mtl008 Chapter 594 - 594
Chapter 594 - 594
"You're just early."Scáthach ignored her complaint, lightly placing the book in her hand on the desk.
"Aoko, why are you in such a bad mood this morning?"
Eiji turned his gaze to the beautiful black-haired girl, whose impatient expression was blatantly obvious.
"Did something happen?"
"Sorry, I got a bit worked up."
Aoko Aozaki sighed with some self-reflection.
"If you're asking what happened, of course there is something. You must have heard about the murder case in the shopping district last night, right?"
Scáthach had just mentioned it during the morning lecture.
Eiji nodded naturally.
"There was only one victim, but the condition of the body was horrific."
Aoko Aozaki raised a hand to her forehead, looking thoroughly exasperated.
"I went to investigate it this morning. It seems like only half of the body was left—the other half was burned to a crisp. What's worse, the corpse was dried out like dead wood, with all the blood drained from it!"
Eiji's eyes sharpened.
Blood drained?
A burned corpse wasn't particularly unusual, but a body dried out to the point of resembling dead wood, with all its blood extracted—that was far from normal.
According to Scáthach, Kinoko City was a Singularity created by Goetia, who intended to transform it into a stage for selecting Earth's Ultimate Ones.
In the process, the Counter Force would assist by merging various worldlines into this city, all for the purpose of gathering the candidates for Ultimate Ones.
Among these potential worldlines was the one from Aoko's Mahoutsukai no Yoru universe. Since this was a Singularity within the Fate worldview, worldlines involving the Holy Grail War would naturally appear as well.
Not only that, but worldlines from the other side might also emerge.
"Dead Apostles?"
Eiji sighed.
Draining blood—that was unmistakably the work of those vampires!
Over a month had passed, and the Tsukihime worldline had indeed merged into this city.
"Even if the current state of the city is different, this is still the territory of the Aozaki family. I won't allow those creatures to run rampant on my family's land!"
Aoko Aozaki's tone was resolute.
Monitoring all conditions within her territory and expelling any threats—that was the mark of an exceptional magus.
"Honestly, you're just making trouble for yourself."
Scáthach sat on the desk, sipping a steaming cup of coffee, her glossy black-stockinged legs crossed.
"This Kinoko City isn't the one you're familiar with, and this isn't your real world. Once everything is over, you'll naturally return to your own world. Your family's actual territory will remain untouched. Why bother with invaders here?"
Her criticism was sharp—if words were blades, they would have cut straight to the bone.
"Even so, as long as I'm the lord of this land for even a day, I won't tolerate invaders defiling it!"
But Aoko Aozaki stood firm, her spine straight, not backing down an inch in the face of Scáthach's harsh remarks.
Cool!
Eiji gave her a thumbs-up.
Aoko's cheeks flushed slightly for a moment before she accepted the praise with grace.
"A magus's pride, huh?"
Scáthach let out a light, noncommittal chuckle.
It was unclear whether that reasoning had convinced her, but in any case, she didn't continue criticizing Aoko's course of action.
"Your high spirits are what matter most. In that case, I hope you can maintain this good energy going forward!"
Scáthach downed her coffee in one gulp.
Then she walked up to the wall, her right hand becoming a blur as she carved glowing runes into its surface.
At her words, Aoko Aozaki's expression immediately fell. Her tense shoulders slumped, and she looked as dejected as someone performing a full-body prostration in defeat.
"Hmm—!"
In the blink of an eye, Scáthach finished writing.
Mana abruptly surged, transforming into a staggering wave that enveloped the entire office.
The space before them suddenly expanded, stretching outward in all directions—up, down, left, right, forward, and back—until, in an instant, it had become a vast expanse over a kilometer in length, width, and height!
The space was pitch-black, devoid of even a sliver of sunlight. The atmosphere was eerie, and the temperature was frigid, hovering around zero degrees Celsius. The moment she stepped inside, Aoko Aozaki shivered violently.
The smooth marble floor beneath their feet had also transformed into a sprawling grassland, thick with weeds, while distant mountain ranges rose and fell in the horizon.
In mere seconds, the entire office had morphed into a massive alternate dimension!
"Every time I see something like this, I can't help but feel like a total amateur."
Aoko stared blankly at the towering, otherworldly space, letting out a hollow groan.
"I mean, I am a Magician—I've even used True Magic once! But seeing this kind of scale just completely shatters my confidence!"
Though she couldn't say she particularly liked magecraft—after all, it had been forced upon her, disrupting her original life—it was still the ideal countless people had pursued throughout history. Eventually, she would need this power to compete for the position of Ultimate One.
Once she accepted her circumstances, she had felt a small sense of pride.
But in terms of sheer scale, her power was utterly incomparable to Scáthach's.
"Don't worry about it. The nature of your Magic is far more impressive than this."
Eiji chuckled and patted her shoulder reassuringly.
"Besides, just think about how many centuries Scáthach has lived compared to you. There's no way you could—holy shit!"
Before he could finish—
A sudden, overwhelming sense of mortal danger struck him.
A crimson streak flashed in the distance as a demonic spear shot toward him at speeds far exceeding sound, aimed directly at his forehead!
Guided by his instincts, Eiji barely managed to leap aside, watching in shock as the spear grazed past him, the violent gust of wind it carried whipping at his clothes.
"Are you trying to kill me?!"
"With that kind of talk, you deserve to die a hundred times over."
Scáthach appeared before the two with a smile.
Her expression was warm, but her eyes were lethally sharp—so much so that one might fear she'd impulsively thrust her spear at any moment.
"Today's training regimen is doubled."
"Even Sparta wasn't this brutal!"
"Not satisfied? Quadrupling it is fine too. I'd love to see just where your limits lie!"
The Queen laughed heartily before charging forward, spear in hand.
"Bring it on! Who's afraid of who?!"
Eiji stiffened his neck, summoning the Bling Blade with a shout as he met the spear's tip head-on.
Blade and spear clashed in an instant.
Sparks flew as thunderous explosions reverberated, shaking the eardrums.
Two figures darted through the air, leaving behind afterimages in their wake, while dust and debris erupted in chaotic swirls!
"Always so reckless!"
Aoko Aozaki couldn't help but cover her ears, muttering in complaint.
"Don't think you can slack off either!"
A stern voice suddenly rang out from ahead, making Aoko stiffen.
Even in the midst of intense combat, Scáthach remained composed, issuing commands to Aoko without missing a beat.