After watching Leandro and Garfiel leave for Ryuzu Shima's cabin, the oni sisters stood at the entrance of the house, motionless and silent for a few minutes. Finally, the younger sister turned around, intending to go about her chores, but the older sister stopped her with a firm grip on her wrist.
"Wait, Rem."
"What's wrong, sister?"
Ram noticed that her twin was avoiding eye contact. The expression she was trying to hide was one Ram knew well, because it closely resembled the one she had made when Rem confronted her about covering for Roswaal. Ram had no trouble identifying the reason for that embarrassment mixed with stubbornness, but what ultimately gave Rem away was the persistent blush on her cheeks and the brightness in her eyes.
"Tell me what happened between you and Leandoor."
"What do you mean?" Rem smiled, trying to sound nonchalant.
Ram snorted. She wouldn't buy Rem's clumsy performance.
"I know you better than anyone else. You can't hide what you feel from me."
"Sister, I'm serious. Nothing important happened."
"And why are you so nervous if that's the case?" The pink-haired woman pressed. "Why was your face red then?"
Rem lowered her head again, not knowing what to say.
"That confirms my suspicions."
"It was just a misunderstanding... Garfiel misinterpreted it."
"Rem... I know you like that idiot Leandoor."
She blushed deeper and sighed.
"It's impossible to lie to you, sister. You're right, I like him a lot."
"Ugh, I knew that, but hearing you say it makes me nauseous. Still, I'll respect your terrible choice."
"Thank you..."
"And why haven't you done anything until now? You're quite assertive when you want to be. Besides, he must be dreaming about it."
The blue-haired maid clenched her fists, wrinkling the fabric of her uniform.
"It's not like I didn't do anything, but I certainly didn't tell him how I feel. It's just that... I don't want to be selfish."
"Selfish?" Ram's eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"
"Now's not the time." Rem murmured, biting her lip. "There are other things more important than my feelings."
Rem's eyes were wet, but no tears escaped. Her expression hardened as she continued to explain her reasons.
"I swore to myself that I wouldn't rest until I made amends for my mistakes. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to be happy."
"What mistakes, Rem? Can you be more specific?"
"You don't have to worry about that."
"Wait, don't decide those things on your own. I want to know what's going on in your mind."
Rem remained adamant. She wasn't willing to talk about it with Ram. She knew her older sister would try to convince her that she wasn't guilty.
When she learned the truth about the marquis, Rem reproached herself for having been so blind to it. She had let Ram fall madly in love with a wicked man who wouldn't hesitate to use her as a tool or a sacrifice.
Rem's priority now was to free her sister from the unhealthy love that was putting her in both physical and emotional danger.
"When I've sorted that out, I'll definitely tell him how I feel."
Rem smiled, wishing for the day when she could express those emotions, tell Leandro everything she thought of him.
At that moment, a loud bang was heard, followed almost immediately by an earthquake. The sisters exchanged alarmed glances. Unmistakably, they both ran in the same direction, where a large, expanding cloud of dust could be seen.
The explosions continued, in fact, becoming more frequent as the twins approached the epicenter of the phenomenon. Minutes earlier, at a more advanced point in that area, a battle had begun.
Garfiel lunged while using the partial transformation on one of his arms, throwing a brutal blow to which Leandro reacted terrifyingly quickly, moving slightly to dodge the attack without losing momentum. His own punch landed on the tiger boy's face with a crunching sound and sent him spinning vertically. Garfiel didn't even touch the ground before receiving a kick that sent him flying at high speed.
Using the authority of sloth (in its limited form) gave Leandro a significant advantage, but that advantage would vanish if he failed to finish the fight before Garfiel fully transformed into his beast form. Therefore, the black-haired man attacked constantly, overwhelming the demi-human with a barrage of blows.
"You son of a bitch!" The blond covered himself, transforming his arms to use as a shield and pushing Leandro back. With that, he gained a small time window to counterattack, or so he thought, as the dark-haired man dodged his claws and performed a downward attack that sank him into the ground, forming a small crater. Garfiel gasped as his body was completely crushed by an invisible force.
Rolling to the side, the blond man dodged a stomp and responded with a violent kick to Leandro's head, but his leg was stopped with a gesture.
"That damn cheating ability!" Garfiel complained anxiously, his eyes twitching in anticipation of Leandro's retaliation.
