Everyone turned.
From the side of the half-collapsed room, a figure in a black robe walked forward. His steps were ordinary, yet his presence felt strange—as if the shadows around him unconsciously made way.
The silver ornaments on his robe seemed to glimmer within the darkness.
A sheathed katana rested in his left hand.
Miku frowned, clearly not recognizing him.
Shido stared in confusion, trying to grasp the situation.
In contrast, Inverse Tohka's gaze dropped straight to the katana in the figure's hand.
"Hou…?" she murmured softly. "I'm curious about how you dance."
Gabriel gave a faint smile, then drew his blade and pointed it toward Inverse Tohka.
"You'll be satisfied," he said calmly. "Ash guarantees it."
The next instant, Inverse Tohka and Gabriel moved at the same time.
Their swords swung—then collided.
CLANK—!!
The clash exploded like thunder trapped inside a closed chamber. Inverse Tohka's dark Reiryoku collided with Gabriel's pale white mana, generating a pressure wave that swept across the room.
The metal floor beneath their feet cracked, and a violent gust slammed into Miku and Shido, hurling them into the wall.
"Not bad," Inverse Tohka said coldly.
On the other side, Gabriel's thoughts moved swiftly. Without even turning, he knew—Shido and Miku had been caught in the aftermath.
This is dangerous for them.
He frowned slightly.
And I have no intention of ending this fight early because of interference.
The decision was made in an instant.
Crack… crack…
A faint fracturing sound echoed through the air around them—not from the floor, but from space itself. The atmosphere distorted, rippling like water disturbed by a falling drop.
In the next second, the space surrounding Gabriel and Inverse Tohka folded inward.
Both of them vanished, leaving behind ruptured emptiness, metallic dust, and the fading echo of their clash.
Shido, still enduring the pain, looked up with uneven breaths. His eyes widened as he realized the figure had vanished.
"Tohka…"
The intercom in his ear suddenly crackled, followed by Kotori's sharp voice—though it clearly carried concern.
"Shido, report. What's your condition?"
A split-second pause.
"Tohka's Reiryoku signal just disappeared from radar. What happened over there?"
Dust still drifted through the air. The metal wall behind him was cracked, and Miku was coughing softly on the floor.
Shido stared at the empty space where Tohka had disappeared. His hand clenched, his breathing still unstable.
"…I don't know," he finally answered, his voice slightly hoarse. "They… suddenly vanished. It was like the space itself just folded."
{Note: Your girlfriend got kidnapped again... 🤣}
{Additional note: Tohka Inverse and Tenka are the same name. I sometimes switch between them.}
***
"…This is…"
In a place far away—across an endless stretch of white snow cold enough to pierce ordinary human skin—Tenka stood calmly.
Nahemah was lowered, yet her grip remained firm—a vigilance that never left her.
She glanced around, assessing the surroundings, then directed her gaze toward the black-robed man standing not far before her.
"Merely a change of arena," Gabriel said evenly. "So that no one may interfere with our battle."
After speaking, Gabriel raised his Zanpakutō to mid-body level, the blade angled downward—as if pointing toward the earth's center of gravity.
"Shatter…" he murmured softly. "Mugen Kyōen."
Pale white mana surged forth, flowing calmly yet vast and profound. Almost simultaneously, a mechanical eye-like symbol engraved near the tsuba of his blade glowed faintly.
He then leveled the blade straight at Tenka.
"Dark Hime," he said flatly, steady. "Let us dance."
Snow crunched softly beneath Tenka's feet as the frigid wind swept across the boundless white expanse.
Her purple hair swayed gently in the wind, yet her body itself did not move.
Nahemah remained in her hand—lowered, but clearly not in a careless stance.
Her cold eyes fixed on Gabriel from several dozen steps away. The gaze was sharp, appraising—like a blade not yet swung, yet already threatening.
"Relocating the battlefield," she said softly. "Afraid they would interfere… or afraid you can't fight while holding back?"
The wind spiraled around her, thin layers of snow lifting from the ground and drifting like shards of glass in the air.
Tenka's eyes narrowed.
The mechanical eye symbol engraved near the tsuba did not escape her notice.
"…A release form," she murmured. "It feels like a Spirit… but not. Nor is it an Angel."
Nahemah slowly rose. Its crystal tip now pointed straight at Gabriel.
"Strange."
Thin cracks appeared in the air around her blade, as if space itself rejected the presence of its energy.
"But it doesn't matter."
Dark purple Reiryoku began to flow along Nahemah's blade, making the air tremble faintly.
"If you wish to dance…" she said coldly, without the slightest hint of a smile.
She stepped forward once.
"Make sure you don't shatter on the first step, human."
Gabriel's smile thinned.
"Don't blink," he said lightly. "You might miss it."
The air had no time to tremble—his presence seemed cut from the world within a single breath.
Tenka's pupils shrank.
