Aozaki Aoko Case File

Aoko made a decisive move and unleashed a large-scale anti-human spell using her boundless magical power.

As the name suggests, this boundary-like spell's sole effect was to repel all ordinary humans who were not magi from the area of influence, making them subconsciously want to leave the range.

Meanwhile, Vlov Arkhangel expanded the disaster's range, constantly creating new ghouls. These ghouls, in turn, attacked humans, creating even more corpses.

Aoko's large-scale magic created an isolation zone, driving away the uninfected humans from the space occupied by the ghouls. This severed the avenue for the disaster's expansion. Perhaps this beast-like Dead Apostle Ancestor had done this instinctively, but it undoubtedly posed an obstacle for Aoko, who operated with a sense of social responsibility. Thus, she had to remove this obstruction.

Once the obstacle was cleared, Aoko descended to the ground, her immense magical energy surging like a tempest, dispersing the orange-yellow flames that lingered like a mist.

She raised an arm, and several spindle-like objects—resembling jet engines—unfolded, spinning around her and building power for her magical bullets.

"I've grown tired of your tricks," Aoko said coldly. "Game over, Vlov Arkhangel."

A torrent of magical energy, akin to a charged particle cannon, struck the Dead Apostle Ancestor directly in the chest, scorching his decayed flesh and blood.

Vlov roared, gathering all his strength to resist Aoko's attack. But the overwhelming force pushed him back continuously, his feet carving two deep trenches into the ground, attesting to the immense power he was enduring.

"The world... so cold..."

Vlov Arkhangel, while fending off the attack, muttered these words. Immediately after, the temperature around them plummeted drastically.

The once-blazing flames disappeared without a trace. Even the smoldering ghouls froze in place and transformed into cold, lifeless sculptures of ice.

A glacier emerged alongside the flashing light at Vlov Arkhangel's chest. In an instant, the glacier surged upward, repelling Aoko's magical bombardment. It even extended to the hotel building behind her, encasing it in ice.

"Is this the Principle Freezing?" Aoko remarked while maneuvering out of the glacier's attack range with her ethereal steps. At the same time, she observed Vlov, who had unleashed his Principle. "It changes the principle of the surrounding world—something akin to a Reality Marble?"

The Dead Apostle Ancestor, having unleashed his Principle: Freezing, finally regained his composure. The former knight stood coldly in place, gripping a black lance, his expression icy as he gazed at Aoko, who had taken his unleashed attack without a scratch.

"You steal so much of my heat," Vlov said emotionlessly. "Even a magician wielding laws from beyond the stars is still just a human."

Centering on the unleashed Vlov, a freezing storm materialized out of nowhere. The environment around them plunged into an abnormal frost, with snowflakes falling in a season where such a phenomenon should have been impossible.

This attack was akin to releasing a Noble Phantasm by a Heroic Spirit. But for Aoko, it was far from a dire situation.

If anything, Aoko was only slightly surprised that Vlov had managed to neutralize her previous magical bullet attack.

She was weighing the difference in strength between this Dead Apostle Ancestor and the historical shadows of humanity, trying to discern the reason for his existence in this world.

"Star Mine."

With a wave of her hand, a series of azure star-like lights, each radiating a cross-shaped glow, appeared before Aoko. These were highly compressed magical bullets.

Forty in number, Aoko's Star Mines roared through the space between her and Vlov Arkhangel, aiming to consume his form and obliterate his body.

But as a knight, as a warrior, Vlov was not the type of opponent who adhered to the rules of magus duels, where attacks were exchanged in turn. He was a warrior born for survival and victory.

The instant Aoko launched her attack, Vlov swung his unnaturally long lance with great force, creating a massive, snowflake-shaped six-sided ice crystal.

Before Aoko's magical bullets could fire, Vlov shattered the massive ice crystal.

The broken shards of ice transformed into a barrage of projectiles—a veritable rain of icy spears.

Individually, Vlov's ice spears were no match for Aoko's Star Mines. The difference in quality (magical density) between the two was evident. But Vlov's intention was not a one-to-one trade between his magic and hers. Instead, he aimed to swarm her, wearing down the powerful attacks of this human magician and depleting her magical reserves.

However, what Vlov failed to account for was that a magician's power lies in transcending the rules of the mundane world. In Aoko's combat style, the concept of running out of magical energy simply did not exist.

After exhausting Aoko's first wave of Star Mines, Vlov immediately launched a charge. He pointed the lance's tip at the female magician and threw the full weight of his power into his assault. He had already realized the formidable strength of his opponent.

But as he passed through the cold mist created by his shattered ice spears, he was met with a second wave of incoming magical bullets!

For Vlov, this was an utterly unexpected and unanticipated development. Or rather, he had completely misjudged his human opponent's capabilities—a grave mistake for a knight.

Yet, as a knight and a warrior, he made the correct choice. While continuing his charge, he used his free left hand to shield the vital areas of his head.

Vlov forcibly endured Aoko's Star Mines, ending up riddled with wounds. Even the arm shielding his head was blown off entirely, and his body was covered in injuries, his precious blood spraying in all directions.

But Vlov had a singular conviction: to pierce the heart of the woman before him with his lance and drink her blood.

"I got her!"

VLov saw the tip of his lance stabbing into the magician's body at close range. In an instant, he judged that his desperate charge had succeeded.

Yet, his moment of joy lasted only a second. The red-haired magician's figure dissolved into a wisp of smoke, vanishing from his sight.

Something was wrong. Vlov immediately realized this—despite seeing his strike land, the feeling of hitting his target was absent.

A searing pain that pierced his very soul erupted. Vlov Arkhangel suddenly lost all strength.

His body fell forward, sliding a short distance along the ground.

On the center of the Dead Apostle Ancestor's back, a massive bloodied hole severing his spine revealed itself—the undeniable cause of his defeat.

As he felt his condition, Vlov understood that he was dying. Yet, he harbored no resentment or hatred. The curse that had tormented him for 200 years had vanished. The soul-devouring cold had left him, taking his life along with it.

The entire battle had lasted only about five minutes. From the hotel corridor to the streets burned and then frozen, to the defeat of this Ancestor, it had taken merely a handful of minutes.

Aoko looked at her opponent, whom she could reasonably describe as formidable, and couldn't help but sigh.

Vlov's body turned to ash within blue flames, disappearing completely. But his Principle: Freezing remained, bound by Aoko's magic in her palm.

It was a sphere resembling an icy blue flame, radiating a chilling curse, floating in her hand.