Purple lightning crawled along the edge of Shinatsu's Alter Blade as she crossed the ruined street in a blur. The weapon had once belonged to Shiori, and every time Shinatsu activated it, the irony annoyed her more than she cared to admit.
Her sister had given her the means to become stronger.
And she still couldn't touch her.
Shiori stood several meters away with one hand tucked casually into her sleeve.
Shinatsu's blade cut toward her shoulder.
The air shifted.
Shinatsu suddenly became several times heavier.
Her forward step collapsed underneath her.
Her knee smashed into the pavement.
Shinatsu: "Tch—!"
She forced herself up before Shiori could say anything.
Purple lightning exploded beneath Shinatsu's feet.
She accelerated again.
This time she came from the side, keeping her center of gravity lower as her sword traced a horizontal path toward Shiori's ribs.
Shiori lifted two fingers.
The world tilted.
At least, that was what it felt like.
Gravity pulled Shinatsu sideways hard enough to tear both feet from the ground. She flew across the street, twisted in midair, and drove her blade into the pavement to keep herself from crashing through a wall.
Sparks scattered around her.
Shiori: "Better."
Shinatsu ripped the blade free.
Shinatsu: "Don't compliment me."
Shiori: "Why? You like compliments."
Shinatsu: "Not from you."
Shiori smiled.
Shiori: "You're still cute when you're angry."
Shinatsu's eye twitched.
She disappeared in another burst of violet electricity.
This time she didn't attack immediately.
Shinatsu moved around Shiori instead, changing direction every few steps while lightning snapped behind her. She knew better than to enter carelessly now.
Shiori's curse was ridiculous.
Gravity manipulation.
Simple on paper.
Completely unfair in practice.
Shiori could increase it, decrease it, redirect it, and seemingly apply different gravitational forces to individual targets within her range. Every approach became dangerous because she didn't need to physically react to Shinatsu's blade.
She just needed to decide where Shinatsu would fall.
Shinatsu suddenly reversed direction.
Then again.
Shiori's eyes followed.
That was what Shinatsu wanted.
She threw a chunk of broken pavement.
Shiori glanced toward it.
Shinatsu entered from below.
Purple lightning concentrated around her sword.
The blade thrust directly toward Shiori's stomach.
For the first time, Shinatsu thought she had her.
Then the lightning around the blade bent downward.
Shinatsu's arm followed.
The tip of her sword slammed into the ground less than a foot from Shiori's feet.
Shinatsu's eyes widened.
Shiori: "Nice try."
A gravitational pulse exploded downward.
Shinatsu was driven into the street.
The pavement cratered beneath her.
Pain shot through her shoulder and ribs.
Shinatsu gritted her teeth and rolled aside just as another section of pavement collapsed where her head had been.
She pushed herself upright.
Shiori still hadn't drawn a weapon.
Shinatsu hated that most.
Shinatsu: "Fight me properly."
Shiori tilted her head.
Shiori: "I am."
Shinatsu: "No, you're standing there."
Shiori: "And you're losing."
Shinatsu rushed her.
Shiori: "See?"
Gravity pulled upward.
Shinatsu shot into the air.
She immediately twisted and discharged lightning from the Alter Blade, using the force to throw herself sideways instead of continuing straight up.
Shiori's eyebrows rose.
Shinatsu descended from above.
Her sword crackled violently.
Shinatsu: "Got you."
Shiori looked up.
Then gravity reversed again.
Shinatsu stopped in midair.
Completely.
Her body hung above Shiori like an ornament.
Shinatsu stared down at her.
Shiori stared up.
A second passed.
Shinatsu: "I hate you."
Shiori laughed.
Then flicked her wrist.
Shinatsu was launched through the side of a nearby building.
Wood and stone erupted outward.
She crashed through the interior, bounced once across the floor, and stopped against a broken column.
For several seconds, Shinatsu didn't move.
Then her hand emerged from the rubble.
Shinatsu: "That stupid curse is too overpowered."
Shiori stepped casually through the hole she'd created with Shinatsu's body.
Shiori: "Sounds like jealousy."
