Kairos looms over Yua like a predator, his blade gleaming in the rain. But in her eyes, there's no fear, just an inferno of fury. This isn't a warrior about to surrender... this is a woman ready to tear down the world for the ones she loves.
"You won't harm them..." Yua's voice is a whisper of steel. "Not. Anymore."
Kairos sneers—"You're nothing without your Kizugami."
(Yua's eyes flare with raw defiance.)
She doesn't flinch. She doesn't beg. She just moves.
One second, she's kneeling beside Ryo—the next, her fist cracks into Kairos' jaw with a force that sends him skidding back. The shock in his expression is almost comical.
"You talk too much," Yua spits out through clenched teeth—before launching at him again without hesitation. Every strike burns with Seishu energy—wild and untamed, like she's fighting on instinct alone now rather than technique or training… but there's something terrifying about it anyway: the sheer willpower behind each blow. It shouldn't work against someone like Kairos... yet here he is being forced backward step by bloody step under its relentless assault!
- Left hook (dodged)
- Knee to gut (blocked barely)
- Elbow aimed for the throat–!
But Kairos catches her arm with a speed that's almost uncanny. A cruel smirk plays across his face as he holds her there—fingers tightening around her wrist in a vice.
"You've improved," he comments almost bored as he watches her struggle "but not enough. You're still nothing more than a puppet without your Kizugami."
Something snaps in Yua at that. Something violent. The rain seems to boil in the air around them as she yanks free of his grip with a snarl and drives her foot into his stomach.
Kairos stumbles back, surprise flickering across his face. She hurt him.
"That's the difference," Yua hisses through gritted teeth, hands clenching into fists. "I don't need a sword to be strong. I am strong."
Kairos coughs, spitting blood into the rain. "You always were a fool."
He lunges again, his blade a blur of deadly steel. But instead of dodging this time, Yua charges straight at him—meeting his attack head-on with a flurry of blows.
Yua's voice is steel—unbroken even as blood drips from her lip.
"The people back home, Kairos. The ones we swore to protect." She blocks another slash, knuckles splitting against steel. "They're why we do this. Not for rank, not for glory—for them."
Kairos falters—just for a second. His blade dips ever so slightly… before his sneer returns with twice the venom. "Shut up!" He swings harder now, faster—like he's trying to drown out her words in violence alone.
But Yua doesn't stop talking between blows:
- ("Remember the village near Mt.) (Fujian? You carried that old man's granddaughter on your back after the landslide.")
- (A kick slams into Kairos' ribs.) ("You stayed behind when Gentoki ordered us to retreat at Shiro Pass because civilians were still trapped in the flames!")
- (Her fist cracks across his jaw.) ("THAT'S the hunter I fought beside! Where is HE now?!")
But Kairos won't listen. He won't--!
He won't!
This isn't about duty anymore. This is about winning—about proving that he's better than any hunter who abandoned their principles. It's about reminding her that strength means nothing without loyalty.
This isn't about honor... it's about proving that he's right. That everything he sacrificed for the sake of victory will mean something in the end.
So he attacks with an angry desperation—a whirlwind of steel and speed that turns the rooftop into a blur of steel.
Blood splatters across the broken pavement.
Kairos' strikes come faster now—furious, relentless. Every blow Yua blocks sends shockwaves through her arms, every dodge strains her burning muscles. She can barely see straight anymore… but she refuses to move from Ryo's side.
One brutal kick slams into her ribs—she hears something crack. Another slash tears through her sleeve and bites into flesh. She staggers, gasping… but still stands between Kairos and Ryo like a human shield forged from sheer will alone.
Somewhere in the storm of pain, memories flash:
- Gentoki standing over wounded hunters at Shiro Pass as flames consumed everything... "We hold here."
- The weight of a trembling child pressed against her chest after Kyōrei's ambush... "I won't let go."
- Ryo smiling at that little girl before Kairos' blade struck them both down... "Because it's right."
Kairos raises his sword for another strike—but hesitates just long enough for Yua to spit blood at his feet with defiance still blazing in her eyes:
"...You'll have to kill me first. And we both know you won't." (A challenge laced with truth.)
Kairos' voice is cold as steel.
"People change. Just like times do."
Yua glares at him, every breath a struggle in her lungs. "Not me," she growls through clenched teeth."I never break my promises."
Kairos leans back, looking almost bored now. "Really?" he drawls, sword dangling casually from one hand. "Never?"
Yua meets his gaze without wavering. "Never."
The blade stops—dead in its tracks.
Not by flesh. Not by steel. But by a sudden crackling surge of violet energy erupting from Yua's forearm, sending sparks scattering like dying stars across the battlefield. The force is so strong it knocks Kairos back several feet, his grip on his sword faltering for the first time in this fight.
His eyes widened—that wasn't her Seishu. That wasn't anything human at all...
And then… a voice that isn't hers echoes from Yua's lips:
"Pathetic." A low, almost amused growl laces through her words—deep and ancient and wrong. "You call this a fight?"
Kairos' breath catches in his throat.
That voice—that presence—it coils around the battlefield like a predator finally stepping into the light. His fingers tighten around his blade, but for the first time tonight... he hesitates to attack.
"You..." The word comes out strained, disbelief and dawning horror twisting his expression. "Mizaru."
Yua's body stands straighter now, movements no longer entirely her own as violet energy pulses from her in waves. When she speaks next, it's with a cadence too ancient, too cruel to be human:
"Surprised? After all your searching... you never considered that one of us might already have a host?" A slow smirk curls across Yua's lips—unfamiliar and chilling. "...How disappointing."
Kairos' face pales.
Mizaru. One of the fifteen Engetsuju. The violet kitsune. And right now, she's using Yua like a living puppet—her body lifting effortlessly into the air as violet energy crackles around her.
"Impossible..." he breathes out involuntarily.
Yua's—or rather, Mizaru's, eyes lock onto him like a hungry wolf. "Is it, now?" she asks with mock politeness.
Mizaru's smile is all sharp teeth and cold satisfaction. The rain seems to freeze in midair around her, every drop glistening with a violet glow that makes the air heavy.
"In this world," she tells Kairos—and there's a dark, ancient glee coloring her words now—"even the strongest can become… prey."
🌀 End Of Chapter Twenty