Aozaki Touko smiled faintly at this sight, then followed with elegant steps.
To be honest, this was her first true battle to the death. She was not facing an opponent far weaker than herself, nor did she have any support or protection.
She was facing a miracle left over from the Age of Gods alone.
Her heart began to beat faster, and a searing sensation spread throughout her body.
Killing intent.
She cast aside all negative emotions, and her surging fighting spirit filled her entire body and mind.
The wind-attribute magical energy within her circulated, stirring the air into ripples.
--
Outside the forest
The Golden Wolf stopped and turned to look at the woman following her. Her eyes had completely turned cold. She did not know whether this woman had lost her mind and was unable to gauge the difference in strength between them.
But now that she had followed her here, there was no turning back!
"...Is this the place?"
Aozaki Touko stopped and surveyed her surroundings. It was a flat clearing roughly a dozen meters wide, surrounded by ancient trees that towered dozens of meters high. Thick layers of leaves covered the ground.
"I won't eat you!"
The Golden Wolf's gaze was cold. She dug her four limbs into the ground, then shot through the air like a streak of light. In the blink of an eye, she arrived in front of Aozaki Touko, her sharp fangs about to kiss that fair neck.
At that instant, Aozaki Touko suddenly moved.
As if she had foreseen the Golden Wolf's movements, she casually shifted to the side. The wolf's jaws, which had been about to bite her, brushed past her body, narrowly missing.
"...You actually dodged it!"
The Golden Wolf landed on all fours and scraped four marks across the ground. Fallen leaves flew into the air from the impact as she turned to look at Aozaki Touko, her expression filled with astonishment.
By all rights, given the weakness of the human body,
it should have been absolutely impossible to dodge.
But this definitely had not been a lucky escape.
She had seen it clearly. That woman had remained calm from beginning to end.
She had simply avoided the Golden Wolf's pounce as though it were only natural.
"Third Stage, Thought Simulation!"
As if answering the Golden Wolf's confusion, Aozaki Touko raised her slender finger and pointed at her head. She explained, "It unlocks the brain's computational power and uses simulated personalities to predict your next move!"
"Thanks to the purity of your thoughts, you're not difficult to simulate!"
This was the result of her time with the Einzbern Family. Through special magecraft, she had strengthened her brain and greatly increased its processing ability, allowing her to divide her thoughts, simulate personalities, predict the future, and accomplish all sorts of incredible feats.
That moment when she had seemingly foreseen the future and dodged had actually been achieved by constructing a model of the Golden Wolf's cognition through their brief conversation.
Then, she had simulated and sensed the other party's mental activity to predict the Golden Wolf's next move.
Chapter Thirteen: Beating a Phantasmal Beast with Her Bare Hands
"..."
The Golden Wolf's gaze grew increasingly fierce, and her golden wolf body lowered slightly.
Even if her movement patterns had been deduced, as long as her strength was sufficient, so-called techniques were meaningless. That was because she could kill her before her body had time to react.
A golden streak of light shot through the air once more.
This time, her speed was impossible to describe.
If she had to make an analogy, it was like a human facing a bullet leaving the barrel.
Even if one knew the other party had fired, one would still be unable to dodge.
Because it was simply too fast!
"Bang!!!"
The sound of a body slamming into the ground rang out.
An unbelievable scene occurred. The pouncing Golden Wolf seemed to have thrown herself into Aozaki Touko's grasp. Having prepared in advance, Aozaki Touko seized her by the neck and one foreleg, then used her momentum to throw the Golden Wolf over her shoulder.
The Golden Wolf crashed heavily into the ground. The earth caved in, and the thick layer of leaves piled upon it was blasted into the sky, fluttering down like golden snow.
"Second Stage, Power Release!"
Aozaki Touko looked down at the Golden Wolf. "It unlocks the strength of the human body and grants terrifying power beyond belief. I could even crush a diamond with my bare hands!"
"Don't... mistake me for some weak little girl!"
After the second-stage release, the strength of her body itself was already no weaker than that of the finest martial arts masters. Although she had used magecraft to unlock her physical strength, the attack she had unleashed was undoubtedly an explosion of pure physical power.