Shinatsu pushed debris off herself and rose.
Shinatsu: "It's objectively stupid."
Shiori: "You have lightning."
Shinatsu: "Lightning follows rules."
Shiori: "So does gravity."
Shinatsu: "Not when you're using it."
Shiori smiled again.
Shinatsu attacked.
She forced herself to keep thinking.
Direct attacks wouldn't work.
Speed alone wouldn't work.
Maybe rhythm.
Maybe if she forced Shiori into adjusting multiple gravitational fields quickly enough, there would be a delay.
Shinatsu circled.
She threw two pieces of debris in opposite directions.
Then rushed from the third.
Shiori redirected the first.
Crushed the second into the floor.
Shinatsu changed direction before committing.
Purple lightning crackled across the room.
Shiori turned.
Shinatsu appeared at her back.
Her blade came down.
Shiori leaned aside.
The edge passed close enough to cut a strand of hair.
Shinatsu saw it fall.
That was the closest she'd gotten.
Shiori touched her own hair.
Her smile disappeared for a moment.
Shinatsu: "Finally."
Shiori: "You cut my hair."
Shinatsu: "Tragic."
Shiori: "I liked that strand."
Shinatsu: "I'll send flowers."
Shiori's eyes narrowed.
The building groaned.
Shinatsu felt the pressure increase before she understood what was happening.
The entire floor beneath her cracked.
Shinatsu: "Oh, come on—"
Gravity slammed down.
She dropped instantly.
The floor collapsed beneath her and she fell through into the level below.
Shinatsu hit hard.
Before she could stand, Shiori dropped through the opening gracefully, landing without so much as bending her knees.
Shinatsu looked up from one knee.
Shiori: "Still want to send flowers?"
Shinatsu: "Absolutely."
Shiori: "Good."
Shinatsu attacked again.
And again.
And again.
Nothing changed.
Every exchange ended the same way.
A redirected step.
A blade dragged from its intended path.
Shinatsu launched sideways, upward, or straight into the ground.
Her Alter Blade screamed with violet lightning, but raw speed didn't matter against someone who could manipulate the force acting on her entire body.
Shinatsu eventually slid backward across the floor and stopped against a broken wall.
Her breathing had finally become heavy.
Shiori looked almost untouched.
Almost.
That single missing strand of hair remained Shinatsu's only accomplishment.
Shinatsu: "You're annoying."
Shiori: "You're stubborn."
Shinatsu: "Runs in the family."
That actually made Shiori laugh.
Then her expression softened slightly.
Not kindly.
More like she'd remembered something entertaining.
Shiori: "Let me tell you a secret, sis."
Shinatsu immediately raised her sword again.
Shinatsu: "Don't call me that."
Shiori ignored her.
Shiori: "There's a way to end the war between humans and vampires."
Shinatsu froze.
The lightning around her blade continued crackling, but her posture changed.
Shinatsu: "What?"
Shiori watched her carefully.
Shiori: "You heard me."
Shinatsu: "How?"
Shiori smiled.
Shinatsu: "Shiori."
Shiori: "There really is a way."
For once, the teasing quality left her voice.
Shiori: "Humans and vampires don't have to keep doing this forever."
Shinatsu stared at her.
The distant sounds of battle continued beyond the ruined building. Explosions. Screaming. Metal striking metal.
All of it suddenly felt louder.
Shinatsu: "Then tell me."
Shiori: "No."
Shinatsu's grip tightened.
Shinatsu: "If you know how to stop this, then tell me!"
Shiori's smile returned.
Shiori: "That's the funny part."
She stepped backward.
Shiori: "If you guys ever find it…"
Her eyes sharpened.
Shiori: "I'll never let you end it."
Shinatsu went still.
Shinatsu: "What?"
Shiori turned away.
Shinatsu: "Why?!"
Shiori: "Because I don't want you to."
Shinatsu: "That's not an answer!"
Shiori waved over her shoulder.
Shiori: "It's enough of one."
She began walking toward the hole in the building.
Shinatsu: "Shiori!"
Purple lightning erupted.
