Cassandra, a young woman who was part of Apollo's studies, is now working for Elizabeth, along with her brother, a young man with long brown hair, Heleno.
Hana, a young woman who has a connection with Apollo because of her father, Igor, a scientist who disappeared 5 years ago.
What connects these two? What could it be? The answer lies right in the middle between them. Shizuko, a young woman who has lost her memory, and her lack of memory leaves Cassandra and Hana trapped in a cage, the most resistant of all: that of hatred.
— You two don't need to fight! Cassandra only showed her affection to me.
— No fucking way! She laughed in my face! I'm not letting this go.
"If that's the case, Elizabeth and Mary, Hana and I, could we settle our differences? I think a friendly duel would be nice, since we'll be joining forces to defeat Typhon."
"The truth, sister. That was one of the reasons we came here. You know those two Echidnas that attacked here? They came at the behest of Typhon. It seems he wants to become the king of men again. Of course, Apollo won't let that happen. That's why I need you."
— I'm not going to fall for that bullshit, make your offerings and tell me more.
"The kids will interrupt our conversation. So the fight is good exercise for them. Barbie, I mean, Shizuko, do you want to go see it too?"
— This is crazy! Why fight out of nowhere? And because of me? No need, Hana!
— I accept the duel, Cassandra.
Elizabeth calmly got up from the chair, directed her hands to the floor, from which a black Door gradually emerged.
— Do you want me to provide the weapons, Cassandra?
"No need. Heleno can already create weapons with his skill. Save the rest of the shadows in case Typhon's Echidnas attack again."
"Honey, I'll serve you both while you talk. I stopped by Amelia's room; she's still asleep. Listen to your sister! She has very important things to say."
"I forget you're the one who set this all up. Okay, Shizuko, go with them. You and Heleno are calm people, not hotheaded like those two stubborn people. Go now! The sooner this is over, the more profit I'll make!"
Hana threw her apron on the table, as did Shizuko. Cassandra opened the door, and Heleno entered after her. Shizuko tried to peer inside, but before she could see anything, Cassandra pulled her away. Hana followed suit and closed the door.
The darkness was the walls, the room, the spectators, the objects that made it beautiful. Even so, it wasn't that dark. Cassandra took off her suit and threw it on the floor, snapped her fingers, and everything was illuminated, giving the shape of a ballroom.
— Why did Eliza turn this place into a salon?
"So you've been here before? That's right." He bit his lip. "When you were alive, you were Elizabeth's subordinate, right?"
"No, I'm different from you, Salaryman. You've been friends with Elizabeth since you were little." She pointed at Cassandra. "I'm even more special than you think."
"Then we can't fight. It's wrong to beat up a retard." He winked at Shizuko. "Then I'll catch up with my close friend."
— Heleno, give them the weapons right away, before I get them!
— What weapon do you prefer?
— The usual, halberd.
— There's a bug in front of me, give me a war hammer.
The young man with long brown hair closed his eyes, recited something softly, and in one hand appeared a war hammer and in the other a halberd. He threw the halberd hard to the ground, catching its tip, and slammed the hammer into the ground, creating a small crater.
— Let's go over the rules: don't kill each other. You can both use your Dual Memory abilities, but none that can lead to death. The duel ends when one of your weapons breaks.
— What do you mean until the weapons break?
— Shizuko, the weapon was made based on Dual Memory, there is a time limit on how much Dual Memory skill the weapon can concentrate. And also, if your opponent holds the weapon's pose for more than 5 seconds, theirs will break. It's an anti-kill measure—if Hana wants to kill me or steal my weapon, it will break it.
— I'm not here for nothing, what will the prize be?
"I know. If Cassandra wins, she can talk to Mamoru for a bit. If Hana wins, I'll go on a date with her. Go on, get started!"
Did they position themselves at the ends of the room, because they had plenty of space for their best waltz steps? Also, but they would use their weapons as partners, which were in the middle of both.
— Oh Mamoru, I miss you so much! I'm really pissed at you, so I'm going to take it out on that body parasite you call a sister.
—Be quiet, I need to concentrate, so I don't kill you. I'm already thinking about the future, where my meeting with Shizuko will be, it doesn't matter now!
Each of them went to a corner. The young woman had a habit of biting her lip when she was thinking about something, making her mouth bleed a little from the piercing. If she found herself far from her weapon, she still planned the best way to reach her opponent.
Not just maniacal, but maniacal in itself, she had already reached the weapons. With unparalleled strength, she held the halberd in one hand and used her shoulder to support the hammer. She stopped in front of Cassandra, far from her, her rings glinting. In a darts-playing pose, she threw the scale-covered halberd toward her opponent, so crazy that she had found the most idiotic strategy to win this battle.
With the hot taste in his mouth, he advanced toward the spear, already knowing what Hana intended to do, but she wouldn't let him. With each step closer, he rationalized more, in his mind understanding how the entire battle would unfold.
Hana would take advantage of the weapon's time limit for using Dual\Memory to use types of skills that weren't attacks, but rather defenses, these having an almost infinite duration, so she covered the Albarda with scales and threw it in his direction.
Hana covered her body in a layer of fire, which, upon reaching the halberd, would destroy the scales, and it did. In a swift movement, she positioned herself diagonally, arched her arms, leaped into the air, and embedded the flames in her halberd, creating a wave of energy that shot toward Hana.
The hammer slammed into the fireball. "You better not let that halberd get too far away from you, or too close."
His feet found the ground. —noted. Why don't you come to me? You'll be at a disadvantage.
The two watched each other, one biting her lip a little too hard, the other yawning. On the other side of the door, the light shone brightly, and the wind seemed to bring someone straight from the sky with red wings.
— Arachnes and Moiras, I can't feed on flesh, how sad. — He folded his wings, pulled up a chair, and sat next to Elizabeth.
"Remember that guinea pig I took from you? So she's here by my side, and she's become Apollo's ally. She's under the care of the twins Cassandra and Heleno."
— Where are my companions?
"The truth." Elizabeth snapped her fingers, and the door opened. "They're testing Igor's daughter's abilities. Want to see?"
His body, covered by a long cloak, moved quickly, so frantically that what was covering it fell to the floor as he walked through the door.