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"Ugh…"
The blade sank into her throat. Index's eyes went wide, her body frozen in shock, staring blankly at Fang Li as if her soul had left her.
"Index!" Kanzaki's cry tore through the rooftop, raw with disbelief.
"Oooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Stiyl's roar followed, a frenzied bellow like a wounded beast driven mad.
"Rooooooaaaaarrrrrrr--!"
The King of Hunting Strega, that monstrous embodiment of flame and fury, erupted forth. Cloaked in searing heat surpassing three thousand degrees, it bellowed in rage. The rooftop trembled beneath its stomp as it charged through rolling waves of fire and oppressive air, raising one monstrous arm high before crashing down upon Fang Li with annihilating force.
The rooftop was instantly swallowed in a storm of flame, wind, and devastation.
The destructive might was overwhelming. And yet, the target, the one standing squarely at its center, was Fang Li. Up until now, he had faced Stiyl's summoned giant with only bullets, firearms, and cold machinery. Fang Li had not moved, not even once.
But finally, he stirred.
"Out of my way!" His sharp words cut through the storm as sparks of starlight burst across his form.
"Boom---!"
The sound split the night sky like a cannon.
One kick. That was all it took. Fang Li's phantom-like strike shattered the Pope-class magic of the King of Hunting Strega.
"Whoosh---!"
The monstrous witch-hunting giant was blasted away like artillery, its flaming body streaking across the air before vanishing from the rooftop, sent hurtling into the distant night.
"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!"
Stiyl, however, showed no despair. His strongest trump card destroyed, his body still torn and battered from the Blast Warhead, yet none of it mattered. Howling with madness, the magician launched himself at Fang Li in sheer frenzy.
And he wasn't alone.
For Kanzaki, too, could no longer stand still.
"You… how dare you…!"
Her voice trembled, teeth clenched, her body radiating an aura that shook the rooftop with its intensity. Slowly, her hand reached for the hilt of her longsword. Her grip tightened with killing intent.
At that moment, Fang Li's Enemy Detection Skill screamed in his head like a desperate alarm.
It was the strongest response he had ever felt. But Fang Li didn't need the skill to sense it. Every instinct told him, Kanzaki Kaori was about to unleash her full, terrifying power.
At that moment, Kanzaki's aura surged skyward, dreadful and divine, so immense that the very air seemed to wail in despair.
That pressure, its weight and intensity, Fang Li could feel it clearly. It was not inferior in the slightest to Trinity at their full release, brandishing their Noble Phantasm.
No… this was already on par with even the strongest among them, Thousand Changes Sydonay.
Born from pure fury, Kanzaki's Stigma had unconsciously awakened.
And the overwhelming miracle of Saint Power manifested.
Fang Li's instincts rang true.
Leaving Stiyl aside, it was clear that against Kanzaki Kaori, unless he fought with everything, every ounce of his being, victory was impossible.
But that battle was never meant to take place.
"Bang!"
The sound struck like breaking glass.
It came from Index.
The same Index whose throat Fang Li had pierced a moment ago with the Moonlight Dagger.
"Eh---?"
Stiyl froze mid-charge. Even Kanzaki faltered, her swelling fury halting as confusion overtook her. Only Fang Li remained calm, his ice-blue Mystic Eyes narrowing, as though confirming what he already knew.
Slowly, the Moonlight Dagger slid free from Index's throat.
Her body collapsed limply to the rooftop.
"Cough! Cough…!"
Hacking violently, choking for breath, Index clutched her throat, tears pricking her eyes from the pain.
"You…!" Kanzaki could not restrain herself. Her voice trembled with disbelief, her composure shattered.
"What did you do to her?!"
Even as one of the few Saints in existence, Kanzaki could not comprehend what had just unfolded.
Index had been run through. She should be dead.
And yet she lived.
Not untouched, no. Both magicians had heard it. Something had broken inside her.
Which could mean only one thing, Fang Li had done something. And his answer came, cool and merciless.
"As you can see, I only killed what I intended to kill."
His eyes opened again, no longer gleaming blue, but dark and clear. Without sparing Kanzaki or Stiyl another glance, he fixed his gaze on the coughing girl before him.
"What I killed wasn't Index." His words were final, like a verdict. "What I killed… was the technique buried inside her."
"Technique…?"
Both Kanzaki and Stiyl froze on the spot.
"That's right."
Fang Li crouched down, one hand steadying Index, her body still trembling as pain and tears shook her. His voice remained calm, utterly unwavering.
"The technique's name is Collar. Just as the name suggests, it's a leash wrapped around her very soul. A trap that uses her life as ransom to force the memory resets… year after year. A choke-chain, meant to keep her docile and prevent her from ever breaking free."
And so, the truth came into the open, that was the magical trap placed inside Index by the Church of the United Kingdom's Puritans. The Anglican Puritan Church had bound Index like an animal on a chain.
Its function was mercilessly simple, when a year had passed, if Index's memories had not been erased, the Collar would automatically activate. The spell would constrict, choking away her breath, slowly stealing her life.
Through this, the Puritans concealed the truth.
They forced Index to depend on the church, convincing her that regular memory erasures were the only way she could survive.
They deceived Kanzaki and Stiyl as well, weaponizing their bonds with Index. It made them accomplices, loyal agents who carried out memory erasures without hesitation, terrified that their inaction would kill her.
And if anything went wrong? If Index escaped? Then the system would remove her entirely, obliterating the "forbidden-book girl" before she could fall into another's hands.
One scheme. Three gains. A perfect cage.
"...…"
Hearing Fang Li's words, Kanzaki and Stiyl's eyes met briefly, but neither could speak.
A lie?
All those years of torment. All the pain they had inflicted on Index with their own hands. All because of a simple, fabricated lie?
This… this kind of thing, "I-I never even heard of… that…"
Still clutching her throat, barely able to breathe after her ordeal, Index croaked out desperately. "There's nothing in my head… nothing recorded about any magic called Collar…"
"Of course not." Fang Li's reply came cold, indifferent.
"If you remembered knowledge of the Collar, you'd suspect something was done to you. That's why the Puritans erased it, made sure you never retained such memories. And very likely, it was developed only recently, meaning it isn't recorded even among the 103,000 grimoires inside you."
The Saint and the magician faltered, unable to deny, unable to believe.
Then Fang Li drove the knife deeper, not in the body, but in truth.
"Besides…" His tone was casual, absolute. "…the year's deadline is nearly here."
He met their stunned gazes with absolute certainty.
"If you don't believe me, then just wait and watch. Seeing is believing."
A heavy silence smothered the rooftop.
And none of them could escape the weight of his words.
(End of Chapter)