His steps were fast and desperate, moving through the hallway at full speed.Kaede kicked aside everything in her path as she advanced—chairs, tables—anything that got in her way within the darkness, while Shiro followed behind through the mess she left.
Trying to keep up, Shiro pushed himself to run faster. His chest felt relatively cold due to the environment, his loose green jacket fluttering from the speed, a faint layer of sweat forming at his neck.At one moment, the wall beside him shattered, revealing the shadowy entity. It stretched its hand toward them like claws, releasing a sharp, piercing roar.
Shiro stepped forward, extending the palm of his right hand while gripping his wrist with his left. He invoked Alma Rigel's card, managing to halt its advance for a moment, feeling a sharp sting shoot through his arm.
Kaede slid to his side and hurled her card at the shadow. It struck, producing a small explosion that released a faint smoke as the air pushed outward from the impact.
Kaede and Shiro kept moving, but the shadow began chasing them with visible rage, crawling along walls and ceiling toward them, its movements echoing with each rapid step.
—"Down, now!" a male voice shouted sharply from behind.
Kaede didn't hesitate. She grabbed Shiro's arm and threw both of them to the ground.
At that instant, an elongated sphere glowing with ether energy—a dark blue flash—was fired at the entity, lighting up the hallway for a brief second. But the shot was repelled, bouncing away like a ball.
Behind them stood Calius, the one who had fired the attack. He let out a quiet sigh, holding his pistol with both hands.
—"It deflects ether attacks like nothing…"
Beside him, everything began to glow faintly in a purple hue as he stared at a massive wall of crystal.
—"…Impossible…"
he muttered, his vision being overwhelmed by the light.
From outside, a beam coated in purple descended rapidly from the cloudy sky. Just as it was about to break through the crystal, Selina stepped in front of Calius, head held high, summoning her pink card and enlarging it like a mold before detonating it.The attacks collided violently.
The lightning continued descending endlessly—something monstrous before them.
From afar, Shiro had to shut his eyes against the violent wind generated by the clash. His black hair whipped around him uncontrollably.
Behind Kaede, a shadow moved swiftly, slithering forward like a serpent, raising a katana glowing with charged ether—
Acting on pure instinct, Shiro lunged toward Kaede, forcibly extending his ring, revealing the shining thread. The katana and thread collided, producing a sharp clash.
From behind Amaya—the attacker—the shadow monster lunged at Shiro, its claws grabbing his shoulders as it threw itself onto him.
Both of them fell through the crystal shattered by the lightning's impact.
Immediately, the other three reacted, rushing toward the broken opening—but she wouldn't let them pass, raising her sword once more.
Outside the building, it was freezing. Despite his position, Shiro couldn't stop his body from shivering from time to time.
"How am I supposed to… get back up…"
Shiro was suspended in the air, his ring clinging like an annoying parasite to the shadow creature that clung to the crystal walls.The creature regarded him as something defenseless as it began moving across the surface. Shiro swung awkwardly, trying to keep the thread from slipping.
His body swayed midair due to the creature's erratic movements.
"This… is too high. I need to climb back up and help…"
Shiro pressed one of the ring's buttons quickly. The sudden pull toward the beast startled him slightly, his heart pounding at a pace that matched the danger of the situation.
Still—this was his chance.
Shiro summoned Alma Rigel's card and pushed it toward the monster with everything he had. The impact shifted it slightly—just enough to shatter the crystal and send both of them back inside.
Shiro got up quickly, checking that no shards had injured him—but his relief didn't last long.
The entity appeared behind him, its hand rising like a claw, ready to strike.
From behind, Kaede grabbed Shiro with one arm. With the other, she summoned her card and detonated it in front of the monster.
—"Seriously… this thing just won't go down!"
Kaede shouted with irritation as she started running in the opposite direction, Shiro following her.
—"Uh… how are we going to—"
—"The goal now is to get out. We didn't plan for some sword-wielding lunatic to show up."
—"Lunatic with a sword… are you insulting me?"
—"E-eh?"
Beside Kaede stood her—eyes gleaming with a predatory gaze, sword raised.
After a small leap, Kaede summoned her card and forced it forward. Card and blade collided.
The shadow entity was about to intervene, advancing nonstop—but Selina appeared, casually shifting her rifle with one hand to block the claw, smiling faintly as she held the clash.
At that same moment, Calius appeared at her side, summoning his card and detonating it among them. By this point, all the furniture was sent flying from the impacts.
