Daiyu surged into a new bat stance, ohat looked strao my eyes, after my training in the fuals with Ulfuric. Her body was quite open, flexible, and looked as if it wouldn’t be well banced rounded, hardly able to take an attack.

  “You should be paying attention to me!” the ice-wielding, white-haired man shouted, seeing my attention was distracted, and a hail e blue-white ice spears flew at me.

  Oh I am. With Split Thoughts, Body Enha and my vision widened by use of aether, something I was doing almost stantly in battle nowadays, my vulnerable back was no longer an issue, and I dodged smoothly, using the opportunity to terattack, my lure plete. Light formed into a series of shimmering beams, aimed for his vulnerable points, hoping to disarm him.

  “Whoa, that was close.” Light reflected from him in a shimmering rainbow of colour, which would have beeiful, if it wasn’t so frustrating. Holes had been pierced in his icy armour at the knees, wrists, ankles and elbows, but the light had rapidly been attenuated, and had dotle than scorch his flesh with its remaining energies.

  “You have a few tricks. Fire and light, huh? Well, this works for me!” he grinned. “The bigger the meal, the more satisfied it will be.”

  Daiyu was having a simir issue. The first Cultivator hurled a paper talisman at her, making some strange hand-sign, and calling out a Teique. “Five Element Talismah. Grasping Quagmire!”

  Daiyu’s face hardened, but she reacted swiftly as the ground underh her was infused with a surge of ruby energies from the vanishing talisman, being a sudden quid bog, hands of stone reag from them. One grasped her ankle as she leapt, but it shattered, and my Eye picked up her chakra work, such as it was, was emitting the processed aether she was calling Qi from the smaller capilries around her l.

  “Five Element Talisman: Fire. Samander Breath.”

  “Five Element Talisman: Wood. Weeping Thorns.”

  Daiyu, still in the air, seemed a little pa the third decration, and as a gust of fme left oalisman, a rolling red and yellow tide, she braced herself, Qi emitted in precise ways within her, and she spun, arms defleg as much of the fire as she could, while avoiding the more dangerous long thorns. Even so, despite her elegant and practised movements, which I now realised were some sort of bat style, she was burned down the side of her face, the flesh raw, her hair smouldering.

  “Hey, just freeze, will you?” the white-haired man was g, and the temperature around me tio drop, my underfooting treacherous as the ice spread. Worse, spikes were ing from the icy ground, es like reverse icicles and as deadly as spears stantly harassing me. He’s not just got a lot of power, he’s got good skills too. He uses a better than I do. Perhaps it’s because I’m a generalist, while he specialises? Well, it’s giving me some ideas though…

  My expanded vision ig up a greater dahough, and I unched more attacks at the mirror-wielder, bdes of jade air and explosions of earth sh her. Blood was running down her cheek, a roarrowly missing her eyes, and my bdes of wind had also gouged her body, one leg hanging limp, barely bearing her weight. Even so, her will hadn’t faltered, and her mirror shone, whatever ritual she was w plete.

  Shit. My hand tightened on the hilt of Cutting Twilight. I had sidered rushing her, but if I did so, then Daiyu would be killed by the ice-wielder. He was focused mostly o the moment, but that was only because I was stantly harassing him, and moving myself into positions to cover Daiyu. Well, we have an idea of the power the mirror wields. It creates es based on our sins, supposedly, but Yasaka-san couldn’t get much more than that, coughing up blood and pining of a massive migraine.

  “Jade Yang Stance. Light Flowing Blossoms!” Daiyu decred, and the small reserves of a type of elemental light, different to what I or any of the others I knew possessed, were expelled from her, magnified by her Qi, pulling in the surroundiher. A number of the Sect disciples who were preparing to attack her were caught unawares, and her ruthless petal-like bdes pierced heads, throats as, dropping them. She nded, springing into Crushing Palms despite her injuries, and the one who had spoken to her, the Patriarch of the Unquered Heights, was forced onto the defensive, accumuting injuries by her ferocious, reckless attacks.

