Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

Shiki walked through the ruined hall like a girl strolling in the rain, while Fujino kept retreating—

As the car began to accelerate, she was knocked to the ground in the next instant.

With one foot planted on Fujino's chest, he raised the sword above his head with one hand—his posture resembled that of a grim reaper executing someone.

"Don't blame me, hate Shirou instead. He's the one who asked me to 'get rid of' you."

"Woo..."

Fujino collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face: "You're lying... Shirou-kun would never ask for that..."

"She still believed that guy until the very end? What an incurable fool of a woman."

Shi looked speechless.

"You should know what you did that night when you invited those guys who hit on you out... Shirou wouldn't want a woman with blood on her hands."

Fujino was taken aback.

I killed someone.

And there are five of them.

Unarmed humans... were brutally tortured and killed by me while I laughed.

Shirou always taught me that this power should only be used to protect myself, but I used it to vent my emotions—and killed people to vent my emotions.

"Finally remembered?" Shi revealed a teasing expression.

"Shirou-kun will forgive me... I only killed a complete stranger, I will atone for my sins..."

"Are you serious?"

"Woo..."

"Fujino, you really are a born killer."

"I'm not……"

"Not what?"

Ryougi Shiki looked down into Fujino's eyes and asked.

"I ask you, you clearly know that you have committed an irreparable sin, so why are you still hoping that Shirou will forgive you?"

Fujino opened her mouth halfway.

Yes, why is that...?

I feel like something's off...

Even though she knew perfectly well that her sins were unforgivable, she secretly hoped that Shirou would continue to accept her.

She sees Shirou as a pure and innocent saint, her savior, while fantasizing that Shirou would make an exception for her and accept her filthy and sinful self.

Am I... such a shameless woman?

“I…” Fujino stammered.

"If you can't figure it out, then go die."

Ryougi Shiki swung her long sword down towards her neck.

In the instant death approached, a series of images flashed through Asagami Fujino's mind like a revolving lantern—

……

……

"————Thump."

Aozaki Touko fell heavily to the ground.

The feud between the two puppeteers, once hailed as the best in the Clock Tower, was decided in less than a minute.

The room, which was originally the office of "Garan no Dou", is now filled with familiars summoned by the malice of magicians.

Those were monsters formed from creamy-colored slime, constantly rotting and regenerating, barely maintaining their form.

Some are humanoid, some are animaloid, and regardless of their appearance, they can only be described as ugly—yet they also possess exquisite structures.

Aruba didn't even have to lift a finger; he simply sent out his familiars to defeat Aozaki Touko.

Although he is still recovering from a serious illness, Shirou Kazushiki would definitely laugh at him if he knew.

Orange curled her bleeding lips into a smile and glanced around at the monsters in the room:

"Aruba, is this all the research you've done over the years?"

Despite her defeat, she remained relentless in her verbal attacks.

"You should really switch from being a magician to a film director. With you around, you could save a lot of money on monster props."

However, you'll probably only be able to participate in small-scale horror productions... Ugh!!!

Aruba kicked Aozaki Touko in the stomach with his pointed leather shoes, sending her flying.

The orange doll crashed heavily into the monster, vomiting a large amount of blood upon landing.

Aruba simply stared at her, looking more disheveled than ever before.

"you are always like this!"

The young man's eyes were filled with murderous intent, as if he were about to cry.

"Yes, that's how you always do it, belittling my opinion like this."

I was the first to specialize in runes, and I was the first to gain the reputation of being a puppeteer. Despite all this, your attitude fooled those idiots.

Their belittling attitude made them think I was incompetent. Think about it! I'm the next abbot of the Schopenhauer Monastery!

I've been studying magic for over forty years, so why would someone like me be ranked behind a girl in her twenties?!

The magician unleashed a roar that had been suppressed for nearly a decade, seemingly echoing throughout the entire abandoned building.

Facing an opponent who had clearly won but had suddenly lost his composure, Orange wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and looked at him with apathy.

"Knowledge has nothing to do with age, Cornelius. Although you look very young, you only pay attention to your appearance, which is why you can't keep up with your inner self."

Although it was a calm assessment, there could be no more provocative insult.