As expected, Leandro responded with a ruthless move: he grabbed Garfiel by the neck and, while strangling him, repeatedly slammed his head against the ground, trying to make him faint. Despite Garfiel's efforts, he couldn't break free. Under those conditions, Leandro's strength was far superior.
Garfiel's stamina weakened with each passing second, especially from the impacts on his head and the lack of air reaching his brain. Finally, the dark-haired man released the blond, who had stopped moving and appeared to be unconscious. However, this was nothing more than a ruse.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the demi-human used his blessing to control the earth around him, forming several layers around his body.
"Oh shit, I can't let him hide!"
Leandro became desperate and tried to break the earthen shell, but his strength and weakened authority were not enough to pass through the increasingly thick material.
Inside the formation, Garfiel was curled up in the fetal position, writhing in pain from his wounds, but he had bought himself a little time: that was all he needed to turn into a beast and turn the tide of the battle.
"I'm going to... protect... the Sanctuary!"
In the end, the shell shattered from within, revealing a massive golden tiger that completely overshadowed Leandro's small figure with its shadow. The dark-haired man grimaced in pain at this sight.
"I don't like the kittens of this world. Some freeze you, others destroy you, and some make you doubt your sexual orientation."
"ROOOOAAAAAARRRRR!"
Garfiel let out a beastly roar and lunged at Leandro, brandishing his claws. However, now that Leandro was focused and taking the fight seriously, he was able to dodge the attack with ease, as despite the enormous strength it contained, the movement was somewhat slower and more predictable compared to Garfiel's in his base state.
Since he hadn't brought his weapons, Leandro could only fight with his body. The fight became less frantic, but more dangerous. While Leandro managed to dodge all the attacks, he knew he would die if he received even one. Furthermore, Garfiel was now much more resilient, so dealing significant damage to him became a real challenge. Leandro had to analyze all his movements and attack him in different places to find his weak points.
Garfiel's aggressive claws sliced through the air, but they couldn't touch the black-haired man, who moved like a flickering shadow as he dodged each potentially deadly blow. While Garfiel was unleashing his rage in uncontrolled and erratic ways, Leandro seemed to flow freely, dancing on the edge of a cliff without breaking a sweat. He patiently waited for the moment when Garfiel would tire: only then could he take control of the fight.
That moment arrived a few minutes later. Having fought relentlessly and tirelessly, Garfiel began to feel exhausted, and his movements became clumsier and slower. Leandro didn't take a second to react.
"Shamak."
A dark cloud erupted from Leandro's body and blinded Garfiel, who was unable to see through the spell due to his rage. Standing behind him, Leandro grabbed his tail and spun him around, reaching great speed, then threw him into the sky. The anthropomorphic tiger rose quite high, but before he could fall, he was rammed by Leandro, who had taken off from the ground like a human bullet to knock him into the air and carry him higher.
Garfiel shook himself and tried to catch the elusive Leandro, but was unsuccessful. Once again, the dark-haired man stood behind him, and this time the consequences were worse. When they reached the highest point, Leandro pushed Garfiel down, using his authority to fall to the ground with great kinetic energy. In a matter of seconds, the two crashed to the ground with a devastating impact.
The ground erupted, and a small earthquake occurred. The shock wave uprooted trees, sending thousands of rock fragments flying in all directions. A huge cloud of dust then covered the area.
All was silent and still for a minute. Then, a gust of wind swept away all the dust, clearing the area and revealing a landscape of utter destruction. The oni sisters had arrived.
"There!" After casting her Fura, Ram pointed to a figure standing in the center of the area.
"Leandro!" Rem ran toward him, dodging the pits and depressions in the ground. Her sister followed her, and soon they were both standing in front of the dark-haired man. "What happened here?!"
"Where's Garf?" Ram frowned, suspecting what had happened.
"He..."
Before Leandro could finish his sentence, the stone mound behind the three of them abruptly crumbled.
"ROOOOAAAAAARRRRR!"
Still transformed into a tiger, Garfiel rose up in a furious rage and brandished his claws, not bothering to look at who was in front of him. Just hearing Leandro's voice was enough to drive him to destroy everything in that direction.
"...!?"
The twins had their backs to him and had no idea what was happening, so they weren't able to react quickly enough to dodge the swipe.
