The battle was over in an instant.
When silver-white chains suddenly emerged from the void, binding Astrid's limbs, then coiling around her neck and slender waist, hoisting her whole body into the air, the battle could already be declared finished.
"Ugh! Aaah!"
Astrid struggled with all her might, even seeming to want to use Miasma Magic to do something, letting out one furious scream after another.
But Astrid couldn't use the power of Miasma Magic at all. She couldn't even access her mana, as though she'd been completely sealed—reduced to a mere prisoner.
"You sealed my mana..."
It seemed Astrid realized this as well, her face twisting.
And seeing the great witch helpless before those silver-white chains, no one, not even the Headmaster, could react.
"Did we win?"
The Headmaster, who had witnessed the entire scene, murmured as she watched Astrid still struggling.
Even this nineteenth-century's strongest magus was visibly dazed, finding it hard to believe that such a terrifying individual—one even he considered a deadly threat—had been subdued so easily.
But it was true.
"You're better off not wasting your energy,"
Rozen stood before the suspended Astrid. Even though he had just subdued the infamous great witch who made countless nations and factions tremble, he remained utterly indifferent.
It was as if he had just participated in a game—never even taking it seriously.
"My Injunction Shackles aren't that easy to break. In this world, aside from those rumored Machine Dolls, I doubt there are more than five ways to escape them."
Rozen raised his eyes, gazing at Astrid, and suddenly smiled.
"But for the famous Golden Rose from the Order, that must be hard to accept."
How could she accept it?
To be defeated by a mere student still studying at the Machinart Academy—as a full-fledged great witch of the Order of the Rose, Astrid couldn't possibly accept such a disgrace.
Of course, Astrid wasn't delusional. After realizing her efforts were in vain, she eventually ceased struggling.
But her eyes burned with hatred as she glared at Rozen.
"You think this is enough to subdue me?"
She sneered through gritted teeth.
"Don't get cocky, you brat from the Akabane clan. If there are five methods to escape this wretched chain, then I, the Golden Rose, will possess at least one or two of them!"
This wasn't so much Astrid's confidence as it was her pride.
A dignified great witch couldn't allow herself to bow her head in a place like this.
"And what do you plan to do?" Rozen replied with a faint smile. "Use that unconscious lion's magic to try something? Even if that magic still worked, it wouldn't get you out of this situation, would it?"
At those words, Astrid's pupils shrank.
"…You've seen through Bahamut's magic circuits?"
Her expression darkened as she realized this.
Rozen cast a sidelong glance at Bahamut, speaking with mild amusement.
"If I'm not mistaken, that lion's magic circuit isn't space manipulation—it's time manipulation."
Yes.
Time manipulation.
In other words, it was magic capable of manipulating time.
If things like teleportation and spatial distortion fall under the category of space manipulation magic, then Bahamut's magic was clearly time manipulation.
The reason Astrid could appear silently behind her enemies and vanish without a trace elsewhere—was because she had manipulated time, causing it to stop.
This wasn't easy to pull off.
"Compared to space manipulation, time manipulation is far more difficult. To actually pull it off would usually require a grand ritual with hundreds of people."
Rozen marveled aloud, as though analyzing the magical circuits within Bahamut.
"But you managed to make partial time manipulation possible by adding restrictions and limitations to the circuit, didn't you?"
If true time manipulation wasn't achievable, then partial control would suffice.
For example, space manipulation magic refers to all types of magic that freely control space—teleportation, distortion, inversion, etc. But even Magunas's Scythe Cutter and Edmund's Daedalus only implemented single functions; they couldn't perform true omnipotent spatial manipulation.
Bahamut was the same. It could only stop time—it couldn't fast-forward or slow it. That was one of its limitations.
More than that, Bahamut's magic had many other restrictions.
Why was Astrid so obsessed with attacking from behind?
Because she couldn't attack while time was stopped.
Moreover, when time stopped, air ceased to move, making breathing impossible. Even heartbeats and biological functions would temporarily halt. In such a state, Astrid couldn't maintain time stop for long—she had to keep activating it repeatedly.
All these restrictions were what made Bahamut's magic circuit one of time manipulation.
And this was magic even Rozen didn't possess.
Rozen's mind held vast magical knowledge, but aside from some partial understanding, he lacked specialized magic capable of manipulating time.
Time manipulation magic surpassed space manipulation in both level and difficulty. Even after traveling through many worlds, Rozen had never seen magic of this level—at most, some beings like Sadalmelik Albus possessed related abilities.
Now, Astrid had demonstrated time manipulation magic, and it genuinely stirred Rozen's long-dormant excitement.
"If I'm right, this must be a cosmic-truth-class secret art, just like the Gram or the Infinite Chain Reaction."
Rozen's eyes gleamed as he stared at Astrid.
"As a great witch of the Order of the Rose, a senior member of a magical society with over two thousand years of mystery, I imagine you have access to a complete time manipulation magic, don't you?"
If he could obtain it, Rozen would not only control space—but time as well.
Difficult as it may be, that was what made it so worth pursuing.
Therefore…
"If it's now, I'll still allow you to buy your life, Lady Golden Rose."
Rozen spoke words that left everyone around him stunned.
"Buy my life?"
Astrid was enraged.
"You think I need to buy my life?" she shouted. "Don't get too full of yourself, brat!"
Dark miasma surged violently from her body.