The question that kept haunting them:
Was this girl human… or something else entirely?
Madness itself seemed to stare back at them.
Before Toki or Luna could react, she blasted them with two razor-like gusts of wind that hurled them upward.
They barely managed to defend against her attack.
A massive crater opened beneath their feet, and the image of her body transforming still clung to their thoughts…
Her sudden shift into thin silver-white air threads right before touching the ground…
Her reappearance with glowing silver-tinted crimson eyes…
Only added more tension.
"What the hell is wrong with this lunatic?!" Toki muttered cautiously to himself.
His arms bleeding, he shouted in midair:
"Who are you? And what do you want?"
He glanced toward Luna, but to his shock—
Yuki was already above them, upside down, her elegant gray dress fluttering with the wind.
With a disappointed expression, she said:
"How disappointing… I thought you two would be stronger than this."
Then she snapped her fingers.
"You ask who I am? … How about you learn who you are first?"
A powerful blast crashed into Toki and Luna, crushing them downward.
Luna told Toki to grab her hand.
As they plummeted toward the fissure, Luna created a trampoline of ash.
They landed on it; it stretched—then launched them back toward Yuki.
Toki's fingers came within inches of her neck,
and at the same moment, Luna's blade hovered a hair away from slicing it.
Yuki chuckled lightly as she slipped past them effortlessly,
as if their coordinated strike meant nothing.
Then she spoke with a cold, icy tone:
"Listen up, you amateurs… You won't be able to enter any place with such pitiful conditions."
The fight escalated, their silent movements hiding countless tricks.
Every strike they launched passed right through her, as if she were a phantom.
But what alarmed them most…
Was that every time she got close, she tried to touch one of them—
as if the glove on her hand hid some unknown secret.
And every time she extended her hand,
the air around her fell completely still…
as if the world itself was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen if she touched either of them.
But they dodged her at the last possible moment.
Both Toki and Luna realized this, prompting them to change tactics.
Luna thought to herself, analyzing the situation:
"She relies on the wind… pulling us toward her just to scatter us again.
Is she playing with us? Or planning something?"
Toki and Luna conjured a large ash-crafted blade shaped like a guillotine.
Toki couldn't fly; he only struck the air with his physical strength for recoil.
Luna, on the other hand, could.
Yuki's expression remained firm and unmoving… almost mocking them.
They charged at the same time.
Swung their massive blade—
But Yuki simply smiled… and stopped the blade's edge with the tips of her fingernails.
Toki asked coldly amid the intense shockwave:
"Who do you think you are? And where exactly are we?"
She tilted her head, as if pondering, then replied:
"Do I look like a walking encyclopedia for you to interrogate, loser?
And that energy that burst out earlier… wasn't it yours?!"
They retreated, the force of the clash making the towering trees sway wildly.
"How interesting…" Yuki sighed, expression cold as she floated upward.
"But I only came to say hello."
Standing confidently, she waved her hand gently—
triggering a violent storm that dragged both Toki and Luna with it.
Before her figure faded within the cyclone…
her expression turned serious at what she had discovered.
Something strange… something buried inside Toki.
And the instant she saw that "thing" within him…
her expression shifted for the briefest moment—
not mockery, but shock.
As if she had seen a sleeping monster that should not exist.
—
While Luna, pale as moonlight, stabilized herself and Toki midair using ash particles,
Yuki's voice echoed within the swirling tempest:
"Let's meet again next time!!"
Her boastful, eerie laughter lingered even after she vanished.
The sky cleared.
The cyclone disappeared… but the scent of danger remained suspended in the air,
as if Yuki's presence hadn't truly left.
They landed, a gentle breeze brushing through Toki's purple-and-black hair.
Toki narrowed his eyes, half-puzzled expression on his face:
"After all that… we run into this kind of trouble."
He sighed deeply, glancing up at the sky:
"Why is that arrogant girl even here… what a way to start things…"
He muttered sarcastically:
"At this rate, I'll have to rethink everything that just happened…"
He turned to Luna, who adjusted her hood.
Her face was drained of color, shaken by the encounter, her eyes trembling slightly.
Luna murmured:
"Where were we and where did we end up?! What is happening…"
"Oy! Luna?" Toki called, stepping closer.
"What's wrong?"
Luna: "Nothing… But don't you think she ignored your question on purpose?"
She sighed. "Whatever… Are you ready?"
Toki replied with calm confidence:
"Of course… Let's deal with her later. We'll figure this place out and get out."
They walked deeper into the forest of towering trees tangled with thick branches.
The moist scent of vegetation was strong.
As they advanced deeper into the forest,
neither of them noticed that the place they had stood in just minutes ago
had completely changed—
as if the forest itself was shifting… rearranging its features in silence.
To move faster, they decided to fly with Luna's help—
altering the density of her gray body to lift them both.
While soaring, they spotted a bizarre scene in the distance:
A massive bird clashing with a giant blue bear with enormous claws.
The fight was brutal… a sight that chilled the blood.
Toki grinned, his eyes turning green with excitement:
"So… things work like this here too."
Luna replied with a thrilled smile, gray aura swirling around her:
"Yes… let's handle it our way."