Magician in Type-Moon

Page 659

Run wildly!

The puppet launched another attack, but this time it was no longer a simple slash! Like a maddened beast, it came at a speed and power far exceeding its previous attack, causing all the blades to vibrate simultaneously and emit a high-frequency buzzing sound!

The doll's numerous sharp blades collided violently with the girl's crossed 'arms', erupting in blinding sparks! The immense impact caused Arcueid's body to sink!

But in that instant of head-on collision, the girl used that point of contact as a 'fulcrum' and gracefully somersaulted in mid-air as if her body were weightless!

Her movements were fluid and swift, reminiscent of the most difficult gymnastic move—the 'moon flip'—not only skillfully dissipating the impact but also gaining an advantage in the air!

At the moment she reached the highest point of her tumbling, her hands, which resembled peerless claws, spun with her body, drawing a perfect and deadly arc like a new moon, slicing through the void and striking the doll's head and sensor cluster!

Crack!

A strange, teeth-grinding sound of metal snapping rang out!

The puppet that was supposed to receive the counterattack had its main 'blades' shattered instantly! As if destroyed from within by an invisible force, it turned into countless metal fragments!

But just when she seemed to have the upper hand, the girl's body froze!

Because at extremely close range, at the spot where the doll should have been struck hard and exposed its weakness—

Its laughing mouth suddenly split open wider than ever before—a strange, spear-shaped organ, writhing like internal organs and with an incredibly sharp tip, burst forth from it at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye!

It strikes directly at Arcueid, who is temporarily unable to defend due to the attack!

No matter how seasoned and powerful an expert may be, theoretically they cannot resist such a completely illogical and extremely insidious 'sneak attack'!

However, Arcueid once again demonstrated the True Ancestor's inhuman combat instincts and reaction speed!

At the critical moment, she managed to dodge the deadly internal organ spear thrust by relying on the amazing burst of core strength in her waist and abdomen to complete a tiny double twist in mid-air!

The sharp, strange organ grazed her side almost to the side, and the resulting air pressure tore her clothes.

Using the momentum from her backflip, she 'retreated with the backflip' and landed lightly a few steps away, her cold eyes fixed on the doll, slightly panting, blood dripping from the wound on her arm onto the grass.

But unexpectedly, the automaton did not take advantage of her unstable landing to launch a 'further pursuit'.

Conversely, while the girl was actively 'creating distance', it also suddenly pushed off the ground in the opposite direction, 'jumping' like a monkey onto the trunk of a large tree next to it.

Then, at a terrifying speed that is impossible for human vision to discern, it repeatedly leaps between tree branches, not moving forward, but rapidly retreating!

Its silhouette flickered a few times among the trees before completely disappearing into the lingering white mist of the lake area in the early morning.

"—They escaped?" Matou Ike's voice broke the brief silence after the battle, carrying a hint of confirmation, her gaze still sharply sweeping over the misty woodland where the doll had disappeared.

“…It seems so.” Arcueid said softly, her tone carrying a hint of barely perceptible annoyance and self-reproach, probably from feeling that she had been too careless.

She glanced down at the thin wound on her arm, her golden brows furrowing slightly. The wound was healing slowly at a visible rate, but being injured in the first place was a dereliction of duty to her.

Matou Ike's attention was entirely focused on analyzing his opponent.

He walked to the few shards of the blade that Arcueid had finally shattered, squatted down, and instead of touching them directly with his hands, carefully examined the material of the shards and the extremely faint traces of energy remaining on them with his Mystic Eyes.

"The 'knife' that guy used... the material and forging technique vaguely resemble the 'black key' that the agents of the 'Sanctuary Church' like to use? But it's also mixed with something else..."

He stared in the direction the doll had disappeared, muttering to himself, his brow furrowed. If this thing really was related to the Holy Church, then things were even more complicated.

"Should we chase after them?" Arcueid asked, having fully regained her fighting stance. Her bloodshot eyes still shone with fighting spirit, as if she desperately wanted to find the strange doll that had injured her.

Matouchi did not answer.

He slowly stood up, his face more solemn than ever before.

The performance, bizarre and ever-changing structure, and the insidious "internal organ spear" of this level of automaton were enough to make even the well-informed Matou Ike feel a little uneasy.

This is definitely not something that can be sold on the market, and it's not something that a typical magic school would easily produce.

An absurd yet not entirely dismissible thought flashed through his mind:

If I didn't know that the Grand Puppeteer 'Aozaki Touko', known as 'The Crimson of Pain,' was currently busy with other things, I would have almost thought that I had accidentally called out her annoying nickname, which led to this level of 'assassination' service.

After all, her style is very much like that of someone who combines killing and art to the extreme.

But he quickly dismissed the idea.

More importantly, another discovery was made:

“Moreover, besides the fact that this doll is made of exceptionally hard material,” he said in a deep voice, “its resistance to ‘magic’ has even reached a level close to rank B of the ‘magic resistance’ skill!”

This is an extremely dangerous characteristic, meaning that many conventional magical attacks are much less effective against it.

"Even my 'Twisted Demon Eye' failed to work immediately when it tried to directly interfere with its internal structure. It only caused it to 'slightly lose its balance' and did not 'crush' it directly."

This is what truly alarms him. His Mystic Eyes are an extremely powerful supernatural ability, yet his opponent possesses such high magic resistance—this is no coincidence. The designers have clearly made specific enhancements targeting the characteristics of magicians.

Matou Ike stood still, his gaze fixed on the misty woodland where the automaton had disappeared, his brain 'thinking' for a while.

Allowing such a dangerous and purposeless creation to escape is not his style. More information is necessary!

He abruptly turned his gaze to the direction where the puppet had last disappeared, and in the depths of those deep eyes, inhuman power was once again forcibly activated.

