The Fading Scent of a Miracle

"One regret," Alice Kuonji said, "is that you yourself aren't here."

Still hidden in the old school building, Touko Aozaki bit her lip without saying a word, staring fixedly at Alice Kuonji in the sky through her familiar's eyes.

"I'd wanted to let you and your dog have some fun in this paradise—but what a pity."

"--Can you last until tonight?"

Alice directed those final words at Beo Lugh, her voice brimming with delight.

This was an invitation from the fairy-tale witch, inviting the vessel of a recreated miracle to visit a kingdom that existed for only one night.

KistyLand, the long-abandoned amusement park, had now reclaimed its former appearance.

Neon lights illuminated the night, while raucous music blared from the speakers.

The Ferris wheel began turning again, and laughter rang out from the carousel.

If this had been the great thaumaturgy known as a Reality Marble, it might have been explainable. But clearly, the miracle Alice Kuonji had unleashed was not such a thing.

It was a Mystery deeper and more powerful than so-called Phantasmal Species.

Toy soldiers lined up atop their wooden warhorses. Raising their ridiculous lances, they charged at the golden wolf.

If anyone watching this scene might have found it absurd, then Beo Lugh, the target being besieged, certainly had no leisure to think so.

As the animated amusement park creatures attacked him, Beo Lugh roared and struck back.

He was by no means unable to fight back, but these bizarre beings were not like the fodder Beo could easily crush before.

Gradually, his glossy golden fur became stained with grime. The fantasy of the earth, which should never have been wounded in the modern age, was now injured.

Beo Lugh, who had never felt pain since his birth, was nearly driven mad by the stinging torment of these irritating wounds.

They were not injuries capable of dealing him a fatal blow, but they undoubtedly made him deeply uncomfortable. And instinct told the golden wolf that among these seemingly ridiculous odd creations were beings capable of inflicting a mortal wound upon him...

The enormous lobster model atop the lobster restaurant sign also came to life, swinging its massive claws at Beo.

The giant wolf roared and bit down on the lobster's shell, cracking it open in large fractures but unable to bite through it. The two enormous creatures immediately became entangled in a fierce struggle.

Touko Aozaki's mind was already in chaos. This was completely different from her original plan.

Beo Lugh truly was exceptionally powerful, and modern magi truly could not handle him. But that strength was not absolute.

He had defeated Alice Kuonji in an instant, inflicting tremendous damage. But what neither Touko nor Beo had expected was that Alice Kuonji had two lives.

Back when Touko and Alice had still been friends, she had heard of Alice's witch bloodline.

It traced back to the ancestor of all witch bloodlines: Yumina, the First Magician.

She had been born on the eve of Year Zero, and later found a shortcut to the Root, where she obtained the First Magic.

To Aoko Aozaki, this story was quite similar to how she and Touko's grandfather had obtained Magic: both had found a cave leading to the Root.

Witches outside Yumina's lineage would ultimately fall and degenerate for one reason or another.

The mother of a certain human scum named Beryl was one such being. She had been called the Witch of Filth, and only gave birth to Beryl after falling into humanity.

Within the Department of Botany at the Clock Tower, countless witches had participated in establishing the First Magic. Thus, their essence was that of a species beyond humanity, something evident from Alice's various supernatural abilities.

That wicked old witch had once complained, "I hate that Mainstar, I hate that little girl. Just because they're the direct line of a Magician, they can do whatever they please?"

What she meant was that lineages such as Alice's and that of her good friend, the Witch of Coal, could pass themselves down while preserving their own peculiarities. They had indeed benefited from the bloodline of the First Magician.

Contrary to common understanding, the Third Magic was actually older than the First Magic. It was merely that after the Age of Gods vanished, the Third Magic was not recreated until Justeaze appeared.

Twenty years after the First Magician's birth, however, she obtained the First Magic and restored this world's ability to acquire Ether, allowing Mystery to endure. It could be called the true foundation of the modern thaumaturgical system, and that was precisely the uniqueness of the First Magic.

In the theories of the Mystery world, Ether was known as the "Fifth True Speaking Element," one of the five great recognized attributes of thaumaturgy and the singularity upon which later systems were founded.

Yet Ether differed from the elements of earth, water, wind, and fire. Its essence was something that did not exist in this world, and there was only one person capable of creating such a nonexistent thing: Yumina, the First Magician, who could achieve the "Negation of Nothingness."

While studying at the Clock Tower, Touko had met Alice's good friend, May Lydell Achelott. Her relationship with Alice resembled that of the Aozaki sisters, and both might have been inheritors of the First Magic.

From these scattered scraps of information, Touko pieced together that Alice Kuonji might truly possess some Mystic Code inherited from the "First Magic." But she was unsure of its exact function or how it was used.

And on this sinister night, the Grand Puppeteer encountered the strangest enemy of her life thus far.

Chill light and clouds shrouded the entire amusement park as Beo Lugh fought, enraged and futilely, against an endless horde of enemies.

The golden giant wolf threw back his head and howled, his long, furious cry echoing through the sickly green night.

Look up at the sky, innocent bloodline without supernatural power.

That was a corner of the Demon Heaven, the supreme fantasy.

Separated from the First, it was the greatest fiction in this world—the true form of the so-called "Fragment of One."

Through her familiar's eyes, Touko Aozaki realized that there was no possibility of victory for their side in this battle.

An inverted green skull hung high in the sky, baring a mocking grin at the mortal things below.

The fading scent of a miracle from the First Magic shattered her confidence.

Why had Magic always stood in my way throughout my life?

Touko asked herself this, filled with anger at fate's injustice.

She was also unwilling to accept the loss of things that had once belonged to her, only to leave her behind.

A mere fragment of the "Magic" had already stopped her in her tracks. What would happen when she faced her younger sister, who possessed the complete Magic?

Touko thought despondently that perhaps it was time to let Beo leave...

"Beo—" Touko's voice rang out once more. "Retreat."

"What—?!" Beo Lugh replied in shock. "What kind of joke is this? This doesn't match the terms of the contract—"