The person who appeared at the office door was not Shirou, but a blond man in red who looked to be in his twenties.
As he walked into the room, he cheerfully raised a hand.
"Hey, Aozaki! Long time no see. How have you been?"
The man stopped in front of Touko Aozaki's desk with a false smile plastered on his face.
Touko remained seated, showing not the slightest hint of welcome. She only gave the young man a cold look.
"Cornelius Alba. What brings the second-in-command of Sponheim Abbey to a remote place like this?"
"Haha, do you even need to ask? I came to see you, of course. You 'looked after' me so much back in London, so as an old classmate, is this how coldly you're going to treat me? At least make me a cup of coffee."
Touko Aozaki remained unmoved, her attitude icy. The blond young man did not seem to care and began talking on his own about his impressions of traveling through Japan.
Touko cut him off.
"If you came here to ramble, go home. And don't set foot in someone else's workshop without permission again. If you get killed for it, you'll have no one to blame."
"Come now, didn't you investigate my workshop without permission too? And you didn't even come in person. You sent your disciples instead, so I couldn't even greet them properly. How could I not come complain to you?"
"Oh? That apartment is your workshop?" Touko Aozaki narrowed her eyes, doing her best not to let him see her surprise.
Alba spoke with pride. "That's right. It's my latest masterpiece. Unfortunately, before I even had time to finish it, a certain someone who fled London with her tail between her legs set her sights on it…
By the way, aren't you worried about what's happening to your disciples right now?"
"There's nothing to worry about."
Alba frowned slightly. "As expected of you. You really are cold-blooded... But don't worry. I haven't made a move against them yet. Even if I were going to act against your disciples, it wouldn't be now. Attacking without warning goes against my principles... unlike a certain vixen."
"..."
A bead of cold sweat slid down Touko Aozaki's cheek.
Of course, it was not because Alba's presence had overwhelmed her. It was because her severe cold had yet to fully pass.
Though she looked as composed and imposing as ever, her body was actually terribly weak, and her head was foggy. Even sitting upright took considerable effort.
On top of that, perhaps because she had grown too used to the peace of Mifune City, she had not stationed any familiars here.
No matter what, she could not let Alba realize how weak she was. She had to find a way to make him leave quickly. Before that, however, her curiosity as a Magus compelled her to ask one thing.
"Alba, you didn't come to Japan alone, did you? Did that man come too?"
"...What?"
Alba's expression darkened.
By "that man," Touko meant their classmate from the Tower of London, Souren Araya.
And the way she said it made it sound as if Cornelius Alba would never dare stand before Touko Aozaki unless Souren Araya was with him.
"Don't look down on me, Aozaki. I don't think anything of Araya. Living only through the brain, using a puppet body, is a technique unique to me. That apartment is also an otherworld completed through my own power."
The youthful tone from moments ago vanished. The Magus's voice rose like that of an old man.
"Oh my... Then what exactly are you here for? Did you come all this way just to brag?
We aren't apprentices anymore. We've both left the Association, so save your research achievements for your own disciples."
"Hmph. Fine. We'll leave the rest for another time. One day, you will come to my world and speak with me. It really is hard to stay calm in your domain. Interesting matters are better discussed somewhere more spacious."
Though Alba was full of confidence and looked down on everything, once Touko ordered him out, he still prepared to leave with his tail between his legs.
He knew very well how exceptional Touko Aozaki was. She was the woman who had stolen the "Grand Rank" from him. There was no way he would start a fight inside this workshop.
"..."
Seeing Alba turn to leave, Touko Aozaki silently breathed a sigh of relief.
Still sick and with no familiar at hand, she had no chance of beating Alba...
Right now, she felt like a master strategist performing an elaborate show just to intimidate the enemy. A small smile curved her lips, and she decided she would boast about this to Shirou when he returned.
Touko pulled open a drawer, took out a cigarette she had secretly hidden from a certain middle schooler, and lit it.
However, as Alba walked from the desk toward the sofa, he suddenly stopped.
His gaze seemed to catch on something, and a wicked smile spread across his face.
"Aozaki... you really haven't changed. Even when you're sick, you refuse to see a doctor."
As he spoke, Alba picked up the ibuprofen from the coffee table and examined it.
"!"
The instant she sensed clear killing intent from the young man, Touko Aozaki decided to strike first.
She used the ember of her cigarette to draw letters in midair, and the elongated projected letters overlapped with the red-clad young man's body.
When the Rune, a Magic Crest passed down from a distant land and a distant world, composed only of straight lines, began to rotate, Alba's body burst into raging flames.
"Tsk... Is an instant-cast Ansuz too weak?"
The Puppet Master complained.
The flames attacking the blond Magus lasted only an instant before they were swallowed by an even stronger fire and vanished completely.
"I did say I wouldn't attack without warning, but since you started this fight yourself, there's no need for me to show any regard for our old ties, Aozaki."
