The three agents of the Fuyumi family looked at Kaito with contempt.
They were all wearing black suits with jackets and ties. Two of them were men, visibly older and more corpulent than the boy.
The third agent, however, was a woman: pink hair tied in a high ponytail, eyes of the same color, lips painted a vivid red.
«I'm warning you, I don't have time to waste. Get out of my way,» Kaito said in a cold tone.
The woman took a step forward.
«You sneaked in here... putting the Chizuro sum auction at risk...» she whispered, lowering her gaze.
Then she lifted her face. Her eyes shone with rage.
«I'll kill you for this!»
Without any warning, she sprang forward and launched a powerful kick.
Kaito saw it just in time and, with effort, managed to block the leg with his arm.
—He's strong!— he thought, spinning on himself to counterattack.
The blades hissed a few centimeters from the woman's face.
Suddenly, Kaito saw the other two men move behind him.
The girl ducked with surprising agility, while her companions struck the boy's chest.
His body was hurled backward, crashing into the wooden desk, which splintered under the impact.
The papers resting on it began to flutter through the air.
Kaito ended up on the floor, his back against the office window. The glass vibrated dangerously, as if a single blow would send it shattering.
The woman regarded his body coldly.
«Take him. We'll bring him to one of the cages on the lower floors.»
The two companions said nothing. They silently obeyed the order.
«Understood.»
A voice stopped them.
The girl turned to Kaito.
«So you're still conscious, then.»
«You said you wanted to kill me, but you won't...»
Kaito rose slowly, his gaze shadowed.
«You received orders to capture me alive. That's why you haven't activated your spirits yet.»
He smiled, self-assured.
«I'm still sore from the fight with Akizame, so I thought you were really strong...» he said, glancing at the blades. «...but it's me who hasn't fully recovered yet.»
«Enough with the crap, kid!» one of the two men snarled, raising his hand to grab him.
But Kaito vanished.
«Where did he go?!» the woman exclaimed, astonished, looking around.
«AARGH!»
A scream of pain tore the silence, echoing throughout the room.
It came from the man who a moment before had tried to strike Kaito.
His companions ran to him, eyes wide.
«What the hell...?!»
His hands had been cut off cleanly. Blood poured out, tracing crimson streaks across the floor.
—I won't let you win,— a strong, steady voice was heard behind them.
«You…!!» the woman spun around.
«Spirit Slayer: Pressure Mode.»
Once again, the light of the Spirit Slayer enveloped the blades. And, for the first time, it also wrapped around Kaito's body.
—Instead of concentrating the spiritual energy only in the blades, I made it be absorbed by my body as well... Now I can move as I please,— he thought, watching the energy enshroud him.
«What do we do?» the man asked, supporting his unconscious companion under the shoulder.
«Leave him there,» the girl said, her voice filled with fury.
«Do you want him to bleed to death?» he asked, taken aback.
«Our task was to capture that guy. Now it's no longer possible to do so.» She watched the energy surrounding Kaito.
«So use your spirit and help me kill him. For the sake of the Chizuro sum.» She stared at him with a cold look. «Or die.»
The man did not reply. He simply laid his companion gently on the ground, then took his place at the girl's side.
«I've told Chizuro Fuyumi as well... and I'll repeat it to you: I won't tolerate people like you.» Kaito's voice was steady, as sharp as his blades.
Suddenly, the shadows of the two enemies writhed, trembling as if alive. From the darkness, two presences emerged.
«Amane, spirit of illusion.»
From the girl's shoulders rose a diaphanous figure, transparent like glass. She had the appearance of a young woman, but her features seemed blurred, mutable, as if reality itself struggled to define her.
«Raiga, spirit of lightning.»
Behind the man rose a creature whose body was wrapped in pulsing electric discharges.
A short while later, the clash began.
«Come on, Raiga!»
The man thrust out his arm, and a bolt of lightning sprang from his hand, slicing through the air.
Kaito moved like never before: he leapt high and, mid-air, spun on himself, nimbly shifting toward the wall to his left.
The bolt struck the entrance door dead-on, reducing it to ash.
Kaito landed without losing time and lunged at the man with incredible speed.
He dodged every lightning strike with agile, calculated movements, brushing past the lethal energy by mere moments.
—This kid is strong...— the man's spirit murmured as he intensified the flow of spiritual energy.
Kaito avoided the final bolt with an elegant slide along the floor.
When he found himself right beneath the enemy's neck, he sprang up like lightning. His blade was a few centimeters from striking the target.
«Amane, reflect!»
From the girl, a crystalline barrier formed in an instant and interposed itself between them.
—A barrier?— Kaito stared at it for a moment, surprised, as its surface began to gleam.
«It's reflecting the strike!»
Realizing at the last moment what was about to happen, Kaito leaped back. A second later, the barrier exploded in a flash of light.
The woman moved with surprising agility.
«Amane: Crystal Dagger!»
From her hand sprang a dagger of the purest glass.
Kaito intercepted the blow decisively, crossing his blade with his wakizashi.
The blades clashed with a dry, metallic sound. A flurry of slashes followed: with each impact sparks flew, lighting up the air.
Meanwhile, the girl's companion held a pulsating lightning bolt in his palm.
He streaked forward with impressive speed, aiming for Kaito's side.
«You're finished!!»
The air vibrated with electricity as he prepared to unleash his full power.
Kaito reacted instinctively.
With the wakizashi in his left hand he pierced the enemy's forearm, while with the other he blocked the glass blade.
With a surge, he sent the woman flying backward toward the small table. Then he pivoted, striking the other opponent squarely in the face with a side kick that hurled him away.
—Good... I got this...—
But just at the moment he thought he'd taken him down, Raiga materialized behind him, striking him with an electric punch as large as Raiga's own body.
Kaito was overwhelmed by the impact, crashing to the ground a few meters away and shattering the office tiles, while the spirit's wielder smashed against the bookshelf a meter from them.
Raiga looked at his trembling hands, noticing that he was slowly disappearing.
«He's lost consciousness...» Raiga looked toward the wielder.
He turned to the woman. «It's your turn to finish him now...»
The girl watched him as he vanished, retreating into his companion's shadow.
«Don't get distracted,» Amane told him.
The girl whipped around.
«You again!»
Kaito got back to his feet. His head bled, his suit jacket was now in tatters, but the energy of the Spirit Slayer still surrounded him.