Troublesome. A headache.
That was probably how Aozaki Touko felt right now.
If it had only been Fujimaru Kyoya, it would not have mattered. The key was that this was a duel between her and her younger sister. She could not be certain that Fujimaru Kyoya was Aozaki Aoko's ally, but the possibility was far from small.
Aozaki Aoko had visited the local Ley Line's manager. Perhaps she had received some kind of promise then. Now that her Puppet was being tied down by this brat, would she not lose if Aozaki Aoko returned?
Although Fujimaru Kyoya had caused her quite a bit of trouble, Aozaki Touko's target had always been her younger sister. Fujimaru Kyoya had never truly been in her eyes.
"Only one way, then."
Faint blue light surfaced in Touko's eyes. It was her Accumulated Magic Eye, whose ability was rather ordinary—mere enchantment.
Of course, "enchantment" was not quite the right word. "Control" might have been easier to understand.
Although it was just an ordinary Mystic Eye, not even high-ranking among Mystic Eyes, and even required the target to be within her field of vision, she was Aozaki Touko.
She constructed "lenses" within her Mystic Eyes, endlessly reflecting and stacking them to continuously strengthen them. By now, more than twenty lenses had been layered within Aozaki Touko's eyes.
Her Mystic Eyes activated.
At almost the same instant, Fujimaru Kyoya's body halted, as though something had suppressed him, immediately exposing a massive opening.
The opportunity had finally come.
Aozaki Touko was extremely confident in her Mystic Eyes. Even if their original rank was not high, after so many amplifications, the power they unleashed was beyond what ordinary people could resist.
Exposing such a huge opening in a battle like this meant Fujimaru Kyoya's death.
Yeah, right.
After his first simulation ended, Fujimaru Kyoya had drawn the talent Divine Ancestral Regression. It had not only granted him Magic Circuits of exceptional quality and quantity, but also high Magic Resistance.
Under normal circumstances, Fujimaru Kyoya would never have had his movements restricted by a Mystic Eye like this. But since that was the case, he might as well play along.
For the moment, he could not find Moon Blade Edge's weakness. His Mana and stamina were limited too; he could not possibly fight a war of attrition against Aozaki Touko, who had the underground Ley Line at her disposal. Not to mention there was still a Magus wandering nearby.
If this dragged on, he would certainly die. In that case, he might as well take a risk.
Not only had Fujimaru Kyoya's "entire body stiffened," even the circulation of his Mana seemed obstructed. Those "Drone Cannons" also fell to the ground one after another, like scraps without a power source.
This was undoubtedly an opportunity.
Even though Fujimaru Kyoya had deliberately exposed that opening, it still placed him under enormous risk. If he made even one mistake in what came next, he would enter a hopeless situation.
This was Fujimaru Kyoya's sliver of survival in a dead end, and also Aozaki Touko's chance to end the battle quickly. But... Fujimaru Kyoya was smiling.
The thrill of life and death awakened his dormant soul. In that razor-thin moment, with less than a one-percent chance of turning things around, could he seize the instant when Moon Blade Edge's attack was strongest and its defense weakest without True Eye of the Mind?
One percent?
To Fujimaru Kyoya, probability was merely something lacking in "purity." In a real man's eyes, probability was either 100% or 0%.
It was coming.
Because Moon Blade Edge had previously been disrupted by Fujimaru Kyoya, it had not built up even the slightest momentum of flowing water. Now, it could only give everything it had to kill him before he broke free.
This brat had given Aozaki Touko too many surprises.
Even after using her Mystic Eyes to control his movements, she could not be sure of victory. She had to kill him with her strongest strike.
Layers of watery mist began spreading across the Holy Sword, but at the same time, Fujimaru Kyoya intended to turn himself into "water."
He relaxed his muscles, emptied his mind, and turned himself into water untouched by any "force," all so that he could evade and strike in the instant of his opponent's attack.
He could have tried something like this during a simulation, but doing it in reality was more or less courting death. Yet he had no choice left.
