Two spheres of darkness meet mid-air.
A heartbeat later-they detonate.
A deafening shockwave.
The cavern howls as dust and shattered rock erupt into the air, swallowing everything in a blinding cloud. The earth groans beneath my feet, trembling like it might collapse under its own weight.
I lower my stance. Narrow my eyes.
Somewhere inside that storm of smoke... she's watching me.
Thanks to Mei's Rakunda, her offense-both physical and magical-is weaker now. The gap's narrowed.
But let's not lie to ourselves.
She's still stronger.
I don't wait for the dust to settle.
I can't.
Then-
Something whistles through the air.
A lance. Formed from pure shadow. It screams toward my face with deadly precision.
I duck, just in time-the tip tears a few strands of hair as it passes.
"Shit!" I twist, retaliating immediately with a blast of Bufu. The ice spear roars across the battlefield, slicing through fog and darkness, leaving frost in its wake.
But it misses.
Silence.
I don't feel her.
I can't see her.
Where is she!?
Then it hits me-too late.
I feel it first.
A twisting, sugary pulse of Magatsuhi, flooding toward me like syrupy perfume. And then-
"It's your end, Marin Karin is starting to take effect."
And just like that...
my thoughts slide into honey.
Wait...
What am I doing again?
I blink slowly.
She stands there, that beautiful demon, her form glowing like dusk wrapped in silk. My heart stutters. My breath catches. Why... why was I fighting her?
Why would I want to hurt her?
I can't tear my gaze away. Every inch of her-divine.
It doesn't matter what I was doing.
This... this is all I want now.
I don't even notice Mei's voice at first. It's distant. Faint. Like a breeze behind a locked door.
"Minoru!"
Tch. Why is she interrupting?
Why ruin this perfect moment?
Then the demon speaks with a charming voice.
Velvet. Sweet poison in my ears.
"Kill her. And I'll give you a place by my side."
...
That sounds... tempting.
Just a little.
Just a moment.
I glance back, half-heartedly.
I don't want to kill Mei. Of course not.
But maybe if she just... went away?
I begin to turn-
And then it hits me.
What the hell am I doing?
Why am I listening to her?
Why do I feel this way?
What's wrong with me?
Suddenly-green light.
Not Dia, but familiar. Patra, maybe.
The haze vanishes.
The illusion shatters.
My thoughts slam back into place like doors flung open in a storm.
And with them-
Rage.
My eyes snap to the demon.
She tried to control me. Me.
Like I was just another pawn. Another pig for slaughter.
No.
Not today.
Magatsuhi floods into my hands, boiling, snarling, begging to be unleashed.
I grit my teeth.
Raise my fist.
And launch.
It connects.
Square on her face.
The shock travels up my arm, deep into my bones.
Then the explosion comes.
She slams into the earth like a meteor, stone and shadow erupts around her.
The crater grows with the force, swallowing debris, her pride, and her smug grin.
I land, breathing hard, frost and sweat clinging to my skin.
No more illusions.
No more sweet words.
Now I'm pissed !
How could any true eminence dare allow himself to be controlled by a mere charm spell?
I'll never forgive her. I'm going to kill her like a pig.
I conjure a sphere of ice the size of a boulder. It crackles with raw frost as it forms in my palm, heavy with intent. I hurl it straight at her.
It howls through the air, smashing into the ground near her and bursting into shards. I don't wait for the result. I raise my hand and unleash a salvo of fireballs in rapid succession.
Boom.
Boom.
Boom.
Each impact shakes the cavern. The ceiling groans. Stone cracks. A new crater blooms under every hit. Flames spread, licking the air with wild hunger.
And then-
A wall of darkness comes for me. A massive tidal wave of shadow, devouring everything in its path. The ground beneath it turns to dust.
No time.
I bend my knees, draw every ounce of strength into my legs, and leap.
The wind screams past my ears as I soar upward.
Higher. Higher.
I reach the ceiling-my hand slaps against the stone, and I conjure a patch of ice to anchor myself. It clings, cold and sharp. I dangle there for a breathless second.
The shadow tide roars below me.
Too close.
I grit my teeth, hoping Mei's still alive down there.
Cracks spread through the ice. It won't hold.
I swing once, twice, then launch myself toward her. My target. The temptress wrapped in twilight.
Midair, I conjure Maragi. The fireball blazes toward her like a falling star.
She raises a hand, lips curled in disdain. "Hmph. Useless."
A wall of darkness blooms before her. But I'm not done.
I twist my wrist-split the fireball in two.
It bends. Curves. Flanks her from both sides.
Her eyes widen. Too late.
"AHHH-!"
Her scream tears through the cavern, silenced by the explosion that follows. A burst of fire swallows her form.
I brace for the counterattack-but something else is coming.
A bolt of lightning strikes her chest, followed by a whirlwind of cutting wind. It tears into her like a thousand blades.
