Chapter Summaries

Roland advised Aoko Aozaki to develop her close-combat talent and warned her that Touko was dangerous, but Aoko refused to leave Misaki City. After secretly planting something on her, Roland asked Aoko to take him to Alice Kuonji’s Western-style Mansion, and Aoko spotted strange winged beings gathering above the Forest of No Return.

• Roland told Aoko Aozaki that her strength and Mana Burst suited close combat better than relying on magic bullets, and Aoko thanked him for the advice.
• Roland warned Aoko that Touko was dangerous and suggested she run, but Aoko declared that she would stay in Misaki City and face her sister.
• Roland took Aoko’s hand and pressed down his thumb, saying he had planted something on her that could give someone at rock bottom a chance.
• Roland asked Aoko to take him to Alice Kuonji’s Western-style Mansion, and Aoko said she would ask Alice for permission first.
• Aoko pointed out that Alice was in the Forest of No Return, then saw clusters of strange black-winged beings gathering above it.

Alice Kuonji was surrounded by the Shadowkhan and summoned her Bridge Giant to fight them. Just as she believed she had gained the advantage, the Shadowkhan Ogres immobilized the giant by joining forces to restrain his arm.

• Alice Kuonji surveyed the six corps of Shadowkhan surrounding her and recognized the danger posed by their numbers and coordinated attacks.
• The Shadowkhan charged, and Alice used her Mystic Eyes while Half a Catty and Eight Liang tried to hold back the attackers, but the corps quickly overwhelmed the two Familiars.
• Alice chanted a nursery rhyme and summoned the Bridge Giant, who struck the Shadowkhan and appeared to turn the battle in her favor.
• Alice offered the unseen attacker a chance to withdraw from Misaki, but the attacker dismissed her confidence and ordered the Shadowkhan to end the fight.
• The Shadowkhan Ogres swarmed the Bridge Giant's arm, linking together and reaching through the Shadow World until they pinned it in place.

Alice Kuonji and Aoko Aozaki countered the Shadowkhan by unleashing the Hound of the Rose, freeing the bridge giant to strike them. The Shadowkhan turned into a vortex that swallowed the Hound, and Alice recognized it as ultimate darkness.

• The Shadowkhan coordinated their attacks to damage the bridge giant while forcing Alice Kuonji to spend her magical energy defending it.
• Alice Kuonji called to Aoko Aozaki, who raced to the Western-style Mansion and released the Hound of the Rose.
• The Hound engulfed the Shadowkhan in white mist, distracting them long enough for Alice Kuonji to order the bridge giant to strike.
• The bridge giant’s blow made the Shadowkhan take on a pitch-black, physical form and whirl into a vortex.
• The vortex swallowed the Hound, and Alice Kuonji sensed that it was ultimate darkness.

Alice Kuonji survived a terrifying encounter with a mysterious attacker who summoned the Shadow Realm, then returned with Aoko Aozaki after the danger passed. On the way home, Aoko realized Alice had forgotten the Hound of the Rose, and Alice feared it had been taken during the fight.

• A mysterious voice stopped the Shadow Realm from swallowing Alice Kuonji and promised to visit her again, then the darkness vanished.
• Alice thanked the Bridge Giant and returned toward the mansion, uneasy about the weakened Fairy Tale Magecraft around her.
• Aoko Aozaki met Alice and learned the attacker had shown interest in her, while Touko Aozaki might soon return to Misaki City.
• Aoko asked where Alice had left the Hound of the Rose, and Alice realized she might have forgotten it during the fight.

Roland settled into his newly purchased house in Misaki City and used the Shadow Realm to strengthen his authority, then decided he wanted Alice Kuonji and planned to take possession of her Western-style Mansion. Meanwhile, Alice Kuonji and Aoko Aozaki remained inside the mansion, unaware that Roland's shadows were spreading through the city's barrier.

• Roland left White Mist bound in the Shadow Realm and said he would return him to Miss Witch if she behaved well.
• Roland dismissed the disgruntled Shadow Ninjas and concluded their failed attack had already put Alice Kuonji and Aoko Aozaki on guard.
• Roland explained that Night's Banquet and Alice Kuonji's First Magic-derived fantasy environment had helped him become a true Shadow General.
• Roland decided he wanted Alice Kuonji and planned to take possession of her Western-style Mansion as shadows spread through Misaki City's barrier.
• Alice Kuonji sensed something ominous, but Aoko Aozaki attributed her discomfort to a cold and trusted the mansion's defenses.

