"Don't resist any longer, both of you."
The cold voice echoed through the rubble-strewn lobby.
Steps.
A new silhouette emerged from the smoke of the earlier clash. She walked with graceful poise, but there was a chilling edge to her presence.
Her flowing dark purple—almost black—hair shimmered under the flickering emergency lights.
Red-orange eyes pierced through the dust like twin flames.
Her battlesuit was sharp, dark, accented in red, a perfect match for the gleaming cannon magnetically latched to her waist.
"It seems you need assistance, Miss Durandal," she said with a gentle, almost teasing tone. "Let me assist you."
Durandal nodded once, without turning.
"That's much appreciated, Kika."
My fists clenched as I instinctively stepped in front of Kiana.
She smiled at me with calm familiarity.
"It's been a while, Shin."
My expression darkened. "...Yeah. It's been a while, too."
"Hey!" Kiana shouted from beside me. "I'm also here! Don't ignore me like I'm some kind of extra!"
Kika chuckled softly, eyes shifting from me to her. "Of course, Kiana. I wouldn't dare."
Durandal raised her lance again, eyes narrowing with renewed resolve. "Now that it's two versus two, I'm sure this is fair now, right?"
Without warning, Durandal vanished in a flash-step—Reappearing directly in front of Kiana with a brutal swing.
Kiana's eyes flared—she parried with her bat, void energy reinforcing her stance—
BOOM—!
The force launched her backward, crashing through a pillar and skidding into the plaza outside.
I turned back toward Kika.
The air between us grew colder. The tension coiled like a spring.
"Now then..." she whispered, eyes locking with mine. "Shall we have a long talk, Shin?"
"...Tch."
I drew my blade again, the edge humming with a quiet fury.
Her cannon detached with a hiss and click, the metal expanding into combat mode with spinning energy coils.
We circled each other slowly, dust and heat rising in the distance where Kiana clashed with Durandal in the background—Explosions lighting up the night like thunderclouds over Arc City.
"You know," Kika said with a smile, "I didn't come here just to fight you."
"Then step aside."
"I can't. Otto gave me this mission for a reason. He knows how dangerous you've become."
"And yet he still sends you."
She tilted her head. "Because he knew... only I could speak to you without dying."
I lunged forward, blade raised high.
"Then speak through your blade!"
CLANG—!
Steel met tech. The ground shook as I unleashed a flurry of slashes. Kika countered with shocking precision, each deflection accompanied by a retaliatory blast from her cannon.
She pivoted, launching a plasma grenade—I slashed it mid-air, sending shards of light across the room.
"Hey... this isn't enough."
My voice cut through the haze of smoke and flashing metal.
Kika's smile faltered. Her grip tightened around her cannon as I raised my blade.
The demon sword shuddered—And then ignited, the flames coiling up the blade like a beast roused from ancient slumber.
Then I spoke, low and steady:
"Arise."
The ground split.
Dark lightning burst from the floor beneath us, lancing into the air.
A vortex of energy spiraled up, sucking the light from the room, warping it with storm and shadow.
And from that abyss—
She stepped forth.
Raiden Mei.
No... Hokushin Mei from the Warring States Period.
She emerged like a forgotten god, wrapped in thunder and grace. Her eyes shimmered—deep amethyst, untamed, fearless.
Long violet hair cascaded behind her like a living banner.
Her outfit defied time: a navy kimono-style top, elegant and battle-worn, draped off one shoulder—Trimmed in crimson and gold.
A golden oni mask hung from her hip like a warning.
And her boots—sleek, high-heeled, sharp as her presence—clicked across the ruined floor.
She met my eyes.
"Master," I said quietly. Then turned toward the shattered wall where Kiana had been hurled outside by Durandal.
"You can go all out... She's an S-rank Valkyrie of Schicksal."
I narrowed my eyes.
"Don't let her get near me. I'll get Kiana."
Hokushin gave the faintest nod.
She turned her gaze to Kika, and the air around us shifted again.
