Smoke and tension coiled in the underground railway station. The air buzzed with lingering embers from the earlier battle. Sparks danced over the broken tracks, illuminating Kai and Kisuke with flickers of orange light. The two stood side by side—battered, quiet, but not broken.
Kai wiped blood from his lip, staring into the dark ahead. Kisuke adjusted the blindfold over his eyes, silent as ever, his plasma blade humming faintly at his side.
"We're not far from the last signal. The red book... it has to be close," Kai muttered.
Kisuke nodded slowly. "And Adolla's getting louder. You feel it too?"
Before Kai could answer, a voice rang out—velvet, sharp, and chillingly familiar.
"Well now… looks like I'm not the only one hunting secrets."
From the shadows emerged Raina, her pristine white-clad uniform a stark contrast to the soot-streaked station. The crimson crosses on her skirt shimmered with faint energy, and her hands glowed with disciplined fire. She walked like a dancer, precise and poised.
"You two... what exactly do you know about Adolla?" she asked, her tone light but laced with danger.
Kai stepped forward. "Too much. That's why we're not telling you."
Raina's smile curled. "Shame. You're both so interesting. I thought we could share stories, maybe even trauma."
She extended a single hand, her flame igniting in a swirling sphere.
"But I guess I'll just beat it out of you."
Before Kai could react, Kisuke stepped forward, sword tilting down and back into his reversed stance.
"I got her," he said.
Raina giggled. "Oh? The blind swordsman with the bad attitude. I like your style."
Then she struck.
The first impact came as a concussive wave of flame—a barrier of force wrapped around her palm that deflected Kisuke's first swing with ease. The second blow hit harder, pushing him back across the tracks with a burst of kinetic energy. He flipped midair, landing hard, but rose without hesitation.
She kept teasing him with every counter.
"Come on, Kisuke~ you're fast, but you're not clever yet."
He attacked again—furiously—slashing at her barrier. Sparks rained. Each hit was met with a recoil of force that knocked him backward. Raina absorbed the momentum of every strike, storing the kinetic energy like a coil winding tighter.
Then, she vanished.
Kisuke caught the flare of her movement too late.
Her palm slammed into his gut—no flames, just raw heat. Fire exploded from her strike, searing through his torso in a controlled burst that sent him hurtling back, blood misting in the air.
"Kisuke!" Kai shouted, stepping forward.
But Kisuke rolled to his feet, one hand gripping his ribs.
"…Tch… that hurt."
He adjusted his grip, blade tilting again—the edge now behind him, handle forward, like a dagger held in reverse.
A new stance.
More offensive.
More dangerous.
"I'm done holding back."
His steps became faster. Sharper. His sword screamed with velocity, slashing through the flame barrier in sharper arcs. Raina blocked with swift palm deflections and graceful dodges, never missing a beat. But Kisuke was catching up. His momentum built like a rising storm.
She spun past him, palm striking toward his ribs, but he twisted and caught her wrist—then flipped over her and slashed down.
A loud crack echoed.
Her barrier—cracked.
She skidded back, eyes wide for a moment, then smiled. "Now that's more like it."
Kisuke stood still, breathing heavily, blood still trickling from his earlier wound.
Raina slowly lowered her hands. Her body shifted.
Grace replaced aggression.
She stopped attacking.
"What're you—"
Kai didn't finish the thought. Kisuke lunged one last time, blade screaming through the air—
But Raina ducked low, hands touching the ground.
And then she launched.
Her foot slammed upward, cracking the floor beneath, launching herself into the air. With elegant force, she rotated, her heel crashing into Kisuke's chest mid-lunge.
He soared upward with a gasp.
Before gravity could claim him, Raina appeared above him like a flash of moonlight through smoke. Her leg dropped in a flawless vertical arc.
"Elegance… meets execution."
Boom.
The dropkick sent Kisuke crashing into the concrete with an earth-shattering impact. Cracks spiderwebbed across the floor, and smoke plumed around the crater.
Raina landed lightly beside him, not even breathing hard.
Kai stepped in front of her, fists clenched, flame marks flickering to life again. "What do you want, Raina?"
She crouched down to look at Kisuke, who coughed up blood but smirked weakly.
"I want the same thing as you, boys," she said sweetly. "The truth behind Adolla. The secrets of the red book. The origin of the Cataclysm. But unlike you two, I don't ask nicely."
Kai clenched his jaw. "We're not going to let people like you get it."
Kisuke spat blood and pulled himself upright. "Yeah… you're not the only one who's burned by the past."
Raina tilted her head, considering them. "Good. I like a little resistance. I'll be seeing you both again."
And just like that, she vanished into smoke.
Kai and Kisuke stood in the ruined station, bodies aching but resolve stronger than ever.
"We're getting that book, and stopping the next Cataclysm. No matter who's in our way," Kai said.
Kisuke nodded. "Adolla's not done with us yet."
They walked into the dark, fire flickering at their backs.