The sword fell.
Like a clear stream, the sword swept toward Fujimaru Kyoya. At that instant, he opened his eyes.
Every movement that followed was neither too much nor too little.
He brushed past the blade's edge, his skin nearly torn apart by the sword wind, but he seemed to feel nothing. He simply formed his hand into a blade and locked onto what he had been sensing all along.
Found you.
Bang!
Fujimaru Kyoya punched straight through Moon Blade Edge, gripping its core tightly in his hand with such force that he nearly crushed it.
Red of Crafter
He emptied himself and turned himself into "water," then made every muscle in his body exert force in an instant. This process unleashed tremendous power and speed.
Even in this Underground Great Cavern, Aozaki Touko and Moon Blade Edge could teleport, but as long as Fujimaru Kyoya's speed surpassed her reaction time, that Puppet was nothing more than a wooden post.
The instant Fujimaru Kyoya crushed that puppet, Aozaki Touko's defeat had already been declared.
This did not mean Fujimaru Kyoya had defeated her. Rather, Aozaki Touko had "lost" this fight between sisters.
How could a Grand Puppeteer possibly have only this one method? Leaving aside those shameless "resurrection" methods, she had many means of preserving her life.
Even if the battle continued, she could still try to kill Fujimaru Kyoya. But there was no point anymore.
Aozaki Touko had come here only to defeat her younger sister. This Moon Blade Edge had been adjusted according to all of Aozaki Aoko's data. She had never expected a Magecraft user to erupt with such power in close combat. That misjudgment had led to Moon Blade Edge's destruction, and to her defeat.
Boom!
The wall shattered. The battle between Fujimaru Kyoya and Moon Blade Edge had finally drawn that Magus over. Seeing Fujimaru Kyoya defeat the Puppet, she showed no reaction at all.
That merely proved he was not Touko's ally. But he was not her ally either. He belonged to neither side, yet had entered the battle between the sisters.
Was he coveting the Aozaki Family's Magic?
Aozaki Aoko admitted that it was wrong to judge someone she barely knew like that. Fujimaru Kyoya really might have just passed by and become caught up in this.
But...
"I gave a warning, and you are a Magecraft user as well. No one else can be blamed for this."
Destruction Magic Bullets gave Fujimaru Kyoya almost no time to breathe. Mana poured forth as though it cost nothing; Aozaki Aoko intended to eliminate this Magecraft user.
Yes, a Magecraft user.
If Fujimaru Kyoya had been an ordinary person, Aozaki Aoko might have mercifully spared him. But he was a Magecraft user, so he had to follow a Magecraft user's rules.
"Touko, how long are you going to keep hiding?"
Aozaki Aoko could sense that her sister was nearby, and that sharp, opposing fighting spirit had vanished.
"There really is no need to hide any longer."
Aozaki Touko appeared, slowly lighting a cigarette as though everything before her had nothing to do with her.
She had been fooled again.
Yes, again.
Aozaki Touko's feelings were naturally complicated. After confirming that Fujimaru Kyoya was not her younger sister's companion, she was not pleased at all. Instead, she felt that fate had toyed with her once more.
Back then, everyone had regarded her as a Magus Egg, only for her to become a joke.
Now, the Puppet she had created to defeat her younger sister had been destroyed by some inexplicable brat.
Aozaki Touko naturally still had methods available. Even if she were killed here, she would not truly die. But what was the point?
This time, she had lost. She had lost for no reason at all.
"This isn't like you at all."
Aozaki Aoko could sense her sister's dejection. She utterly hated this dispirited Aozaki Touko. It made her sick, disgusted...
This was not her sister.
"Touko, if you still refuse to pull yourself together, then go die."
Aozaki Aoko could not bear to watch any longer. At the same time, her heart was full of anger. The sisters had finally decided to set aside their prejudices and have a proper fight to resolve their grudge, but now, forget resolving anything—her sister was beginning to lose heart.