Shinatsu launched herself after her.
She made it three steps.
Then her entire body slammed flat against the floor.
BOOM!
The impact blasted dust outward.
Shinatsu's eyes widened.
Her cheek pressed against broken concrete.
She couldn't lift her head.
Couldn't raise an arm.
Couldn't even properly move her fingers.
Shinatsu: "Shiori!"
Her sister stopped at the edge of the ruined room.
Shiori glanced back.
Shiori: "Stay."
Shinatsu: "I'm not a dog!"
Shiori: "Could've fooled me."
Shinatsu: "GET BACK HERE!"
Shiori disappeared through the opening.
Shinatsu strained against the gravitational pressure.
Nothing.
Her muscles trembled.
Purple lightning flickered around her body, but even that seemed flattened against the floor beneath the oppressive force.
Shinatsu: "Damn it!"
She pushed harder.
Nothing moved.
Shinatsu clenched her teeth until her jaw hurt.
Shiori was leaving.
Again.
And Shinatsu couldn't do anything about it.
Minutes passed.
The sounds of the battle outside continued without her.
Every second felt like another reminder of how completely she'd lost.
Shinatsu stopped struggling only when her body demanded it.
Her forehead rested against the ruined floor.
Shinatsu: "Damn it…"
Her voice came quieter this time.
Shinatsu: "I'm still… so weak."
The admission hurt worse than being thrown through buildings.
She had gotten stronger.
Much stronger.
She'd survived things her younger self never could have imagined.
She had the Alter Blade.
More experience.
More discipline.
Yet whenever Shiori stood in front of her, the distance between them still felt enormous.
Eventually, the pressure vanished.
It happened so suddenly that Shinatsu nearly shoved herself off the floor from how hard she'd been resisting.
She immediately pushed upright.
Shinatsu looked around.
Nothing.
No Shiori.
No sign of where she'd gone.
Had her sister consciously released the curse?
Or had she simply traveled far enough away that Shinatsu fell outside its range?
There was no way to know.
Shinatsu stood and steadied herself against the wall.
Her body hurt everywhere.
She could worry about Shiori later.
About the war.
About whatever cryptic way supposedly existed to end it.
About why Shiori wanted to stop that from happening.
Right now, only one person mattered.
Kagura.
Shiori's earlier words returned immediately.
Kagura's a vampire.
Shinatsu's expression tightened.
She still didn't want to believe it.
But after everything else Shiori had said tonight, she couldn't simply bury the possibility anymore.
Shinatsu picked up her Alter Blade.
Purple lightning flickered faintly along its edge.
Then she stepped out into the burning night.
She needed to find Kagura.
***
By the time Kagura and Talaryuna crossed blades again, most of the festival district around them was already gone.
The beautiful streets that had been crowded only hours ago were reduced to scorched stone and burning frames. Lanterns had melted into blackened wire. Food stalls were nothing but collapsing skeletons. Decorative banners that had once stretched between buildings burned overhead before breaking loose and drifting down as embers.
Fire painted everything orange.
Most of it belonged to Talaryuna.
Kagura stepped through the heat with her sword raised, eyes fixed on the woman standing across from her.
Talaryuna looked almost comfortable in the destruction.
That was what bothered Kagura most.
Not the flames.
Not the bodies in the distance.
Not even the sheer amount of damage Talaryuna had caused since arriving.
Her expression.
Cold.
Calm.
Detached.
Kagura remembered someone different.
Not kind.
Never kind.
Talaryuna had always hated humans. That part hadn't changed. Even years ago, she had spoken about them with open contempt, as though their lives meant less simply because they were human.
Kagura had known that.
She had argued with her about it more times than she could count.
But this…
This was different.
There had once been limits.
There had once been reasons.
Now Talaryuna looked at an entire district burning and saw nothing wrong.
Kagura tightened her grip.
Talaryuna noticed.
Talaryuna: "What?"
Kagura: "You're different."
Talaryuna's eyes narrowed slightly.
Kagura: "You were always cruel."
Talaryuna: "How flattering."
Kagura: "And you always hated humans."
