{{>, the first judgment : No Escape for The Damned,<}}
The wind ceased.
The leaves grew still.
The sounds of birds and insects vanished.
For a moment, everything felt frozen in time.
The girl stood paralyzed for a second as the power she had been surging into Sai began to dwindle. Sai, who was kneeling on the ground, started to break free from her control. She gripped her sword tighter, but it was futile. Her magnetic strength had completely vanished.
"Huh?"
Suddenly!!!!
[Tap... Tap...]
The sound of slow, rhythmic footsteps approached her. She sensed the presence. Whoever it was, she intended to kill them. She prepared to rip her sword from the earth and swing around but before she could move...
Suddenly!!!!!
A blade was at her throat. The edge was lethally sharp; one wrong move and it would be over. The sword seemed thirsty for her blood. An ash-white smoke drifted slowly from the blade. What fell onto the leaves wasn't blood, but the ashen remains of a soul.
She stood frozen.
Yet, she refused to back down, tightening her grip on her hilt. The dark emerald veins of magnetism glowed within her sword, illuminating the darkness. In that light, she saw a pair of eyes glowing behind her silent and cold.
[Woosh!!!!]
In a split second, she twisted away from the blade. But before she could gain any ground, she collapsed to the earth. Her sword lay beside her, useless. She tried desperately to summon the blade back to her hand, but it wouldn't budge.
[Tap... Tap...]
The footsteps emerged from the darkness. It looked as if the dark shadows were merging one by one into the silhouette of a man.
Yes... the forest recognized him.
The woods trembled.
In his hand, light and darkness blended into a shimmering ash-gray glow. She could hear the faint screams of trapped souls flowing into the center of his blade. With every step he took toward her, her heart hammered against her ribs in an unfamiliar rhythm.
She instinctively backed away.
The sword rose into the air.
"Today is the final date for your soul!"
a low voice whispered from the shadows.
{{ "SOUL REND, HEAR MY TRUE NAME" }}
[Shadow Art Form One: "Soul Thread!" Wake up]
The sword lunged forward. A blinding ash-white light forced her to blink. When the light faded, she was staring into the eyes of a man standing fearlessly before her.
Haru.
Yes, the Warrior of Shadows. He had finally arrived to save his friend.
"The answer to your cruelty lies within me..."
As Haru tightened his grip on his sword, the energy began to race through it at a burning speed.
[FIRST FORM AWAKENED]
Haru lunged forward to eliminate the one who had harmed Sai.
[[CLANG!!]]
His sword struck the ground, missing her by a hair's breadth. In that fraction of a second, she managed to reclaim her sword.
Having reclaimed her sword, she gripped the hilt with all her might.
She swing the blade in a wide circular motion, and instantly, a glowing emerald barrier erupted around her.
[[Magnetic Pulse Veil]]
"First clash!"
she cried out.
She raised her hand, and then...
!!!! SHRRRRRNNNGGG !!!!
The surrounding veil transformed into jagged iron spikes that shot toward him like a storm of needles.
But he showed no fear.
He took a single, deep breath.
[[Edge Defense > Soul Drift]]
For a fleeting moment, his soul detached from his physical body. The iron shards tore right through him, passing through his frame as if he were made of mist yet he did not die.
In the very next heartbeat, he reappeared directly behind the girl.
As he appeared behind her, she saw his eyes clearly they were glowing with a sharp brilliance.
He, too, saw hers those eyes that looked like green rain falling through a starlit night.
Even though their eyes locked for a split second, she had anticipated Haru's move.
"KRRRRRNGGGG!!!"
She snapped her fingers and twisted her hand...
The very sword he had aimed at her suddenly vibrated and turned back, its magnetic force manipulated to attack Haru himself.
The sword turned in her direction.
[[ KRRRRNNGGGG!!!! ]]
But...
What happened next was far beyond what she had expected.
Even though she tried to force his blade to turn and strike him, she couldn't master it. His sword did not deviate from its path.
"Huh?"
A faint, knowing smile played on Haru's lips.
Caught off guard by that smile, she instinctively leaped backward to avoid whatever his next move might be. She slammed her sword into the ground once more, causing the metallic elements around her to surge and pull, allowing her to move like a flash of lightning.
She began a high-speed assault, slashing at him from multiple directions with blinding velocity.
However...!!!!
Even as they stood face-to-face in the heat of the clash, not a single scratch appeared on Haru's body. It was as if she were striking a ghost.