Upon hearing this, the blond young man, who was actually over fifty years old, twisted his face with disgust.

He tried to calm himself down, but anger had clouded his judgment.

"Oh right... I haven't told you my purpose yet, have I?"

Aozaki, I came to this remote and desolate place just to kill you!

They made me make a special trip, but it turned out to be so frail and weak. I'm so disappointed!

In the end, that's all you're capable of! Even if you weren't sick, I could still beat you!

Aozaki Touko didn't answer, but just curled the corners of her mouth.

Now, whatever she does, Aruba sees only mockery.

He gritted his teeth and extended his gloved right hand.

"Okay, so you just said I only care about appearance, right?"

Young girls who don't know the hardships of life often say things like that...

I'll burn away your pretty face first, and see if you can still stick to your point of view then!

As the magician's hateful curse echoed, the atmosphere of the agency began to tremble—

Like a mirage rising from the ground, the empty void was ignited.

That was a flame from a completely different dimension than the F (Ansuz) that Aozaki Touko had temporarily drawn before.

Although the Clock Tower believed that Aruba's puppetry skills were far inferior to Aozaki Touko's, no one would question his fighting prowess.

In terms of the physical destructive power of magic alone, he surpasses Aozaki Touko, who holds the "Grand" rank, and is even comparable to the strongest Magic Bullet Champion on Earth (Aozaki Aoko).

The blue flames released from Aruba's palm engulfed Aozaki Touko's body.

The next second, this hateful woman will be burning and crying, begging for his mercy.

However, at that moment, a figure rushed out from behind Aruba.

"!?"

Aruba was greatly alarmed.

This is impossible! Was I so focused on Aozaki Touko that I didn't even notice someone entering the building?

However, the figure did not attack Aruba at all, or rather, did not take him seriously at all.

Without hesitation, the opponent charged into the blue sea of ​​fire that had turned into hell.

"........."

Aruba suspected there was something wrong with his eyes.

The figure seemed unaffected by anything, picked up Aozaki Touko, and then rushed out of the flames.

Only then did Aruba finally see who the newcomer was.

A boy with red hair and amber eyes—

It was the guy who entered Ogawa's apartment this afternoon, one of Aozaki Touko's disciples.

"Oh, I'm so happy... Shirou, you came to save me!"

Aozaki Touko nestled in the arms of a boy who was only her age, and murmured weakly.

Unlike the cheerful female magician, the red-haired boy had a solemn expression—even bordering on extreme anger.

Is Shirou angry? Because of me?

As Aozaki Touko thought about it, her heart started pounding faster.

Oh no, this is bad?

She realized that her expression was probably like that of a girl in love—

Shirou stared at her face and said angrily, "Didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to smoke while you're sick?"

--------

Volume 3, Chapter 159: Orange: What is the Pain? (Smiling)

"You appeared in the apartment..."

Although Aruba was shocked that Shirou had rushed into the fire to save Touko without getting hurt, he quickly regained his composure.

The magic trick he just used was not meant to kill Orange but to torment her, so its power was somewhat controlled.

Since the boy is Orange's disciple, it's not surprising that he carries a rune stone that can ward off fire. If it's just a momentary contact, he can indeed be guaranteed to be unharmed.

That being said, their movements are indeed quite agile...

With a composed smile, Aruba observed Shirou Amamiya: "Kid, are you Touka's disciple?"

"Didn't I say that smoking is not allowed while you're sick?"

Shirou leaned closer to Orange's hair and sniffed it; there was a fresh smell of smoke.

"........."

The blond magician, ignored by Shirou, froze.

This wasn't the first time Shirou had ignored him. His approach from behind earlier without ambush Aruba was also an example of being ignored, but that could be attributed to the more important task of rescuing Touka.

However, this time, Aruba clearly felt that Shirou was deliberately ignoring him.

"Hey~ what's wrong with having one now and then?"

The orange-clad magician, nestled in the boy's arms, spoke in a coquettish tone, like a young girl.

Shirou will not back down because of this.

“Nothing is simply not allowed. It's one thing if you're not sick, but you're still secretly smoking... In the end, won't I still have to take care of you?”

"Hehe, if you think about it carefully, it's because Shirou takes such good care of me that I'm able to be so unrestrained."