Hero Simulator in Type-Moon, Chapter 44

"To remodel the space here—as long as you're willing, you can appear at any corner of this great cavern at any time. The cat-and-mouse game begins again."

The greatest weakness of a puppeteer is undoubtedly the original body.

Once the original body dies, the puppets stop moving without a master. But Aozaki Touko's spatial remodeling technique directly grants her original body unlimited short-range teleportation within this area.

Unless Aozaki Aoko destroys the entire great cavern in one go, she'll never catch her.

As for the mana issue, the underground Ley Line solves that. A truly convenient and shameless tactic.

But it doesn't matter. Last time, she used the terrain advantage of the Mirror House to beat Aozaki Touko's puppets.

Last time she was the mouse and the other was the cat. This time, the reverse isn't bad either.

"Boom~"

Explosions rang out from underground, the tremors reaching even the surface. But the Aozaki Sisters no longer paid them any mind.

Mount Enzou was already a suburb, and with Tohsaka Rin and Kirei Kotomine's arrangements, no one would come here in the dead of night.

That was the reason they could fight without restraint.

It wasn't like someone would accidentally wander into a place like this at midnight, right?

Their duel was in the Underground Great Cavern, a place almost no one ever visited. But...

"Boom~"

A massive roar echoed as the sisters' colossal mana collision directly blasted a "Skylight" into the great cavern. At that moment, a figure fell through that Skylight.

"What if I say I came in by accident?"

Under the moonlight, both sisters recognized the intruder.

A seventeen-year-old boy, the apprentice of the local Ley Line manager, a trainee Magus...

"Then you're incredibly unlucky."

Both sisters fixed their gazes on the boy. Though he was just a trainee Magus, they had issued warnings beforehand.

If he entered here intentionally, he was meddling in the Aozaki Family's affairs. If he entered by accident, then he was truly unfortunate.

A cold, stabbing sensation came from behind Fujimaru Kyoya, but he had already activated his "Ghost Brain" at full power the moment he landed. Naturally, he wouldn't be caught off guard by such a sneak attack.

"A puppet? And... that sword."

Fujimaru Kyoya dodged the attack and saw his enemy clearly—a lifeless, mindless individual, naturally outside the defense range of his "First Before First."

But he remembered that sword. It was exactly the same as a thousand years ago. He recognized it without even looking closely.

The Sword of Perpetual Purity—a blade representing a Knight's pure courage.

This threw Fujimaru Kyoya off. If that sword had been preserved so well, shouldn't it be lying in a British museum?

How did the Grand Puppeteer get her hands on it?

"Aoko, the helper you brought has decent skills. His fighting style is a bit like yours."

"Touko, that's clearly your helper, right? This is your territory. Could the people I brought really slip past you?"

Both sisters looked at each other with suspicion.

Finally being sincere with you for once, and you, you bitch, make me lose this badly. Fuck.jpg

At this moment, both sisters were probably silently playing Gotham Joker in their minds.

This time, they had both come with genuine intent to resolve the long-standing misunderstanding between them. But the other side was still playing dirty. Now their tempers flared.

"Things have come to this. There's only one answer left."

Both sisters locked onto Fujimaru Kyoya at the same time. For this sisterly showdown to continue, they would have to join forces and kill Fujimaru Kyoya to earn each other's trust.

In other words... Fujimaru Kyoya's first battle as a Magus would be against the Fifth Magus and the Grand Puppeteer.

"I think we can still talk this over."

"Sorry, but the world often doesn't run on reason."

If it were the Aozaki Aoko of years past, she would have hesitated over whether to kill someone, agonized, and needed countless excuses before she could truly take a life.

Not anymore.

A destructive Magic Bullet appeared in her hand. When it came to the Aozaki Family's legacy, this was no laughing matter.

Beside her, the Moon Blade Edge also pointed its blade at Fujimaru Kyoya. Even if that Holy Sword couldn't be unleashed, it was sharp enough on its own.

Both posed a lethal threat to Fujimaru Kyoya.

"This is... really unfortunate."

Fujimaru Kyoya threw a gem, which erupted with blinding light. Taking cover behind the "Gem Flashbang," he fled.

