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Also known as the Oil of the Moon.
Among the Magi who had once been defeated by Alice, it was given other names too, "The Untouchable," "The Unknown," and so on. Every title carried the same meaning: an entity of extraordinary power.
Misty fog spread out in all directions, tinted an eerie green by the light of the moon.
The range of visibility shrank rapidly.
"To keep it short, the Oil of the Moon's ability is to construct a fairytale barrier. But the scale is enormous. You'd better prepare yourself to fight against the barrier itself… though you probably don't really get what I mean. In short, stay absolutely on guard!"
Aozaki Aoko spoke quickly, as though pressed for time, trying to make Ryoji understand just how dangerous this situation was.
Hm.
'You say it's like a Reality Marble? Then I get the idea.'
Who hasn't heard of the famous Unlimited Blade Works? If the Oil of the Moon is on that same level, then even if it were counted as a Noble Phantasm, it would have to be classified among the highest mysteries.
So maybe the smart move would be to bail immediately.
…But it already seemed too late for that.
"Ssshh, "
A noise like paper scraping across the ground reached their ears.
Moments later, figures began to emerge one after another from the fog, surrounding the two who stood in the middle of the clearing.
"It's starting!"
Aozaki Aoko sighed as she scanned the perimeter.
What surrounded them were figures with yellow, bread-like skin.
They had no facial features, nothing resembling humanity at all. Their crude limbs were nothing more than elongated loaves of bread, yet their walking pace wasn't slow in the least.
It was as though the bread itself had started moving.
Like something straight out of a fairytale.
"Thump!"
Not far away, a massive teddy bear covered in dust suddenly grinned with a murderous expression. Its once-innocent, cuddly face twisted into a silent snarl filled with malice.
Farther off, a towering iron puppet, several meters tall, began to move as well, each step pounding the ground with deafening clangs. All across the amusement park, dolls, machines, and steel constructs came to life, one after another. Without exception, they all charged toward the spot where Ryoji and Aozaki Aoko stood.
In an instant, it was as if the gates of hell had opened, like a mad carnival of demons, the place was transformed into a nightmare realm.
"One last warning. The rules inside this fairytale barrier are completely different from the outside. Out there, you could tear one of these bread-men apart with your bare hands. But here, not even a rocket launcher could kill them. The only way to defeat them is with magical power."
Aozaki Aoko gave her final friendly reminder.
Alice knew she was inside, so she wouldn't deliberately put her in danger. Their relationship wasn't exactly good, but there was still a degree of trust. As long as she separated from Ryoji, Alice would probably let her leave.
But then she noticed Ryoji had turned to look at her, staring, unblinking.
"W-What are you doing?"
The look in his eyes made her skin crawl, causing her to immediately raise her guard.
"Since we're all in the same boat, you don't need to be so polite!" Ryoji suddenly grinned, flashing a fake, insincere smile.
"Share the hardships with me!"
"Wha, Wait, wait?!"
Before she could dodge, his long arm swept out, scooping Aozaki Aoko up and tucking her under his arm like baggage.
Heh.
You thought you could run off?
At the very least, he was going to wring some answers out of her!
"If you won't play fair, don't blame me for doing the same!" Ryoji shouted as he broke into a sprint.
He barreled forward, scattering entire swathes of bread-men like bowling pins. In the blink of an eye, they were sent flying far behind him.
They couldn't be killed without magical power, sure, but judging by how easily he could knock them away, the laws of physics hadn't completely been overturned.
Ryoji burst forth with Agility on par with DanMachi World Level 5, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
Neither the bread men, the gigantic teddy bears, nor the tin puppets could keep up with his speed, like a racing car dashing at full throttle.
"It's not even my fault!"
Aozaki Aoko, furious, pounded on Ryoji's back. But he didn't react at all; instead, she was jolted around so much she nearly threw up her dinner.
"This Familiar, what abilities does it have, and what are its weaknesses? Tell me the truth!"
"Bastard!"
Smack!
"You spanked me?!"
From afar, only Aozaki Aoko's incredulous, grief-stricken screams could faintly be heard, her tone practically murderous.
"..."
Far away.
At the center of the amusement park stood a clock tower.
And atop that tower, a girl clad in pitch black like a Spirit or Elf of the night stood silently.
She watched the chaos below, and the two fleeing at impossible speed, and sighed wordlessly.
"Aoko… not only is she not helping, she's become a hostage instead…"
Which only made it harder for her to strike decisively.
"Robin."
At her soft call, A robin with brilliant blue feathers appeared beside her, circling as though awaiting her command.
...…
The monsters in the amusement park came endlessly, as though without end.
Ryoji thought only of escaping this barrier, his legs churning like fiery wheels as he plowed through bread men and dodged hulking tin soldiers.
He didn't use any Magic Power, he relied purely on his physical strength to confront the crisis. Fortunately, that was enough for now.
"Is this amusement park really this big?"
Ryoji had been sprinting flat-out for two minutes. Most of the monsters were already left behind, yet he still couldn't see the outside of the park.
"The fully deployed Oil of the Moon has an inner space as large as a small town…"
Aozaki Aoko muttered gloomily.
After being smacked on the butt over ten times, she finally quieted down and spilled all the intel she knew.
"That powerful?"
"It's at least related to the First Magic…"
Whoa! Something that big?!
In the TYPE-MOON world, Magecraft and Magic are not the same.
Magecraft, at its core, is an equivalent exchange that shortens processes, achieving results faster than humans normally could. Magic Power serves as the fuel that enables skipping the steps to directly reach the outcome.
But Magic is a genuine miracle, a crystallization of the concept of "absolutely impossible," something forever beyond human technology.
The well-known "Holy Grail War," for instance, is essentially a crystallization of the Third Magic.
As for the First Magic, it is generally considered the "Denial of Nothingness."
In other words, it is pure creation ex nihilo, the act of bringing forth what is deemed not to exist at all.
According to Aoko, the Oil of the Moon is a product related to the First Magic.
Within the barrier it creates, not only can infinite Magic Power be generated, but abandoned and forgotten things can also be freely controlled, revived through resentment, thus manifesting a fairytale world.
In other words, those bread men weren't even living beings, nor did they possess a sense of self. They were nothing but puppets, animated purely by grudges.
Clang--!
Ryoji slammed to an emergency stop.
Right ahead, a once rust-covered giant lobster suddenly came alive, raising its massive pincers and snapping at them from above.
The thing was over 18 meters long, its sheer presence overwhelming.
(End of Chapter)