Gabriel was already behind her.
Mugen's blade slid forward without sound, its trajectory clean and precise—aimed at her back.
But Tenka was Tenka.
Her body spun sharply, Nahemah rising in a short, efficient arc.
CLANG—!!!
The collision did not sound like ordinary metal. The air around them exploded, the pressure of their energies sweeping across the snowfield and stripping away the white surface to reveal the frozen earth beneath.
Cracks spread outward from the point where they stood.
Nahemah and Mugen locked against each other for a brief moment—dark purple pressing forward, pale white holding firm.
Tenka's eyes met his at such close range, cold… yet now alive with the thrill of battle.
"…Fast," she murmured low.
The corner of her lips lifted slightly.
"Good."
"And…" Gabriel asked calmly, "do you like it?"
"More than I expected," Tenka replied without breaking her gaze.
"Glad the opening step satisfied you," he continued lightly. "A small suggestion—jump."
Tenka's brow furrowed—then she felt it.
Mana gathering directly beneath her footing.
[- Dark Matter Creation Magic: Zadkiel — Urteilsspeer des Leerenlichts -]
Her reflexes were flawless.
Tenka's body lifted into the air.
A fraction of a second later, white spears burst through the frozen ground, rising densely like a forest of thorns born from the ice.
At the same instant, Gabriel was already there.
Mugen swung.
Nahemah met it.
CLANK—!!!
A shockwave tore through the air.
"…This isn't just speed," Tenka murmured softly.
Gabriel gave a faint smile.
"Ash appreciates you. That technique is called Yūmei no Enshō—I shift reality, replacing the layer you perceive as an 'event' with the version I define as 'fact.'"
He vanished again.
Reappearing at Tenka's right side—blade poised to pierce.
But Nahemah had already moved.
Tenka's slash cut through Gabriel's figure—only for it to disperse like mist scattered by wind.
Empty.
"I can do something like that as well."
Gabriel's voice echoed from a distance.
Tenka lowered her gaze.
At the very point where the battle had begun—Gabriel stood calmly, as though he had never moved at all.
Tenka's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…A spatial illusion? No. A perception-based positional shift."
The corner of her lips curved upward.
"In that case… don't complain if I tear apart your 'perception' as well."
Reiryoku flowed along Nahemah's blade, each swing releasing bursts of dark energy.
SLASH…!!! SLASH…!!! SLASH…!!!
On the other side, Gabriel's Gigan output surged drastically. The perception of time seemed to freeze; the cold wind stretched thin, and the world fractured into frame after frame.
"Mana Zone."
The air around them shifted, mana thickening into a spatial sphere that enveloped the battlefield.
"Ten Unit: Output Release."
Pale white mist wrapped around Mugen's blade, growing denser as it rotated in rhythm with his strikes.
[- Dark Matter Magic: Raguel — Schneidwelle des Leerenlichts -]
SLASH…!!! SLASH…!!! SLASH…!!!
Dozens of mana-infused slashes were unleashed, colliding against Nahemah's waves of Reiryoku.
Each impact produced a shriek of tearing wind and fragments of energy that shot violently in every direction.
As the cycle of collisions ceased, Tenka shot forward. Nahemah swung down, cleaving through Gabriel's body—yet Mugen shattered like mist swept away by the wind.
From behind her, another mana slash streaked horizontally.
SLASH…!!!
Tenka twisted her body, narrowly evading the attack.
"Ha…!!!"
With a single motion, she drove Nahemah into the frozen ground.
The earth fractured, releasing a surge of Reiryoku outward—resembling the spatial quake that usually accompanied a Spirit's manifestation.
The wave expanded across a hundred meters, forcing Gabriel several steps back as he braced against the impact.
"Found you!" Tenka declared coldly, her eyes locking sharply onto her opponent.
Without pause, she launched forward again, Nahemah aimed straight at Gabriel's body.
A moment later, a chain of slashes at blinding speed erupted across the snowfield—dark violet flashes intertwining with pale white arcs.
Nahemah danced through the air, its waves of destruction tearing apart everything in their path—ice shards, snow, and debris scattering in all directions.
Gabriel answered with Mugen, each swing releasing mist-like surges of white energy that crashed against Tenka's attacks.
Collision after collision detonated in bursts of light and Reiryoku. The surrounding air trembled violently, as if the frozen wasteland itself were screaming.
Their battle became a dance of devastation—swift steps, spinning strikes, and flares of energy constantly engulfing the snow-covered field, blurring the line between offense and defense.
Amid the chaos, the two measured one another—reading patterns, testing reflexes, and relentlessly pressing forward.
This was no longer a clash of mere power, but a convergence of strategy and raw instinct meeting at the peak of escalation.
___
Author's Note:
So, how was it? Did you enjoy Tenka and Gabriel's dance?
Feel free to let me know in the comments if you did!
And don't forget to support me as well!!! 😏