The Mantis and the Oriole

At the crucial moment, the cheat was still reliable. But for a spell constructed from this unknown magical energy to actually harm a Phantasmal Species was truly unbelievable.

Looking down at Beowulf, who was curled up before him with all his dreams shattered, Michael grinned. His right arm hung limply behind his back. He had merely drawn upon a trace of the special magical energy condensed according to the knowledge within the starlight, yet it had completely crippled his right arm.

Even with a Dead Apostle's formidable regenerative abilities, it would take quite a while to recover. But with the biggest nuisance dealt with, the battle on Aoko and Alice's side was no longer in doubt.

The demon-breaking dagger sliced through Tōko Aozaki's delicate skin, but the growing resistance soon lodged it within. Setting aside its demon-breaking property, its sharpness was no different from an ordinary blade. Naturally, it could not cut through whatever lay inside "Tōko Aozaki."

"This is... a puppet...?!"

Before Aozaki Aoko's horrified eyes, "Tōko Aozaki" moved. The magical disguise covering her surface vanished, and her elongated right arm struck like a hunting venomous snake, biting into Aoko's flank with lightning speed.

The brief suffocation and nausea were drowned out by searing pain. Aozaki Aoko's body trembled uncontrollably. The backlash from her Mage Circuits left her almost unable to think, and she collapsed helplessly before "Tōko Aozaki."

"Aoko—!"

Alice Kuonji cried out, but having lost her powerful Familiar, her combat strength had plummeted. As she threw out the last Cat Bell on her person, she also hurled the two dice in her hand.

After fighting "Tōko Aozaki" for so long, she had failed to realize it was a puppet. If only she had noticed sooner...

There was no time for regret. Two little pigs bounced toward the puppet wearing Tōko Aozaki's appearance, only to abruptly freeze in midair.

"Mystic Eyes! How did she attach the power of Mystic Eyes to a puppet?!"

On a distant hill, Tōko Aozaki coolly exhaled a smoke ring. Through the puppet's eyes, she took in the entire battlefield. Beowulf's defeat had been beyond her expectations, but overall, the plan was still proceeding smoothly.

All three of them were tied down now, and no matter how hard they racked their brains, they would never guess her true objective.

Looking at the Western-style mansion before her, Tōko Aozaki's smile deepened. In her vision, layers upon layers of barriers enveloped it. The dazzling aura of mystery made it resemble a blazing sun. Breaking it through external force alone was impossible; even Beowulf could not manage it. After all, this was the sanctuary that great witch had painstakingly built for her daughter.

But just because she could not do it did not mean no one else could. Tōko Aozaki would never have devised this battle plan without complete confidence.

"I'll leave the rest to you."

As she spoke, a youth dressed in white ceremonial robes slowly stepped out of the darkness, the ten rings on his fingers reflecting the soft moonlight.

"The mansion's barrier... has been shattered..."

Alice Kuonji's heart sank violently. She stared blankly toward the mansion, utterly at a loss.

"How could this be? How could this be? Mother left it behind... How could it be broken?!"

"Alice?"

Michael hurled Golden Wolf Beowulf at Tōko Aozaki's puppet, sending it flying, then reverted from his beastly form to human shape. Feeling the depletion of magical energy and exhaustion within him, he could not help drawing in a sharp breath.

Only with the anchor supplying an endless stream of magical energy had he been able to perform Self-Modification on his body. But the barrier that had covered the entire city had suddenly shattered and been replaced by a new one.

Having lost his source of magical energy, Michael was forced to stop and return to his usual power-saving mode.

Alice Kuonji did not respond to his question. She merely muttered to herself, with not a trace of light in her hollow eyes.

"How are you, Aoko?"

But Michael quickly realized he had asked a pointless question. Although she had barely regained control of her body, the damage caused by the backlash from her Mage Circuits was far from negligible. Her condition was still grim.

"...It's nothing. My spine is just paralyzed, and my internal organs are a little injured. There's probably internal bleeding already."

Aozaki Aoko staggered to her feet and leaned against a tree trunk, breathing carefully as a streak of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.

"A lot of my Mage Circuits have shorted out. That right arm must have contained a Hindrance Sorcery that disrupts circuits."

She should have been trembling from the agony, but Aozaki Aoko's fists shook entirely from the fury in her heart.

Hindrance Sorcery was among the most basic of basics, useful only against inexperienced novices. If that attack had targeted Alice Kuonji, such a paltry disruption spell would have been repelled the instant it touched her, while the circuits of the opponent it contacted would have been cleanly burned out instead.

Fundamentally, connecting to another magus's circuits was as dangerous as exposing one's own heart. In a magecraft battle against an accomplished magus of equal standing, it was a worthless spell that would have no effect at all.

Even so, this "Tōko Aozaki" puppet had been equipped with this "superfluous" spell. It had not considered Aozaki Aoko a threat at all—an undisguised contempt.

Beowulf, having been flung aside, stared blankly at the moon hanging in the night sky. The collapse of one's spirit often inflicted greater harm than the collapse of one's body. Though his body had already recovered, that phantom pain still clung tightly to him.

A shadow blocked out the moon before his eyes. Familiar azure eyes looked down at him from above.

"Are you... going to kill... kill me...?"

Beowulf tried to struggle to his feet, but he could not do it no matter what. He could only reveal this weak, pathetic state.

"I'm not that bored."

Michael withdrew his gaze. That was the truth. Looking at Golden Wolf Beowulf, whose body had already fully recovered, he could not help marveling inwardly at the bug-like regenerative abilities of the Phantom Beast Species. As expected of a higher existence whose soul had materialized—at least for now, Michael had no way to kill him completely.

Nor did he offer any taunts. His right arm had not fully recovered yet, and if they truly fought again, he would suffer quite a disadvantage. He might as well let Beowulf remain in this state of questioning his entire wolf life and stall for time.

The anticipated victory had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Though he did not know what had happened, judging from the magical energy fading from within him, there was a high chance that something had gone wrong at the mansion. In other words, their home base's crystal had been destroyed.

Control of the barrier had already fallen into Tōko Aozaki's hands. Presumably, their group could no longer conceal their whereabouts. The best news at the moment was that Beowulf had lost his fighting spirit, greatly weakening Tōko Aozaki's forces.

What Michael could not understand, however, was how Tōko Aozaki had broken through the barrier around the mansion. Even Beowulf, who stood three thousand years removed from the modern era, could not overcome mystery of that level. How had she done it?

Or had someone helped her—

Michael could not help shuddering. If it was one of those old monsters he knew, they indeed possessed the strength to break through the barrier. But could it really be them? Why would they come to this barren backwater of the Far East, so devoid of mystery?

I hope it isn't them...

He sighed inwardly. If things were truly as he suspected, then the trouble would be enormous.