As Reimu seemed intent on finishing Nozomi off for good, a mysterious woman appeared from nowhere, stepping between them to shield Nozomi from Reimu's attack.
Nozomi was crumpled on the ground, on his knees, head hanging low. His breathing was ragged and heavy, each inhale costing him considerable effort. He was struggling to see — his vision was veiled by exhaustion, the outlines of the world around him bleeding into a trembling haze. Suddenly, a convulsion tore through his throat and he spat blood onto the blackened ground. The pain was so intense that he was struggling to think, to form a single coherent thought. He felt as though he were dreaming — or rather, sinking into a nightmare from which he no longer knew if anyone would pull him out.
Nozomi raised his head. His sight was blurred, but he gradually made out a silhouette standing before him. A woman. Her blonde hair was mid-length, and against the backdrop of the glowing night, it seemed to catch golden reflections, almost unreal, as though the light of the fires had chosen it. That hair framed a face with sharp, calm features that nothing seemed able to unsettle — a quiet beauty, almost cold, that of someone accustomed to looking danger in the eye without flinching. She wore a fitted black bodysuit that accentuated her frame, over which was draped a white and gold kimono whose left sleeve slipped from her shoulder and hung freely in the air, swaying gently in the warm breath of the flames. A wide sash of dark fabric, tied loosely at the hips, completed the silhouette. And around her right hand was coiled a fine, light chain.
Reimu stayed silent, eyes fixed on the woman with a grave and cautious expression. Something in his posture had shifted slightly — an infinitesimal tension, almost imperceptible — as if he were sizing up a threat he hadn't anticipated. In the distance, the roar of the fire that had swallowed the city continued to grumble beneath everything. Despite the night and the power outages, Paris blazed with a sinister light, consumed entirely by the ravaging inferno.
The woman turned around and crouched down to Nozomi's level, looking at him with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with the violence of the battlefield. Her voice was calm and warm, that of someone used to putting others at ease. "You must be Nozomi. Don't worry, everything is fine now. The reinforcements have arrived."
Nozomi stared at her, puzzled, the confusion written plainly across his good eye. "Reinforcements… what do you mean? Who are you?"
She stood back up and cast a serious look in Reimu's direction before answering. "Sorry, it would take too long to explain right now. But don't worry — once we've dealt with him, we'll have all the time we need to talk." A faint smile brushed her lips. "For now, you just need to know that you no longer have to worry about your family. And that I'm very happy to finally make your acquaintance, Nozomi."
It seemed the woman's words were very real. On the battlefield where Aria, Harris, and Shinrei were fighting, the situation had reached a critical point. Reimu's army was taking more and more ground, and our heroes were cornered, running on empty, with nothing left but their will to keep standing. But just as everything seemed lost, projectiles of fire, earth, and lightning rained down from the sky upon the enemy ranks. Vines burst from the ground and shattered the soldiers' formations, tearing them from the earth like ragdolls.
Our heroes were disoriented, unable to make sense of what was happening. But before they even had time to grasp the situation, dozens of people surged from every direction, charging at Reimu's army and engaging in combat with impressive coordination.
Immediately, someone appeared before our three heroes. A man with sharp eyes and soot-stained clothes, who spoke without wasting words. "Don't be afraid, we're on your side. You must be the Yuutaka. Pleased to meet you — I'm Max. We were sent by Solara to come to your aid."
In a voice rough with exhaustion, Shinrei asked. "Solara? Who is that? And how do you know us?"
Aria followed, her voice loud and heavy with suspicion. "Why would people with powers suddenly come to help us?"
Max tried to calm them, but the situation left no room for hesitation. Reimu's army, faced with this sudden wave of new fighters, had regained its composure and was rapidly reorganizing to counter the threat. An immense battle seemed to be taking shape, the coming shockwave threatening to reduce whatever still stood in the vicinity to rubble. Max told them in an urgent voice. "Unfortunately, time is short. You look like you can still fight — could you give us a hand? Solara has promised to tell you everything once Reimu has been defeated."
Harris, his expression cold and serious, crossed his arms for a brief moment before answering. "You saved our lives. I'm willing to believe you're not our enemies. But I'm demanding explanations afterward. For now, we're willing to back you up."
"Good. Thank you for your help." Said Max in a resonant voice, genuinely grateful.
The battle, which had been growing ever more critical for our heroes, had just found a second wind thanks to the arrival of these unknown fighters. An indispensable reinforcement — perhaps even a decisive one. But the outcome remained impossible to predict.
The situation for Aria, Harris, and Shinrei had improved, but their fate remained uncertain. And for Nozomi, the end of this fight still seemed out of reach — even with the arrival of this mysterious woman, who had appeared like an angel descending from a sky in flames. Reimu still had to be defeated, and he had shown only a fraction of his true capabilities.