  “Bitch! This is all your fault, you and those failures from Mountain Fang!” he grinned balefully, before spitting at her, a mist fortified by Qi f her to tilt her head to avoid suffering grave injury to her already vulnerable eyes. “Well, you may be a Heave prodigy, but this old man has many tricks. Now, suffer!” he hefted his bone bde, only to fall into pieces, an invisible sweeping of strings of fine vibrating air slig him apart, and nig the bde, which tumbled to the floor, whining.

  “My thanks.” Daiyu muttered, ign the blood that spttered on her, red and silver dripping down her fad arms as she attacked another Cultivator, ielding a long rod with a bell on the end carved from a yellow jade. Hey, that looks a bit like… My thoughts were interrupted by gleeful ughter from the woman, her mirror lowered, two new figures standing in front of her.

  “Well, I hardly keep up.” She wiped blood that was leaking from where I had nearly taken her eye. “You’ve killed most of them already, so much for their boasting…” she watched as Daiyu powered through the rippling tide of spikes that erupted from the ground, ign her increasing injuries to crush the skull of the foe in front of her, snatg the bell, aing the intation that her victim had used, “Turh, respond to your disciple. Huánglóng, hear the plea of those who vee the nd!” The bell rang, a rumbling chime, and most of the remaining Cultivators were pierced, the Brilliant Dawn Shield Sect Elders far enough away from the epitre of the tide of earthen fangs to avoid death. Daiyu staggered, releasing the bell, her reserves of Qi running low, and then she was thrown backwards, an impact breaking many of her ribs.

  “But… the tortoise wins while the hare thinks it has triumphed.” The woman barked. “King Yama has judged your sins. Now you have to face them.” Her dull smile was mog. “Just know that you’ll never face that great being in person. No. Your fate is to be devoured by these hungry bdes.”

  “Shit, Daiyu’er!” I cried as she tumbled. Even so, her fluid stance allowed her to get to her feet, and her wounds were healing, the Divine Favour of g’e w, though as she suffered more injuries, the rate slowed noticeably, its strength exhausting.

  The thing that struck her, it was… I leapt aside as a bde mirr Cutting Twilight swept past me, the speed of the strike vicious. … the same as this. My feet slid along the ground, digging deep furrows into the frozen soil. My body was starting to slow from the ever-increasing chill, so I let the warmth of fme energy flow through me, terag that. Raising my own bde, I parried the strike, muscles ag uhe blow.

  “Yeah, I do not look like that…” I muttered, disgusted and sied by what posi was me, but different. The figure had a scivious expression on his face, lig his lips relentlessly, and he was thinner, less muscled, and looked rather foppish, with an open shirt and tight jeans, an attire pletely unsuited to battle. The sword he carried was very real though. And though the bde was , his arms were red to the elbows, his hands and sleeves covered in gore. Worse, a number of shrunken heads were hanging from his belt, and while I didn’t reise many of them, I did reise Yamato-san, Kondou Kazuo, and the didate I had retly beheaded.

  Yeah, I see. My sins, huh? Daiyu was likewise fag her duplicate, though this one was far more wild and animated, her lips pulled ba a snarl, revealing bony fangs, and her own bloodied hands were wielding an ornate fan. Following behind her was a trail of bleached, dead skeletons, g and wailing, gnashing their teeth, all dressed in robes of identical colouration. Daiyu shook her head, as if unwilling to look at what fronted her, before letting out a shrill, pained scream and chargiwisted refle.

  “I’m exhausted.” The woman slumped to her knees, still holding her mirror. “He was strong. Without the boost from that uy, and the energy that greedy beast gives us… no way I could have reflected him. The girl’s hardly weak either. Still, they’re done now. The weight of their sins will crush them. But if you want, feel free to kill them. I’m so over this. The oute is s, and I hurt so much.” She said to the young, white-haired man.

  “I think I will.” He agreed sardonically. “Not that I don’t trust you, but I’m not a fool. I kill my enemies.” He let out a bitter sigh. “After all, it was killing that uppity Party boot-kisser that got me into this mess. I mean, fancy making a powerful, blessed Chosen of Tengliu, beautiful goddess of snow, id winter, bour for a pathetic like that? It’s not just an insult to me, but the very Gods of a, no, the entire World, themselves…”

  As he ranted on, I took my opportunity to attack my doppelg?nger. He was already a pain to handle by himself, I ’t take on both at once, and Daiyu… she staggered, beset by a talisman cast by one of the few surviving Cultivators. This one was a metal talisman, and her body ierced by needles, damaging some of her lesser chakra nodes, l her speed and strength. The twisted twin didn’t hesitate to use that to her advantage, and she unleashed her own version of Crushing Palms. Daiyu kicked out, and they cshed, but it was Daiyu who ushed back, and the sound of crag bone echoed throughout the Boundary.