Rather than let her sister remain like this, she would rather make her hate her again and reignite her fighting spirit.
Even if they continued fighting for another decade or more, there would still come a day when they reconciled. Their lifespans could afford to wait.
A lethal Magic Bullet shot out, racing toward Aozaki Touko's head. If nothing unexpected happened, Touko would soon become Orange Jam.
Boom!
An explosion rang out, but Aozaki Aoko did not feel that she had hit her target. A figure had carried Aozaki Touko out of the danger zone.
Who else could it have been but Fujimaru Kyoya?
"Now that I've proven I'm not on her side, can we join forces?"
Fujimaru Kyoya had just fought Aozaki Touko to the death, and now he wanted to join forces with her? It was not that Fujimaru Kyoya was magnanimous. He simply had no other choice.
Although he had dealt with Aozaki Touko's Puppet earlier, that did not mean he had defeated Aozaki Touko herself, much less that he could fight Aozaki Aoko, a Magus.
Once Touko died, Aoko would no longer need to honor that promise of "not using Magic."
At that point, Fujimaru Kyoya would have almost no path left but death.
"Join forces? With you, someone who might be trying to steal the Aozaki Family's Magic?"
Aozaki Touko's heart was colder and darker than her younger sister's. How could she not consider the possibility that Fujimaru Kyoya was a bad person?
She, Aozaki Touko, would rather be killed by her younger sister and die in this Underground Great Cavern than join forces with some brat of unknown origin.
"So you're going to admit defeat?"
How could Fujimaru Kyoya fail to recognize that look in someone who had lost all fighting spirit?
"Admit defeat?"
Aozaki Touko muttered to herself. She was not someone afraid of failure, but after being toyed with by fate twice, she had begun to feel lost.
Was Magic not hers alone? Would Heaven not even give her one chance to prove herself?
Boom!
Magic Bullets flew past them one after another, slamming into the walls and producing thunderous explosions.
Was Aozaki Touko going to admit defeat?
"What else can I do if I don't? I still have some things left, but all of them require that Puppet. Without that Puppet..."
"Without that Puppet, you have no way to win?"
Only then did Aozaki Touko clearly see that Fujimaru Kyoya seemed to be holding something in his hand. It was an azure Holy Sword.
Sword of Perpetual Purity.
"To be honest, I know a little about that kind of Flowing Water Sword too."
Coordinating with a Grand Puppeteer was clearly no easy task. With Fujimaru Kyoya's Magecraft attainments, it was basically impossible.
But if they were talking about the Flowing Water Sword, then he was wide awake.
"..."
Aozaki Touko still said nothing. Clearly, she was hesitating and had yet to make up her mind. At that moment, Fujimaru Kyoya recalled a "taboo" Tohsaka Rin had once mentioned.
"Are you already trembling in fear just because you're facing your Magus younger sister? So this is all Red of Crafter amounts to."
"What did you say?"
It was a voice from Hell—resentment, fury, malice... every negative word could have described that voice.
It came from Aozaki Touko's mouth. It was a taboo she could never allow anyone to touch.
Imitating Myself
Red of Crafter. The nickname sounded imposing, but it was a past Aozaki Touko did not wish to mention.
She was neither the "Blue" inherited by her family nor a pure "Red." Instead, she was "Orange," mixed with other colors. It was undoubtedly mockery.
Aozaki Touko had been in an awkward position during that time. Above her was her younger sister, who had mastered Magic; when it came to truly risking their lives, no one wanted to provoke her.
Below her were Magecraft users like Aruba, mere so-called geniuses in ordinary people's eyes.
Aozaki Touko could not obtain Magic, yet she was unwilling to be lumped together with people like Aruba. She could neither rise nor fall, trapped in between.
"Didn't your Master tell you what that name means?"
Aozaki Touko's hand pressed against Fujimaru Kyoya's neck. The Mana about to spill from her fingernails spoke of just how furious she was.
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