Alba slowly turned around with that false smile on his face and drew the staff that served as his Mystic Code.
...
Shiki Ryougi sprinted through the first-floor lobby of the Ogawa Apartment Complex.
With every step she took, the space beneath her feet twisted. The murderous glare shooting from Fujino Asagami's beautiful crimson eyes distorted the common sense of the world.
The Mystic Eyes moved at the speed of light, yet they still couldn't catch the girl. Shiki Ryougi was terrifyingly fast.
Even so, the destruction Fujino unleashed scattered like stray bullets, grazing Shiki's cheek.
"You're lying! Shirou-kun would never abandon me! Why would you tell such a cruel lie?"
The girl with long, straight purple hair screamed as she destroyed everything around her.
This girl... Is she stronger than she is during our usual sparring?
Shiki kept running.
To stay out of Fujino's range, Shiki circled around her at high speed.
"Hey, Fujino... We've sparred so many times. Have you ever beaten me, even once?"
"Shut up! I'll win this time. I won't just win, I'll kill you!"
Fujino Asagami screamed hysterically.
Shiki spun away from another attack and licked her lips. "So you finally said what you really feel…"
"That's great. Really great, Fujino... We really are the same kind of person."
"Shut up!"
She looked as if she had fallen completely into madness, but one last thread of reason still remained.
She knew very well that if Shiki Ryougi got close, she would die. So she held Shiki back as much as she could, refusing to let her approach.
Under the girl's will, the first-floor lobby of the Ogawa Apartment Complex had become a scene straight out of an apocalypse movie.
Got you!
Fujino's eyes finally locked onto Shiki.
After a flicker of hesitation, Fujino fixed her left eye on Shiki's neck and her right eye on Shiki's left foot.
Then she rotated the two axes counterclockwise, bending them.
If everything went as expected, Shiki Ryougi's slender body would be twisted into a heap like a rag.
That was what should have happened.
But the instant Shiki was about to be ravaged by the "Mystic Eyes of Distortion," she stopped running. Then she swung the long sword in her hand and erased Fujino's "distortion."
No, she killed the girl's "distortion" completely.
"...?"
Fujino couldn't understand what had just happened.
After all, the normal thing would have been for Shiki Ryougi to scurry around like a rat before her invincible power.
Shiki was breathing hard from exhaustion, but her expression was as steady as an ancient swordsman's.
"If I didn't know what your ability was, if this were the first time we'd met, maybe this would've been a hard fight."
"But, well... I've actually been trying to 'see' it for a long time. Ever since I learned what your ability was."
"Intangible things are extremely hard to 'see,' but you love showing off your power far too much."
"And thanks to that, I finally managed to 'see' it clearly.
"The true form of your 'gaze' is a red and green spiral."
"..."
Shiki's words cast an even deeper despair over Fujino's heart.
Why...
Why is it always you...
Why are you better than me at everything...
I can't even see my own "gaze"!
Bend. Bend. Bend. Bend.
Fujino muttered the words again and again.
She projected her gaze over and over, but Shiki brushed every attempt aside with ease.
Shiki advanced through the ruined lobby like a girl strolling through the rain, while Fujino continued to retreat.
The moment Shiki accelerated, Fujino was knocked to the ground.
Shiki planted one foot on Fujino's chest and raised her sword overhead with one hand. She looked like a grim reaper carrying out an execution.
"Don't blame me, okay? Hate Shirou instead. He's the one who asked me to 'take care' of you."
"Ugh..."
Fujino lay on the floor, tears spilling down her face. "You're lying... Shirou-kun would never ask for that..."
"You still believe in him, even now? What a hopelessly stupid woman."
Shiki looked utterly exasperated.
"You know exactly what you did that night after you called out those men who hit on you... Shirou would never want a woman with blood on her hands."
Fujino froze.
I killed people.
Five of them.
Unarmed humans... I brutally slaughtered them while laughing.
Shirou always taught me that this power should only be used for self-defense, but I used it to vent my emotions. I killed people just to vent my emotions.
"Finally remembered?" Shiki said with a mocking look.
"Sh-Shirou-kun will forgive me... I only killed people who had nothing to do with him. I'll atone properly..."
"Are you serious?"
"Ugh..."
"Fujino, you really are a born killer."
"I'm not..."
"Not what?"
Shiki Ryougi looked down into Fujino's eyes and asked.
"I'm asking you. You know full well you've committed an irreversible sin, so why are you still expecting Shirou to forgive you?"
Fujino's mouth hung half-open.
Right. Why am I...?
It feels like something is wrong somewhere...
Even though I know my sin can't be forgiven, deep down, I'm still hoping Shirou-kun will keep accepting me.
I see Shirou as a spotless saint, my Savior, while imagining that he'll make an exception for me and accept my filthy, sinful self.
Was I always this shameless?
"I..." Fujino stammered.
"If you can't figure it out, then die."