  A dull giggling rang in my ears as our bdes cshed, and worse, I could see the train of figures behind my own oppo. These weren’t skeletons, no, but ghostly, transparent women, with shiftiures, but I reised Eri, Shaeu, Hinata, Motoko and even some I wasn’t involved with, like Tsukiko-san, Haru-san, Kana, and many more. They were whispering unintelligibly, but I could vaguely uand them, and they were wailing with sorrow and jealousy, tormented by my faithlessness.

  “Fuck!” I roared, uanding why Daiyu was so angry at her own foe. “You don’t think I know my sins, you piece of shit?” My Resilience was struggling, and focussing my mind, I forced myself to remain if not calm, somewhat posed. “Well, no fake me is going to beat me!” Cutting Twilight activated, and Foehn roared. Though not at my foe, no, I o help…

  Hollow-point bullets of earth, filled with Foehn, roared out. The remaini members were helplessly pierced, fmes boiling from their bleeding bodies. As they perished, more heads appeared on the belt of my oppo, and the kneeling ped her hands sarcastically. “Smart move there. Add more weight to your sins, why don’t you?”

  “Sins? You came here to… you know what, never mind, fuck off.” I snapped, rattled and angry, despite my efforts to calm myself. My Foehn bullets had also hit Daiyu’s oppo, and while I had feared it would have no effect, several of the skeletons following her suffered some damage. Capitalising on this, I dodged a burst of fme from my mirror, and started rushing towards Daiyu to support her. If we take out hers, then team up on mine… no, that won’t work…

  “Fettihe man ughed, a wall of ice rippling ien front of me, protruding spikes ready to pierce my flesh. Not a ce. Switg Might of the Furious Earth to increase my Fortitude, I smmed through the ice. As the wall shattered, glittering spears rained down on me, but I deflected them with air.

  “So aggravating.” As the man rushed towards me, sliding over the frozen ground, I ducked aside as threads of wind nearly ed around me, my giggling double chasing me down. Shit, the st bastard was so easy, why are we having so much trouble with this pair?

  ********

  “You seem troubled, Tsukiko-sama. Why not speak your thoughts to me over some tea?” Prince Shōtoku, the kami that dwelt within her shri Tsukuyomi-jinja offered her a steaming cup, which she took, her hands trembling, just a little.

  “Troubled? How I not be?” she took a sip, calming herself, though she felt naked without her veil. But if today was the day she perished, her duty to Tsukuyomi and Japan finally finished, she wished to face it as herself, Matsumuro Tsukiko, not as the Diviner. Besides, that is what he wished for. As my successor, I surely grant him one final boon. “Look around us. The Spiritual Realm of Kyoto burns.”

  Outside the protective shell of her Territory, such as it was, the power of it greatly diminished wheransferred her Divine Favour, was the Territory of another of the old Tsukuyomi fa, and beyond that, a new ohat of Akio-san’s vassal, the poor dead ghost girl, who she felt a great deal of sympathy with. It must be cruel, death. I have seen many futures, turned aside times of destined ruin, only to weep at the defihat could not be ged. Now the hour is upon me, I find my calm shattered, my fear growing. To… no longer exist. What will it be like?

  “Yes, it does.” Prince Shōtoku agreed. “It has before, many times, and it will again. New joys sprout from the ashes, and others take them into the future. Life and worship will tinue, so long as those of you who vee the Divine endure. I do grieve, however. Many will be lost, much destroyed.” He sighed. “But is it not because things are imperma, fleeting, that they are beautiful?”