Her current state was like a vessel filled with water. Although the power inside came from magecraft, what showed on the outside was the vessel itself—in other words, the strength of her body.
Thus, she could bypass the suppression brought about by the Golden Wolf's Age of Gods mystery.
"..."
The Golden Wolf climbed to her feet, intense pain spreading throughout her body.
The sensation was strange and unfamiliar, even frightening and incomprehensible.
In short... the emotions surging in her heart were strange.
She was a flawless creature. Ever since she had gained awareness... no, ever since the moment she had been born, she had known that she was "one of the strongest creatures."
And yet, just now,
she had been knocked flat by a girl.
It was an unbelievable sight.
A magus with an extremely poor affinity against her.
The mystery possessed by humans should have been insignificant to her.
Yet that magus had actually beaten her down with her bare hands!
"...How... could this be?!"
Looking at the smiling woman,
the Golden Wolf found it difficult to believe. Yet she realized one thing.
This woman... no, she should be called an "anomaly."
She could kill her!
"...So? Are you going to admit defeat?"
Aozaki Touko lifted her head and looked at the frightened Golden Wolf, revealing a gentle smile.
The so-called Golden Wolf was actually nothing more than an immature child. Whether in her previous life or after witnessing it with her own eyes now, she had confirmed this without exception.
Toward a child, she chose to respond with gentleness.
"..."
The Golden Wolf recovered from her fear and looked at the woman with the gentle smile.
Her aching body suddenly felt fine again—or rather, it had actually healed long ago.
The pain left behind earlier had merely been the remnants of fear!
However, the moment she saw the woman's smile, she understood one thing:
This woman would not kill her. She was not an enemy.
"...I lost!"
The Golden Wolf was silent for a while before decisively admitting defeat.
She had undoubtedly lost. The moment her moves had been seen through and that woman had thrown her to the ground, the fact that she no longer had any hope of victory had already been confirmed.
"Beo... you'll be glad of this someday!"
Aozaki Touko smiled with satisfaction, then turned serious.
"Then it's time to form the contract!"
She reached out and stroked the Golden Beast's forehead, imprinting her crest upon her. Throughout the process, the Golden Wolf offered no resistance, and the contract was completed with ease!
"...Touko, you called me Beo. Is that a name you gave me?"
Beo touched her forehead and asked curiously.
She did not particularly care about names, but since it was the title her master would use for her from now on,
she had to pay a little attention to it!
"Mm... I'll call you that from now on!"
Aozaki Touko looked up at the towering Beo and said, "But, Beo, you should be able to transform into human form, right?!"
"Yes!"
Beo obediently nodded.
Then she transformed into Aozaki Touko's appearance.
"...Don't copy me."
Aozaki Touko's mouth twitched at the sight.
To be honest, Beo's transformation ability was quite impressive. It even gave her the feeling that she was looking into a mirror.
But she could not feel happy about it...
"...Okay!"
Beo was slightly stunned by this. After thinking for a moment,
her body changed again, becoming a delicate little girl with golden hair and green eyes.
"Is this all right?"
She tilted her head up, an inquiring expression on her face.
"Mm... not bad!"
Chapter Fourteen: She Gave Far Too Much
The blazing sun hung high in the sky.
Inside Werewolf Village.
Cooking smoke rose gently, and the aroma of roasted meat filled the air.
The werewolves were eating lunch and discussing how miserably the woman who had challenged the Golden Wolf Sorceress must have died by now. They had never even considered the possibility of her winning. In their eyes, the female magus was already a dead woman!
There was no need to pay her much attention. She was merely a topic for conversation after the meal.
As for an accident, that was impossible as well.
Because her opponent... was the Golden Beast, which possessed the mystery of the Age of Gods!
An existence modern magi could never hope to oppose.
"Mm... It smells wonderful, doesn't it?"
Suddenly, a girl's smiling voice rang out.
The werewolves in the village abruptly turned their heads. The female magus who should have already become a corpse was now walking toward them with a golden-haired, green-eyed little girl.
She was unharmed. Her clothes were not even disheveled, and her breathing was steady.
Could it be... that this female magus had not fought the Golden Wolf at all?
The thought suddenly surfaced in the werewolves' minds!
Before you continue