Charred timber crackled around the plaza, the dawn-light still the colour of bruises. Yoshinori, Itsuki, Ryuji, Aira, Hiroki, Rei, Akima and Daichi knelt in a ragged ring where Tetsuo lay. A crust of half-frozen blood puckered the diagonal wound that split from his chin to the edge of his ruined brow; Yuki’s ice seal kept it from weeping but could not staunch the slow, worrying pulse that shuddered in his throat. Aira finished wrapping the last strip of linen around Ryuji’s ribs. “That’ll hold for an hour, maybe two,” she said, voice raw from over-use of healing. Her hands shook as she tightened the knot. “After that, you need proper mending. Preferably by Yumi, and in a clean bed, not a battlefield.” Ryuji managed a grin that instantly turned to a cough. “Can’t argue with a medic.” He swung a worried glance at Tetsuo. “But he’ll never make the ride if we don’t move soon.” Itsuki pressed both palms above Tetsuo’s heart, light flickering uselessly, then fading. “I… I’ve got nothing left,” she whispered, tears tracking the grime on her cheeks. What good is a healer who can’t heal? Hiroki’s gaze never left the distant blur of Kaito and Tsubasa. Sparks flared each time steel met kunai, but the exchanges were so fast they looked like stuttering star-bursts. “Hard to believe anyone moves that quick,” he muttered, half awe, half frustration. “If Kaito loses, we’re finished.” “We can help by finding the others,” Yoshinori cut in, forcing calm. Lightning flickered between his fingers, more reflex than threat. “Aiko, Yuki, Sora, they’re still out there with those assassins. Daichi and I can search.” Daichi nodded, flexing the bandaged gash in his thigh. “Wind’ll carry me faster than most. Point the direction, Akima.” Akima’s violet eyes glazed for a heartbeat as she probed the psychic haze. Sweat pearled on her brow. “Their auras are scattered… but I touched them.” She swallowed. “Sora is corrupted, Yuki dropped him with some kind of ice concussion. She’s alone with the scythe-wielder… Renjiro, the one Akira warned us about.” Her voice shook. “And Aiko’s aura is bleeding fear. She’s trading blows with a woman named Reina. Rot magic. Aiko’s face, it’s… burnt.” Rei’s jaw tightened. “Locations, Akima.” “I can’t pinpoint, Tsubasa’s portals warped the street grid.” She clenched her temples. “I’m sorry.” Yoshinori exhaled sharply. “Then we triangulate the old-fashioned way. Itsuki and I sweep north; Rei, Daichi and Hiroki take west. We shout the second we spot them.” “Leaving Tetsuo?” Itsuki asked, voice barely audible. “I’ll stay,” Aira answered, squeezing Itsuki’s shoulder. “He needs monitoring. You guys go. Bring our people back.” Itsuki wiped her eyes, steeling herself. “All right,” she whispered. Rising, she let go of Tetsuo’s frost-coated hand. “You hang on, dummy. We’ll get help.” Daichi’s wind swelled, carrying ash and the smell of salt. “Time’s bleeding,” he growled. “Let’s move.” Rei turned once more toward the duelling titans, one blur of silver, one of violet, then back to the shattered streets that hid their friends. “Find them,” she ordered, calm and lethal. “And pray we’re not too late.” Itsuki kept glancing down the ruined boulevard, toward the spot where Shunjiro had vanished into Tsubasa’s portal. Her hands twisted in the hem of her tunic, knuckles white. “Yoshinori… What if he dropped Shun somewhere miles away? What if he’s hurt?” Yoshinori paused, lightning still sparking faintly across his fingertips. He laid a steady hand on her shoulder. “Listen, Shunjiro’s disappearance is a problem for later, not now. Portal-boy didn’t fling him into the ocean for fun, he needs Shun alive. That buys our captain time.” “But-” “If we all get carved up here, we won’t be around to pull him back,” Yoshinori interrupted, meeting her eyes. “Suzu, Renjiro, that rot mage… they’re the immediate threat. We end this fight, gather the wounded, then hunt Shunjiro down together. It’s the only order that makes sense.” Itsuki drew a shaky breath, letting the logic settle her racing heart. “You’re right. Shun would punch me for losing focus.” A faint smile tugged at Yoshinori’s lips. “Exactly. So we survive first. Rescue later.” He gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze before turning to rejoin Daichi. “Let’s make sure there’s a ‘we’ left to do the rescuing.” The tiles beneath Kaito’s boots vibrated as spatial seams split open behind Tsubasa, one after another until twenty oval portals shimmered like violet mirrors in the dawn light. Kaito’s pupils shrank. Twenty? What’s he- Tsubasa answered the unfinished thought with a lazy flick of his wrist. Hundreds