  Looking around at the defenders who had been arrayed here, she marvelled at them. A giant badger-like man was direg a number of armoured animal-creatures, as well as a force of them in robes, while strange traptions were being hauled about by others. A group of animal-person musis were pying a rexing tune, and with her keen spiritual senses, she could feel the flow of energy within herself and those nearby increase, the surrounding spiritual energy, the ether, stimuted. That wasn’t all, either. There were Kamaitachi too, standing and waiting, and she found it a little f to see Yokai, beings she uood. To think I wele the presence of Yokai, those who traditionally oppose all that I stood for. Here at the end, nothing makes sense. She shivered, taking another sip of the tea, as cherry blossoms fell down around her, perhaps mog her, tellihat she too would be gone, after living just a mere moment.

  “Perhaps so.” she ceded. “Perhaps my beauty is all the more, for it having been seen only by the few, at the end. Even so…” she let out a long sigh, trying not to pity herself. I made my resolve. I will accept the definite, but… I will also pray for a miracle unpreted, ohat ge it. I am such a fool. “…I think that defiarying to fight for even a sliver more happiness, that is beautiful too. I see that now. Poor Yukiko. She was my friend. She would have wished to be here at the end, but…”

  “She ot be risked.” Prince Shōtoku soothed her, watg the great badger as he prepared a fwless defensive lihe Shrine Maiden of Ise, blessed by Amaterasu, she has another purpose. The Princess ot fall here.”

  “I agree. Though my heart aches.” Tsukiko whispered, the barest exhation of breath. “But…” her rare crimson eyes narrowed. “A Princess… no, two are being risked to save me. It is dangerous folly. Akio-san knows that they must be safeguarded, yet he brings them here?” She was annoyed, ed even, at the risk, yet also found her lips quirking up into a rare smile, a warm feeling lying heavy in her chest, one she found unfamiliar.

  “Of course he does. Tsukiko-, noble Prince Shōtoku.” A familiar voice said, and she turo see Yasuhide, her long-time fidant, former head of the Tsukuyomi fa. The old man was smiling like a child pulling a prank, and for a moment she felt relieved, before her nerves returned. Crossing her arms under her chest, she frowned.

  “If you are here to talk to me about returning to the mortal Kyoto again, I shall not. I will not budge on this.” She decred. “Here I will stand, at the shrine of Tsukuyomi, and should the defiure I saw e to pass, as it must, well… I will face it bravely. I wish to end as I have lived. With pride in myself and my gifts.”

  “No, I’m doh that.” He fpped his hand dismissively. As the Priarted p another cup of tea, Yasuhide sat down beside her. “The situation ierial is plicated. The ese forces have all beeralised…” he frowned, grin vanishing. “They had zombies! From what we know, from what Akio-kun and the others have told us, t forth su the Material should take an immense amount of effort aher… well, no matter. Hey, this is good, just like always. That’s another reason Tsukuyomi-jinja ’t fall. How will I get your tea then, Prince?”

  As prince Shōtoku ined his head in amused aowledgement, Yasuhide tinued. “Well, fet the walking dead. The Special Forces and our own Chosen hahem. But… there’s some sort of assassin out there. We’ve mao avoid deaths so far, but there’s been a lot of injuries. And if you were ba Kyoto… well…” his gaze strayed to the forces Akio-san had provided. “… here at least we have more exotic defenders. To answer my question from before…” his eyes gleamed and his griurned. “… didn’t Akio-kun decre in front of everyohat he would not let you die? To him, this Princess of the Six Paths matter is simply a nuisao him. After all, hasn’t he ged the destiny of the so-called Hungry Ghost? Who even now is fighting on your behalf?”

  “Yes, many fight for me.” She agreed, pouting. “But only because they are pelled to, and I fear the weight of the needless deaths on my…” she trailed off, her pout growing fiercer, as Yasuhide burst out ughing, stroking his long beard with his free hand.

  “Oh my, I hat. Tonight has been grim. I hope Taishakama-san and the others are still fine. Well…” when his ughter was under trol, he teased Tsukiko gently. “… fancy you admitting you wished they fought for love of you, rather than because Akio-kun asked them to. But… why does he fight? I hear…”

  No, do not say it, I beg of you. She felt her face heating up, another unusual feeling. Her prayers went unanswered. “… that Akio-kun asked you to marry him. Damn, what a pyboy. My Shiori had better watch out. Though I guess as a grandson, he’s acceptable, other than the womanising!”

