"What are you..." Seeing Tohka pointing her giant sword at them, Kaguya Yamai and Yuzuru Yamai looked at her in total confusion. Since Tohka had locked onto them directly, they couldn't easily leave for a while. What puzzled them even more was why Tohka was doing this.
"Finally settled down, you two." Satisfied to see the two temporarily suppressed by her, Tohka finally let out a sigh of relief. These two could finally listen to her say a few words properly. She adjusted her posture a little and then spoke to them: "Alright then, how about you try another method."
"Another method, what method?" Hearing Tohka's words, the two of them asked almost at the same time. After all, they also knew that if they kept fighting like this, it would never end. So, when they heard her suggestion, they couldn't help but ask eagerly.
"It's simple—you just have to defeat me. Whoever can defeat me will be the true Yamai of the Whirlwind." As soon as she said this, Tohka didn't give them any chance to answer. She directly charged toward them, swinging her giant sword to envelop them both. Obviously, Tohka was planning not only to judge them but to fight both at once.
"What, isn't this exactly the same as me—just beat people down and then reason with them? This woman really is...isn't she thinking the same thing as I do?" Off to the side, Inverse Tohka also couldn't bear to look. And Tohka was even more shameless than she was, finding such a dignified excuse for it.
"Mm." Watching Tohka charging at them without hesitation, Kaguya and Yuzuru exchanged a glance. Then, in perfect unspoken agreement, they both suddenly whipped up a storm and flew off to either side. In the next moment, Tohka's charge struck nothing. After all, the two of them were both extremely fast, and because Tohka was charging at them both, when they split up she simply couldn't catch either of them.
"Oh my, don't run." Seeing the two flying away at the same time, Tohka couldn't help mocking them with a shout. After all, if these two decided to run, there was no way she could stop them.
"Hmph, what is the meaning of this? Yuzuru, don't interfere—leave this to me." Hearing Tohka's taunt, Kaguya was visibly annoyed. She called out calmly and then didn't care about Yuzuru's reaction at all.
"Hurricane Knight (Raphael)—The Piercer (El Re'em)." She drew her weapon—a giant assault rifle longer than her entire body. This weapon was even longer than she was tall. With a fierce gust of wind, she charged straight at Tohka.
"So, it comes—this is half of the Yamai's Angel." Watching Kaguya rushing toward her, feeling the crushing wind pressure, Tohka couldn't help praising it aloud. After all, this was her first real battle against another Spirit. Her previous clashes with Kurumi hardly counted—she hadn't been in her true state then, and it hadn't even been a real fight.
But admiration was one thing—her hands didn't slow down. After all, this opponent was one of the Wind Twins; with the power of the storm, her speed was nearly at its peak. But Tohka had no intention of backing down. Without hesitation, she charged forward, her entire body becoming a streak of light.
"Boom." A deafening crash rang out as the sky erupted in swirling wind and blue radiance. Down below, Shido reflexively covered his ears. Fortunately, only Kaguya had attacked, so although the storm was fierce, it remained aloft and didn't hit the ground. This at least stopped the fire spreading in the forest, buying time for people to react. The flames wouldn't burn the whole island to ash, and he finally relaxed a little.
But just then, the collision in the sky had already resolved itself. The raging winds were shredded into tatters by the blue-violet sword aura, and Kaguya herself was sent flying backward. She spun several times through the air before finally stopping, panting heavily as she stared at Tohka in shock. She hadn't expected the gap between herself and Tohka to be so wide—she'd been knocked flying in a single exchange. The storm she had always thought nearly invincible was like paper in front of Tohka—shattered in an instant by the leaking sword aura.
"How pathetic—Kaguya is truly too weak. Watch carefully—only Yuzuru can become the true and sole Yamai." Seeing Kaguya spinning back even faster than she'd charged out, Yuzuru spoke with a calm, mocking tone. Then she too rushed toward Tohka.
"Hurricane Knight (Raphael)—The Binder (El Nahash)." The Binder took the form of black chains with diamond-shaped blades at the ends. Miku swung the chains and struck toward Tohka.
"Ah, really, you two..." Tohka looked helplessly at Yuzuru as she charged in. She knew she couldn't hold back now. However she'd struck Kaguya away, she would have to do exactly the same with her.
"Boom." This clash was no different from the last. The only difference was that Kaguya's assault rifle had been rammed straight back, but this time, Yuzuru's chain entangled with Tohka's giant sword a few times before she broke through the storm and knocked her back with a single strike.
After all, the Spirit's crystal had split in two—even the Angel had been divided. So, their power was halved, and against Tohka in her complete state, they had no chance.
"..." But right then, something happened that surprised Tohka. Neither Kaguya nor Yuzuru made any immediate move to attack again. Instead, they stood there silently looking at her, making Tohka unsure what was going on. This wasn't how the scenario in her head had played out—weren't they supposed to team up to fight her now? At the very least, shouldn't they release their combined Angel?
