Feeling the black-bladed sword pass just a few centimeters from my ear, I could hear clearly the slice tearing through the air as I dodged."Expected more from you, strongest Knight of Sloth."Night flew backward and sheathed his sword."The secret is that your time has run out, foolish girl."
A clock appeared beside the moon, displaying a negative one minute. It blinked red, reflecting its color onto the celestial body.
"Nothing's coming to me yet! Maybe your eyes don't work on me," I taunted, firing at Night—but every shot missed.
"You still can't control all your power, brat!"
The Trin hurled his sword upward, rising into the air surrounded by a bright purple aura. He opened his arms to the sides and released an immense spiritual energy.
"The ritual is complete! Very soon, he will awaken!" he cackled, intensifying the energy pouring from his chest.
"Come on! Charge at me with everything you've got!"
But it wasn't my turn to attack. Tension delayed my reflexes when I felt a cut slice across my left side—made by his blade traveling through the air. Even standing still, he launched invisible attacks.
I recovered, planning a way to hit him. The difficulty grew as Night's flying speed increased. My aim was no longer enough to defeat that being. Shooting into his own dimension… wasn't that unfair?
"I'm not going to attack you! Come and kill me."My words shook the Trin emotionally.
"I thought you were braver! But I suppose you lasted a little," he muttered, disappointed, descending again.
Night kept his sword floating far from himself.
"You don't need to come to me," I said, dropping the revolver to the ground.
"Transparent," I replied. I already knew how to resist time.
"The boss will love reading that in the report!"
When he was just about to reach me, I stopped.
"Do you know what a spirit is?" I asked.
Night looked confused; he didn't know how to respond.
"I never wanted to talk… what does it matter?"
"I used to practice until the big day. So I've been out of it for a while," I explained, stretching both legs. "Would you mind a demonstration before you kill me?"
"Of course, I wouldn't deny the last wish of a beautiful lady."
"What's this? Suddenly you've become a respectable man?"
"We call this the high-jump technique!"
I dashed toward the portal using my injured leg and leapt over the Trin's head.
"Bitter gourd—!"
I jumped again with all my strength, leaving the cross floating as I reached the suspended sword. The moment I grasped the weapon, an enormous pressure nearly made me lose my grip.
"So? Did you like the performance?" I laughed mid-air, watching Night's surprised expression.
"Hmph…" he grumbled, still unconvinced he could be defeated.
"That's it."
"I'm not afraid of any of you!" I shouted, tilting my body toward him as I fell.
The sound made Night cover his ears while he groaned, his eyes trembling.
In the end, I flew through several bands of energy in a large illusory city. I pierced his heart before landing, making the dimension slowly collapse.
A massive amount of blood gushed once I withdrew the sword.
"See you in the real world, Night."
But the walls around his body began forming a demonic figure imprinted on the dimensional plane, with a massive gray hand gripping the crack.
"Who… woke me up?"A deep, irritated voice echoed from the moon, unleashing a gust that knocked me down beside the revolver.
The Trin fell to his knees, trembling, holding his head and pounding the ground in despair.
"Sir! We brought you back!" Night laughed nervously, looking at the celestial body. "We did exactly as the Messiah ordered! Aren't you pleased?"
Before I knew it, the giant moon hovered above me.
Its glowing color reflected on the revolver beside me. My heart raced faster and faster, yet the feeling of déjà vu calmed my body, easing my anguish.
The intense pressure in the environment wasn't being used against me, but against the subordinate who had done so much for him.
The sound of Night's armor grew louder as his hands cracked under strain.
"How strong is this star?"
"You're telling me I died to a human?" the moon questioned, lifting the monster. His expression revealed he had no air. "Insolent worm! You dare wake me from a perfect sleep?"
The Trin's arms went limp.
"Forgive me, master!" he begged as he was strangled. "This way you can take revenge on the disciple—"
The moment he finished speaking, he was released.
"Eliminate that anomaly. This is your last chance!"
The giant hand widened the crack further, tearing the false dimension apart.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Ashi's body on the ritual table. Around him, all the monsters were dead, heartless.
Night lay fallen, with a glowing sphere lodged in his chest—a soul made of spiritual energy, strong enough to pierce armor so resilient.
On his right stood Al, looking exhausted, parts of his clothes torn, with cut marks.
"You took your time!" Al muttered, extending his hand to help me up. His palm was soft, smooth, well moisturized.
"It wasn't easy. I actually managed to impress myself."
I gratefully accepted his help and, once standing, hugged the boy.
"Thank you so much," I said, wiping my tears with my arm.
Al tightened the hug.
"I didn't do anything, A," he lied gently.
The moment of happiness shattered when a grotesque sound echoed near Ashi.
"Seems the break is over. My master told me to kill you all at once."Night seemed unharmed, though he no longer carried his black-bladed sword. "But I'm not fighting the girl. She'll have to go through more suffering."
I turned to Al and handed him the sword.
"If that's what he wants, I'll retaliate twice as hard!"
In a blink, I was knocked out.
"Shizuka!" I heard Al's distant voice.
My limbs went numb, like the pain of breaking a bone radiating through my whole body. I couldn't control the darkness covering my eyes, blocking all sounds around me.