Aoko Aozaki and Alice Kuonji recovered over tea and planned how to face the enemy who had attacked them. Alice urged Aoko to stay out of the battle, but Aoko chose to fight beside her and said she would use True Magic if necessary, leaving them set to defend Misaki City together.

• Alice Kuonji made Aoko Aozaki drink a Magic Potion and served her black tea while Aoko recovered from exhaustion.
• Alice Kuonji explained that their chances were poor if Aoko's sister joined the enemy, and proposed defending one of Misaki City's Leyline nodes to force the enemy to face them.
• Alice Kuonji told Aoko Aozaki she did not have to join the battle because the enemy seemed focused on defeating Alice rather than claiming the Leyline.
• Aoko Aozaki refused to leave Alice Kuonji to fight alone, citing the enemy's rule-breaking and his dismissal of her as reasons to join the battle.
• Alice Kuonji asked whether Aoko Aozaki had decided to use True Magic if necessary, and Aoko said she would use it when the moment came.
• Aoko Aozaki promised Alice Kuonji they would return to have tea together after the battle.

Aoko Aozaki and Alice Kuonji fought Touko Aozaki’s puppets at Taochuan while Alice prepared her Night’s Banquet. Roland emerged from the shadows, revealed himself as Touko’s ally, and provoked Aoko by saying her sister had tasted good.

• Aoko Aozaki and Alice Kuonji reached Taochuan and found no obvious traps or sign of the enemy.
• Aoko attacked the white puppets while Alice deployed Cat Bells to strengthen her Night’s Banquet.
• Aoko used her Magic Crest and Mana Burst to hold off the puppets as Alice detected someone hiding in a different shadow.
• Roland emerged and explained that he was helping Touko Aozaki because he wanted to collect her.
• Roland addressed Aoko as his sister-in-law and told her that her sister had tasted really good.

Roland confronted Alice Kuonji and revealed that he had come for her, while Aoko Aozaki fought off his puppets. After Roland threatened the Western-style Mansion, Alice summoned her powerful Bridge Giant, and Roland prepared a statue of a goddess to counter it.

• Aoko Aozaki recognized Roland, grew furious at being deceived, and continued fighting the puppets around her.
• Roland told Alice Kuonji that he had come for her and intended to make her change her mind, while Alice refused to submit.
• Alice realized Roland had taken control of the Western-style Mansion's barrier, the treasured home and workshop inherited from her mother.
• Alice summoned her strongest Familiar, the Bridge Giant, using the river, elevated bridge, and enhanced magical energy at Taochuan.
• Roland assessed the giant's strength and produced a statue of a goddess, reaching to awaken it.

Roland revived Ishtar with the Rat Talisman, and she destroyed Alice Kuonji’s Bridge Giant with her Noble Phantasm. After Roland paid Ishtar ten gemstones, Alice asked what he wanted from her.

• Roland touched the statue, reviving Ishtar, who immediately destroyed the Bridge Giant with Mountain-Splitting Starship: An Gal Tā Kigal Shē.
• Alice Kuonji grieved the loss of Bridge and recognized that Ishtar’s power far exceeded the limits of modern magecraft.
• Ishtar demanded ten gemstones from Roland, and he paid her upfront; Aoko Aozaki arrived and objected that the goddess had charged too little.
• Roland explained Ishtar’s power and love of gemstones, then teased Aoko about her poverty until she challenged him.
• Alice stopped Aoko and asked Roland what he wanted from her.

After defeating Alice Kuonji’s defenses, Roland pressured her into signing a one-month contract requiring her obedience while promising to protect her and her inheritance. He also made a gem-payment arrangement with Ishtar, then turned the goddess back into a stone statue and took the gems.

• Alice Kuonji recognized that her workshop and familiars could not overcome Roland and Ishtar, and she tried to negotiate rather than continue fighting.
• Roland offered Alice a Self-Geas contract requiring her obedience, and Alice insisted on limits to its duration and restrictions on his orders.
• After inspecting the contract and hearing Roland threaten the inheritance her parents had left her, Alice signed despite Aoko Aozaki’s objections.
• Roland offered Ishtar ten gems as a base payment each time he summoned her, and Ishtar accepted the arrangement.
• Roland turned Ishtar into a stone statue, reclaimed the gems, and praised the transaction.

