated arm. The only hand he had left had been cut off.
Madara showed no reaction as he watched him fall. He still thought in silence, unsurprised by what had happened. At last, his eyes turned to the sorcerer, who groaned in pain on the floor, clenching his teeth to avoid screaming.
"You really thought you would escape?" Madara's voice sounded calm. Ciri appeared before he could flee.
Ciri stood still, glaring at the mage with hatred. That man had been the cause of many of her problems and even played a major role in the fall of Cintra while pretending to fight for the North. There was a glow of fury in her emerald eyes.
Vilgefortz groaned in pain on the floor when Eleanor emerged from the entrance they had come through. The vampire looked at him with a gleam of delight as she slowly walked in his direction.
"So it's you, bastard... You killed my daughter. My poor girl! You put her in those experiments, years ago. It feels so good to see you suffering here. You have no idea... how pleasurable this is." Eleanor's voice trembled with cruel pleasure.
The pain was so great that Vilgefortz couldn't even respond. He only looked at her, recognizing her. Now he knew who that vampire was who had hunted him for so long. He finally understood the reason: he had killed her daughter, without ever realizing it.
And then, seized by the certainty that he would die anyway, Vilgefortz made his last choice. His mouth moved quickly and a snap echoed. He had broken one of his teeth — a false tooth.
"He's poisoning himself." Madara said calmly, while Ciri narrowed her eyes.
Madara looked at her. "Ciri, I want you to do the same thing I do with my powers of time." Madara simply said. He could have tried to heal the sorcerer with Wood Style, but he wanted to test her powers.
Ciri nodded, stepped forward, and opened her palm toward the mage, who stared at them, waiting to die soon. A green field began to appear around him. The sorcerer didn't know what was happening, but in the next moment, he was paralyzed. Suddenly, he blinked and found himself again with his arm intact.
"What...?" he murmured, astonished. The pain had vanished, leaving only the old scars he carried from his battles against Madara just before meeting him in the laboratory. Confused, he didn't know what had happened.
"Very good." Madara praised her for using the powers of time, his hand still severed on the side of the table, but a new hand had emerged on his arm.
"Now I want you to see if you can do this as well." Madara said, picking up the red stone from the table and tossing it near Vilgefortz, who was even more stunned to see it roll before him.
"Go on. Leave." Madara simply said.
Eleanor, outraged, tried to protest when she saw this. "What are you doing—?!"
She didn't even have time to finish before Vilgefortz, desperate, threw himself upon the stone. A glow engulfed his body and, in an instant, he vanished.
Madara showed no reaction, but Ciri watched curiously, while Eleanor burst into fury. Her eyes glowed, unable to believe what had just happened. After searching for the mage everywhere, he simply let him go?!
Madara, however, merely closed his eyes and let his Mangekyō manifest. Then, he used his second ability and reversed time — but not only of Vilgefortz's body, as Ciri had done. He reversed the time of the entire space around them. An intense glow filled the place, and, in the next instant, the sorcerer was back on the ground in the state he had been, and the stone returned to the table, as if everything had been rewound.
The place fell silent the next moment, with everyone looking at Madara.
"What I just did was alter time and space, not just the individual as you did. You will also be able to learn to use this stability, for I believe your powers are similar." Madara explained naturally, looking at Ciri and ignoring the mage on the ground once again.
Eleanor was speechless. Vilgefortz, on the other hand, looked terrified. They were simply toying with him, manipulating powers that went beyond any of his comprehension from decades of experience with magic.
Madara had done that only to show Ciri that she shouldn't limit herself to the individual and could also manipulate space, knowing that she had that limitation and how she could use it when an enemy tried to escape her.
Over the past years, Madara had only instructed her to learn to manipulate space as she had shown in the original story, but she was called the Lady of Time and Space; she should master time as well. And, in fact, she had just rewound the enemy's time, restoring his body. Using that ability.
"Very well. With that, let's begin dealing with this pest." Madara said calmly, breaking the silence after Ciri nodded, trying to understand her abilities as well.
Snapping out of her stupor, Eleanor stepped forward. "You can heal him, can't you?" she spoke immediately.
"It's not exactly healing him, but rather reversing time. That is the term for this ability. We can bring him back to the moment when he was well. While my Ciri here can alter only the individual, as she just demonstrated, I can also manipulate space. I let him escape only to teach her to expand her abilities." Madara said clearly, as if giving lessons to a student.
Eleanor couldn't fully understand any of that, but she spoke again. "Then, please, let me have a moment with him. Let me avenge my daughter. I promise not to kill him. I know it may seem cruel, but this man killed my daughter in a brutal way. Let me do the same to him." She pleaded.
Madara said nothing immediately. After a few seconds, he sighed.
"Very well. You may deal with him. However, if it reaches a point where you're going to kill him or lose control, I will stop you. He still has some interesting information I need to obtain." Madara said, while Eleanor only nodded. She took a deep breath and turned her gaze back to the man before her, full of hatred.
"Just take him away from the laboratory equipment. He must have many tricks. And also check his pockets. He shouldn't be completely unarmed, even in this vulnerable state." Madara reminded, as he observed.
Eleanor approached Vilgefortz, who could do nothing but feel his body being grabbed and thrown against the wall, into a corner of the laboratory. The vampire then began to walk slowly toward him.
"You will pay for everything you did, you damned demon." Said the vampire, her eyes glowing with pure malice, as her fangs began to reveal themselves between her teeth.
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
🦝 Raccoon here: 🦝
I deeply appreciate your support since the beginning of this exciting journey!
I hope each chapter has provided incredible moments. If you like my work and would like to support the continuation of this fanfic, consider becoming a patron with plans starting at $2!. As a token of gratitude, I offer access to more than 210 extra chapters with 7 active fanfics at the same time, along with other exclusive benefits on my profile, such as images and significant decisions for the stories.
Even if you are not a patron, I am making chapters available a few hours earlier here, so become a free member on the platform!
🌟 RaccoonLeague | Patreon🌟
Visit our Patreon for more: https://www.patreon.com/RaccoonLeague
Extra Content Already Available:
🏴☠️ One Piece - I Am a Different Luffy!: 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: The Legend of Jon Arctic!: 30 extra chapters!
🌀 Naruto - Minato Namikaze SI!: 30 extra chapters!
🗡️ The Witcher - As Uchiha Madara! 30 extra chapters!
⚡ Harry Potter - Shadow Monarch! 30 extra chapters!
👑 Game of Thrones: DragonBorn! 30 extra chapters!
Except for One Piece with daily chapters and DragonBorn once a week, all fanfics are updated 3 times a week, there's just a pause in updating in the week, only to create drafts for the week's chapters.
In addition to the extra chapters, daily chapters are posted and 25 chapters per week!
Your support is very important and makes all the difference in keeping these stories alive.
Thank you very much for being part of this journey! I hope you continue to enjoy the story and that it brings even more joy to your life!
Visit our Patreon for more!!
◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