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[Candle] is the most complex and powerful of the three Magic that Asakura has currently mastered.
It seems very versatile, but in reality, it's not that simple to operate.
Many things are interconnected.
For example, if someone told Asakura, 'Please, let me forget all this,' and Asakura went ahead and burned them up, the other person would probably wake up the next day having completely forgotten their own name.
So, although Asakura had mastered the ability to burn away others' memories, he had hardly used it since the incident at Mount Kumotori.
The same was true now, facing Tendoji Sarina's terminal illness.
To give another example: if Asakura were facing a patient with early-stage cancer, he could choose to burn away all the cancer cells in their body, or simply burn away the concept of 'cancer' itself.
The final result would be almost the same, but the latter's operational difficulty and complexity would be ten or even nine times higher than the former's.
Tendoji Sarina's illness was too severe; even saying she was critically ill wouldn't be an exaggeration.
If Asakura were to use [Candle] now to burn away the diseased cells in her body, the ultimate result would be that the girl would collapse like a sand sculpture full of holes, without needing wind or waves.
So, his only choice was to treat her by burning away her 'illness'.
However, this also presented a problem.
"Her body is currently too weak. Although my treatment method should be effective, if she doesn't have the will to live herself, she probably won't be saved in the end."
Asakura felt a bit troublesome.
"Um..."
Gotō Hitori obediently raised her hand: "Ms. Hoshino wants to speak... Can I switch her out?"
Asakura thought for a moment, feeling that with him there, the other party shouldn't cause any trouble, so he nodded: "Only for a little while."
So Gotō Hitori, with an expression of 'shameful to avoid, but so easy,' lay down on the empty bed next to her in a mummy-like posture, closing her eyes as if she had fallen into a deep sleep.
A moment later, she opened her eyes again, but this time, her gaze lacked the usual timidity and evasiveness.
"The current situation, simply put, is to make Sarina-chan want to live, right?"
Hoshino Ai didn't waste words and went straight to the point.
"That's right."
Asakura also nodded, answering simply.
"Then, another question..."
Hoshino Ai looked at Asakura seriously: "Do you have a way to remove me from Bocchi-chan?"
Asakura was a bit surprised this time. He looked at her, and after confirming that her expression wasn't a joke, he nodded again.
"Yes."
"Then let's do it."
Hoshino Ai was full of determination: "Take me off Bocchi-chan and send me to Sarina. I will awaken her and give her the courage to live!"
"Although I don't think I need to remind you... this Tendoji, unlike Hitori, has no Magic in her body. In other words, even if she is truly awakened by you in her dream and lives, you won't be able to chat with her anytime, like you do when you're in Hitori's body. And after a period of time, your existence will even disappear as she forgets you."
Asakura said.
"Doesn't Asakura-kun dislike me anyway? Wouldn't this be the best outcome for you?"
Hoshino Ai smiled.
"That's right, I was just asking casually."
Asakura said indifferently: "Rather, if your obsession really is her, then after awakening her, you should pretty much transcend yourself. If you encounter what I just said, it means your obsession isn't Tendoji Sarina at all, and then suffering such a painful outcome is a well-deserved punishment for deceiving me."
"That's truly wonderful. It's a complete win-win, I win twice! Hurry up and do it, I'm ready!"
Hoshino Ai's smile became even brighter. Perhaps because she was using Gotō Hitori's body, there was a strange cuteness in that smile, making Asakura even have the illusion that 'are stars popping out of this person's eyes?'
He vaguely felt that Hoshino Ai's obsession was not Tendoji Sarina, and perhaps Hoshino Ai herself probably understood this point, but even so, she had no intention of backing down.
Since the other party had said so much, Asakura naturally had no need to hesitate further.
He gently held the girl's hand, his thumb lightly brushing the face of the ring.
"Don't look at me with strange eyes, this is a necessary action."
Asakura noticed that the girl close by was staring at him with an expression that was either teasing or cunning, and he said lightly.
"I just feel that Asakura-kun isn't shy even this close, so it seems he really has no feelings for me, an idol. Hoshino Ai, big failure."
The girl sighed lightly, but there was no hint of disappointment in her tone, just pure joking.
Asakura didn't answer, but directly took off the ring that had activated the Magic [Scale].
The next moment, the girl fell back onto the hospital bed like a robot that had lost power, and three seconds later, she opened her eyes with a frustrated expression, as if saying, 'I've only rested for less than a minute!'
"Welcome back, Hitori."
Asakura said, raising his eyebrows.
"Ahaha..."
Gotō Hitori showed an awkward smile.
For some reason, Asakura always felt that the girl's somewhat awkward smile was much more natural and beautiful than Hoshino Ai's well-trained, perfect idol smile.
A faint pearlescent shadow appeared on the ring's face.
Asakura looked at the ring and found that it was actually a ghost-like small figure.
"Oh, oh, I feel like I've got my body back!"
The pearlescent translucent small figure said.
"Unfortunately, that's not the case. Ghosts are also called thought-forms, and their appearance is closely related to their state before death. You don't have any obsession with the way you died, so the ghost's appearance is just your normal self."
Asakura explained with a surprised expression. In a sense, this was also the first time he had seen Hoshino Ai's true appearance.
Long dark purple hair, and those star-like purple eyes that seemed to be glowing. Although she kept saying how beautiful she was in life when possessing Gotō Hitori, she indeed looked like a beauty. Even Asakura had to admit that only a few people around him could compare to her in beauty.
Of course, this was not the reason for his surprise.
What truly surprised him was that just now, the system, which had been playing dead in his mind for a long time, had stirred.
The task of containing undead creatures was completed.
'So ghosts count as undead creatures, huh?!'
He couldn't help but inwardly complain.
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