Becoming Aozaki Touko's Life

Beside him, Van Fem revealed a gentlemanly smile.

Then, he struck the ground firmly with his cane. The giant humanoid Magic Doll's body lit up with patterns, its aura beginning to surge upward sharply. The doll swung a heavy, powerful punch.

Boom rumble.

A dull roar echoed through the remote, ancient forest.

A straight shockwave carved through the woods, snapping countless trees and sending them flying backward.

A brand-new path suddenly appeared in the forest.

Chapter 24: Hmm... Let's Just Settle This Up Close

"...What an exceptional doll!"

Van Fem sighed in genuine admiration.

The full-force punch from the humanoid Magic Doll just now had definitely struck Suigintou head-on. Yet that was precisely why he was so impressed.

Faced with such a terrifying blow, she had managed to protect herself using only her wings.

Even more unbelievable was that the doll named Suigintou had suffered no real damage.

The kinetic energy carried by her flight had already been transferred to the towering trees along the way.

And finally, to the massive boulder she crashed into on the ground.

"...Maybe you should revise that assessment!"

Hearing those words, Aozaki Touko smiled confidently.

At the same time, deep in the rubble pile in the distance, a flash of red light flickered in Suigintou's eyes. Her black wings suddenly extended and expanded, and a fierce gale blasted the piled stones high into the air.

Suigintou emerged completely unharmed. Aside from her black skirt being slightly disheveled, she bore no other effects whatsoever. On the contrary, her aura had risen by more than a notch.

She walked forward slowly, raised a hand, and reached into the void, pulling out an elegant sword.

Then, her pitch-black wings flapped abruptly. Her petite form turned into a black lightning bolt streaking across the sky, and a jet-black sword light slashed through the sunset glow.

Clang!

The next moment, a wound suddenly appeared on the shoulder of the castle-sized giant doll.

It was a gash about half a meter deep and four to five meters long. If the doll's shell hadn't been so incredibly hard, this single strike would have been enough to sever its arm.

For a normal human, this would have been an instantly fatal wound.

But for a giant doll with an enormous body, it was far from a lethal injury. It wouldn't even hinder its movements.

To put it in perspective, it was like cutting a small slit with a knife.

It stung a little, but it posed no threat to life.

However... no matter how small the wound, if too many accumulated, death would become unavoidable—unless your healing speed outpaced the destruction.

So, in the next instant.

Having scored a hit, Suigintou abruptly turned back. A sharp slash swung out again. Her black wings, like a black dragon, tore and sliced at the giant doll.

This scene... it was practically like death by a thousand cuts.

"...Such incredible flight speed!"

Seeing this, Van Fem frowned and struck the ground hard with his cane.

The next moment, the beleaguered doll's entire body glowed. Layer after layer of barriers wrapped around it. The doll even curled up into a protective ball, leaving its hardest back exposed to Suigintou.

Though it was undignified, it was a necessary move.

To increase the speed of such an enormous body required a massive amount of magical energy.

And just keeping that colossal frame moving already consumed a sea of mana.

Right now, he simply didn't have that much magical power.

Unless... someone was foolish enough to fight him at his home base.

Only then would he have enough mana to draw on.

"Summon your other dolls. Some unwelcome guests will be arriving soon, and I don't want to be watched while I fight."

Seeing the battle reach a stalemate, Aozaki Touko smiled helplessly and summoned all the Rose Maidens from within her Reality Marble into the real world.

Behind her now stood Shinku, Hina Ichigo, KiraKira, Souseiseki, Suiseiseki, and Kankanzaki—each an exquisite Rose Maiden.

"...What a maiden-hearted creation."

Van Fem remarked with a sigh. Only someone who was either an old pervert or a girl with an artistic sense could craft such gorgeous rose dolls.

"..."

Aozaki Touko pursed her lips slightly at that, as if shyly averting her gaze. Her mask felt a little warm, like a bashful, blushing maiden.

"Heh... Being watched like a monkey is unpleasant."

Van Fem seemed to understand and smiled. Then he jabbed his cane into the ground. A pitch-black chaotic color once again shrouded the earth, and one giant Magic Doll after another crawled out from within.

These dolls were not humanoid.

The Three-Headed Golden Lion, the Four-Armed Giant Ape, the Soaring Sky Dragon, the serpent-haired Medusa, the Earth-Lurking Giant Rat, the Wing-Spreading Eagle.

Each one was the size of a castle; each one was an immensely powerful Magic Doll.

It was said that Van Fem, the owner of these Magic Dolls, could topple and conquer an entire nation—truly a testament to how astonishingly formidable he was.

In the distant sky.

The setting sun had fully fallen.

"Boom!!!"

Light suddenly tore through the darkness, as if returning to the Age of Gods, reenacting the battles of myth. Two beings representing the pinnacle of contemporary Dollcraft clashed with abandon.

The breath of the dragon soaring through the heavens collided with Shinku's petals; the giant ape's immense strength wrestled against Hina Ichigo's vines; Medusa's hair turned into countless snakes lunging down at Suigintou.

