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"Just how am I supposed to break through this damn fog?!!!"
Aoko, her face a mask of frustration, dodged another fireball and tensed, her eyes darting around warily.
The battle—or rather, her one-sided target practice—had been going on for over two minutes. It was only thanks to the enhancement of Mana Burst that she hadn't collapsed from the high-frequency gymnastics. But her stamina and magical power were finite.
She knew that when her strength ran out, it would be her end.
"Should I ask Alice to disperse the fog?"
Aoko muttered, but immediately dismissed the idea.
She knew the main reason Alice wasn't intervening was to be on guard against the Phantasmal Species. If Alice were to waste time casting a fog-dispersing spell, the chances of being ambushed by the Phantasmal Species would greatly increase, and their chances of defeat would be even greater.
"Damn it, how am I supposed to fight like this?" Aoko, her vision obscured, jumped in frustration.
Touko, watching the white, misty landscape, her wait for Aoko's move stretching on, said, her tone strange, "...Aoko, you haven't even learned a single one of your family's wind-aspected spells, have you?"
The Aozaki family's members were all wind-aspected mages. Their family's magic naturally leaned towards the manipulation of wind, and most of their spells were wind magic.
In Touko's view, any of the family's basic wind spells could easily blow away this thick fog. Since the fog was obstructing her vision, she would surely disperse it. And then, she could take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Wouldn't that be wonderful?
But after waiting for a long time, she hadn't seen a single wind spell. In other words... she didn't know how?
"Huh?!" An expression of sheer embarrassment appeared on Aoko's face. In truth, the only family skills she'd learned were the magic bullet spell and some combat techniques. Even the more complex, multi-step grand magic she'd learned was just an advanced magic bullet.
The fine manipulation of elements required for wind magic... her humble self couldn't do it!!!!
"How could the Aozaki family have an heir like you? You can't even learn your family's own spells?" Touko frowned, stopping her attack, and with a look of anger, she reprimanded her.
"..." Touko's disappointed reprimand made Aoko feel as if she were back in elementary school, asking her older sister for help with her homework. She didn't dare to breathe, and could only face her sister's scolding in silence.
'What's with the yelling? If I can't learn it, I can't learn it.' Aoko sneered and kicked a loose stone on the ground, her expression one of extreme displeasure.
Suddenly, a look of surprise crossed her face, and her lips curved into a smile. "Same to you. You're not using the Aozaki family's inherited spells either, are you, sister?"
"Heh, comparing me to the sister who was kicked out of the family? But speaking of which, Aoko, you can't even learn the family's magic, can you?"
By the end, Touko's face was as cold as ice.
Touko had a deep obsession with the Aozaki family's Fifth Magic, Blue. It was bad enough that her grandfather had judged Aoko to be more suitable for the magic that should have been hers. But if the more suitable person couldn't even learn the magic...
What was the meaning of the first half of her life, which had been dedicated to inheriting the magic!!!!
"..."
Her plan to locate her sister by sound was dead in the water the moment she heard her words. Aoko was silent. It was because of the family's magic that their sisterly relationship had soured. And now that Touko had brought it up, she really didn't know how to respond.
Touko, receiving no reply, her face grew even darker. Though she knew she wouldn't get an answer, she was still inexplicably annoyed.
After a moment's hesitation, Aoko took a deep breath and said, her tone icy, "That thing has too many restrictions. I can't use it."
Touko froze. She hadn't expected Aoko to give a direct answer. But after hearing her words, her expression turned to one of disdain, extreme disdain.
"hahaha~~ You have it but you can't use it? What kind of reason is that? You have a bank card that could buy the whole world, but you don't know the password?"
Touko clutched her cheeks and laughed, a low, deep laugh, until tears streamed down her face.
"What a joke!!!!" Touko roared.
Aoko pursed her lips, a 'believe it or not' expression on her face. To have been kind enough to tell Touko about the magic, she was already considering their ten-plus years of sisterly affection. You know, the old man at home had given her a direct order to never leak any information about the magic.
Touko sighed softly, her expression impassive. "As I thought, compared to the Aozaki family's Fifth Magic, it's better to just go straight to that. If I can reach the Root through that passage, maybe I'll get a magic that's more suitable for me than the Aozaki family's Fifth Magic."
"So your goal is that passage!!" Aoko's pupils constricted, her expression exceptionally grave.
The passage to the Root was the Aozaki family's greatest secret, and also their greatest taboo. To touch it was absolutely forbidden. This was a direct order from the previous Aozaki True Magic User.
"Well, my goal is the Fifth Magic. Since you can't use it, Aoko, I'll just have to go there and take it myself. Isn't that an easy choice?" Touko threw up her hands, a nonchalant expression on her face. The one who was kicked out still cared about family rules? In Touko's heart, it was laughable.
At the edge of the clearing, Alice, standing in the snow like a painting, narrowed her eyes slightly and muttered under her breath, "I've heard something I shouldn't have."
The passage to the Root... Alice knew how important this was to Touko, a magus. Even with a True Magic User like Haru pressing down on her, it was highly unlikely that Touko would give up her pursuit of the Root.
So, since Touko had said this without any hesitation, the battle that was about to unfold would likely be a life-or-death struggle.
Alice slowly took out a Banquet of the Night and, to prevent the sound from leaking, she crushed it in her hand.
The shattered glass of the Banquet of the Night cut her palm, and blood dripped down.
The pristine white snow on the ground was stained with crimson blood.
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