Roland pressured Aoko Aozaki over her hesitation to use True Magic until Touko Aozaki emerged and called her away to settle their long-standing grudge. Aoko left to face her sister while Roland stayed behind with Alice Kuonji, openly debating whether he would enjoy Touko's defeat or comfort her.

• Roland put away the statue of Ishtar after she returned to that form, and Alice Kuonji felt reassured by his conduct under their Contract.
• Aoko Aozaki challenged Roland, but he exposed her doubts about using True Magic and made her hesitate.
• Touko Aozaki emerged from hiding, greeted Alice, and confronted Aoko before inviting her to follow and fight.
• Alice told Aoko that the choice was hers and promised to hold a funeral if she died; Aoko then went after Touko.
• Alice stayed with Roland, who wondered whether he should comfort Touko if she lost or laugh at her humiliation.

Roland watched Aoko Aozaki follow Touko Aozaki toward their chosen battlefield while he tested the limits of his Contract with Alice Kuonji. Alice resisted his attempt to lull her into intimacy, but Roland revealed that her resistance could not stop him.

• As snow fell, Roland conjured chairs, a fire, and tea while showing Alice Aoko following Touko's tracks toward a desolate battlefield.
• Alice accepted her favorite black tea, then recognized the cup and tea as her own belongings and asked Roland what he needed her to do.
• Roland said he wanted to grow closer and invoked the Contract, causing Alice's exhaustion and childhood memories to draw her into his embrace.
• Robin cried out and dissolved into feathers, restoring Alice's senses before Roland could take things further.
• Alice awakened her Magic Crest and pushed against the Contract, causing Roland to feign pain before telling her that the Contract could not stop him.

Aoko confronted Touko in the snowfield and learned that Touko had returned to Misaki for revenge and curiosity about True Magic. Their fight began, and after Touko countered Aoko’s invisible approach with Runes, Aoko used Mana Burst to escape the flames and continued closing in.

• Aoko asked Touko why she had returned to Misaki, and Touko said she wanted revenge and was curious about True Magic.
• Touko taunted Aoko about her reluctance to use True Magic and suggested she had feelings for Roland.
• Aoko turned invisible with a prop Alice had prepared and rushed toward Touko.
• Touko used Runes to surround Aoko with flames, but Aoko gathered magical energy with Mana Burst and broke free.
• Aoko continued approaching despite Touko’s warning, and Touko invited her to come closer.

Aoko confronted Touko and unleashed her ultimate attack after discovering that Touko had assembled stolen Magic Crests. Before Aoko could fire, a golden beast’s claw pierced her chest and crushed her heart.

• Aoko rushed Touko and struck her, but Touko blocked the blow with a display of countless Magic Crests.
• Touko explained that she had stolen Crests from other mages and altered them to work outside their owners’ bodies.
• Aoko recalled Touko’s relentless pragmatism and vowed to end their conflict.
• Aoko secretly completed her incantation and prepared a close-range barrage using her Magic Crest.
• Touko declared that Aoko would die, and a golden beast’s claw emerged from Aoko’s chest and crushed her heart before she could fire.

Touko used Beo to fatally wound Aoko, believing she had finally defeated her sister, but Roland’s Bites the Dust restored Aoko and revealed a strange power connected to time. Aoko named the ability, while Roland realized C-Moon was about to rise.

• Touko’s hidden trump card, the Golden Wolf Beo, attacked Aoko and pierced her chest before she could use her Magic Bullets.
• Beo criticized Touko for killing Aoko without letting her use True Magic, then left after completing the task.
• Touko explained that she had used foreknowledge and Beo’s decisive strength to defeat Aoko, then reached to remove the Aozaki Family’s Magic Crest.
• Aoko suddenly reappeared unharmed, and Touko realized that she had been resurrected by something other than True Magic.
• Aoko named the power Third Bomb: Bites the Dust, and Roland recognized its connection to time as C-Moon neared its rise.