For Leandro, all this happened in slow motion. As if he had broken the RBD taboo, darkness surrounded him, but this time there was no shadowy hand. In that instant, he knew death was looming over Rem and Ram. His mind calculated all the possibilities: he wouldn't have time to force them out of range with his authority. Nor would he be able to completely stop Garfiel's attack, because with his brain limiting his power, the tiger's movement wouldn't be affected.
That thought drove him to despair. He didn't want to see his companions die before his eyes. His heart tightened in fear, and he suddenly knew what to do. It was dangerous, not to mention potentially ruining the loop even if he saved Rem and Ram, but it was the only option that didn't involve dying or letting the sisters die.
"Anything is better than letting them die. I'll be no better than Roswaal if I don't do everything I can to move forward."
The darkness faded, and time returned to normal. Then, a large amount of miasma was released from within Leandro, who reached out and easily stopped Garfiel's attack.
"Garf!?"
"Be careful, sister!"
The sisters quickly backed away from the enormous golden tiger and assumed battle stances. But Garfiel wasn't interested in them.
"ROOOOAAAAAARRRRR!"
Apparently recovered from his wounds and exhaustion, Garfiel charged toward Leandro with renewed energy. However, the outcome of this action was radically different from the previous ones.
There was a faint hum, similar to a crack or the rumble of thunder. A second later, Garfiel's body was brutally smashed against the ground, blood spurting out.
The twins gasped. Garfiel had fallen in a single motion.
The relief was short-lived, as Rem shuddered at the unprecedented intensity of the witch's scent. The miasma was so concentrated that it surpassed the time Leandro had used it as bait to lure the White Whale. A dark energy was visible floating around the dark-haired man.
Even Ram realized something was wrong. Surprisingly, Leandro started laughing and stomped on Garfiel's head.
"What now, kitty? I thought you were going to break all my bones. Isn't that what you said? Come on, I'm right here!"
But the great tiger no longer moved. With a sneer, Leandro pointed at him and curled his fingers. As a result, Garfiel's body began to clench, and his bones creaked, ready to break from the pressure.
"Don't tell me that's all. I'm still not satisfied!"
But before he could go any further, Leandro was interrupted by a gust of wind that cut a slash across his cheek.
"Leandoor, that's enough!" Ram scolded him. "At this rate, you're going to kill him!"
He slowly turned toward her. His face had an expression of hatred and contempt.
"Did you just attack me from behind, you fucking whore?"
Ram jumped. He had never spoken to her like that.
"You...! How dare you-!?"
She couldn't continue. An invisible force paralyzed her completely, preventing her from doing anything. Leandro pulled her toward him with a gesture and grabbed her face with his hand.
"Uppity bitches like you need to learn a few life lessons."
Ram moaned in pain as Leandro cut her cheek with just a fingertip. He smiled and licked the wound, tasting the girl's blood.
"Your personality disgusts me, but I have to admit you're very pretty. Maybe I should make you mine."
Those words froze the pink-haired girl's blood. With the power he was wielding and his new attitude, Leandro seemed capable of carrying out that idea. Ram had the impression that the black-haired man's power at that moment rivaled Roswaal's.
Or even surpassed it.
"Let go of my sister!" Rem appeared behind him, trying to hit the back of his head to stun him.
However, Rem's hand remained suspended in the air, without touching Leandro's body.
"You too? Do you want to keep playing with me?" Leandro turned to the blue-haired girl. "I know your type. They like a lot of attention and will do everything to get it. They manipulate you, make you believe they like you, but all they want is for you to look at them, to think about them, to adore them."
"What are you...?"
"You're not fooling anyone, Rem. You tried to use me to make yourself feel better, to forget how miserable you are. I feel sorry for you."
Rem felt her chest wrenched as Leandro vilified her, using her weakness to hurt her in the cruelest way, destroying her pride and confidence. Her eyes filled with tears and she began to sob. Seeing this, Leandro smiled sadistically.
"Really? Do women only know how to cry when they're out of arguments? Well, now that I have you two in my hands, I think I could have a little fun... Huh?"
Leandro's smile faded when he noticed his eyes and nose were bleeding.
"Ah, shit, that's true. I overdid it again."
Due to the burden the authority placed on his brain, his eyes rolled back and he lost consciousness.