Shiki Ryougi swung her long sword down toward her neck.
At the instant death descended, scenes began spinning through the depths of Fujino Asagami's mind like a revolving lantern.
...
"————Thud."
Touko Aozaki collapsed heavily to the ground.
The grudge match between the two puppet masters, once hailed as the finest in the Clock Tower, was decided in less than a minute.
The room that had once served as the "Garan no Dou" agency was now filled with familiars conjured by the malice of a Magus.
These monsters, formed from creamy-colored slime, were in a constant cycle of decay and regeneration, barely maintaining their shapes. Some were humanoid, others beast-like; regardless of form, they could only be called grotesque, yet their structures were unnervingly intricate.
Alba hadn't even lifted a finger himself; he had defeated Touko Aozaki solely with his familiars.
Though she hadn't fully recovered from her serious illness, if Shirou and Shiki saw her now, they would surely laugh.
Touko curled the corner of her bleeding mouth and surveyed the monsters surrounding her.
"Alba, is this all your research over the years amounts to?"
Despite her defeat, her voice remained sharp, unrelenting.
"You really should switch careers from Magus to film director. With you around, they'd save a lot on monster props. Though, you'd probably only be fit for small-scale horror projects… Ugh!"
Alba kicked Touko in the abdomen with the tip of his pointed shoe, sending her flying.
The orange-clad puppet master slammed into a monster and, upon landing, vomited a large amount of blood.
Alba stared at her, taking in her unprecedented state of disarray.
"You're always like this!"
The young man's eyes were filled with murderous intent, brimming as if he might cry.
"That's right, you're always like this, belittling me. I was the first to specialize in Runes, and I was the first to earn a reputation as a Puppet Master. Yet your attitude deceived all those fools."
"That condescension made them think my abilities were inferior. Think about it! I am the next abbot of Sponheim Abbey! I've been practicing Magecraft for over forty years. How is it that someone like me is ranked behind a girl in her twenties!"
The Magus unleashed a roar of rage he had suppressed for nearly a decade, echoing through the abandoned building.
Facing an opponent who had clearly won but still let his composure falter, Touko wiped the blood from her mouth and watched him with detached amusement.
"Learning has nothing to do with age, Cornelius. You may look young, but you've always focused on appearances, that's why your inner self lags behind."
Though calmly spoken, it was the sharpest insult he could receive.
The blond youth, whose true age exceeded fifty, felt his face twist with loathing.
He tried to calm himself, but his fury clouded his mind.
"Oh, right… I haven't told you my purpose yet, have I? Aozaki, I came all the way to this godforsaken backwater just to kill you! I went out of my way to come here, only to find you as frail as a reed, what a disappointment!
"At the end of the day, this is all you're capable of! Even if you weren't sick, I could still defeat you!"
Touko didn't answer; she only curled the corners of her mouth. At this point, whatever she did, in Alba's eyes, carried only mockery.
Gritting his teeth, he extended his gloved right hand.
"Fine. You just said I only care about appearances, didn't you? Little girls who've never known the hardships of life love to say things like that…"
"I'll start by burning that pretty face of yours. Let's see if you can still hold your opinion then!"
As the Magus unleashed his hate-filled curse, the office air began to tremble.
Like a mirage rising from the quaking ground, the empty void itself ignited.
This flame existed on a completely different plane from the F (Ansuz) Touko had just inscribed.
Though the Clock Tower considered Alba's Puppetcraft far inferior to Touko's, no one doubted his combat ability.
By sheer physical destructive power, he surpassed Touko Aozaki, a "Grand Rank" Magus, and could even stand alongside the strongest Magical Bullet Champion on Earth (Aoko Aozaki).
Blue flames erupted from Alba's palm, engulfing Touko's body.
In the next moment, this hated woman would be burned until she wept, begging for mercy.
But just then, a figure burst from behind Alba.
"!?"
Alba was stunned.
Impossible! Had he been so focused on Touko that he didn't even notice someone entering the building?
Yet the figure didn't attack Alba at all, or rather, didn't even register him.
Without hesitation, he charged straight into the blue inferno that had turned the room into hell.
"..."
Alba wondered if his eyes were deceiving him.
As if completely unaffected, the figure scooped up Touko and dashed back out of the flames.
Only then did Alba recognize the intruder.
A boy with red hair and amber eyes, one of Touko's disciples who had entered the Ogawa Apartment Complex that afternoon.
"Oh my, I'm so happy… Shirou, you came to save me♡"
Touko nestled weakly in the arms of the boy, murmuring softly.
Unlike the elated female Magus, the red-haired boy's expression was grim, bordering on furious.
Is Shirou angry? Because of me?
Touko thought, her heart suddenly racing with a "thump, thump."
Oh no, this isn't good♡~
She realized her expression probably looked like that of a girl in love.
Shirou stared at her face and snapped, "Didn't I tell you not to smoke while you're sick?"