Night had risen, but not quietly. It unfolded like a curtain torn open by chaos—alive with color, motion, and weight. Not the peace of dusk, but something more primal. A night soaked in consequence.
The explosion still loomed in the air, its smoke crawling across the scorched mountaintop like a second skin.
Chiaki's body hit the ground hard.
Ash coated her, the earth crumbling beneath her limbs. Smoke curled off her burned skin, her breaths labored and raw. For a moment, she didn't move.
Vivia's scream cracked the stillness.
"Chiaki!"
Her voice rang out with desperation, watching as Chiaki's motionless body seemed to sink into a grave carved by fire itself. But Chiaki wasn't finished—not yet.
With a trembling hand, she dug her fingers into the earth and pushed herself up—slowly, painfully, but with unshaken resolve. Her body wasn't meant to withstand a blast like that, but she endured anyway.
Kaemor stood with his back to her, the light of the flames dancing along the ridges of his gas mask. He chuckled, then finally turned, facing her fully.
"I'll give you credit," he said casually. "That was quite the spectacle. Lit up this mountain nicely. Makes the place feel… alive."
Chiaki coughed hard, clutching her chest as the toxic gas burned in her lungs, her voice hoarse but sharp.
"Do all hunters like you rely on cheap tricks like that?"
The pain laced every word, but she forced herself to stand—her knees wobbling, her eyes defiant.
Kaemor slowly pulled one of the cords taut into his hand like a coiled whip, the steel glinting in the firelight.
"I wouldn't call it cheap," he said, tone amused. "It's strategic. You rely on clean air—on breathing to move, to think, to survive."
He tapped a gloved finger against the mask covering his face, the lenses glowing dimly.
"But take that away?" His grin was audible through the static filter of his voice. "And suddenly… people like you become easy prey."
He laughed again, a deep, muffled sound carried through the hissing gas.
Kaemor suddenly fell silent.
He moved his arms in a circular motion, fluid and controlled—like a conductor preparing for a final movement. The cord responded instantly, swirling around him in wide arcs, as if it were an extension of his will.
Chiaki narrowed her eyes. Something shifted.
The flames behind her cast long, flickering shadows—and one of them didn't match the trees.
Her instincts flared. She spun around.
What she saw made her breath catch.
The cord had split—no longer one, but many—twisting together like molten serpents erupting from the sky. They plummeted toward her like a living stream of lava, not of flame, but steel.
"No!" she shouted, slamming her reinforced arm upward just in time. The impact clanged through the air as she knocked one of the cords aside. She leapt backward, evading the rest of the deadly fall—but not fast enough.
One of them clipped her side. A deep, stinging line tore across the edge of her torso. It wasn't fatal—but it was bloody, raw, and searing with pain.
Kaemor stood calm amid the chaos, cords writhing behind him.
"Caught you off guard, didn't I?" he taunted. "A real warrior watches everything. Guess I'll consider it a gift you even dodged at all."
He gave a sharp pull of his arm—his cords snapped back, then surged through the underbrush like snakes through grass, rising again and whipping forward with terrifying force.
Chiaki barely had time to brace. She leapt back, and though the strike missed her heart, it grazed across her chest, slashing through the fabric and skin beneath. Blood bloomed instantly.
Pain shot through her—but she kept moving.
Using the momentum of her dodge, she flipped into a chain of three clean handsprings, dust and ash scattering with each landing. On the third, she spun into a crouched position and rose, facing Kaemor once again.
Her breaths were shallow. Her body burned. But her eyes were locked.
Still standing.
Still fighting.
Chiaki's breath came in ragged bursts, but her body was electric with fierce determination.
The forest around her had become a furnace, the air thick with choking gas and the acrid bite of burning wood. Flames curled and twisted around Kaemor like a living halo, reflecting off the endless cords that writhed in the air—hundreds of them now, swirling like serpents ready to strike.
Without hesitation, Kaemor unleashed the storm.
The cords shot outward in a brutal, synchronized assault, each one snapping and hissing through the gas-filled haze, lashing like volcanic rivers of molten steel and flame. They twisted, coiled, split—an impossible sea of burning wire flooding the battlefield.
Chiaki's eyes narrowed. Every fiber of her being ignited with razor-sharp focus.
She didn't just dodge. She danced.
The first cord sliced toward her left side—a whip of flame and steel. She rolled forward, her body low, knees brushing the scorched earth, dodging under the strike that left a trench scorched into the dirt just inches above her back.
Before she could even breathe, two more cords lashed in tandem from above, aiming for her shoulders.
She leapt, soaring upward through the smoke, twisting mid-air to avoid the fiery strikes. Her hoodie flared like wings as she tucked her legs tight, narrowly slipping through the tightening loop of blazing wire.
She landed on one foot, immediately sweeping the other out in a low spin, narrowly avoiding a cord that whipped past her ankle, carving a line into the ash.
A third cord shot out like a spear at her chest.
Chiaki pivoted sharply, spinning her entire body like a blade slicing the air, the wire snapping harmlessly past her shoulder as she vaulted backward.
The ground beneath her erupted in sparks and flame as she landed, but she didn't pause.
Kaemor's cords converged, narrowing the noose around her, moving faster now—so fast they blurred, leaving streaks of crimson light dancing in their wake.
One slithered low, aimed to bind her legs.
Chiaki dropped into a powerful crouch, muscles coiled like springs. She exploded upward, flipping backward over the cord with precision, landing with a solid thud.
Another cord whipped in, grazing the tip of her hair and singeing a lock that fell like a burning ribbon.
Chiaki snapped her head back, eyes blazing.
She surged forward—rolling through a narrow gap between two cords that twisted dangerously close, dodging their crushing embrace by centimeters.
Her hands scraped the dirt, sending a spray of ash into the swirling gas as she sprang back to her feet.
Kaemor's cords split again—now moving like a synchronized storm, their fiery tips lashing with lightning speed from every angle.
One swung low to strike at her knees.
She slid forward, a slick, graceful movement, barely a whisper on the ground. The cord sliced just past her shins, sending a line of sparks flying.
Another came from the right—fast and brutal.
Chiaki twisted her torso sharply, absorbing the momentum and flipping sideways into a handspring that carried her clear of the attack.
She landed with barely a sound—ash puffing softly beneath her boots.
Her lungs burned, each breath a fight against the choking air—but her focus was sharper than ever.
Kaemor's face was hidden behind the mask, but the gleam in his eyes was unmistakable: he was testing her limits, pushing harder, faster.
The cords began to glow hotter, their edges sharpening like blades tempered in fire.
Chiaki darted left, ducking beneath a searing lasso that whipped overhead, flames licking dangerously close to her skin.
She sprinted forward—then vaulted over a low cord that snapped up from the ground like a living thing.
The cords twisted into a net, tightening around her with ruthless speed.
Her heart pounded—this was no longer just a battle of strength. It was a test of will.
Chiaki dove forward, sliding under the netting with inches to spare.
She rolled onto her feet and exploded upward, catching a tree branch and swinging herself over the swirling mass of fire and gas.
The cords reached for her, but the gap held.
Landing lightly on the other side, she took a moment—a breath—to steel herself.
Vivia's eyes trembled as she watched Chiaki battle alone, helpless to intervene.
"Damn it, Chiaki... Why won't you stop? You're exhausted. Your old wounds are still aching. You should rest... You should give up... Why go so far...?"
Her voice wavered, torn between fear and understanding.
"But... I think I get it. I know exactly how you feel..."
To be continued...