Reimu looked at the woman with a grave and meticulous gaze, studying her from head to toe with an attention that was almost surgical. He spoke to her in a cold, icy voice that cut through the air like a blade. "You've grown up well. I almost wouldn't have recognized you. Isn't that right… Solara?"
The woman seemed momentarily caught off guard — a fleeting shadow crossed her face, quickly suppressed. She immediately collected herself and replied with perfect calm, almost mocking. "I wouldn't have thought you'd remember me. I take it as an honor that the great Reimu Hikarizuki recalls someone as insignificant as me."
"How could I forget you? Back then, you were always with Nova and Luna. Tell me — is the other little boy here as well?"
"Unfortunately for you, today it's me alone that you'll be dealing with." She paused and turned her head toward Nozomi, resting on him a brief but meaningful glance, before continuing. "It will be him and me who bring you down."
Reimu burst out laughing — a short, dry laugh, almost contemptuous, that rang through the air as though the situation struck him as absurdly comical. After a few moments, he raised his voice. "You're talking about that kid who can barely stay on his feet? And to think, with age, you've certainly grown in confidence compared to before."
In the face of Reimu's words, Nozomi refused to be dismissed. Despite the crushing exhaustion and the unbearable pain radiating through every muscle, every bone, he tried to rise. His feet trembled beneath the weight of his own body. Blood still ran at his temples and down his arms. His breathing was wheezing, uneven. And yet, he lifted his eyes to Reimu and said, his voice broken but determined. "It's not over yet. I can still fight."
Solara studied Nozomi with a serious gaze and assessed his condition in an instant. She thought to herself. "He's in rough shape. But despite everything, he still has something left in the tank. For his age, and after facing Reimu alone… he's truly impressive."
She gently placed her hand on Nozomi's head. Immediately, a warm and soothing energy seemed to flow toward him, spreading through his limbs like a healing wave. At first breathless, Nozomi felt his breathing gradually stabilize, and the pain devouring him begin to recede, as if someone were pulling on an invisible thread that had been choking him.
The exhaustion and pain faded, and Nozomi felt as though he were being reborn. He raised his head and looked at Solara. She gave him a smile — slight, sincere, carrying a gentleness and a confidence that cut through the violence of the moment. She murmured in a low voice. "You should be feeling better now. I'm sorry I can't do more to heal you. The pain should be more manageable — I'm counting on you to help me."
But she didn't have time to finish her sentence. In a fraction of a second, she seized Nozomi in her arms and leaped high into the air. At the exact spot where they had stood a moment before, red and black flames erupted, instantly incinerating everything around them. The ground melted. The rubble turned to ash.
All of this happened so fast that Nozomi hadn't had time to understand — the attack had been terrifyingly swift, far beyond what his senses could process.
Reimu didn't let up. He kept his power active and the devastating flames began to spread, pursuing Solara and Nozomi as they fled. As the flames closed in dangerously, four stone walls erupted from the ground and sealed shut into a cube, enclosing Solara and Nozomi inside.
But Reimu's flames were far more destructive than simple stone could withstand. They incinerated the walls one by one, reducing them to ash. When the walls crumbled, Reimu was surprised to find a tunnel dug into the earth. Solara and Nozomi had anticipated the destruction and used the opportunity to escape underground.
They hid behind a gutted building, watching Reimu from a distance in the shadows. Nozomi was stunned, breathless, still in shock. "What were those flames? They were so fierce they incinerated everything in their path in a single second."
Solara seemed surprised by Nozomi's reaction. She paused, eyes slightly narrowed, and grasped the situation. "Wait… don't tell me you don't know about the Shugan's abilities."
Nozomi didn't seem to follow. "The Shugan's abilities? Isn't the Imperial Armor what he uses?"
"Elyra never told you about it, and you decided to fight Reimu without even looking into what he was capable of?"
"Elyra didn't have much information on Reimu. And there are multiple abilities the Shugan offers…"
Solara sighed, somewhere between dismay and admiration. On one hand, she was almost appalled by how little information Nozomi had. On the other, she couldn't help but be impressed by what he had managed to accomplish against Reimu knowing nothing of his abilities. She looked at him and said in a serious voice. "It seems he has decided to get truly serious now. Do you see those flames he deployed? They are called the Heart Flames. They draw from the emotions of their user, and they are known to burn with such intensity that they can consume fire itself. If they touch you, they will not stop until they have burned you entirely. You must not let those flames touch you under any circumstances."
"But how did you manage to dodge them? They appeared so quickly. You were able to see the attack coming?"
"I didn't see it. I felt it, simply. Stay on your guard at all times from now on. If he's truly serious, he won't hesitate to use every power his Shugan offers."