He gathered even greater power once more into the demonic eye that was beginning to heat up and emanating a faint stinging sensation.

It is not intended for direct attack, but rather to maximize the ability to "determine the future" and "track perception" to capture the extremely faint, rapidly dissipating magical remnants in the air, the molecular traces of metal friction, and the airflow trajectories disturbed by the movement of non-man-made objects!

Countless minute streams of information flowed into his mind like a rushing river, instantly undergoing ultra-high-speed calculation and reconstruction.

The next second, a clear, invisible "path" appeared in his perception!

"Tsk!" He clicked his tongue impatiently, both because of the burden on his magic eye and because of the target's speed.

"Hurry up!" he called out urgently to Arcueid, and without hesitation, he shot off like an arrow, taking the lead in 'running into the depths of the forest' along the tracking path that only he could 'see'.

Arcueid did not hesitate, and the golden figure followed closely behind him.

The two, one after the other, moved like ghosts, silently and swiftly skimming over the gnarled tree roots, drooping vines, and damp moss, deep into the forest shrouded in mist and ancient magic.

Finally, the two arrived at their destination shortly afterward—thanks to Matou Ike's precise guidance and superhuman speed.

It was a sudden, open expanse of land.

Surrounded by a lush, dense forest, this place seemed to have been carved out by an invisible hand, appearing to be a 'special space'.

In the center of the open space, a clear spring is gushing from the ground, forming a small pool. The spring water is crystal clear and emits extremely faint, yet exceptionally pure, magical fluctuations.

Judging from the way the spring water emerged and the unusually pure magical environment around it, Matouchi realized that this place might actually be a special spiritual vein node or spiritual cave.

In some Eastern beliefs, the location of a "spiritual cave" often coincides with that of a "spring," where the power of the earth's spiritual veins overflows and transforms into sweet spring water.

The same is true in the West. Miracles that can make springs gush forth, cure diseases, or bestow blessings have long been regarded as proof of the existence of saints or spirits, and are highly worshipped miracles.

But now—

What I saw shattered the tranquility and sanctity that this "holy land" should have.

A glaring, viscous red stain is wantonly polluting the entire spring and its surroundings, turning the clear pool water into an ominous dark red.

The color was so intense it seemed impossible to dissolve, carrying the warmth and despair of life's final passing.

The scene was fatally deadly, filled with visceral violence and the aura of death.

Matouchi's gaze instantly locked onto the center of the spring—

A woman's corpse is 'floating' with the gentle ripples of the spring water.

She was wearing that familiar black and white maid dress, but now it was tattered and soaked in blood.

“…Kalina.” Matou Ike murmured the name subconsciously, but then realized something was wrong.

Both Karina and Regina are twin maids who look almost identical, making it difficult to tell them apart in such a miserable state.

"No, it's...Regina?" He revised his judgment, his heart sinking slightly. One of the Golden Princess's personal maids had also fallen victim to this!

"Tsk!" Matou Ike let out an extremely suppressed clicking of his tongue. The situation took a sharp turn for the worse, and this place instantly became another dangerous crime scene.

He immediately whispered to Arcueid beside him, "Go! Get out of here right now!" They had to leave immediately; this was clearly a trap!

However, from the shadows of the forest behind them came another voice, languid and hoarse, yet carrying a chilling authority and cold irony:

"Oh dear, wait a minute. I suggest you... 'Don't move.'"

The voice spoke slowly and deliberately, "In conventional law, this situation would be called 'protecting the crime scene,' right? But here..."

He paused, then added with an undisguised threat, "Or should we say... 'arresting a criminal caught in the act'?"

Chapter 684 Deterrence (4k)

"Ugh—!" Arcueid's body tensed instantly, like a wild beast whose territory had been invaded, letting out a dangerous low whimper, and her scarlet eyes suddenly turned towards the direction of the sound.

That voice came from the person who had recently 'voluntarily taken charge of monitoring them'!

Then, the old woman, Inola, dressed in a striking emerald green gown, slowly emerged from the shadows of the forest where leaves were scattered ominously.

She still held a wine glass in her hand, but her eyes, which burned with an ashes-like light, were now like the sharpest probes, staring mercilessly at Matou Ike and Arcueid, firmly fixing them in the position of "suspects".

“Lord Baleita…” Matou Ike sighed, “What are you doing here?”

Her appearance was too coincidental and too timely, almost confirming that this was a carefully orchestrated scheme.

A cruel, all-encompassing smile spread across Inole's face:

“Same here, Lord Matou. Shouldn’t you also be ‘sorting out your thoughts’ at the Tower of the Sun?”

She first turned the tables on him, then offered a seemingly reasonable explanation.

“I just sensed a very strange and strong burst of magical energy nearby, along with obvious signs of fighting. Out of responsibility for the safety of the branch family territory, and out of concern for the people I’m personally monitoring, I naturally had to come and check it out.”

No sooner had Inolai finished speaking than Matou Ike was given the slightest chance to defend herself—

Behind the old woman, in the shadows of the forest, a new presence 'appeared'. This time, the presence was faint, trembling, and filled with uncontrollable sorrow and fear.

“...Kalina...Sister…”

A low, sobbing, dreamlike murmur rang out.

As everyone looked over, they saw another figure, dressed in the exact same black and white maid dress, staggering out of the woods.

She was the other one of the twin maids.

Her face was as pale as paper, her eyes were red and swollen, and she stared incredulously at the blood-stained corpse floating in the middle of the spring, her body trembling violently.

Just as Matouike's initial misconception was now corrected—it seemed that the one who was killed here was indeed her older sister, 'Karina'.

However, what use is knowing this difference in names in the current situation?

Its sole purpose is to add a heartbroken accuser to the scene, making the "caught red-handed" drama even more realistic and suffocating.