Izumi froze.
For a full second, his mind simply refused to process what he had just witnessed. His expression was the very picture of What the hell just happened?
From the side, where she had been silently observing as usual, Ophis finally spoke.
"...That thing crossed time."
Izumi blinked. "Huh?"
"It moved to a different timeline."
That made him frown.
"A different timeline? Since when can that thing do that?"
He certainly didn't remember ever equipping his pocket watch with a time-travel function.
Even with the Second Magic: Kaleidoscope in his possession, actually travelling through spacetime in this world was impossible.
And yet something he crafted so casually… could jump between timelines?
No way it's that powerful… right?
Ophis added, as if reading his thoughts:
"It was the stone."
As an SSS-class being, her perception was naturally sharp. She had felt the distortion clearly.
With that reminder, Izumi understood immediately.
"So it's that stone's doing…?"
He quickly opened his dimensional inventory and checked the Stone of Space.
…It wasn't glowing suspiciously.
…Yet.
Don't tell me you're planning to pull the same stunt…?
While Izumi muttered to himself—
A pulse of foreign energy suddenly rippled through his soul.
A contract.
"Huh? Someone picked it up?"
The soul-bound contract he had set up beforehand had just activated.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile—In a distant timeline
The Underworld was deep in the chaos of civil war.
And Grayfia Lucifuge, who had once met Izumi only briefly, was now bleeding heavily as she fled desperately—pursued by none other than Serafall Leviathan, one of the future Four Great Satans.
This timeline was the era of the conflict between the Old Devil Faction and the Reform Faction.
The Lucifuge clan—an elite lineage that had served the original Lucifer for generations—naturally became a priority target.
Grayfia was among the strongest of the Old Faction, and thus, an enemy they sought to eliminate.
Betrayed, cornered, and severely wounded, her strength had dropped drastically.
Under normal circumstances, she could exchange blows evenly with Serafall.
Now she was barely able to remain standing.
Serafall of this era had not yet grown into that… excessively magical-girl-obsessed version of the future, but her eccentric personality was already nearly identical.
"Hehehe~ Grayfia, I'm gonna catch you, okay?"
"The title of 'Strongest Female Devil' is gonna be mine!"
Her voice was light, teasing, almost childlike—yet sharp with lethal intent.
Grayfia narrowed her eyes, refusing to show fear despite the blood trailing down her side.
She rapidly calculated her options.
…None existed.
Serafall didn't give her time to think.
A massive ice-blue magic circle blossomed before her.
A swarm of crystalline ice spears launched forth, filling Grayfia's vision with shimmering death.
With no strength left to dodge, Grayfia closed her eyes.
…So this is it.
A strange sense of peace washed over her.
At least the running and fighting would finally end.
But—
Just before the spears impaled her—
The air trembled.
Then—
Time stopped.
The ice spears froze mid-flight, suspended inches from her skin.
Grayfia's eyes snapped open.
"What…?"
Someone had intervened.
And they were wielding time itself.
Before she could process the situation, a faint shimmer appeared before her.
A golden pocket watch materialized out of thin air—
and gently hung itself around her neck.
A flood of information poured into her mind.
"Do you wish to become a Magical Girl and form a contract with me?"
Yes / No.
Grayfia stared blankly.
…Do I even get the right to refuse?
But the power she sensed from the watch—
It was overwhelming.
Warm.
Stabilizing.
She made her decision immediately.
"I don't know who you are… but—I accept!"
The contract burned into being.
A silhouette appeared briefly in her mind.
Izumi.
The one who had crafted the watch.
Instructions flowed in next—how to use the artifact.
Grayfia didn't hesitate.
She poured magic into the watch and declared:
"—Henshin!"
Her tattered clothing dissolved into light—
Reforming into a blue-and-white maid-themed combat outfit, trimmed with magical sigils.
Several throwing knives materialized along her thigh straps.
Even her injuries—those fatal wounds—
rewound under the power of time.
Her magic swelled to a level she had never experienced.
"So strong…!"
She couldn't help but feel awe.
Whoever created this watch was undoubtedly a transcendent being.
While time was still frozen, Grayfia took her chance—
She vanished from Serafall's line of fire.
A moment later, time resumed.
Serafall's barrage pierced nothing but empty air.
"Huh!?"
Her triumphant smile died instantly.
She turned—
And froze.
Grayfia hovered in the sky, uninjured, transformed, and radiating a crushing presence.
"Th-this… impossible…!"
She had sensed it too.
That was unmistakably time manipulation.
Grayfia offered no explanation.
With a swift movement, she drew several knives from her thigh.
And threw them.
The knives vanished—
Reappearing right in front of Serafall as if space itself had folded.
Serafall paled and erected a magical shield on instinct.
It shattered like glass.
The blades stabbed into her arm and wing with terrifying precision.
"G—gah!"
Serafall fell back, eyes wide with disbelief.
Grayfia landed lightly, her expression cold.
"Serafall Leviathan. You lose."
She did not kill her.
She simply removed her from the battlefield.
If not for the pocket watch, she would already be dead.
In a way, her previous self had already "died".
There was no longer a reason for her to remain entangled in this civil war.
Serafall, lying on the ground, stared up at her in complete shock.
Wasn't she supposed to win?
Wasn't she supposed to surpass Grayfia?
How did this even happen?
Her mind was blank with confusion.
And thus, the legend of a new "magical girl" in a timeline that should have never known her—
began.