It was a seven-on-seven battle.

"...It won't be decided anytime soon."

Activating the Three Realms Gene Lock and simulating the battle's progression, Aozaki Touko realized an unfavorable timeline—there was no way to finish the fight before those people arrived to spy on them.

"If that's the case!"

Thinking this, Aozaki Touko let out a soft sigh, then walked with firm steps toward Van Fem. Since she couldn't deal with the Magic Dolls, she would simply deal with the one controlling them.

"...???"

Seeing this, Van Fem was somewhat stunned.

He was a True Ancestor Dead Apostle, possessing an immensely powerful physique—something that could not be bridged by mere Reinforcement Magic.

Did this... girl not understand that?

Chapter 25: Holding My Wife Tight

Group: 4⑧87④97⑨9

The full moon hung in the sky.

Silver moonlight fell from the heavens, reflecting upon the falling snowflakes.

At this moment, Van Fem stood alone on the scarred battlefield, looking up at the moon radiating its clear light, his expression silent and wordless.

The result of the battle had been decided not long ago.

He had lost to an underage girl. Though he had long predicted that he would one day be surpassed by Aozaki Touko, that should have only happened after she inherited the Fifth Magic.

Yet, in reality, he had lost without any suspense.

"...What kind of Magic is this!"

Murmuring to himself, Van Fem raised a hand to touch his face. The pain from the punch Aozaki Touko had landed on him still faintly lingered on his skin. It was a force surpassing that of a True Ancestor Dead Apostle, shattering his hardest skull in a single blow.

If not for his extraordinary regenerative abilities as a True Ancestor Dead Apostle, that strike would have resulted in death.

However, if it were only that, he believed he still had a great chance of victory.

Even if a human body could unleash immense strength, its recovery could never match that of a Dead Apostle. If the battle dragged on, he could wear Aozaki Touko down.

—That was how it should have been.

But in truth, the battle process was bizarre.

All his movements seemed to be predicted in advance. No matter how he tried to attack, she would easily dodge, and even use his momentum to inflict even greater damage on him.

It was as if... this girl could see the future.

"...Looks like you lost."

A haughty and malicious female voice rang out. Narubaleck approached from afar, looking at the clearly unsettled Van Fem with a delighted smile, as if she were a villain feeding on others' misfortune.

"..."

Hearing this, Van Fem snapped back to reality. He watched Narubaleck lead a group of people toward him, his expression turning unpleasant. It was obvious he wanted nothing to do with these people.

The woman leading them was the head of the Holy Church's Gravekeepers.

Every member within was a formidable and troublesome individual, and they harbored clear hostility toward Vampire Species like Dead Apostles and True Ancestors.

Though there were oddities among their ranks, like the True Ancestor Dead Apostle 'Merlin Solomon.'

But for Van Fem, a Dead Apostle himself, there was certainly nothing to be happy about—after all, they showed no mercy when killing Dead Apostles.

"Yes, I lost this battle!"

Van Fem frankly admitted the fact.

"Oh... it seems that girl is quite something!"

Hearing this answer, Narubaleck paused briefly, then showed an intrigued smile. She was very curious about the girl who had defeated a True Ancestor Dead Apostle.

After all, as far as she knew, this girl had not yet inherited the Magic Crest.

Without the accumulated experience, spells, and knowledge passed down from her ancestors, relying solely on her own talent to reach such a level—her genius was simply overwhelming.

"She... will surely become a great figure recorded in history!"

Van Fem declared with certainty: "Not only in the path of magecraft, but also in science—she will become something extraordinary."

After this battle, he became even more certain of his conviction.

The existence known as Aozaki Touko would undoubtedly go down in history as a great figure.

Just like the greats who had driven progress in eras past.

"Ha... saying it so seriously~"

Narubaleck tilted her head, flashing a malicious grin: "Did you get hit too hard on the head, or are you just afraid of losing face, that you're puffing up that girl like this?"

"Whether it's true or not, you'll know once you've surveyed the battlefield!"

Van Fem shook his head and turned to leave the battlefield.

He wasn't particularly worried about 'Narubaleck' attacking him, because he and the Holy Church had always maintained a relatively harmonious relationship—they even had business dealings with each other.

If he were to die, the Holy Church would also suffer economic losses.

"...Interesting."

Narubaleck watched the departing Van Fem with a faint murderous intent, then flashed a malicious grin and turned to the Executors who had followed her:

"Reconstruct the battle information for me. I want to see what kind of fight this really was—hopefully a spectacular one!"

With that, she turned and left the battlefield.

"..."

Seeing this, the remaining Executors exchanged wry smiles, then began dividing up the work, trying to reconstruct the battle and make a rough assessment of the power levels of both Aozaki Touko and Van Fem.

Not long after the Executors began their work, magicians from afar arrived one after another, drawn by the news, and started using magical means to reconstruct the battle process. They all wanted to know what kind of extraordinary talent this heir to the Magic User possessed.