of kunai erupted from the rifts in a glittering, spiralling storm, their trajectories criss-crossing in a lethal lattice headed straight for Kaito. For half a heartbeat the world fell silent. Then Kaito sank his weight, exhaled, and clicked his katana back into its sheath. Steel rang like a struck bell. In a blur only the keenest eye could follow, he drew, slashed, sheathed, and drew again, each arc deflecting a fan of blades. Sparks burst outward with every parry, the kunai ricocheting into walls, ground, and empty sky. His silhouette became a strobing outline of motion, arms blurring, boots grinding furrows in the fractured street. But Tsubasa’s barrage was endless. A trio of knives slipped the defense, grazing Kaito’s shoulder, hip, and ribs. Crimson blossomed through his chest. He hissed but didn’t falter, driving the last wave of kunai into the dirt with a sweeping side-cut. The storm spent itself in ringing echoes. Tsubasa’s smirk widened. “I win.” A thin line of blood trickled down Kaito’s side, but it wasn’t the crimson that worried him. Where the kunai had nicked his flesh, the skin around each cut was already paling to an unhealthy gray, the flesh prickling with ice-cold numbness. Poison … Paralytic, judging by how fast the burn is spreading. Tsubasa always prepares a second blade. Kaito’s heartbeat hammered as the toxin seeped into his system, stealing strength with every pulse. He gritted his teeth, forcing his stance to stay tall, katana angled for a counter even while his fingers tingled and his footing began to blur. He planned this, made me burn my speed, then laced the gaps with venom. Clever, Kaito thought, tasting iron on his tongue. He gathered what was left of his focus, ready for the finishing strike-but the Spatial Reaper merely sighed, lowering his arm. “Fascinating as this has been, Kaito,” he said, genuine regret threading his tone, “I have other matters to attend to.” With a casual pivot he traced a vertical arc, tearing reality open into a swirling indigo gateway. He glanced back over his shoulder, eyes glinting. “Remember the name Eclipsed Abyss. We’ll finish this another time.” And with that, Tsubasa stepped through the portal; it sealed behind him like ink in water, leaving only the ringing hush of emptied space and the metallic scent of Kaito’s spilled blood. Renjiro’s crimson-edged scythe spun once, then settled across his back as a dark-rimmed portal unfurled behind him. He raked a hand through his slicked-back hair, studying Yuki with a half-smile that made her skin crawl. “Impressive composure,” he said, voice smooth as silk. “You kept your friend alive and forced me to work for every swing. Few C-rankers can claim that.” Yuki steadied her breathing, frost still dancing around her fingertips. “Stay where you are,” she warned, though her knees threatened to buckle. Renjiro only chuckled. “Another time, Ice Blossom. Train hard, I’d hate our next meeting to be boring.” He dipped his head in a mock bow, then stepped backward into the void. The portal folded shut, leaving nothing but the faint scent of iron and seawind. Across the shattered plaza, Aiko fought to keep her vision clear, every breath made the rot-scar on her cheek throb like living fire. Reina stalked forward, decay spiraling from her fingertips, when a second portal yawed open behind the Rot-Bearer. Reina paused, casting Aiko a lingering, satisfied look. “Such a pity,” she purred, eyes gleaming. “Those lovely features of yours, now everyone will see the agony you hide.” She tapped her own cheek in imitation of the burn, smirked, and drifted through the swirling gateway. It sealed with a hiss, taking the stench of corruption with it. Aiko’s nails dug into her palms. Remember that voice… I’ll carve the grin off her face next time. Near the broken clock tower, Suzu’s unconscious form lay cradled in twisted rubble. Blood-tinted light pooled beneath her as a third portal opened soundlessly. Tendrils of scarlet energy lifted the corrupted woman, drawing her into the vortex like a marionette on invisible strings. In a heartbeat she was gone, the gateway snapping shut with a muted thud of displaced air. And then, silence. The red clouds parted, letting pure morning light spill over the ravaged coastline. Fires guttered out; the fetid tang of blood began to fade beneath a salt breeze. Survivors stared at the empty streets where monsters and assassins had stood moments before, scarcely daring to believe the nightmare had passed. The sun climbed higher, casting long, hopeful beams across toppled stone and cooling sand. At last, the longest night was truly over.