Aozaki Aoko Case File

Credits: Khenom

Although the interior of this Principle had been heavily damaged by the combined efforts of the three of them along with Einnashe, the majority of it remained intact. Even the massive castle where the lord of the city resided was completely unscathed, thanks to Aoko's decisive and efficient heart-and-soul extraction.

The White Wing Duke probably didn't have much hope for Chromclay from the beginning. Otherwise, he wouldn't have fled so decisively the moment he saw Aoko killed his fellow kin. It was surprising that he even managed to escape this reality marble directly.

It must be said, that though the Twenty-Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors have changed over the years, the fact that the White Wing Duke has remained consistent says a lot about his abilities.

The vampiric forest—Einnashe's tendrils—was rapidly withering away after losing its core support, turning into rootless floating debris, and disintegrating into dust in the wind. The city's original appearance was gradually revealed to the three of them.

Antique streets, magnificent Gothic architecture, and the gargoyles—obediently returning to their corners of the grand buildings and reverting to being ordinary statues under Aoko's command—together created a bizarre and fantastical scene.

In essence, this city, apart from being devoid of human life, was like a perfect medieval city straight out of a literary fantasy.

In her previous life, she had been deeply fond of the Dark Souls series games. In these games created by Hidetaka Miyazaki, grand castles were always something she yearned for. Now, all of it was within her grasp, and she couldn't wait to remodel this world to her liking.

The actual area of [Castle, Therefore Kingdom] was about 40 square miles—roughly equivalent to the size of Paris. For land controlled by a magus clan, this was massive, much larger than the land controlled by the Aozaki family in Misaki.

Within the reality marble, the ecosystem, sustained by the immense magical energy of its holder, was incredibly intricate. It included soil, flowing water, plant life, and even some near-divine-age creatures that had long since disappeared from the outside world.

However, despite the large size of the reality marble, the city itself only occupied less than a quarter of the land; the rest consisted of dense forests, lakes, and rivers.

Aoko had no intention of further urbanizing the territory. In her eyes, the ecosystem was the most precious asset of [Castle, Therefore Kingdom].

After Cromclay's death, Aoko herself became the provider of magical energy sustaining the ecosystem within the reality marble. Aoko's magical reserves were essentially limitless. Even though her human body imposed an upper limit on her output, her capacity still far exceeded that of Cromclay, one of the Dead Apostle Ancestors.

It could be said that Cromclay's status as a Dead Apostle was a limitation. His reality marble had been restricted by the upper limits of the Principle, which prevented it from evolving further.

From the perspective of a mage specializing in arcane, what Aoko now possessed was the ultimate dream of countless mages—a portable private domain that surpassed even a floating city: a demi-plane.

Although this demi-plane currently lacked a self-sustaining power source and required Aoko or Touko to manually provide energy, even at this level, it would have been enough to spark fierce competition among demigod-tier powerhouses and legendary mages in the world of Toril.

"Stop standing there watching, Touko. Come help me," Aoko waved her hand and removed the glove from her unoccupied hand before tossing it to Touko. "The transformation of this thing isn't finished yet. We need to alter its essence, to turn it completely into our Grand Magecrafy."

Touko caught the glove without hesitation, immediately put it on her right hand, and walked over to Aoko. Together, they supported the ever-rotating sphere.

An immense surge of magical energy erupted from the bodies of the Aozaki sisters, kicking up a whirlwind that scattered the surrounding dust. Even Arcueid couldn't help but shield her eyes with her arm. For a moment, she wondered if she had returned to the Age of Gods.

When Aoko first obtained this sphere, she had already made some modifications to it, primarily to reduce the gravitational burden on Arcueid and Touko. However, there was still much to be done before the Principle could be fully transformed.

Now, with the collaboration of the two magicians, the progress of converting the Principle into a Grand Magecraft was advancing at an astonishing speed. Arcueid could see the distant mountains, rivers, forests, and cities being repaired and remodeled in real-time before her very eyes.

Aoko reshaped the city's various structures based on the landscapes she loved from her favorite games.

Touko, on the other hand, focused on the near-divine-age creatures in this world, creating biomes more suited to their survival.

The first area to be completed was the central castle. Aoko, drawing from her memory, combined the aesthetics of her favorite game settings with modern functionality to transform the central castle into the image of the Raya Lucaria Academy—a design that exudes both grandeur and mystery.

The surrounding urban structures were remodeled in the style of academy towns Aoko had seen in world-building guides. She constructed houses that, while currently unoccupied, would allow anyone entering them to live comfortably right away.

Using her accumulated knowledge from miscellaneous readings, Aoko also completely overhauled the city's sewer system to ensure that, once external equipment was introduced, the modern water cycle system—including a wastewater treatment plant—could immediately function.

Aoko attempted to use her knowledge of modern machinery and electronics to directly create modern devices. Unfortunately, this world did not support such creations—likely for the same reason Arcueid couldn't use her Marble Phantasm to materialize human-made objects.

Touko's progress was equally swift. The landscapes within the reality marble, under the meticulous craftsmanship of this master architect and landscape designer, were being refined into the most majestic and intricate forms. Even the flow of rivers was carefully adjusted to align with Aoko's urban planning.

Arcueid watched with keen interest. While she could also modify the world outside using her planetary authority, the scenery before her eyes—created entirely through human wisdom and creativity—was breathtakingly beautiful and deeply moving.

"It's done," Aoko said, lowering her hands and wiping the sweat from her brow. "I didn't expect concentrating to this degree to be this exhausting."

"The amount of information processing required was enormous," Touko said, removing her glove and adjusting her glasses. "Fortunately, the two of us could handle it. Otherwise, it would've taken years to complete."