Aoko Aozaki used Roland’s miracle to revive and launch a decisive Magic Bullet at Touko, but Touko survived with her doll-engineered body and trapped Aoko with powerful Mystic Eyes. As Aoko began loading her consciousness into her Magic Crest, Alice Kuonji begged Roland to help, and the Root’s power descended.

• Aoko Aozaki revived through Bites the Dust and fired a Magic Bullet with all her magical energy, but Touko Aozaki survived by using her Magic Crest’s Barrier and her doll-engineered body.
• Touko immobilized Aoko with her Multiple Mystic Eyes and told her she would kill her again if she revived.
• Aoko struggled against the pain and despair, remembering her promises and deciding to fight on by entrusting her consciousness to her Magic Crest.
• Watching through the image, Alice Kuonji learned from Roland that he had given both Touko and Aoko a miracle, then begged him to help Aoko.
• Roland agreed and declared Touko destined to lose as the Root’s power descended over Aoko.

Aoko Aozaki awakened the Fifth Magic and transformed the battlefield into a sea of flowers before fighting Touko Aozaki. Touko unleashed Nameless Chaos after Aoko struck her down, and Aoko prepared a devastating attack as the Monster charged.

• Aoko Aozaki invoked the Fifth Magic, endured the Counter Force’s resistance, and rewrote the snowy landscape into a field of white flowers.
• Aoko and Touko discussed how Touko had returned from ten years in the future before Touko activated the trap-filled territory she had prepared.
• Touko used Primal Runes to feed her Familiar, but Aoko struck from above, shattered Touko’s Mystic Eyes, and left her gravely injured.
• Touko’s suitcase opened at her command, releasing Nameless Chaos, which charged at Aoko and absorbed her Magic Bullets.
• Aoko connected and deployed her magic circles like rocket thrusters as brilliant stars rose above the sea of flowers.

Aoko defeated Touko’s mythological Monster and prepared to end their fight, but their exchange was interrupted by a force that pulled Touko and the white flowers into the sky. As Aoko resisted the pull, Roland arrived.

• Aoko overwhelmed Touko’s Monster with a storm of Magic Bullets, forcing it back into its suitcase.
• Aoko and Touko discussed their battle, Aoko’s True Magic, and Touko’s questions about the Root.
• Aoko prepared to curse Touko into an eternal sleep and preserve her life.
• A strange force lifted Touko and the white flowers into the sky while Aoko resisted with Mana Burst.
• Roland appeared, and Aoko recognized him by his footsteps.

Aoko Aozaki revealed that she had traveled from roughly ten years in the future, then challenged Roland after he rescued Touko Aozaki. Their fight began with Aoko attacking and Roland effortlessly countering her, but she healed her injured arm and declared that Roland was the challenger.

• Roland rescued Touko Aozaki, dismissed her into the shadows, and spoke with Aoko Aozaki after she recovered from fighting her sister.
• Aoko told Roland she came from roughly ten years in the future and warned that his interference had made the timeline a mess.
• Aoko decided to stop hunting Touko and challenged Roland, eager to fight him before he gained the power she had seen in the future.
• Aoko opened the battle with a barrage of Magic Bullets, but Roland erased them with his electric gaze.
• Aoko charged with a magically reinforced punch, but Roland stopped time and reversed the damage within her hand, forcing her to break free.
• Aoko restored her injured arm with blue radiance and declared that Roland was the challenger in their battle.

Roland analyzed Aoko Aozaki’s Fifth Magic as a system that consumed energy and deferred its costs, while Aoko defended her role and challenged him to a decisive attack. They unleashed matching attacks that threatened to destroy Misaki City, and their beams collided.

• Roland questioned how Aoko Aozaki used the Fifth Magic to send injuries and magical-energy costs into the future, and she admitted she had deferred the burden.
• Roland explained that the Fifth Magic consumed energy and could leave the universe to bear its costs, while Aoko complained that others treated her like a cleanup tool.
• Aoko acknowledged the Fifth Magic’s destructive nature, then charged Roland with a powerful barrage of Magic Bullet formulas.
• Aoko shaped a new Magic Bullet using the Fifth Magic, and Roland recognized an uncanny familiarity in the sensation it caused.
• Roland and Aoko fired their attacks at each other, sending a pillar of blue and gold light crashing against Roland’s deep crimson blast.