Touko held the loaded injection gun, her eyes complex, looking at Rin, whose magic patterns were already drawn. She hesitated for a long time. Rin could feel that Touko was wavering.
"Touko, are you worried about me?"
Faced with Rin's direct inquiry, Touko could no longer remain silent. "I regret taking this out a bit. If you suffer any irreversible accident because of my momentary curiosity, I, as a person, will never be at peace."
Hearing Touko's words, Rin turned her head to look at Touko behind her, and said, "Touko, are you scared?"
Touko sighed, "Yes, I am scared…" An undisguised lingering fear filled her words, "Perhaps after that night, after feeling the beauty of being alive, I've become timid…"
"Touko…" Rin knew why Aozaki Touko was like this, because everything now was different from the original work/canon.
The original Touko, as Aoko's enemy, heavily injured Aoko and Alice, and then killed Shizuki Soujuurou in front of Aoko. Afterwards, she was defeated by the awakened Aoko, and then left Misaki with a curse that prevented her from returning to her hometown. After studying in London and returning, she opened an office in Mihonoseki and quietly enjoyed the rest of her life.
It could be said that the Touko in the original work/canon, for her own goals, forced Aoko to awaken, and completely severed the bonds of kindness and righteousness between herself, Alice, and Aoko. Aoko ultimately did not kill Touko but cursed her and let her go, precisely to fulfill their last sisterly affection.
And Touko, who hadn't died as planned, was now free of all burdens; her sister had already surpassed her, and there was nothing more she could do for her.
So, after returning from studying in London, she leisurely lived her days in her own office, researching puppets, finding a few abnormal employees, and an unreliable apprentice.
She no longer did things herself, only occasionally going out to be a psychiatrist, completely embodying a hedonistic pursuit of pleasure and waiting for death.
In this world, because Rin's sudden appearance disrupted all the original plotlines, Touko did not sever ties with Aoko and Alice; instead, they became deeply intimate, bound by life and death.
She could no longer remain an outsider, detached from everything, because she feared loss.
If something beloved was lost and then retrieved, losing it again would truly drive a person to despair.
Therefore, the current Touko does not want to see any risk come to Aoko, Alice, or Rin.
Her suggestion to inoculate Rin with Phantasmal Species blood was also to enhance Rin's strength and prevent her from encountering danger, because Rin is not like Alice.
Touko had long since realized that Rin is the type of girl who loves to jump into the fire!
Understanding Touko's worries, Rin still felt a warmth in her heart; after all, even if one gives without expecting anything in return, no one would not feel comforted by the returns they receive.
One can only feel the warmth of being alive when someone worries about them.
"Touko, if life were to start over, and you had the right to choose, would you still walk the path of a Magus? Not for Aoko, but just for yourself," Rin asked, her back to Touko.
Touko paused slightly, then instantly understood Rin's meaning, and replied with a smile: "Being an ordinary person would definitely be happier than being a Magus."
"Of course, not having to face the cruel truths of this world is certainly happier than confronting it all.
So, Touko, what would you choose?"
"I, of course, would still be a Magus," Touko said with a laugh.
"Truth, so-called, is a stored fact; not knowing does not mean it doesn't exist.
Enjoying the happiness of ignorance, but when the truth of the world arrives, one can only be like a withered leaf in the wind, at the mercy of others.
So we would rather endure the pain of truth than enjoy the happiness of ignorance, right, Rin?"
"Exactly, truth requires strength to support it, and strength requires a price to exchange.
Risk is the prerequisite for all exchanges.
If a bottle of Phantasmal Species blood that has been dead for who knows how long makes us hesitate and flee, what courage do we have left to face the future?
The moment we step into the other side of the world, we can no longer remain outsiders."
"But I think it can become our strength in another form."
"No, this is the best method, and it comes with the greatest risk, but we must exhaust all means to strengthen ourselves, just so that when the storms come, we won't be rootless duckweeds drifting with the current.
Touko, do you think this world is beautiful?"
Touko sighed, raising the injection gun, and replied with a smile: "Beautiful, but more cruel."
"Yes, we can see the beauty of the world because we have the power to see beauty.
We feel cruelty because our power is not yet enough to erase cruelty.
The beauty of this world is only for the strong to appreciate."
"Hehe, Rin, you should be a lobbyist."
"Really, I also think I have that talent!"
The sharp needle easily pierced through Rin's deliberately softened skin and muscle tissue in her heart area.