Shiro moved into the smoke, breathing heavily from the strain. Spotting Kaede disoriented inside, he grabbed her hand and, using the ring with his other hand, released the thread and pulled them both out.
—"Honestly… I was given just one task. I'll complete it."
Amaya said, walking forward, watching them run as she raised her sword once more. Outside, the sky began to glow faintly.
But before she could attack, a gunshot rang out behind her, forcing Amaya to block the bullet and abandon her preparation.
Selina advanced beside Calius, glancing at him sideways.
—"Hey… we're in trouble…"
she said, her expression turning slightly serious.
Calius returned the glance without fully losing focus.
—"Go with them. I'll follow after I beat her… or at least buy time."
Selina laughed lightly as she stepped forward firmly toward Amaya.
—"You don't have permission to die."
—"…I know."
In an instant, both Calius and Selina moved past Amaya. Forced into a quick decision, she raised her sword toward Calius. He frowned in concentration and blocked the strike with his card, causing a violent clash.
In the streets of Solarin, people were running. Vehicles crashed into one another. Chaos spread.Part of the metropolis was being evacuated immediately, as the battle inside the building was impossible to ignore.
But through the megaphones, one message echoed:
"The massacre has returned."
They kept advancing without stopping, explosions trailing behind them. Selina held back the entity as best as she could, trying to determine what made it so invulnerable to cards.
Shiro and Kaede finally reached the last staircase leading to the rooftop. Kaede stretched with a relieved groan, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.
—"Finally… fresh air. The fight's just getting started!"
she said with a defiant tone, staring at the cloudy sky.
[…]
Shiro's gaze drifted slightly. The full moon was faintly hidden behind the clouds…
The calm didn't last.
Selina burst onto the rooftop, panting. Before fully arriving, she fired a warning shot behind her, then rushed to stand beside Kaede and Shiro.
—"This… we're in trouble. Maybe this fight isn't ours."
—"Did you beat that dog?!" Kaede asked.
—"Dog…? Ah, right. Seems like what made it invulnerable was staying close to that Amaya. It just dissolved when I moved the fight to another hallway."
—"I see…"
Selina laughed faintly, but then her expression grew serious.
—"Calius is still down there, we shou—"
The rooftop suddenly shattered in part, clouds of dust rising and obscuring their vision.
At that moment, Calius was launched upward from below as if he had just been struck—but he stabilized himself midair.
Amaya followed, propelling herself from the rubble toward him, ready to finish him with a single thrust.
Calius opened his eyes slightly, looking at her calmly with his dark blue gaze. Slowly, he raised his right hand toward the moon and whispered over Solarin—
—"Mass destruction…"
He released his card between two fingers. It shattered upon colliding with Amaya's blade—
…but her eyes widened for a brief second as she realized—
The card exploded violently. A blast of blue fire surged outward, nearly reaching Selina, who shielded her face against the force of the wind.
—"Good! Now's the moment!" Kaede exclaimed excitedly, grabbing Shiro's wrist and forcing him to run toward Amaya as she fell toward the rooftop. Amaya glanced at them from the corner of her eye.
—"Two dependent abyssal card users, a bearer of the hunt using it cheaply, half of a walker… why are so many special and foolish people gathered to face me?"
Amaya, indifferent, tightened her grip on her sword and raised it toward Kaede.
Shiro quickly stepped in front of her, summoning Alma Rigel's card, trying to block the advance. He swallowed hard, facing such a presence head-on.
"This guy… is far too weak. But he knows how to move."
Amaya shifted slightly to the side, but Shiro instinctively tried to grab the wrist holding her sword.
"…Sorry?"
Like a shadow, Amaya slid to the opposite side, momentarily incredulous at Shiro's movement. In an instant, she appeared beside him, raising her sword like a monster.
A faint sound of a card being raised echoed as Selina used her rifle to block the strike.
Amaya used her purple card to stop the bullet.
—"Naive. You're wea—"
Behind Amaya, a rifle materialized in midair and fired at her. Selina smirked slightly as she stepped back.
Amaya blocked the shot with ease—but in the next instant, eight more rifles surrounded her, floating in the air, all aimed at once.
Reacting on instinct, Amaya attempted to retreat—
All rifles fired simultaneously.
From a nearby rooftop, a black eye blinked slowly, while the other—white—remained open with unwavering determination. Two eyes of different tones.
—"The target is close. I won't give in."
His slightly long black hair swayed gently with the wind. He crouched down, exhaling calmly.
—"My friends… the time has come. Come forth…"
Shadows began to surround him, as if devouring him. The wind spiraled around his figure, his black coat fluttering constantly.