In the heart of Kinoko Town, there lay a vast park.
The area was densely shaded with lush greenery, and at its center was a shallow lake reflecting the full moon of tonight.
However, this place was almost never visited by anyone, left nearly abandoned—which was why it had been designated as one of the five key nodes of the bounded field enveloping Kinoko Town.
Aoko's mission tonight was to patrol the vicinity of this park.
Only two of the bounded field's nodes remained. If Touko were to make her move tonight, she would undoubtedly target one of them—meaning the chances of encountering her were fifty-fifty.
Aoko was prepared for a decisive battle.
But no matter what, she never could have imagined that the final scene would be so bitterly ironic.
"Gh… Ah…"
Her feet dangled in the air.
Her throat was clamped shut by a slender arm.
Her windpipe was blocked, cutting off all air to her lungs. No sound could escape, only strangled, guttural gasps as she struggled.
Her hands desperately clawed at the arm holding her, her legs kicking wildly against her assailant's abdomen—but the opponent remained utterly unfazed. Those simple green eyes merely watched her, as if studying the process of her suffocation with detached curiosity.
She was going to die.
She was really going to die.
Aoko felt the oxygen in her chest rapidly depleting, her mind fading into blankness. All strength drained from her body, her struggles growing weaker and weaker.
A merciless end.
There was no dignity in death by suffocation.
Yet here she was, about to die exactly like this—
—at the hands of this golden-haired boy, his fingers tightening around her throat.
He was a small-framed boy, no older than thirteen or fourteen, dressed in a white down jacket. His golden hair reached his neck, and his features carried distinctly European traits.
But what stood out most were his eyes. Those emerald-green pupils seemed utterly unaware of cruelty, his expression one of pure innocence as he casually strangled the life out of her.
"That's enough, Beo. Put her down."
A mature woman's voice called out from the shadows of the trees.
"Yes, Touko-san."
The golden-haired boy—Beo—reluctantly released Aoko and took a few steps back, deferring to his master.
From the trees emerged a woman in a green dress. Her short, deep crimson hair was darker than twilight, and a pair of black-framed glasses rested on her face, giving her a gentle appearance.
"It's been three and a half years, hasn't it, Aoko?"
Aozaki Touko stepped forward, removing her glasses.
It was like flipping a switch.
Her sharp edges instantly became pronounced, her scarlet eyes gleaming with razor-like intensity. Her entire presence radiated aggression.
"After all this time, you still haven't grown at all."
"Cough—!"
Aoko collapsed to the ground, clutching her throat.
Her face was flushed red, her lungs heaving as she greedily gulped down air.
"Heh… You've changed a lot, though… cough… Fruit Granny!"
She spat out the long-held nickname with deliberate mockery.
Even after nearly dying, her defiant expression hadn't weakened in the slightest. She remained unbroken, her strong-willed self untouched by the brush with death.
"Granny—?!"
Touko's breath hitched, her face immediately twisting in displeasure.
"I'm only 21! Far from a granny!"
That's right.
Despite her mature appearance—giving off the aura of a woman in her late twenties—she was, in fact, only 21. She had simply been born with an older look.
Touko glared at Aoko like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, her gaze growing increasingly hostile.
"Tch! And here I was, planning to chat a little longer."
She lost interest almost instantly.
"Beo, she's yours. Do whatever you want—break her legs, snap a few bones, I don't care. Just don't kill her."
"How fickle, Touko-san."
The golden-haired boy—Beo—stepped forward, complaining lightly.
Then he turned to Aoko, his face lighting up with a pure, innocent smile, as if darkness had never existed within him to begin with.
"Touko-san told me you carry the world's greatest mystery. Is that true?"
He crouched down, meeting Aoko's gaze at eye level, then extended his right hand.
"I left my village to seek out powerful mysteries. So I'm very interested in this 'world's greatest mystery' Touko-san mentioned—but if you don't use it soon, I'll start tearing your body apart, okay?"
His right hand became enveloped in golden flames.
Within that radiance, his fingers twisted and warped—transforming from a human wrist into a beast's claw, covered in golden fur. Slowly, it descended toward Aoko.
His movements were unhurried, like a cat toying with its prey.
His demeanour was utterly relaxed, as if looking down on the entire world.
But to Aoko, this was no game.
Faced with the golden boy's advance, she scrambled backwards—but the claw followed relentlessly, its edges so sharp they could slice her slender body in half with a single swipe.
"A familiar?"
While Beo amused himself with Aoko, Touko turned her gaze upward.
A black starling circled the night sky, its dark form blending seamlessly into the darkness—but it couldn't escape the eyes of a professional magus like Touko.
"Alice's familiar?"
She recognized that bird. Only Alice would craft such a familiar to monitor the town.
"Her situation over there is far worse than here. And yet she still has the focus to spare for this side?"
Touko sighed inwardly.
To be honest, she didn't want to kill Alice. But circumstances left little choice.
Against that enemy, Alice stood no chance.
The difference in their mysteries was simply too vast. No modern magus could face that thing head-on—not even the Great Witch's familiars stood a chance.
Touko paid the starling no further mind.
Her sister's screams reached her ears, but she remained unmoved. Instead, she pulled a cigarette from her pocket, lit it, and took a slow drag.
As long as she doesn't die, any amount of suffering is fine.
That was the order she had given Beo. And she had no intention of showing mercy.
Whoosh—!
But suddenly, a violent gust of wind roared in the distance, rapidly closing in.
"What—?"
Touko frowned, turning toward the source.
A black dot.
At first, it was tiny—but it grew larger at an alarming rate, its outline gradually taking the shape of a human.
"Flight? No… Levitation? Neither—this is a projectile?!"
Her expression tightened.
Focusing her vision, she locked onto the figure hurtling toward them—
—and saw a face she recognized. One brimming with aggression.
"That boy?!"
***
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