Talaryuna: "Still do."
Kagura looked around them.
Another building collapsed in the distance.
Kagura: "But this isn't the same."
Talaryuna's expression didn't move.
Kagura: "What happened to you?"
A small flame appeared along Talaryuna's blade.
Then another.
Within seconds, fire crawled across the entire weapon.
Talaryuna: "I stopped pretending there was anything worth saving."
Kagura's stare hardened.
Talaryuna: "You should try it."
She moved.
The fire exploded behind her.
Kagura barely raised her sword in time.
CLANG!
The collision shook both arms.
Heat washed across Kagura's face.
Talaryuna pressed harder, flames roaring around the point where their blades met.
Kagura twisted her wrist and redirected the sword away.
Talaryuna immediately followed with a kick.
Kagura caught the leg against her forearm and shoved it aside.
She stepped in.
Her sword flashed.
Talaryuna leaned backward.
The edge passed just beneath her chin.
Neither gave the other room.
Talaryuna's next cut came from the side.
Kagura blocked.
Fire burst outward.
Kagura turned through the impact instead of fighting it directly, letting the momentum carry her past Talaryuna's shoulder.
She slashed toward her back.
Talaryuna spun.
Their blades met again.
Sparks and embers scattered between them.
For all of Talaryuna's fire, Kagura never looked overwhelmed.
That had always been the mistake people made with her.
They saw no curse.
No supernatural ability.
No spectacular technique that reshaped the battlefield.
And assumed something was missing.
Talaryuna never had.
She knew better.
Kagura's swordsmanship was enough.
More than enough.
Talaryuna retreated half a step and released a wave of fire.
Kagura moved before it fully formed.
She sprinted diagonally, slipping along the edge of the flames instead of trying to outrun them.
The heat burned against her sleeve.
Her hair whipped behind her.
Talaryuna was waiting for her.
A flaming thrust came straight toward Kagura's chest.
Kagura knocked it aside and stepped inside the reach of the blade.
Her elbow struck Talaryuna's ribs.
Talaryuna grunted.
Kagura immediately followed with a cut toward her stomach.
Talaryuna twisted away.
The blade still opened a shallow line across her side.
For the first time, Talaryuna's expression changed.
Not pain.
Recognition.
Talaryuna: "Still sharp."
Kagura: "You sound surprised."
Talaryuna: "Not at all."
Fire surged around her.
The ground cracked beneath the sudden heat.
Talaryuna: "That's why I'm not holding back."
Kagura barely had time to move.
A pillar of flame erupted beneath her feet.
She jumped aside.
Another burst followed where she landed.
Then another.
Talaryuna walked forward while fire exploded around Kagura in rapid succession, forcing her through an increasingly narrow path.
Kagura ducked beneath one wave.
Jumped another.
Slid through a gap between two bursts and came out close enough to attack.
Talaryuna raised her sword.
Kagura struck once.
Twice.
Three times.
Every clash pushed flames sideways across the ruined street.
The fourth attack got through.
Kagura's blade cut Talaryuna across the shoulder.
Talaryuna answered instantly.
Her sword grazed Kagura's thigh.
Both separated.
Neither looked particularly bothered.
The distance between them lasted only a second.
Then they moved again.
The fight spread through the festival district.
Talaryuna used the environment freely.
Fire rushed along rooftops and poured down into alleys.
Entire stalls became fuel.
Wooden balconies ignited before collapsing onto the streets below.
Kagura was forced to fight through all of it.
She ran along a damaged wall as fire consumed the ground beneath her, kicked off, and descended toward Talaryuna from above.
Talaryuna swung upward.
Their blades collided.
Kagura used the impact to flip past her.
She landed behind Talaryuna and attacked immediately.
Talaryuna barely parried.
Kagura's second strike came low.
Talaryuna jumped.
Kagura followed her upward.
That caught Talaryuna off guard.
Kagura's knee struck her stomach in midair.
Both fell.
Talaryuna hit the ground first and rolled.
Kagura landed a second later.
Fire exploded between them.
Kagura crossed her arms and was thrown backward.
