Kairo's body moved on its own before any rational thinking could form, before anything logical thought could stop him. He dashed towards Card zero. He caught the card ejected by his wrist launcher and summoned it in the void. "Go Sand paladin, serve you justice."
Summoned from the confines of the card, sand blended with reality, storming out in a spiral before coalescing into the figure of a paladin made entirely of sand. The sand paladin swung its lance at Card zero with lightning precision.
However, Card zero quickly pushed Danzan away. Then parried the attack with its katana. The katana laid like on water, sliding through the attack of Card zero who ended its course in a clean swing downward. It carved a white light in the form of a falling circle. In a matter of seconds, the sand paladin was turned into nothing more than a pile of dust.
It was brief but it was enough for Kairo to secure Danzan's figure. "Captain Danzan, you can't die here. The mission is not over. We need to collect chosen destiny, we need you for that," Kairo said, his voice bordered the tears. Danzan's chest was slowly dyed blood red. With barely any force, he gripped at Kairo's arm. "Fool... I asked you to leave."
"Kairo, be careful." Nyx summoned the star dominion. Particles of the cosmos gathered as she had turned into the center of the world. With a flicker of her wrist, they turned into particles of spinning light that carved meteor paths into the void.
Card zero's katana moved with aggressive ease. Each swing was a clean mark in the space that drew a dazzling arc in the raining fog. Slicing through the attacks one after the other.
"Why will you lose so early? Why did you not pose any resistance, Captain Danzan? This makes no sense, why give yourself away so fast. I thought chosen destiny was our priority, why didn't you fight till the end?" Kairo had no dupe; he understood clearly Danzan would have never lost so fast to Card zero if he went all out. But because Danzan was such an unpredictable figure, his mind had changed the moment he understood Card zero was that Kaili. As for why, Kairo had no idea.
Despite the impacts of the fight raging between Nyx and Card zero, they all seemed to fall in his deaf ears. The only thing Kairo could see at the moment was the ease in Danzan's face. It was almost as if all these years something had been holding him back. "Kairo. I want you to promise me something. Will you?" He said, choked between his blood. "Promise me you will not harm her. Please, she must have suffered all those years transformed into that monster. Please, Kairo, promise me."
Kairo felt Danzan's grip tighten around his own palm. He had no idea of who Kaili was nor what relation she had with Danzan, but from the looks of things, Card zero was not a card fossil, or perhaps not exactly only that. Kairo took another confused look at Card zero.
At that moment, Nyx's meteors of light managed to slip past Card zero's katana, causing a faint crack to land on its mask. In that instant, it stopped guiding its katana and let it rest down as if finally letting things slide. But as the katana rested, Kairo could see the veins and muscles in her hands tightening as if the katana wanted to move but the figure was unwilling to move again.
Card zero took off its mask and threw it away, revealing the striking figure of a woman. In that moment, Kairo wasn't drawn into Card zero by her soft, almost melancholic eyes. But by the marks that had taken root in her body. In her chest, a card had been twisted so much the skin was wrinkled and compressed. "You abandoned me," the voice came out. Not feminine but more like the echo of a demon from the depths of its prison.
"I... I am sorry, Kaili. I didn't know the serpent monster tricked me," Danzan tried his best to rise to his feet. But Kairo kept him firmly rooted on the ground. The more the rain fell on them, the more the veil of confusion was washed away.
The serpent monster, Kaili, Danzan. Everything was ticking like a puzzle in Kairo's head. Why Card zero had killed Sam's son. Why Card zero appeared to be protecting him while she was on the island. Why Danzan gave up without any resistance.
"Captain Danzan will never abandon someone he cares for, that's impossible," Nyx's voice kept out loud, defiant. "He fought for us against Fabian, he was ready to face the entire card mage police to protect us. How could he do something like this?"
Card zero flicked its katana at Nyx as if uttering a warning. "You mortals are an interesting species. No wonder Slayer has never bothered getting rid of you." Card zero rested its katana on her shoulder. "However, I am not as magnanimous as himself. I spent years observing your species. The abuse of card magic, the perverted use you have made of it to harm your own kind. And I felt disgusted each time I needed to report. Now it's over. The moment you all grew complacent enough to dare land on this island, your fate had been sealed. Every single one of you shall now face the card fossil's wrath."
Kairo finally stood up, resting Danzan's head gently on the ground. Then locked his focus into Card zero, or at least the card fossil that was speaking in her. "She isn't a real card fossil like the others. She must have been human at one point. If I filed my cards correctly, then she should obey to the same concept of innerself like all card mages." Kairo ejected a card from his wrist launcher, simply catching it in between his fingers. "Then we can save her."
Nyx and Danzan had their expressions almost instinctively locked into Kairo.
"You mortals have a sense of humor that shall never cease to impress me. How do you intend to prevent my Time Freeze? With a single activation of my katana, I could decapitate any two of you in a matter of seconds. Without Danzan over you, you're nothing."
Kairo was well aware his actions made no sense, that his father, Mirelle, and all would be disappointed, but in the moment he couldn't care less. It wasn't about chosen destiny anymore; it was about who he was as a card mage officer. He had vowed on that insignia to protect and guide the use of card magic, and he would uphold that promise to himself.
"Let's go, Nyx," Kairo said. Nyx flashed a brilliant smile, her face regaining not only confidence but colors.
Card zero arched its body, placing its katana in a striking position sideways. The first card on the katana activated, streaming the time freeze around him.
Kairo summoned the protector. From the confines of his card, the circuitry of the void came to life, raining sparkling sparks of light around them, parting the entire fog that covered the area. His figure was encased in dark blue knight-like armor, giving him twice his original size. Nyx's figure transformed into an angelic being as she activated Angel Ascend. Wings felled behind her back and she ascended above Kairo.
Kairo and the protector shot out. Every single step he made caused the mossy earth to curve inward under the weight of the protector. He wasn't the fastest but he wasn't slow either. Nyx soared above them, finding the right moment to aim for the finishing blow.
"He will never win against us," Kairo said. His fist carved a path of light forward, only to miss grossly the figure of Card zero. A flurry of sparkles were born on his armor at several locations. But none of them could go through the protector armor.
Card zero frowned, Card zero dashed towards the broken walls of the garden, using them as a trampoline. She joined Nyx in the sky, aiming for the flying figure instead. But this time, despite the temporal freeze, she missed completely Nyx.
Kairo from below smirked. "Tangle dance is more than just a card that allows her to fly. It makes her untargetable in the sky. In essence, the temporal freeze and the angel ascend could be considered perfect counter cards to each other." With the impenetrable armor of the protector, Kairo was confident they could muster Card zero without harming her, just needed to seal her in place and try what he did with Jed and the others. If his assumption was right, then they could save Kaili. And Danzan at that.