Toki brought Umma down on the outskirts of the district, far from the capital's lights and guards.
The great bird's talons scraped softly against cracked stone, feathers ruffling as she shifted uneasily. Her wings twitched once, twice—restless, alert.
"You feel it too," Toki murmured, resting a hand against her neck.
Umma let out a low, uneasy trill.
She was right to be afraid.
Every crime attributed to the Star Collector had occurred here.
Every disappearance.
Every slaughtered household.
Entire families—wiped from existence in silence.
Now the hoouses stood empty.
Doors hung ajar. Windows were dark and blind. Snow gathered in corners where footsteps should have been. It wasn't abandonment born of poverty or decay.
It was evacuation born of fear.
A place emptied so thoroughly that even echoes felt unwelcome.
A perfect place for evil to take root.
Toki slid down from Umma's back, boots touching the ground without sound. Lilith followed, landing with her usual grace, coat fluttering briefly before settling around her form.
Toki leaned close to the bird, stroking the feathers beneath her jaw.
"That's far enough," he whispered. "Go. Circle wide. If something happens… don't come back."
Umma hesitated.
Then, reluctantly, she stepped back, wings unfolding. With one powerful leap, she vanished , leaving behind an unsettling quiet.
Lilith watched her go, then glanced around , hands resting loosely at her sides.
"Well," she said, her tone far more jovial than suspicious, "this is a rather charming place for a date."
She smiled sideways at him.
"You really know how to pick romantic spots, Toki. A true heartbreaker."
Toki didn't smile.
"If you're not careful," he replied calmly, eyes scanning the empty street, "something else might break your heart instead."
Lilith opened her mouth—likely to fire back something sharp—
Then she froze.
Her expression changed instantly.
"…Did you smell that?" she asked.
The humor drained from her voice.
Toki inhaled slowly.
A smile—small, sharp, and utterly humorless—curved across his face.
"It could be copper," he said.
"Rusting iron."
He paused.
"…Or blood."
Lilith's jaw tightened.
The air felt heavier now, thick .
Toki exhaled.
And the world darkened.
Black mist poured from his body, seeping outward like ink spilled into water. It crawled across the ground, clinging to stone, swallowing snow, smothering sound. The fog didn't move naturally—it pulsed.
Within it, Toki felt them.
Not with sight.
With instinct.
Eyes where eyes shouldn't be.
Breath that rasped too slowly.
Hunger pressed so tightly against restraint that it trembled.
They were watching.
Lilith's hand slid instinctively toward her thigh.
"…I hear them," she whispered.
Toki nodded.
"They're close," he said. "And they're excited."
He reached into his coat and withdrew the revolver Bernard had given him. The metal gleamed faintly, catching what little light remained. His fingers moved with practiced precision as he removed the safety mechanism.
Click.
Then—without firing—he slid the weapon back into his holster.
Lilith blinked. "That's it? You're putting it away?"
Toki turned to her.
"Do you happen to have another weapon in that bag of yours?" he asked calmly.
She stared at him.
"…Excuse me?"
"Something solid. Preferably sharp."
Lilith frowned. "Isn't it a bit rude to ask me for a weapon when you're already carrying a gun?"
"I don't have any bullets," Toki replied evenly.
There was a beat of silence.
Then Lilith laughed.
Not nervously.
Not lightly.
It was a soft, amused sound—almost fond.
A slow smile curved across her lips. Her crimson eyes remained utterly unmoved by fear, steady with a confidence that bordered on madness.
"Well," she said, tilting her head slightly, "it seems death doesn't spare even a delicate young lady like myself."
Her fingers moved.
From the concealed holsters strapped to her thighs, she drew two daggers—sleek, dark metal, edges humming faintly .
"The work of an assassin," she continued, voice smooth as silk, "never truly ends."
She flicked her wrist.
One dagger spun through the air.
Toki caught it cleanly by the hilt without looking.