  “That was simply so he could use one of his skills! He assured me of that! He said we would not have to mate any wedding, and that we could divorce…” Tsukiko trailed off, realising how foolish she sounded, and she covered her face with her hands, wishing for her veil to hide her crimson cheeks and expression of shame.

  “Yeah, sure. And knowing the kid, you’re probably right that he meant it. But if you seriously think he’d be happy to let a beauty like you go whes his cws into you… well, no man would.” He chuckled like a dirty old man. “Tsukiko-… calling you that seems very fresh to me. But today, you’re my granddaughter too, sive an old man his informality. Well, that aside… you never asked to be saved, but you suffered. I heard what you said, Prince. I disagree. I think what is more beautiful is that whidures, despite all the slings and arrows of fate ainy.”

  “A novel idea, but ohat appeals. Perhaps there are many kinds of beauty in this world.” The Prince agreed. “I fess, Tsukiko-sama, your soul will remaiiful, whether you vanish like a fallen blossom, or remain, like a growing cherry tree. I would prefer the tter, but…”

  “But nothing has ged.” Tsukiko sighed. “I know I am to die here, and I will be devoured, by the golden-eyed monster and his ants. Even now they crawl over Kyoto…” a massive plume of fire erupted in the distance, f a thin t tree-like pilr, which spread into branches which rained down like fallen leaves, vanishing, yet the glow remained, visible even at this distance.

  “Well, even if you die, you die knowing that at least one person here is fighting purely for your sake. That’s some soce for the journey. But…” he put down his empty mug. “… imagi. Imagine what it would be like to go beyond this point. What would you do, being free from all this?” his smile was kind, and she paused, seriously sidering it.

  What would I do? I… I would still serve Tsukuyomi, I know that. Else I would not be myself. Even without the Divine Favour, I still have my gifts. I guide, save… but… her hands went to her bare fao lohe Diviner, but pin Matsumuro Tsukiko once more. No, for the first time. And as such a Tsukiko, I have time for my friend. Yukiko. No, friends. A face came into her mind, surrounded by ughing, smiling people, before their expression ged, being stern and powerful, unwilling to back down. Her ruby eyes watered, tears obsg her visio even so, she could picture that person, deg to her that she would live. Well… all will be answered soon. I put my faith in you, despite my doubts that you were the one who save the Princesses, save Yukiko. But… just do not die here, not for me. Whether you are he or not, you matter to so many others. I… do not wish you to throw your life away for mi the end. Even so, that strange feeling she felt in her chest wouldn’t go away, even as her cheeks gre, Yasuhide and the Priactfully looking aretending not to see as she sobbed, rising fear of her iable demise warring with the flickering embers of hope she had struggled to cultivate, the fming pilr in the distance a mirror to the ignited coals in her heart…

  ********

  “Five Element Talisman: Water. Fog Serpent!” The exhausted Daiyu, her strength rapidly running out as her injuries accumuted, dived for the talisman dropped by one of the sin Cultivators, and on snatg it, she unleashed the power inside, an e, misty snake springing into being as the talisman disied. It charged out, flying through the air towards the mirror-wielding woman, who let out a surprised yelp, rolling away. The serpent pursued her, and it was only moments ter when it froze solid, falling to the floor to shatter inte smoke, that she breathed a sigh of relief.

  “That was too close. Why do I have to suffer like this? They should just roll over and die. They ’t win.” She drawled, her words nguid. “Even if I die, the Mirror of Retribution won’t stop. You think killing the judge elimihe crime?”

  Well, I damn well hope so, but it sems like it’s not to be. The woman was taunting us, but it wasn’t as if we hadn’t tried to take her out, but each time we were stymied by our doppelg?ngers, and the ice-wielder, who was driving us into a er. If I didn’t find a way to win soon, Daiyu was finished.

  I ducked my twin’s Cutting Twilight, only to dart aside as water cutters and bolts of light fshed down. Blood scattered, another yer of injuries carved into my skin, but I retaliated with my own water, Moonlight Spirit Water bullets hammering into him, throwing the giggling bato the spectral arms of the ever-shifting women behind him. They caught him somehow, steadying him, but in the moments of time that bought me I drew on Foehn and hurled it out at the enemy didate. Fme met ice more, and for a moment Foehn had the upper hand, before it was locked within a frozen sphere and tossed aside.

