章 36: Aozaki Aoko Case File [34]

Born in an isolated werewolf village deep in the mountains of Northern Europe in the 18th century, Beo had never known or understood fear since the day it was born. It would not weaken, would not age, and would not die.

As a perfect life form, it had always pondered the nature of life, flaws, and death in its small world. But of all these concepts, fear had never crossed Beo's mind. However, at this moment, it seemed to be experiencing a strange, unfamiliar feeling.

The biological structure Beo simulated—the amygdala—sent a strong signal to its consciousness, concluding, "This red-haired woman in front of you is extremely dangerous."

But Beo didn't understand why. To it, humans (including Touko) were flawed, fragile creatures, and even those so-called "magus" were only slightly more troublesome than ordinary humans.

Yet this presence before it was entirely different, or so Beo's instincts told it. The red-haired woman extended her right hand toward it, and darkness, like the tentacles of some cephalopod, surged from her hand, spreading toward Beo. For the first time since its birth, the golden wolf was paralyzed by the sensation of "fear."

Its autonomic nervous system, brainstem, hippocampus, and hypothalamus are all activated simultaneously, triggering a series of physiological reactions. The wolf's face displayed a very human-like expression of fear. Its heartbeat pounded like a drum, so loud it could be heard even from several meters away.

"Beo?! Beo? Why did you stop?"

Touko's voice came from the familiar on the golden wolf's back, but the giant wolf gave no response. Its pupils dilated, and its muscles tensed as if they were made of steel. If struck with a sword at that moment, sparks might have flown.

It was the embodiment of invisible, decaying, indescribable fear. Its instincts didn't believe it could overcome or defeat it; it could only sit and wait for the boundless darkness to swallow it. In this world, nothing was more terrifying for the being known as Beo than the red-haired woman before it.

Aozaki Touko noticed that Beo Lug's strong, massive body was trembling violently. Even through the surveillance familiar, she could feel the intense fear radiating from the phantasmal creature. Touko realized her ambush had failed because her greatest asset, Beo, had inexplicably fallen into a state of terror and was unable to move. This was some kind of unknown magic.

But Touko was deeply puzzled. What magic in this world could affect the golden wolf—an entity shrouded in three thousand years of mystery? It was something she had never considered possible. As she puzzled over it, her perspective suddenly tilted to the side before she fell to the ground.

Beo's massive body had collapsed, lying motionless on its side, its eyes rolled back. Its mouth, full of sharp teeth, hung open, with its tongue lolling out and drool pooling on the ground. Touko quickly sent the familiar flying over to Beo's head, only to discover that its pupils were completely dilated, and the heartbeat that had sounded like a drum was no longer heard. It was dead.

"How ironic, Touko."

Aozaki Aoko emerged from the shadows nearby, looking at Touko's familiar and the "corpse" of the giant wolf on the ground.

"Aoko," Touko said in a low voice.

"How did you manage to kill Beo? As far as I know, the Aozaki family's magic doesn't work that way."

"Ah, that's a little corporate secret of mine. I'm afraid I can't share it with you, sister," Aoko responded with a curtsey, her tone full of feigned apology.

"But it's clear that your little dog had a serious flaw, and I exploited it to defeat it."

"...I'll admit this round was my failure," Touko's voice came from the familiar.

"Until next time."

With that, the familiar burst into blue flames and quickly turned to ash, scattering into the air. Only then did Aoko let out a breath, stretching her body slightly. Defeating a creature like Lugh Beowulf wasn't easy, even for her.

Kuonji Alice had landed from the sky at some point and carefully put the Flat Snark back into its small bottle, which she then cautiously tucked into her cloak before walking toward Aoko.

"…How did you do it?"

Alice asked Aoko, aware of how terrifying an opponent the golden wolf was.

"That beast… was scared to death," Aoko replied.

"Or more accurately, it believed it had been 'scared to death,' which caused it to enter a state of suspended animation."

"…?"

Alice tilted her head slightly, finding her roommate's explanation hard to grasp.

"It had never experienced fear before, so I gave it fear," Aoko explained. "Defeating a beast of this caliber head-on would be difficult, even for me. So, I tried a different approach—something more cunning."

"By manipulating the environment and setting the atmosphere, I triggered its maximum threshold of fear," Aoko said with a wink.

"And using a few of my personal 'little tricks,' I entered its mind and implanted the image of fear, leading to this result."

"...What do you plan to do with it?"

Alice asked.

"Will it come back to life?"

"If it wants to, it should be able to 'revive' itself," Aoko mused, stroking her chin.

"But I suspect it might not make any moves for the next few hundred years."

"Let's just use it as a cursed object," Aoko said, looking at the golden wolf's body with the same gaze one might use to eye a piece of meat on a chopping block.

"That's its punishment for looking at you with that kind of gaze."

As a witch and magus, Alice understood what Aoko meant by that kind of gaze. She rolled her eyes at Aoko and then stood aside, watching to see what Aoko would do with the phantasmal creature that had fallen into a state of apparent death.

Aoko pulled out her spellbook and a teleportation scroll.

"I know a good place to imprison this thing," Aoko said to Alice.

"Grab my left hand."

Alice removed her glove, walked over, and took hold of Aoko's left arm. Aoko pressed her right hand against the giant wolf's body, then activated the teleportation scroll, disappearing from the spot along with Alice and the wolf's body.