In a sewer so sour and foul it could make someone sneeze, Rasona thought for a moment that she had stepped into the room where Yuko was.
But she understood immediately.
This… was a technique.
Purple violets had bloomed across the sewer floor.
Here.
In this dark, rotten, blood-soaked place.
Purple violets?
Rasona laughed.
— I know you're there.
— Show yourself.
Someone stepped out from the shadows.
Pure snow-white hair, soft and orderly like cotton candy.
One eye purple, the other green.
Calm. Clear. Unsettlingly confident.
— It was Rasona, right?
Rasona giggled.
— Wonderful. Full marks to your spelling teacher from me.
The stranger did not react.
— My name is Azure.
— And I came here to take Yuko for my master.
The smile on Rasona's face did not fade.
She moved her finger horizontally through the air like drawing a line.
A cut.
The air split in two.
Azure's head separated cleanly from his body.
Blood sprayed.
The lifeless body fell to the ground.
Rasona narrowed her eyes.
And turned around.
Azure was standing right in front of her.
Whole. Calm. Alive.
The headless corpse on the ground was still there.
Azure tilted her head slightly.
— I suppose that didn't work.
— You'll have to try again.
Rasona rolled her eyes.
It wasn't a Last Rite.
The headless body was still on the ground.
This was a technique.
Area-based.
The ground…
Purple violets.
Rasona's eyes narrowed.
Azure continued speaking calmly.
— I can see that you're curious.
— But this isn't my Last Rite.
— In fact, what you're seeing isn't even the full power of my technique.
Rasona sighed.
— Fine.
— What do you want me to do?
Azure's gaze sharpened.
— You have a Ritualist we need.
— His name is Yu—
The sentence was never completed.
Rasona's cut activated once more.
The head fell again.
Blood splattered again.
Rasona spoke with cold emerald eyes.
— If you think I'll help you… you're mistaken.
Suddenly, Azure appeared behind her.
— Even though you know you won't get anywhere, you still keep trying.
— My master spoke of you as a genius.
— How unfortunate.
Rasona was no longer listening to her.
She was cutting down every Azure she saw.
A slice.
Another one.
Another.
Another.
Azure's bodies began to pile up on the ground.
The purple violets were being soaked in blood.
Crimson streams spread between the corpses.
The purple violets were drenched in blood.
Red was now overpowering the purple.
But Rasona's eyes were no longer on the cuts… they were on the ground.
Purple violets.
In a sewer.
In the middle of rot and the stench of filth.
Impossible.
And in that moment, she understood.
This was an area technique.
The bodies weren't real…
The ground itself was.
Azure paused for a moment.
She couldn't see Rasona.
Something had gone wrong.
Most likely, she was hiding somewhere within the sea of corpses.
Silence.
The sound of blood dripping.
A calm voice came from among the purple violets and countless corpses:
— Geniuses always win… don't they?
The darkness grew heavier.
The purple violets trembled.
And the game… was far from over.
Chapter 9 – End