  “Don’t you get bored of this?” he ughed, unwilling to e closer to use his bone bde, as st time he tried I mao use Cutting Twilight to cut through his icy armour, wounding him. He had sealed his own wound with ice, a brave move, but even now, his blue-white ice was turning pink and silver from the seeping blood. I got him deep. Damn, a little to the left and he’d have lost his heart, and that would surely have killed him.

  “I did not kill my Sect!” Daiyu screamed, fists a smashing skeletons, her body moving by sheer willpower, despite the grinding pain of her broken bones. “I did my best! We were too te! Father, could I have done more? Should I?” Her wailing cries for her father’s fiveouched a hin me, sioo had a challengiionship with my own father, though it was much better retly. It seems the more we face our sins, the more it erodes our spirit, preys on our emotions. But…

  Bdes cshed, and I jured earth reflexively, a shield of roing as icicles hammered into it. They pierced through, but by then had no force to break my skin. Fme, water, earth, multiple elements were ing at me, the severed heads cag, the ghostly women whispering to me, reag out with nebulous arms to caress me. My eyes met the face of one, Eri’s, looking at me with sadness, and then it turned into Shaeu’s scowling with pain.

  That’s not how it was at all. Not at all! Angry at the desecration of my memories, I staggered as more icy spikes smmed into me. Eri had asked me to accept Shaeu, and she meant it! How is that a sin, making them both happy? Sure, I only accepted Eri at first to please her, stop her pain, I… well, I definitely loved her, but it wasn’t romantic love. But in time, well, no time at all, she won me over. Frozen rain fell, soakirying to immobilise me, but it was weak, uo match my fmes. I’ve noticed something. Your Ice is powerful, versatile, and you seem to have an endless supply of aether… my Eye could see energy leaking through the purple mist the bone bde exuded. … but you do have a fw. A fatal one. Your League. It’s weak. Borrowed power isn’t power you wield to its fullest.

  My thoughts snapped back to Eri and Shaeu, even as a heavy block of ice smmed into my left leg. It hurt and inflicted some injury, proving that even with my far higher League, I could still be overwhelmed by enough sheer strength. Blood bloomed as my shoulder was id open to the bone by a ssh from my mirrored twin, taking advantage of my momentary ck of bance.

  Putting aside Eri, Shaeu… why would my sin be making Shaeu sad? Cheating ohat’s crap. She’s alushing new girls ohough she’s a bit better retly, I admit! No, I safely say Shaeu isn’t my sin! For a moment the twin staggered, and I found that two ghostly arms had ed around its throat, slowing it.

  Wait a minute. Is this… a curse? I had noticed that when it used water, it wasn’t my Spirit Water. Likewise, light and darkness were simply ordinary, not my mutated elements. My Spirit Water bullets also seemed to hurt it a lot. I unleashed another round of them, and the doppelg?umbled, ghostly arms, now two pairs, trying to choke it.

  Eri. Even in my head, you’re yandere. But… I’m grateful. If you hadn’t fessed to me, I’d never have realised I was able to genuinely love someone romantically. And I do… love you all. All of you. I’ll do anything to make you happy. And that’s no sin!

  More water bullets, and this time the ice-wielder panicked, freezing them solid, but I still retained a measure of trol, and so Spiritual Ice smmed into the doppelg?nger, restraining one arm with a coat of glimmering iow!

  Cutting Twilight sang, and space shivered. The frozen arm shattered, and now I was the only one holding a bde. Dozens of ghosts were ed around my foe, and I surged forwards. “If King Yama… no, this wouldn’t be his doing. The ultimate judge of our sins ih wouldn’t make up these lies…” I smmed my foot into the heads on the belt of my oppo. I heard frantic screams and shouts from both of the didates, but I paid them no mind as Kondou Kazuo’s shrunken skull shattered. “… Sorry Haru-san, even if you’re a fake, you shouldn’t have to look at that fucker. A sin? His end is justice. If that’s sin…”

