While Kaito was walking down the corridor toward the White Place, Yume had just struck her opponent with brutal force.
"Come on, Kagura… I'm right here."
Yume's gaze was cold, much more detached than usual.
—She hit me in seconds…— Kagura thought, struggling to get back up.
The cage she had crashed into lay in pieces; every object inside it was destroyed.
"You won't get away with this, Yume…" she murmured, lowering her eyes for a moment to the shards of a vase.
When she raised them again, Yume was already only a few centimeters away, her hand reaching toward Kagura's face.
—What the hell!?—
Kagura jerked back.
Yume's hand touched the floor. With a fluid movement she used it as a spring and launched herself forward: her body bent and, in the blink of an eye, her leg came down from above charged with spiritual energy.
The opponent raised her arms in defense.
Yume's strike missed.
She landed with a roll, her expression still devoid of emotion.
"What's gotten into you? You weren't fighting like this a moment ago…" a thread of concern crept into Kagura's voice.
"Sylpha: return to origin."
The girl didn't answer. The concrete her hand had touched began to change.
"Not again!" Kagura leaped up.
"Come on, Benibane!"
The ceiling of the cage melted.
The spirit grabbed her by the arm, lifting her up and flying away.
"Benibane, let's use that technique."
"Are you sure, Kagura? It'll damage a lot of merchandise," the spirit warned.
Meanwhile Yume moved swiftly between the warehouse shelves.
"What are your intentions?" Sylpha asked.
The girl hesitated for a moment.
"Right now I'm fighting like Shirogane taught me…" she clenched her fists.
"He always told us that a stronger opponent can be defeated in two ways." She kept running.
"To strike them by surprise," she explained, remembering when she had tried that with him.
"Or in the most dangerous way…"
"To fight without worrying about yourself."
Sylpha was about to answer when, suddenly, something red halted the two of them.
A flame stood before them.
Little by little it took shape: it was made of countless small fire butterflies.
At their side Kagura reappeared.
"This technique is the strongest I have."
One of the butterflies perched on her hand.
"It's called the Swarm."
"I don't care what it's called," Yume replied coldly.
"You should, because now I'll show you what it does."
The swarm began to tremble.
"Go!"
At her command the small creatures started to multiply.
The small flame from a moment before grew until it was four times its size.
The butterflies split into three distinct groups.
"Let's see if you can handle them all," Kagura taunted.
At her signal they moved en masse toward Yume.
The girl began to dodge the various groups with agility, under Kagura's watchful eyes.
"Do you think their danger lies only in their number?" Yume smiled mocking.
Yume kept moving, shaken by the words.
"Yume, watch out! Some are on you!" Sylpha warned urgently.
Kagura snapped her fingers.
The butterflies clinging to Yume's back exploded.
"Aaaah!"
Her legs gave out, and she fell to her knees, hands on the ground.
Part of the fabric on her back had been burned away, and blood flowed copiously from the wounds.
"I'm not finished!" Kagura shouted, calling the three swarms back to her.
"Sylpha, return to origin!"
A twisted old oak took shape in front of Yume.
The swarms slammed into it, shattering it into a thousand splinters.
Yume rose with difficulty, backing up to put distance between them.
"You've taken a gamble." Kagura stopped the swarm, looking at the tree.
"Using your power you brought the terrain back to how it was years ago…" a thread of nostalgia crossed her gaze.
"I remember that oak well…"
Yume stared at her, panting, unable to reply.
"Let's finish this." Kagura fixed her eyes on Yume.
In an instant she closed the distance: her kick struck Yume square in the abdomen, hurling her through cages.
The girl's body smashed through one after another, stopping only at the fourth.
"This is for that earlier blow." She lowered her leg coldly.
"And this is for making all this merchandise get destroyed…"
The butterflies moved in unison: a single, immense explosion shook the entire warehouse.
The heat made the air suffocating, but the flames did not spread.
With a gesture Kagura made them vanish, dissolving into nothing.
Once again Yume lay on the ground, her body covered in burns.
Her face was turned toward the exit of the warehouse.
A blue light filtered in from outside, followed by a thunderous roar.
"Kaito… is he fighting my mother?" Kagura murmured, her expression tightening.
—Kaito…— Yume thought, gritting her teeth.
Suddenly her body began to regenerate, slowly.
"Enough now, Yume!" Kagura ordered firmly, looking down at her.
"You've lost." She took deliberate steps toward her.
—One last push…— Yume thought, unable to answer. That thought was the only thing keeping her standing.
She sprang forward; the two exchanged a flurry of rapid blows, punches and kicks that echoed through the warehouse.
—If I fall now… then what was the point of coming this far?— Yume's mind was in turmoil, wavering between rage and fear.
"Now it's really over. Goodbye, Yume!" Kagura declared.
A small swarm of butterflies gathered around her fist, whirling like living flames.
The blow pierced her, passing through Yume's body.
Blood, bright red, trickled from the girl's lips.
"So this is what it felt like…" Yume whispered, still conscious but her voice broken with pain.
"What are you talking about?" Kagura looked at her, her hand still embedded in the body.
"In this state you can't…"
She inhaled for a moment.
"Run!"
At those words Kagura stumbled back, but it was already too late.
Yume's wound began to heal.
At the same time she threw a piece of metal in the enemy's direction.
—What does she think she's doing?.— Kagura thought, confident.
"What the—?!"
Before her eyes that small fragment grew in size.
"Kagura… It's over…" Yume whispered.
The thrown piece returned to its original form: a beam, the same one that had been broken at the start of the fight.
The blow slammed into Kagura; her body tore through the warehouse door, crashing onto the stage of the White Place.
With slow steps, Yume made her way toward the exit.
Once outside, perched atop a golden tentacle, she saw Kaito again.