The helicopter drifted away into the night sky. Inside the building, they moved through the shadows, their purple eyes scanning the surroundings with a calm that would unsettle anyone.
"That explosion… do you think our target might have escaped…?" Selina murmured thoughtfully as she walked through the dark hallway.
"I doubt it. They would already be evacuating the nearby areas. Though… I'm surprised they haven't done it yet. There's far too much silence," Calius replied, glancing around almost constantly.
Behind them, Shiro and Kaede followed the trail they left. Shiro, for his part, felt occasional tingling in his stomach.
"Do you think you can handle it, Shiro…?" Kaede asked, glancing at him with a calm expression.
Shiro nodded, offering her a faint smile.
The moment was interrupted when Calius snapped his fingers, glancing back at them.
"The floor below is where he was released. Prepare to fight."
Both of them nodded without hesitation, and the four continued walking. The corridors were wide enough for crowds of people. There were too many coded doors to count, and the waiting chairs were everywhere, like windows repeating endlessly along the hall.
Selina began descending a staircase. Slowly, they reached the lower floor. Every step was one second closer to a battle against something partly unknown.
When they opened a door, they found more of the same: a dim environment with almost no lights. The constant windows were practically the only illumination.
Selina let out a heavy sigh and prepared to continue, but her phone buzzed at her waist. Calmly, she pulled it out with her left hand. When she saw who was calling, she answered immediately.
"Father…?" she said, her voice lower than usual.
"Selina, I want both you and Calius to listen."
From the other side, a voice that was clear yet filled with paternal authority echoed through the phone.
Selina signaled Calius with a slight tilt of her head. He stepped closer and stood beside her.
"This is important. Get out of there immediately. I was speaking with a certain person and… the city appears to have internal defects at the moment. A 'crack' has opened—that's how it was described."
"How long have you known about this information?" Calius asked.
"About ten minutes," Father replied.
Selina smiled faintly, trying to sound authoritative.
"Then something would have already happened. If someone were attacking Solarin, it would have to be something massive, right?"
[...]
"That's not up for discussion. Kira and Kaya are already on their way in one of the family helicopters."
Selina's smile shifted into slight discomfort.
"Those two… it'll be a problem if we don't finish this before they arrive. They're stronger than many of us—they'd drag us out by force."
"If something happens, I suppose they'll help us," Calius murmured to them.
From the other side of the phone, Father laughed nostalgically.
"Youth… I've already warned you. Don't die."
And with that, the call ended.
Both of them sighed with relief, lowering their guard.
"Careful!"
Shiro's voice reacted on instinct.
Selina tried to turn around, but from the ground, a deformed, shadowy, sharpened arm emerged—about to pierce through her.
Calius reacted instantly. With a swift motion, he summoned his card—black with dark blue flames, an Abyssal Card that looked almost identical to Kaede's.
He threw it toward the twisted arm. It exploded immediately, producing thick smoke.
"Shiro, Kaede, you two go the other way!" Selina said urgently as she began running alongside Calius.
"Y-yes!" Kaede replied.
Kaede started running on instinct, and Shiro followed right behind her.
"Alright, Shiro, um… don't die!" she said quickly, accelerating.
He managed to keep up with her pace.
Suddenly, beside them, a helicopter tried to shine its lights down, illuminating, searching, analyzing.
"Huh…? Why is there a helicopter here?" Shiro wondered aloud without stopping.
"Um… no idea! Maybe they saw us from above!"
"They're looking for us…" Shiro murmured.
When they reached a corner, they stopped abruptly to turn.
However, on the other side, a hooded woman was walking toward them slowly. In her left hand, she held a sheathed katana.
Her presence was calm—yet defiant.
Shiro couldn't help but swallow.
"Who are you? This place should be empty," Kaede said seriously and challengingly as she stepped forward.
The hooded woman briefly looked down, then raised her gaze and stepped forward as well.
"Does it matter who I am in the final outcome…?"
Her face became partially visible. Purple eyes glowed with disdain.
"What are you doing here…? No one should be here…" Shiro murmured.
In a subtle movement, the two were about to attack each other, like an instinctive act of survival.
But behind them—
A wall suddenly exploded.
Dust filled the air.
From the broken wall emerged a shadowy being with an inhuman shape: two feet, two hands, a torso, a waist—yet completely fluid in its movements.
It crawled across the walls on all fours like something desperate.
