"Remodel the space here, and as long as you wanted to, you could appear in any corner of this Underground Great Cavern at any time. So we were playing cat and mouse again."
A Puppeteer's greatest weakness was undoubtedly her actual body.
Once the body died, the Puppets would stop without anyone to control them. But with Aozaki Touko's spatial remodeling technique, her actual body had effectively gained unlimited short-range teleportation.
Unless Aozaki Aoko destroyed the entire Underground Great Cavern in one go, she would never be able to catch her.
As for Mana, she could draw upon the underground Ley Line to solve that problem. What a convenient and shameless tactic.
But it did not matter. Last time, she had relied on the terrain advantage of the Mirror House to defeat Aozaki Touko's Puppet.
Last time, she had been the mouse while the other side played the cat. Reversing their roles this time was not bad either.
Boom—
Explosions rang out from underground, and the tremors even reached the surface. Yet neither of the Aozaki Sisters paid them any attention.
Mount Enzou was already located in the suburbs, and with Tohsaka Rin and Kirei Kotomine having made arrangements, no one would come here in the middle of the night.
That was why the two of them could fight without restraint.
Surely no one would accidentally wander into a place like this in the middle of the night, right?
Their duel was taking place in the Underground Great Cavern, somewhere almost no one would ever visit, but...
Boom—
A deafening roar erupted. The immense Mana collision between the sisters directly blasted a "Skylight" into the Great Cavern, and someone fell through it.
"What if I said I came in by accident?"
By the moonlight, the sisters saw who the newcomer was.
A seventeen-year-old boy, the apprentice of the local Ley Line manager, an apprentice Mage...
"Then you were truly unlucky."
The sisters both turned their gazes toward the boy. He was merely an apprentice Mage, but they had issued warnings beforehand.
If he had entered intentionally, then he intended to interfere in the Aozaki Family's private affairs. If he had entered by accident, then he was simply terribly unfortunate.
A cold, piercing sensation came from behind Fujimaru Kyoya. But the instant he landed here, he had already activated Ghost Brain at full power, so naturally, he would not fall victim to such a sneak attack.
"A Puppet? And... that sword."
Fujimaru Kyoya dodged the attack and saw his attacker clearly. It was an entity without life or thought, so it naturally fell outside the defensive scope of his First Before First.
But he remembered that sword. It looked exactly as it had a thousand years ago. He recognized it without even needing to examine it closely.
Sword of Perpetual Purity. It was the sword that embodied a Knight's untainted courage.
That completely threw Fujimaru Kyoya off. If that sword had been preserved so well, should it not have been lying in some British museum?
How had the Grand Puppeteer gotten her hands on it?
"Aoko, the helper you invited is pretty skilled. His fighting style is a little like yours."
"Touko, he is obviously the helper you invited, right? This is your territory. Could anyone I brought have slipped past you?"
The sisters both looked at each other suspiciously.
I finally trusted you for once, and you bitch made me lose so completely. Damn it.jpg
At that moment, the theme from Gotham Joker was probably playing silently in both sisters' hearts.
This time, they had both come sincerely hoping to resolve the misunderstanding that had plagued them for years. Who would have thought the other would still play dirty? Their tempers flared at once.
"Things had come to this. It seemed there was only one answer."
Both sisters fixed their eyes on Fujimaru Kyoya. If they wanted this sisterly battle to continue, they had to join forces and kill him first. Only then could they earn the other's trust.
In other words... Fujimaru Kyoya's first battle as a Mage was against the Fifth Magus and the Grand Puppeteer.
"I think we could still talk this over."
"Sorry, but this world often does not make sense."
The Aozaki Aoko of the past would indeed have hesitated and struggled over whether to kill someone. She would have needed to find countless excuses before she could truly make a move.
But things were different now.
The Destruction Magic Bullet appeared in her hand. This concerned the Aozaki Family's inheritance; there was no way this could be brushed aside with a laugh.
The Moon Blade Edge beside her also pointed its blade at Fujimaru Kyoya. Even if that Holy Sword could not be released, it was sharp enough on its own.
Both posed a lethal threat to Fujimaru Kyoya.
"This was... truly unfortunate."
Fujimaru Kyoya threw out a gemstone, which immediately erupted with dazzling light. Under the cover of this Gem Flashbang, Fujimaru Kyoya fled.