The moment his fingers closed around it, he felt it—a subtle vibration running through the blade, almost like a heartbeat.
Interesting.
He tested its weight once.
"Well balanced," he said. "You have good taste."
Lilith smirked. "I prefer to think of it as good survival instincts."
The mist thickened.
Something shifted within it.
A scrape of claws against stone.
A low, wet inhale.
Lilith's smile faded. "They're moving."
Toki stepped forward, dagger low, posture relaxed—but not careless.
"Good," he said quietly. "That means they're confident."
"And that's bad because…?"
"Because confident predators make mistakes."
The fog rippled violently to their left.
Lilith moved instantly, dagger flashing as she spun—but the blade met nothing. The force alone sent a tremor through her arm.
"…It reflected," she muttered.
Toki's eyes sharpened.
So it's true.
Light bent. Force redirected. The attack hadn't missed—it had been turned aside.
A voice echoed down the empty street.
Familiar.
Mocking.
"Well, I'll be damned," it said lightly. "I really thought it would be just the two of us."
The sound carried without direction, slipping between buildings, bouncing off shattered windows and hollow doorframes.
"If I'd known it was a double date," the voice continued, amused, "I might've brought someone along myself. What's that you've got there—flowers? For me?"
Toki exhaled through his nose.
"If you'd show yourself," he replied with forced joviality, voice sharp as glass, "I'd be happy to shove your gift straight through your heart."
The black fog trembled.
Toki felt it instantly.
Eight.
Eight distinct pressures crossed into his perimeter.
So there really are eight of you.
Before he could follow the thought further, the Star Collector's voice cut cleanly through the fog, slicing apart any plan forming in his mind.
"I expected more from you," the voice said, disappointed. "You've found me every time. And yet you still rely on the same tricks."
A soft chuckle followed.
"Either you're unbelievably brave… or completely insane."
Lilith's head snapped toward Toki.
"Toki—!" she shouted. "Be careful. I can hear them. They're closing in on you."
He didn't respond.
Instead, he raised the dagger.
And without hesitation, dragged its edge across his wrist.
Lilith froze.
"—TOKI!"
Red bloomed instantly.
Blood spilled slowly, thick and vivid, trailing down his arm in lazy rivulets. The heat of it shocked against the cold air, steam curling faintly where it touched the mist-covered ground.
Pain flared.
Toki's thoughts sharpened as the scent spread.
Last time I was bitten…
Memory surged uninvited.
The wounds had told him everything.
Four massive canines.
Dozens of smaller, serrated teeth.
Jaw pressure consistent with boar-class beasts—yet wrong. Too precise. Too coordinated.
They weren't just animals.
They were constructs.
A fusion of beast and magic.
And from everything he had learned..
No beast could resist his blood.
Not for long.
The fog exploded with movement.
A wet inhale sounded inches from his face.
Hot breath washed over his skin, carrying the stench of rot and hunger so thick it made his stomach twist. He felt it—felt the massive head lower, felt jaws part wider than anatomy should allow.
Lilith screamed his name again.
But Toki was already moving.
At the exact moment the invisible beast lunged, he shoved forward with every ounce of strength he had—throwing himself into the attack rather than away from it.
The world tilted.
He felt claws rake empty air behind him as he sailed over the creature's back, coat tearing as something grazed his side.
He landed hard, boots skidding across ice-slick stone.
Before he could stop, he dragged the dagger across his wrist again—deeper this time.
Blood poured freely now.
The reaction was immediate.
A chorus of snarls erupted from the fog.
The beasts turned.
All of them.
Not toward Lilith.
Toward him.
Lilith's breath hitched.
"…They're changing direction," she whispered, horror and awe mixing in her voice. "They're abandoning formation."
Toki grinned through clenched teeth.
"Hungry things always do."
Lilith moved.
Her hands flew to her belt, fingers already priming the small, disk-shaped devices clipped along her waist.
She hurled them without hesitation.
