Aozaki Aoko

These were... Rune Script...?

Noticing the strange characters binding Alice Kuonji's neck, Aozaki Aoko instinctively bit her lip.

She had only heard her grandfather mention Rune Script. Magical knowledge of that difficulty was simply beyond what she could access at her current level.

After attempts to destroy it proved fruitless, the collar formed from Rune Script activated its punishment mechanism, continuously draining Alice Kuonji's life force and magical energy. Unless its owner removed the punishment mechanism, it would not stop until it had drained her life force and magical energy dry.

Seeing Alice's increasingly pale face, Aozaki Aoko could faintly sense her life force steadily weakening. At this rate, it would not be long before it was completely drained away.

Faced with such a thorny situation, she could not help taking a deep breath. Things felt utterly terrible.

She had finally managed to briefly fool that absurdly powerful intruder with a trick. Even Alice had fallen into his hands, so a half-baked mage like herself was naturally no match for him. She had not expected her improvised method to work even better than anticipated.

But although she had rescued Alice, she had no way to undo this Rune Script. All she could do was watch Alice grow weaker and weaker, then walk toward death.

That helpless feeling ignited fury within Aozaki Aoko.

Then she seemed to remember something. Perhaps only that miracle could shatter the Rune Script on Alice's body.

A red shadow appeared before her eyes once more, seemingly letting out a disdainful snicker.

"Hold on a little longer. I'll break it soon."

After hesitating briefly, Aozaki Aoko took a deep breath, as though making some kind of resolve. Her gaze became firm as iron. The Mage Circuits in her right arm erupted with dazzling light, so bright that even her thick cotton coat could not conceal it. Overflowing magical energy curled around her clenched fist, and blue lightning flashed into existence.

Though it vanished in an instant, Michael still sensed something unusual. In that moment, the world had undergone some unknown change.

Having tracked her here, he did not reveal himself immediately. Instead, he watched Aozaki Aoko from the shadows, his gaze eventually settling on the formula deployed around her right arm. Even the most basic Magic Bullet Formula had several flaws, and several mana connections were incorrect. At the very least, it would waste an extra five percent of magical energy. A rookie mage like this wanted to undo his Rune Script?

If a rookie like her manages to crack it, I'll eat those two little pig Familiars on the spot!

He silently thought to himself, but then a series of crisp sounds like shattering glass instantly soured his mood.

The Rune Script binding Alice Kuonji's body shattered. Her drained life force and magical energy flooded back into her body, and Alice Kuonji slowly came to. When she saw Aozaki Aoko before her, a flicker of surprise passed through her eyes.

"Cough, cough... You... why are you here?"

She pushed herself upright, but her body remained limp and powerless. In the end, supported by Aozaki Aoko, she shakily rose to her feet. Guided by a witch's instincts, she looked toward a spot within the dense forest.

The pitch-black woods rustled in the Night Wind as a young man clad in white slowly emerged. With his appearance, the magical energy active in the atmosphere surged desperately into his body, turning the surrounding area into a vacuum in the mystical sense.

Upon seeing Michael appear, Alice Kuonji did not waste words. Her magical energy had already resumed its orderly flow, and she immediately summoned another Familiar.

"...Build it up with wood and clay, Wood and clay, Build it up with wood and clay, My fair lady..."

Accompanied by the cheerful song, the earth beneath their feet began to tremble. The shaking grew ever more violent, as though some colossal thing were about to burst from the ground.

A black shadow enveloped Alice Kuonji. It was a green giant, with bulging, knotted veins and skin so tough that even a chainsaw could only despair before it. Though made of wood, under the reinforcement of mystery it was no less sturdy than steel.

It was the Bridge Giant, or Falling Down. It could also be called London Bridge. It was the first step of the four miracles that had won the praise of countless strange beings.

"I'm counting on you, Bridge."