Nozomi thought hard, and the conclusion he reached chilled his entire body in an instant. His voice trembled, gripped by a fear he couldn't contain. "How can anyone defeat a monster like him? I accomplished nothing — and he was holding back the entire time."
Nozomi was frozen, his gaze blank and frightened, the look of someone who has measured for the first time the gulf between themselves and their opponent. Solara saw it clearly. Without hesitation, she gently drew Nozomi's head against her chest and spoke in a soft voice. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. For your age, you managed to push Reimu to go all out. That's not within everyone's reach — you can be proud of yourself."
Solara's voice and the warmth of her body against his head soothed Nozomi in a way he hadn't anticipated. In her, he felt something he hadn't experienced in a long time — the reassuring presence of a mother, of someone one could truly rely on. Slowly, he regained his calm and his composure. "Thank you. I feel better now."
She let out a light smile. "There's no shame in being afraid of what you can't control. You've already shown more than enough that you're capable of great things. You and your brothers and sisters — you were impressive."
Nozomi felt at peace, despite the tension of the situation and the fight still ahead of them. He asked her. "Solara… do you have a plan to bring him down?"
She took a few moments to think. "We would need to weaken him enough. If we manage that, I can take care of the rest." She paused before continuing. "Nozomi, could you create a diversion for me? Try to open up a window for me to attack. Do you feel up to it?"
"You have a plan?"
"The Shugan grants Reimu an ability called Ethereal Form. It allows its user to become intangible, letting every attack aimed at them pass through harmlessly. But this ability has one major flaw: five seconds after its use, the user is paralyzed for ten seconds. If we can force him to use it, victory is guaranteed."
Nozomi's hand was trembling, seized by fear. He grabbed it with his other hand and gripped firmly, as if anchoring himself to something solid. He steadied his breath. Then his gaze hardened, crossed by a determination that said everything without a word. Nozomi had made his decision. He was ready to fight to the very end.
Nozomi rose and was about to leave when Solara suddenly caught his hand. "Before you go, let me give you one last piece of advice. Stay alert to avoid the flames — but above all, never look him directly in the eyes. He may use the Gaze Chains, an ability capable of stopping its target dead in their tracks."
"Understood. I'll be careful. Thank you for the warning."
Reimu was scanning the area for Solara and Nozomi when suddenly, behind him, atop a heap of rubble, Nozomi appeared. He called out in a loud voice. "Reimu! If you're looking for me, I'm right here. You still haven't managed to finish me off."
Reimu said nothing. He didn't react for a single second to Nozomi's provocations — not the slightest emotion, not the faintest sign of anger. Then, in a fluid and lightning motion, he launched himself toward Nozomi. The air itself seemed to tremble under the pressure radiating from Reimu, as if reality were contracting around him.
Reimu was so fast that Nozomi didn't see the attack coming. His body moved on its own, by pure instinct — in the few centimeters he had left, he managed to bring his arms forward to protect himself. But the impact was colossal, and he was sent hurtling through the air, crashing brutally into the ground.
Nozomi lay agonizing on the ground. The collision had broken several bones, and every movement was torture. He cried out despite himself, the pain too violent to contain. Suddenly, Reimu appeared above him. Without a word, without an ounce of pity, he seized Nozomi by the neck and lifted him off the ground. His fingers closed around his throat like a vice, and he strangled him slowly, his gaze empty, completely devoid of emotion.
Nozomi struggled with every ounce of strength he had, his legs kicking at nothing, his hands clawing at Reimu's arm. Sharp sounds escaped his compressed throat — muffled, almost inaudible cries that made plain he could no longer breathe. His strength abandoned him little by little. His vision darkened. And he lost consciousness.
Suddenly, Solara descended from the sky like a bolt of lightning. From her right hand, a golden light burst forth, blazing with a thousand fires, and she struck Reimu head-on. He managed nonetheless to block the attack with a single hand, the impact cracking the ground beneath his feet.
Solara grabbed Reimu's arm, forcing him to release Nozomi, who collapsed to the ground. She then hurled him into the air with a powerful motion. The chain attached to her hand came loose and she launched it, letting it coil around Reimu's feet. With all her strength, she slammed him into the ground, creating a massive crater that fractured the pavement for several meters in every direction.
She called out. "Nozomi! Are you alright? Can you get up?"
Nozomi had caught his breath, pressing a trembling hand to his still-aching neck. He understood that victory would not come easily. But resigning himself to giving up was not an option. Teeth clenched, he got back on his feet.
Reimu, for his part, rose without the slightest difficulty, as if Solara's slam had been nothing more than a passing inconvenience. He unwound the chain coiled around his feet and sent it back toward Solara with an elegant, contemptuous gesture.
How would this battle end? Reimu, more serious than ever, seemed to leave his opponents no chance of landing a single fatal blow.