Location: The Stadium's Plaza

  Time of Day: Morning

  Lumina stood perfectly still, her twin katanas lowered at her sides. The aura of her Elegant Form shimmered faintly around her body, her eyes narrowing into a calm, unshakable stare. The Siren's laughter faltered, her lullaby breaking into a shaky note as a flicker of fear crossed her face.

  "Come on little Siren," Lumina said coldly, her voice firm and commanding as it cut across the plaza. "You're not afraid to face me... are you?" She leveled one of her katanas at the Echo.

  The Bloodspore Siren tilted her head, the fungal roots around her twisting as the skeletal artifact twitched in her grasp. "Afraid? Me? Never! A new dress won't be enough to get rid of me!"

  Lumina smirked, lifting a hand in a taunting gesture. "Then strike me with that ugly skull of yours... if you dare. But know this, your Feast Dimension will fall just as easily as you."

  The Siren growled, ERRR! "I'll wipe that lil smirk off your face! Take this!!!" She hurled the skull forward, but Lumina shifted just slightly, her movement so fast it left a faint afterimage hanging in the air. To the eye it looked like there were two of her, one still standing where she'd been, and the other already clear of the strike.

  Lumina tilted her head, her voice sharp with mockery. "How do you miss at point blank? Here, let me make it easy for you." She took a single step, FWOOSH! and in the next instant she was right in front of the Siren.

  Shock flashed across the Siren's face as she stumbled back. "What the-?!"

  "I'll stand right here so you won't miss me this time." Lumina smirked, adding a playful wink at the Siren. "I wanna see what that Feast Dimension is all about."

  Hikari caught the look on Lumina's face and her eyes widened as she realized what she intended to do. "Lumina, don't tell me you're..." she called out. "You're not planning on going in there are you?"

  "Trust me, Hikari" Lumina replied, her gaze never leaving the Siren. She lifted one katana, the blade flowing with dark green aura. "I'll be back in a blink."

  Slayer pushed himself upright and glanced at Hikari, a faint grin beneath his helmet. "Relax Hikari. I'm sure she has a plan in mind." He chuckled lightly. "She's got that look... the kind she gets when she's already three steps ahead."

  Hikari hesitated, then let out a soft breath and nodded. "...Alright." Rising to her feet, she added quietly. "I'm sure she'll be able to handle this on her own." But a troubling thought hit her. ("I don't doubt her strength one bit.... it's her stamina that I'm worried about. How long will she be able to maintain that form before it drains her completely. And if she'll be able to finish this fight before that happens. On top of that, I've never once seen or heard a case of anyone escaping the Feast Dimension before. Even so, I still trust she'll be able to make it out alive. ...Please be careful Lumina.")

  The Siren's grin twisted wider as the skull flew back into her hand. "I'll show you what happens to those who mock me!" HAAAH! With a violent swing, the skull struck toward Lumina BAM! A burst of black spores exploded outward, swallowing her whole. Her figure vanished in the choking storm. The last sound she heard was the Siren's laughter, echoing through the plaza. Ahaha~!

  The world twisted, colors flipping as sound warped into distant screams. The plaza was gone from sight. A burst of black spores erupted, spitting Lumina out. She staggered forward, landing gracefully on scattered bones that cracked beneath her boots - stepping onto the red cobbled ground of the Feast Dimension. The smell hit her first - thick, rotten, and heavy with blood that burned her throat. When she looked up, the sight nearly made her knees give out.

  Huge walls surrounded her, covered in black roots. Stuck inside them were skulls - human, animal, and things she couldn't even name. Their hollow sockets staring lifelessly into the dark. Some still had bits of skin or hair, twisted into the roots like the walls were made from the dead. Above her, dark spores swirled so thick they covered the sky. They floated like a black storm cloud, and she knew right away that touching them would mean death. "Hmm... this place feels like hell itself," Lumina murmured, unease flickering in her voice.

  Her boots crunched bone as she stepped further in. Ribs cracked, skulls shifted and rolled, and the ground itself seemed shaped from corpses. "Are these... human bones?" Lumina muttered, her voice low. Then she saw the river - blood pouring endlessly from a crack in the wall, spreading into a wide stream across the red cobblestone floor.

  Around her, bodies hung from the roots of black, dead trees - half-eaten and torn apart.

  Their faces were frozen mid-scream, arms hanging down like they were still trying to reach for help. Their voices never came. Only a silence that somehow felt louder than any scream.

  Lumina's grip on her katanas tightened. Her breath came slow and sharp. "So this is it..." she whispered. "The Feast Dimension, a graveyard made into a kingdom. How sickening." Her eyes burned with fury as faint whispers began to drift across the bloody river - soft and eerie voices sliding into her mind. "Join us... feed... sleep... let us grow together, little lamb..."

