Aozaki Aoko Case File [135]

Credits: Talsen

Since Lord El-Melloi II had made his decision, Ritsuka Fujimaru had no reason to interfere. After all, the Servants of Chaldea were her companions, and she would never force or restrict them from doing what they wished.

Lord El-Melloi II, appearing as a middle-aged man, frowned as he looked at his younger, more immature self grimacing in pain due to poisoning. He remained silent.

He placed his right hand on Waver Velvet's forehead and closed his eyes.

Aoko could see that this Pseudo-Servant's body gradually emitted a golden glow, which slowly transferred from Lord El-Melloi II's body to Waver Velvet's.

As the golden light on Waver's body grew brighter, his pained expression began to ease, as if the toxins in his body were being purged bit by bit.

Mash Kyrielight watched Lord El-Melloi II with concern, as his body gradually became transparent and flickered, as though he was on the verge of disappearing from this world.

Ritsuka, however, remained calm. She could still feel the contract link between herself and Lord El-Melloi II. Even if Waver could not return to Chaldea, she could still summon El-Melloi II back to Chaldea through their bond.

As the last trace of golden light flowed from Lord El-Melloi II's fading figure into Waver Velvet's body, the middle-aged man's form vanished completely.

"Now, we are one."

...

Waver Velvet opened his eyes from a nightmare he couldn't wake up from, no matter how hard he tried.

In his dream, he had been relentlessly pursued by a nine-headed monster that spewed venom. During the chase, one of his hands was even bitten off by the creature.

But Waver did not want to die, so he endured the excruciating pain and kept running. However, no matter how fast he ran, the monster remained right on his heels, never letting up.

Eventually, exhausted and hopeless, Waver gave up on the thought of survival. He lay on the ground, his eyes blank, waiting for death to come.

"You pathetic fool. Giving up so easily?"

From somewhere, Waver suddenly heard a familiar voice.

He struggled to open his eyes and looked up. He saw a long-haired middle-aged man in a black suit, with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a cigar, staring at him.

"Is that all your pride amounts to, Waver Velvet?" the man said. "Weren't you the one who wanted to prove that even without noble lineage, you could still become a great magus?"

"Shut up..." Waver muttered weakly. "Let me rest for a while..."

"Go ahead and deceive yourself for the rest of your life."

"You talk about not giving in, about refusing to bow, but in the end, you achieve nothing. All you can do is sit here, waiting to die like a coward."

"Damn it..." For some reason, Waver felt a surge of anger at the man's words. Maybe it was because they hit too close to home.

"You're just going to give up?" The man's voice grew fainter. "Give up on this failure of a life?"

"I won't accept that!" Waver Velvet shouted with all his might. "I want to live!"

Strangely enough, the moment Waver shouted, the weakness that had overtaken his body seemed to dissipate, and he felt a surge of strength return to him.

"Looks like it's not your time to die yet," the blurry image of the man said. "If you're unwilling to give up, then seize this borrowed power and see just how far you can go!"

As the man's words ended, he disappeared completely. Waver reached out to grab him but found nothing there.

Rising to his feet, Waver suddenly realized that his perspective had changed—it had become higher. Looking down, he saw that he was dressed in a finely tailored black suit with a red-and-gold striped tie.

His height had increased! Waver looked at his body in astonishment. While it wasn't particularly muscular, it was no longer the frail and scrawny frame he had before.

Clenching his fist, Waver could feel a powerful energy coursing through his body. This energy seemed to...

Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, the white space around him began to shake and crack. A spatial rift appeared, and from it emerged the same nine-headed serpent he had seen before.

Oddly, Waver didn't feel as panicked as he had before. His body seemed to instinctively adapt to the situation, as though he was already accustomed to battle.

Facing the fearsome serpent, Waver Velvet reached into the inner pocket of his suit and pulled out an ornate lighter.

With a click, he lit the flame—and at the same moment, three of the serpent's heads were obliterated in a fiery explosion.

Unfazed by the serpent's pained screams, Waver frowned at the lighter in his hand. Countless battle strategies and knowledge began surfacing in his memory.

"So that's how it works," Waver murmured to himself. "I don't have time to waste playing with you here."

With that, the lighter in his hand disappeared, replaced by a strange fan made of feathers.

He waved the fan lightly, sending a massive green wind blade toward the serpent's remaining heads.

The serpent tried to evade, but no matter how it moved, the wind blade relentlessly followed, severing its necks one by one.

In moments, the nine-headed serpent collapsed to the ground, its body disintegrating into ash.

Waver looked up at the sky as his consciousness began to fade. He clutched his forehead, swaying before collapsing.

When he opened his eyes again, Waver Velvet found himself lying in his professor Kayneth's workshop. Kayneth stood nearby, staring at him with a complicated expression, and the beautiful magician, Aoko Aozaki, stood elegantly.

"Congratulations, Mr. Velvet," Aoko said with a smile.

Waver sat up in bed and stood on the floor. To his surprise, the clothes he had been wearing earlier were gone, replaced by the black suit he had worn in his dream.

"Which Waver are you?" Kayneth asked.

"...Neither, or perhaps both," the new Waver replied. "Thank you, Professor Kayneth."

This version of Waver was more mature than his younger self but not as old as Lord El-Melloi II—he seemed to exist somewhere between the two.