The instant the points were deducted her shattered arms re-knit themselves.
"Collection complete. Phantasmal Species blood. Calculating points…"
"Congratulations, Host: 45 000 points acquired."
She left the balance untouched, dismissed the Mystic Eyes, and shifted yubashiri to her right hand.
Fujino vanished from where she stood, reappearing mid-air. A sword-strike devoid of Haki cleaved toward the crown of a distant tree.
A crimson silhouette shot upward to meet the slash, was bisected, and cancelled the blade-momentum in a splash of petals.
"Touko Aozaki, too cowardly to show yourself?" Fujino's Observation Haki pinned the puppeteer behind the trunk.
"Since you insist, how could I refuse?" A counterfeit smile on her lips, Touko stepped out with a suitcase, as though nothing had happened.
Fujino didn't care why Touko had attacked. yubashiri flared with Haki—she was no swordsman who held back against women; anything that struck at her would die.
"Ittōryū: Blink."
She vanished and reappeared before Touko in the same heartbeat, yubashiri already cleaving toward the woman's neck.
Touko had primed a hidden Rune the moment she emerged. The sigil ignited the instant Fujino arrived, detonating between them.
Fire blossomed; Touko's body shimmered beneath a pale ward that drank the blast, letting the shockwave hurl her backward.
"Futile," came the icy verdict. Cloaked in black, Fujino burst through the flames, yubashiri aimed straight at Touko's throat.
"Accel."
Emerald light blazed along Touko's limbs, catapulting her sideways.
A wet hiss—blood fanned across the air, spattering Fujino's cheek.
"Runes? Amusing." Touko survived, trading an arm for her life. She pressed the stump, green light sealing the wound.
"Enough! Ordinary people must have noticed that fight. Will you break the Magi's law and bring the Clock Tower hunting you?"
She had spotted Fujino even before the girl boarded the tram. When bystanders ignored the child—like a subtle spell—Touko's caution and a woman's Sixth Sense took over; she left a puppet in her place and watched from the shadows.
Then came Fujino's request to open her Magic Circuits. "You cast on me just now, used suggestion, and now you want my help—are you joking?"
So Touko struck first.
She had assumed Beowulf would finish the intruder, yet the wolf had been destroyed without even resurrecting.
"Your rules mean nothing to me. Expose your so-called mystery—what do I care?"
"You… you're not a Magus?"
"No." Fujino raised yubashiri, ending the conversation.
"Wait!" Aozaki Touko felt she could still salvage the situation.
But Asagami Fujino didn't waver. Shave burst into motion, stepped on the great tree beneath her feet, and arrived in front of Touko. yubashiri in her hand slashed ruthlessly toward Touko.
"Damn it!" The corners of Touko's eyes turned blue—her Mystic Eyes.
Asagami's movement froze. yubashiri hovered less than a fist's breadth from Touko's throat; a faint red line had already appeared across the puppeteer's neck.
"Mystic Eyes, huh?" Breaking the binding would be easy, yet Asagami didn't bother. Her own pupils shifted, and the The Demon Eye of Distortion flared again.
Seeing those eyes, Touko's heart lurched. She had no time to think and hastily shouted, "I can compensate you!"
"Fine." Touko was stunned; she'd expected refusal, yet Asagami agreed.
With a sharp tug Asagami shattered the binding of Touko's Mystic Eyes and sheathed yubashiri. Gazing at the bewildered puppeteer, she said, "Even if I killed you now, you wouldn't die. Am I wrong, Miss Aozaki Touko the doll master?"
"You certainly know a great deal." Touko eyed her, deeply wary. Had this girl overheard her thoughts? A terrifying ability.
"I'll wait for you in that building—bring the wolf back." Asagami turned and left.
"Wait—Beowulf is alive?!" Touko snatched the severed arm from the ground; reattaching a limb was child's play for a puppeteer. Then she sprinted toward where Asagami and Beowulf had fought. A Phantasmal Species was priceless; if the wolf still lived, Touko would haul her back.
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