"I give up. I can never beat you!"I remembered the moments playing video games with Jin in the tiny apartment where I lived with my mother.
Our building was in a distant area of Tokyo because the rent was cheap, and only my mother worked to pay the city's high costs. The structure was worn down, with leaks everywhere, little security, and almost no care.
People who lived there were looked down on by society, treated like street rats surviving on scraps. Everyone avoided being seen in public, entering the building only when the street was empty.
Yet there was one girl who wasn't afraid of others' opinions… the infamous Shizuka.
But the bravery that once made me proud was also what destroyed my relationship with my mother.
"Shizuka… you need to stop being like this!" she yelled, tossing a freshly cut tomato to the floor—one of the few ingredients we had. "Open your mouth and tell me what's been going on! What future do you think we'll have if they find out we live in this dump?!"
She had her back to me, gripping the knife stained red from the tomato now smeared across the wooden floor. I was still a child, always having to look up to see her hopeless face.
"M-Mom…"
"I told you to stay quiet!"Her scream blended with her sobbing, along with the sound of her fist pounding the table repeatedly. She dropped the knife and turned toward me."I work every day to put food in this house, doing everything I can to protect you…"
My mother collapsed into tears.
Since my birth, I had never felt so much empathy as in that moment. It was the perfect scene for a child who'd grown up with so little.
With trembling hands, I stood to embrace her. But I was too inexperienced to foresee the worst.
She wiped her clothes clean and, without saying anything, grabbed my arm with all her strength.
"You won't contradict me, Shizuka," she said, stepping close to my side, not allowing me to see her face.
I felt my hair being yanked like a garbage bag, pulled near my ear.
"Lick the sauce off the floor. I want it clean."
Those were the worst words I ever heard in my life; probably the heaviest I'll ever hear.
Fear overtook my heart. I couldn't disobey.
Swallowing my sobs, I began licking the sticky tomato mess. I tasted the bitterness of the wood… splinters—three, maybe—pierced my tongue, mixing the taste of sauce with blood.
My mother watched everything up close, then slowly backed away and locked herself in her room.
I ran to hide inside the wardrobe. Afraid of what could happen, I waited for nightfall while removing each piece of wood from my mouth carefully so I wouldn't let out a single whimper of pain.
Time seemed to take an eternity to pass. From time to time, I would crack the wardrobe door open to check the reflection in the window and see if it was already dark.
I had already packed a bag with some clothes and left room for a few apples—just the essentials so I could run away from home. My plan would work under one condition: that my mother didn't leave her room while I crossed the hallway.
But I took longer than I should have grabbing the fruit, and ended up making enough noise for her to sense something strange; normally, at that hour, she would already be putting me to bed.
Her bedroom door opened.
"What are you doing, girl?" she asked sharply, her footsteps echoing heavily on the floor.
Apparently she still hadn't seen me.
I thought: Aren't I the best in the athletics club?
Then I ran like I had never run before toward the front door—which, unfortunately, was locked. Our entire apartment was made of old, nearly rotten wood.
"Hey, get back here!" she ordered as soon as she saw me, running after me. "I told you to stand still!"
With just one kick, even at ten years old, I broke the door open. The passage led to a small hallway with stairs down to the ground, which I jumped and sprinted down, trying to get away from her.
My heart pounded.
As soon as I left the building, I turned left, heading toward the playground where I usually played with Jin and Ashi.
To reach the small sand park, with its faded toys, I needed to cross the street and walk a bit to the pedestrian crossing.
But I didn't have time.
It was a weekend night—the perfect setting for an accident, especially because the traffic light wasn't working.
I couldn't look back.
I no longer remembered her joyful face.
"I never want to see her again!"
"I'm tired of obeying you!" I yelled without turning; tears streamed down my cheeks, dripping onto the asphalt. "Do you have any idea what you did? I can't take being treated like your object anymore!"
"My life would be so much better on my own!"
Then I heard the sound of a car hitting something, followed by several honks. A bright headlight reflected against the wall.
When I finally turned, I saw my mother lying on the ground, blood everywhere. She had been hit by a car.
"Mom!"
I ran to her.
"Wake up, please!"
Her lips were purple, and her eyes were barely open. Suddenly, her hand brushed my tears lightly.
"Shiz… for… give me… for failing as a mother…" she tried to speak with a weak voice.
"I just want you to live! I forgive you!"
"Be… happy and… run fast… my athlete…" she gave a faint smile before her body finally went limp.
What I longed for had happened.
But… at what cost?
Back in reality, I stared at Ashi's body. The memory of my mother cut through me like a blade.
"You're back, Shizuka?" Al asked as he blocked one of Night's strikes.
"Forgive me, but I'm going to kill that bastard!" I said, loading the revolver.
But a blue circle formed around me and Al, preventing us from moving.
"What is this?" I asked, startled.
"I don't know either!"
From afar, I saw Ashi's body begin to move, but my vision turned completely white.
"Feels like my body is different…" I heard Ashi complain. I couldn't see anything anymore."Finally, it's my time to kill Jin!"
That tone…
Osawa?!