"As expected, even using this method, we can't settle this." It was Kaguya who spoke first, and her words made Tohka's stomach ache in frustration. She felt like she'd only made them think even less of themselves—after all, the difference between Spirits like them and herself was just too huge.
"Stop it—what are you two thinking?" Tohka quickly interrupted Kaguya before she could keep talking. If she let them continue, one of them might get the idea to kill herself and hand over her power to the other—and then Tohka would really have a problem on her hands. The survivor might well bear her a grudge to the death—after all, it could be said she had driven the other to suicide.
"You two are still hiding it? Both of you want victory, but deep down, what you really wish is for the other to live, isn't it?" To prevent the scene she feared most, Tohka simply said it out loud herself, tearing away the last pretense. She really wanted to know if it was that phantom whispering in their hearts, making them think only one could survive, only one could be the Yamai of the Whirlwind.
"..." At her words, the two fell completely silent. Because indeed, both Kaguya and Yuzuru harbored exactly that feeling—they had simply never wanted the other to know. Now that Tohka had spoken it outright, they both stared at each other in disbelief. After all the time they'd spent together, they had built up such deep unspoken understanding.
"Your heart is too soft! I was finally ready to yield the throne of the main persona to you, and you should have just accepted it obediently!" Tears streaming down her face, Kaguya shouted at Yuzuru. After all, this matter...
"Refusal. From the very beginning, Yuzuru never intended to become the main persona."
"Do you know how hard I worked in all those past contests to lose to you without leaving any evidence?"
"Rebuttal. Yuzuru was the same—she tried so hard to lose, but you simply refused to attack. That frustration has happened so many times."
"..."
"..."
Watching them circle back to the same place where neither could convince the other, Tohka didn't know what to say. The two of them were on the verge of starting another fight.
"Enough already! Do you both want to die? Don't you want to live together? I really don't understand who planted this ridiculous idea in your heads." Seeing them about to start punching each other again, Tohka finally lost her patience. She flew between them and smacked them both hard at once, snapping them out of their daze.
"..."
"Yeah, really, why are we even doing this..."
"Indeed, we..."
"Sigh, there you go—that's more like it. Really, you two, what's the point of all this? Just speak clearly, and everything gets resolved." Watching them fall silent and quickly begin to open up after her words, Tohka nodded in satisfaction. She flew away from between them—after all, what came next was their time, and she really wasn't suited to interrupt.
"Ah, looks like I'd better deal with this mess now. Honestly, these fires are such a headache." Leaving the two behind, Tohka turned her attention to the flames below. They couldn't just keep burning unchecked. She planned to use her giant sword to clear a firebreak. After all, without wind, the flames would burn no farther.
"Hey, Tohka, wait." Just as she was thinking about how to carve the break, a voice called down from above.
"Hm, what is it?" Hearing someone call her, Tohka looked up. She saw the two of them had completely reconciled, and now they were both looking at her. But from their eyes, she felt a sinister glint that made her shudder.
"My, my, we really have to thank you, Tohka. If not for you, it would have taken us so much longer—maybe we'd never have understood each other's hearts." Not caring about Tohka's reaction, Kaguya spoke in a calm voice.
"Agreement. This time, it was thanks to you, Tohka." Yuzuru didn't say as much, but her meaning was the same.
"Uh, well, that's fine and all—but what's with those looks? I did all this for your own good." Hearing them, Tohka felt no pride at all. On the contrary, she grew more and more uneasy. Their eyes were just too much—she felt an overwhelming urge to turn and run. There was no way those looks were anything like gratitude.
"Don't say that. You helped us so much—surely, we can't just let it pass without a return gift, right? What do you think, Yuzuru?" As Kaguya spoke, she gave a gentle explanation, but every word only sounded more wrong to Tohka.
"Agreement. Since Tohka humiliated us so thoroughly, it's only proper that we repay her a little." Perhaps seeing Tohka's confusion, Yuzuru kindly clarified.
"Nani!!!" At that, Tohka was utterly dumbfounded. What the hell—just because she'd exposed what they were thinking? If they were embarrassed, did that mean she had to take the blame? And it wasn't like she'd seriously hurt them—was that really worth holding a grudge?
But while Tohka was still thinking frantically, in the sky the two of them hadn't paused at all. Next, Kaguya extended her left hand, and Yuzuru her right—they pressed them tightly together. In that instant, their Astral Dresses and Angels radiated blinding light—Kaguya's feather growing from her right shoulder and Yuzuru's feather from her left merged into a single bow. Then each of them raised one hand, left and right, drawing the bowstring together.
"Hurricane Knight (Raphael)—The Sky-Racing One (El Kanaph)."
Then, the weapon released from their hands, wreathed in fierce storms, and shot straight at Tohka—who stood there dumbfounded, though she still drew her Final Sword to brace herself.