Selina stepped out from the destroyed wall. From her black card, glowing with pink fire, she drew a completely black rifle imbued with pink flames of ether.
She raised it and aimed directly at the hooded woman.
"You're surrounded. Kneel down, and I might show mercy," she said confidently.
The woman glanced behind her briefly, as if thinking.
Then she snapped her fingers.
Immediately, the shadow creature moved across the ceiling like a spider.
Calius stepped out of the rubble as well. Quickly, he summoned his card again, drawing a black pistol infused with blue flames.
Without hesitation, he fired at the entity with bullets made of ether.
In a subtle movement, the hooded woman slipped through the shadows in an instant, as if she were one with them. She leapt forward and blocked the bullet with the sheath of her katana.
Calius dropped to the ground and stepped back.
"She's fast."
In an unpredictable instant, she appeared behind Calius, raising her katana to strike.
At the last moment, he shifted his body aside and threw a direct punch toward her pale face, catching a glimpse of her purple eyes.
He missed, hitting only the hood and knocking it off.
Her pale face and albino hair were revealed.
Calmly, she moved in front of the shadow creature that seemed more like a mistake in reality itself.
"Whoever wishes to fight… you'll have it."
Her eyes began to glow faintly within the shadows.
Selina walked smoothly to stand beside Calius.
"You… better not say anything. You're going to improvise anyway."
"How does she control the creature we were trying to capture…?" Calius murmured, ignoring her comment.
Selina launched herself directly toward the swordswoman, her rifle aimed straight at the woman's heart.
The albino didn't waste the opportunity and attempted a thrust.
Selina reacted instantly, dodging to the side. But it didn't end there. With a subtle movement, the swordswoman aimed a cut at Selina's lower abdomen.
With no quick escape, Selina tried to repel it with her glowing weapon—barely succeeding.
Less than two seconds passed before the blade moved again. Though the strikes were light due to their speed, they were clearly lethal.
"Does she think we're children…?" Calius muttered to himself.
Without hesitation, he fired his pistol toward her.
Calmly, she stepped back until she returned to where she started—standing before the shadow entity.
"Come on… I don't have time to waste."
She raised her sword.
Electricity began to emanate around her. Small sparks crackled around her body.
Selina tried to rush forward again—
But behind them, a dark card glowing with blue flames exploded into a vortex in front of the albino woman, creating a cloud of smoke.
Selina glanced back.
Kaede stood there, holding Shiro's hand, in the exact posture of having just thrown the card.
Kaede smiled, determined to fight alongside them.
"Interesting…"
With a subtle swing of her katana, the smoke vanished.
To the group's surprise, the attack had been blocked by the shadow creature. It moved aside, allowing the hooded woman to start walking toward them.
Selina and Calius raised their weapons without hesitation.
"What are you doing here—and how did you know we were here?" Selina asked with a slight smile and an authoritative tone.
"That… is none of your concern."
She launched herself toward Calius, thrusting straight at him.
Calius jumped slightly to the side. When he tried to fire, the swordswoman reacted instantly, dodging and thrusting again.
Behind them, footsteps approached quickly.
Kaede jumped forward with a smile, summoning her card again and detonating it to separate Calius from the albino swordswoman.
Confident in her attack, Kaede stepped back—
But she hadn't noticed that the swordswoman had already appeared in front of her, moving at astonishing speed.
Shiro reacted instinctively.
He rushed forward and stood in front of Kaede, summoning Alma Rigel's card.
It formed a shield that firmly blocked the katana's advance.
The swordswoman calmly looked straight at Shiro as he struggled to maintain the shield the card had promised.
Can I… predict where she'll appear? Or is it instinct…?
"Ryouji was right… it's him," she said dryly.
With a little more force, the card shattered like glass.
From the other side, Calius and Selina looked slightly surprised.
"I thought it was a bad joke when Mizuki told me about this…" Selina said, trying to sound relaxed.
Calius turned his back.
"This thing… it's standing still, but I feel like if I get distracted, it'll cut me in half," he said, staring at the shadow entity.
For a moment, everyone remained still, analyzing each other.
The swordswoman finally spoke with a firm, muted tone.
"I am Amaya. I thought you should know my name for some reason."
She slightly raised her sword.
"I come on behalf of an emissary… but I do not represent them as a Star."
Her katana began to glow with a faint purple light, while her expression remained almost empty.