Aozaki Aoko Case File [255]

Aoko decisively abandoned maintaining the Mordekainen's Sword, intending to attack the spatial-temporal barrier of the Mother of Fingers once again using a spell with no projectile trajectory.

A rotating cloud composed of countless daggers was summoned by Aok at the location of the Mother of Fingers. To enhance the power of this spell, she cast it using a 5th-level spell slot through metamagic, unleashing a spell called Cloud of Daggers.

The spell took effect—but not in the way Aoko had expected. Only a small portion of the dagger cloud near the Mother of Fingers' body managed to cut some wounds, spilling a considerable amount of blood into the air. However, the daggers further out seemed to become trapped in a quagmire, unable to move.

This spatial-temporal barrier had thickness—Aoko quickly realized the truth. Cloud of Daggers was ultimately just a 2nd-level spell, and even when heightened to 5th level, it was still insufficient to inflict decisive damage on the Mother of Fingers. Aoko could already see that the wounds inflicted were healing rapidly.

The Mother of Fingers noticed this as well and swiftly adjusted the operating frequency of the miniature cosmos on its tail. The rotation of the Cloud of Daggers halted for a brief moment before vanishing completely.

The Mother of Fingers was undoubtedly the most bizarre and unsolvable opponent Aoko had ever faced. Previously, whether it was the Primate Murder, Ruby Eye Demon Lord, or any number of other powerful servants, none had given her this feeling. It was as if she was fighting against the fundamental laws of this world—no matter how much force she exerted, it was like punching into cotton, unable to find a way to strike effectively.

Due to the intense spatial-temporal distortions, even the light around the Mother of Fingers now looked abnormal. Its figure became blurry—Aoko could seemingly see the other side of the Mother of Fingers from one angle, an extreme optical distortion similar to Gargantua's black hole.

But what about that gruesome wound on the Mother of Fingers' chest? Who had inflicted such an injury, and how had they done it?

The wound hadn't healed properly. Worse still, within the torn flesh, countless tiny fingers of varying sizes had begun to grow out. Seeing this sent a shiver down Aoko's spine…

Just as Aoko was hesitating whether to teleport away with Touko and return later with a better plan to deal with this iron turtle, the Mother of Fingers made another move.

A sharp glint flashed in its single eye, and the miniature cosmos on its tail suddenly expanded in size, its internal starlight dimming further.

In its place, numerous glowing spheres appeared around Aoko and Touko—Aoko immediately recognized them.

Illusory microcosm!

"So Ymir's magic wasn't something he invented out of thin air—he must have learned it from studying the Mother of Fingers somehow! I never expected it to be capable of summoning this many illusory microcosms at once!"

These glowing illusory microcosms began to vibrate one after another, looking like bombs on the verge of detonation, preparing to unleash the most brilliant moment of their brief existence…

Aoko's pupils contracted slightly. She had already sensed the unique nature of these miniature cosmic bombs. Upon explosion, they would generate a spatial-temporal shockwave.

This meant that even in her Redshift state if she took too many blasts from this illusory microcosm, their damage might catch up to her body along the timeline. She had to evade them in a higher-dimensional space.

All these judgments and calculations were completed in an instant, thanks to the Redshift state.

In the next moment, she executed a Phantom Step, moving onto Touko's back. Earlier, Touko had been small and clinging to her back, but now it was her riding on the transformed golden giant wolf form of Touko.

With one hand, Aoko tightly gripped the fur on the golden giant wolf's back, while her other hand rapidly wove a spell. Just before the illusory microcosm exploded, she teleported away with Touko using Gate, escaping the blast zone.

However, the 440-foot distance wasn't enough to fully escape the shockwave of the explosion.

In golden wolf form, Touko had to immediately raise a Rune Barrier to forcibly withstand the residual spatial-temporal shockwaves caused by the detonation of so many illusory microcosms.

The bad news:

The Mother of Fingers had an insanely tough shell, and its offensive abilities could even threaten Touko despite her Redshift state. An absolute nightmare to deal with.

The good news:

Because of the gruesome wound on its chest, the Mother of Fingers seemed weakened and couldn't maintain its miniature cosmos spatial-temporal shield indefinitely.

Now, it had fallen back to the ground, and its optical distortion had normalized.

Aoko patted Touko's back and leaped down. She had decided to probe the Mother of Fingers' current condition—using her most powerful spell.

Touko glanced at her, immediately understanding her intention. She shook her body, causing the fat cat Cheshire, who had been hiding in her fur, to tumble out. Cheshire landed beside Aoko, standing guard as her protector.

Meanwhile, Touko transformed into a golden blur, unleashing a barrage of Glintstone magic and Rune spells at the Mother of Fingers.

After all, she was a perpetual motion machine—she had no fear of an attrition battle. Her goal was to distract the Mother of Fingers until Aoko's big cannon was fully charged.