  "Sorry, everyone... but I'm not here for you. ...I must find him." Lumina whispered, her tone firm. Her boots crunched over bone as she walked deeper into the nightmare, scanning the shadows for any sign of him. The Feast Dimension stretched endlessly, its walls of skulls twisting like a labyrinth. She turned slowly as she scanned the area, her grip firm on her hilts. "Captain... where are you?" Her voice was low and tense. She closed her eyes briefly, reaching out, but nothing. "...I can't seem to sense his aura." Her gaze dropped to the green aura linked ring on her finger. "Not even with the aura ring... it must have something to do with this dimension."

  The size of the place hit her all at once - a world built from devoured lives. Somewhere inside it, Captain was being swallowed too. Her jaw tightened. "I don't have time to search every dam corner of this place..." She touched the pendant on her chest, aura flaring. "Guess now is the perfect time to use it." Her eyes glowed bright green as she took her stance. "Time itself... obey my body and blades. ...Now, heed my call!" Her voice came in a with a loud echo.

  "CHRONUS OVERDRIVE!" In an instant, her speed doubled. Time itself seemed to bend - the torrent of black spores above slowed to drifting embers, and the river's flowing red turned to glass. The world folded into crystal clarity, every motion frozen within her sight.

  "Full speed ahead." Lumina said firmly. She surged forward at full speed, FWOOSH! crossing miles in the frozen stillness. Her movements blurred into streaks of dark green light. Her eyes scanned every wall, the hanging corpses, and the dead trees she slipped past as she moved through the endless maze. She'd traveled for miles but still couldn't find him anywhere.

  Then, after a few more minutes of searching, her breath caught in her throat. "Captain!" She skidded to a halt beneath a towering root. She skidded to a stop beneath a massive root. His body hung from a thick fungal tendril, gear stripped and head drooping low. He looked deathly pale, alive but unresponsive.

  "Damn it..." Her throat tightened, but she steadied herself. "You're not dying here in this rotten place. Not like this." She raised her twin katanas while flaring her aura. With a single fluid strike, the blades sheared through the root, SHIING! severing it cleanly. Captain's body collapsed into her arms, weak and cold to the touch. "Captain... wake up." She shook him, her voice low but firm. "Come on... don't make me carry you out of hell." There was no response, only shallow breaths. Her jaw clenched as she looked around the endless dimension. "Tch. I must find a way out..." She whispered.

  The whispers grew louder, pressing in from the walls. "Feast... feed... sleep... let us grow together, little lamb..."

  Lumina lifted Captain onto her back, adjusting his weight until her stance steadied with renewed resolve. "Fine. If you won't wake up..." Her aura surged again. "Then I'll drag you out myself." Her eyes narrowed, and her voice rang out with commanding force, "Chronus Overdrive!"

  The world froze again... and this time, Lumina moved to carve their way out. The whispers rose into a chorus as she carried Captain through the Feast Dimension. Above, the ceiling of black spores swirled like a storm. Her eyes lifted - and for a split second, she saw it. A small break in the sky, where the spores had thinned just enough for light to shine through. "So that's it..." she murmured. "The ceiling isn't just a death prison. It's our way out." She shifted Captain on her back and exhaled slowly. "If I go full speed, I should be able to break through that gap before it closes. Risky... but I don't see another way. Besides, this place is already making me sick."

  Taking a deep breath, she crouched low, aura surging around her legs. "Well... here goes nothing." Her aura flared brighter, wrapping her and Captain in dark green light. "Hold on," she whispered. "We're getting out of here."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  With a loud CRACK! Lumina launched upward. Bone and blood cracked beneath the force of her leap as she rocketed toward the spore-cloud sky. The black mass rippled at her approach, tendrils of corruption lashing out, jagged and fast as blades, but time bent. Her Elegant Form took effect. Her eyes narrowed as the world fractured into possibilities. She saw one second ahead, the spores' next strike engraved like afterimages in the air. She swung her katanas. SHIING! SHIING! Her katanas met corruption. Every swing was a line of dark green fire, carving paths through the onslaught. Fungal tendrils split and scattered as her blades shredded them apart. Carrying Captain across her back, she spun, twisted, and cut, her movements a blur of deadly grace. "Too slow," she muttered, calm and cold.

  The black spores howled as she broke through their storm, forcing them back with a surge of her aura. The darkness thinned - and above the choking cloud, a faint light shimmered. It was a portal, its black edges rippling. "Looks like I found my one way ticket out of her." She muttered. Beyond it, she glimpsed a plaza... and familiar voices echoing faintly through.

  Her aura flared once more. FWOOOM! "One last push." She drove herself upward with a final burst of speed, twin blades slashing down the last of the tendrils that clawed at her ankles. And then... she burst through the portal, ripping free of the Feast Dimension. In a blink, she emerged back into the real world, her form materializing out of thin air in the plaza before Hikari and Slayer. Both froze, wide-eyed, as Lumina landed hard on her feet, knees bent with Captain across her back, her blades still humming with dark green fire.

