Shiro: Where the hell do you think you're going, ah, fuckface? I'm still here.
With that, Shiro slowly stood up, but it was clear he couldn't stand straight. He was listing to one side, blood running down his arm from the deep gashes on his chest.
Shiro: You never listen to what I say, right, Arien?
Arien: Shiro...
And then Shiro pointed his katana toward the beast again, his grip unsteady but his will iron.
Shiro: Come to me. Face to face, you shit.
And then, just like last time, Shiro lunged toward it. He was a blur of motion, flashing toward the Monarch, jumping high—and then flowing right past it in a feint. The beast tried to swipe at him, but it didn't connect. Just as he landed on the slick ground, he skidded close to Arien, speaking in a rapid, low whisper.
Shiro: Listen here. I know a way to kill it. Fire as many air bullets at it as you can. And when I give you a signal, use your 2nd form to get yourself as far away from both of us as possible. It might feel like you're dying, but don't let that get to your head. And while you're at it, can you do something about this rain?
Arien: Wha-
Shiro: Then here we go... Fingernails!
Shiro faked the first attack, drawing the beast's swipe. The beast tried to counter-attack, but Shiro was faster now for some reason—though still not fast enough. The Stormclaw Monarch was a creature of pure lightning, and it was still faster than him. Because of that, Shiro took a glancing blow, a claw tearing across his shoulder.
But Shiro managed to cover that attack and launched another one of his own toward it, a brutal upward slash. He finally damaged one of the beast's hind legs, cutting deep into the muscle and tendon.
Shiro: Ha ha! You might be a monarch, but you can still get hurt! Ha ha ha! How's that?
Just as Shiro finished, the beast took a step back. Then, its fur started to glow. The blue streaks in its white pelt began to shine brighter and brighter, gathering energy.
Shiro: Well, shit.
And then—
Arien: Air Bullet!
It was Arien's first form. The projectile struck the beast's flank, and it worked—the attack took the beast's attention away from Shiro and onto Arien. That was Shiro's plan: let the beast switch its attention back and forth, and each time, hit it while it was distracted.
Just as the beast turned its massive head toward Arien, Shiro struck, driving the point of his katana straight into its great, lightning-swirled eye.
The beast howled—a sound of pure, thunderous agony—and then it disappeared into the air, teleporting away in its pain.
Shiro: Arien! Clear the rain! NOW!
Arien didn't hesitate. She used her 2nd form, Spinner, to form a mid-sized tornado around herself and Shiro. The whirlwind violently expelled every drop of water within a ten-yard radius, creating a dry, clear pocket in the heart of the storm.
Shiro: Your first power. Control the element near yourself. By controlling the air and deflecting the light, you hide yourself. Its power... control the weather. By making it rain and letting lightning run through every drop. That's all you have. A long-range beast.
And just as Shiro finished saying it, the beast reappeared—right in front of Shiro's face, materializing from the rain-laden air.
Shiro didn't have a second—hell, not even a millisecond—to react. The beast attacked, driving two of its claws deep into Shiro's chest, pinning him for a horrifying second. Just as Shiro tried to wrench himself free—
Arien: SHIROOOOO!
Shiro was blown away. The beast channeled raw lightning through its claws before retracting them, and that discharge sent Shiro flying.
He was forcibly blown back nearly three hundred yards, his body a ragdill in the storm, crashing through undergrowth before slamming to a stop against a rock. Even after that, Arien followed what Shiro had told her. She kept attacking, firing a numberless amount of air bullets, scaring and harassing the Stormclaw Monarch, keeping her distance from any water. But they were not critical damages—more like just scratches. The most significant disadvantage the Stormclaw Monarch had now was its hurt leg, the one Shiro had managed to cut.
And then, Shiro suddenly got up. His upper clothing had been burned and torn away. His veins stood out, dark and fried against his skin, and black, necrotic-looking markings were visible beneath the surface. He had already lost a tremendous amount of blood from the chest wound. Still, Shiro pointed his katana toward the beast, holding it in both hands, his entire body trembling with the effort.
Shiro: ARIEN! THE TIME IS COME!
And then Shiro lowered the katana, but still held it with both arms, the blade pointing at the ground.
Shiro: YOU WANT A FIGHT? I'LL GIVE YOU ONE. REMEMBER ME. CAUSE THE LAST PERSON YOU SEE IS NONE OTHER THAN ME!
Shiro started to crack up like a mad scientist, a wild, hysterical laugh tearing from his throat. He was smiling, even with all that damage. He wasn't in pain anymore. He was beyond it.
Shiro was HIGH.
Shiro: Hearing... right eye... left arm...
Just as Shiro said those things, his grip on the katana with his left arm loosened. It was as if the hand had simply given up, gone numb.
Shiro: ARIEN! NOW!
And just as Arien heard those words, she used her 2nd form on herself, creating a violent updraft that blasted her high into the air and far away, a human projectile shot to safety.
Shiro: Sorry if you still get caught in this.
The beast, sensing a catastrophic shift in the atmosphere, felt an unpleasant dread. It dashed toward Shiro, a final, decisive charge.
And then—
Shiro: This is the end now. Lucifer's Blade.
Just as those words left Shiro's mouth, time seemed to distort. In the space between one raindrop and the next, Shiro was already standing on the Stormclaw Monarch's head, having moved without moving.
Shiro: Pandora Box.
This finished it.
The area covering the Stormclaw Monarch and Shiro suddenly turned an impossible, deep cerulean blue, as if the very color had been leached from the world and replaced with pure, silent energy. There was no sound, no shockwave—just a profound, absolute stillness within that blue sphere.
And then, suddenly, the Stormclaw Monarch fell over to the ground, its massive form crashing down without ceremony. At the same moment, Shiro dropped to his knees on the ground, his katana falling from his limp fingers.
Shiro: Finally... finished.
And then Shiro fell over, unconscious.
Arien, after shooting herself away with Spinner, managed to control her landing, tumbling roughly onto a soft patch of moss. Just as she landed, she quickly touched her chest area, a phantom pain echoing there.
Arien: Didn't I just... get cut in two?
And then she remembered Shiro. The last thing she saw—or thought she saw—was Shiro standing on the Stormclaw Monarch's head in a flash of blue light. She pushed herself up, ignoring her bruises, and rushed back toward the clearing.
She found them. Both Shiro and the beast were lying on the ground. The massive Monarch was motionless. Arien's heart lurched, and she rushed toward Shiro. But the area around where he lay was different. It was still tinged with that eerie, silent blue light, a ten-yard circle of alien ground.
Without thinking, Arien entered that space to help Shiro. The moment she crossed the threshold, a wave of overwhelming, soul-deep exhaustion and cold hit her like a physical wall. Her vision tunneled, her legs gave out, and she fell forward, unconscious, just a few feet from Shiro's still form.
Time passed. Shiro, barely clinging to consciousness, hardly able to breathe, heard a voice. It was muffled, as if through deep water.
???: To think you actually managed to kill one of them.
It was a female but a familiar voice. He knew who it was, but in his current state, he couldn't remember.
???: Let's go now. You did a good job staying alive.