From Touko's probing attacks, she discovered that while the Mother of Fingers could still summon some miniature cosmoses and fire eye beams, there was no doubt that the previous round of miniature cosmos' spatial-temporal shielding had drained a massive amount of its energy.

For now, it was unlikely to use that defense technique again in the short term.

At this moment, a giant azure-colored magic sword appeared in the wolf's maw of Touko, clamped tightly between her teeth. Just like the great wolf Sven, she suddenly accelerated and slashed at the Mother of Fingers, who was not in the best condition.

Three of the fingers on the Mother's right side, which served as her legs, were severed. Her entire body suddenly lurched, but in the end, she managed to support her weight with her slender arms, preventing a complete collapse.

However, Touko's attack undoubtedly enraged the Mother of Fingers. Her microcosm erupted for three brief seconds, rapidly expanding before a massive shockwave sent Touko flying through the air.

Seeing Touko in her wolf-fox form, Aoko gathered even more magical power. Countless spindle-shaped objects surrounded her, and a gigantic circular magic array, with a radius exceeding ten meters, rotated rapidly around her.

As the Third Magician, Touko was arguably the most resilient among all magicians. She could withstand any attack that didn't outright annihilate her—so long as even a tiny bit of her flesh remained, she could recover quickly.

Her transformation into a golden wolf was also due to this trait—golden wolves were large, durable, and fast. As long as a single strand of fur remained, Touko would not die.

"Earthlight Starbow!"

In that instant, Aoko unleashed her compressed, infinite magical power. Though brute-force magic users were often looked down upon, who didn't know their firepower was overwhelming?

The magic bullet, piercing through heaven and earth, streaked toward the Mother of Fingers. If it struck, it would surely obliterate both her and her microcosm.

But could a Governor sent by the Greater Will to pioneer new lands be so easily dealt with? The Mother of Fingers let out a silent shriek.

A massive amount of blood erupted from the gruesome wound on her chest, and the microcosm at the tip of her tail expanded rapidly. Every bit of starlight vanished, and the entire sphere now resembled a void-like black hole.

Aoko's magic cannon was neither blocked nor deflected, yet it still missed its target. In that instant, the Mother of Fingers used a self-destructive burst of microcosmic energy to warp the space-time in front of her.

The future trajectory of Aoko's magic cannon was altered just before impact, veering upward instead.

From the perspective of the Aozaki sisters, Aoko's magic cannon had inexplicably swerved mid-flight, shooting instead toward the strange pipes and sea surface overhead.

Achieving such a feat was no easy task, even for the Mother of Fingers. Aoko could sense her opponent's energy weakening.

Her ultimate move had indeed been immensely powerful—the massive tubular structure it struck exploded and collapsed, sending a huge section of piping and a torrent of seawater crashing down. The enraged Mother of Fingers merely waved her hand, tossing the debris aside.

Though furious, after multiple rounds of battle, the Mother of Fingers was far from being in top condition. Aoko noticed that the microcosm at the tip of her tail was fluctuating erratically, indicating a loss of control.

However, losing control didn't mean losing destructive power. The microcosm at the tip of her tail suddenly expanded in size and then unleashed a dazzling stream of energy.

And not just one—two energy streams erupted simultaneously from opposite points, like the pulsar jets of a neutron star. They spun continuously, each wave of energy launching powerful shockwaves against the surrounding water, advancing toward Aoko and Touko with world-shattering force.

As expected of a warrior sent by the Greater Will to pioneer worlds and spread life—who would've thought she had this move up her sleeve?

Aoko was momentarily dumbfounded. She suspected that this devastating attack was the result of the Mother of Fingers losing control over her microcosm, but that didn't change the fact that she was now trying to use it to eliminate them both!

Time to run.

Aoko quickly assessed the situation. If the Mother of Fingers' pulsar attack could break through her Redshift, then even Touko sensed the danger. She reverted to her loli form and clung to Aoko's back, while the fat cat Cheshire darted into Touko's pocket in a flash.

Just as Aoko was casting her teleportation spell, the situation suddenly reversed once again. She now fully grasped the unfolding events—the microcosm at the Mother of Fingers' tail had truly lost control.

First, it exploded on the spot, forcing Aoko to teleport herself and Touko five kilometers away (originally, she had planned to escape to the surface, but she adjusted her coordinates at the last moment).

The explosion even engulfed the Mother of Fingers herself, swallowing her body into a black hole.

The Aozaki sisters gazed at the scene. A massive void had appeared in the upper and lower sea surfaces where the Mother of Fingers once stood, and the water took a long time to fill the gap.

As for the Mother of Fingers herself—she was nowhere to be seen.

All that remained was a basketball-sized microcosm, now seemingly restored to its original form, floating alone in the air—like a fruit waiting to be plucked.