The Golden Beast

As the cat-shaped sapphire pendant left Alice Kuonji's palm, it instantly sank into the ground as though falling into water.

High diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle...

Alice chanted the nursery rhyme and walked deeper into KistyLand.

The amusement rides of old had long since rusted away and fallen into disrepair.

The starlings circled around her, fluttering their wings as they diligently watched for anything unusual in the surroundings for their master.

The cow jumped over the moon, the little dog laughed...

There were no longer any lights in the abandoned amusement park. Or rather, the witch of fairy tales had devoured even the last remnants of twilight, thoroughly turning this territory into a banquet of night—her own private playground.

Normally, no matter what rank the invading magus held, being trapped in such an environment would put them at an absolute disadvantage. That was an indisputable fact.

Yet because of her friend's warning, Alice was especially cautious tonight.

She had brought all of her combat-type PLOYs and had remained on high alert from the very beginning.

To see such craft, and the dish ran away with the spoon...

"My tummy's rumbling!" "Should we eat it all up?"

"Where is the guest?" "Should we eat the guest?"

Two strange little pigs emerged from Alice's shadow. Their toy-like appearances were somewhat comical, yet the words they spoke sent chills down one's spine.

"Go deeper!" "Come on, come on!"

The twin piglets urged their mistress to move faster, but Alice remained unmoved, maintaining her own pace.

"Get the dice ready! Get the dice ready!"

"Don't ever roll a six!"

A strange premonition suddenly entered Alice's mind. She raised a brow and, in an instant, released the Rose Hounds she carried with her.

At some point, the starlings serving as her outer scouts had vanished. Clearly, the enemy was not far from her.

Though the hounds only resembled dogs in appearance, they could perform a dog's duties perfectly well. For example, these canine monsters made of dense mist were now snorting as they scented the air.

What emerged from the darkness were countless eyes glowing red.

Or rather, they were artificial components on puppets that were called eyes.

Alice narrowed her eyes and carefully examined the enemies emerging from the darkness. They were very similar to the puppets she had encountered before.

They had human bodies, yet crawled low to the ground like many-legged insects. They had nimble fingers, yet those fingers were fitted with clumsy blades.

Touko was getting impatient.

Alice snorted coldly. The Rose Hounds around her opened their bloody maws and drifted forward.

Physical attacks normally had absolutely no effect on these monsters of mist. But if any part of one's body was eaten by them, it could never be recovered.

The crawling puppets charged at Alice without fear. Yet one of the Rose Hounds easily bit down on a puppet's head, crushing it with a crack into a useless heap of parts.

Just as the Rose Hounds were disappointed by this prey, more red lights lit up in the darkness around Alice.

At least thirty puppets similar to the previous one surrounded Alice. Though they could not compare to the Rose Hounds in combat strength, these bizarre puppets held an absolute advantage in numbers.

Alice Kuonji was a powerful witch, without question. But her strength was built upon her PLOYs. Her own physical ability was extremely poor—something even Aoko, her housemate, had mocked more than once.

In other words, if even one of these puppets broke free from the twins and hounds and reached Alice's side, it would mean Alice Kuonji's defeat. After all, Alice's Mystic Eyes could not affect puppets, inorganic creations that they were.

Still, to be safe, Alice activated her Mystic Eyes. Her left eye emitted the same red glow as the puppets.

Touko's puppets charged.

The reason for putting it that way was that Touko's puppets completely ignored the Rose Hounds' attacks. Or rather, since they could not harm the Rose Hounds at all, they simply targeted the girl standing in the center.

The puppets' strategy was to sacrifice some of their companions and let the rest rush toward Alice.

It was a very wise strategy, showing that a magus was indeed controlling them from behind the scenes. Yet Alice's Rose Hounds killed with terrifying efficiency. Their huge maws, brimming with sharp fangs, could destroy a puppet in an instant amid a burst of mist.

At this rate, even thirty puppets would find it difficult to approach the girl, let alone with the twins still guarding her side.

Just as Alice thought the puppets were about to be dealt with, something unexpected happened.

Whether they were puppets still moving or wreckage already shattered into parts across the ground, they all rose into the air.

Dense runic letters suddenly appeared over their bodies—the so-called Runic magecraft.

Alice made her decision at once and immediately summoned the two Rose Hounds nearest her. Thick mist formed a shield, firmly protecting her within.

Then, the remaining puppets and puppet wreckage emitted intense light and heat, using every last bit of mana in their bodies as fuel and releasing it all at once.

They self-destructed.

The thunderous explosions surrounded Alice. Components from the puppets' bodies became lethal shrapnel, scattering in all directions with the blasts and raining death upon their enemy.

Had Alice Kuonji not deployed the Banquet of Night, this assault would have been lethal. But in the world of magecraft, the rank of Mystery was always the best means of suppressing an opponent's methods, and Alice Kuonji's PLOYs were exceptional even among them.

The Mystery contained within the damage caused by the puppets' self-destruction was far below that of the Banquet of Night enveloping the surroundings, as well as the Rose Hounds that could only be activated within this environment.

Thus, aside from startling Alice slightly, the wave of shrapnel caused her no harm at all.

Just as Alice Kuonji warily scanned her surroundings, a golden shadow silently approached her.

The shadow had pure golden fur that shimmered faintly. Its form seemed fluid, and in an instant, it passed through the Rose Hounds' encirclement and arrived at Alice Kuonji's side.

"What...?!"

Alice had not been mentally prepared for such a sudden turn of events, but she still made the best choice.

Alice immediately transformed all her remaining Rose Hounds into shields of mist while ordering the twins to attack the golden beast before her.

However, the golden beast revealed a sinister smile, and only then did Alice see clearly that it was an enormous wolf of gold.

It possessed the most perfect form, a golden beast too beautiful to behold. It was neither demon nor phantasm, but a true sacred being.

Alice Kuonji, inheritor of ancient Mystery, immediately understood the essence of this golden wolf. It was a lifeform from the Age of Gods, long extinct—a miracle reborn upon this land. So long as she remained a magus, victory was absolutely impossible.