  I poured Spirit Water into Cutting Twilight, the bluesteel within soaking it up, and the bde glowed e and silver. A sweeping cut, and all the heads but one shattered, my twin falling in half. As it fell, the ghostly women piled on it, and it shrieked. Bending down, idly using walls of stone and fme to defend myself from the iing my way, I bent down to pick up the skull of Yamato-san. “You. The others, they were here to kill, so… those who are willing to kill should be prepared to die. I won’t grieve for them any longer. But you, Yamato-san. My only sin I’ll accept. I have every reason to hate you. Your carelessness and envy got so many killed, crippled Eri. But you never intended such malice. You o face up to what you did, and I was too weak to make that happen. But…” I pced the skull down on the fay pinned oppo. “… I don’t regret taking your Favour from you. My sis . And she’ll never make the mistakes you did. And nor will I. I’ll do what I must…” my bde pierced downwards, and the skull shattered, my bde tearing through the leering face of the copy of me, the fake me, turning my achievements into sins through twisted logic. For a moment there was silence, and then it shattered, breaking apart like a mirror, followed by more splintering sounds, and a hideous shrieking.

  “… and what I must do is save Tsukiko-san. And anyone else I . I’m not a God, hell, even Gods ’t do anything, else Ta?hā would have sin me, and Shiro would still be lonely. But… I won’t stop getting stronger, so I do more. And… those I care about e first. If it’s you or them…” I didn’t finish, merely watg as a surprised Daiyu saw her mirrored, distorted twin break into a myriad of pieces. As the debris fell to the ground like glittering shards of rain, she fell to her knees, breathing heavily, her body trembling from ck of both Qi and physical strength.

  “How… that… I hate this. In the end…” the enemy woman was babbling. Her mirror had cracked down the middle, the bottom half shattering, and both of her legs were impaled by the shards, and her fingers on one hand were gooo. “No, I don’t want to be devoured. I had … so much to… live for…”

  “Shit, you useless bitch! I thought you said your mirror was uable? Pathetic!” The white-haired young man roared, but she ignored him, a violet energy starting to rise from her body as she wept. I’ll have to do something about that. But first…

  Foehn sparked into life, hungry and greedy. At the same time I called upon my water, f a barrier of mist around me. Seeing that, the man ughed. “Don’t get cocky, bastard! You may have broken her, but I’m still going strong! You’ll run out of energy sooner or ter. You don’t have what it gives out! Besides, water against ice? There’s only going to be a single winner!”

  “True.” The battle has beey damn tiring, and worse, there’s a lot more fightio do. That’s why I o finish this, now. I was fortunate I had csses and a lunar chakra that allowed me to possess and recreat deal more elemental energy than my raw skills would allow. Though it’s still far from enough. Well, this bastard with his ice is a bad matchup for me…

  As the water around me froze, I could almost see his grin, more and more ice iled on top of me, sealing me in. Fihis should work. I called upoh element, feeding it into the water element I was juring, which I theo the air, and finally to fire, which I poured into my Foehn. The four primary elements make a circuit, strengthening each other. This way I create one hell of a fire. Foehn spread inside my frozen tomb, ging to the ice. It tried to devour it, but the ice fought it, freezing the tongues in pce.

  “Well, fire doesn’t much like water, does it? And what is ice but aate of water? Well, that’s not the point.” My Foehn had devoured water before, and had also devoured air, the other part of this ice. And with its rength… Just as I maniputed the frozen Spirit Water bullets, I did the same, preventing the frigid prison from crushing me us sheer mass. Foehn surged, desperately dev the ice while being stilled in turn, when suddenly more messages scrolled ay vision in amber letters, just as some had earlier. I’ll take full stock over everything ter. Now, the only ohat matters right now is…

  Your Skill, Foehn, Iinguishable Bze has advanced from Rank 5 to Rank 6, having quered and devoured its orue nemesis, the frozen silence of Ice, the stillness able to stop the ever-burning fires, breaking through the first wall. Your fmes burn ever-hotter, and the fire now possesses the ability to draw i from the surroundings, effectively being a fme of cold if so desired. Foehn finds it easier to flow as a liquid, and also geal into structured shapes, being a fming sculpture akin to works of icy wonder.