But in this Underground Great Cavern, where could he go?

Chapter 78: The Flaw of the Flowing Water Sword

"Touko, can the helper you hired really run this fast?"

Aozaki Aoko watched the figure vanish in an instant. She had always been fairly confident in her own stamina, but now she realized there was still a massive gap between her and a true runner.

"That should be your ally."

Aozaki Touko wasn't worried about Fujimaru Kyoya escaping—this was her territory, and she knew it like the back of her hand.

"Split up, kill him, then settle our business?"

"That's the only option for now."

Though their grudge remained unresolved, the two sisters were surprisingly united when it came to matters involving the Aozaki Family. But could Fujimaru Kyoya actually leave?

Got lost?

Fujimaru Kyoya wasn't directionally challenged, but his sense of direction was only average.

Mount Enzou wasn't a place he frequented, and this Underground Great Cavern was something few in all of Fuyuki City even knew existed. As a first-time visitor, it was only natural for Fujimaru Kyoya to get lost.

To this Underground Great Cavern, Fujimaru Kyoya was a complete "outsider," while Aozaki Touko, as a "local," had little martial virtue to speak of.

She and Moon Blade Edge could teleport within the cavern, and with such a massive advantage, killing Fujimaru Kyoya shouldn't take much time.

That was what Aozaki Touko thought, but she soon realized her mistake.

"Can't hit him? Is this guy's perception really that strong?"

Aozaki Touko watched as her puppet's every attack was dodged. Was this kind of perception really something a high school student from a peaceful era could possess?

A peaceful-era high school student couldn't, but a cheater high school student could.

Though Fujimaru Kyoya couldn't sense Moon Blade Edge's attack intent, Aozaki Touko, as the puppet's controller, triggered his perception the moment her killing intent stirred.

Combined with Ghost Brain's observational power, he could detect even the slightest disturbance nearby, making it impossible for Moon Blade Edge to land a hit.

"Over there?"

Fujimaru Kyoya sensed the source of the killing intent but didn't look in that direction to avoid alerting his prey.

Clearly, this couldn't be resolved with a few words anymore. To survive, he had to steel himself to kill—not in a simulation, but in reality.

Fujimaru Kyoya pretended to flee in panic, but in truth, he was spiraling closer to Aozaki Touko.

A puppet master's puppets might be strong, but once the master herself was restrained, there was nothing she could do.

A Lapis Lazuli was pinched in Fujimaru Kyoya's hand as his Mana violently flooded into it, altering its internal structure into the form he desired.

Internal reconstruction—turning a Lapis Lazuli into a Gem Grenade, then... throwing it.

"Boom~"

A thunderous roar echoed as Aozaki Touko's hiding spot was engulfed in the explosion. But when the smoke cleared, the blast's center was empty, and Moon Blade Edge was closing in.

"Teleported? Magi really are annoying."

Having experienced Sima Yi's cunning escapes, Fujimaru Kyoya wasn't startled by Aozaki Touko's tricks. The moment danger arrived, she had dodged via spatial transfer.

"Slap~"

Fujimaru Kyoya clapped his hands together, catching the blade in a bare-handed block, locking Moon Blade Edge in a stalemate.

"It seems you've realized that killing me here isn't practical."

Aozaki Touko's voice came from all directions, making her location impossible to pinpoint—though that was meaningless to Fujimaru Kyoya, who could sense killing intent.

Moon Blade Edge's body began to shift, turning into mercury blades stabbing toward Fujimaru Kyoya, forcing him to create distance.

As he was now, Fujimaru Kyoya lacked the speed to kill Aozaki Touko in one go. In other words, unless he defeated this puppet, he couldn't leave.

Aozaki Touko couldn't be sure this puppet could beat her sister, but dealing with a fledgling apprentice magus was more than...

"Bam~"

A massive shockwave interrupted Aozaki Touko's thoughts. The sound came from Fujimaru Kyoya's fist—the clash of a fist against a Holy Sword.

"A fist? That's impossible..."

"Of course it's impossible. Even with magical reinforcement, human flesh can't clash with a weapon on the level of a Holy Sword. But you know what? A sword only has three places that can hurt a person."