The long needle went deep, until it pierced Rin's heart.
Touko's index finger rested on the injection trigger, and she said: "Rin, do you think people like us can be happy?"
Enduring the severe pain that caused cold sweat to stream down her forehead, Rin turned her head and smiled at Touko, "I have always been very happy."
"Is that so, me too.
Enduring painful days for the dream in one's heart is indeed very happy."
As her voice fell, Touko's index finger decisively pulled the trigger!
The unknown Phantasmal Species blood, black as graphite, was directly injected into Rin's heart under the pressure of the injection gun.
A chilling coldness that froze the heart flowed from the heart, along the main artery, throughout the body.
The icy ancient blood was integrated into Rin's bloodstream!
After the injection of the ink-black Phantasmal Species blood was complete, Touko immediately pulled out the injection needle.
The wound made by the needle was like a disturbed water surface, smoothing out the moment the needle was withdrawn.
The magic light of the magic crests on Rin's body had already begun to glow; the foreign blood was merging with Rin's blood.
So cold... agh! This feeling!
The intense sense of abnormality made Rin hug her body tightly with both arms, gritting her teeth to endure it, her body curled into a ball and began to tremble violently, appearing extremely painful.
Touko was very clear about Rin's tolerance for pain; even a broken bone wouldn't make her frown.
Seeing her in such a state, Touko's heart instantly jumped to her throat, and she anxiously embraced Rin.
"Rin! How are you?!"
Rin lowered her head, her hands wrapped around her knees, curled into a ball, letting out rough, heavy gasps, and said: "No problem, Touko, you, follow the path I, opened with, magic, go back first, take our work, leave first."
"Don't joke around! Ask me to leave you here alone, I can't do it!" Touko, both angry and worried, refused Rin's words.
"But, this blood's, effect, is surging, I, I can't hold it anymore, agh... Touko, hurry and go!"
Touko frowned, looking at Rin.
In the initial stages of heterologous blood fusion, there would be a wild reversal caused by the blood source's influence; this was a common phenomenon.
After a moment of thought, Touko took the nine completed puppets and quickly left the workshop.
Rin watched Touko leave, then breathed a sigh of relief, and no longer suppressed her body's primal urges.
But just as she was about to explode... "Why are you back again!?"
On the verge of exploding, she forcibly held back again.
Rin, in agony, had already rolled from the operating table onto the floor, sweating all over, because Touko, who had just left, had run back!
"Rin, if you can't hold it, then vent.
I've already bound myself to the medium, so nothing will happen.
I'll bear the cost of this blood with you."
Touko's voice was completely tense yet feigning calmness, even if Rin couldn't see her, she could hear that Touko was definitely trembling all over with a calm expression.
But this reversal impulse is not what you think!
Rin rolled on the floor in pain, her skin red like a cooked shrimp.
After struggling for a few more seconds, she lay on her side, her head down, her bangs covering her face, and silently said: "It's too late..."
Touko hadn't quite heard Rin's voice when her vision blurred, and she felt an irresistible immense force press her down onto the puppet operating table with a "clank."
Just as Touko nervously thought she was about to be torn apart by Rin, a faint, ethereal fragrance, like a night-blooming cereus, wafted from in front of her.
Touko strangely opened her eyes, and then she froze!
Rin's usually heroic, stern, and elegant face was now as vibrant as cherry blossoms in full bloom across a mountain.
Her perpetually firm, emerald-crystal-like green eyes now reflected Touko's face like rippling spring water.
This was... "Rin, you, you, what is this..."
Rin gasped heavily, stammering out a difficult answer: "It's that, this is... Touko, this time you've really, killed me.
That bottle, wouldn't be, the blood of, a succubus, would it..."
"Then Rin, you, now..."
"So why did you come back! I, didn't I, tell you long ago, that I like girls!"
Touko wasn't an ignorant novice; even without experience, her knowledge was not lacking.
Understanding what was about to happen, Touko relaxed her entire body, calmly lay on the operating table, and even smiled, "Come on, Rin."
Rin reached out and removed Touko's glasses, smiling as she looked at Touko and said: "Touko, has anyone ever told you that you're beautiful?"
"No, you're the first."
"Then I'm coming..."
"Come."
"Rip!"
The exquisite light leaf-colored dress was torn to shreds, and a blood-red lily bloomed on the operating table where the two had once created miracles together...
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