She hit the pavement, rolled twice, and returned to her feet.
Smoke curled from her clothes.
Talaryuna stood.
Talaryuna: "You really did choose this place."
Kagura: "What?"
Talaryuna gestured around them.
Talaryuna: "Shioto."
Her expression hardened.
Talaryuna: "These people."
Kagura said nothing.
Talaryuna: "You abandoned everything for this."
Kagura: "I didn't abandon everything."
Talaryuna: "Didn't you?"
The flames around Talaryuna dimmed slightly.
Talaryuna: "You left."
Kagura's eyes sharpened.
Talaryuna: "You disappeared into their world."
Kagura: "Because I wanted a life."
Talaryuna: "You had one."
Kagura: "Not one I could enjoy."
That landed.
Talaryuna's face went still.
Kagura continued.
Kagura: "I got tired."
Her voice stayed calm.
Kagura: "Tired of hatred."
Talaryuna: "How noble."
Kagura: "Tired of waking up every day and being told who I was supposed to hate."
Talaryuna: "Humans would kill you the moment they knew what you were."
Kagura: "Some would."
Talaryuna: "Most."
Kagura: "Maybe."
She raised her sword again.
Kagura: "Doesn't mean I want them all dead."
Talaryuna stared at her.
For a moment, the fire around them was the only sound.
Then Talaryuna smiled.
There was no warmth in it.
Talaryuna: "You've gotten soft."
Kagura: "And you've gotten worse."
The smile disappeared.
Fire erupted.
The next clash was harder than any before it.
Talaryuna struck with both hands.
Kagura blocked.
The pavement beneath Kagura's boots cracked as she was forced backward.
Talaryuna attacked again.
Kagura parried high.
A second strike came low.
Kagura caught it.
Talaryuna twisted and released flame directly from the blade.
Kagura threw herself aside.
The blast tore through the building behind her.
Kagura landed on one knee.
Talaryuna closed the distance.
Kagura barely caught the descending sword.
Flames roared inches from her face.
Talaryuna: "Do you really think they accept you?"
Kagura shoved upward.
Kagura: "I don't need everyone to."
She kicked Talaryuna away.
Talaryuna slid backward.
Kagura charged.
Talaryuna: "And when they find out?"
Kagura's sword struck hers.
Kagura: "Then they find out."
Talaryuna: "And when your precious friends point their blades at you?"
Kagura's next attack slowed.
Only slightly.
Talaryuna saw it.
She smiled again.
Talaryuna: "There it is."
Kagura's expression darkened.
Talaryuna: "You haven't told them."
Kagura attacked.
Hard.
Talaryuna blocked.
Kagura: "Shut up."
Talaryuna: "They don't know."
Kagura: "Shut up."
Another strike.
Talaryuna gave ground.
Talaryuna: "After all this time."
Kagura swung again.
Talaryuna parried.
Talaryuna: "You're still hiding."
Kagura's blade stopped against hers.
Their faces were only feet apart.
Kagura: "I'm protecting what I have."
Talaryuna: "From the truth?"
Kagura's eyes hardened.
She broke the lock and attacked with enough force to knock Talaryuna backward.
For once, Talaryuna had to recover.
Kagura came after her.
Their swords became difficult to follow.
Steel flashed through smoke.
Fire erupted with every parry.
Kagura slipped past a thrust and cut Talaryuna's arm.
Talaryuna burned Kagura's shoulder in return.
Kagura stepped through the pain and slashed toward the neck.
Talaryuna blocked.
Their weapons locked again.
Neither gave an inch.
Talaryuna's flames climbed higher.
Kagura pushed through them.
Her hands began to burn around the hilt.
She didn't move.
Talaryuna: "You can't protect that life forever."
Kagura: "I don't need forever."
She forced the blade aside.
Kagura: "I need today."
Talaryuna's eyes widened.
Kagura struck.
The blade cut across Talaryuna's cheek.
A thin line of blood appeared.
Talaryuna touched it.
Her expression became colder.
Then the entire street ignited.
Flames rushed outward from her feet in every direction.
Kagura sprinted.