I turn.
Mei.
She's standing tall, panting, her hand raised, and beside her floats a new demon-not Halphas. That one must've been vaporized in the first blast.
This one looks like something out of a forest fairy tale. Tall, narrow, light green like spring leaves. Its limbs are long and wispy, like twigs that move with eerie grace. Its round head is covered in elegant swirling markings, and it floats without effort, as if weightless.
Nice pick, Mei.
The smoke and fire begin to clear.
I narrow my eyes.
There she is.
But she's no longer the perfect vision of elegance she once was. Her once-pristine hair is wild and tangled. Her dress is torn, scorched, and clinging awkwardly to her slender form.
She still floats.
Still glares.
But now, her beauty is fractured.
And her eyes-those blood-red, seething eyes-are burning with pure, undiluted rage.
Good.
Let her rage.
I want her to feel it.
Because this fight isn't over.
And I'm not done breaking her.
My COMP buzzes sharply on my wrist.
The analysis is done. Finally.
---------------------------------------------
Name: Leanan Sidhe
Race: Femme
MP: 1050/1450
Resistances: [Dark]
Weaknesses: [Light][Force]
Strength: E-
Endurance: E+
Magic: D-
Agility: E+
Luck: E+
Skills: [Marin Karin][Curse Siphon][Mudo]
---------------------------------------------
Tch. Stronger than I thought.
Magic's low, but those dark skills can still rip through most opponents. And that Curse Siphon... she can drain Magatsuhi on contact.
I'll need to be careful. One wrong move, and she might turn my power into hers.
But no time to hesitate.
I raise my hand. A spear of ice forms, cold and deadly. She reacts instantly, conjuring her own-shadow-shaped and seething. The two spears clash mid-air.
BOOM.
Another explosion. Another wave of smoke and heat. The floor cracks again.
Tch. Pointless. This isn't going anywhere.
I need more force. More speed. More pressure.
"Sukukaja."
My body surges-faster, lighter.
I dash in.
She raises another wall of darkness in panic.
Again? How many of those is she going to conjure?
Fine. Let's play it your way.
I grit my teeth and barrel through. The wall stings, burning across my skin like ice and oil-but I punch through it.
I emerge on the other side, steam rising from my clothes, eyes locked on hers.
She doesn't even have time to react.
Her expression twists into pure shock.
I pull all the Magatsuhi I can into my fist.
"You grit your teeth now."
My fist surges upward in a violent uppercut.
It lands-clean.
Her jaw snaps shut, and her body rockets into the air.
Straight into the ceiling.
CRASH.
Stone shatters. The entire cavern trembles. Chunks of rock rain down like hail.
But I don't stop. Not now.
Another Bufu.
Another lance of ice.
It spins upward, slicing through the dust, seeking its target.
She tries to dodge.
Fails.
It grazes her thigh-and tears straight through her left leg.
Blood arcs in the air, thick and dark, vanishing into the shadows.
She screams, twisting midair.
Good.
She's bleeding. She's weakening.
But just as I exhale, just as I prepare to follow up-
She vanishes.
My eyes scan wildly.
Damn it, where-?
Then-bam-she's right in front of me.
But I'm not alone.
A slicing gust of wind intercepts her.
Slash.
The air hisses as razor-sharp blades of wind strike her arm, cutting deep. She stumbles back, shrieking.
I glance to the side.
Mei.
Still standing.
Her new demon floats behind her, calm and unreadable.
We're still in this.
This isn't a duel anymore.
She's staggering.
Good.
I don't give her time to breathe.
Fire surges into my hand-twisting, writhing, hungry-and I shape it into a spear. My fingers tremble from the heat as I hurl it with everything I've got.
She dodges-barely.
A hiss.
The tip kisses her cheek, leaving behind a sharp burn.
She recoils, eyes wide with fury, and retaliates immediately.
A lance of darkness screams toward me.
Tch-close.
I sidestep, the heat of its passing brushing my skin like poison wind, then close the gap and smash a fist into her face.
Her body sails through the air like a broken doll.
Not done.
Ice gathers in my hand-sharp and bright-I launch it toward her limp form.
But just before impact, a vortex of shadows swallows it whole.
Dammit. Still has Magatsuhi left. Too much of it.
If this drags on, I'll lose the attrition war.
But I'm not alone.
Mei and her new demon-paper-thin but deadly-appear behind her like ghosts.
The demon slashes through the vortex's edge, unraveling it. Mei's spell shatters its core.
Perfect opening.
I press forward, both hands hurling fireballs like cannon shots. Each blast lights the cavern with a red glow, the heat cracking stone and boiling air.
And still-she stands.
Barely.
Her body sways, blood dripping from the wounds we carved.
Then I see it.
A sphere-huge, monstrous-forms above her.
Darkness condensed into a pulsing, living bomb.
It hovers there, the size of a house, rotating slowly like a dying star.