Fujimaru Kyoya channeled Mana into his fist, and with Kirei Kotomine's personally taught Baji Quan, a single punch blasted a hole through Moon Blade Edge's chest.

Moon Blade Edge vanished on the spot. The punch dealt significant damage, not only harming the puppet but also destroying one of its defensive Mystic Codes. Repairing it, however, wouldn't take long for Moon Blade Edge.

"One tip, two edges. As long as you avoid those, a sword is just a stick. And your puppet seems to use the Flowing Water Sword's attack style, so it inherits that style's flaws."

Fujimaru Kyoya still carried memories from his time as Lloyd, so he couldn't forget the Flowing Water Sword he had relied on to survive. Its true essence lay in building momentum.

The combat awareness lingering in that sword now was nothing but rigid—how could a "dead thing" interpret the true meaning of "living water"?

A rote, formulaic routine could be broken at key junctures, preventing the flow from building, and thus the sword technique's peak power would never manifest.

"You're the ones who won't let me go. What a misfortune."

Whether this "misfortune" was said to himself or to Aozaki Touko hiding in the shadows was unclear. Lapis Lazuli stones floated around Fujimaru Kyoya, forming a defense against any surprise attacks, as he charged straight for Aozaki Touko's hiding spot.

As long as she held hostility toward him, that intent would be detected by "First Before First."

No matter how perfectly Aozaki Touko merged with this cavern, Fujimaru Kyoya could find her—like now.

A sharp blade edge appeared at Fujimaru Kyoya's side, but he didn't dodge. Instead, he used Iron Mountain Lean to charge against the momentum, slamming into Moon Blade Edge. Meanwhile, the magic Aozaki Touko released with Runes from her hiding spot was blocked by the floating Lapis Lazuli stones.

This was Fujimaru Kyoya's first real battle.

He couldn't afford to hold back in the slightest.

Chapter 79: Accumulated Magic Eye

Were all apprentice mages these days this monstrous?

Watching Fujimaru Kyoya go toe-to-toe with the Moon Blade Edge using nothing but pure hand-to-hand combat sent a massive shockwave through Aozaki Touko's worldview.

It wasn't that she had never encountered an apprentice mage this formidable before—but that "apprentice mage" had been her own sister, Aozaki Aoko, the inheritor of the Fifth Magic.

What right did Fujimaru Kyoya have to be compared to Aoko, who had already inherited a True Magic at that time?

In truth, dealing with the Moon Blade Edge did require a great deal of Fujimaru Kyoya's focus, and he had no way to block Aozaki Touko's sneak attacks.

However, with the "Gem Floating Cannon" at his disposal—which stored mana he had accumulated in his daily life—he could fire Mana Beams at critical moments for offense or to form barriers.

As a side note, this was a technique he had realized after staying up late watching Gundam SEED a while back.

Right now, those old-school Gundam fans were nitpicking Gundam SEED, but just wait until they saw Captain Orga—then they'd know they were wrong.

Of course, the immediate priority was to deal with the puppet before him and then escape with his life.

Fujimaru Kyoya, using the True Meaning of Flowing Water that surpassed even the Moon Blade Edge, continuously disrupted the formation of its flowing sword stance. He also tried repeatedly to damage its body and shatter the Mystic Codes embedded within.

He refused to believe this puppet didn't have a fatal "core."

A "core" did exist. As Kayneth's masterpiece from his twenties, the Moon Dew Liquid had earned its creator the Color Rank, second only to the Grand Rank.

As mentioned before, the Mage's Association's Grand Rank assessment only concerned one's mastery of magecraft and had no direct relation to a mage's combat ability.

Moreover, modern magecraft was divided into twelve disciplines. Even if Aozaki Touko's achievements surpassed Kayneth's, different fields were like different mountains. Touko could not possibly replicate an identical Mystic Code to the Moon Dew Liquid in such a short time.

This Moon Blade Edge did indeed have a vital point that, once destroyed, would render the puppet immobile. However, Aozaki Touko used the properties of mercury to constantly shift this "core," preventing Fujimaru Kyoya from destroying it.