She jumped onto a fallen beam, ran along it as fire swallowed the pavement beneath her, and launched herself toward Talaryuna.
Talaryuna met her in the air.
Their blades collided.
The impact sent both spinning in opposite directions.
Kagura landed against the side of a ruined stall.
Talaryuna struck the street and slid.
They stood again almost simultaneously.
Both were breathing harder now.
Both carried cuts.
Burns.
Bruises.
Neither had gained meaningful ground.
Talaryuna's destructive power was overwhelming.
Kagura's skill refused to let it matter.
Every time Talaryuna expanded the battlefield, Kagura found a path through it.
Every time Kagura closed the distance, Talaryuna's fire forced her to work for every inch.
They knew each other too well.
Kagura recognized the angle of Talaryuna's shoulders before she released flame.
Talaryuna recognized the tiny shift in Kagura's feet before she changed direction.
Old familiarity had become another weapon.
Talaryuna looked around at the burning festival.
Talaryuna: "Beautiful, isn't it?"
Kagura stared at her.
There it was again.
That coldness.
The woman Kagura remembered had always been cruel.
But she wasn't this.
Kagura: "You really don't care anymore."
Talaryuna: "About this?"
She glanced toward the burning buildings.
Talaryuna: "No."
Kagura: "You would've once."
Talaryuna's gaze returned to her.
Talaryuna: "You remember someone who doesn't exist."
Kagura's expression tightened.
Talaryuna: "And I'm looking at someone who shouldn't exist."
Kagura: "Then I guess we're both disappointed."
Talaryuna laughed once.
This time it sounded almost genuine.
Talaryuna: "There you are."
Kagura lowered herself into stance.
Talaryuna did the same.
The flames around them intensified.
Kagura's grip tightened.
There would be no quick victory here.
No decisive slash.
No trick that ended everything.
Neither could overwhelm the other.
Neither intended to retreat.
And beneath all the anger, the years between them, and everything neither was willing to say…
They understood that.
Talaryuna raised her burning blade.
Kagura raised hers.
Then they charged again.
Steel met fire beneath the ruined lights of the Golden Festival.
And neither woman knew that their fight had only just begun.
The fight refused to slow down.
Kagura and Talaryuna tore through what remained of the festival district, blades colliding between bursts of fire that scorched walls, split pavement, and sent waves of heat rolling through the streets.
Kagura stayed close whenever she could.
Distance favored Talaryuna too heavily.
At range, the battlefield itself became her weapon.
Up close, Kagura could force her into a sword fight.
That was where they were even.
Kagura slipped beneath a flaming cut and drove forward, her blade scraping across Talaryuna's side before the other woman twisted away.
Talaryuna retaliated with a burst of fire from her palm.
Kagura crossed her sword in front of herself and was pushed backward through the smoke.
Her boots dug into the pavement.
She recovered.
Then voices came from behind.
Hunter: "We're here to assist!"
Kagura's eyes widened.
Four Hunters rushed into the street.
Their uniforms were scorched and torn, but all four still carried themselves with confidence.
Kagura's stomach dropped.
Kagura: "Get away from here!"
They slowed.
Hunter: "What?"
Kagura: "Leave!"
Talaryuna looked toward them.
Kagura saw it immediately.
That tiny shift in her expression.
Interest.
Kagura: "You'll get yourselves killed!"
One of the Hunters frowned.
Hunter: "We're First Rank."
Another stepped forward.
Hunter: "We can help."
Kagura shook her head hard.
Kagura: "No, you can't."
They stared at her.
Kagura hated how desperate her voice sounded.
Kagura: "Please."
That made them pause.
Kagura almost never begged.
Kagura: "Just go."
The first Hunter tightened his grip on his sword.
Hunter: "We're not running while someone else fights alone."
Kagura: "You don't understand."
Hunter: "Then explain later."
He raised his blade.
The others did the same.
Kagura clenched her teeth.
Talaryuna sighed.
Talaryuna: "Humans."
Kagura turned sharply.
Kagura: "Tala—"
Too late.
The four Hunters moved.
The fight became five against one.
