Returning to the moment after it had all transpired, Yukie stepped toward the spot where the two had vanished. She knelt slowly, pressing her fingers against the dark stain marred into the carpet.
Closing her eyes, she focused, attempting to trace the lingering Dark Energy that had been used.
After a moment, she opened her eyes again. Her head tilted upward, turning slightly as her gaze settled on the night sky beyond the glass, where a faint moon hung quietly above.
She did not speak.
Silence lingered.
And she wondered.
Kiss X Reaper
Chapter 5: Fans of Faith
As the Divine Spell of transportation concluded, Makoto and Vasilisa landed in a new location, both immediately leaping back, creating several meters of distance between them.
They were outside.
Somewhere far removed from the Opera House.
"A blink class divine spell..."
He whispered while standing up and keeping his focus on her.
"…The countryside?" Makoto thought, his gaze sweeping across the open space.
"Is this still Osaka?"
He straightened slightly, eyes returning to her.
"Should I express my appreciation?"
he continued calmly.
"You removed us from the vicinity of civilian causality, or so I would like to assume."
"Well, well."
Vasilisa drew out her golden fan and unfolded it, lifting it to veil the lower half of her face with practiced elegance.
"I am honored by such gratitude,"
she replied sweetly.
"I am merely… following my quest of isolating you."
Her eyes remained closed, a faint smile curving beneath the fan-
taunting.
"You're really committing to that royal-lady act, aren't you…" Makoto muttered, eyes narrowed, fatigue lacing his voice.
"Well, it does seem to suit me," Vasilisa
replied lightly. "After all, what you see before you is beautifully sadistic." She hummed to herself. "If you wish, once this is over… we could even share a bed... Hm~"
Makoto let out a slow sigh and closed his eyes.
"…Alright," he whispered.
He raised his cane with his right hand. His left palm opened and slid near the handle, as though grasping an unseen sheath.
Slowly, deliberately, he drew the weapon free.
From head to tip, the cane transformed, its form unraveling into the same uniquely forged katana before, soft pink light surged along the blade.
A sharp, dense pink light began to condense around him, thickening in the air and sounded as if the wind was whistling intensely.
Natural Energy gathered around Makoto and the weapon alike, pulsing with restrained force.
He took his stance, the katana angled with intent.
"Armament Art: Ruiner Blade."
His voice rang out clear.
"We could settle this fairly, once again," Makoto said calmly.
"Or choose the more… unnecessary alternative."
"Ehh? You already want this to end?" Vasilisa replied, her tone light and teasing.
"You're being really rough with me, Mr. Shirogane~"
She slowly drew out a second golden fan from behind the one masking her face, now holding one in each hand. With a soft click, she folded the fan in her right hand. A faint smile crossed her lips as her grip tightened, the fans raised beside her head, held like twin daggers poised to strike.
Yellow light surged within and around her.
Dark Energy gathered rapidly, coating her form in a warm yet ominous glow. The fans absorbed the radiance, veins of yellow wrapping tightly around them as the light condensed thicker, denser, until it suddenly dispersed in a violent gust.
Wind rushed outward.
The golden fans had changed.
Their frames were now jagged and uniquely contoured, edges sharpened into cruel blades. The paper-thin surfaces gleamed like razors, delicate, lethal, unmistakably engineered for execution. She unfolded both fans once more, covering half of her face as before.
A soft chuckle from her slipped through the gap.
"Armament Art: Dual Fatality."
"An Armament Art… a hunter as well…"
Makoto thought, his eyes narrowing in quiet surprise.
While Makoto lingered in contemplation, Vasilisa observed him in silence.
A faint smile settled beneath her fan as a soft "hm~" escaped her lips, her gaze steady and unbroken.
"Surprised?" she asked evenly.
"That a hunter would wield Dark Energy?"
There was no mockery in her tone—only quiet assurance.
"You are all rather devoted to what has become a familiar norm," she continued.
"Natural Energy. The tranquil, acceptable path."
She lifted her hand to face level, her palm opening with deliberate grace.
"But the old legends speak differently," she said.
"When one's desire aligns deeply enough with intent particularly intent born of malice-"
"-the opposing force of nature responds."
A static spark formed within her palm.
Dark yellow light crackled softly, unstable yet controlled.
She regarded it with calm familiarity before speaking again, her voice lowered.
"Dark Energy."
"Dark Energy…"
Makoto thought.
Then, The pink aura surrounding him intensified. The light thickened, saturating the air, bleeding into the surroundings as the wind steadily grew stronger, branches shuddering, grass flattening beneath the pressure.
"Well then."
He swept the Ruiner Blade to his side. The katana surged with deep pink Natural Energy, its glow sharpened and deliberate.
"How much would it take," Makoto continued, voice calm yet probing,
"for me to understand your reason?"
He glanced at her through the haze of light, a faint smile forming, not of arrogance, but of curiosity. Of recognition.
"Wielding Dark Energy is… exceptional," he added.
"Your philosophy must be terrifying, hm."
Vasilisa did not answer at once.
Silence stretched.
Then-- she smiled.
Her right hand rotated the fan upside down, palm turned upward. With a gentle, almost graceful flick, she swept the fan skyward. The motion was soft. Almost polite.
Makoto's eyes sharpened.
He moved-
-but too late.
An immense surge of yellow wind erupted from beneath the ground, violent and absolute. The force tore upward, swallowing Makoto whole and hurling him high above the treetops, the shockwave rattling the vast surrounding and sending tremors rippling through the surrounding landscape.
"Mercy's Fall: Death From Beneath."
Her voice rang out, clear, composed.
Makoto was suspended high above, dragged by the roaring current of wind.
Below, Vasilisa stood with her fan raised, posture immaculate, as if she had merely gestured,
and the world had obeyed.
She moved.
Vasilisa stepped to the side with effortless elegance, spinning lightly as she extended her right arm- golden fan pointed directly at Makoto. The world behind her bled into white, the moment stretching, slowing, and the moment itself had paused to listen.
"I wish to see it for myself," she said softly, her tone playful yet cutting.
"Just how renowned a legendary hunter you truly are, Shirogane Makoto~"
Her eyes gleamed.
"An existence that has endured beyond a hundred years is… craving."
The final word settled.
Then--
A massive but thin and precise pillar of sharp yellow energy erupted from the ground, its pointed form tearing through the surrounding and shaking the entire area as it surged upward toward Makoto.
"Mercy's Fall: Edge of the End."
Her voice remained calm. Almost gentle.
The pillar screamed toward him at immense sound-breaking speed, moments away from piercing his body midair-
-and then, everything went black.
"Hm."
Makoto's voice echoed quietly.
Pink light carved itself into the darkness.
The surface of the towering spike fractured as vivid pink streaks tore across it.
"Petal Dance: Third Fold - Sakura Break."
In a sudden burst of overwhelming speed, Makoto descended, slashes of pink light ripping through the structure. The pillar shattered, cleaved apart by cascading arcs of energy as he tore straight through it, driving forward toward Vasilisa.
Their weapons met.
Steel and fan collided in a violent clash, Makoto's katana halted by Vasilisa's twin blades. The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward.
They locked in place.
Fan against blade.
Blade against fan.
At arm's length, their eyes met, intensity burning between them as neither yielded, frozen in a moment of perfect opposition.
A standoff was amidst.
The world, held its breath.