  As soon as the Foehronger I could feel it. My Fme Manipution, as well as my other Elemental Maniputions, all bined into a surge of power, and the Foehn explosively devoured the ice above and around me. As it did so, the ice vapourised instantly, my Foehn, fuelled by my superior League, easily outg the foe it oruggled with. The explosion carried the torrent of Foehn high into the sky, and I heard a hideous scream, as I looked up ihe hollow der, peering at the silver sky above, the walls around me radiating a fierce heat. ing myself in insuting air and water, I watched as the fire cascaded upwards, spraying out like a fountain, f a plume that split, almost like branches.

  Well, that’s pretty. It’s a shame though… There was no way I was reg the Divine favour of Ice, as the message had scrolled ay vision announg I had gained more levels, so he must have beeirely ied. I guess that’s what happens when you don’t uand your sce. Ice explode if your fire is hot enough to instantly vaporise it, and Foehn just leapt over that hurdle…

  The fming branches drooped, millions of droplets falling like little meteorites, and the walls of fme around me colpsed, gushing out like a tidal wave. For a moment I panicked, w that Daiyu would be caught in the deluge, only to rex as I saw her well away from the fires, a maimed and still screaming woman in her grasp. “It burns, it burns!” she was g ily, and I noticed a disgusting, stinking smoke rising from the Foehn near her, and with my Eye, I could see a bone sword beginning to break apart, ed.

  Okay, well now I’m a bit stuo, wait… with some tration, part of the Foehn began to draw in the heat, and moments ter a bridge of es was winding through the otherwise searing fires. Crossing it quickly, still nervous as the Foehn licked and pped at the ground around me, I nded beside the very battered aen Daiyu.

  “Daiyu’er, are you all right?” I asked, and she gave me quite the plicated look, before shaking her head.

  “I fear I am not. My reserves are dry. And I have pushed my body beyond its limits. It will take time to recover.” She looked over at where the corpses of the Cultivators and the treasures they had left behind were being ed, reduced to sg and ashes. “How wasteful. But we are alive. That must t for something.” She then kicked out, and the bloody, sobbing woman she was holding captive squealed, her words an i stream.

  “Well, this one was trying to flee back to the Earthly Realm, your Material.” She sneered. “But after what she has done…” she shivered, her dark eyes filled with pain, anger a. “… well, I had enough Qi left for one final act. I have disrupted her meridians. It will take her some time to be able to trol herself enough for any escape.” Her sudden slight smile was menag. “Akio, I thank you for your efforts. That… that shadow of me… it was not…”

  Her words were cut off as I pced my hand on her head fly. No more hesitation. Kindness is no sin, and as long as everyone who deserves to be happy is happy in the end… as she looked at me, surprised, I shook my head. “Don’t worry about it. You aren’t to bme, I promise. You simply did what you thought was right, and bad things happehat’s all. It happen to anyone.” Yamato-san too, the idiot. I don’t think Daiyu acted for as foolish a reason as he did, even if the e might have been the same. Even so, mistakes happen. It’s how we move on from them…

  “But…” she muttered, lost.

  “Well, then make amends. That’s what you are pnning to dht? Those sins we saw… most of them were just our fears, packaged up with pusible-sounding excuses. We should never fet what mistakes we made, but so long as we do our best to rise above them, make up for them… do better ime…” I looked down at the cracked mirror. “If this is a mirror that reflects us…” I kicked out, sending it flying into the Foehn, where it sank, melting away. “… then it’s a funhouse one. Nothing it shows is true, only distorted fakes. Now then…” I turo our captive. “… as for you…”

  No more hesitation. This woman came here to do us harm. Maybe she has mitigating reasons, but she seemed to enjoy causing pain and distress far too much. I’ll listen, and then… I’ll judge. I’m not King Yama, I have no mirror, but… There was little time. And if I hesitated, others would pay the price. It was a lesson I had learned over and over, little by little. Kondou Kazuo. The yakuza. The US agents. The zombie soldiers here. Now these two… hardening my heart, telling myself I was doing it for those I wao protect, I gred down at her. “… I think we o have a quick talk…” my Eye fred, and she shrieked, shrinking back from me as best she could oorn and shredded by gss…

  ShipTeaser