Aozaki Aoko Case File [198] 

Credits: Jesper Taus Pedersen

For once, Touko didn't argue with Aoko. Instead, she cooperated fully with her directive, snapping her fingers right on the spot.

Immediately, an explosion erupted from the interrogation room at the end of the hallway. Touko had detonated several spider automata that had managed to infiltrate the room. The blast utterly obliterated the interrogation room's door and everything around it.

Aoko gestured, and a gust of wind conjured by her spell swept inward, clearing the smoke and dust as if an invisible hand were forcing it back into the room, neatly contained. Thanks to the ventilation system in the interrogation room, Aoko didn't have to worry about the smoke billowing back out once her magic ceased.

Unlike the rigid rules of a D&D tabletop RPG, Aoko had discovered that in the real world, many low-tier spells could now be cast without incantations or complex gestures—just a simple motion would suffice. She considered this a result of her years of relentless study and refinement of arcane knowledge.

Aoko stepped into the interrogation room, and the first thing that caught her eye was the face of a battered and bloodied nun. It was clear that this was a Church Executor who had been sacrificed by Roa and forcibly converted into a ghoul. Beyond her, the expansive underground interrogation room was packed with at least a hundred or two unfortunate souls in the same wretched state, shambling toward Aoko.

"Hahaha, welcome!" A figure with blood still staining the corner of his mouth and his clothes appeared by the altar in the center of the room. He spread his arms in an exaggerated gesture, theatrically greeting the Aozaki sisters. "Do you like my gift? Just wait a little longer, and the power of a true demon will descend into this world. This time, I've learned from my previous mistakes…"

Aoko had no intention of wasting words on this clown. She had already prepared herself with a full set of buffs before entering the basement, all for the sake of eliminating her opponent the moment she found him.

Ignoring Roa's nonsense, Aoko stepped forward—and in the blink of an eye, she was right in front of him. The spatial shifting ability of her Redshift left both the ghouls lunging at her and Roa himself momentarily stunned.

For the first time in his countless reincarnations, the Akasha Serpent—the entity known as Michael Roa Valdamjong—felt an unfamiliar sensation: fear. This was a fear, unlike anything he had felt before, whether facing Church Executors or Arcueid Brunestud.

As a scholar pursuing eternal life, what did Roa fear most? What truly terrified him was the unknown that came after death. And the young red-haired woman standing before him radiated that very sense of the unknown. He couldn't comprehend how a mere human could possess such overwhelming power. Her presence, her very existence, and the source of her strength defied his understanding.

In terms of magical expertise, Roa's abilities would place him near the top of the Clock Tower hierarchy—there were likely few magi who could trade even two blows with him. Only the successor of Barthomeloi might definitively surpass him.

But when faced with Aoko, the Fifth Magic user who embodied the concept of destruction or consumption, he felt an unshakable fear that gripped his soul. He fully understood that if she willed it, she could annihilate both his body and soul, erasing him from the annals of history.

"Ah… ah…" Roa trembled as he stumbled backward, forgetting even to command the puppets behind him to attack.

Touko, meanwhile, released Cheshire, her shadowy, cat-like familiar. In an instant, Cheshire tore through every ghoul present, shredding them into fragments. Even Roa's alchemical constructs were reduced to useless scraps.

The Akasha Serpent intended to make one last desperate stand before being obliterated, but Aoko wasn't in the mood to play along. Her speed left only a faint afterimage as she landed a punch directly into Roa's stomach. The blow lifted him slightly off the ground, forcing blood and stomach acid to gush from his mouth.

As a magician, Aoko naturally didn't rely on mere physical strikes at a time like this. Along with her punch, she delivered a sealing spell designed by Touko, injecting the technique into Roa's body upon contact. This spell completely disabled any abilities reliant on magical energy, ensuring he couldn't cause further trouble.

While this type of sealing spell was often dismissed as ineffective in battles between evenly matched magi, in a situation of overwhelming dominance, it served as a foolproof way to ensure the weaker party had no chance of a comeback.

Roa writhed on the ground, groaning hideously. He resembled an unfortunate victim of Kiritsugu Emiya's Origin Bullet, his attempts to channel magical energy only amplifying the searing pain that gripped his soul.

"Is it over?" Touko approached, glancing at the golden-haired youth sprawled on the ground. "Do you have a personal grudge against this guy?"

"I just find pompous blond boys annoying—the more arrogant, the worse," Aoko replied with an eye roll. "Let's wrap this up. I'm getting sick of this whole mess."

At that moment, Arcueid and Ciel entered the room. Their expressions were ice-cold as they surveyed the carnage and the spasming form of Mario on the ground, barely restraining their desire to flay him alive.

Aoko told them to wait and watch Touko's performance. She assured them that Roa would no longer have any chance to reincarnate.

Touko extended her right arm, which transformed into a golden light that flowed like fine sand. The luminous substance seeped into Mario's body.

Roa's body convulsed violently as he desperately tried to resist the Third Magic user's invasion of his soul—but it was futile.

With surgical precision, Touko extracted a dark red shadow from Mario's body, pulling it free from the host.

The moment Roa's soul departed, Mario's body stopped convulsing and collapsed, unconscious and lifeless.

Within Roa's filthy soul, a faint golden light flickered intermittently—the power Arcueid had lost, the blessing the planet had once bestowed upon its child.

Like a masterful surgeon, the Third Magic user wielded her materialized soul-manipulation abilities like the sharpest scalpel. With swift and precise movements, she excised the golden light from Roa's soul.

The dark red shadow let out a silent scream as it struggled, but on the level of the soul, it was impossible to overcome the immortal Third Magic user.

"It's your turn," Touko said, glancing at Aoko. "My job is done."