For less than ten seconds.
The first Hunter reached Talaryuna from the left.
She stepped inside his swing.
One flash of steel.
His body hit the ground before Kagura could even process the attack.
Kagura froze.
Hunter: "HEY!"
The remaining three rushed at once.
Talaryuna raised one hand.
Fire erupted.
Not outward.
Around them.
The flames wrapped the three Hunters in an instant.
Their screams ripped through the street.
Kagura's eyes widened.
Kagura: "NO!"
She rushed forward.
One Hunter tried rolling across the pavement.
The fire clung to him.
Another collapsed almost immediately.
The third managed two steps before falling.
Then there was only the sound of burning wood and distant battle again.
Kagura stopped.
Her breathing turned shallow.
Four humans.
Seconds.
That was all it had taken.
Talaryuna looked completely unmoved.
Kagura stared at the bodies.
Then at her.
A thought entered her mind.
How many?
How many humans had Talaryuna killed since they last saw each other?
Dozens?
Hundreds?
More?
Kagura's grip tightened until her knuckles whitened.
Kagura: "TALARYUNA!"
She charged.
Talaryuna watched her approach.
Then sighed.
As if she were getting bored.
She raised one hand.
A small sphere of fire formed above her palm.
It wasn't large.
Barely bigger than an apple.
Kagura kept coming.
Talaryuna flicked her wrist.
The fireball floated toward Kagura.
Almost lazily.
Like someone gently tossing a toy toward a child.
Kagura's instincts screamed.
She tried changing direction.
Too late.
The sphere detonated.
Fire consumed everything.
A massive explosion expanded nearly fifty meters in every direction, swallowing buildings, stalls, and road beneath a sphere of blinding orange.
Kagura disappeared inside it.
The blast ripped her from the ground.
Her body flew through burning debris and crashed hard into the remains of a building.
Stone collapsed over her.
Then silence.
For several seconds, Kagura couldn't move.
Her ears rang.
Her lungs refused to fill properly.
Heat crawled across her skin.
She coughed.
Dust entered her mouth.
Kagura forced one arm free.
Then another.
She shoved broken stone from her chest and dragged herself upward.
Every movement hurt.
Her clothes were burned.
Parts of her hair were singed.
Blood ran down one side of her face.
Still…
She stood.
Kagura climbed out of the rubble.
Then looked up.
Her expression changed.
Talaryuna stood in the center of the devastated street with one arm raised.
Above her…
Fire gathered.
More.
And more.
A sphere formed in the sky.
At first it was the size of a carriage.
Then a building.
Then larger.
The flames compacted into a massive burning orb suspended over the district.
It looked wrong.
Too bright.
Too large.
Like Talaryuna had reached into the heavens and dragged down a miniature sun.
The heat reached Kagura from hundreds of meters away.
The air distorted.
Glass melted.
Wood ignited without being touched.
Kagura stared upward.
For the first time in the fight…
She didn't know what to do.
Talaryuna looked almost bored.
Her raised hand remained beneath the enormous sphere.
Then she extended her arm forward.
Her fingers slowly curled downward.
The miniature sun fell.
Kagura's eyes widened.
Despite its impossible size, it descended far too quickly.
There was no path out.
No angle.
No opening.
Kagura moved anyway.
One step.
That was all she got.
The fireball struck.
The world became white.
Then orange.
Then nothing but heat.
The explosion tore across the district.
Buildings vanished inside it.
The ground ruptured outward.
A fiery shockwave expanded nearly two hundred meters in every direction, flattening weakened structures and sending debris high into the burning night.
For several seconds, the entire section of Hanabi Island disappeared beneath flame.
And somewhere inside that inferno…
Kagura was swallowed whole.
The fire had died down, but the destruction it left behind still smoldered.
Smoke hung over the district in thick layers, rolling through shattered streets and collapsed buildings. Heat radiated from the ground itself. The once-beautiful festival quarter had become almost unrecognizable.
Talaryuna stood in the center of it all.
Waiting.
Then something moved inside the smoke.
A flash of steel cut through the haze.
The smoke parted.