Sticky bombs struck unseen forms and detonated with a wet thud, expanding into crackling, adhesive webs that glued limbs together mid-charge.
Invisible bodies slammed into walls. One howled furious.
Another roared.
Toki calculated instinctively.
They reached me from the edge of the barrier in eight seconds.
Which meant the next attack would land in—
"—Now."
He moved before the thought fully settled.
Toki launched himself sideways, boots tearing stone as he leapt several meters in a blur of motion. The beasts reacted instantly changing direction mid-charge, abandoning their previous vector as if guided by a single will.
Lilith didn't hesitate.
"On it!" she shouted, already throwing more sticky bombs into the fog.
Still, they didn't stop.
They adapted.
Toki jumped again, landing beside Lilith in one fluid motion, placing himself slightly in front of her without thinking.
He smiled—light, almost relaxed.
"Lili," he said jovially, breath steady despite the chaos, "I think I've seen everything I needed to see."
She stared at him like he had lost his mind.
"This is not the time—"
"I'm ready for the final attack."
Lilith's jaw tightened. She reached for her belt—and froze.
Her fingers closed around empty air.
"…Don't miss," she said quietly. "This is my last bomb."
Toki nodded once.
Good.
He inhaled deeply.
I still can't see them completely.
But now… now I can feel them.
Every one of Lilith's attacks had been reflected.
But reflection isn't perfect.
Some of the refracted light had lost cohesion.
It had become heat.
And heat…
Heat left footprints.
Toki's senses expanded outward, his awareness sliding through the black fog like a hand through water. Tiny fluctuations brushed against him—warmth here, a sudden chill there.
Eight points.
Moving.
Circling.
"They're around us," Toki said calmly.
Lilith felt it too now.
"Toki—"
Before she could finish, he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her close. She gasped as he lowered his stance slightly, muscles coiling beneath her hands.
"Throw the bomb straight down," he said softly. "When I tell you."
Her heart hammered.
"…And when exactly is that?"
Toki's eyes narrowed.
"Now."
He jumped.
The ground exploded beneath his feet.
Stone shattered. Pavement cracked outward in a perfect circle as the force of his leap detonated into a sonic boom. The shockwave ripped through the fog—
And for a fraction of a second—
The beasts glimmered.
Not fully visible.
But there.
Glass-like silhouettes fractured by motion.
Lilith threw the bomb.
It detonated instantly, flooding the ground with adhesive force as the beasts recoiled, their formation breaking under the sudden disruption.
Toki twisted midair.
His revolver was already in his hand.
The moment he raised it, the black fog reacted.
It flowed into the weapon.
The metal groaned softly as dark mist was pulled inward, condensed, compressed—feeding something violent within the chamber.
He didn't rush the shot.
He waited.
Light rippled.
Temperature shifted.
And then—
A tiny flicker.
On a rooftop.
There.
Toki raised the revolver and pulled the trigger.
The sound wasn't a bang.
It was a tear.
The bullet crossed the distance faster than sound—faster than thought—accelerating until the air screamed as it reached the speed of light itself.
Impact.
The rooftop detonated.
Stone and timber exploded outward as the bullet passed straight through its target and continued, obliterating everything in its path.
A deafening, inhuman scream followed.
Something fell.
Hard.
A hand hit the ground first—severed, convulsing violently as fingers clawed uselessly at stone.
It was visible.
The illusion was gone.
Toki stared.
So that's what you look like when you bleed.
The rest of the body crashed down moments later, rolling across the street in a spray of debris. The figure writhed, screaming—not in fear, but in fury.
"YOU'LL REGRET THIS!" the Star Collector roared, voice raw with pain. "YOU HEAR ME?!"
Toki didn't move.
The Star Collector's arm—what remained of it—was still visible, blood pouring freely now, staining the snow red.
The voice trembled with hatred.
"THREE DAYS!" it screamed. "IN THREE DAYS—!"
The figure clawed at the ground, trying to rise.