"You don't have to tell me that," she whispered, her voice low and cutting. "To those who harmed you... They will fall to my blade."
She stepped forward.
And for the first time, Kika's smirk cracked.
"You summoned her?" she muttered. Her cannon trembled slightly in her hands. "Is this... truly part of the Herrscher of Blade's power?"
But before the thought could settle—FLASH.
The moment between heartbeats ended.
Hokushin vanished in a blink.
CLANG!
Kika barely got her cannon up—just in time to block a lightning-fast vertical slash.
The force sent shockwaves spiraling outward, shattering the floor beneath their feet.
They moved like storms colliding—Red lightning clashing with technomagic blasts.
Hokushin's blade carved through the air with surgical grace.
Kika retaliated with a burst shot at close range, but Hokushin vanished mid-strike, reappearing behind her like a wraith.
Her katana came down in a clean, merciless arc.
BOOM!
Kika twisted and dodged, the blade just grazing past as she blasted herself backward with a pulse of recoil energy.
She landed, skidding, trying to get distance.
Hokushin followed—relentless, cold, and poised like a dancer of death.
And I—
I turned my back on the chaos.
Flames coiled around my blade and feet as I sprinted toward the exit.
Every beat of my heart echoed with a name.
"Hold on, Kiana," I whispered. "I'm coming."
Switching perspective to Durandal and Kiana
"You..." Durandal said, voice calm but edged like honed steel.
"If you want to escape... do it with honor. Defeat me in a fair fight, and I'll let you both walk away—with your pride intact."
Kiana's lips curled in a sharp smirk.
Void tendrils swirled around her hand like ink in water.
"So you want a real fight?"
Her eyes glowed brighter.
"Fine. I'll give you one."
Durandal gave a small, respectful nod.
Then, they moved.
CLANG!
Void daggers materialized midair and shot forward like a barrage of arrows.
Durandal's lance spun, a blur of gold and steel, knocking them aside as she dashed forward.
Kiana vanished in a flicker—teleporting behind her with a shimmer of violet.
But—too slow.
Durandal pivoted instantly, sweeping her lance in a perfect arc—
Kiana ducked, flipped forward mid-air, and hurled a condensed sphere of void energy downward.
BOOM!
The floor groaned under the pressure.
The concrete cracked.
A pulse wave erupted, sending dust and debris flying.
Durandal slid back several meters, boots carving twin trails in the steel.
But her gaze never wavered.
"Ugh—!"
"You're fast. Your instincts are good, but you're unrefined."
(She's analyzing me?! In the middle of this?!)
Kiana clenched her fists. (She's just so strong... too strong!)
Durandal's voice was calm, deliberate.
"Pressure your opponent with relentless attacks. Wait for their rhythm to break—then strike the fatal blow."
"Shut up!" Kiana shouted. "I don't need your lectures!"
Void coiled around her feet as she launched forward, a cannonball of power, heel-first, aimed for Durandal's head.
THUD!
Pain exploded in her side. The air left her lungs.
Durandal had dodged cleanly and countered with a kick of her own that sent Kiana hurtling across the rooftop.
She crashed hard. Rolled.
"Urgh...!" Kiana groaned, clutching her ribs.
She looked up.
"How did you counter that?! That was Kaslana Gun Kata!"
Durandal tilted her head slightly, brushing golden strands from her face.
"I know. It's one of the most effective martial arts developed by the Kaslana lineage. I've studied it extensively in the Schicksal archives."
She stepped forward.
"But what you're using... isn't it. It's only imitating the Kata."
(But... that's what Dad taught me...)
"Your style is an erratic fusion of techniques—fragmented stances from other Valkyries, patched together without cohesion.
You fight like someone mimicking shadows of stronger warriors... without understanding what makes them work."
Kiana's hands trembled.
"What the hell are you trying to say?!"
Durandal didn't raise her voice. She didn't need to.
"You lack mastery of the fundamentals. Your close-quarters form is shallow.
You're not in control of your power, Herrscher of the Void."