But where could he possibly go in this Underground Great Cavern?
The Flaw of the Flowing Water Sword
"Touko, was the helper you invited really that good at running?"
Aozaki Aoko watched the figure vanish in a flash. She had always been fairly confident in her stamina, but compared to a real runner, she now realized there was still a vast gap.
"He is your helper."
Aozaki Touko was not worried that Fujimaru Kyoya would escape. This was her territory, and she knew it like the back of her hand.
"Split up. We kill him first, then settle our business?"
"That was our only option now."
Although their grudge had yet to be resolved, whenever the Aozaki Family was involved, the sisters were surprisingly united. But could Fujimaru Kyoya leave?
He was lost?
Fujimaru Kyoya was certainly not directionally challenged, but his sense of direction was only about as good as an ordinary person's.
Mount Enzou was not somewhere he often visited, and this was an Underground Great Cavern known to almost no one in all of Fuyuki City. It was perfectly normal for Fujimaru Kyoya, who had just arrived, to get lost.
To this Underground Great Cavern, Fujimaru Kyoya was an absolute outsider. Meanwhile, Aozaki Touko, the local, had no qualms about fighting unfairly.
Both she and the Moon Blade Edge could teleport through the Great Cavern. With such an overwhelming advantage, killing Fujimaru Kyoya should not take much time.
That was what Aozaki Touko thought, but she quickly discovered her mistake.
"I cannot hit him? Was his perception really that strong?"
Aozaki Touko watched as every attack from her Puppet was evaded. Was that kind of perception really something a high school student in a peaceful era could possess?
Ordinary high school students from peaceful times did not have it, but high school students with cheats did.
Fujimaru Kyoya could not sense the Moon Blade Edge's intent to attack, but as the Puppet's controller, Aozaki Touko would be sensed by him the instant she harbored killing intent.
Combined with Ghost Brain's observational abilities, he could notice even the slightest disturbance nearby in advance. Naturally, the Moon Blade Edge could not strike him.
"Over there?"
Fujimaru Kyoya sensed the source of the murderous intent, but he did not look in that direction, lest he alert the enemy.
Clearly, this was no longer something that could be resolved with a few words. To survive, he needed to prepare 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 Puppeteer's Puppets might be powerful, but once the actual body was restrained, there was nothing they could do, right?
Fujimaru Kyoya clenched a piece of Lapis Lazuli in his hand. At the same time, the Mana within his body surged violently through it, continuously altering its internal structure until it became the form he desired.
Internal reconstruction turned a piece of Lapis Lazuli into a Gem Grenade, and then... he threw it.
Boom—
A tremendous blast engulfed the place where Aozaki Touko had been hiding. But when the smoke cleared, there was no one at the center of the explosion. Instead, the Moon Blade Edge closed in.
"She moved? Mages were really a pain."
After experiencing Sima Yi's countless escape routes, Fujimaru Kyoya was not about to be startled by Aozaki Touko's tricks. The instant danger had arrived, she had evaded through spatial transfer.
Clap—
Fujimaru Kyoya pressed his palms together, catching the blade barehanded and locking it in place against the Moon Blade Edge.
"It seemed you understood it too. Killing me in this place was not realistic."
Aozaki Touko's voice came from every direction, making it impossible to determine her location. Of course, that was meaningless to Fujimaru Kyoya, who could sense murderous intent.
The Moon Blade Edge's body began to transform, becoming a mercury blade that stabbed toward Fujimaru Kyoya, forcing him to immediately create distance.
At present, Fujimaru Kyoya lacked the speed to kill Aozaki Touko in one strike. That meant he could not leave unless he defeated the Puppet before him.
Aozaki Touko could not be certain this Puppet could defeat her younger sister, but dealing with an apprentice Mage who had just started out should be more than...
Bang—
A violent impact interrupted Aozaki Touko's thoughts. The sound came from Fujimaru Kyoya's fist, the tremendous clash between a fist and a Holy Sword.
"A fist? That was impossible..."
"Of course it was impossible. Even with Magecraft reinforcement, a human body could not clash with a weapon on the level of a Holy Sword. But did you know? There were only three places where a sword could hurt someone."