The air around it vibrates, bends.
She raises her hand.
It launches straight toward me.
Shit!
I dodge left, barely-barely-getting out of the direct line.
Then-
BOOOOOOM
The explosion consumes everything.
The heat, the sound, the pressure-it burns through me.
My back hits the stone floor hard. My ears ring. My body screams.
But...
It's not as bad as before.
I breathe. In. Out.
Still alive.
Still in this.
She used up a chunk of her strength with that one.
And now?
Now it's my turn again.
I steady my breath. My body aches, my skin burns, but my mind? Clear.
I've noticed that the effect of Taunt is influenced by the target's baseline state, with concentration and mental fatigue playing a significant role in the spell's effectiveness.
She's exhausted. Her aura's flickering. Her grip on reality's slipping.
Perfect.
"Taunt."
Magatsuhi seeps from my core, wrapping around the battlefield like smoke. It slithers into her. Into the cracks in her will.
And something snaps.
Her pupils dilate, movements twitchy and wild. She charges at me-screaming, reckless, desperate.
Perfect again.
She's slower than me. Weaker too.
She reaches for me-
But I'm already inside her guard.
Right hook.
Left hook.
Then a flurry of punches straight to her face. Her skull jerks back and forth like a rag doll's.
She tries to block-tries to form another one of those cursed walls-but she's too late.
My fist, glowing with Magatsuhi, winds back.
"Lunge."
I drive it forward.
A half-formed wall of shadow flickers into place.
Tch-won't save her.
My momentum dies, but the force carries through.
Impact.
Her left arm intercepts the blow-and shatters. Bone and blood erupt.
She screams.
Then my fist slams into her face.
Boom.
Her body is launched, crashing through the air before embedding into the stone wall.
Silence.
Then-
Warmth.
A gentle glow wraps around me. Wounds stitch shut. Pain dulls.
Mei.
She's healing me.
I don't stop. Just walk, slow and steady, toward the crater I made.
Thunder cracks behind me.
Lightning strikes her again-Mei's not giving her a second to recover.
Smart girl.
I step into the dust and debris.
There she is.
Crushed into the wall, barely conscious, barely even whole anymore. Her hair is tangled, eyes bloodshot, face bruised and streaked with crimson.
She coughs. Then speaks, her voice trembling, thick with broken pain.
"Why... why do people hate us so much? We just... we just wanted to be free..."
I pause.
Freedom.
I know what that word means. How much it costs. What it demands.
"Yeah... I want to be free too. But freedom's not for everyone. It's the prize of the strong. The privilege of the winners."
I raise my hand, Magatsuhi swirling into shape.
"And between us?"
I summon Bufu-a blade of ice forms in my grasp. Crude. Uneven. But sharp enough.
"I won."
She trembles. Her lips part to speak, but I cut her off.
"With your death, I become stronger. That strength gives me freedom."
I raise the sword.
Then remember.
She said it herself.
That she killed humans like pigs.
A slow grin spreads across my face.
"Oh, right. You said you butcher humans like pigs. Then I guess..."
I lower the blade.
"...I'll kill you like one."
Her eyes widen.
Fear.
Pure, helpless fear.
Good.
I slash.
Her right arm falls.
Then her last leg.
She shrieks-pain, rage, panic.
"AHHH! STOP! PLEASE!!"
She begs.
I don't.
My blade arcs once more.
Her head drops to the stone with a wet thud.
Silence.
Then the glow.
Magatsuhi pours into me. But the COMP stays silent.
No skill. No gift.
Tch. Figures.
Her body begins to dissolve, turning to motes of light.
I stare.
Until—
Footsteps.
Behind me.
"Minoru, that was awesome!!" Mei's voice explodes like a firecracker, bright and raw with excitement. "We totally nailed it! That demon is dead!"
She raises her hand for a high-five.
I stare.
Then, out of politeness more than instinct, raise mine too.
Clap.
Her palm slaps mine.
And for the first time since I met her... I actually look at her.
Really look.
She's a gal.
Long, chestnut-blonde hair tumbles past her shoulders, dyed and defiant, with messy bangs swept to the left.
She wears a pair of gilded earrings that match her bright and wild golden eyes.
Her skin-lightly tanned. Just enough to hint at late afternoons and rooftop sunsets.
Her uniform is a wreck. Her left sleeve's gone, shredded up to the shoulder. Holes scatter across the fabric like battle scars.
With those damaged clothes, part of her generous silhouette becomes marked—but let's focus on the interesting
But what catches my eye?
Her armband.
Right arm. Tight fit.
It bears the symbol of the Eleventh Division-a white dragon curled in a ring of motion. Sharp, elegant lines trace its body like living metal. The head is angled left, fierce, piercing.
Around it: gear-like notches, symmetrical and cold.
I stare for a second longer.
Then turn away.
"Let's go home."