Kagura stepped out.
She was bloodied from head to toe. What remained of her yukata hung in torn strips, burned almost completely away along the left side. Her left arm was scorched badly enough that she had to cradle it against her body, and part of her shoulder and side had been blackened by the blast.
Her breathing was ragged.
But she was still standing.
Talaryuna watched without surprise.
Kagura looked down at her ruined arm.
She had no choice.
Her vampire nature surfaced.
Her eyes changed.
Her fangs emerged.
The shift in her presence was immediate.
The burned flesh along her arm began repairing itself. Skin pulled back together. The worst of the damage across her side slowly closed.
Talaryuna tilted her head.
Talaryuna: "I'm sure you've only been drinking the bare minimum blood you need."
Kagura's eyes hardened.
Talaryuna: "Which is why you're so weak right now."
The healing continued.
Talaryuna studied her with open curiosity.
Talaryuna: "I wonder…"
A faint smile appeared.
Talaryuna: "Who's the person giving you their blood?"
Kagura's grip tightened around her sword.
Kagura: "Tala…"
Then—
Footsteps.
Fast.
Desperate.
Someone was running through the ruins.
Kagura turned.
Talaryuna looked toward the sound too.
A figure burst around a pile of rubble.
Shinatsu.
Her breathing was heavy from the sprint, purple lightning still faintly flickering around her Alter Blade.
She looked up.
Then stopped.
Her eyes found Kagura immediately.
The fangs.
The altered eyes.
The presence.
There was no mistaking it.
Kagura was a vampire.
Shinatsu froze.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Kagura's expression changed.
Not fear.
Something closer to dread.
The one person she had wanted to explain this to properly had found out in the worst possible way.
Shinatsu stared at her.
Not with disgust.
Not with fear.
Not even anger at what Kagura was.
That wasn't what mattered.
What mattered was that Kagura had hidden it.
That she had a past Shinatsu knew nothing about.
That someone else knew Kagura's real history better than she did.
Shinatsu's voice came out soft.
Shinatsu: "Kagura…"
Talaryuna looked between them.
Then smiled.
Talaryuna: "The crazy one's sister has appeared."
Shinatsu's brow furrowed.
She looked at Talaryuna.
Crazy one?
Sister?
What was she talking about?
Then Talaryuna's eyes returned to Kagura.
Talaryuna: "She's precious to you, isn't she, Kagura?"
Shinatsu's expression changed.
Kagura.
She called her by name.
Not like an enemy who had just met her.
Not like a Slayer identifying a Hunter.
Like someone who knew her.
Shinatsu looked back at Kagura.
A thousand questions hit her at once.
How long had they known each other?
What had Kagura been before Shioto?
Why had she never said anything?
Kagura stepped forward.
Kagura: "Don't even think about laying a hand on Shinatsu."
The tone in her voice erased any hesitation.
Talaryuna's smile widened.
Talaryuna: "Didn't I already tell you?"
Her fire began to rise again.
Talaryuna: "I will destroy everything you hold dear."
The temperature climbed.
Shinatsu tightened her grip on her sword.
Talaryuna: "This is only the beginning…"
The flames around her swelled.
Talaryuna: "Of the prelude to chaos."
Kagura's expression hardened.
Whatever questions Shinatsu had would have to wait.
Whatever secrets were buried between Kagura and Talaryuna would have to wait too.
Right now, there was only survival.
Kagura raised her blade.
She settled into stance.
Then pointed the tip directly toward Talaryuna.
Kagura: "Shinatsu."
Shinatsu looked at her.
Kagura: "I promise to explain everything when we make it out of this."
A beat passed.
Kagura: "So please…"
Her gaze never left Talaryuna.
Kagura: "Help me defeat her."
Shinatsu hesitated.
Only for a second.
Then she stepped beside Kagura.
Purple lightning intensified around her Alter Blade.
Shinatsu lowered into stance.
Shinatsu: "You're damn straight you will, Kagura!"
Kagura's eyes softened for the briefest moment.
Then both women faced forward.
Talaryuna stood opposite them, surrounded by flame.