Fujimaru Kyoya poured Mana into his fist and unleashed the Baji Quan personally taught by Kirei Kotomine. With a single punch, he blasted a huge hole through the Moon Blade Edge's chest.
The Moon Blade Edge vanished from where it stood. That punch had dealt considerable damage. Not only had it damaged the Puppet, it had also destroyed one of its defensive Mystic Codes. But for the Moon Blade Edge, repairs would not take long.
"One sword tip and two edges. As long as you were not hurt by those parts, a sword was nothing more than a stick. And your Puppet seemed to use the Flowing Water Sword's style of attack, so it had inherited that style's weakness as well."
Fujimaru Kyoya possessed the memories of his time as Lloyd, so naturally, he had not forgotten the Flowing Water Sword he had once relied upon for survival. Its True Meaning lay in building momentum.
The combat awareness left within that sword was now merely rigid and lifeless. How could a "dead thing" embody the True Meaning of "living water"?
That by-the-book routine only needed to be interrupted at a critical point. Then the flow of momentum could not accumulate, and the sword technique's greatest power would naturally never emerge.
"You were the ones who refused to let me go. This was truly unfortunate."
It was unclear whether Fujimaru Kyoya said that misfortune to himself or to Aozaki Touko hiding in the shadows. Pieces of Lapis Lazuli floated around him, guarding against sneak attacks that could appear at any moment, while he himself charged straight toward Aozaki Touko's hiding place.
As long as she remained hostile toward him, First Before First would detect that thought.
No matter how perfectly Aozaki Touko could merge with the Great Cavern, Fujimaru Kyoya could find her. Just like now.
A sharp blade appeared at Fujimaru Kyoya's side, but he neither dodged nor evaded. Using Iron Mountain Lean, he surged forward against the attack and slammed directly into the Moon Blade Edge. Meanwhile, the Magecraft Aozaki Touko released through Runes from the side was blocked by the pieces of Lapis Lazuli floating in midair.
This was Fujimaru Kyoya's first battle.
He could not hold back in the slightest.
Accumulated Magic Eye
Were apprentice Mages these days all such monsters?
Watching Fujimaru Kyoya match the Moon Blade Edge blow for blow through sheer hand-to-hand combat dealt a tremendous blow to Aozaki Touko's worldview.
It was not as though she had never met an apprentice Mage this formidable before, but that "apprentice Mage" had been her younger sister, Aozaki Aoko, who had inherited the Fifth Magic.
What right did Fujimaru Kyoya have to be mentioned in the same breath as the Aozaki Aoko who had inherited Magic back then?
In truth, Fujimaru Kyoya had to devote considerable attention to dealing with the Moon Blade Edge, and he had no way to stop Aozaki Touko's sneak attacks.
But he had the Gem Floating Cannons. They contained the Mana he ordinarily stored within them, allowing them to fire Mana Beams to attack or form a Barrier at critical moments.
Incidentally, this was a special technique he had realized after staying up late watching Gundam SEED some time ago.
Those old Gundam fans could keep criticizing Gundam SEED for now. Once they saw Commander Orga, they would know they had been wrong.
Of course, his most urgent task was still to deal with the Puppet before him, then escape alive.
Using a Flowing Water Sword True Meaning that surpassed the Moon Blade Edge's, Fujimaru Kyoya continuously prevented the other side from building up its flowing sword momentum. He also kept trying to damage its body and shatter the Mystic Codes within it.
He refused to believe this Puppet did not have a fatal "core."
Of course, a "core" existed. Moon Dew Liquid had been Kayneth's proud creation during his twenties, and Kayneth himself had reached a Color Rank achievement second only to Grand Rank.
It had been mentioned before that the Grand Rank evaluation bestowed by the Mage's Association concerned only one's accomplishments in Magecraft and had no direct relation to a Mage's personal combat ability.
Modern Magecraft was further divided into twelve disciplines. Even if Aozaki Touko's accomplishments surpassed Kayneth's, different fields were like different worlds. Aozaki Touko could not possibly create a Mystic Code identical to Moon Dew Liquid in such a short time.
This Moon Blade Edge indeed had a weakness that would render the Puppet incapable of moving once destroyed. However, Aozaki Touko exploited mercury's properties to continuously shift that "core," making it impossible for Fujimaru Kyoya to destroy it.
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