[228] The Automaton and the Hound of Roses

"Automaton...?!"

Aoko pushed herself up from the ground with both hands and stood up.

One hand was clutching her burning back—Eiji could clearly see the tear in her clothing and the faint bleeding on her skin—while the other hand pointed straight at the automaton, in a posture ready to fire a magical projectile.

Opposite her, the automaton's left arm was drooping onto the ground, stretching out like a long chain.

Its arm could extend more than ten meters—that's how it had struck Aoko's back from afar.

Crack!

At that moment, having landed its hit, it slowly began to retract its left arm.

"Why would something like this suddenly appear here?"

Aoko was on full alert.

Judging by the timing, the automaton must have been hidden in the amusement park before the Oil of the Moon appeared—otherwise, there wouldn't have been time to ambush her.

In other words, the automaton's master must have already seen through tonight's actions and set the trap here in advance.

"Isn't it obvious? You've clearly been used. While you were fighting me to the death, someone else was lying in wait like the mantis stalked by the oriole."

Eiji wore a look of disdain.

He had already guessed who sent that "Beware of traitors from within and without" letter.

It had to be that fruit hag!

She took advantage of Alice's wariness toward Eiji to provoke a fight among them, while she herself set up an ambush in advance, aiming to take out Aoko here.

There's just no other explanation!

Damn it!

Eiji's temper flared up instantly.

All that talk before about killing her a hundred times—that was just venting.

But now he had changed his mind.

Fruit hag, just you wait!

"Ugh..."

Aoko was momentarily at a loss for words, with nothing to refute.

"It's just an automaton. Watch me blow it to pieces!"

Aoko was furious.

But knowing she was in the wrong, she took out her anger on the automaton. With a loud shout, she activated the magic circuits within her body, forcing out her magical energy.

"Ugh!"

But Aoko suddenly let out a muffled groan, her body trembling slightly—as if someone had flipped a switch on her.

"My magic circuits... they won't activate?!"

No way, sis...

Can we not fall apart at this moment?

Eiji took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening as he struggled to control his body and stand up.

But just then—

"Hey diddle diddle, The cat and the fiddle..."

Soft footsteps approached.

They passed smoothly through the black shadows and arrived beside them.

There was no doubt it was a human girl. A black long dress wrapped her slender body, starkly contrasting her pale face. Her short, shoulder-length hair was crisp and neat, and her delicate features looked almost like a doll's.

"Alice!"

Aoko cried out.

The expression on her face instinctively relaxed, as if Alice's arrival meant everything would now be resolved. But out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of Eiji lying on the ground—and her expression unconsciously tensed again.

"That's Alice?"

Eiji's gaze also fell on the girl in black.

"The cow jumped over the moon, The little dog laughed to see such..."

The nursery rhyme echoed from somewhere unknown.

The girl's face showed no sign of emotion—her expression frozen like ice.

"Two sides of the same coin."

Her eyes swept past Aoko and lingered briefly on Eiji.

Then she slightly parted her cherry lips and uttered strange syllables.

"They're here!"

"Present and ready!"

"Which one to eat?"

"Eat them all!"

"You take the left hand!"

"You take the right hand!"

Black-and-white objects appeared at her sides.

They were piggy banks shaped like little pigs, guarding her left and right. Their appearances were so lacking in menace that even the automaton showed a look of confusion.

What could these things possibly do?

"Finally, our turn to shine!"

"Leave it to us!"

The bouncing pigs moved like lively rubber balls, leaping forward on the ground.

Their target: the automaton!

Clatter!

The automaton tilted its head in puzzlement, then extended both arms simultaneously.

Its five fingers formed blade shapes, and the arms stretched out like chains—one to the left and one to the right, stabbing at the two pigs.

The pigs didn't dodge or block—they took the hit head-on.

Then, their bodies suddenly split open, transforming into massive crocodile jaws that bit down hard on the automaton's arms.

"Half-pound has it in its jaws!"

"Eight-ounce has it in its jaws!"

Looking closer, the two pigs had somehow turned into stapler-shaped devices, biting down tightly on the automaton's hands with no intention of letting go.

The automaton seemed to realize the trouble it was in and chose not to retract its arms. Instead, its head twisted around, and its body dropped low. Several arms sprouted from its abdomen.

It had switched combat modes—transforming from a bipedal humanoid to a multi-limbed spider form.

"More hands?!"

"Can't hold on anymore!"

The two pigs cried out in alarm.

At the same time, the automaton abandoned its front limbs and charged toward Alice using all of its other limbs.

The pigs couldn't clamp down on all the arms, so they were dragged along.

CLANG—!

In that instant, Alice spread her fingers wide.

A dense surge of magical energy poured out from her body, forming a thick fog of magic.

The magical mist was far tougher than expected—the automaton's charge was completely blocked a meter away, unable to advance an inch.

"What a strong defense!"

Eiji frowned deeply.

Forming a defensive barrier purely from magic was something any Blazer could do.

Eiji was no exception. It's just that his magical reserves were always too low—his barriers would disappear in less than a second—so he never used them.

Though it was just instinct, he felt that Alice's magical defense was exceptionally solid. It might even be bulletproof. Compared to other Blazers' defenses, it was no weaker at all.

"I see. Definitely not ordinary."

Alice stared coldly at the automaton before her, her icy expression unchanged.

"And I happen to be hungry—so I'll feed now."

Immediately afterward—

A faint white mist floated out from around her.

Within that mist, no human or beast could be clearly seen—only vague claws and teeth.

The moment that mist appeared, Aoko's scalp tingled.

She hurried to sling the fallen Eiji over her shoulder and retreated swiftly.

Only after escaping the mist's range did she let out a sigh of relief.

"What is that thing?"

Eiji barely managed to stay standing, but the same overwhelming sense of danger hit him too.

"The Hound of Roses. One of Alice's familiars."

Aoko looked at the white mist with undisguised disgust, as if she rejected it on a biological level.

"To add—one of her three top-class familiars. Meaning, it's on the same level as the Oil of the Moon."

***

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