  "I told you," Lumina exhaled, her voice steady. "Back in a blink."

  "Lumina! Captain!" Hikari cried, rushing toward them with a limp in her step.

  Slayer let out a relieved laugh as he followed her. "Ha! I knew she'd make it back."

  Lumina dropped to one knee, breathing hard as she set Captain gently on the ground. Her Elegant Form's aura dimmed faintly but held. Hikari and Slayer reached her side.

  "He's still alive, just unconscious," Lumina said firmly, glancing up at Hikari. "I'll leave the rest to you."

  Hikari nodded, relief in her voice. "I'll take it from here. Thank you, Lumina."

  Lumina managed a small smile. "Of course. Don't mention it." Her smile faded, eyes sharpening as she turned back toward the Siren. "Now..."

  The Bloodspore Siren flinched under that stare, her voice trembling. "Y-Y-You... how did you escape my Feast Dimension so easily?!"

  Lumina stood tall, her voice cold and sharp. "I'd explain... but it'd be a waste of breath on someone who's already dead."

  The Siren's composure shattered into rage, her voice cracking into a scream. "Errrrr! You may have torn him from my feast... but the banquet never ends, do you hear me, Lumina?!" The ground trembled, black spores drifting heavier through the air. "Return him to me... or I'll take you all instead!"

  Hikari pulled Captain closer to her, shielding him instinctively, while Slayer raised his shield and sword, eyes narrowing at the Echo.

  Lumina coldly replied, "You'll get nothing from us." Her tone shifted, a faint smirk forming on her lips. "But I'll be glad to dance with you instead."

  The Siren's voice echoed, "Not before I make you bleed!" Her spores swirling, the promise of another battle hanging heavy.

  "Then let's dance lil Siren." Lumina stepped once FWOOOSH! her body blurring forward as she leapt, closing the distance in an instant.

  The Siren shrieked, clutching her skull. "Take this!" Fungal roots lashed out from the ground, but Lumina's green eyes gleamed - she was already one step ahead. She twirled her twin blades, every movement fluid and deliberate - like she was dancing. Each slash carved through the roots midair with flawless precision. She landed lightly on the ground, and only then did the severed roots crash down around her. SPLAT!

  The Siren snarled, refusing to relent. "Fine! I'll deal with you myself!" She let the skull hover in midair, black claws sharpening as she lunged for Lumina.

  Lumina smirked, raising her blades. "Now you're singing. Let's see which lasts longer, my elegant blades or those ugly claws."

  They clashed. SHIING! Sparks rained as claw met katana. The Siren's strikes came in a flurry, but Lumina parried each one with effortless grace, CLANG! TING! her movements a seamless dance. The Echo slashed again and again, but Lumina didn't falter, afterimages shimmered with every step as she weaved past the onslaught.

  "Yawn," Lumina teased, her voice calm, almost bored. "Is that really all you've got? You're too slow. I can see your moves before you even make them."

  The Siren's growl rose into a roar. "Slow?! Me, slow?! You cocky human, I'll show you slow!" With a violent gesture, the skull hanging mid air snapped back into the Siren's grasp, ready to be thrown.

  Lumina's aura flickered unsteadily around her, the glow of her Elegant Form beginning to wane. She narrowed her eyes. "Hm... looks like my time's almost up. Guess it's time to end this here and now."

  The Siren braced to hurl the skull, but before she could release it, Lumina's aura flared violently, FWOOM! her voice echoing across the plaza. "Chronus Overdrive!" Time fractured around her. In the space of a heartbeat, her speed doubled, and she dashed toward the Siren like a streak of fire, bending the world itself to her will.

  Her blades moved with flawless elegance... SLASH! one, three, six, nine, twelve precise slashes tore across the Siren's limbs, SHCK! each strike tracing dark green arcs of light in the air. Lumina crossed her katanas into an X. "Elegant Form..." She leapt high, her body spinning gracefully through the air. "...Twin Flame Dance!" She carved the X through the air, her aura erupting in a radiant burst of dark green flames. The explosion of force sent the Siren skidding back, her shriek breaking into silence. Fury twisted into hesitation as she staggered, eyes wide. Lumina smirked, her voice sharp with unshakable confidence. "One second too late... every time."

  The Siren's face contorted with fear as blood poured from her wounds, staining the ground beneath her. SPLSSH! For the first time, she realized the truth... this warrior wasn't just fast. She was untouchable. "Damn you!" the Siren spat, trembling. "DAAAMN YOUUUU!"

