Kaito let himself collapse to the ground. His breathing was heavy, uneven.
—Have I bought myself a few minutes?— he thought, lifting his gaze to the gap in the ceiling through which a faint light trickled.
The sound of footsteps distracted him.
"Kaito!"
Yume ran toward him, jumping down from the ruined stage.
She knelt beside him, hands trembling.
"Are you okay!?" Her voice was full of concern.
"Yeah, come on… sort of." He tried to smile, even though pain still ran through him from head to toe.
Yume stared at him, then shook her head.
"Now I'll regenerate your arm. Stay still," she murmured, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't do it!" He grabbed her wrist.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her voice tense.
Kaito looked at her for a moment, then shook his head.
"Keep that little energy you have left… save it to get them out."
He stared at her with serious eyes. "There are still several enemies, and I… I can't go with you."
"You can't come? What are you talking about?"
Kaito slowly raised his head, his teeth clenched. "It's not over yet."
"If I don't take it out of the game, it will hunt us. Then no one will truly be safe."
Suddenly, a golden light began to filter through the opening above them. A subtle vibration ran through the air, growing more intense.
Yume's eyes widened. "You're telling me it's still conscious?!"
"Yume, go. Take them all with you." Kaito watched the group of terrified people still huddled together.
The girl tightened her fists. "I trusted you before… and I will again." She stared straight into his eyes. "Remember, you said you'd survive."
Then she spun on her heel and ran toward the prisoners.
"Come on! This way!" she shouted, pointing to the exit between the ruined stands.
The crowd began to move, disordered, flowing past Kaito like a raging river.
The boy lowered his head, watching his blades.
For a moment, everything else seemed to fall silent: only the beat of his heart and a golden glow that slowly grew above him.
The air vibrated.
Something was about to return.
Yume, amid the fleeing crowd, slowed her pace.
Her gaze fell on Kagura's unconscious body, lying among the rubble.
Without a word, she bent down and lifted her in her arms.
Kaito, seeing this, said nothing. He understood her choice and did not stop her.
When all the prisoners were now far away, Yume turned one last time.
"—Good luck.—"
Kaito remained still. His breathing slow. Now he was alone.
From above, a figure descended slowly through the crack in the ceiling, wrapped in golden light.
Chizuro had returned.
"So… that was your trump card, huh?" Kaito spoke with a hoarse voice, eyes fixed on his opponent.
The woman did not answer. The aura around her was so intense it distorted the air.
Her skin radiated an almost blinding glow.
To defeat Kaito, Chizuro had done the unthinkable: She had transmuted her own body into gold.
Kaito rose to his feet.
—Spirit Slayer: Pressure Mode—
The aura around him flared again.
"Even after I show you this, you stubbornly still use that technique?" Chizuro's tone was haughty.
"This is my limit." He smiled in a strained, defiant way.
"I'll wipe that smile off your face!"
Golden whips formed from her hands, while golden tentacles rose slowly behind her, ready to strike.
The calm lasted only a few seconds.
Kaito moved, and a violent gust of air marked his attack.
—I can't fight as I usually do… not with only one arm.—
His mind raced, searching for a strategy as the golden tentacles plunged into the ground in an attempt to strike him.
With a sudden leap, he managed to slice through the air and hit Chizuro's belly with his blade, before falling heavily to the ground.
The slash failed to pierce the golden skin.
"That all you've got?"
The woman's voice cut through the silence, and in an instant Kaito's leg was wrapped in golden filaments.
—No!—
His body was lifted from the ground, trapped like a marionette.
With almost maniacal precision, Chizuro hurled him against the walls of the White Place, again and again.
"So, now you don't laugh anymore?!" she taunted.
Kaito gritted his teeth.
"Spirit Slayer!" The attack shredded the golden threads.
Freed, his body tumbled onto the rubble.
As soon as he raised his head, Chizuro was already on him. With force, she struck his chest.
"Khff!" Blood filled his mouth, staining her golden arm.
"Disgusting!" she snarled, continuing to beat him.
A barrage of fast, powerful blows rained down on Kaito, who couldn't even react.
Each impact made the floor tremble, and the sound of metal against flesh echoed through the ruined White Place.
Then, silence.
Kaito remained motionless for a moment, breath short. His blades were still with him: one clenched in his hand, the other held between his teeth.
He staggered but did not release his grip.
Chizuro lifted her hand calmly. "We're finished."
The golden tentacles smashed down on him, crushing him.
The impact reverberated around the room.
Chizuro stood still.
As a strange sensation crept down her spine.
Suddenly, a dense, dark energy like smoke took shape behind her.
Before her eyes a figure wrapped in a shadowed cloak began to take form; a helmet of the same material covered its face.
When it turned, the silhouette seemed to solidify in the blinding light of the White Place.
"A… a knight?!" she mumbled, taking a step back.
The figure did not answer.
It began to advance toward her with measured steps.
A muffled sound started to emerge from it, which gradually became clearer.
"I… will not allow… you… to kill my King…" A discharge of spiritual energy filled the knight.
From his right hand, a shaft of shadow rose.
The knight calmly placed the boy's body on the ground.
Once again, Chizuro received no answer.
The figure began to stride toward her with determined steps.