"I'LL MAKE YOU LICK THE BLOOD OF EVERYONE YOU LOVE FROM MY BOOTS!"
The words echoed unnaturally, carried by something deeper than air.
Then—
Silence.
The beasts fled.
The pressure vanished instantly as the fog recoiled, retreating like a wounded animal. One by one, the invisible presences dissolved, scattering into the night.
The district was still again.
Toki lowered the revolver.
His arm burned. His blood dripped steadily onto the cracked stone.
Lilith stared at him, chest heaving.
"…You actually hit him," she whispered.
Toki exhaled slowly.
He looked at the severed hand.
Three days.
He clenched his jaw.
"Then I guess," he murmured, "we're on a schedule now."
Lilith stepped closer, gripping his sleeve hard.
"Next time," she said shakily, "you tell me before you pull something like that."
Toki gave a tired, crooked smile.
"Then it wouldn't work."
Lilith looked up at him.
There was a smile on her face.
Not wide. Not mocking.
But real.
"So," she said lightly, though her eyes still carried the remnants of adrenaline, "what just happened?"
Toki exhaled, tension slowly draining from his shoulders.
"Reflection and refraction," he replied. "When energy is redirected like that, part of it is inevitably absorbed as heat. The sonic boom disrupted the light waves for a fraction of a second—just long enough to destabilize the illusion."
Lilith blinked. Then laughed softly.
"You didn't tell me you were carrying an artifact that powerful."
Toki shook his head. "It is powerful. But it needed time to charge. If I'd fired earlier, it would've failed—or worse, backfired."
He glanced down at the revolver, its surface still faintly warm.
"If I'd managed to hit his head," he continued quietly, "I would've ended him completely. He couldn't absorb all that energy. If he had tried… he would've been burned alive from the inside."
Lilith whistled under her breath. "Charming."
Toki allowed himself a small, tired smile.
"But I won't complain," he said. "We got what we came for. Proof."
He crouched and picked up the severed hand.
Lilith stiffened instinctively, but didn't stop him.
Toki rotated the limb slowly beneath the moonlight. At a precise angle, the flesh shimmered—then faded—becoming translucent, bones and veins bending like distorted glass.
"…There," he murmured. "You see it?"
Lilith leaned closer, eyes gleaming with fascination.
"It's transparent," she whispered. "Not invisible. Just… misplaced."
"Exactly," Toki said. "Light isn't disappearing. It's being redirected."
She smiled as she began wrapping fresh bandages around his wrist, her movements gentle despite the blood and grime.
Toki glanced at her. "You seem unusually amused."
Lilith's smile deepened just slightly.
"I was just wondering," she said casually, "what your princess would say if she knew you were holding me like that earlier."
Toki let out a long, exhausted breath.
"I thought you two had settled that," he muttered.
Lilith tilted her head innocently. "Can't a girl try her luck? Even if she has to pretend she's injured to do it?"
He chuckled softly despite himself.
She finished tightening the bandage and sat back on her heels.
"Still," she said, more seriously now, "what did the Star Collector say?"
Toki's expression darkened.
"Nothing important," he replied. "Just threats."
He stood slowly, testing his balance.
"But now we know his weakness. Tomorrow… tomorrow is a new beginning."
The words sounded firm.
Convincing.
Yet as he turned away, something coiled quietly in the back of his mind.
Three days.
And something else.
Something worse.
His gaze drifted toward the darkened rooftops.
So you weren't alone after all…
The thought lingered longer than he liked.
Lilith followed his eyes. "You're thinking too hard again."
"Someone else might be helping him," Toki said quietly. "Or watching."
She frowned. "You're sure?"
"No," he admitted. "That's what worries me."
The moon hung high above them, cold and distant, illuminating the broken district with indifferent clarity.
Proof lay at their feet.
Victory, for now.
But as the wind swept through the empty streets, carrying the scent of blood and scorched stone, Toki felt it clearly—
This was not the end.
It was an opening move.