  Lumina's aura flared higher as she advanced with the poise of a catwalk stride. "You realize it now, don't you? Fighting me is useless. ...I don't know what pit you crawled out from... but this ends here. And just to make it fair..." She spun her blades gracefully, and with a flash of dark green light, one vanished. Raising the remaining katana, she leveled its gleaming edge at the Siren. "...I'll use only one."

  The Siren's laughter cracked, forced. "You'll regret that arrogance, mortal!"

  In a blink Lumina was gone FWOOSH! and then in front of the Siren, her hand clamped tightly over the creature's mouth. The Siren growled, voice muffled, "G-Get your filthy hands o-!" But before the words could form, Lumina spun with impossible strength, throwing her across the plaza like a ball.

  The Siren's body hadn't even struck the ground when Lumina was already there. Her blade flashed in a flurry, SLASH! SLASH! carving swift slashes across her body. Then, without pause, she seized the Siren by the throat, threw her again, then dashed forward, FWOOSH! and striking again while her opponent was still midair.

  Catch, throw, and slash... over and over again. Lumina's movements blurred into a seamless loop, her blades carving arcs of green light through the air. Then, she whispered, calm yet resolute. "Elegant Form..." Her voice rang through the plaza - sharp and commanding.

  "INFINITE ELEGY!"

  FWOOOOSH! The sound echoed as the entire plaza ignited in emerald light. The ground beneath her began to glow, tracing the shape of an infinite symbol that blazed - her dance made manifest. Within that glowing mark, Lumina was a blur - cutting the Siren down in an endless rhythm of strikes. Each slash bled into the next, a loop without end. Then-

  With a final burst of motion, she seized the Siren mid-flight, twisted, and drove a somersault kick into her face. The impact echoed like thunder, DOOM! sending the monster soaring skyward. Lumina crouched low, aura surging into her legs, the ground cracking beneath her feet. ZOOM! She launched, soaring to meet her prey in the sky.

  Twisting her body midair, Lumina drove a brutal kick into the Siren's chest, BOOM! sending her plummeting toward the ground, but Lumina was already there. She blinked to the ground in a flash, planting and balancing her katana upright with its point raised skyward.

  She crossed one arm, standing calm and composed as the Siren fell. "You only lost because..." Her voice cut cold through the silence. "...you blinked." With a snap of her fingers, the timing struck true. The Siren's body slammed down onto the waiting blade, SPLAT! blood spraying in a crimson arc as her scream tore through the plaza.

  The skull tumbled from the Siren's grasp, bouncing once against the stone. Lumina didn't hesitate. She grabbed her blade and tossed the Siren aside THUMP! She then slashed In a blur so fast it couldn't be seen. The skull split neatly in two, collapsing into fragments of bone and fungus, until it dissolved. "There, now it won't be an issue for us anymore." The plaza fell silent.

  Lumina stood tall, her aura dimming as her Elegant Form slowly faded - replaced once more by her grey samurai robes. She exhaled softly, lowering her blade. "It's over now..." Behind her, Captain stirred. His eyes fluttered open, groggy and dazed.

  "You're awake!" Hikari gasped, tears threatening to fall as she steadied him. "I thought- I thought we lost you."

  Captain groaned, pressing a hand to his temple. "Jeez... feels like I got dragged through a meat grinder."

  Hikari smiled, letting out a soft chuckle. "Glad to have you back."

  Captain pushed himself upright with a grunt, straightening his posture before glancing at her. "Good to be back in the land of the living..." He looked around, a faint smirk tugging at his face. "Well, mostly."

  Slayer barked a laugh. "Ha! Good one. Nice to see you breathing, red boy."

  Captain smirked faintly. "Hmph. Honestly thought you'd be dead by now."

  "Yeah, well," Slayer shot back with a grin, "It'll take more than a creepy lullaby to take me down."

  The group shared a brief laugh, the tension easing. Captain's expression softened as he turned toward Lumina, then to the spot where the Siren's body lay broken. "...So. Did we win?"

  Lumina gave a small nod, smirking. "Yup. Took her down while you were napping actually."

  Captain sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'll try not to get dragged into another dimension next time."

  Lumina chuckled lightly, her tone softening. "Good to hear that you're always trying to improve, Captain."

  Hikari smiled, about to speak. "You were great, Lu- huh?" A faint hum echoed through the air. Low at first... then rising higher. Hikari froze. "What was that sound?" She glanced around, but nothing moved. Then PULSE! a vibration came from inside her coat pocket. Her eyes widened. She reached in quickly and pulled something out.

  The Artifact pulsed in her palm, its obsidian surface glowing faintly - the engraved Black Star gleaming. The team fell silent, watching.

  Then, without warning, a high-pitched feminine voice echoed. "Use me..." Hikari's breath hitched.

  It was her voice again...

  "…When the time comes, you’ll know my name. Until then… just listen." - ?