Aozaki Aoko Case File [33]

Just as Aozaki Touko, hiding behind the scenes, was unsettled by Alice's Flat Snark and about to command Beo to retreat from the battlefield, Kuonji Alice was also in poor condition.

Having used her familiar, the blue robin "Robin," as a substitute for herself earlier, Alice had expended a considerable amount of magical energy. Moreover, she possessed only one Robin PLOY. Until Robin could be repaired, Kuonji Alice was in a fragile state. If Beo were to launch another attack, she would undoubtedly face true defeat, or possibly even death.

More crucially, Alice's strongest asset, the immense power of the Flat Snark, depended on keeping its true form hidden and the environment enveloped in perpetual night.

Since the two had been fighting for a prolonged period, Alice could use Flat Snark to generate true ether and exhaust the fully materialized golden wolf. However, once night passes and the real sun rises, Alice would lose all her advantages, and the battle against Touko would be entirely reversed.

Hesitating, Alice pulled out a rune stone from her cloak's pocket—a communication stone Aozaki Aoko had left her. By infusing it with magical energy and crushing it, she could alert Aoko to her situation, prompting her immediate intervention.

Day or night, that soul-materialized phantasmal beast would never tire…

With this thought, Alice seemed to make up her mind and tightened her grip on the communication stone.

...

Meanwhile, the dispute between Touko and Beo was nearing its conclusion. Ultimately, even a phantasmal being of the earth had to yield to the deep, soul-binding power of Touko's contract. Beo conceded and agreed to retreat.

At that moment, Touko's surveillance familiar landed on Beo's fur-covered back. Ordinarily, Touko wouldn't bother retrieving even this familiar, but given the substantial cost of crafting mystic codes and puppets for this battle against her sister, preserving resources—including the familiar—was prudent.

However, agreeing to retreat does not always mean one can leave the battlefield successfully.

Although the abandoned amusement park was shrouded in night, illuminated by Flat Snark, the lights now inexplicably began going out in the same direction, as though something lurking in the darkness was devouring them one by one.

Beo became instantly alert, staring into the pitch-black area it planned to flee toward.

Curiously, as a phantasmal species, Beo had night vision and could see clearly in the darkest wilderness. Yet in this particular darkness, it saw absolutely nothing.

Still, Beo felt no fear; it knew that few things in this world could harm it, let alone kill it. Moving forward with caution, it advanced step by step, trying to decipher what lay hidden within the darkness.

With each step, the strange darkness retreated, causing the giant wolf to show a disdainful, almost human-like smirk.

Yet for some reason, the toy soldiers and odd creatures that had been attacking it earlier now kept their distance. Confused but relieved by their withdrawal, Beo noted that its wounds had already started to heal.

It took another step forward, and the darkness retreated once again. Just as Beo felt satisfied with its strength, it saw something unsettling where the darkness had receded.

A human body—no, only half of one—the upper half, stood upright on the ground. Its arms were posed in a Buddhist gesture of prayer, palms pressed together, while the lower half was embedded in the ground not far away.

Beo was puzzled. What was this thing?

"That's one of my puppets," came Aozaki Touko's serious voice from the familiar on Beo's back.

"Be careful. I can't control the core of these puppets anymore."

Weary from its previous encounters with Flat Snark's strange creations, Beo approached the strange puppet cautiously rather than charging forward as it normally would. It began to back away, planning to escape in another direction.

Yet before it had taken more than a few steps, an intense chill crept up from its tail.

Leaping forward, Beo spun around to see a wall at least dozens of meters wide blocking its path. This "wall" appeared unstable, swirling with dark mist.

If it had been an ordinary wall, Beo would have easily smashed through it with a headbutt. But this thing was not ordinary.

The longer Beo stared at the pitch-black wall, the more hesitant it felt to move forward.

"What's wrong, Beo?"

Touko's voice was tinged with anxiety.

"Just jump over that spooky thing! It's not even that tall, is it?"

That may have been her command, but as a beast, Beo trusted its instincts. Throughout its long life, these instincts had guided it to success—and now, they urged it to flee from this strange "wall."

Obeying, Beo turned to run, leaping over the eerie puppet posed in prayer and sprinting toward the direction where the darkness had retreated.

However, the further it ran, the more broken puppets it encountered. Each was posed in the same praying stance, with the upper and lower halves separated.

In neat rows, these praying puppets formed a path leading into the darkness.

Unfazed by these malfunctioning puppets, Beo pressed onward, determined to escape this cursed amusement park.

Just as it neared the end of the puppet-lined path, the darkness gathered in one place, swirling like a slow-moving tornado before dispersing.

Of course, Beo had no intention of stopping. Unlike a curious human, it charged directly toward the black "whirlwind," confident that nothing could stop its advance.

Yet as it approached, the darkness dissipated, revealing a woman with long red hair, staring at Beo and Touko's familiar with a smile.