The green giant, deeply rooted in the ground, silently answered Alice Kuonji's words. Then it raised its left arm toward the night sky, lifting it high like a battle-axe before bringing it down upon Michael.

"Aoko, let's go!"

"Wait, he's the—"

"We'll talk when we're back."

Without giving Aozaki Aoko a chance to argue, Alice Kuonji grabbed her and quickly ran toward the manor. The manor was equipped with all kinds of powerful magecraft. If they were to fight such a powerful mage, they had to seize every slight advantage.

Watching Alice Kuonji and Aozaki Aoko leave with a complicated expression, Michael did not pursue them again. Instead, he reflected on that earlier trace of discordance. At last, he softly sighed and turned his attention back to the Bridge Giant.

Countless vines stretched from the ground and gathered into the shape of a bridge, resembling a gigantic arm. Ignoring all physical limits, it swept toward him with a hurricane at its back.

"Until we meet again."

Displacement Magic activated once more, and Michael vanished. The colossal hand struck empty air, making the entire forest tremble beneath its immense force and startling the birds resting among the trees into flight.

That definitely had not been magecraft. Michael was certain of it. Simply using Magi Release to shatter Rune Script was something magecraft could not accomplish, unless...

His body trembled faintly with excitement as he suddenly thought of the miracle known as Magic. It was a realm humanity could not reach on its own, something that could not be accomplished no matter how much effort or time was spent.

The first, the beginning, changed all.

The second, the continuation, acknowledged more.

The third, the inheritance, revealed the future.

The fourth, the foundation, concealed itself.

Thus, the fifth, the end, had long lost its meaning.

Michael murmured the short verse familiar to every mage. It was not as though he had never set his sights on Magic, but apart from the known Second Magic and Third Magic, there was not the slightest news of the others, as though they had never existed at all.

The Greater Grail hidden in Fuyuki. Though he had missed the Third Holy Grail War due to his slumber, he had made ample preparations after awakening, ensuring that he could claim victory in the Fourth Holy Grail War.

It did not matter whether that Holy Grail had been corrupted. So long as it allowed him to complete the Third Magic, that was enough. Immortality did not really matter. As long as he had endless magical energy, he could fill the progress bar to the limit. Surely a cheat capable of absorbing so much magical energy was not something useless.

Thinking of this, he could not help clenching his fists. Beating up the Jewel Emperor and kicking around the Counter Force did not seem all that difficult.

But that was only if the girl truly possessed one of the Five Magics.

As for that oath he had made earlier? He had just been joking around. It could not be taken seriously.

You may not understand what it means to smash a "lock" made of Rune Script apart through brute force. We usually use just two words to describe people like that: cheating!

A rookie Magic User could cheat and smash Rune Script with her fists. Then I, Michael, cheating my way through a solo fight against the Burial Agency? No problem.

After leaving Misaki Hill, Michael strolled through the nighttime streets with his hands in his pockets, pondering information related to that girl who likely possessed Magic. She looked like no more than a high school student. Beneath her cotton coat, she wore a brown school uniform skirt and black thigh-high stockings.

Starting from there would make things much easier. He casually used Astrology and narrowed down the answer among several schools to the only possibility: the city's private school—Misaki High School.

Having found the answer, Michael acted as soon as he thought of something. That very night, he "infiltrated" the academy—or rather, walked brazenly through the gates right under the guard's nose and entered the campus, arriving at the archives room on the east side of the third floor.

Paper records for every student were stored here, including both current students and graduates, filling the entire room. He began searching from the shelves holding the most recently enrolled students. It did not take long before he found what he wanted inside a brown kraft-paper envelope.

There were only a few sheets of A4 paper in the envelope, but that was enough for Michael. Looking at the familiar photograph on the file, he saw the girl who was likely a Magic User.

"Aozaki Aoko..."

He murmured softly, his fingers brushing over the photograph of her radiant smile. His eyes narrowed slightly, revealing an interested expression.