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Watching Aoko fighting the Phantasmal Species with a death-defying vigor, Alice's mind was racing.
If Aoko's total mana reserves were considered a single unit, then the magic bullet she had fired earlier—the one that had shattered all of Touko's defenses and pierced the old school building—should have exhausted her completely.
Even with the secret aid of the Oil of the Moon, Aoko's mana could have, at most, recovered by thirty percent. But now, in just a minute of combat, she had already consumed one and a half times her total mana capacity.
And she hadn't drunk a single mana potion. This was clearly abnormal.
"So reckless," Alice sighed softly, a look of worry on her face.
Mana cannot be created from nothing. In her view, Aoko had to be converting her own life force into mana. To use her lifespan as fuel for a fight... it was beyond madness.
In the clearing of the old school building, Aoko and Beo were engaged in a life-or-death struggle.
The ferocious fangs and the sharp claws extending from the pads of its forepaws were Beo's deadly weapons. Its muscular forelimbs whistled as they cut through the air, swiping at Aoko's long legs. Its fangs were constantly aimed at her pale, slender neck, waiting for an opening to strike.
The neck and legs of a prey were a carnivore's favorite targets. A bite to the neck would immobilize the prey, while a strike to the legs would prevent its escape. From the position of Beo's attacks and its cautious movements, it was clearly treating Aoko as a worthy opponent.
However, being considered a major enemy by a Phantasmal Species was a glorious feat that brought Aoko no joy at all.
At close range, her magic bullets were useless. And in a melee, though the young True Magic User had learned combat techniques, they were mostly designed for human opponents.
No one had taught her how to fight a wolf. Aoko's combat experience was exceptionally scarce, while her opponent was a beast with a lifetime of hunting experience. If not for her extraordinary abilities, she would have been defeated in a few rounds.
Every time the sharp claws came close, Aoko, relying on her keen sense of danger, would surge her mana output in an instant. With her suddenly-enhanced physical abilities, she would narrowly dodge the attack. The price was a massive consumption of mana.
A spark of electricity flashed across her calf. With a powerful leap, Aoko dodged Beo's next attack with an ungraceful tumble, then quickly scrambled back to her feet.
The golden-flamed, ferocious claws pierced the ground as if it were soft clay. The flames evaporated the snow on contact, and their power reached deep into the earth, leaving four deep holes in the frozen ground. As far as the eye could see, nearly half of the clearing was covered in these dense holes. The scars on the earth seemed to cry out against the golden wolf's tyranny.
Her sharp gaze swept over the wolf's flank. Aoko was well aware of the common wisdom: a wolf's hide is tough and its bones are like iron, but its waist is a vulnerable weak point. However, the golden wolf's rough yet precise movements, honed through years of cruel, natural training, gave her no opening.
'If this goes on, even with my vast reserves, I'll eventually be worn down,' Aoko thought to herself as she dodged.
'One blow to end it.' Her gaze sharpened. She had finally made her decision.
Though Beo had been protecting its waist, Aoko wasn't sure if common sense applied to a Phantasmal Species. But she didn't have time to consider other countermeasures.
"Hah!!!!"
Aoko let out a low cry and, with a sudden stop, she planted herself diagonally in the snow, facing the oncoming Beo. She ignored the ferocious claws and slammed her left leg into the snow.
Using her left leg as a pivot, her other long, strong leg rose from the ground, a dense arc of electricity covering it entirely. In one breath, Aoko unleashed a massive amount of magical power, channeling it into her enhanced physique. Using the inertia of her spin, she delivered a devastating spinning kick to Beo's neck.
Beo froze for a moment, surprised that the prey who had been dodging all this time would suddenly counterattack. That momentary hesitation cost it the chance to dodge.
Her calf and Beo's neck collided with a loud bang.
Boom—!
The silent sonic boom followed a moment later.
The next second, a sickening crackle echoed in the clearing.
The sound of bones breaking.
Beo's emerald green wolf eyes widened, as if they were about to pop out of their sockets. Its ferocious mouth was wide open. Its neck was broken. Excruciating pain shot from its nerve endings to its brain.
Thump—!
The huge wolfish body collapsed to the ground. Tears, snot, and drool streamed from its snarling face. The pain was so intense that its massive body twitched uncontrollably.
————
"..." Alice's eyes widened slightly as she looked at the panting Aoko in the center of the field with shock.
"A human beat a Phantasmal Species in a melee fight?" Touko's cherry lips fell open. The cigarette in her mouth fell to the ground and, after hissing in the snow, was extinguished.
"That mana-enhancing ability from last night? Even if that's possible, to enhance a physical body to the level of a Phantasmal Species... where did that huge amount of magical power come from?" Touko looked at Aoko with a look of shock, too many questions racing through her mind.
Suddenly, Touko saw Aoko's glowing, brilliant blue lower abdomen, and her lip twitched. "...No way?!!!"
At the same time, Alice, who was standing on the side, also saw it.
The crunching sound of snow slowly echoed.
Alice, her expression impassive, quickly approached Aoko.
"...We won," Aoko said, looking at the approaching Alice, her lips curving into a faint smile. She supported herself with her hands on her knees, her chest heaving.
"Mm. We won," Alice said perfunctorily. She walked up to Aoko, suddenly crouched down, and reached out her hand, probing under Aoko's skirt.
"Huh?" Aoko looked at Alice's strange actions with a bewildered expression, and a strong sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in her heart.
Rip—!
The sound of tearing fabric suddenly rang out.
"Ow ow ow ow!!!!" With it came Aoko's piercing cry of pain. The sharp sting made tears well up in her eyes.
"...A band-aid." Alice looked at the brown band-aid she had torn off, holding it between her index finger and thumb, her eyelid twitching.
"Damn it, it's going to leak!!!!" Aoko clutched the bottom of her skirt with a panicked expression. But even with her desperate attempt to cover it, the liquid, saturated with an immense amount of magical power, still slowly trickled down her smooth, long legs.
"The immense magical power stored in her abdomen—in her womb—was the source of her infinite mana? She can extract magical power while fighting? To use mana replenishment to this extent..."
Touko stared blankly at the fidgeting Aoko, who was trying to prevent a leak, a look of utter bewilderment on her face. She didn't know how to describe Aoko's 'creativity.'
In a way, the method was very effective, as long as you had a mana-rich boyfriend and were willing to throw away your integrity.
"Where did it come from?" a voice, devoid of any emotion, reached Aoko's ears.
The color drained from Aoko's face as she looked at the impassive Alice before her. Her mouth opened slightly, but for a long time, she couldn't say a word. She knew that Alice was asking who the owner of this liquid was.
"Aoko, you stole my thing," the witch's low whisper echoed softly. "My only 'thing'."
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